Chapter 16: A Real Man Should Be Like Jin Wu

  Li Qinchao burst out laughing and said, "Today I can make friends with so many brothers, it's really a great joy in my life! Come on, brothers don't stand outside the village, please come into the village, let's get to know each other well!" He pulled Meng Mu's hand, and the two walked into the village hand in hand.

  The soldiers were overjoyed, as these hundreds of soldiers were all from poor backgrounds and had never met such a generous person in their lives. To kill sheep to entertain guests was something they had never seen before! When the county magistrate treated the soldiers during the New Year's celebration, he only gave each person one or two liang of mutton, which was already considered a big show-off!

  The soldiers rushed into the village in a competitive manner, with some shouting to help kill sheep. The soldiers were quite happy, but some villagers were not very happy.

  Xu Xiaoni walked at the back, he said in a low voice: "Qin Ge invited these hungry ghosts to eat meat, it's too generous, two fat sheep, raised until autumn, how much grain will they be worth? If they give birth to lambs and raise them up, how much grain will they be worth?"

  Xu Lao Ni was right next to him, listening to his son's muttering. He scolded: "This kid doesn't understand anything! These soldiers will eat the sheep and then say that Li Da Zhang is a righteous man. In two days, everyone in Fugui will know about it, and even the county magistrate will know. Isn't that what they call fame? First comes fame, then comes wealth. Are you still worried that he won't get back his two sheep?"

  Xu Xiaoni held Li Qian's wooden gun and bow in his arms, saying: "I don't understand, why can having a name bring benefits? What's the use of having a name?"

  "It's a great use!" Old Man Xu said again: "Learn to be clever, follow your brother closely in the future, he is a righteous person, if there is meat to eat, he will definitely share it with you, as long as you can live better than your father this life, your father will be satisfied!"

  On the threshing ground, Meng Mu personally took action and asked someone to bring a wooden basin. He held a knife to slaughter the sheep, not wasting a single drop of blood. Then he hung the sheep on a wooden frame, skinned it, and cut up the meat. The mutton was first put into a pot for boiling, while he carefully collected the entrails and cooked them separately into a delicious soup. According to him, the most delicious thing is the entrail soup. If he could drink a bowl of entrail soup every day, he would not even want to be an immortal!

  Li Tian went to fetch wine, and He Shi went to fetch rice. When they returned home, He Shi looked at the millet and sighed: "I thought six stones of rice would last a long time, but now it seems like it won't even last a few days!"

  Li Tian picked up a jar of wine and said, "You're such an old woman, with long hair but short sight. You only care about this little thing. If our son wants to have a future, he needs someone to support him, he needs to make friends widely. What's the big deal about a meal of wine and meat? As long as he can bring glory to the Li family, what's there to be stingy about?"

  He nodded and said, "That's also true, but I'm afraid that only some friends who drink and eat together can't be relied on at critical moments!"

  Li Tian said: "Haven't you seen it again? Those Xiao He, Fan Kuai, Cao Shen, Xiahou Ying and Zhou Bo, which one wasn't a wine-and-meat friend of the Grand Ancestor? At critical moments, how can they be relied upon?" Suddenly thinking that using the Grand Ancestor Emperor as an analogy for his son was not quite right, he hastily added: "Don't tell this to outsiders."

  He said: "I know, I won't tell outsiders. I don't recognize any of the people you mentioned!"

  "If you could recognize it, that would be a real ghost!" Li Tian hugged the wine jar and went out of the house to greet the guests.

  The soldiers outside acted quickly, not only setting up the pot, but also finding several large piles of firewood. Soldiers work fast, and when it comes to eating, they work even faster!

  Li Tian carried out the wine jar, Meng Mu shouted loudly, regardless of the soldiers, he himself first filled a bowl, gulped it down, and then refilled another bowl, gulped it down again. By the time he got to the third bowl, he held the wine bowl and pulled Li Qian to sit down outside the scene, while the soldiers started to scramble, one jar of wine was not enough, Li Tian had to go in and fetch more, estimating that all the wine at home was brought out, but it was still not enough for these soldiers to drink.

