Chinese New Year

Chapter 586: Your presence

Above the Princess's Stage, there were many canopies.

The Sima clan princes, Luoyang ministers, all the civil and military officials in the court, officers of the imperial guards, and palace servants surrounded the emperor and the empress and ascended the high platform.

The sound of drums continued in my ears, and the soldiers were lining up. According to the schedule, the emperor would come to the suburbs today to review the army and give rewards to the soldiers.

At this time, Sima Chi's attention was attracted by the high platform opposite.

On the high platform, a huge banner rose into the sky.

Under the banner stood a general in a red robe and golden armor, his hand on the hilt of his sword, standing solemnly in the wind.

Behind him, there were twelve drums standing in a row. Strong and sturdy men were waving drumsticks and beating them rhythmically, making waves of soul-stirring sounds.

The drummer has six horn players on each side, holding thick bull horns and ready to take action at any time.

Beside the golden-armored general, his personal soldiers and generals gathered, with swords, spears, swords and halberds arranged around him.

In front of the general, seven or eight officers stood on his left and right.

Below the platform, the messengers stood at attention, holding their horses, ready to set off at any time.

Nine hundred personal soldiers armed with long spears and bows tightly surrounded the platform in front, behind, and on both sides.

More than 20,000 soldiers had gathered in the wilderness in front of the platform, including troops from the Seven Governors' Offices, the Luoyang Cavalry, the Left Guard, and the Right Guard.

Perhaps in order to show their power, they formed a square formation today.

At the front were the carefully selected elite soldiers of the palace, a total of 400 people, arranged in four rows. They were the "Xuanfeng" and the troops they formed were called the "Zhanfeng".

The battle front does not require a very strict formation, and can even be dispersed during the charge, the purpose is to disrupt the enemy's formation and force them to waver, or to harass them when they are setting up their formation, delaying their formation time and weakening the enemy's morale.

Behind Zhan Feng is the front army formation.

There were 500 infantrymen in one formation and 200 cavalrymen in another. The infantry and cavalry were mixed and arranged in intervals, with a distance of 50 steps between each formation.

The front army arranged four infantry squares and three cavalry squares, totaling 2,600 infantry and cavalry.

On both sides of them, there was a strong crossbow battalion of the Luoyang Central Army, which had set up crossbow carts before the battle.

Together they formed the Front Army.

Behind the front army is the main camp of the central army.

There is also a distance of fifty steps between the two formations.

The cavalry in the center of the army was not arranged in a staggered pattern with the infantry, but were all deployed on the right side, numbering about a thousand.

In the middle and on the left were densely packed infantry phalanxes, each consisting of a thousand men, eight in total, about eight thousand men.

There is also a command vehicle in the center, but there is no one in it at the moment and it is empty.

At the outermost part of the central army, there were also crossbow carts and scattered warriors. There were not many people, only a few hundred in total.

Behind the central army is the rear formation.

There were many side carriages and baggage carts.

The overall layout is to form a camp around the chariots, with only a few gaps for the cavalry to enter and exit.

The soldiers of the palace were lined up in the center under the protection of vehicles. Together with some of the Luoyang imperial guards, the number of people exceeded 10,000.

A total of more than 20,000 infantry and cavalry stood solemnly in the western suburbs of Luoyang, making the emperor and his ministers on the imperial platform dizzy.

At this moment, the drum sound on the opposite platform suddenly stopped.

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound, and saw a green flag raised, and two messengers jumped on their horses and galloped out.

The vanguard and front army remained motionless, but the cavalry on the right wing of the central army had already mounted their horses, ready to attack.

A moment later, the small drums of the cavalry camp sounded.

Chang Can was eager to go out to the battle while watching the messenger. When the messenger arrived, he immediately jumped on his horse, holding a thick horse spear, and shouted "Charge" amid the rumbling drums.

The knights urged their horses, slowly accelerating, and went around from the right to the front.

Everyone on the princess stage widened their eyes.

Emperor Sima Chi got goose bumps all over his body as he watched thousands of cavalry charging into the battle formation.

The cavalry was very fast.

These were soldiers from the government who had been trained in horse combat for at least ten years. After they rushed to the front, hundreds of them rained arrows at the straw man stuck on the ground.

The arrows covered the sky and were as dense as locusts, shooting many straw men to the ground.

After shooting, they sped up, went around behind the straw man, and fired another volley.

