Chapter 23: The Thin and Handsome Young Master

  Thank you StarrySkyNico for the reward, thank you!

  The Goguryeo soldiers who were captured, along with the civilians in the city, were all taken to Liaodong City. Adding to that the laborers who were summoned, the entire new city outside was like a huge market. A team of nearly 100,000 people lined up in a long queue, with no end in sight either forward or backward.

  The cavalry in the broken army camp only needs to ride horses and patrol back and forth beside the team, while Chen Kefu walks and chats with old General Li Benlei about running a military officer training class.

  "Does the general mean to have all the generals learn about military tactics and formations?" Li Benlei has now been promoted to a higher rank, becoming the Wuyong Langjiang of the Left Beifu, a fifth-grade official. Since ancient times, learning about military tactics and formations was something that only those who led troops would study, or it was something that young masters from noble families would learn from a young age. Alternatively, it was something that one would slowly figure out through years of experience in the military, developing their own way of commanding troops. As Chen Kefu said, gathering all the officers above the rank of team leader every day to teach them about military tactics and formations was something he had never thought of before.

  "It's true that it's easy to get a thousand soldiers, but hard to find a good general. The guards of the Broken Army are all heroes, but when it comes to leading troops, there aren't many who are qualified. Lord Li should have seen this too - now that the three campaigns against Goguryeo have not succeeded, and peasants in various parts of the country are rebelling again, even the Broken Army can't stay out of it. Now we can only avoid our brothers who follow us through life and death from dying in vain by constantly strengthening the combat power of the Broken Army." Chen Kefu sighed.

  Li Benlei nodded, "Sir, this method is indeed good, but the soldiers in our Broken Army Camp are all selected from the Left Wing Guards, and they are basically all brave warriors, but most of them are from humble origins. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been ostracized in the army and transferred to the Broken Army Camp. Most people can barely recognize a few big characters, how can we teach them military tactics and battle formations?"

  In the eyes of traditional military men like Lao Yezi, those tactics are very mysterious things, and ordinary generals do not have the qualifications to learn. Even if Chen Kefu is really willing to teach, it's a profound subject, can those rough men in the broken army who can't even recognize a few words learn it?

  Chen Kefu smiled, if it was according to the teaching methods of those ancient people, just messing around with some classical texts that take half a day to understand, then it would basically be an impossible task. However, since he is a person who has crossed over from another time, he naturally wouldn't make such mistakes. Even if they couldn't read, as long as he took out specific examples of battles that the soldiers had experienced in the past and carefully explained them to everyone in a straightforward way, even using a storytelling method like a traveling performer, he believed it would still be effective. Actually, he hadn't thought about teaching anything too profound from the start, just some introductory level stuff would do. Later on, when there was an opportunity, they could consider setting up some more advanced training classes.

  Two people were talking when suddenly a commotion broke out in the front row of the Koguryo civilians, followed by several women's panicked voices and shouts from the Sui people.

  "Rolin, what happened up ahead?" Chen Kefu said somewhat unhappily. He was most intolerant of indiscipline in the army, and if it were a soldier from the broken military camp who had violated discipline, he would not let him off lightly.

  Before long, Luo Lin rode back to Chen Kefu's side and said, "Sir, it is that famous 'Lightweight Young Master' of Chang'an who has taken a fancy to a beautiful woman from the high-ranking Goguryeo civilians and wants to abduct her."

  Chen Kefu asked in doubt, "A famous frivolous young master of Chang'an? Is there such a person in our army?"

  Lu Lin's grandfather was also an old nobleman of the Sui Dynasty. Lu Lin, who had grown up in Chang'an since childhood, was also very familiar with those famous aristocratic young masters in Chang'an. At this time, he hurriedly said, "That person is not from my broken army camp. This 'Lightweight Young Master' title is given by the people of Chang'an. He is Yuwen Huaji, the eldest son of Yuwen Shu, the Minister of the Imperial Guards and the Duke of Xu Guo. He is a notorious playboy who relied on the power of the Yuwen family to do evil in Chang'an. I didn't expect that now in Liaodong, he wouldn't even let go of a barbarian woman."

  As soon as he heard that it was Yuwen Huaji, the eldest son of Yuwen Shu, Chen Kefu immediately understood. In his original memory, this Yuwen Huaji was even more famous than his father Yuwen Shu, not for anything else, but because Emperor Yang Guang of Sui finally died at his hands. He also became the emperor of Xu Guo for a few months, and is considered one of the most notorious people in the world. Unexpectedly, they met here.

  "Let's go and take a look!" Chen Kefu said, then rode his horse forward, heading towards the chaotic place.

  Yu Wenjie came to the new city with the army, not specifically for hunting. He is now a fourth-grade Taibush Temple Shaoqing, and the Taibusi Temple has been vacant for many years, so he is basically the boss of the Taibusi Temple. The Taibusi Temple is equivalent to helping the emperor manage horses and vehicles, and all the horses in the world are raised by them, which is equivalent to Sun Wukong's job in the heavenly palace back then.

