The refreshing evening breeze sweeps away the heat of the day and brings a trace of coolness. The boy stood under the east wall of the welfare home building, exercising his skills with the last rays of sunset. The black revolver danced rhythmically between his holster and his right hand, and it was hard to see his movements without looking closely.

Danika López, the girl with his childhood sweetheart, was lying on a canvas chaise longue with her head up, leisurely flipping through a borrowed magic book. A turquoise halo surrounded her, illuminating the title page of the book. The invisible servant accepted her order and prepared refreshments for her.

"There was a knock on the door. Go and see what, Soleton?"

Soleton snapped and ended his practice.

"Okay, come on. ”

He looked back, only to find that Danika had disappeared without a trace. From her reaction, the boy could guess who it was: the demon summoned by the girl to practice stayed in every corner of the small welfare home, like countless eyes and ears.

"Uncle is here again. Soleton smiled wryly and sighed, and hurried to the door.

Standing outside the creaking old wooden door was indeed the big man in military uniform. The orderly he carried with him was only half the height of the average man, and it was the general's striking personal mark. Clad López is Danika's father, a Free Army general who commands thousands of soldiers.

"Hey, it's Soleton. Isn't Danika here today?"

"Doom...... Probably?" replied Soleton, slurring.

Seeing his expression, the general immediately understood the current situation. He patted him on the shoulder and changed the subject, "Have you seen any progress in your magic lately?"

Soleton closed the door and led the guests into the courtyard. "It's so-so, the second stage of magic still doesn't work. ”

Clad sat down on a recliner in the courtyard and encouraged, "That's normal. It is easy to eliminate the thieves in the mountains, but it is difficult to eliminate the thieves in the heart. This was said by an Eastern philosopher, and his followers told me this. It doesn't really matter how strong or weak the magic is, what matters is whether you know how to use it correctly. I learned this after going through a lot of difficulties. ”

The general blinked and motioned for his disciples to cooperate. Soleton immediately understood that the rest of the story was for Danica.

He pretended to be surprised and said, "With your level and talent, have you ever encountered an extremely difficult predicament?"

"Of course. When I first arrived in the East, I prided myself on my arcane skills, but I was given a disgrace by the Taoist priests there. Later, I joined the teachings of these Taoist priests and learned their techniques, thinking that I had learned everything, but I didn't expect to meet another one when I got off the mountain. It was a life and a death sentence. ”

Clad paused, pulling a small cloth bag of tea out of his pocket. He touched the tin pot on the table and found that the water inside was already cold. He smiled slightly, held the handle of the pot with his right hand, and the water in the pot immediately boiled.

Soleton hurriedly brought a cup of water and helped the teacher make tea: "Can you elaborate, teacher?"

"That's a long story. It was the seventh year of the establishment of Dahua, and the standard calendar should be 1657. Clad leaned back comfortably in his chair and took a sip of tea before continuing, "At that time, I had just finished my studies and had just come down the mountain, and I had a job as an errand in the Ministry of Rites. ”

"Commissariats?" asked Soleton duly to help Crader tell the story.

Clad explained: "You can understand it as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For the sake of my Chinese being passable, Lord Shilang asked me to make a hundred households in the Escort Division......"

"Escort Division?" The young man carefully spelled these syllables in the Chinese he didn't know much, but the pronunciation was still very non-standard.

"Baihu is equivalent to the second lieutenant company commander of the Free Army, and the escort department is a paramilitary organization in charge of transportation affairs. General López's gaze turned to the sky, and his voice gradually drifted, with a sense of remoteness and mystery that was unique to the distant land. "That was my first job, and I had to lead 200 soldiers to escort a batch of overseas tributes along the Grand Canal north to Beijing......

*** ***

In the seventh year of Jianzhi, in August, the Dahua River traveled north to Cao'an Province

The river bends, and the river is long.

By the river, the transportation is busy.

The grain is here, and the world is prosperous.

The grain was cut off, and the empire died.

