Last year, when Li Zexuan had just come up with medical alcohol, Li Jing, who had learned that it could prevent wounds from festering, had requested Li Er to equip the army with this type of medical alcohol.
At that time, when there was a shortage of alcohol and food, Li Zexuan had still provided the imperial court with a few hundred catties of medical alcohol.
Later on, when the imperial court implemented the policy of exchanging food from the south, the Tang Empire suddenly experienced a period of food overflow. Li Zexuan also took the opportunity to purchase a large amount of food, filling up the newly built granaries at home.
When the granaries were full, he used all the food he purchased to make wine. On one hand, it greatly increased the production of the two popular wines, Immortal Drunken Wine and Gentle Fragrance. On the other hand, he had also provided the imperial court with a large amount of medical alcohol.
Therefore, this thing had now become the standard issue for the Twelve Guards of Chang 'an. Every time the army went to war, they would more or less carry some. However, due to the limited production, medical alcohol had not yet been popularized in the Zhecong Prefecture's barracks.
At this moment, Li Zexuan was carrying some medical alcohol, boiled white cloth, and some simple medicine as he shuttled between the various tents.
At first, when the heavily injured soldiers heard that Li Zexuan was coming over to treat their wounds, they were more or less a little frightened or flattered. After all, Li Zexuan was a Marquis, and they were just ordinary soldiers.
However, after the initial uneasy contact, the injured soldiers found that Li Zexuan was not difficult to get along with at all. Not only did he talk and laugh with them, sometimes he even chatted with them and made vulgar remarks. He was not at all like the talented Yamachō from Yanhuang College, nor was he like the high and mighty Marquis Yongan of the Tang Empire.
However, it was precisely because of this that the soldiers felt that Li Zexuan was more amiable, more like a brother who had gone through fire and water with them on the battlefield.
Therefore, as Li Zexuan walked over, not only did he hear the miserable cries of the soldiers who had been touched in their wounds, but he also heard a lot of laughter, beating, and cursing. The austere atmosphere of the two armies a few hours ago was instantly replaced by this faint warmth.
And all of this was seen by one person!
"The Dao of Medicine is benevolent. Little Xuan is now a Marquis, yet he is willing to mix with these low-level soldiers. It can be seen that this child's heart is not bad at all. Since that is the case, what else can this poor Daoist not let go of? Everyone in this world has some secrets that belong to them. It is not in my Dao heart to get to the bottom of everything. Let's just watch him soar in this world! "
On the turret of the city wall, Xuan Qing, who had long been awakened by the commotion outside, stood by the window and watched as Li Zexuan shuttled back and forth between the various tents, talking and laughing with the wounded. Xuan Qing's gaze was complicated as he lamented.
After saying this, Xuan Qing suddenly felt relaxed. It was a kind of freedom and relief from letting go of obsession. It was the ultimate state that the people of Taoism pursued – Dao Nature!
…
Chang 'an City, Imperial Palace, Sweet Dew Hall.
Although there were still more than two hours before dawn, the place was still brightly lit. Li Er and Li Tai both had a pair of dark circles under their eyes and looked tired. However, the father and son did not intend to go back to sleep. They were waiting for news, news from the frontline!
Previous signs indicated that the northern part of the Tang Empire was experiencing a very fierce battle tonight, and the cause of all this was Li Zexuan and the top-secret information of Yanhuang College. However, the problem was that they had been unable to contact Li Zexuan before. They could only speculate that there would be a fierce battle at Longmen Pass tonight from the telegram sent back by Meng Wenhao.
One of the father and son was worried about the battle at the frontline, while the other was worried about the safety of the Yamachō. Neither of them was willing to rest before they got the exact news!
Speaking of which, although the telegraph increased the speed of information transmission, at the same time, it also increased the urgency of people's anticipation of information. If they were still using the manual transmission method in the past, Li Er and Li Tai would definitely not be foolishly waiting for news from the frontline without sleeping. Because if they were to use manual transmission, the news from Longmen Pass would only reach Chang 'an tomorrow afternoon. It was not worthwhile to wait here all the time.
Beep, beep, beep, beep ~!
Suddenly, the telegraph that had been silent for a long time suddenly let out a series of "di di di" sounds. This sound was simply incomparably pleasing to Li Tai's ears!
He quickly pulled himself together, straightened his back, and picked up a pen to record the code. After the translation was completed, he quickly sent out a section of code to confirm that he was right next to the telegraph!
"Father, it's a message from Wenhao!"
Seeing that Li Er was looking at him with a puzzled face, Li Tai did not wait for him to ask and directly stood up to answer.
