In the early morning, it had stopped raining all night.
Huo Qubing returned to his house last night and practiced for a while before dawn.
After he had eaten in the morning, a chamberlain came to summon him and let him enter the palace.
In the study room of Weiyang Palace, not long after Liu Che returned from the imperial court, the energetic old prime minister Gongsun Hong came in first and said that he had something to report.
However, after the old prime minister finished his report, he still sat in his seat and did not seem to be in a hurry to leave.
Liu Che glanced at Gongsun Hong, and then said to the chamberlain at the door: "You go and announce the censorship, Taichang and others will come to attend."
"only!"
The waiter agreed and hurried away.
After a while, the imperial censor, Taichang, Shi Jian, Li Xi and other ministers, as well as four or five military generals, entered one after another.
Zhang Qian walked in last, accompanied the last seat, and also found a seat to attend.
After a while, footsteps were heard.
Huo Qubing walked in from the door, glanced at the ministers, and took the seat on Liu Che's right hand, and ordered Li Xi to sit down next to him.
Li Xi's superiors were Lang Zhongling and veteran general Shi Jian, one of the nine ministers.
"At today's court meeting, the Censor and Taichang both said that you killed the Huns envoys and violated the rules. Is this possible?" Liu Che asked calmly.
Huo Qubing looked calm: "There was a story about a Xiongnu envoy who broke into the minister's residence at night to commit murder and was killed by me. How could I, the great Han Dynasty in Chang'an, tolerate their lawlessness? When I went to the building where the Xiongnu envoy was staying, they had already used their weapons.
Kill them without leaving any further trouble."
"That makes sense. Soldiers should have the desire to kill and act decisively."
Liu Che closed the coffin and concluded: "The censor and Taichang were trying to stabilize the court, but Qubing regarded the Huns as enemies from a military perspective, so there was nothing wrong with killing them!"
Taichang Zhou Ping and the censor sat aside, thinking to themselves: At the court meeting just now, His Majesty said that he wanted to question Huo Qubing. Is this the end of the questioning?
Where is the blame?
"Fan Xi, Zhou Ping, do you two have anything to say?" Liu Che's eyes fell on the two of them.
Zhou Ping and Fan Xi had something in mind, but they didn't dare to say it: "I only obey the emperor's orders and have nothing else to say."
Liu Che nodded with satisfaction and looked at Huo Qubing again: "Did you foresee the purpose of the Xiongnu's mission in advance and lead your army to defeat the Xiongnu's plan to attack the northern front of our Han Dynasty?"
Everyone had guessed that Huo Qubing was responsible for this incident, but this was the first time to confirm it in person.
"This is what I did."
Huo Qubing responded: "On the day when the Xiongnu envoys entered Chang'an, I checked the map and realized that they might start from the northern front to relieve their own pressure. So I led my troops to go outside the Western Pass of my Han Dynasty. Sure enough, I saw an elite Xiongnu force and joined Loulan.
, Gu Shi and other small countries in the Western Regions have hundreds of coalition forces, totaling more than 2,000 people.
Among them, the Xiongnu elites were the main ones, accounting for about half.
They are moving south and want to enter the area west of our Han territory."
It turns out that the opponent is not only the 1,500 elite Xiongnu troops, but also hundreds of Loulan and Gushi combined forces.
When everyone heard this, their emotions suddenly fluctuated.
Huo Qubing put it simply, but in fact it is not difficult to imagine the difficulties involved. Only by marching thousands of miles can we stop the enemy in front.
And these are not the most important, the important thing is to rush into battle and win the battle!
"Then what?" veteran Shi Jian asked first.
In the study, everyone's eyes fell on Huo Qubing.
"Then?"
Huo Qubing said: "When I see the Xiongnu cavalry, I will lead my troops to charge and kill them. If I behead the Xiongnu enemy, I will win."
Seeing his calmness, Shi Jian also felt that he might have asked a question, so he put it another way and said: "The opponent has 1,500 Xiongnu elites and hundreds of Loulan and Gushi coalition forces, a total of more than 2,000 people.
What I mean is that Huo Shizhong only led nearly a thousand of our elite Chang'an Guards, what kind of strategy did he use to defeat an enemy that was multiple times his own?!"
Huo Qubing said matter-of-factly: "Although our army only has one thousand troops, we have the advantage of attacking by surprise. The opponent only has one thousand and five Xiongnu elite cavalry. The remaining troops such as Loulan and Gu Shi have limited combat capabilities.
Is it strange that I used a thousand troops to surprise 1,500 Xiongnu elites and routed them?"
Shi Jian swallowed hard and spit.
A thousand Han troops attacked a thousand and fifteen Xiongnu cavalry and defeated them in battle. It sounds like there is nothing wrong with them.
What Huo Qubing said was so logical, it felt like he couldn't defeat opponents who were more numerous than him, which was very abnormal.
Not only Shi Jian, but also several other ministers were stunned.