Hundreds of cavalrymen with lances followed closely behind, and taking advantage of the chaos they caused, they cut diagonally through the straw man formation. With a flick of their lances, they picked up the straw men on the periphery and flew away like peeling an onion, and then quickly rode away.

Everyone's attention was attracted by the cavalry. When they were not paying attention, hundreds of warriors had followed the flags and marched quickly to the sound of drums.

They first fired a round of long-range shots with the crossbow, then the sword and shield men stepped forward, and the others held long heavy swords, wearing iron armor, followed closely behind the sword and shield men, and quickly advanced to the front of the straw man formation.

The shield bearer raised his big shield and bravely rushed into the straw men.

The swordsmen rushed forward, slashing horizontally and vertically, not only chopping the straw man into pieces, but also cutting the bamboo poles and wooden sticks that were holding the straw man in place into two pieces.

Behind them, drums beat one after another.

One by one, the infantry and cavalry phalanxes began to advance.

The desolate horn sound seemed to come from underground, and a dense forest of spears slowly crawled forward.

They were not moving very fast. They stopped to regroup every fifty steps and only continued to move forward after hearing the drum beat again. However, they still created a strong visual impact.

Yes, even when they stopped to line up, the pressure was still great.

As they move forward, you will feel an irresistible feeling from the bottom of your heart.

"Boom boom boom..." The rhythm of the drums suddenly changed, and the speed of the spear jungle also suddenly increased.

The front row of rifles began to level.

The officers shouted commands and yelled loudly.

It's faster.

The vanguard has spread out to both sides.

"Woo——" the horn sounded.

"Buzz--" The overwhelming arrows fell into the straw man formation that had already been scattered.

"Boom boom..." The drumbeats became more and more intense.

More than two thousand spears were raised at the same time, the soldiers had ferocious expressions on their faces, and their pace became faster and faster.

"Kill!" shouts rose to the sky.

The straw man was scattered.

Emperor Sima Chi subconsciously took two steps back.

Liang Lanbi held his hand tightly, but her face showed a painful expression.

"Ding ding--" the gong sounded.

The officers turned around and looked at the flag on the platform. After confirming the signal to retreat, they slowly gathered together. The front team became the rear team, and the rear team became the front team. They took turns to cover each other and slowly retreated.

After a while, all that was left on the battlefield were straw men lying all over the place.

The expressions of Wang Yan and others were not much better than the emperor.

They already knew that the soldiers Shao Xun brought were capable of fighting, but they did not expect them to be so powerful on the battlefield.

Situ Liutun sighed secretly.

Today, it was said that the ruler and his ministers in Luoyang were invited to watch the military drills, but after watching it, I only felt horrified.

This group of troops that Shao Xun has been raising day and night for the past ten years, once they are released from the cage, can others really control them?

In ancient times, there were so-called heroes and great men. They did not use their family background to oppress others, nor did they use power to control others. As long as he stood there, all the warriors would automatically follow him, cheer for him, and die for him.

"Your Majesty, you should send someone to distribute cloth as rewards. This may make the troops cheer and demonstrate the majesty of the royal family." Queen Liang Lanbi hesitated for a while and reminded in a low voice.

The emperor suddenly realized what was going on and immediately called his attendants to give orders.

At this moment, there was movement on the platform opposite.

Dozens of riders urged their horses along, beating small drums on horseback.

Behind them, there were a large number of riders playing the flute.

This refers to the horizontal blowing of drums and horns, and the music played is military music.

Amid the exciting and melodious music, the red-robed general rode a white horse as fast as lightning.

The personal soldiers clamped their arms tightly around the horses' bellies, holding high their flags and horse spears, and gathered in a row, following him.

In the smoke and dust, there were the sound of horse hooves and military flags fluttering in the wind.

The red-robed general galloped across the central army formation.

Liu Ling was carrying a large banner, his face full of excitement. He was so strong that he even had enough energy to wave the banner.

The personal soldiers also looked excited, their eyes fixed on the red-robed general, and they were determined to follow him even to the ends of the earth.

The red-robed general glanced at the infantry on one side, with his whip raised high.

The cheers sounded like a tsunami.

The red-robed general looked to the other side again.

The cheers shook the heavens and the earth. The red-robed general seemed dissatisfied, and his hands left the reins and raised them repeatedly.

"Kill!" The infantrymen struck the ground with their spears, paced the ground, their faces flushed, and their voices rose several pitches.

The red-robed general laughed.

