Seeing the highly respected General Lian, the refugees under the Hanye City Wall seemed to see the hope of life. They knelt down and shouted:

"General Lian, save us!" "Let us go into the city!"...

Even the iceberg beauty female general in front of the city gate softened her face at this time and greeted him: "Teacher, you are finally back. There are many refugees outside the city, and it is inconvenient for my father to show up. He has held a banquet in the palace to cleanse the general.

.”

Lian Hong's wild eyes briefly glanced at the gray refugees on both sides, and then he replied to the female general: "General Shuang is coming to greet you personally. I already have a bright face."

As he spoke, he rode forward, and he and the female general entered the city together, and the city gate was then closed.

After entering the city gate, the female general got closer to Lian Hongye and whispered: "Teacher, if you are back, the refugees outside the city will be saved."

"No." Lian Hongye said.

"Why?" the female general frowned and asked on horseback. The hundreds of soldiers following behind stopped in shock.

It turned out that this female general had written several letters to Lian Hongye in the past few days, detailing the situation of refugees outside Hanye City, and asked Lian Hongye to seek instructions from the Lord Baichenghou to open the city to welcome people.

Therefore, as soon as she heard that Lian Hongye had returned, she invited herself to welcome him. She wanted to meet her teacher first and discuss the opening of the city before having a banquet with the king.

Unexpectedly, Lian Hongye said "no" to her as soon as they met and dismissed her.

"General Shuang, let's go." Lian Hongye said calmly.

The female general glanced at the troops behind her before riding her horse forward again, but there was already a thin layer of frost between her brows.

After a long while, the female general spoke again: "Teacher, do you think there is no room for people in the city? Hanye City is the hometown of all Ju people, and the first batch of Ju people all grew up on this land.

When my ancestor Baicheng Han built this city, he promised all the people of the Ju State who participated in the construction of the city that no matter how many years pass, the walls of Hanye City will always withstand the shuo wind of Leizhou for future generations of people of the Ju State.

Therefore, although our Ju Kingdom is small, the walls of Hanye City are comparable to the capital of the great country Langya. Now, even if the refugees gather in large numbers, the city can still accommodate three thousand people!"

"General Shuang, Xue Yi has already told me about the situation in the city," Lian Hongye said.

"Then why-"

"Even if I ask, I won't agree."

The female general's face changed sharply: "How could it be? Teacher, you are -"

"If you and I would agree, I shouldn't be in Hanye City right now." Lian Hongye sighed, and his stern face actually had an old look.

…

Outside the city gate, the refugees were still bustling and wailing, because General Lian ignored them and hurried into the city.

But Ye Ziqi's mood was particularly different. Until now, his excitement had not calmed down.

When he saw the two generals meeting each other on horseback, the powerful general and the peerless beauty riding side by side, a fanatical emotion suddenly surged in his heart, and he said fiercely in his heart -

This is what you should do to be a hero! This is how you should support a beautiful person!

"Who is that woman riding the white horse? She can ride alongside General Lian. Why haven't we heard of such a famous person in Ju State before?" Gu Feng asked the person next to him.

Ye Ziqi hurriedly listened and listened. This was also a matter of concern to him.

But most of the refugees next to him also had blank faces. Gu Feng asked a few more people before suddenly a voice said:

"That sir is the commander-in-chief of our Ju Kingdom, the eldest daughter of the lord Baicheng Marquis, Baicheng Shuang!"

"What!" Ye Ziqi and Gu Feng exclaimed at the same time. Xun Sheng turned around and shouted in their hearts: What a man!

The person who answered them just now was a tall, muscular man in his mid-twenties or sixties, walking towards them.

"Brother, are you telling the truth?" Ye Ziqi asked the man again.

The man smiled and said: "Of course I won't deceive my little brother. Last winter, General Wang Xian died of illness. Later, his position as commander of the capital was suspended for several months. It was not until this spring that it was decided to be given to General Baicheng Shuang.

."

"It turns out that it happened this year. Our town is not well-informed, so we always find out about it later," Ye Ziqi said.

"But even if her surname is Baicheng, she can be the commander of the capital. This is too-" Ye Ziqi sighed in disbelief. In fact, he didn't know much about the Juguo military system, but every child in Beishan Town at least

As we all know, "du commander" is the highest position in the Ju army.

