Ten words. It is difficult for ordinary people to imagine that these words came from a woman's mouth.
Military Master Wu looked at Meng Xinghe's surprised eyes and said calmly, "Why, Mr. Meng thinks what the little girl said is incorrect."
Before she became emperor, she already had the cruelty of an emperor. Historically, it was said that Wu Zetian was a woman who knew how to make use of people but was extremely murderous. Now it seems that this is gradually consistent with history.
Even if he knew that she would be the emperor in the future, Meng Xinghe said without fear: "What Military Master Wu said is true. But the law is true. And it is not Ma's fault that the army and horses are in chaos. Instead of ruining the lives of the people, why not put down the butcher knife and bypass those people?" What about the lives of the beasts? What’s more, the resources of military horses are very small nowadays. If they are killed by random arrows, wouldn’t it be a loss for the army on the right?”
When Meng Xinghe said this, there were a few more voices supporting him. But then there were voices that objected, saying: "Those are untamed military horses. Their capture is no easier than capturing wild horses. I wonder if Mr. Meng has any What a clever plan. It can carry out the arrest without hurting any soldiers."
It would indeed be a fortunate thing if all the escaped army horses could be captured. However, untrained army horses have a fierce temper. If they are rounded up, they will kick and bite like crazy. You must also be prepared to lose troops and generals. This is indeed a disaster. problem.
Military Advisor Wu suddenly stopped arguing with Meng Xinghe about whether to kill the horse or save it. She was more interested in knowing what Meng Xinghe's clever plan was and how he could come up with a clever trick to get the horse back.
"Okay. Just follow the method Mr. Meng said. Retrieve the escaped army horses first, and then convict the horses." At this time, the old prince made a decision. All the generals in the tent immediately swarmed out and came to the military camp to specialize. The place where horses are penned.
The supervisor is an old man in his fifties. He was drunk last night and forgot to fasten the door of the horse pen after drinking two ounces of yellow soup. He let a group of military horses that had just been sent from the racecourse to the military camp break free from the horse pen. Now the group of The army and horses were running around. The general's camp was full of smoke. His old face was tense. When he saw the old prince leading the generals, he didn't run more than three steps. He rolled over and knelt in front of the old prince, shouting for mercy.
The old prince left the whole matter of the general's horse escape to Meng Xinghe. Meng Xinghe helped the old horse prisoner up and came to a flat land surrounded by fences. He looked around and saw a military tent in front of him that was surrounded by fences in a semicircle. In front of them were hundreds of unbridled army horses, munching on tents or outposts built with trees in the army. Their naughty temper made ordinary soldiers dare not approach easily, for fear that they would be trampled by these untamed beasts if they were not careful. They died in the middle. And the military tents in that area had been damaged in various ways. If these beasts were not stopped, they might come running here later. Then there would really be no way to start.
There were people in the army who were responsible for training horses. Meng Xinghe asked the old horse supervisor to find them quickly. The three men each held riding whips in their hands and carried dozens of torches on their backs. They were ready to be dispatched by Meng Xinghe at any time.
"From here, open a three-foot-wide passage through the semicircular fence. Then open the door of the horse pen. The military horses will run in from here later." After observing the terrain for a while, Meng Xinghe immediately did what he said. Make a judgment and let the supervisor do what he wants.
On the safe side of the fence, the generals watched Meng Xinghe directing everything in an orderly manner. They saw that he did not panic at all. Instead, after opening a three-foot-wide lane on the fence, Meng Xinghe called on the three men who knew how to train. The horsemen each mounted a horse and rushed straight into the midst of the escaped military horses.
"Disperse.."
Meng Xinghe commanded the three men to run over from different directions and surround the group of soldiers and horses in the middle.
The army horses that were suddenly broken up became even more panicked. They spread their hooves and kept galloping into the distance.
"Light the fire." Meng Xinghe ordered again. He had already ordered people to prepare torches. When the three men who trained the horses heard the slogan, they immediately lit the torches and stamped on the hay on the ground. Suddenly, the sky was filled with flames and smoke.