  Meng Mu patted Li Qin's shoulder and said, "Li Lang, I think you're a talented person who can achieve great things. Just this sense of justice alone, it's hard to find another one like you in the whole of Fuping. Are you willing to spend your whole life digging in the dirt? What a waste!"

  Li Qin didn't take the wine, sat cross-legged, and put his hands on his knees. He said: "Ordinary people like us don't dare to think too much, as long as we can live a stable life and have enough food to eat, that's all we need!"

  Meng Mu waved his hand and said, "What is Lord Li talking about? I remember that in our great Han dynasty, there was an emperor - I don't recall which one - who said that a real man should be like the Golden Gate official, and when it comes to women, he should be like the Silver Pear Flower. Did you hear that? The emperor himself has spoken, telling us to have some dignity and be like the Golden Gate official. We can't ignore the emperor's words!"

  Li Qinxin thought: "Is it Liu Xiu who said 'being an official should be like holding a golden axe, marrying a wife should get a beautiful woman' , how did it become this tone when he said it?!" He shook his head and said: "It's not easy, even if I listen to the emperor's words, but unfortunately there is no chance!"

  Meng Mu said: "Recently, the county is recruiting new soldiers. Why don't you go and sign up? If you can become a soldier, when the Hu cavalry comes south, you can achieve some merits in battle, and it won't be difficult to become a battalion commander. Who knows, maybe one day I'll have to rely on your care!"

  Li Qin hummed in agreement, and his heart was somewhat moved. He thought that if he were to join the army, he might actually gain something from it!

  "Li Lang, according to the imperial military regulations, our Fuping should have 400 elite sword and shield soldiers, but in reality, there are only over a hundred, and they're all holding long spears, with hardly anyone having swords!"

  He nodded with his mouth, indicating that Li Qin looked at those soldiers and said in a low voice: "If it weren't for the benefits of collecting grain, how could they gather together normally? I had to persuade others to lend me troops from other villages. On the one hand, it would boost morale, on the other hand, everyone could benefit."

  Li Qin looked at the noisy soldiers, seeing that some of them couldn't even wait for the mutton to be cooked and were eating it with their hands. He said: "Are the knife shield soldiers elite? I always feel that the long gun soldiers are more formidable!"

  Meng Mu laughed and said, "Don't you understand? Elite soldiers are all swordsmen, only the front row who are sent to their deaths hold long spears! Can't you think about it, even just a sword is more valuable than a spear. What logic is there in elite troops using cheap goods?"

  After finishing speaking, he drank the wine in one breath, shouting at the soldiers to bring over the wine jar, filling up a bowl again, and said: "Li Lang, it's settled like this. You go sign up for the army, I'll take you in and make you a squad leader!"

  Li Qin hummed twice, and he remembered the gun techniques recorded in the silk book. If the knife shield soldiers were elite, then any elite in front of him would only have a dead end. It seemed that if he went to be a soldier, his future would be boundless!

  Before long, the delicious food was ready and the soldiers started eating and drinking. Meng Mu pulled Li Tian over to chat with him, constantly advising Li Tian to let his son join the army, which made Li Tian's heart move as well.

  They ate and drank to their heart's content, fortunately the wine was not enough, otherwise the soldiers would have been too excited, they had to show off their drunkenness, one meal took half an hour to finish, after eating and drinking enough, Meng Mu led the troops and drove the sheep back to the city.

  After putting things away, the three members of the Li family returned to their own home. Closing the door, Li QIN said: "Dad, mom. I just listened to what Meng Tun Zhang said, and I feel that going to be a soldier is not necessarily a bad path. Our Li family has been generals for generations, if I also take this military path, who knows, maybe I will have great development too, what do you think?"

