The Tang Empire was called the Tang Empire because of these simple but powerful things.
Ning Que was not a typical Tangs. He was not brave enough on the battlefield, nor did he have the courage to fight back from the dead or burn his own house for fun. Even if he lived in the City of Wei for another twenty years, it would be impossible for him to write a life drama about growing from a beggar to a general.
But he had been in the army long enough to accurately grasp the precious or terrible temperament of the Tangs in this era. So when he found the arrow holes on the princess's team, he immediately deduced something troublesome — the successor of the Chanyu on the grassland dared to chase after the princess of the Tang Empire. If he was not really crazy, then there must be a real bigwig in the empire who had colluded with him and promised not to be punished by the empire.
"The Fourth Princess has now entered the border of the Tang Empire and the City of Wei, but she still hasn't revealed her identity? Why? Because the word trust is not in her mind now. She may trust His Majesty, but certainly not his subjects, such as you, the border army, or even the entire imperial court. "
"Because she knows very well that without the approval of some bigwig in Chang 'an, no barbarians on the grassland would dare to kill her. There are no more than four people who can make such a promise to the barbarians and be trusted by the Chanyu, and they are all people that even she can't afford to offend. "
"Even you, general, can only stay far away from this kind of war between the upper echelons of the empire, not to mention small figures like us …" Ning Que rubbed the slightly wet mud with his heel and whispered, "Something will definitely happen on the road. I can at most deal with three to five people, and I can't help at all if I get involved."
"One more person in the team escorting the princess means one more corpse on the mountain road. Without me, the City of Wei can still have a good soldier with good military discipline."
"General, you can just treat me as the Primordial Qi of Heaven and Earth. I'm not very useful and you can't even see me."
Looking at the seemingly humble lad, Ma Shixiang rubbed his head and said in a muffled voice, "You compare yourself to the Primordial Qi of Heaven and Earth? Is this modesty or boasting? If you really want to persuade me to withdraw this military order, it might be more appropriate to say that you are a fart. "
Ning Que chuckled and replied, "I'm going to be a student of the Academy soon, so I have to be elegant in my speech."
Ma Shixiang did not continue to make fun of the child. After a moment of silence, he frowned and explained, "Actually … it has something to do with you going to the Academy. Your military exploits are indeed enough, and you have passed the preliminary test. I have asked my superiors to write a recommendation letter for you, and the Military Ministry's reply has already arrived. But do you think that you can enter the Academy just like that? "
"You have been staying at the frontier fortress of the City of Wei all these years. Even if you have heard some legends about the Academy, you don't know what kind of place it is."
The general's expression was solemn and serious. "In the hearts of the people of the Tang Empire, the Academy is the most sacred and inviolable place. Having the Military Ministry's acknowledgement only means that you can participate in the Academy Entrance Examination of the Academy. However, if you really want to step into the Academy's red gate, you have to go to at least three departments to get stamped …"
"Why would those departments care about recommendation letters written by high-ranking officers like us? Even if it's a reply from the military headquarters, it doesn't have much power. As long as they want, they can delay the time for you to participate in the Academy Entrance Examination for several years. In recent years, this has become a common sight. Except for the students accepted by the teachers of the Academy from among the common people, any candidate recommended by the imperial court has to spend a lot of money to clear the way. I don't know how many wealthy families have lost their fortune just because of the Academy Entrance Examination. "
"I know that you have saved some money in the City of Wei for the past two years, but do you think that you can feed those guys with just a few hundred taels of silver?"
Ning Que scratched his head and said with emotion, "No one told me about this before."
"Because there is a way to solve this problem now, so there is no need to tell you."
Ma Shixiang looked at him and said unhappily, "As long as you make a contribution on the road and catch the eye of the nobility, or even if the nobility remembers your name, then any steward in the Princess's Mansion can just say a few words, and no yamen will dare to blackmail you."
"This means that I have to gamble with my life for the Academy Entrance Examination of the Academy. Why does it sound like a bad deal?" Ning Que continued to scratch his head.
Ma Shixiang stared at him fiercely and scolded, "Idiot! Bastard! In order to enter the Academy, I don't know how many people are willing to sell their own mothers and kill their own fathers! Now I just want you to take a small risk, but you are still unwilling to do it! "
After a while, the general calmed down and advised, "According to my analysis, Your Highness should also know that her whereabouts can't be kept secret. If you can guess her identity, then all the people in the City of Wei can guess it. How can her enemies in the Empire not guess it? In this case, she still insists on going as usual, which means that there must be reinforcements ahead. Your task is just to take her to the mountain shortcut and meet those people as soon as possible. How can it be considered gambling with your life? "
Ning Que lowered his head and said nothing. He kept calculating the gains and losses in this.
Ma Xiangsheng looked at his expression and thought of the irritating temper of this lad. He knew that it was difficult to persuade him to take the risk without some visible benefits. He could not help but sigh and said in a low voice, "There is an old man in the team of Your Highness. His surname is Lyu, and I heard that he cultivates in the South School of Haotian Taoism."
Hearing this, Ning Que suddenly raised his head, and his usually calm and lazy eyes suddenly became extremely bright.
Ma Xiangsheng looked at him and said with emotion, "You came to the City of Wei when you were still a little boy. You used your sweet words and skills to please all the young and old men in the city. The soldiers changed one batch after another. Even the meat pie shop in the Eastern City had changed two bosses. But you are still the most favored little boy in the City of Wei, the bandit's nest."
He rubbed Ning Que's head as if he was looking at a spoiled child, and said, "That year before the former general passed away, he got you a military record. Then in the autumn when we went to the grassland to collect firewood, we were almost killed by those barbarians. It was only because of you that we escaped. At that time, all the people in the City of Wei unanimously decided to reward you. We even thought that even if your condition was to use the capital's most popular prostitute, we would all pool our money to do it beautifully."
The grey-haired general changed the topic and said bitterly, "But no one expected that you would want to learn those Extraterrestrial methods. It's so frustrating. The entire City of Wei, even the entire Seven Stockaded Villages, could not find a teacher for you. We could only watch you read the Article on the Response of the Tao until it was torn and tattered, and we could do nothing about it."
"But now is the opportunity!"
Ma Xiangsheng's eyes suddenly became sharp. "Whether it is the Academy or the old man surnamed Lyu, you must catch them. You must catch them."
Ning Que was silent for a long time, and then he lowered his head and sighed softly. "Actually … I'm still a little reluctant."
The starlight outside the window was faint. Ma Xiangsheng looked at the lad and said, "The City of Wei … is too small after all. You should go to the capital Chang 'an, to the real big world. Maybe there are many fierce dragons and tigers in those places, but you are a newborn calf, who are you really afraid of?"
"At least … those places will not only have a tattered Article on the Response of the Tao."
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
