In order to avoid facing the Tatar army head-on, Li Qing deliberately took a long detour and spent four days before returning to the camp.
The battle has long ended, and the Ming army is reorganizing.
"It's good that you're back." Lan Yu breathed a long sigh of relief when she saw Li Qing, "Have a rest for the night, and we'll go back tomorrow."
Li Qing asked: "How was this battle?"
"We took a slight advantage." Lan Yu said, "But you burned so many tents, so your work was not in vain."
After a pause, he said, "Before winter, the Tatars will definitely go to plunder Oara. Generally speaking, our losses in this expedition are not too big."
He had some regrets, "If an army of 100,000 people was commanded by me alone, it would definitely not be like this situation."
Li Qing was silent for a moment and comforted, "You can still fight like this when nearly half of your body was lost in the first place. You are already very powerful and you have tried your best."
Lan Yu smiled bitterly, "It's a pity that this last battle failed to meet expectations."
Li Qing was also helpless, but Qiu Fu was already dead, so what else could he do?
…
The next day, the army returned to the court. Along the way, the faces of the soldiers were not good-looking.
There were an army of 100,000 when they arrived, but now it was less than 40,000. More than 60,000 were lost, and only nearly 30,000 were killed. Even though the Tatar camp was burned, the losses could not be made up.
Wang Cong and Li Yuan were the most sad. If their army hadn't underestimated the enemy and advanced rashly, the outcome would not have been like this.
At the same time, they also saw the strength of Liang Guogong.
——The heroes of Jingnan are really not as good as the heroes of the founding of the country!
I have discounted more than 40,000 people, and to be able to do so is really awesome.
If we put aside their army and look at Lan Yu's army alone, the Ming army is definitely the dominant side.
But once it's averaged, it won't work.
The soldiers were okay, they acted according to orders, and they could not be blamed for the defeat, but the generals were different. Originally, their army had meritorious service, but if they were averaged like this, they would have to be punished.
Find someone to reason with.
Qiu Fu must be dead, otherwise these generals would spray him to death.
…
Early September.
Zhu Di received the military intelligence report. After reading the contents of the battle report, he was so angry that the table was overturned.
He looked up to the sky and shouted: "Qiu Fu is incompetent...!"
An army of 100,000 had lost more than 40,000 before the war started, which he couldn't accept no matter what.
Zhu Di was so angry that he deprived Qiu Fu of his title on the spot. Unsatisfied, he wanted to exile Qiu Fu's family, but Xu Miaoyun persuaded him to stop him.
In the end, they just drove them away from Jinling and drove them back to their hometown.
Zhu Di felt very distressed. At the same time, he also felt lucky. If he hadn't listened to Li Qing's suggestion and activated Lan Yu, all the 100,000 troops might have had to join in.
Thinking of this, he felt inexplicably better.
"Lanyu is really good at fighting." Zhu Di said to himself, "Under those circumstances, he could still fight like this. Even if it were me, it would be nothing more than this, but... Even if Zhu Yunxi is not considered, at his age...
well."
Zhu Di fell into a dilemma and looked around. He found that there was no one who could take the lead.
The only one who can barely afford to be handsome is Zhang Fu.
But after experiencing Qiu Fu's incident, he felt that Zhang Fu was too tough. After much deliberation, there was only one candidate left.
——himself.
Zhu Di sighed heavily and couldn't help but envy his father.
At the time of Lao Zhu, there were really so many stars gathered together, especially in the early days of Hongwu. If you pick one with your eyes closed, you will be right, they are all equally powerful.
Whenever he went to war, Lao Zhu was always worried about who to send.
As for Zhu Di, he didn't worry about who to let go, because there was no one who could be used.
Zhu Di breathed a sigh of relief and said to himself, "When the matters at hand are settled, I will personally lead the troops in the Northern Expedition."
~
In early October, the army returned.
Li Qing, Lan Yu and other generals entered the palace to resume their duties.
Zhu Di did not get angry, but instead held a banquet to entertain the generals.
This made the generals breathe a long sigh of relief, and they were all grateful.
Zhu Di was a sensible man and did not put Qiu Fu's fault on them equally. In addition, in the Northern Expedition next year, these generals were indispensable, so naturally it was not easy to be harsh.
Except for Wang Cong and Li Yuan, they were punished with a symbolic fine of one year's salary, and everyone else received some rewards.
Military generals are the most emotional. The emperor was so understanding and so kind to the generals that they were moved inexplicably and wished they could immediately throw their lives and blood for the emperor.
…
After the banquet ended, Zhu Di called Li Qing alone and frowned, "Why are you injured so badly?"
"On the battlefield, swords have no eyes." Li Qing smiled nonchalantly.
His smile touched the wound, making him look extremely ferocious and no longer as handsome as before.