The Grand Canal is a symbol of the Eastern Empire, which connects the granary of the south of the empire and the capital of the north, and connects the whole country like the imperial examination civil service system of the empire. The grain produced and the taxes collected by the provinces south of the Yangtze River were gathered in Nanjing, and they went north along the canal to feed the princes and nobles of the imperial capital and the 880,000 forbidden troops, and to feed the officials and people in need of official food in all parts of the empire.

"Mr. Clad, why do these Orientals make the canal so expensive, corrupt, and slow? From Nanking to here, there are thirteen checkpoints and locks alone, and five boat turns!

The cross-examination of Kirman's subordinates made it difficult for Clad López, who goes by the alias Rorid, to answer. He could only helplessly look at the river full of canopy boats and push: "Vaubana, like you, I don't know much about the system of this country. All I know is that now we're probably not going to be able to move on. ”

Just like the Koman man known as Vauban felt, Cao Yun was corrupt, expensive, and slow, but it was still the lifeblood of the world. Whoever wants to get the world, plundering Cao Yun may be the fastest means. As soon as the luck is broken, the forbidden army in the capital must choose between actively attacking or passively starving to death. If anyone wants to rebel, the first priority is to cut off the Cao Yun and point to Nanjing—this time is no exception.

"Eight hundred miles of urgent report! King Cheng rebelled, and he has conquered Ezhou! The soldiers are facing eastward, and they are intended to be Cao An!"

Clad's escort team was trapped in Cao'an City by this shock. When they arrived in Cao'an, the fighting had been going on for several days.

Located in the middle of the Qianli Grand Canal, Cao'an City is famous for its exquisite porcelain, the largest Qingjiangpu dock on the canal, and the fourth largest Caocang in the country. On weekdays, the ships and merchant ships that come and go from the south to the north must stop at this gate, and they must go ashore to rest. These merchants and Caoding who came ashore to rest turned Cao'an into a peculiar elongated metropolis that stretched for dozens of miles along the river to the north and south, lined with shops and shops on both sides.

Located in the middle of the east bank of the river, with a radius of less than ten miles, Cao'an Mansion City was only a small city by the standards of the Hua Dynasty. On the other side of the river, the rebel camps were on land and water, occupying inns and homes abandoned by the people, as well as the largest shipyard in Pushang, Qingjiang, and were building ferries day and night. A reddish yellow flutter over the camp, with the surnames of different generals written on them.

"The waterway fortress on the other side of the river should be the vanguard of the Cheng Wang Army, right?" Looking at the big banner of the word "Cheng" fluttering on the other side of the river, Clad muttered to himself, "In terms of the wooden camp, this waterway fortress is quite solid, and the leader of the troops seems to be a very capable general. ”

"It's just big, it's too big. Isn't the fortress built to accommodate 30,000 men stretching for ten miles, waiting to be broken by each one?" said the blond-haired and blue-eyed Koman with a cold snort, "If I had a six-pounder cannon, I would be able to flatten this stockade in three days." If I were to build this camp, even if I had fifteen twelve-pounder cannons and thirty engineering mages, it would take half a month to smash them. ”

"Vauban I know you're studying fortress engineering, but this country doesn't really need that good fortification skills. Do you have a way to build a fortress that can protect the entire Cao'an district?"

Vauban stood up and looked at the length of Cao Ancheng before reluctantly replying: "Yes, but it will take five years and eight million taels of silver." ”

"That's it. Maybe it's not that the Chengwang army is incapable of building a well-knit camp, it's just that they don't want to build it. In contrast, I value the defenders who can hold this Cao'an City more. Clad touched his short hair and smiled, "In my opinion, this Cao'an City is easy to attack and difficult to defend. Able to hold an attack of 30,000 men with 10,000 troops, the defenders are even more general. It's time for us to go and see us. ”

"You're the boss, and you're in charge. Vauban replied, "Lord Ryder Baihu." Anyway, aren't the people who come to the East all for the money?"

"Before we talk about money, let's remember our own Oriental name, Wan Qi Zong! The surname of the Oriental name is in front, it is Luo Baihu!" Clad corrected, "Also, Ruide is the word." Orientals don't call us by name, keep that in mind. ”

High walls, thick walls.

At the head of the city, the battle flag was raised.