  This time Chen Kefu suddenly obtained 10,000 war horses and thousands of cattle. Yang Guang also sent him to lead the Taipusi Temple people to receive these war horses. However, this kid as soon as he left the Liaodong camp was like a wild horse that had escaped from its cage. As soon as he entered Xincheng, he was busy running around looking for rare and unusual things from Goguryeo. He didn't even have time to meet with Chen Kefu again after their previous meeting. Today, when he heard that Chen Kefu had already set out with his men, he complained that he hadn't had enough fun yet. As a result, while riding his horse halfway, he discovered a beautiful Goguryeo woman among the crowd and immediately ordered someone to snatch her into his carriage. The Goguryeo people naturally refused, and after some back-and-forth, they even blocked the road.

  Yu Wenhua and his followers came over with a large entourage, but he dared to openly abduct civilians in broad daylight. The people of Goguryeo would not tolerate this even if there were tens of thousands of them. At that moment, they were surrounded and unable to advance or retreat. Just then, Chen Kefu arrived, and Yu Wenhua was overjoyed.

  For Chen Kefu, he has always treated him as his own family. After all, Chen Kefu is also from the Left Guard of his old man. Moreover, his old man has helped him speak many times, and now Chen Kefu should help him win this woman over.

  "General Chen, Brother Chen, quickly order your men to kill these uncivilized Goguryeo barbarians who have eaten bear hearts and leopard livers. I, Young Master, have taken a liking to her, which is already an honor for her. Following me would be better than being taken back to the Central Plains as slaves."

  Yu Wenque was only thirty-two or three years old, but he had a good complexion. He relied on his father being the emperor's confidant and his second brother marrying the emperor's daughter, Princess Nanyang, so he was used to being greedy and arrogant, and doing whatever he wanted, and at this time he didn't think there was anything wrong with what he did.

  Chen Kefu had a deep contempt for Yuwen Huaji and his kind, but as far as he was concerned, his old man Yuwen Shu was not bad to him. Although both father and son were of the villainous type, he wasn't some moral judge in this chaotic world; if someone threw peaches at him, he would return them with plums - and who knows, maybe someday he'd even need to borrow the influence of the Yuwen family.

  Chen Ke smiled slightly and dismounted his horse, walking to Yuwen Huaji's side. He glanced at the woman kneeling on the ground, begging and crying. She looked like she was only sixteen or seventeen years old, with a delicate complexion and beautiful features, especially when she cried, it was quite pitiful. It was likely that she was from an official family in the new city, but now her clothes were torn, her hair disheveled, and her face streaked with tears, making people feel sorry for her.

  Chen Kefu let out a faint sigh in his heart, the people of a chaotic world are like this, especially those from countries that have been bullied by powerful nations. Thinking about China's history through so many dynasties, perhaps every time there was chaos, Chinese sons and daughters were also pitiful like this.

  "With a smile on his face, he leaned in close to Yuwen's ear and said, 'Sir Yuwen, this is just a barbarian woman who doesn't understand the etiquette of the Central Plains, and she's also an enemy national. If you take her in, won't that lower your status for nothing? Moreover, we're at war now, it's not like peacetime in Chang'an, where all the officials are gathered, and His Majesty can't conquer Goguryeo for a long time. What if your rivals seize the opportunity to impeach you? I heard that Chang'an is the most prosperous place in the Central Plains, whatever kind of beautiful woman you want, they're all available. Why not wait until we return to Chang'an before making a decision?"

  Yu Wen thought for a moment and patted Chen Kefu's shoulder, saying loudly, "Ah, fortunately, Brother Pojun reminded me in time. Now my Yuwen family is fighting fiercely with the Pei family, and I really shouldn't be distracted by other things at this time." He turned to his fierce-looking followers and said, "Forget it, let these barbarians go. They don't look special after all. Earlier, I was really blinded and actually took a liking to such coarse objects."

  "Come on, Chen Gongfu, let's get to know each other better. My father often mentioned General Po and told my brothers and me to learn from you. Today is a great opportunity, come to my carriage and have a few drinks with me. I have some excellent Persian wine that I found in the new city yesterday, it's a rare treasure that's hard to find even in Chang'an. We're lucky today, let's drink a few cups."

  Chen Kefu did not refuse Yuwen Huaji's obvious attempt to win him over, and instead smiled as he let Luo Lin lead his horse while he himself got into Yuwen Huaji's luxurious carriage. Since the Yuwen family was trying so hard to pull him in, while the Fei family was suppressing him, why shouldn't he pretend to go along with the Yuwen family for now? This way, even if he stayed by Yang Guang's side, he would have a bit more security. Although he knew that chaotic times were coming, Chen Kefu could only follow the waves of this great era, and perhaps one day when he had enough ability or opportunity, he could truly take control of his own life, ride the winds and clouds, and soar to great heights.

  My stomach hurt all night yesterday, and I didn't sleep. Now, I'll update the first chapter of today first. After you guys finish reading it, please help me vote for recommendations, thank you brothers!