Chapter Thirty All Dried Up

  The snow in the tenth year of Tianqi came not only early, but also bigger. On his way back, Li Qing found that the ground was already a vast expanse of white, and the snowflakes floating in the sky were getting bigger and bigger. Except for the thousands of soldiers wearing winter clothes, most of the young men from Chong County who transported goods were thinly dressed. However, after looting the Anke tribe, they put on all sorts of clothing, looking like a group of nomads migrating from afar. The slaves rescued, although their clothes were tattered, thought about gaining freedom and returning to the Central Plains, their faces blue and hands black from the cold, but each one couldn't hide their excitement.

  The mighty army cheered and was excited, so much food and livestock meant that Chong County would no longer have to worry about making a living. Li Qing rode on horseback, looking at the excited troops, and silently sighed in his heart. The rise of one group means another falls into hell. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but be vigilant, wondering if he would one day end up like Wanyan Huoda. Remembering Wanyan Huoda's desperate and crazy final days, Li Qing felt a pang in his heart. To live a good life, he needed even greater power. In this era, only great power would make people not dare to have any ideas about you, and would protect yourself, and further protect the people you want to protect.

  As they rode slowly, Tang Hu and Yang Yidao led a group of imperial guards in front of and behind Li Qing, who was advancing in the midst of the troops. Wherever they passed, there were shouts of General's mighty prestige.

  As they approached Chicken Lake, Li Qing had already made a rough plan in his mind. Shang Haibo and Guoshan Feng also caught up at this time. When he smelled the strong bloody smell on Guoshan Feng's body, he thought of the corpses lying on the snowy ground, and Li Qing's stomach churned with a wave of nausea, his face also turned pale.

  "General, are you alright?" Shang Haibo asked with concern, "Did you catch a chill?"

  Li Qing shook his head and said to Guo Shanfeng, "You did a great job this time. From now on, you are the Zhenwu Lieutenant of Changsheng Camp. By the way, what's your real name? I'll send a letter to Dingzhou."

  Guo Shanfeng's heart was overjoyed, he had finally achieved his goal and suddenly became the Zhēnwǔ Xiào Wèi (a high-ranking military officer), Guo Shanfeng was still familiar with the Da Chu army system, suddenly surpassing the Yún Huī Xiào Wèi to become the Zhēnwǔ Xiào Wèi, meaning he could now command hundreds of men and horses. To know that Wang Qiniang and others who followed Li Qing earliest were his trusted subordinates, nowadays they are only Yīngyáng Xiào Wèi (a rank higher than Guo Shanfeng).

  "Thank you, General! From now on, I'll be called Guo Shanfeng. Let the past be in the past!" said Guo Shanfeng.

  "Good," Li Qing nodded, "you go first and lead the army across Chicken Crowing Marsh. This time there are many people and so many livestock, don't let anything go wrong, I don't want any unnecessary losses."

  "General, rest assured!" Guo Jing patted his chest, "I guarantee that not a single head of livestock will be lost."

  Since Li Qing led the army to set out, Xu Yunfeng has been worried day and night. After handling daily official duties, he would send people to inquire about Li Qing's troops. Before waiting for news of Li Qing, another piece of good news suddenly arrived - Lu Yiming had returned.

  Along with Lu's arrival, a large fleet of vehicles also arrived. Among the long convoy, the most precious cargo was food. Lu did not disappoint, not only had he exchanged the 50,000 taels of silver in his hands for grain in Fuzhou, but he had also obtained tens of thousands of dan of aid from the Li family in Yizhou. Looking at Lu's dusty and weary appearance, Xu Yunfeng couldn't help but exclaim: "Mr. Lu, Mr. Lu, if only you had come a few days earlier!"

  After days of hard work, a somewhat tired Lu Yiming strangely said: "Lord Xǔ, what does this mean? Could it be that Chong County has encountered some unexpected trouble?"