Just like encountering a grassland fire, hundreds of army horses suddenly became confused in the thick smoke and ran desperately to an open place in the distance. Meng Xinghe asked the three horse-taming men to block the retreat of the group of army horses and hide their hides. He hit the ground hard with his whip, making a crackling sound. He then continued to light dozens of prepared torches and moved forward to block the incoming army and horses.
The flying torches were like meteors attacking. They all crashed to the ground, blocking all the way for the army and horses. These hundreds of beasts were surrounded by fire on all sides and jumped up and down. They were obviously in a panic.
Thick smoke continued to permeate the army. It rose up like a heavy fog and drifted towards the sky. In the distance, I could vaguely see a few people riding horses walking on the edge. They kept throwing torches and surrounded a group of army horses. The hay burned and made a beeping sound. The sound of beep, beep, and the sound of the whip hitting the ground made the panicked army horses keep running in the encirclement, turning around in circles. They did not dare to rush past because of fear of the fire.
At this time, the phalanx of soldiers and horses were in chaos, and they were all looking for an exit. Seeing that the time had come, Meng Xinghe jumped on his horse and came to the three-foot alley in front of the fence. He held a piece of aqua jade in his mouth. .It was given to him by the wretched old man in the Imperial Academy stables. It was said that on the grassland, herdsmen were looking for lost horses. They used this piece of jade to blow out the cry of the leading horse. Then the lost horses would follow The voice came.
Sure enough, after the voice rang out from Meng Xinghe's mouth, the soldiers and horses who had been surrounded by the raging fire and couldn't find a way out seemed to have heard the call of the leader. They followed the voice and found the three-foot alley.
"hiss.."
The rumble of horse hooves sounded like thunder. Hundreds of panicked horses rushed out from the fire. Some of them were still covered in burning flames. As they ran hard, they could only see the heads and heads of the horses rushing in. They pulled themselves into a straight line and ran end to end into the horse pen that had been opened long ago.
"close the door."
When the last batch of military horses ran into the horse pen, Meng Xinghe ordered the horse supervisor to close the pen door immediately. Then he decisively sent out soldiers to extinguish the flames that were still burning in the containment field. After all this series of work was completed, the horses The warden has counted the military horses in the horse pen. No more, no less. Exactly 420 horses. Not a single one was lost.
"Report to the prince, Mr. Meng has come up with a plan to take back all the troops and horses." The horse supervisor immediately flattered him, hoping that he would be able to take credit for his dereliction of duty and forgive him for this dereliction of duty.
Meng Xinghe took back his army and horses. He didn't show off. He looked at the tents that were still smoking. This was considered a loss of troops.
The old prince laughed. "Mr. Meng's clever tricks are really eye-opening for us."
The generals who had previously looked down on Meng Xinghe gradually began to look at him with admiration due to Meng Xinghe's ingenious plan to set fire to the horses today. He recovered more than 400 untamed horses without losing a single soldier. It is indeed admirable.
"My lord, I have a merciless request."
"Sir, please speak." The old prince said happily.
"Today's recovery of the army horse can be considered a blessing in misfortune. Although the horse supervisor has derelict in his duties, I sincerely ask the prince to consider his merits as a crime and give him a lighter sentence. Firstly, it shows the prince's compassion for his subordinates. Secondly, Let the horse supervisor have a chance to admit his mistakes and correct them. Thirdly, the army and horses are surrendered today. Only with the unity of the entire army can this be accomplished. It is indeed a gratifying and congratulatory thing for the army on the right to train its troops." Please intercede on behalf of others. Flattery is indispensable, but what Meng Xinghe said is reasonable. The officers and soldiers felt comfortable listening to it. They also felt that there was no need to pursue the crime of dereliction of duty by the horse prisoner.
Now that all the troops and horses have been recovered, there are now steps to go down. The old prince was silent for a moment. Then he suddenly burst into laughter: "Then it is according to what Mr. Responsibility twenty. Salary reduction for three months."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." He was complimented. Of course Meng Xinghe accepted.
After listening, the horse plopped down and knelt in front of the old prince. He kept apologizing and said: "Thank you, Mr. Meng."
The rebellion between the army and the horses had come to an end. The old prince took Meng Xinghe to the military camp to look around. During the process, he also solemnly told Meng Xinghe about the annual competition between the left and right armies on the school field.
