Chapter 3 You Are Dogshit

  After the anger of all the soldiers had subsided a little, Gao Zhanggong announced that he and Gao Xing had made a bet. All the soldiers were in an uproar, discussing it among themselves, and they all looked at Gao Xing with suspicion. Gao Xing looked soft and weak, with a beautiful white complexion, more like a young lady.

  Gao Zhang Gong clasped his hands together and pressed them lightly, and everyone fell silent. All that could be heard was him saying loudly: "Those willing to follow Gao Xing for training, stand on my right side; those willing to follow Ben Jiang, stand on my left side."

  Something exciting and suffocating happened, all the soldiers, even the old, weak, sick and disabled, not one stood on his right side, making it clear that they doubted his level.

  Gao Chang Gong revealed a helpless expression, looking at Gao Xing with a hint of a teasing smile: "Xing Er, what's going on here?"

  Delightfully, with a wrinkled brow and a hum in his nose, he said: "Father, have them line up and report their numbers. Odd numbers are yours, even numbers are mine. One month later, I will surely defeat you!" Delight's eyes shone brightly, his heart coldly laughing repeatedly: Heh, dare to look down on me? Wait for it, kids!

  "Good." Gao Chang nodded in agreement, he didn't know where his confidence came from, but it was indeed a satisfactory and delightful expression.

  Next was the roll call, following the excited ones were one by one with worried and unhappy faces, lacking energy, but military orders are like mountains, they had no choice but to obey.

  Just as he was thrilled to be following his idol, he heard an order that made him extremely resentful and astonished - make Highness his deputy.

  The personnel allocation is complete. Gao Zhang said: "Xing Er, this military camp will be handed over to you by your father. One month later, don't cry."

  "Hey, old man, if you lose, I'll be the commander of all these soldiers." Gaixing said with a smile, not showing any fear.

  Gao Zhang said: "Alright, as a father who has been in the military for many years, if I were to lose to you, a young and inexperienced kid who has never even been on the battlefield, what's the point of training soldiers?"

  "With a single word, it's settled." With a joyful raised hand and a congratulatory clap with Gao Chang, the latter then led two thousand soldiers to pack up their gear and leave the camp.

  With a proud and upright posture, standing on the platform, eyes slightly narrowed, one by one sizing up the dejected soldiers below who were whispering to each other in dismay. When he saw Shang not giving up, with a face full of gloom and unwillingness, his complexion as bitter as a bitter melon, he felt a sense of joy in his heart.

  "Everyone, get into position!" Suddenly, a loud and clear voice, like the sound of a great bell, startled all the soldiers, who looked at Gaoxing in surprise.

  With a cold and stern face, he gazed down at them and said loudly: "I know that many of you look down on me, thinking I'm just a stinky kid. But let me tell you, only the elite who have followed the God Emperor in battle are worthy of my training. In my eyes, you're nothing but dogshit, pus-filled boils, and training you is my shame!"

  The faces of all the soldiers changed in an instant, their eyes turned blood red, their breathing was heavy, the veins on their foreheads throbbed wildly, and they glared fiercely at Gao Xing's white and beautiful face, as if their anger would burst their chests. They were beside themselves with rage.

  Delighted, he slanted his gaze at them and said disdainfully: "Aren't you dissatisfied? I'll give you this opportunity. Whoever can beat me, I'll kowtow to all of you and apologize!" Delighted hugged his arms, his lower jaw slightly raised, a mocking smile gleaming at the corners of his mouth.

  The soldiers below glared at Gaoxing fiercely, but for a moment no one made a move. Gaoxing burst out laughing coldly: "Indeed you are all of the same kind as rats, without even this bit of courage, go back home and suck milk from your mothers' breasts!"

  "A warrior can be killed but not humiliated! I'm here!" Shang Buo let out a loud roar and took a swift step, charging to the foot of the commanding platform.

  With a delighted squint in his eyes, he stretched out an index finger and gently waved it back and forth, saying: "You're not enough on your own, bring ten more!"

  Shang Buqi's face turned red with rage, his eyes bulging like a furious bull, his muscles tense and his aura menacing. He knew that Zheng Xiaoyue was still the same brave and admirable General Gao Changgong, despite being demoted to this place. Yet he himself had been assigned to serve under a young whippersnapper, which made him feel extremely humiliated. Now, with Gao's repeated insults, his anger reached new heights.

  Ten sturdy soldiers emerged from the formation and shouted loudly: "General, you'd better think carefully, if anything happens to you, how can we explain ourselves?"

  Laughed loudly: "Joke, you're not enough!"

  "Good, please!" He squeezed out this sentence from between his teeth.

  Delighted, he walked slowly down from the platform, and the soldiers below him automatically cleared a path. He stood still, his feet shoulder-width apart, gazing at Shang with an air of ease, saying lightly: "Come on."

  Shang Buzi let out a loud roar, like an unbridled wild horse or a mad bull, and charged at Gao Xing. His two fists, as big as saucepans, shot out in different directions, one heading straight for Gao Xing's face and the other aiming at his chest and abdomen. The other ten men also let out a loud roar and rushed towards Gao Xing together.

  Facing the gradually enlarging fist and the vigorous wind, Gaoxing's eyes showed no fear, his face revealed a gentle smile, his eyes calm as water, without any ripples. Just when Shang Buxiao's right fist was about to reach his face, Gaoxing quickly turned around, grabbed Shang Buxiao's lost target right arm with his right hand and pulled it back forcefully. At the same time, Gaoxing's left palm sealed off Shang Buxiao's left fist.

  The attack fell through, and he didn't give up. His center of gravity was already unstable, and with a swing of his right arm, he flew backwards and landed on the ground, sending dust flying everywhere.

