"No, don't follow their footprints. If they turn back and find our footprints, we will be injured if we fight."
Hu Feng was unwilling to fight with 59 soldiers. He had counted the number of people on the other side.
There were only 12 of them left, plus 34 dogs. He was confident that he could kill them.
However, many dogs would die, and his apprentices might be killed too.
In the mountains, the other side was obviously not as skilled as hunters.
Hunters were best at moving for a long time in the mountains, especially when they were good at tracking.
When they were being tracked, they could set small traps to erase the traces.
After it snowed, it would have a great impact on the erasure of traces. Others could tell where the snow was not right.
Hu Feng led people to track. The distance was far, and he had binoculars.
He was not afraid of the dark. If the other side did not light torches at night, they would be seeking death.
He had dogs in his team. If he tied a rope, the dogs would lead him.
The 34 dogs were all taken back at the moment. They would not be let out. If they encountered other large animals, the dogs would be exposed.
The sky was getting dark.
Those people lit torches as expected, and their speed slowed down.
"It seems that they are looking for a place to spend the night. We should also look for a place."
Hu Feng judged from the swaying of the torches and the movement of the figures.
The 11 apprentices had no objection. It was just spending the night in the snow mountain in winter. It was a common thing.
Not long after, there was a bonfire there.
Hu Feng led the team forward. There was a hunter's hut in front of them. It was in a natural semi-cave piled up by a few big stones.
There were firewood, rice, salt, dried meat, and flint.
According to the rules, hunters came here to rest temporarily. They just needed to make up for what they had used.
If there was no rice, they would put more prey after they had finished hunting.
The hunter's hut had the most salt. Every hunter would bring more salt and put it in the hut.
Usually, the hunter's hut was in a secluded place where other animals could not enter.
Not long after, Hu Feng and others arrived at the location. There was no one there.
The place was small, and only six people could enter at the same time. There was dry firewood, a lot of shelled grains, and stone tools.
He arranged for everyone to keep an eye on another group of people outside and take turns to rest inside.
The dogs did not need to care about them. They huddled together to keep warm.
They also changed to the inside when it was cold outside. Along the way, they hunted rabbits and pheasants with bows. Now they made a fire and the dogs ate them raw.
Chang 'an City lit up at night. The newly made ice lanterns were used one after another.
The rules were the same as last year. The merchants and wealthy families paid for the advertisements.
"With the soldiers sweeping the snow, the streets look clean."
"In the past, they were all piled up in a corner. When there was too much snow, they moved them out. In the end, all the snow at the bottom froze."
"I wonder if the soldiers will still help if it snows again."
"There's snow there that hasn't been cleared. The work isn't meticulous."
"There's an ice lantern over there. There's no snow around, so the ice lantern should be melting by now."
The commoners came out at night to shop and look at the ice lanterns. They gave positive comments about the sixteen guards' participation in the snow removal.
The ice lanterns in the palace lit up. Li Longji had not gone to look for Li Yi for a few days and was upset. Therefore, he asked Yao Chong and the others to come over for dinner.
It was still hotpot. At the same time, he prepared vegetables for Yao Chong and the others to bring home as a reward.
"There's a new report from the southwest. The southwest barbarians have retreated and captured more than a thousand captives." Li Longji talked about the happy news.
"This subject requests that you send someone to investigate Li Yi's use of the money to buy the captives." Yao Chong did not mention the southwest. He was staring at the money.
They had agreed that the money from selling the captives and pandas would be given ten cutlasses each for the living and one hundred cutlasses for the dead. As for the injured, it would be adjusted according to their injuries.
When more than a thousand captives arrived, there would be no shortage of money. They would all be given out.
During war, the generals did not dare to move for fear of affecting morale.
After the war, when money was involved, the generals would give him money to distribute. If he embezzled it, it would not affect morale but the reputation of the imperial court.
Yes, the imperial court. Don't look at how Li Yi had paid the money and the soldiers from the Subduing Chong Manor belonged to the imperial court.