The highest military power in the Ju Kingdom is actually in the hands of such a snowy beauty who looks to be only in her early twenties. Doesn't this mean that the Ju Kingdom has no one?

"Hey, don't underestimate that female general." The strong man seemed to have noticed what Ye Ziqi was thinking, and said with a smile: "She didn't get this position just because of her father's protection. Han Ye

There are many rumors about her in the city.

It is said that when she was fifteen years old, she single-handedly killed the monster Jufu (Note 1) on Chongwu Mountain, and joined the army and became the head of a hundred households.

At the age of eighteen, with good military strategy and meritorious service in suppressing horse thieves, he was granted the title of head of a thousand households.

She is only twenty-one years old now, but she manages the army well and has convinced the soldiers. Her reputation is not even inferior to that of her brother who is also the commander of the capital and has been in the army for twenty years."

Ye Ziqi was stunned when he heard this. Hearing this experience, it was simply more exciting than the biographies of peerless heroes he had read in the library before.

Gu Feng's eyes were more focused on the man in front of him. Although this man was not handsome and his clothes were simple, he had a straight nose, broad forehead, and sparkling eyes, which gave him the impression of being both steady and resourceful.

Not like an ordinary person.

Gu Fengnai cupped his hands and said: "Brother Cheng, let me clear up the confusion. My name is Gu Feng, and this is my brother Ye Ziqi."

The man also raised his hand and said, "My name is Xu Jing. We are all people who have perished in the world. You are welcome."

"It turns out it's Brother Xu. Nice to meet you." Ye Ziqi said quickly: "From what Brother Xu said, it seems that he knows Hanye City quite well. We brothers are new here and are encountering difficulties. I wonder if Brother Xu has time to chat with us more.

Could you please help us understand it with a few words?"

Xu Jing couldn't understand the meaning of friendship in Ye Ziqi's words, and laughed loudly: "To be honest, I just saw the two little brothers standing in the crowd, full of energy and extraordinary energy, and I wanted to make friends with you two

I wanted to make friends, so I came over to chat. Since you two think highly of Xu, we might as well find a place and talk slowly."

Both Ye Ziqi and Gu Feng were happy and agreed, so the three of them walked out of the crowd and came under a cedar. They each reported their homes and talked in detail.

Ye Ziqi and Gu Feng explained their experiences and emphasized their desire to join the army. After hearing this, Xu Jing asked: "Are your families military households?"

Ye Ziqi and Gu Feng shook their heads together and said: "Isn't it okay if you are not a military household? We don't know much about the military system of the Ju Kingdom, so please ask Brother Xu to clarify our doubts."

"It's not impossible, it's just a little more troublesome." Xu Jing said: "The Juguo military system implements a guard system. Guard posts are set up from Hanye City to various counties and towns to manage local households with military registration.

There are more than 10,000 military households in the country, and soldiers have always been recruited from these fixed military households. Each household will send a soldier, and the brother will inherit it after the death of the brother, and the son will inherit it after the death of the father. The recruited soldiers will eventually be commanded by the military guards.

There are three major military guards in the Ju Kingdom. The first guard has 5,600 people. The highest-ranking guard chief among them is called the "du commander", that is, General Baicheng Yan of the first guard, General Lian Hongye of the second guard, and Baicheng Shuang of the third guard.

The general has commanders of thousands, commanders of centurions, etc.”

"Then since we don't have a military background, wouldn't it mean that we have nowhere to go?" Ye Ziqi said anxiously.

"In normal times, this would indeed be a trouble. But -" Xu Jing changed his tone and said, "The situation is different now.

The calamity of horse thieves this winter is far worse than in previous years. It has penetrated from the coast to the villages and towns of Beishan and Hanshi. In order to deal with this situation, General Lian Hongye stationed a military camp on the Snow Dragon Slope twenty miles northwest of Hanye City the day before yesterday.

An altar was set up to recruit troops, which was called "Martial Arts Examination".

Even ordinary people, as long as they possess martial arts skills and are determined to serve the country, and pass the "martial arts examination" test, can be admitted into the army as an exception.

I think that although the two little brothers are young, they have quite strong bodies. They think they have martial arts skills, so they might as well go over and try their skills."