"Meng Wenhao? Looks like there's news from the frontline! "
A bright light flashed in Li Er's eyes. He sighed as if relieved of a heavy burden.
Whether it was good news or bad news, it was better than waiting here for news! Besides, since Meng Wenhao could take the initiative to send a telegram to Chang 'an, it proved that the situation at the frontline was not too bad. At least, the army was not completely wiped out!
"Mm! It should be! "
Li Tai nodded. After a while, the telegraph began to ring again. Li Tai quickly sat down and recorded the code.
The beeping sound lasted for about half an hour. Li Er, who was at the side, could not help but stand up and go to Li Tai's side. However, when he saw the messy message on the rice paper, he could not help but frown because he could not understand it …
Li Er waited anxiously for a while. On the other side, Li Tai finally translated the encrypted message into words. The little fatty stood up and said, "Father! Frontline battle report! "
"Read it!"
Li Er said with a serious face.
"Yes!"
Li Tai nodded. He looked at the translated message and said, "On the thirtieth day of the sixth month of the second year of Zhenguan, Turkic General Ashina Sheercui led fifty thousand elite wolf cavalry into Yanmen Pass in order to rescue Wu Jie who had stolen the books of the Academy. He defeated the ten thousand soldiers that the Yamachō had sent from the Bingzhou Zhe Chong's camp. Then, he marched straight in and broke through Yonghe Pass and Madou Pass!
Wu Jie carried the top secret information of Yanhuang College and tried to pass through Longmen Pass. The Yamachō had already stationed ten thousand soldiers at Longmen Pass. Then, in order to contain Wu Jie, the Yamachō fought alone. Although he did his best, he was unable to stop Wu Jie. However, he managed to snatch back the information of the Academy, but the Yamachō was also seriously injured!
After Wu Jie escaped, he met up with Ashina Sheercui at Madou Pass. Ashina Sheercui was not satisfied with the current harvest and followed Wu Jie back to Longmen Pass! Wu Jie's martial strength was outstanding. Without the Yamachō's restraint, he relied on his superior martial strength to break through the city gates. Longmen Pass was about to fall into the hands of the enemy. At the crucial moment, a master archer named Xue Rengui from Longmen County managed to delay Wu Jie for a moment. Then, Daoist Xuan Qing from Mount Longhu suddenly appeared and completely blocked Wu Jie's attack!
After that, Wang Renbiao, the provincial governor of Qizhou, led thirty thousand soldiers to reinforce them. Generals Qin, Cheng, and Yuchi also led ten thousand light cavalry to arrive in time. Ashina Sheerchuan knew that he was no match for them and quickly retreated! Under the command of General Qin, the three forces at Longmen Pass gathered together and pursued the Turkic army!
At this time, the soldiers of Yunzhou, Shuo, Daizhou, and Yuzhou had already set up a defensive line outside Yonghe Pass. The Turkic army had just left Yonghe Pass when the two sides were engaged in a fierce battle. Soon after, General Qin's forces arrived and engaged in a fierce battle. In this battle, the forty thousand elite Turkic wolf cavalry were almost completely wiped out. Only a thousand-some managed to escape with Wu Jie and Ashina Sheercui back to the steppe!
However, our side also suffered heavy losses, especially the soldiers of Yunzhou, Daizhou, Yuzhou, and Shuo. Because they were directly attacked by the Turkic State Teacher, their casualties reached more than seventy percent. Adding on the soldiers that General Qin brought from Chang 'an and Qizhou, our side suffered more than forty-three thousand casualties! "
After Li Tai finished reading the battle report, the Sweet Nectar Palace immediately fell into silence. It was unknown if it was because of the low temperature of the night, but Li Tai suddenly felt a chill. This made the little fatty somewhat regret not wearing a cloak when he came to the Imperial Palace. After a long time, Li Er finally opened his mouth.
"Fifty thousand elite wolf cavalry? Xieli is truly willing to part with them! Invading the Great Tang time and time again, do they really think that Our patience is limitless? Bang! "
Li Er angrily slapped the table and turned to walk toward the dragon couch.
Li Tai cautiously said, "Imperial Father, calm your anger. Based on this report, these Turkic wolf cavalry must have been the elite of the elite. Now that they've all been lost in the Great Tang, Xieli's strength must have been greatly damaged. To our Great Tang, this is not necessarily a bad thing!"