Outside the city gates, the people panicked.

Inside the city gates, officers and soldiers defended.

Cao'an Mansion City does have a city wall, but the city wall can only cover a few miles near the government office in the east of the river. Clad, with his team of 200 escorts, reluctantly passed the interrogation of the guards at the city gate. The guard general was a guerrilla, and he asked the escort division to stop at the post station, and he took Clad and Vauban to the government to inform the prefect.

The two big flags at the entrance of the government are impressive. Clad recognized one side as "Quanzhi Cao'an Mansion Zhu" and the other side as "Quanshen Caozhou Military Prefecture Affairs Zhu". He frowned slightly, grabbed the officer next to him and asked, "Excuse me, are the two adults in this city surnamed Zhu?"

Luo Baihu laughed, there is only one Lord Zhu of Zhu Governor in this city now. Seeing that Klad's face was surprised, the guerrilla added, "The original prefect and the army plan to surrender to the king. After hearing the news, Lord Zhu entered Cao An's army alone with a sage book to persuade several thousands of households, raised troops to kill the two, and took the right to lead Cao An's defense. If it weren't for Lord Zhu's presence, this Cao Ancheng would have fallen ten days ago. ”

"That's right...... This Zhu Zhifu is really a genius. Clad chimed in, worried in his heart. Would the person who had made such a decision to kill him suspect that this army was a spy of King Cheng? The guerrilla seemed to see his concern, and did not answer again, but brought him directly to the prefect.

When Clad entered the lobby of the palace, the prefect was reviewing the official documents. For some reason, he was surrounded by heavily armed guards, and Clad could tell at a glance that they were battle-hardened soldiers. The entire court was surrounded by a murderous atmosphere, and only the prefect, who looked to be in his forties, was surrounded by a gentle atmosphere.

"The lower official escorts the hundred households of Luo Ruide, see the prefect. ”

Na Zhu Zhifu raised his head and was stunned when he saw the appearance of the man in front of him. "Are you a Semu man, can you understand what I'm asking?"

"It's been five years since Xia Guan arrived in your country. Clad replied in fluent official dialect, "Xia Guan was ordered to escort this year's tributes and rents to Beijing, but he was trapped here when King Cheng rebelled. Hearing that the prefect was worried about defense, the lower official felt that what he had learned might be useful, and he was willing to serve you. In addition, Wan Qi, the deputy of Xia Guan, was born in a large country in the extreme west, and he is good at artillery, which will probably help you defend the city. ”

"Oh, may I ask where Luo Baihu is studying?"

"Under the gate of Shangqing Mountain. Clad said as he took off his sword. He didn't dare to use it for too long, just let his "broken dream" float on his right hand. Seeing this, several guards reflexively pressed their hands on the hilt of their knives, nervously on guard, only Zhu Zhifu's expression was still very calm.

"King Cheng would not do such a stupid thing as using a lustful person as a spy. I believe that you are indeed the team of the Escort Division, can you help me defend this city?"

This sentence cannot be refused, and Clad almost reflexively agreed: "The lower officer understands. ”

"You just said that your people are good at artillery? It's a pity that Cao'an City is small, and only the west gate has a bronze-tire cannon, so I will leave the defense there to you. We have been defending for thirteen days, and the crusading army is almost to Chengyang, the fiefdom of King Cheng. The decisive battle seems to be these two days, and I hope that the officers and soldiers of your division will have a good rest. ”

Kraid agreed, hunched out the door, a fine cold sweat oozing from his forehead. For some reason, that gentle middle-aged man turned out to be the one who put the most pressure on him.

"Maybe that's what a 'gentleman' is called. ”

Over the next few days, the two armies fought each other, giving Klad a full glimpse of what is called "Eastern" warfare.

There is no staff to write and calculate, and there is no sand table that fills the room. The generals on both sides held bamboo chips every day and calculated endlessly, and it was really the soldiers who came to block it, and the water came to cover it.

During the day, the Chengwang army was able to burn and kill three riverbank outposts, and at night the officers and soldiers responded by attacking the camp. During the day, the Chengwang army tried to impound water to irrigate the city, and at night the official army was able to break the embankment and divert the water. King Cheng's army concentrated their fleets to force their way across the canal, and the officers and soldiers burned them to ashes with fireboats and artillery.

