Chapter 40: The Voice of the Pure and Clear

  Lujiang, Anhui Province, Qiao's Hometown

  Cai Yan walked into the study with slow steps, and made a courtesy to Cai Yong, saying: "Greetings, Father."

  "Yan'er is here, please take a seat."

  Cai Yong waved his hand, took a few glances at his lovely and elegant daughter who had grown up, and couldn't help but nod secretly. However, a cloud of worry immediately crossed his mind. Originally, he had intended for his son-in-law to be Wei Ning, but unexpectedly, Wei Ning returned to He Dong An Yi last winter, and in a letter last month, while asking about his teacher's recent situation, also mentioned that he had already settled on a marriage, which made Cai Yong very displeased.

  But it's come to this, and there's nothing to be done about it.

  Cai Yong hesitated for a moment, then said: "In our dynasty, girls are supposed to have their hair pinned up at the age of fifteen and get married. Yanyan is now fifteen years old, as her father, I should give you a courtesy name, just waiting to choose a good husband, we can set the date for the wedding."

  Cai Yan's face turned slightly red as she said awkwardly: "Please, Father, give me a pen name."

  Cai Yong gently stroked his long beard and said, "By the deep pool of Lian River, I will let my body sink and my name disappear. Alas, it's a pity that your father's reputation is not renowned. The sound of your horse's hooves is clear and loud, so I give you the nickname Zhaoji."

  Cai Yan bowed down and said in a clear voice: "Thank you, Father, for giving me a pen name."

  Cai Yong said: "I heard that you and Zhou Jian still have correspondence, I don't know if it's true or false?"

  Cai Yan's face turned slightly red, and she lowered her head without speaking.

  Cai Yong sighed inwardly, feeling that his daughter was too old to be kept at home, but still had to speak out and advise: "Although Zhou Jian's son has a fine appearance, he has lost his integrity; my daughter must think carefully about this."

  Cai Yan had a different opinion, but didn't want to argue with her father, so she just lowered her head even further.

  Cai Yong was a great Confucian scholar of his time, deeply affected by the Party's disaster, extremely resentful of eunuchs. With his own views and perspectives, he naturally hoped that all wise men in the world would be resentful of the eunuch party. As for Zhou Jian's fawning on eunuchs, he had no good feelings at all. However, seeing his daughter like this, he couldn't help but sigh secretly, and listlessly waved his hand.

  Cai Yan stood up and gave a courtesy, then stepped out of the study with a gentle pace, but her eyebrows were tightly furrowed.

  Luoyang

  Zhou Jianfeng dusted off his armor and finally arrived at the capital in early March, leading his troops to report to Huangfu Song's tent in the Northern Army's large camp.

  This time, I left Chenliu and headed west through Hu Lao, along the way, all I saw were destroyed villages, bandits everywhere, the peaceful and prosperous era of the Han Dynasty for hundreds of years was completely ruined by the Yellow Turban Rebellion, smoke rose everywhere, and battles raged on.

  The consequences of war were disastrous.

  The merchants and travelers who used to come and go on the official road disappeared, and the scholars and gentlemen who came to visit relatives and friends and study with their teachers also disappeared.

  From Chenliu to Luoyang, on the nearly thousand-li official road, there were only refugees and almost no other travelers.

  The Northern Army's main camp, the Central Army's large tent.

  "I will meet with General Huangfu later."

  Zhou Jian wore a suit of dark iron armor and bowed his head in respect to Left Central Lang General Huangfu Song.

  "You're welcome."

  Huang Fu Suo waved his hand, his eyes gleaming as he sized up Zhou Jian a few times, and couldn't help but secretly admire him. What a fine and valiant young general! I wonder how skilled he is in martial arts. However, it's a pity that this youngster seems to be a member of the eunuch party.

  Zhou Jian bowed again and said: "I report to the general, I have recruited more than a thousand local braves from my hometown, and they are all here in Luoyang waiting for orders."

  Huangfu Song nodded and stroked his beard, saying: "This is very good. Currently, the Northern Army's five elite divisions have less than 20,000 soldiers. General Lu Zhi has taken away 8,000 troops, General Zhu Huan has taken away 5,000 troops, and I only have 5,000 elite soldiers under my command. The military strength to suppress the Yellow Turban rebels is severely insufficient. We are in urgent need of recruiting more soldiers and intensifying their training. Your over a thousand brave warriors can be incorporated into the camp for joint training."

  Zhou Jian cupped his hands and said: "Your subordinate will obey orders."

  Huangfu Song waved his hand, and Zhou Jian hastily retreated.

  It was high noon, and the northern army's drill ground was bustling with people, the drumbeats shaking the sky.

  "Kill!"

  "Kill!"

  "Hurray for the Chinese army!"

  "Hurray for the Chinese army!"