The majestic white horse shook its head, as if it was enjoying the feeling of flying among the troops.

Wherever the red-robed general arrived, he would raise his whip and, like a conductor, mobilize the emotions of the infantry in each phalanx, making them cheer and praise.

"Xilulu..." A cavalryman received the signal and joined the red-robed general's team with his troops.

The red-robed general ran around the formation repeatedly.

The front army, the middle army and the rear army cheered in turn.

Looking down from a high place, the square formations looked like waves roaring like the sea.

Wherever the red-robed general went, cheers rose to the sky.

During this time, cavalrymen kept riding up and joined the crowd. When they rushed to the rear, even the cavalry officers were infected and followed them spontaneously, with smiles and even respect on their faces.

The south wind blew strongly and the military flags fluttered.

In the wilderness, the total number of cavalrymen behind the red-robed general was nearly four thousand. Every one of them was brave and shouting.

After circling twice, the red-robed general pointed with his whip.

Yang Qin urged his horse to gallop forward with hundreds of riders. After a moment, they arrived at the foot of the princess's stage and dismounted to stand on guard.

The person on duty below the princess' stage was General Miao Yuan, who immediately gave orders to his soldiers.

The red-robed general rode his horse at full speed and arrived in an instant, surrounded by his personal soldiers.

Emperor Sima Chi walked to the edge of the platform and looked down, only to see that the soldiers holding spears and fighting below the platform withdrew their weapons and retreated to both sides.

The red-robed general was like a god descending from heaven. With just him, he caused the guards with crossed halberds to scatter one after another, just like a giant hammer splitting the surface of the sea.

He stopped on the stage and looked around.

From the general Miao Yuan in the palace to the guards holding spears, they all prostrated themselves on the ground.

He slowly dismounted, handed the whip to his personal soldier, and waited for a while.

Four thousand riders dismounted not far away, and there were shouts and neighs of horses at once. Below the princess' stage was already a sea of ​​flags and weapons.

The red-robed general straightened his military uniform and climbed the stairs under the protection of his personal soldiers.

There were palace guards on the ramp, and when they saw him, they all lowered their heads and dared not look him in the eye.

The red-robed general quickly stepped onto the stage.

The palace guards looked embarrassed and stopped him, asking him to take off his weapons.

Liu Ling and others all looked angry and glared at him.

The red-robed general laughed and handed his sword and bow to his personal soldiers. After a brief search, they locked onto the emperor's location.

He immediately stepped forward.

Sima Chi's face didn't look very good, and he subconsciously wanted to retreat.

"Your Majesty, I, Shao Xun, pay my respects to you." The red-robed general said loudly, "Please forgive me for not being able to perform the full ceremony while wearing armor."

After saying this, he leaned forward slightly and bowed with his fists clasped.

The field fell silent for a moment.

The ministers looked at each other with subtle expressions, some looked at him, some looked at the emperor.

Just now the emperor sent people to distribute cloth as rewards, but unfortunately it was offset by Shao Xun's morale-boosting move, and had almost no impact, let alone won the hearts of the soldiers for him.

Some people unconsciously compared this scene to the hunting of Cao Cao and Emperor Xian of Han...

The emperor felt that he should reprimand Shao Xun and then forgive him, but when the words came to his lips, they turned into "it's okay".

Shao Xun smiled slightly.

Sima Chi saw it and felt extremely painful, so he turned away.

"Your Majesty has finished reviewing the army. What do you think?" Shao Xun stood beside the emperor, almost shoulder to shoulder, and asked, pointing at the 20,000 soldiers standing solemnly in the wilderness.

"With such powerful soldiers, Shao Qing can defeat the Huns. Why does he still need the imperial guards?" Sima Chi said in a muffled voice.

Shao Xun looked at the ministers.

Most people lowered their heads and said nothing.

After a moment of silence, the Grand Commandant Wang Yan stepped forward and said, "In a military battle, never underestimate the enemy. Lord Chen is a famous general in the world, so he naturally knows how to use troops."

Shao Xun looked at Situ Liutun again.

"Of course, the more soldiers the better." Liu Tun replied.

Shao Xun looked at Shangshu Ling Yu Min again.

"The Huns are in high spirits, and I think we should use all our strength," Yu Min replied.

He then looked at Shang Shu Zuo Pushe Liu Wang, Ting Wei Zhuge Quan, Zhong Shu Jian Zheng Yu and others.

Everyone answered one by one.