The two sides lost each other, and the day of the decisive battle came earlier than expected. By noon on the fourth day, Cheng Wangjun finally admitted that he could no longer cross the river by boat and bamboo raft. From the west gate, everything that once served as a ferry was now just a pile of charred planks.

According to what Master Zhu said, the traitorous king's fiefdom should have been attacked by the crusading army. ”

Hearing Clad's point of view, Master Zhu just stroked his hair and shook his head: "No, it's just the beginning." King Cheng still has secret supporters, and they must not be able to hold back and come to the stage now. No matter what happens, I hope that Luo Baihu and Wanqi will always be able to lead the army to hold the north gate. ”

"The subordinates understand. ”

As soon as Zhu Zhifu left, the door of the enemy camp on the other side of the river suddenly opened at the same time, and countless soldiers lined up and rushed out of the middle and rushed to the riverbank.

"Hey, it's really here. Hell, how are these guys going to cross the river without even boats?" said Vauban "can't be a swimmer?"

"Who knows, Bacheng wants to freeze the surface of the river, build a bridge with engineering spells, or distribute water amulets to soldiers. Clad casually spoke of the informal river crossing methods commonly used in the East and the West.

"Adjust the artillery! aim at the river!" Vauban hurriedly ordered, "even if they dare to freeze the canal, let them not be able to go back and forth!"

King Cheng's soldiers stopped on the embankment on the west bank of the canal. Many people with flowing robes walked out of the procession, all with long beards or beards, and thick yellow turbans wrapped around their heads. A long and neat chanting sound sounded from their mouths, enveloping the entire Cao An City.

"The sky is dead, the yellow sky has been established, the world is virtuous, and the world is auspicious!"

Next to the big banner with the word "Cheng", there was an even bigger banner at some point, and on it were written two difficult ancient characters, which Clad could only recognize as seal script. He still had a vague impression of this flag, and he always felt as if he had seen it there.

"Turn day into night, scatter beans into soldiers! Wave your sword into a river, call for wind and rain!"

For a moment, the wind seemed to stop, and the clouds from nowhere obscured the sun. The robed men wrapped in yellow turbans drew their swords and swung them in the air.

Clad finally remembered who they were. "Oh my God. King Cheng actually colluded with the Yellow Turban Dao!"

Yellow Turban Road. It's a heavy name, and they've been wandering away from their homeland for more than a thousand years.

But it's definitely not a weak name. The Yellow Turban Dao, which worships the "Yellow Sky", was the state religion of the Muleiman Empire. And the Mulleyman Empire was the largest country on the great shipping route connecting the East and the West. On every sailing ship of the Murayman Empire, the flag of the empire and the "yellow sky" flag of the Yellow Turban Warlock are flying. These bearded, yellow-turbaned, robed-wearing believers were suppressed and expelled from their home country, but they won the right to make an annual pilgrimage to the holy cities of Gwangjong and Julu in their homeland.

"The soldiers are all arrayed in front! Divide the water into the land, and the yellow sky gives the earth!"

They stretched out their swords to the canal. The east wind blew suddenly, and the river stopped for a moment. The waters parted, and the river became dry.

The land rises upwards to form a gentle ramp, enough for an army of 30,000 to charge.

"Forward, for the sake of our holy land, forward!"

The Yellow Turban Warlocks rushed to the front, and they ran faster than their galloping horses. All the voices in heaven and earth seemed to be silent, and only the shouts of the army of King Cheng could be heard.

Vauban artillery all stopped, their legs trembling and staring at the sky.

Clad wiped the sweat from his forehead and clenched his fists. How can this kind of battle be fought?" "Impossible...... With our little strength, we can't hold it. ”

Seeing that those Yellow Turban Warlocks had already stepped on the east bank of the river......

"Fellow Daoists, can you know how much manpower is needed to dredge this river?