  Five new recruits are being led by a lieutenant on the vast training ground.

  Every time he swung his sword, it was accompanied by a thunderous roar that shook the earth, majestic and powerful, with an air of momentum.

  At that time, there were no major wars in the world. The Yellow Turban rebels launched a multi-pronged attack, while the imperial court responded with a three-pronged counterattack, but its military strength was severely insufficient.

  The Northern Army had fewer than 20,000 elite government troops. There were 4,000 elite cavalrymen, divided among the Tianji and Yuji commanders. There were 12,000 infantrymen, divided among the infantry, Changshui, and Sheying commanders. Each of the three commanders led two camps with 4,000 soldiers.

  Three Rivers Knights (cavalry of Henan, Hedong and He'nan three counties) with 3,000 men, a total of 8,000 cavalry and 12,000 infantry.

  The troops under the command of Huangfu Song, Zhu Huan and Lu Zhi, except for a small number of Beijun Wuxiao and Sanhe cavalry, were mostly new recruits temporarily recruited from the area around Sili. The truly seasoned and elite regular army only accounted for a small part.

  Less than half a month had passed since the time went by, and Huangfu Song had just recruited more than 10,000 new soldiers and was intensifying their training.

  The new army has just been formed and its equipment is being urgently allocated, and it has not yet formed a combat force.

  Huang Fu Song drew out veteran soldiers to serve as officers and tightly grasped the time, day and night without stop, drilling more than 10,000 newly recruited soldiers.

  Zhou Jian's 150,000 new troops had crossed the border last winter and defeated the bandits, clearing up the Yellow Turbans' rebellion. They had already begun to change their ways, and with their excellent equipment and uniform black iron armor, they were much stronger than the newly recruited troops.

  Due to the neglect of military preparations, there were not enough troops and equipment in urgent need. Except for the 5,000 elite government soldiers who were equipped with iron armor, the newly recruited soldiers mostly only had cloth or leather armor, with very few having steel armor. The weapons were also inconsistent, and a considerable number of soldiers still used bronze swords.

  Kill! Kill! Kill!

  Jiang Qin led the new army with the main force for training exercises, and the square formation had a strength of over 2,000 soldiers.

  A lieutenant can lead a battalion of soldiers and horses, with 2,000 people as the full number. Some lieutenants can even command multiple battalions of soldiers and horses, depending on the situation. Under Zhou Jian's command, in addition to his old troops from Chenliu, Huangfu Song also gave him 500 newly recruited soldiers to supplement a battalion of soldiers.

  The original 1,500 new troops were fine, each with a neat and tidy military appearance, without any disorder.

  The five hundred new recruits are quite a problem, although they line up neatly during drills, their morale is completely incomparable to the old troops of one thousand and five hundred, once on the battlefield, casualties will not be small.

  Chen Liu's old troops have basically formed an army, led by Jiang Qin, no problem.

  New recruits of two hundred new soldiers, Zhou Jian inserted ten followers and conducted some simple special training in his spare time.

  He stood on the platform, sweeping his gaze over the two thousand new recruits training below with a stern and majestic air, feeling proud and satisfied. Since becoming the archery instructor, he had been in Luoyang for several years, but was still just an instructor, without any opportunity for promotion.

  The army is a special group, and in order to get promoted, you must have military merit.

  However, without war, how can one gain military merit? Without military merit, one can only rely on a strong background. If neither military merit nor background is present, then one can only grow old and die in the army.

  The Taiping Rebellion undoubtedly created opportunities for many people.

  Especially among military officers, they are eager to make achievements and establish their careers.

  Jun Yuqiong's hand grasped the hilt of his sword, gazing out at the training grounds where two thousand troops were practicing, their shouts thundering like a storm. He felt that achieving great things was no longer just a dream, and he was extremely satisfied. He almost wished to rush down from the commanding platform and personally lead the soldiers in their drills.

  "Huh?"

  Jun Yuqiong's eyes swept over and suddenly found that among the 10,000 new troops, there was a particularly eye-catching battalion.

  Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that this team of soldiers was different from the others.

  Other new recruits shouted loudly, but their facial expressions were rich and varied, with excitement, agitation, dissatisfaction, disgust and other emotions, and their eyes darted around in all directions from time to time, completely lacking focus.

  Looking at that new army again, not only were they well-equipped, but more than half of the soldiers were equipped with iron armor and sharp, thick-backed large ring knives. Each and every one of them had a cold expression, their eyes gleaming with a fierce killing intent, their movements swift and precise, their knife-wielding in perfect unison, their gaze never wavering or glancing about randomly, and their performance was vastly different from that of the other new recruits.

  Anyone with a bit of discernment can see that this is a truly elite team.

  Sun Quan's voice was urgent as he asked, "Whose troops are these? Why do they have so many suits of armor?"