Sima Chi's body was already trembling slightly. Liang Lanbi took a half step closer and grabbed his hand.

Shao Xun's eyes met hers and he lowered his head slightly.

After Liang Lanbi calmed Sima Chi down, she glanced at Shao Xun secretly.

In her correspondence with Yu Wenjun, she witnessed her best friend's inner troubles, worries and deep love.

She witnessed their love - well, maybe it was Yu Wenjun's one-sided love. But she was still very envious and very relieved, because this was one of the few bright spots in her boring palace life.

It turns out that witnessing every detail of the love between other couples can make your heart beat as if you were there.

Wenjun is so lucky!

"Your Majesty, I have received your loyal teachings and the grace and honor of the two dynasties. I am grateful to you." Shao Xun took a step closer and whispered, "There is no need to worry about it."

Sima Chi was not relieved when he heard this. Instead, he looked at Shao Xun with a shocked and angry expression.

Perhaps he thought that the other person was speaking sarcastically and was threatening him.

Shao Xun also reacted.

Is the Sima family so guilty? Do they not believe in the promises he made? Or do they judge others by their own standards and find it difficult to be forgiven?

What a pig brain!
Shao Xun was too lazy to talk nonsense with him, and said directly: "I have transferred 200,000 hu of millet and wheat, 5,000 hu of rice, and 50,000 heads of livestock from the counties of Luonan to the capital. The worry of food shortage in the capital may be alleviated."

Sima Chi looked at him puzzledly.

Why was Shao Xun so easy to talk to? Was he lying to him? Or would he take away the food and livestock in the future on the pretext of a shortage of military rations?
Shao Xun secretly sighed that there seemed to be no mutual trust between him and the emperor, so he stopped talking and turned to another matter: "The war in Guanzhong is fierce, and we must send important officials to guard it to contain the Xiongnu."

Sima Chi keenly sensed something was wrong, but still asked, "Who do you think is the best candidate, Shao Qing?"

"Minister Xu Xia is the one who can do it." Shao Xun said.

Xu Xia was not far away. When he heard this, his face turned pale and he wanted to refuse directly. However, when he met Shao Xun's gaze, he lost his courage.

Sima Chi remained silent for a long time.

Shao Xun looked at the ministers again.

Wang Yan glanced at him unhappily, stepped forward again, and said, “Your Majesty, Beidi, Fufeng and other counties are in danger, and we must have an important minister to clean up the situation.”

With him taking the lead, the other important officials said in unison: "We ask that the Minister be allowed to go to Guanzhong to govern."

Xu Xia closed his eyes, looking dejected.

The road to Guanzhong is blocked and we might be killed by the Huns on the way. What else can we say?

"Your Majesty, I request permission for the Minister to go to Guanzhong to govern." The important ministers all expressed their opinions, and the middle and low-level court officials also advised.

Just now Mr. Chen said that he would help the ruler and his ministers in Luoyang. If you take his benefits but don't speak up for him, how can you have food to eat?
"You guys——" Sima Chi felt dizzy and didn't know what to do.

These were all his subjects, but under the threat of the army and the inducement of food, they all turned against him.

It’s not a pleasant feeling to face the Minotaur!

"I, I..." Sima Chi looked around as if he wanted to ask for help, but every minister who met his gaze turned away.

Sima Chi's eyes swept across Liu Ling's face.

The giant man like an iron tower licked his lips and looked at him with malicious eyes.

This guy is a disciple of the Heavenly Master, born a rebel, so of course he doesn't respect the emperor. If someone hadn't stopped him, he would have dared to go up and slap the emperor a few times.

"I have the ambition to revive the country, but you are not the right ministers to do so." Sima Chi was desperate and walked away in anger.

Liang Lanbi hurriedly caught up, and when she passed by Shao Xun, she gave him a reproachful look.

Shao Xun was stunned.

What does the Queen mean by this? Why is she looking at me like this? It's as if I owe her something. It's really strange.

Since the emperor and empress had left, it was inconvenient for the ministers to stay for long and followed them one after another. However, many people stayed behind, as if they had some ulterior motive.

Shao Xun stood in the position where the emperor had just stood, looking down at the troops.

The officials including the Grand Marshal, the Minister of the Interior, the Minister of the Secretariat, the Minister of Justice, the Minister of the Imperial Household, the Central Guard, the Northern Army, the Minister of the Chancellery, and the Minister of the Chancellery surrounded him and pointed at the audience.

(End of this chapter)