"Okay!" When Ye Ziqi heard that there was a "martial arts competition", he was at the end of his rope and there was a bright future in the village. He excitedly took Gu Feng's arm and said: "Gu Feng, we have a way to survive! Hurry up and go.

That Xuelong Slope, with your ability, there will definitely be no problem."

But to Ye Ziqi's expectation, Gu Feng's face was strangely gloomy at this time. He looked at him in silence for a while, with his brows furrowed, but he asked Xu Jing:

"I dare to ask Brother Xu, I heard that General Baicheng Yan has always guarded Hanye City, and just now I saw General Lian Hongye and General Baicheng Shuang entering the city. According to Brother Xu, now the commanders of all three armies are gathered in Hanye City.

Then who is commanding the northern defense line?"

Xu Jing glanced at Gu Feng in surprise before replying: "You... are good. You are in a difficult situation, but you are still concerned about state affairs. But your problem... Well, you have to have soldiers, and you have to use people to command them."

Gu Feng frowned.

"What does this mean?" Ye Ziqi also noticed something was wrong.

"Nowadays, there is no longer any northern defense line!" Xu Jing sighed and said: "Actually, about half a month ago, a barbarian cavalry somehow bypassed many outposts and suddenly appeared on the north side of Hanye City.

Hanshi Town, ten miles away.

Although General Baicheng immediately sent troops to annihilate them, the lord of the country, Marquis Baicheng, then issued an urgent edict, asking General Lian Hongye and General Baicheng Shuang to lead their troops back to defend Hanye Capital."

Ye Ziqi felt a chill in his heart and asked: "Is it possible that the Ju Kingdom's army is now guarding Hanye City regardless of the people who were killed by horse thieves?"

Xu Jing replied in a deep voice: "That's more or less the case. This is also because this year's calamity has exceeded everyone's expectations. A letter of request for help from the emperor in Tianyue City is already on its way. By this time next year,

Emperor Dasong would send troops from inland vassal states to help in advance.

But this year, all the princes in the north are doing this. They can't catch the horse thieves who are guerrillas, and they can't find out the details of the horse thieves, so they gather all their troops around themselves and put them in the royal capital to defend themselves.

"

"That's why the horse thieves suddenly came to our town, and we didn't receive the slightest warning!" Ye Ziqi shouted with red eyes.

Xu Jing stared at Ye Ziqi for a while and sighed: "Brother Ye, since you are from a mountain town, you should know how people in the mountains put out mountain fires, right?

When a mountain fire breaks out, it is impossible to put it out directly. The only feasible way is to cut down the grass and trees and clear an isolation zone.

In this way, when all the weeds in the isolation zone are burned out and there is nothing left to burn, the mountain fire will naturally be extinguished and will no longer be able to spread outside the isolation zone.

The common people are like weeds, and horse thieves are like fire! Do the princes who control the 'isolation zone' of the army care about the life and death of weeds?

The princes in Hanye City knew that the fire would only burn for one winter, and the horse thieves could not really carry much material. If they had looted enough, they would return to Qianzhou before spring; and as soon as the spring breeze woke up, the weeds would grow again on their own. Get up and continue to provide them with fodder.

The "isolation zone" of the army does not need to contain wildfires, it only needs to contain the princes themselves!"

Xu Jing suddenly stared directly into the eyes of Ye Ziqi and Gu Feng, and said in a deep voice: "This world is a blazing battlefield! Two little brothers, have you ever thought about what you want to do on this battlefield? ?"

Gu Feng remained silent, while Ye Ziqi avoided Xu Jing's gaze, turned his head and looked at the closed gate of Hanye City and the snow sculpture spreading its wings, and said softly:

"I don't dare to think too much. Since I'm just a commoner, I just hope to avoid the flames and take root in the safe isolation zone. I want to step into that city gate. That's all I dare to think now."

This was said in a simple way. But from Gu Feng's perspective, he happened to notice that when Ye Ziqi said these words softly, a pair of strange and blazing golden eyes clearly lit up in his eyes looking towards the city gate. Double pupils.

——

Note 1: "The Classic of Mountains and Seas: Three Western Classics": It is said that on the mountain of Chongwu... there is a beast, which looks like a tree with tattooed arms, a leopard and a tiger that is good at throwing, and its name is Jufu.
Chapter completed!