"Young officer, can you tell me about the four?" Hearing Zeng Mu's words, a priest who was treating the wounded on the side stood up and asked in a loud voice.

Zeng Mu hung the mask around his waist, and when he heard the sound, he turned his head to see a priest with gray hair, dressed in a black priest's robe, and only tied with a gray cloth belt around his waist.

"Your Excellency Bishop," Zeng Mu bowed down to the priest with a very respectful expression,

He was one of the first clerics to spread the Holy Religion in the Banzhou area, served as the president of the Bishop Seminary, and was elected as the deacon bishop of the Banzhou diocese bishopric, originally he was elected as an archbishop and entered the archbishopric, but he was resolutely resigned, and by the way resigned from the post of deacon and bishop of the Banzhou diocese, and returned to his hometown Longxi County to be an ordinary priest in a church in Lintao. But his exploits were not forgotten by the Church, and he was awarded a lifetime bishop by the Archbishopric (only an honorary title, very different from the bishops elected by the diocese).

In this western expedition, Jiang Sui insisted on signing up for the regiment of clergymen in the army, regardless of his age of more than 60, and after arriving on the battlefield, he insisted on becoming a clergyman in the vanguard unit.

"Your Excellency, the Lord and the Prophets have taught us that the four things that believers must observe are love, courage, faithfulness and propriety." Zeng Mu replied very respectfully.

"Do you know what these four mean?" Jiang Sui continued to ask.

This question is very abrupt, because in China, where the Holy Religion is the state religion, the believers told them why the water flows to the lower places and why the wise man is not confused, and the missionary also told them that an upright person must abide by the Four Rules, and told them what the Four Rules are. Although Jiang Sui asked abruptly, Zeng Mu still replied very respectfully: "Lord Bishop." Benevolence is to be loyal and forgive and love others, wisdom and courage is to have right and wrong and take responsibility, faith is to improve one's self-cultivation, and etiquette is to abide by etiquette and order. ”

"Young officer, you answered very well, but I don't understand, why did you hesitate?" Jiang Sui stared at Zeng Mu's eyes and asked.

Zeng Mu is like a naughty boy who has been exposed by adults. A drunken red color suddenly appeared on his face. Zeng Mu's words just now seem to be that he forced these Slavs to join the Holy Religion, but in fact, his real intention was to save the lives of those Slavs, because the practice of the Chinese army was that the vanguard troops did not leave prisoners of war. When Zeng Mu saw the Slavs who had rushed together, he had already seen their fate, and finally he couldn't help but speak, hoping to alleviate this cruel practice by joining the church. But Zeng Mu's intentions were seen through by Jiang Sui at a glance.

"I see in your cold eyes the intolerability and kindness." Jiang Sui raised his right hand slightly, stopped Zeng Mu, who was about to speak out, and continued. "Young officer, the good nature is the conscience that God has given us, the only thing we can hold on to and not give up. You have pity for the captives who laid down their arms. This is normal, and it shows that you are a true believer. ”

Jiang Sui glanced at Zeng Mu, who was silent, paused for a moment, but then said, "But young man, as an officer, you should review the twenty-fourth chapter of the first volume of the holy canon. ”

Chapter 24 of the first volume tells the story of the Holy Lord Yellow Emperor and the Prophet Emperor Yandi. The Holy Lord Yellow Emperor came to the world and became the leader of the bear tribe, shouldering the responsibility of God-given leadership to lose his nature in ignorance and barbarism, and the world has moved towards civilization. The Holy Lord first led Youxiongbu back to the civilized world of Pangu God, but there are still more people waiting for the Holy Lord to save him.

