Chapter 46: Mixing Sand

  On the first day of the new year, I wish all friends a happy new year, may everything go as you wish, and may your heart's desires be fulfilled!

  "Hey Lao Lu, have you seen those two guys over there?" Hu Hai patted Lu Shide's shoulder and nodded towards Li Shimin brothers in the distance. Lu Shide had just ridden his horse around the school field for half a day, and was now drinking water with his shirt off. Upon hearing this, he quickly turned his head to look over. The two young masters, at a glance, he could tell they were from noble families, their exquisite clothing, and the gold and jade pendants on their bodies, all indicating their prestigious background.

  Looking at the two standing on the school field, looking left and right with excited faces, it's clear that these two young masters have never been in the military. Although this time the emperor has dispatched a million troops to conquer Liao, for many young masters, after getting bored playing in the capital, they follow the imperial army to get a title and come out to mix for a while, just like going on an outing or hunting trip. If they're lucky, when the Sui army wins a big victory, they might even be able to get some rewards.

  Lu Shi Shen poured the remaining water directly over his head, shaking it vigorously. "Which family's young master is this, thinking they can rely on connections to get into our broken military camp and bask in our glory? The general has already said it, we don't accept such people. Moreover, our broken military camp already has a full 10,000 troops, so we definitely can't take them in."

  Hu Hai smiled, the scar on his face was quite hideous, but since Chen Kefu said that his scars were a manifestation of his military exploits and a symbol of bravery, he no longer deliberately paid attention to the scar.

  "This time you are wrong, this person is indeed a noble son, the second and third sons of Tang Guogong Li Yuan, the minor official of the Weiwei Temple. They really want to come into my broken military camp, and this matter was decided by the general, they just brought back by the general."

  Lu Shide looked at Hu Hai with some doubt, still not quite believing it. Although the young master of his own family had changed a lot from the past, Lu Shide felt that since he had said so before, he wouldn't change easily. "Impossible, the Broken Army doesn't recruit sons of aristocratic families, this was decided by the adults themselves. This has only been said for a few days, how could it have changed already?"

  "Is that true?" Mo Yu walked over from the side with several other Lang Jiang, "Did you see those weapons that were just delivered?"

  Lu Shixian said with a smile, "Of course I saw it, the adults are indeed capable, and they've already brought back so much equipment after just half a day. I went to take a look earlier, and all the transported goods were high-quality weapons, and the quantities were far more than what we had previously discussed. Moreover, the adults even managed to bring back two thousand sets of heavy cavalry armor, which means our three thousand heavy cavalry can now become five thousand. And there are many other good things too."

  Chen Kefu, having become Li Yuan's son-in-law, naturally paid close attention to his requests. Without waiting for the Broken Army Camp to come and take them, he immediately had the Weiwei Temple staff pack and send over the goods, with a quantity that was only more and not less, and all of which were the best equipment selected.

  "Do you know where these instruments came from? They were all taken from the Weiwei Temple, does the superior of the Weiwei Temple know who it was? It was the father of those two Li princes, Duke Tang of the State of Li, Mr. Li Yuan."

  "You're saying that the adults agreed to let the two Li family young masters join the Broken Army Camp just to get this batch of equipment back? If that's the case, then it's not a big deal after all, since it's for the sake of the Broken Army Camp anyway." Lu Shixian heard about this inside story and also didn't think much of it.

  "Hu Hai's mysterious tone, 'Things aren't just like that, earlier when the master returned, he was drunk and didn't even know what was going on. I heard those two Li family young masters keep calling the master "sister-in-law". I asked around and it turns out that today the master went to the Weiwei Temple for equipment, but in the end, he ended up getting engaged to the third daughter of the Li family. It's said that the master has had feelings for her for a long time, and now both sides have exchanged tokens of their engagement, they just need to finish this war and return to the capital before they can get married.'"

  This news is considered a big deal, and only a few leaders like Hu Hai and Zhang He know about it. The Lang Jiangs are hearing about it for the first time. "You can't make up stories about the general's affairs, be careful or the general will punish you."

  Hu Hai glared and said, "This is absolutely true, why would I deceive you? If you don't believe me, go ask Young Master Li. Who knows if the third young lady of the Li family is really that exceptional, or if General will sacrifice himself to get these weapons?"

  As soon as this was said, everyone felt a bit embarrassed. General Chen Pojun had been just a small landlord in a remote area before coming to Liaodong, how could he have fallen in love with the third miss of the Li family? Even after arriving in Liaodong, he was busy fighting and training every day, and it was impossible for him to see or hear anything about the third miss of the Li family. However, after thinking about it, everyone felt that no matter what, the marriage between Chen Pojun and the third miss of the Li family was actually quite suitable.

  Chen Kefu, although he has made great contributions many times and is highly valued by the emperor, is not from a noble family. This affects his future development, as without the support of a large clan, even if one is favored by the emperor, it can seem somewhat unstable, and who knows when they might fall out of favor. However, with the backing of a powerful clan, things are much better, allowing him to go further.