  At this time, the attacks of the remaining ten people also arrived. Gao Xing was calm and fearless, with a smile on his face, standing there, his limbs agile and swift, sealing off all the attacks.

  In a short while, he laughed happily and said: "You've attacked enough, now it's my turn." As soon as the words fell, his whole person's momentum suddenly burst out with an unmatched fierce killing aura. Including Shang Buqi, all eleven people felt like they were in a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, in the nine underworlds, their body hair standing on end, and they couldn't help but show a brief moment of loss of spirit. It was this momentary loss of spirit that sealed their fate.

  Everyone only felt a shadowy figure flashing by, and after a burst of slapping sounds, the only one still standing in the arena was Gaoxing. The other eleven people were all lying on the ground, clutching their painful areas, staring at Gaoxing with wide eyes in shock, to the point where they forgot about their own pain.

  With a joyful glance around, he said in a loud voice: "Is there anyone else who wants to come out and fight?"

  Everyone looked at each other, but in the end, no one else stood up. Those eleven people were basically the strongest among the two thousand, yet they were so easily defeated by Gaoxing, making it hard for them to accept while also feeling a sense of fear towards him.

  "Since no one is here, from now on, you must absolutely obey my orders!" He shouted loudly with excitement.

  "Alright." The soldiers, though still somewhat discontented, were no longer as resistant. Shang did not abandon the fiery gaze that was fixed on the still slightly immature face, and he seemed to see the young Langling Wang who had once galloped freely.

  Next, happily began to reorganize the troops, after removing all the old, weak, sick and disabled, two thousand people were streamlined into one thousand seven hundred people. Gao was happy not to adopt the previous system, but borrowed from the Republic's system, ten people set up a class, three advance. One thousand seven hundred people were divided into two regiments, six battalions, eighteen companies, fifty-four platoons, and one hundred sixty-two classes.

  Delighted to lead a battalion commander, still not abandoned as the second battalion commander. The ten people who went out to battle before were basically all regimental commanders and deputy regimental commanders.

  As for the old, weak, sick and disabled, they were not driven away by the Red Guards. Instead, they were organized into a logistics company according to their physical condition.

  The work of arranging the troops was not easy, and it wasn't until sunset that they finally finished. He ordered the soldiers to leave the camp after the fifth watch.

  Walking on the road back to the history museum, I couldn't help but feel a little worried. From my brief conversation with Shang, I just learned that those soldiers hadn't received any pay for three months, and their low morale was understandable.

  Since Gao Jie took power, until last year when the Northern Qi's pillar, Heba Ruizong, was killed by Emperor Gao Wei, the court politics of Northern Qi have become increasingly chaotic. Now there are three nobles, Han Changruan, Gao Anagong and Muti Po, who sell official positions and titles, causing chaos in the imperial court. As the saying goes, "if the upper beam is not straight, the lower beam will be crooked", these lower officials and generals have become corrupt to an extremely frightening degree. This is also the reason why the army that Gao Huan relied on to dominate the land for over twenty years has now been defeated by the Chen army and is fleeing in disarray.

  Yuán Shǒu was embezzling the soldiers' pay, but when he heard that the renowned Prince of Lanling was arriving, he didn't dare to stay and ran away early. As for these soldiers, most of them had family members living in Xuyi County, where could they go? Moreover, if a deserter was caught, it would bring disaster to his family.

  Although Gao Chang and Gao Xing successively boosted the morale of these soldiers today, this is by no means a long-term plan. According to Gao Xing's guess, there are not many treasures left in the treasury of Guangling County either, otherwise the original Neishi would not have left in such a hurry.

  "Where can I get the money?" He thought excitedly, his mind racing with ideas. At this time, he had already taken off his armor and was wearing a white loose shirt, looking like a handsome young man from a wealthy family with red lips and white teeth.

  Suddenly, he felt a lightness in his waist, and when he turned around to look, he saw a 14 or 15-year-old boy wearing tattered clothes, clutching his own money bag tightly with both hands, running away frantically.

  Delighted, he was about to chase after him, but suddenly stopped again, his eyes lit up, watching the boy's back as he walked away, a joyful smile bursting forth on his face.

  He walked into the gate with a light and happy hum, an old man in his fifties came up to him, "Young master, you're so happy? Did something good happen?"

  The old man's name was Gao Fu, the steward of the Gao family, who had always been loyal to Gao Zhanggong. Before going to the imperial palace to plead guilty, Gao Zhanggong dispersed all the servants in his household, but this steward refused to leave and followed them to Xuyi.

  "Uncle Fu, nothing much, just that military camp is quite fun." He replied with a happy smile.

  Gao Fu doted on Gao Xing, saying: "Life in the army is hard, young master must take good care of himself." Gao Fu had no relatives, and Gao Xing was like a grandson to him, whom he had watched grow up, so he was very concerned about him.

  "Cheer up, Uncle Fu! You're getting older and need to take care of your body," said with a smile. After finishing speaking, he walked into the courtyard.

  As soon as he arrived at the main hall door, Zheng Shi came out to greet him: "Xing Er, you're back, where's your father?"

  Hurriedly walking forward, grasping Zheng's hand, entering the house together, saying: "Father is still training troops!"

  "After staying in the army camp for a day, you must be hungry. Mother will go get some food for you." Zheng Shi got up and soon brought over some snacks and tea.

  Gao Xing had eaten half of his food when Gao Changgong returned, and upon seeing that Gao Xing was already home, he said with a smile: "Xing Er, you've come back so early, I'm afraid you'll lose in a month."

  Smiling mysteriously, he said, "The outcome will be clear after a month."

  After dinner, the whole family was delighted to drag Gao Chang Gong into the study room. After discussing for a whole hour, they came out with great enthusiasm and greeted Zheng Shi before returning to their rooms to rest.