So the Holy Lord Yellow Emperor found the leader of the tribes at that time, the leader of the tribe surnamed Jiang, Emperor Yan, and asked to spread God's will in all directions of the world. To lead the people back to God's civilized kingdom. Because of their ignorance and pride, Emperor Yan and his people refused to accept the teachings and guidance of the Holy Lord. The Holy Lord finally came to his senses after his hard advice was ineffective, and even after being plotted by Emperor Yan and his subordinates many times. The Holy Lord returned to his tribe and put his armor in order. After defeating the Yandi tribe in Hanquan and gaining the authority to command the world, he began to spread civilization to the four directions, so that more people could hear God's guidance. And Emperor Yan also suddenly woke up in front of the miracles of God and accepted the knowledge of the earth from God. Become a prophet. Help the Holy Lord defeat the leader of the Jiuli tribe, Chiyou, and lead the Chinese nation to civilization. So we call ourselves the descendants of Yan and Huang, the people of China.

Zeng Hua, the prophet of the Holy Religion, told the believers of the Holy Religion in the holy scriptures that the source of virtue and virtue are what virtue and prestige want. In other words, there can be no benevolence without prestige, and benevolence in the world is precisely the goal pursued by the means of prestige. This doctrine became the ideological basis of the Chinese army's "first subduing you and then reasoning with you", and then developed the practice of not leaving prisoners of war in the vanguard troops.

The reason for this cruel law is that most of the tasks of the vanguard troops are to attack and outflank, and in order not to reveal their whereabouts and secrets, they can only keep military secrets by such cruel means; The second is to create a kind of fear and deterrence for the enemy, so that the enemy can better understand the benevolence of the Chinese people in the face of blood and death, and can also make them surrender more quickly when the Chinese army officially starts.

Seeing Zeng Mu's speechless appearance, Jiang Sui smiled and continued: "Before jackals become our sheepdogs, you can't expect their fangs and claws to be no danger to us. I think you understand that, but understanding and doing are two different things, aren't they? Youngster.

"I wonder when this cruel law of war will be abolished?" After being silent for a long time, Zeng Mu did not answer Jiang Sui's question, but asked another question in a deep voice.

"Maybe when all the people are like us, this law of war may be abolished." Jiang Sui replied meaningfully.

"Feng Liang, execute all the prisoners of war, burn all the things that can't be taken away, move quickly, and we will continue to pull out after an hour." Zeng Mu suddenly turned his head and ordered Feng Liang next to him.

The expression on Feng Liang's face, who had been listening just now, froze, but he couldn't help responding: "Obey!" So he sent his mount to carry out the order. I had just walked a few steps when I suddenly came back to my senses. So he turned his head and asked, "Tun Chief, what about the rest of the old and young women and children?" ”

"Stay here, let them fend for themselves, if they can hold on until they are contained by our follow-up troops, they will be created." Zeng Mu waved his hand indifferently. According to the custom of the Slavs, all adult men are warriors, and it is estimated that only a few old and young women and children will be left after everything has been looted and burned by the Chinese cavalry. These people can only stay where they are, that is, they cannot ride horses to ventilate the news, nor can they migrate and flee for their lives. As Zeng Mu said, if they can hold out until the Huaxia army comes and is contained, it is their fate, and if they can't hold on, they can only blame their own fate.

After a while, there were stumbling screams in the distance, as well as frightened cries and terrible cries. Or the Slavs begging for mercy in the face of death, or saying their last goodbyes to their loved ones.

Zeng Mu put it in the distance, and his eyes, which were as clear as lake water, were slowly filled with a layer of mist. Like the mist of an early autumn morning.

"Young man, are you still struggling with this?" Jiang Sui looked at Zeng Mu's expression and asked softly.

"My lordship, I am just lamenting that we have beautiful ideals in our hearts, but we must face the cruel reality." Zeng Mu bowed his head and replied.

Jiang Sui thought for a moment and replied, "Young officer, do you know what I admire most about His Majesty King Ming?" ”

Zeng Mu couldn't help but be stunned, raised his head and looked at Jiang Sui deadly.