Zhu Zhifu's voice suddenly sounded in everyone's ears. His tone was calm, but his voice was unusually loud, and it actually overwhelmed the shouts of killing in the Cheng Wang camp opposite. At some point, he had mounted his horse and lined up with an army of seven or eight thousand on the east bank of the river.

"Yao Shun Yu Tang, Wenwu Zhou Gong, Kong Yan Zeng Meng, Xun Jia Dong Yang, Zheng Zhou Zhang Shao, Cheng Zhu Lu Wang!"

The Yellow Turban Warlocks who had just set foot on the east coast all stopped and listened to the voice of the scribe in front of them.

For a moment, Clad actually felt that he saw countless white-bearded old Confucian scholars standing behind the Zhu Governor's Mansion. He believed the Yellow Turban Warlocks had seen it too.

"The saints are in front, and the Taoism is endless! Please forgive the students for overstepping the law, and today they will use the law to mess with the law! The generals will receive the order and destroy the enemy with me!"

All of the Cao An defenders drew their waist knives, and those thick-backed machetes reflected the light.

"There is no goodness and no disgusting body!

With the chanting of Governor Zhu's mansion, the wind blew, and the river began to move again, and it seemed that it would start flowing again at any time. Everything seemed strange, as if there was some force behind them, and everything seemed normal, as if everything was supposed to work this way.

"Knowing good and knowing evil is conscience! Doing evil for good is a good thing!"

The soldiers charged, and everyone was faster than the horses!

These seven or eight thousand men swept over the Yellow Turban Warlocks like angry waves, and actually rushed over the heads of those rebel soldiers! In the blink of an eye, seven or eight thousand men were already on the west bank of the river, and in front of them were the main force and camp of the rebels!

"Taizhou Xinxue, righteousness is like a wave! Gewu is seven days, and thousands of bamboos are broken!"

Conscience is the principle of heaven, and the heart is righteousness. The canal flowed again, and the army struggled to cry for help. The sun is falling again, and the dark clouds are empty!

"Mr. Yangming's subordinate Zhu Zhiyu is here! Mr. has surrounded Chengyang yesterday, and the clown who jumped off the beam is not quick to ambush him!"

The military spirit of Hexi Chengwang's army collapsed in response. I don't know which battalion started, the Chengwang army mutinied, and the soldiers either threw down their banners and fled in all directions, or knelt on the ground and begged for surrender.

"What a Zhu Zhiyu, what a subordinate of the Yangming Sect! I didn't expect that before I met Shouren, I would have been humiliated first!" one of the leading Yellow Turban Warlocks shouted sharply, "But do you think this is a victory? Do you think you rotten Confucians have already defended Cao An?"

He stomped his feet vigorously and shouted, "Everyone listen to the order, scatter beans and become soldiers!"

All the Yellow Turban Warlocks took out their pockets from under their robes, took out the beans from them, and threw them in front of them, reciting the teachings of the Great Sage in their mouths. In an instant, an army appeared on the east bank of the river out of nothing, just in front of the west gate of Cao'an Mansion!

"You have the ability to bring your army back, Zhu Zhiyu! Zhudoushi quickly attacked the city and captured Cao An!"

When he saw that army, Klad felt that all of his staff training had been in vain. The blood rushed to his mind, it was the anger of being fooled.

What kind of army was that! That army that came out of nothing was actually well-organized and orderly in advance and retreat, which was completely different from the army that was normally summoned.

The red-skinned soldier in a red uniform guards the four corners of the formation, armed with bows and ballistas, and is responsible for shooting.

A green-skinned soldier in a green uniform stood at the front of the formation, carrying a spear and halberd on his shoulder, and was responsible for the charge.

The dark-skinned soldier in a black military uniform pressed the side of the formation, carrying a red-tasseled broadsword, and was responsible for attacking the fortifications.

Yellow-skinned soldiers in yellow uniforms guarded the two wings of the formation, pushing ladders and rushing to the carts, and were responsible for breaking the city.

White-skinned soldiers in white uniforms stood proudly in the center of the formation, each of them eight feet tall and much taller than ordinary people.

This huge lineup of more than 10,000 people moves like a mountain.