  Zuo Jun's Sima Zhao Cheng hastily said: "General Hui, they are the troops under Wu Xiao Wei Zhou Jian."

  Jun Yuqiong was taken aback and asked: "Is it Zhou Jian, the Colonel of the Valiant Guard?"

  Zhao Chengdao said: "Exactly."

  Jun Yu's eyes flickered a few times, and he said in a condensed voice: "Such elite troops are not under the command of this general, isn't it a pity?"

  Zhao Cheng observed the words and expressions, and immediately knew that Chun Yuqiong had thoughts about these two thousand troops. He suggested: "The position of She Sheng Xiaowei is one of the five Xiaowei in the Northern Army, while the position of Feng Wu Xiaowei is just a miscellaneous title. As the general is the She Sheng Xiaowei, he ranks above Zhou Jian. The general can exchange troops with Zhou Jian, and I'm sure Zhou Jian won't dare not to give face to the general."

  Sun Quan was very pleased and said: "Quickly summon Zhou Song to come."

  Zhao Cheng hastily agreed and was about to send someone to find Zhou Jian, but saw Zhou Jian leading two burly men up the commanding platform.

  Jun Yuqiong suddenly shouted loudly, "Zhou Jian."

  Zhou Jian turned his head back and glanced at Chun Yuqiong, calmly asking: "What's the matter?"

  Jun Yu frowned and her face showed displeasure.

  "Zhou Jian," Zhao Chengke rebuked, "my family's general is one of the five marshals of the Northern Army, ranking above you. Why didn't you come forward to pay your respects when you saw my family's general? Do you still have any sense of military discipline?"

  "Huh?"

  Zhou Jian's face turned cold, his knife-like gaze fell on Zhao Cheng, and the dark, shiny eyes flashed with a murderous intent.

  "Hmmph!"

  Dian Wei and Xu Chu let out a loud hum, like two muffled thunderclaps exploding beside Zhao Cheng's ears.

  "What do you want to do?"

  Zhao Cheng was startled and felt a chill run down his spine. He hastily retreated several steps, his face stern and his voice loud as he questioned.

  Jun Yuqiong's face also sank, and he drank displeased: "Zhou Jian, don't be presumptuous."

  Zhou Jian waved his hand to stop Dian Wei, who was about to erupt, and looked at Zhao Cheng with a gaze that seemed to be looking at a jumping insect, full of disdain and mockery. He then withdrew his gaze and said to Chun Yuqiong: "If you have fart, let it out quickly, don't talk nonsense."

  Jun Yuqiong's face turned iron-green with rage and he bellowed: "Zhou Jian, you're too presumptuous!"

  Zhou Jian uttered an "oh" and said: "You and I are both school lieutenants, can't you still make me humble and yield to you?"

  Sun Quan shouted: "I am one of the five northern armies, and I am a general's officer. You are just a miscellaneous lieutenant, what qualifications do you have to be on par with me?"

  Zhou Jian's mouth corners twitched with a cold smile, and he said two words: "Idiot." Then he didn't look at Chun Yuqiong and Zhao Cheng again, took big strides to the drill ground, and watched the new army training.

  "Outrageous, absolutely outrageous."

  Jun Yuqiong's whole body trembled with anger, and he drew his sword, shouting: "Seize him! Take down this reckless rebel for General!"

  "Roger."

  More than ten of his personal soldiers immediately let out a loud shout and surrounded him with an air of menace.

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  I've finally written 40 chapters, I don't know how many people are reading this book or how many people like it. Originally, writing this book was just for my own entertainment, but since I signed a contract, I can no longer be so carefree and especially cannot slack off too much. However, having a book being dropped has its dual nature, the biggest reason is still that if it's not written well, nobody will read it and there won't be any money to earn, so authors will choose to drop it. The data for this book seems okay in my opinion, as for whether it'll get dropped or not, I have to say it depends on all of you brothers and sisters, if the popularity is good then it shouldn't get dropped. So today, for the first time, I'm asking for some votes, clicks on collect and recommend are all needed, if you brothers and sisters like this book, please support me a bit, give your little brother some motivation, don't let this book get dropped... As for updates, to be honest, it's hard to find the energy, I'm an office worker, when time is abundant, occasionally I can write two chapters in one day, but if I have overtime, then it takes two days to write one chapter. Although there are some drafts on hand, in order to keep updating continuously, I can only update once a day for now. Let's do this for now, and wait until I accumulate more drafts before increasing the updates to twice a day, after all, stable updates are the key.

  Finally, a shout out to those brothers and sisters who haven't collected this book yet, please collect it! And also click on the recommendation tickets and other things, the more the better. Ah, and rewards, that's the most cost-effective thing, the more the better, no refusal, haha~~