Jiang Sui ignored Zeng Mu's burning eyes at all, and just said to himself: "We all know that King Ming wants to establish a system where everyone has no fear. This is an ideal comparable to the Datong world of Confucius and the prophet, and it is also a beautiful ideal that countless Chinese people have pursued for thousands of years. Jiang is not talented, he has read some history books, and knows that most of the sages and prophets with lofty ideals have happened in the history books. The more beautiful the ideals, the more undesirable they are. But King Ming is different, he has the lofty ideals that make us move and fight for it, but he can also gallop calmly in the treacherous world, and finally set up today's foundation. ”

Jiang Sui praised Zeng Hua well in front of Zeng Mu, and made Zeng Mu stand there a little uneasy. Jiang Sui finally said: "This is His Majesty King Ming's very clear distinction between ideals and reality. ”

Zeng Mu heard this. I already understand the meaning of what Jiang Sui said. Jiang Sui said something very vague. For example, his father Zeng Hua had lofty ideals, and he adhered to that very beautiful and lofty ideal. In general, it is difficult for this kind of person to become a big man in reality, and those who really become big are some heroes like Han Gaozu and Emperor Wei Wu. But Zeng Hua is completely different, he insists on his ideals and beliefs, but his methods are unusually realistic and vicious. Zeng Mu knew that Jiang Sui still had a lot to say, such as his father Zeng Hua had unscrupulous means, whether it was Huan Wen or Jiang Zuo's court, or Zhou Guofu's family and Wei Guoran Min, they were all chess pieces he used. In order to set up the banner of national righteousness, he can kill the Qihu to exterminate the clan, in order to increase the army, he can turn the Qiang, Di, Xiongnu, and Eile into descendants, in order to consolidate his rule, he can "reduce" the population of Mobei and Liaodong by more than half, and in order to enrich the treasury, he can go on an expedition of thousands of miles to loot the Western Regions.

After thinking about it for a long time, Zeng Mu felt that he was still the same as before, and he still couldn't understand his father.

"Thank you, Bishop, for being my mentor." Zeng Mu finally said respectfully to Jiang Sui.

"Your Royal Highness, your best teacher is none other than your father, His Majesty the Great King Ming." Jiang Sui bowed his head and replied, but his eyes flashed.

In September of the second year of Huaxia, a 3,000-strong Chinese advance cavalry announced their arrival with death and black smoke. They were rampage south of the Dnieper, and the Goths, Slavs, and Sarmats could only pray, desperately, to the gods before the sabers and iron hooves of this Chinese cavalry. Tens of thousands of refugees fled south across the South Bug and Dniester rivers towards the Danube Valley.

When this Chinese advance cavalry slaughtered the first region, and when it was dark, and chased the Dniester River side by tail, the main Chinese cavalry of more than 20,000 people built two "simple castles" in the area on the north bank of the Dnieper River in a hurry, and then crossed the Dnieper River and the South Bug River in a hurry, and slowly advanced south along the eastern bank of the Black Sea.

The Great Tent of the Goths on the south bank of the lower Danube, the great leader of the Goths, Fredigan, receives information that flies like snowflakes. Bewildered. All of this information said that the traces of the Chinese advance cavalry had been found somewhere, while another information said that these had suddenly disappeared, and that a few days later the information sent from another place said that the intelligence of the cavalry had been found again. In other intelligence, it is said that the main cavalry of China came from the shore of the Black Sea with the momentum of "overwhelming the mountains and the sea", and that kind of momentum cannot be compared with the most violent time in the Black Sea. The information, which was exchanged for the lives of hundreds of Gothic and Alan good riders, also said that the places where the Chinese cavalry passed seemed to have caused huge losses in the local area.

Although Fredigan was now the chief of the Goths, and even many Slavs and Alans had taken refuge, he was not worried about how the Chinese cavalry would loot the places they passed. Because he didn't feel like he had to take on such a big responsibility.

At that time, he was only one of hundreds of Goth leaders, but he was not unknown, but he was somewhat famous among the Visigoths for his bravery and resourcefulness. When the Northern Expeditionary Army first set foot on this steppe with the assistance of the Western Huns, the Ostrogoths and Alans, who had always been the foreign enemies of the Roman Empire, were routed almost overnight, and those Orientals, armed with weapons that were not inferior to those of the Roman Empire, and whose cavalry and archery were far superior to these "Black Sea Barbarians", swept the entire Dnieper Valley like a hurricane, and the Ostrogothic leader Ermanric committed suicide after the defeat, and his son Ithimer was shot into a porcupine by the Northburgers just ten days after he succeeded to the throne.