Regarding the school field competition, Meng Xinghe understood it to be the emperor's review of his army. Since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, a platform to worship generals has been built outside Chang'an every Dragon Boat Festival. At that time, the two armies of the Tang Dynasty will compete here to accept the emperor's invitation. Assessment. In the past few years, no matter which army won, it only brought back a banner of victory. However, since many countries in the Western Regions submitted letters of surrender to the Tang Dynasty, there has been no war in the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, both armies have occupied the campus. It was used as a place to train and compete with each other. However, the Turks, who had not seen any movement at the border for a long time recently, suddenly began to invade the border repeatedly. There were rumors that Jieli Khan, who was captured and killed by the Tang Dynasty, was not actually dead. Instead, he was killed by the Tang Dynasty. The Tang people secretly brought him back to Chang'an and put him under house arrest. Recently, there have been several reports of the use of troops by the Turkic Kingdom on the border of the Tang Dynasty. There is a strong intention to go south to conquer Chang'an and rescue Jieli Khan. Although the ministers found out about Taizong in the court The emperor has no intention of using troops yet, but he has vaguely heard rumors that Emperor Taizong is preparing to reorganize the two armies on the left and right into a brave division of the Tang Dynasty. As for the newly reorganized army, that army will control the overall situation. Therefore, it should be the same as this year's It is related to the competition on the school field. Therefore, the two armies are now stepping up their recruitment. They are preparing to determine the final level this year.
Meng Xinghe finally knew why the two armies on the left and right wanted to recruit talents into their own army. It was not that they were not sure, but that both armies were prepared to win. Because if they lost, they would have to hand over the soldiers of the three armies and send them to others. .
"No one can afford to lose. No wonder Miss Du said those words last night. Not only did she not help them, but she has become their mortal enemy. It's a bit unkind." Meng Xinghe sighed to himself. If he hadn't agreed to Li Chengqian first, .He may help the left wing army strive to win the first place in the school competition this year.
"Mr. Meng, do you have something on your mind?" The military commander standing next to him saw Meng Xinghe's brows furrowed. He seemed to be able to understand what he was thinking. He said, "Meiniang knows. There are some people in the army on the left, sir, and sir." It's not a bit of a friendship. It's really not appropriate for you to deal with them."
Military Master Wu said quietly, which made Meng Xinghe feel numb in his heart. "Master Wu, just call me Xinghe. I'm not a few years older than you. Call me sir. I feel like I'm very old."
"Giggle" Military Advisor Wu smiled. It was so touching that it made people's hearts flutter. "Then you still call me Military Advisor. Just call me Mei Niang."
Meng Xinghe called out "Meiniang" with difficulty. But he was warning himself in his heart: Don't get too close. Something might happen.
Sure enough, Meng Xinghe was still thinking about this sentence in his heart. "Be careful." Military Master Wu said urgently, and already stretched out his hand to hold Meng Xinghe's arm.
Meng Xinghe's reaction was not slow, so much so that he tripped over the unnoticed pothole under his feet in front of everyone. However, in the panic, Meng Xinghe only remembered hearing the instructions from Military Master Wu first, and then it seemed that it came from himself. The instinctive reaction is to grab something. It's soft and very elastic. It can't be.
He looked towards the tall and straight chest of Master Wu on stilts. He felt pain and happiness in his heart.
Not there. Meng Xinghe breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing that his hand was just placed on the military master's jade arm in a proper manner. He quickly stopped his hand and said apologetically: "Thank you."
Military Master Wu seemed to have something to hide. He looked at Meng Xinghe for a few times and finally calmed down and said, "No need. Mr. Meng, just be more careful in the future."
Military Master Wu said something coldly and left Meng Xinghe and walked forward. However, his face turned a little red, just like the sunset on the horizon.
No. Meng Xinghe had some mental doubts. He was sure that at that flash of lightning, he had indeed touched Military Master Wu, but definitely not her hand, because Meng Xinghe already knew the woman's hands very well.
Could it really be somewhere? Meng Xinghe was shocked. He grinned and cursed that he was really mean. He didn't touch anywhere but touched there. I will kill you when I get back. Let's see if you can still harm others.