  Xu Yunfeng looked around, shook his head, and waited until the two returned to the house before telling Li Qing about the incident where Lu Yiming had led people to cross Jizhenze Lake but was robbed by the barbarian tribe on the other side. Before he could finish speaking, Lu Yiming's face turned pale with shock, and he repeatedly asked: "What happened? What happened? Is there any news? Has the general returned?"

  Xu Yunfeng shook his head, "It's been over ten days and there's still no news!"

  The two of them exchanged a glance and changed color. Lu Yi was furious in his heart, what's going on with Shang Haibo? If Li Qing had a problem, then all his efforts would be in vain.

  Ordinary people naturally didn't know about the two men's worries, seeing the grain carts arriving continuously at the old camp, they were all cheering and shouting. Listening to the cheers outside, Lu Yi Meng smiled bitterly and said: "General, where there are auspicious signs for good people, we should focus on what's in front of us, Lord Xu, let's store the grain."

  Two men were on tenterhooks for only one day, and then they received the most wonderful news. A knight came galloping up to the old camp on horseback, jumped off his horse, and rushed into the camp, shouting loudly: "The general has won a great victory! The general has returned with a great triumph!"

  Xu Yunfeng and Lu Yiming were overjoyed, and they couldn't care less about their scholar's demeanor. The two of them, one on each side, grabbed the soldier who had brought the news and dragged him into the house, bombarding him with countless questions in a barrage of words.

  The soldier blinked his eyes, looking at the two adults, and really didn't know which question to answer first. He hesitated for a moment before speaking under the gaze of the two men who could kill him: "The general won a great victory, seized countless grain, countless livestock, countless weapons... oh, yes, and countless women."

  The soldier had no concept of numbers and did not know how many were captured, only able to describe it in two words: countless.

  The two adults stared at each other in dismay, having won the battle and obtained some spoils was a given, but what about these countless women? The two men glared at each other for a moment before finally reacting, both overjoyed. No matter what, it was a great victory, and they high-fived each other to celebrate. "Lord Xu, looks like we need to prepare more warehouses!" Lu Yiming laughed loudly.

  "Not bad, not bad." Xu Yunfeng also burst out laughing. "When General came that day, he told the elders of Chong County that as long as he was here, no one in Chong County would starve to death again. At that time, I still had doubts and thought it was just a comforting word from the general. But now it seems that I was greatly mistaken, the general is indeed an extraordinary person."

  The two of them sent away the soldier and hastily began preparing for Li Qing's return.

  The gongs and drums were already prepared, and in the blink of an eye, a team of dozens of people was formed. The village elders were notified to organize the villagers to welcome them along the way. People used cypress and fir trees to build a huge triumphal arch, and found some red silk to tie on the door. Although it was a bit simple, for today's Chong County, it was already very good. The two adults were even more excited, taking a bath and changing their clothes, shaving off the messy beards on their faces, tidying themselves up neatly, before walking towards the colorful gate, standing there waiting to welcome Li Qing's arrival.

  The scout in front led the people sent by Xu Yunfeng to see Li Qing, reported the preparation of the old camp, and the wind over the mountain naturally understood it very well. He notified the team to stop and the first one to walk through the colorful gate to accept the cheers of the people must be their leader, Li Qing.

  The sound of horseshoes came, and the army appeared in front. Suddenly, the gongs and drums shook the sky, and tens of thousands of people cheered thunderously. Li Qing rode his horse to the forefront, appearing before everyone's eyes. Behind him, an endless stream of troops emerged one after another.

  Li Qing rode his horse across the colorful gate, looking at the cheering crowd on both sides. He pressed his hands down slightly, and the scene immediately became quiet. Everyone looked at Li Qing with anticipation, thinking he was about to give a stirring speech. Xu Lu and others had also prepared congratulatory words in their minds.

  Li Qing was about to launch into a passionate speech, but when he saw the tens of thousands of people on both sides with pale faces and malnourished complexions, his mouth opened wide and he suddenly shouted: "Fellow villagers, from today onwards, we will eat dry food for every meal!"

  Tens of thousands of people were stunned. Xu Lu and others almost fell to the ground. Since ancient times, this is probably the most unique victory speech.

  Three chapters for today.

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