  For these Lang Jiangs who rely on Chen Pojun, Chen Pojun's departure means they can also rise with the tide and share in his fortunes. So although this time Chen Kefu's marriage to Li's family may be a transaction of interests, they immediately dropped the subject and didn't continue discussing it.

  No matter what others think, Lu Shide and the other Lang generals who came out of Chenjiazhuang were very happy. The young master had suffered greatly since childhood, and now that he was going to marry a wife, it was a big event for the entire Chenjiazhuang. Chenjiazhuang would soon have a new generation, and Chenjiazhuang would also flourish soon, which made them very happy. Although they were now all high-ranking generals of the Great Sui, no longer just servants of the Chen family, everyone still considered themselves to be people of Chenjiazhuang.

  "Ah, you're all here. Just in time. Let me introduce you to these gentlemen. They are also generals from the Left Guard Division, who have been transferred to our Broken Army Camp by imperial decree to strengthen our military leadership."

  Everyone was lost in thought when Li Benlei led several generals over. There were more than a dozen generals, and the eyes of the soldiers exchanged glances, everyone understood that, as Chen Pogun had expected earlier, the emperor was indeed concerned about this army that had won battle after battle and made great contributions, and did not intend to let them go on like this, but instead drew generals from other places to mix in.

  "Behold, this is one of the four折冲郎 generals of the Left Bodyguard Bureau, a renowned figure in the imperial court and a descendant of the illustrious Li family, General Li Jie. This time, General Li has been appointed by His Majesty to join our Broken Army Camp as Deputy Commander, ranking below Lord Chen Bogong and above all of us."

  For the Broken Army Camp, this elite army, all the big families naturally want to control it in their hands. Unfortunately, they didn't move as fast as the Yuwen family, and by the time they discovered the value of the Broken Army Camp, its commander Chen Broken Army had already leaned towards the Yuwen family. They certainly didn't have the ability to poach Chen Broken Army from the Yuwen family, but they also didn't want to miss out on this elite army. One method wouldn't work, so they immediately switched to another, and they also inserted a foot in, arranging their own clan members to enter the Broken Army Camp.

  Although the Broken Army Camp had long planned not to accept sons of aristocratic families, how could they refuse the emperor's intention? Li Jie was a member of the Li clan, and the Li clan was a powerful force in Guanzhong, with hundreds of officials in the central government. The Li family held many titles of duke and marquis. However, although the Li clan was large, it was divided into several families; otherwise, the Yuwen and Pei clans would not have been able to compete with such a powerful force.

  But even so, this time Li Guan's move was successful in arranging a fourth-rank Lang general from the clan into the Broken Army Camp, becoming the second-in-command of the Broken Army Camp. They believed that as long as they had enough time, they would be able to completely bring the Broken Army Camp under their control.

  Li Jie, although born into a noble family, also inherited the genes of his ancestors and joined the army at an early age. Over the years, despite still being young, he relied on his actual military achievements and his impressive background to become a fourth-rank official in the imperial court by the time he was just over thirty, becoming one of the four leading generals of the Left Bodyguard. Moreover, after spending these years in the army, he also had a set of methods for getting along with these soldiers.

  When he saw the crowd of Lang Jiang and himself paying respects, he laughed brightly and said, "Why be so formal? This is a military camp, we are all men who have cut off barbarian heads on the battlefield. There's no need for such courtesy. Now that it's not time to discuss military matters, just relax. From now on, we'll be eating from the same pot, and we'll all be brothers. Later, I'll invite you all to go to the small market in the big camp to eat roasted whole lamb. If we weren't in the army, I'd definitely get drunk with you all. When we return to the capital, let's book the Tianyi Building in Beijing and have a good time without leaving until we're drunk."

  Many people originally didn't have a good impression of this elegant and refined young master, but when he opened his mouth, he could say such casual and natural words, and for a moment, everyone felt closer to him. Hu Hai and several others even thought that another bold and generous man like Chen Pojun had arrived, and they couldn't help but smile and chat with him.

  The rest who followed were Li Jie's former subordinates, who also brought this time, and they were all generals of the fifth rank, although there were some leaders with a higher rank than Li Benlei, but everyone understood that the merits of breaking the military camp had not been discussed yet, and after the discussion, it was likely to be promoted by one level, and at least it would be on par with those he brought.

  "This is General He Daxiong, Liu Wei and Wang Bin. And on this side are Generals Wang Cheng, Cui Shi, Li Ying and Shen Guang. These men are also among the bravest warriors in the army who can charge seven times into enemy lines. Especially this brother Shen Guang, during the last battle, his bravery was so impressive that even His Majesty praised him highly and promoted him to be a fifth-rank General of Bravery." As Li Jie introduced them, he patted on the shoulder of a tall and burly man in his thirties with a thick beard.

  Li Benlei and others naturally also flattered these generals, in the midst of everyone's flattering voices, Mao Yi turned to look at Lu Shideep, both of their faces were shocked and panicked. Lu Shideep leaned close to Mao Yi, lowering his head and whispering in his ear with a puzzled and frightened tone, "It's him, it must be him, but why is he called Shen Guang?"

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