Then, he added: "There are unwritten rules in the court. Those who are ugly cannot go to court. With my appearance now, I won't have to go to court in the future, right?"
"You...sigh." Zhu Di smiled bitterly, "You are quite open-minded."
In this era, a person's appearance is very important. A person with crooked appearance will not be able to be an official, even if he is talented.
Especially above the court hall, wherever you look, there is nothing ugly.
"Remember back then, you were also a famous handsome young man!" Zhu Di felt a little distressed, "You are a doctor, can't you recover?"
Li Qing smiled bitterly: "The injury is so deep and the flesh inside is turned out. How can it be recovered?"
"That's such a shame."
"Your Majesty, you don't have to be too sad for me..."
"You should wear a mask when you go to court in the future!" Zhu Di said in a roundabout way, which really missed Li Qing's waist, although he did think so.
"Your Majesty, doesn't your conscience hurt?"
Zhu Di nodded: "It will hurt, but it's okay. For the sake of the Ming Dynasty, it hurts for me. You don't have to feel heartache for me."
Li Qing:-_-||
"Go back and have a good rest." Zhu Di said, "We will remember your contribution this time..."
Li Qing interrupted him and said directly: "Your Majesty, just tell me what you want to reward me with?"
"Whatever reward you want, I will grant it." Zhu Di said boldly.
Li Qing knew that this was equivalent to farting, so he said indifferently, "Watch and reward!"
Zhu Di thought for a while, "How about a reward of one thousand taels?"
"It won't be a thousand-guan treasure note, right?" Li Qing asked suspiciously.
"You're a money addict." Zhu Di said angrily, "It's really gold."
"Okay, thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty." Li Qing smiled and cupped his hands, "I will go back first."
After that, he turned around and walked out.
"Li Qing."
"Huh?" Li Qing turned around, "Is there anything else the Emperor has to do?"
Zhu Di said seriously: "In my heart, you are still as handsome and handsome as before. In fact, a man's appearance is not important, so don't care too much."
Li Qing nodded amusedly: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your comfort. I really don't care."
"That's good." Zhu Di smiled, "Go back and take a good rest, go ahead."
~
When they got home, the three girls burst into tears when they saw him like this.
"Okay, don't cry." Li Qing joked, "Do you think sir is not handsome anymore?"
"No, I feel distressed." Wan Ling said with a tearful voice, "Sir, how did you get hurt like this? It must be very painful, right?"
"The pain has stopped a long time ago." Li Qing pulled the three girls into the house, locked the door, and then revealed the truth, "Don't be sad, sir, he did this on purpose."
They all know the secret of immortality, and Li Qing has no need to hide it. "Sir, if you want to recover, you will be fine in a few days. This is just to deceive others."
"Really?" The three women didn't believe it.
"Is there still a lie?" Li Qing said with a smile, "Wanling, you are so handy, you can make a good-looking mask for me."
"I'm afraid the mask won't work." Hong Xiu said, "The mask can cover the face, but it can't cover the long hair of Mr., so I'd better do it in one step and make a headgear!"
"...That's right~" Li Qing smiled bitterly, "You guys should plan it carefully."
The three women nodded.
At this time, the maid's voice came from outside, "Master, a guest is here."
"Okay, I understand." Li Qingyang replied, "I'm going to meet the guests first, and we'll talk about it in the evening."
"Yeah, okay." The three girls agreed obediently.
——
In the front yard, Li Jinglong stood under the fruit tree, holding a folding fan in his hand, looking elegant.
This is his standard accessory and stays with him all year round.
"Brother Li is here." Li Qing said with a smile, "Let's go to the living room to chat. Come and prepare food and drinks."
"It's better not to drink. It will affect the healing of the wound." Li Jinglong said, "I heard from Lan Yu that you are injured. Let me come over and take a look."
Looking at Li Qing's hideous wound, he felt a little sad, "You are a supervisor and not a vanguard. What are you doing here?"
"The situation was critical at that time!" Li Qing smiled nonchalantly, "It's not a big deal. The injury has been fixed. There is no need to avoid drinking. We haven't seen each other in half a year, so we need to have a drink."
"Then... I don't dare to ask my ears as I wish." Li Jinglong finished a sentence and spread his fan to fan gently, gracefully.
Suddenly, he realized that this would hurt Li Qing, so he quickly threw away the fan and said with a dry smile, "It's almost the beginning of winter, it's getting cold~"
Li Qing smiled and nodded, feeling touched.
The two of them sat down, and soon the food and wine were served.
Just as I was about to start drinking, Xiaopang came.
The two stood up and exchanged a few words, and the three of them sat down to eat and drink.
During this period, Xiaopang and Li Jinglong comforted each other in words, and Li Qing showed that they were very helpful, which made the two of them feel at ease.