A section of Ostrogoths and Alans fled to Visigothic lands under the leadership of chieftains Alathu and Savolax. And the terrible fighting on the Dnieper caused panic to also envelop the Visigoths, causing them to collapse without a fight. Caught between the menacing Northern Governors and the mighty Roman Empire, all the Visigoths who could run made a wise choice - hundreds of thousands of Goths flocked to the Danube, led by their chieftains. Cry out to the Roman defenders for help, ask the Empire to allow them to cross the river to escape the impending catastrophe, and swear eternal allegiance to the Empire in return. Among these chiefs were Athanric and Fridigan.

The Roman Emperor Valens was pleasantly surprised when he heard the news that the Goths had requested asylum in the country. The Goths numbered more than 100,000 men, of whom 30,000 or 40,000 were combat-ready, and if these people were organized, together with Roman discipline and equipment, it would not be difficult to build a large army. With this army as a base, not to mention defeating the old enemy Persia. Even the revival of Rome's hegemony is just around the corner. However, Valence also considered the danger of allowing a large number of barbarians to flood into Roman territory, so he made a rather cautious order: the Visigoths could be allowed to annex themselves, but the Visigoths must surrender all the underage boys as hostages and surrender all weapons before crossing the river. The desperate Visigoths agreed, and they set foot on the south bank of the Danube.

But it was not easy to make sure that the Goths handed over all their weapons. This can only be done if there is a complete and rigorous system of review and control. The two Roman generals sent to receive them, Lupicin and Maximus, and their officers and soldiers had long since been corrupted by centuries of Roman glory, patronizing slaves, bribes, playing with Goth women, and turning a blind eye to the confiscation of weapons. Many Visigoths wrapped their knives, arrows, and axes in their bunks. It was easy to cross the river. Once the migration of 100,000 people began. The chaos is difficult to control. At this time, the first Ostrogoths and Alans led by Ayati and Savolax also fled to the Danube. They did not submit to Rome, and there was no reason to cross the river, but there were still traces of the Beifu cavalry cruising in the north, and although they were across the Dniester River, they still felt unsafe. Now that the Visigoths had come to their aid, and the Ostrogoths and Alans had also taken the opportunity to set up rafts to cross south, the Romans could not control it at all, and they did not have the heart to take care of it. The Ostrogoths and Alans who crossed the river did not submit to Roman control, but surrendered to the Visigothic chieftains of Atanarik and Firedigan, and Firedigan's power was rapidly expanding at that time, but it was still not the largest.

The Northern Expeditionary Army and the Western Huns retreated to the Don Valley, and the threat of the northern frontier seemed to disappear for the time being, and food and clothing became the primary concern of the Goths. According to the idea of the Roman Empire, it was already a "great grace" to let these barbarians cross the river for refuge, and Rome was certainly not obliged to feed them, and it was a drop in the bucket to barely supply some food. Many Goths did not fall to death on the way. is forced to sell children and daughters, marked as slaves, coupled with the exploitation and abuse of Roman border generals, which makes the free Goths unbearable, and "ingratitude" is inevitable. The Goths were growing dissatisfied with Rome, and small riots were increasing, and they were about to become a prairie fire.

The Roman defenders Lupisinus and Maximus did not expect to create such a situation, in order to eliminate the looming danger. They played a Roman version of the "Feast of the Hung Gate", first ambushing the axemen, and then inviting Atanaric, Philedigan and other Gothic leaders to the feast in order to catch them all. The result was self-defeating, and although he killed most of the chiefs, such as Atanarik and Ayati, he allowed Fredigan and Savolax to escape.

Gredigan raised his arms, and the leaderless Goths suddenly gathered under his command, and defeated the Roman army, killing the Roman emperor, and making Phidigen "famous". Become the greatest leader of the Goths. But Fredigan didn't care about this prestige, and he was now thinking about how to hide from the menacing Chinese cavalry.