  "Exactly, it should be so! The Meng family has underestimated us Li's. In the heyday of our ancestors' glory, official positions were not comparable to a single Jinwu. My son will sign up for the army in the city tomorrow, and I absolutely support him."

  He hesitated, "Becoming a soldier is not impossible, but once you become one, you have to go to battle. The Xiongnu are ferocious, and if they invade the south, what if my son dies in battle?"

  Li Qindao said: "Mother, even if I don't become a soldier, when the Xiongnu invade the south, they won't let me off either. We'll have to fight them anyway!"

  He nodded and said, "That's also true."

  Li Tian slapped his thigh and said, "I'll take charge of this matter. Son, you go into the city tomorrow to sign up, first get the military rations mixed up and then we'll talk!"

  Li QIN nodded in agreement and talked with his parents for a while before going out to practice shooting. He didn't go to bed until nightfall.

  The next morning, Li Qin got up early, had some porridge, led out the black horse and rode it, bidding farewell to Li Tian and He Shi, and went into the city to enlist in the army.

  Not yet out of the village, someone called him from behind. Li QIN turned his head to look back and it was Xu Xiaoni. Xu Xiaoni ran over and said: "Brother Qin, where are you going?" While speaking, he reached out to touch the black horse.

  Li Qin pointed towards the county town and said: "Go into the city to enlist in the army. You're not at home accompanying your parents, what are you doing running out here?"

  Xu Xiaoni was overjoyed and said: "Brother Qin, take me with you, I also want to join the army!"

  "Are you going to be a soldier too?" Li Qin smiled and said, "Did your dad agree?"

  Xu Xiaoni said: "I definitely agree, my dad said so. He told me to follow Qingen from now on. He said you are a righteous person and if there's meat to eat, you'll definitely give me some soup to drink!"

  Li Qin listened to this and burst out laughing, but immediately his face turned serious and he said: "What you just said, what do you mean by 'if I have meat to eat, I'll give you soup'..."

  Xu Xiaoni's face fell, and he said, "That meat soup won't do, how about a rice porridge?"

  Li Qindao said loudly: "If I have meat to eat, you will also have meat to eat. As brothers, how can there be a reason for me to eat meat and you drink soup? Come on, let's get on the horse and enter the city together!" He stretched out his hand to pull Xu Xiaoni.

  Xu Xiaoni was overjoyed and exclaimed, "I knew Brother Qin wouldn't abandon me!" She quickly mounted the horseback, sitting behind Li Qin, and together they rode into the city.

  On the road, Xu Xiaoni kept talking about his future life as a soldier. His idea of a good life was simple: every day his family would have enough food to eat, preferably with meat; in summer they could change clothes frequently and in winter they could wear warm clothing. To him, this was the happiest life.

  Li Qinchao smiled but didn't speak, just listening to him. The horse galloped quickly, and soon they saw the city wall in the distance. But at this moment, Li Qinchao reined in his black horse, he saw a giant of a man rushing towards them from the front of the road, with a familiar yet unplaceable face!

  The giant's clothes were tattered, his fists clenched, and he was hurrying along with large strides. He too saw the black horse ahead and immediately quickened his pace to rush over. Judging from his demeanor, he seemed to have the intention of snatching the horse!

  The giant approached, saw Li Qings appearance clearly, but suddenly stopped, put down his fist, and estimated that he didn't want to rob the horse again. The giant said: "It's you, you killed the leopard that night, and I helped kick it! I respect you as a good man, we don't interfere with each other, but don't make noise, otherwise be careful, I won't be polite!" After speaking, he turned around and walked away without looking back.

  Li Qin was taken aback and thought: "What is he talking about? Who is this guy who looks like a giant spirit?"

  ——

  Xiaoqin is about to have her own team, with both literary and military talents. Asking brothers and sisters for votes, collections, and support, sorry to trouble everyone, thank you!