Li Er sat on the dragon couch, his brow furrowed. After a few moments of thought, he shook his head and said, "Xieli claims to have one million soldiers controlling the bowstrings. Losing so many soldiers is not enough to harm his bones! Besides, our Great Tang's losses are no less than the Turks'! In the future, when the Great Tang and the Turks face each other, if the ratio of casualties is still like this, we will definitely lose! "
In this war, from start to finish, the Great Tang's side had lost nearly sixty thousand soldiers (including the Turks' attack on Yanmen Pass, Yonghe Pass, and Madou Pass), while the Turks had lost forty-nine thousand elite wolf cavalry. Just from the number of casualties, the Tang army did not have the advantage! However, considering that the Tang army had very good methods to prevent wounds from being infected and could allow a large portion of the injured soldiers to survive, it seemed that the number of casualties on both sides was about the same!
But even if it was a one to one casualty ratio, it was still somewhat difficult for Li Er to accept. After all, the Turks at this time were definitely in a period of unprecedented strength. The number of soldiers that Xieli could bring out was definitely greater than the Great Tang's!
Li Tai also understood this reasoning. He thought about it and clasped his hands.
"Imperial Father, these Turkic wolf cavalry are the elites of the elites. Ordinary soldiers would naturally be at a disadvantage against them, but the one million soldiers of the Turks can't all be elites like this!
Moreover, 'Sun Tzu's Art of War' says that above all, 'Above all, warfare is warfare. Next is warfare. Next is warfare.' Now that our Great Tang has even more advanced weapons and armor, as well as a method of communication that surpasses all foreign countries, we completely have the conditions to make a big fuss about tactics and allow the cooperation between the armies to be seamless! With such superior tactics, our chances of victory are definitely thirty to forty percent higher than the Turks'! "
"Mm! Qingque, your words are not without reason! "
Hearing this, Li Er's eyes brightened. At this moment, he remembered that Li Zexuan's workshop was currently working on equipment for the Black Armored Army. With the new armor and Li Zexuan's new tactics, the fighting power of the Black Armored Army would at least double!
If Li Er knew the word 'technology', he would definitely sigh and say, "Technology is fighting power!"
"According to the battle report, Li Zexuan fought with Wu Jie and was seriously injured. How is his injury now?"
Suddenly, Li Er remembered the battle report that Li Tai had just read out and hurriedly asked.
Li Tai smiled and replied, "Imperial Father, although Yamachō was seriously injured, after Taoist Master Xuan Qing's treatment, not only has his injury healed, but his martial arts have also improved!"
Zhao Song, who was standing in the corner of the hall, was shocked when he heard that Li Zexuan's martial arts had improved again. He secretly thought that Li Zexuan was already at Grandmaster Middle-stage before he went to the north. If he improved again, wouldn't he be at Grandmaster Late-stage? This realm, he would be catching up with me, the Chief Steward of the Imperial Household!
At this moment, Zhao Song's heart was undoubtedly broken. Li Zexuan's speed of improvement made him doubt his life!
"Xuan Qing!"
It was the second time he heard the name Xuan Qing. Li Er's mind turned quickly and he muttered, "This Dragon Tiger Mountain is really full of masters. But why would Xuan Qing appear at Longmen Pass for no reason?"
"This … I don't know!"
In the end, Li Tai was only proficient in literary strategy. He did not pay much attention to matters related to martial arts.
Zhao Song cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, Taoist Master Xuan Qing is said to be the next Celestial Master Taoist on Dragon Tiger Mountain after Spiritual Master Ling Xu passed away. After Spiritual Master Ling Xu passed away, Taoist Master Xuan Qing chose to go into seclusion. I didn't expect him to come out now!"
Although Zhao Song was not in Jianghu, he still knew some things about the martial arts world.
"Well! This matter is indeed a bit strange, but since Li Zexuan is fine, it's fortunate! "
Hearing this, Li Er frowned and said.
Today, Li Er attached great importance to Li Zexuan. He knew better than anyone that if all the advanced knowledge in Li Zexuan's head was used, it could be compared to an army of 100,000! Therefore, when he learned that Li Zexuan was fine, Old Li couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. As for whether Li Zexuan's martial arts had improved, he didn't care much about it!
"Father is right!"
Li Tai's thoughts were much simpler than Li Er's. He only hoped that Li Zexuan was fine. As long as Li Zexuan was alive, Yanhuang College would continue to exist!
Li Er nodded and said,
"Alright, it's getting late. Qingque, you should go and rest!"
It was indeed getting late. In a while, the rooster would start crowing.
Li Tai stood up and cupped his hands. "Then I'll take my leave. Father, you should rest early too!"
"Well! Go! "
Li Er grunted. Li Tai packed up the telegraph and turned to leave the Sweet Dew Hall.
…
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.