Resistance as a whole? Both Fredigon and Savolax knew in their hearts that they could defeat the Roman army. One is by luck, and the other is that the enemy at that time was strong and strong, and the Roman army was no longer the invincible Roman legion of the past. But these two points could not be mentioned in front of the Huaxia cavalry. They learned one or two tricks from the Chinese cavalry and made the Roman army suffer a big loss, so they knew that the strength of the Chinese cavalry was by no means comparable to the declining Roman army, and in the face of absolute superior strength, no matter how good luck there was, there was nothing to do.

"That's just going to run away." After discussing for a long time, Savolax could only speak weakly.

"Yes, I can only escape, I am anxious about how to escape now? Which route to take? Fredigan replied as he stood there, looking at the improvised map on the table.

"Have you thought about it, big chief?" Savolax asked. yes, that's the most important thing.

"If you look at the route of the Huaxia army, although there are thousands of Huaxia cavalry attacking in the west, you see, the main force of the Huaxia cavalry is moving south along the Black Sea in the east. Savolax. Did you find it, this is the closest to us. Fredigan said, pointing to the map.

"What do you mean, Great Chief?" Savolax asked, confused.

"The Chinese cavalry is to avenge the Roman Emperor Valens this time, how to take revenge and kill all the hundreds of thousands of Goths? I don't think it's possible. No matter how brutal the army is, it is impossible to do this. Fredigan straightened up and spoke his thoughts. However, if they knew the war history of the Huaxia or Beifu armies, otherwise they would not have such thoughts.

"So how can the Chinese cavalry avenge Valens. That would be enough to get us out of the Messiah and Thrace, and it would be nice to have a win here. Therefore, the Huaxia cavalry sent a cavalry to confuse us in the west, and on the other hand, slowly moved south in the east, and when we thought that the Huaxia cavalry was still in Dacia, he suddenly exerted his strength. ”

Fridigan's words startled Savolax, but when he thought about it, it made sense. The Chinese cavalry has always been as fast as the wind and its momentum is like fire to make the Goths fearful, but now more than 20,000 Chinese cavalry are slowly moving south, and there must be something wrong with this.

"Great Chief, then we have to make a decision early." Savolax figured it out and said hurriedly.

"I know that. To the south of us is the Roman Empire, and although we have defeated him, if we continue to move south, the fortified castles of the Romans will make it difficult for us to advance an inch, and if the Chinese cavalry catches up from behind at this time, we will be dead. ”

"We had no choice but to flee westward, marching along the Danube towards Pannonia and Dalmatia. Gather our best warriors, gather your best horses, bows and arrows, and set out at any time. Fredigan said flatly.

"What about the rest, Great Chief?"

"Walk one by one." Fredigan sighed.

Five days later, under the pretext of marching north against the Chinese cavalry, Fredigan and Savolax left their Thracian garrison and marched toward the Danube with 30,000 elite cavalry, selected from among the Goths, Slavs, and Alans.

Looking at the tens of thousands of Gothic people who saw them off, these people who didn't know the truth thought that their warriors would go to fight against the murderous Huaxia people in order to defend their relatives, although their hearts were extremely painful, but they just stood there sadly, silent in silence, for fear of making the warriors who were about to embark on the road of no return too sad.

The Gothic warriors, who also did not know the truth, had equally heavy hearts, but they still held their heads high, and some even sang Gothic folk songs. They knew that they might never be able to return to their relatives, but they still marched with high spirits to the north, to the unknown battlefield, where their most ferocious enemies were located.

Firedigan looked at the warriors beside him, but he didn't speak, and there was no expression on his face. As he walked out of the camp, Frieddigan could not help but look back at the Goths he had abandoned, still standing in the cold wind, watching his warriors, and praying for them in silence, hoping that most of them would return safely.

Fredigan felt that his eyes were about to burst into tears, so he quickly took a deep breath and shifted his gaze to a tree next to the crowd, a tree that swayed lonely in the cold wind, with only a dead leaf left on its bare branches. As Fredigan's gaze shifted to the trees, the dead leaves finally drifted down powerlessly in the raging north wind, towards the gray-black earth.

"Can we ever come back?" Fredigan sighed and spurred his mount forward.