"Fire, fire!" Vaubane shouted, but he knew he didn't have enough ammo. The enemy army in front of him is as large as half an Imperial Army or a Free Division, how can he win with his two guns?

"It's a spell that lasts for two hours, and then we'll be finished!" Clad muttered to himself, "I can only scatter up to eight hundred beans, what ......?"

The people around him stared at him with expectant eyes, which made Kraider sweat wet with sweat. He knew exactly what they were expecting.

They were expecting him to work a miracle or lead them to surrender. For these mercenaries from overseas countries, there is no point in dying here. Seeing that the official army is about to win, how can they fail at this last moment?

But no one can compete with the more than 10,000 Doushi. Even if Zhu Zhiyu can use "Breaking Ten Thousand Acres" again, I am afraid that it will not be able to beat more than 10,000 beans. Unless......

“...... Let's give it a try. ”

*** ***

"In this way, my self-esteem was badly damaged by those Orientals. I thought they weren't throwing magic into the war on a large enough scale, but I didn't expect them to keep it as a last resort. In terms of scale, the magic we use on a daily basis is really lacking. ”

The narrative of General López's past comes to an abrupt end, and the conversation abruptly shifts to the art of magic.

"That spell is called 'Scattering Beans into Soldiers'...... Well, I think you can understand it as a kind of activation spell. As long as there is a bean magic medium, the mages of the East can summon heavily armed troops from it, and the spell effect can last for half a day. In the Eastern Dao Method, this is already a fairly advanced skill, and one or two out of ten people will be good. A qualified Taoist priest can cast up to a hundred soldiers, and no one usually relies on this magic. ”

"And what kind of magic is it......?"

"Regardless of the magic, how did you defeat the rebels in the end, Clad?" Never hearing the end of the story, Danika finally couldn't help it anymore and pushed open the door to her room. "What kind of magic did you use to defeat those tens of thousands of summons?!"

"Oh, that's it. I used potatoes. ”

Clad replied lightly, with a smile on his face that could not be concealed.

"You know, before we discovered this crop from the New World and introduced it to the past, there were no potatoes in the big eastern countries. And the Mureman Empire has never had potatoes, and they did not know that such crops existed. And so we won. ”

Both Danika and Soleton's minds contemplated the scene of the Doushi army being trampled by the mighty army of eight hundred Potato Warriors. It was an incredibly interesting sight.

After that, Mr. Yang Ming defeated the army of King Cheng who had returned to the army and suppressed the rebellion. So, it's not so much how strong the magic is, it's how to use it correctly. ”

Clad clapped his hands, reviving the two of them from their longing for a distant land. "Alright, let's not talk about the past, it's time for us to start today's exercise. Perhaps, you will also have a chance to go to that land......"

END

Note 1: Yao Shunyu, Tang Wenwu, Zhou Gong, Kong Yan, Zeng Mengxun, Jia Dong, Yang, Zheng Zhou, Zhang Shaocheng, and Zhu Luwang were the twenty-four scholars in the history of Oriental Confucianism who reached the realm of "saints". Legalist Han Fei Youyun "Confucianism uses literature to mess with the law, and chivalry uses martial arts to violate the ban", since ancient times, Confucian scholars have been able to discover the mysterious magic power hidden in the oriental square characters. The goal of Confucianism, in today's language, was "the power of the text" – a belief that Confucianism built the most powerful bureaucracy in ancient society.

(Forgive me for not mentioning the full names of the twenty-four people, interested readers can look it up ^^.) P.S. Although Zhou Gong is one person, this list is still twenty-four, yes. ）

Note 2: Gewu broke through thousands of bamboos in seven days (well, in fact, he didn't break it...... And the four sentences of teaching, "There is no good and no disgusting body, there is good and malicious movement, knowing good and knowing evil is conscience, and going to evil for good is a thing" are all the deeds of Mr. Wang Yangming. It doesn't seem to be as well-known as Cao Cao's Arbitrary Gate, so let's comment on it.

Note 3: Any similarities between the people, places, organizations, religions, and actual history involved in this book are purely coincidental. The author does not guarantee any correspondence between people, places, organizations, religions, and the real world.

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