Huo Qubing continued: "I led my army to kill the Xiongnu general, beheaded him, sent his cavalry, and sent the Xiongnu general's head to the Qiang and Di nomadic lands as a deterrent. This is the process of fighting."
It turned out that there was also an operation to behead enemies and send them to the grazing land of the Di and Qiang people. This was something that no one knew before.
No wonder the Di and Qiang people showed no movement. Apparently they realized that the Xiongnu had been executed and lost help, so they gave up their plan to invade the Han territory.
After hearing this, the old prime minister Gongsun Hong stroked his beard slightly, as if drinking fine wine, he felt quite satisfied.
Although Yushi and Taichang were dissatisfied with Huo Qubing, they still remained consistent on the issue of dealing with the Xiongnu, and they also looked at each other and nodded.
"We generals should be like Colonel Huo, killing the enemy in front of the battle line, running thousands of miles, experiencing life and death as if it were nothing."
While speaking, a military general glanced at the censor and Taichang, implying that some civil servants were hiding in the rear and did nothing, but they repeatedly attacked the military generals.
Huo Qubing added: "On the way to the attack, I also met Bo Qimu, the envoy from the Western Regions who left Chang'an, and met him again on his way back.
According to the captured Huns prisoners, they were planning to attack and kill the silk flag wood.
Silk Flag Wood also knew about this and asked his ministers to come back and tell your majesty that next time he comes to Han, he is willing to donate a hundred good horses to repay our Han army for saving her life."
Liu Che said happily: "That's very good.
You have accomplished a great service by defeating the Huns' plot, but if there is anything you want, I will grant it."
"I have accomplished only a small amount of merit, and I dare not ask for a reward from your majesty."
Liu Che thought for a moment and said, "Then we will fight against the Xiongnu again. If you make new achievements, I will reward you as well."
Huo Qubing bowed and agreed.
After a while, he came out of the study, and the officials also dispersed, each busy with his own business.
Chamberlain Dong Xu still went to the east side of Weiyang Palace with Huo Qubing.
Liu Che said that they would all be rewarded in the future, but he still gave some physical objects first, including a thousand-mile horse donated from the Western Regions, and asked Huo Qubing to go to the horse prison in the palace and choose it by himself.
Dong Xu is responsible for leading the way.
No military leader doesn't like good horses, and Huo Qubing is the same, and he is full of expectations.
It was approaching noon, and the sun was shining brightly.
Dong Xu and Huo Qubing came to the horse racing field of Weiyang Palace.
The horse Liu Che asked him to choose this time was the war horse donated by people from the Western Regions who came as envoys.
Dawan, one of the countries in the Western Regions, produced good horses, and everyone knew about it.
This time, ten horses were sent from the Western Regions, half of which were from Dawan. Liu Che cherished them very much, having only given one to Wei Qing before.
Among the remaining nine good horses, it is said that one is a heterogeneous species that is regarded as a sacred horse by the people of the Western Regions.
Liu Che didn't say which horse it was, and asked Huo Qubing to pick it by himself. If he picked the right horse, he would give it to him. If he didn't pick the right horse, he would be unlucky.
Accompanied by Dong Xu and several horse herders, Huo Qubing came to the horse breeding place and fell in love with a horse at a glance.
That horse stood out among the other horses like a chicken, it was a real tall horse.
It is hard to imagine that a horse can be so strong, with muscles on its body as tangled as a small snake, showing its extremely strong physique and running ability.
Its hooves are larger than a sea bowl, its four legs are strong but well-proportioned, its shoulders are symmetrical and not slanted, its gluteal muscles are full, its ponytail hangs smoothly, and its waist and back are straight.
This horse stood on the racecourse like a king. Its coat was a little azure, and it was so beautiful that it looked like an elf that had run into the world from the sky.
It is at least one head taller than other horses, but its body is slender and coordinated.
There is no such thing as a good horse with a strong temper and difficult to tame.
The war horse that Huo Qubing fell in love with was very psychic. When it saw Huo Qubing approaching, it tilted its head and looked at it. It was not afraid of people at all, and its pure eyes were filled with pride.
When looking at a horse, you should look at its waist and its load-bearing capacity. If you ride it, you can test its endurance.
Huo Qubing had many encounters with horses since he was a child and was very familiar with their nature.
He walked closer, looked around the horse, suddenly jumped up, and punched the horse's spine mercilessly.
There was a bang.
The horse was caught off guard, and Huo Qubing's punch was enough to crack the monument and crack the stone.
The hammer hit the horse's back, but the horse was not damaged at all, but it was frightened and angry. It raised its hind hoof and kicked Huo Qubing in the face.
Huo Qubing turned over in the air, kicked out, and collided with the horse's hoof miraculously.
Bang!
A ripple exploded in the void, and Dong Xu, who was several feet away, felt the air blowing on his face.
Huo Qubing rolled over and landed on the ground, marveling at the strength of the horse's legs.