"Yes!" Li Longji agreed. "Send out the first imperial inspection team and keep a close eye on them."
"Your Majesty, the Left Imperial General Guo Qianguan has submitted a memorial to clean up the remaining Western Turks who have not surrendered. This subject believes that this cannot be done."
Yao Chong spoke of the second matter.
"As you say." Li Longji smiled. Li Yi had said it, and it was indeed accurate.
"Kuozhou Governor Zhang Xiaosong has led troops to attack Aduoda. The current situation is unknown. Someone has reported that Zhang Xiaosong embezzled resources."
Yao Chong spoke of the third matter. Zhang Xiaosong was still fighting, and someone had already begun to impeach him.
"If he's embezzled, then so be it. Give him a promotion and place him in Kuozhou." Li Longji was still smiling.
As expected, Zhang Xiaosong was a coward and had contributed too much. Perhaps there really were people who did not see eye to eye with him.
However, none of this was important. Zhang Xiaosong could fight, so he should be placed there to continue defending and intimidate the Western Regions.
If he contributed too much, he would be promoted. If he was really greedy, it was fine. He could just treat it as a reward.
Yao Chong and the others were dumbfounded.
"Your Majesty, Zhang Xiaosong has embezzled resources." Yao Chong reminded.
"When he's done fighting, ask him how much he embezzled. If it's less than five hundred taels, give him a thousand taels. It's only a million taels. If he embezzled a thousand taels, then don't give him any more. "
Li Longji's words caused Yao Chong and the others to be even more stunned.
"Your Majesty, this matter cannot be allowed to continue." Lu Huaishen could not hold it in any longer. "If the generals at the frontlines are not punished for embezzling resources, the other generals will follow suit."
Zhang Shuo added, "If they are not punished because of their contributions, the frontlines are afraid of raising bandits."
"One matter at a time. Zhang Xiaosong has won consecutive battles. If we punish him, will the other generals still dare to fight? Remove Zhang Xiaosong from his post. This will cause pain to those close to him and delight his enemies. "
Li Longji did not accept the advice. He believed in Li Yi's words.
If Li Yi said that it would be fine, then it would be fine. If Zhang Xiaosong won the battle and was punished, the people who were beaten would be happy.
They thought that the Tang dynasty punished Zhang Xiaosong because they were afraid of them.
Why? Who did the Tang dynasty need to lower their heads to? If they were not happy, they would beat them.
Seeing Li Longji's firm attitude, no one said anything more.
They knew that Li Yi must have been the one who came up with the idea. They trusted Li Yi this time.
When the battle report came back, they would ask Zhang Xiaosong how much he embezzled and see what he would say.
"The pandas have gone back to sleep. Let's go back too." There were still people watching the pandas in the Li Family Zhuangzi's garden.
In order to prevent them from freezing, there was also a free soup prepared here. There was only one pot.
People from Chang 'an City brought their children to the Zhang Family's village to play. When they talked to the children, the children were so sleepy that they dozed off, but they still waited for the pandas to come out.
The pandas went into the cage by themselves. There was a rope hanging from the cage. When the pandas went in, the fence was lowered. Only then did the people in charge of cleaning enter.
The cage was a big one made of iron. It was said that the pandas were iron-eaters, but the pandas could not bite it.
The cage was placed in the room. There was hay and a fire passage below. The temperature was suitable. The most important thing was that there were bamboo shoots.
The pandas went in by themselves and no longer hated humans.
Seeing that someone hung a kerosene lamp and cleaned it, the pandas just looked at it. Then, they got into a comfortable position and began to sleep.
They could get up to eat when they were hungry. When they went out to play, the cage had been cleaned when they came back.
The tourists were addicted to seeing the pandas, and the Zhang Family's village made more money.
It was almost midnight when Hu Feng's two disciples came to the Li Family Zhuangzi.
Li Yi was woken up. He looked at the two disciples and asked, "Will Master Hu and the others take action?"
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.
