(There are two more chapters to make up for yesterday's update.)
The sky gradually turned dark.
Hsu Fengnian walked out of Xu Weixiong's room that was filled with the smell of medicine. Cucumber, the maid, had been sticking to the Crown Prince, whom she hadn't seen in a long time. She sniffed at the door and wanted to take off the sachet at her waist and hang it on the Crown Prince to wash away the smell of medicine. However, Hsu Fengnian shook his head and walked into the courtyard with her. Seeing Xu Xiao dozing off on the stone bench, Cucumber covered her mouth and smiled. She tiptoed out of the courtyard so as not to disturb the King of Beiliang and His Royal Highness' time together. Before leaving, she looked back and saw the Crown Prince's white hair, which made her worried. The moment Hsu Fengnian sat down, the dozing off Xu Xiao woke up. He rubbed his cheeks and said self-mockingly, "I get sleepy when I'm old. I remember when I was young, whether it was killing enemies or running for my life, I didn't sleep for three days and three nights. I didn't see any fatigue. As long as I had a good night's sleep, I could eat four to five kilograms of cooked meat when I woke up. I really have to admit that I'm old."
Hsu Fengnian smiled, "A real man doesn't talk about his past glory. Who hasn't aged before? You're not a Taoist who hides in a cave to cultivate immortality. Moreover, with your comprehension, you want to achieve immortality? You've been a level two master your whole life. Look at General Gu Jiantang, who's even younger than you, he's already on the martial ranking. Aren't you ashamed? "
Xu Xiao wanted to laugh out loud, but he didn't dare to disturb his daughter who was recuperating in the room. He pulled up his sleeves and put his hands in his sleeves. He didn't look like the King of Beiliang, nor did he look like a general. Instead, he looked like an old man who didn't have to worry about food and clothing. He laughed softly, "You don't understand. I'm already a father, and at my age, I don't care about martial arts or the size of my official title. In the end, I'm still comparing my own son. Look at Gu Jiantang's children. The boys aren't good at martial arts, and they look ugly. The girls aren't outstanding either. Gu Jiantang wants to compare himself with me, Xu Xiao? I don't even want to talk to him. He can go play with his blade. "
Hsu Fengnian laughed mockingly, "You're taking it easy."
Xu Xiao turned his head and looked at the Yellow Crane Tower at the top of Mount Qing Liang. He suggested, "Let's talk while we climb?"
Hsu Fengnian nodded. He waved his hand and called the head servant girl from his second sister's courtyard over. He asked for two jugs of warm yellow wine. He got up and handed one to Xu Xiao. "Drink less Green Ant. I feel like my throat is smoking. Since you've convinced yourself that you're old, drink more yellow wine in the future. It's good for your health."
Xu Xiao smiled and took the yellow wine. He took a small sip and walked out of the courtyard, following the main path of green stone toward the top of the mountain. When the King's Mansion was built, according to the King of Beiliang's wishes, gold and jade would fill the hall. He wished he could just use gold to pave this path. Later on, his wife said that green stone slabs were fine. It also had a good meaning of the path to the clouds. One didn't ask for a meteoric rise. No matter how hard it was for one's children and grandchildren to walk, they would still reach the clouds. Xu Xiao agreed without hesitation. Back then, he personally participated in the hard work of carrying stones and paving the path. The father and son leisurely climbed the mountain. Hsu Fengnian said, "Chu Lushan has gone to Beiliang to be the Protector General of Beiliang. He will be promoted to General of Hussars. Because Chen Xiliang is preparing to organize the ranks of the Beiliang Army, many of the miscellaneous titles will be abolished. There will only be eight or nine left. The title of Captain will be more valuable than before. Let's start with the title of General of Hussars without the word 'Da'. Yuan Zuozong replaced Zhong Hongwu as the Commander of Hussars and promoted him to General of Hussars. Qi Dangguo and Ning Emei will be the Iron Buddha's Main and Deputy General respectively. Huang Man'er will lead the new Long Xiang Army. The three of them will not be promoted to General for the time being. Guoyi Commandant Huangfu Xiu will be promoted by one rank. As for whether he will be promoted to General of Youzhou or something else, I will have to wait for Chen Xiliang's report. Xuanyuan Qingfeng sent Mount Huishan's guest, Hong Yu, who does have the talent to lead troops. I am still considering whether he will replace Huangfu Xiu as Guoyi Commandant. When Second Sister wakes up, she will be the commander of your 30,000 strong Great Snow Dragon Cavalry. Do you have any objections? "
Xu Xiao laughed. "Since I can comfortably be a hands-off shopkeeper, why would I have any objections? An old cucumber pretending to be young is too untactful. "
Xu Fengnian widened his eyes and said, "It sounds like there's a lot of resentment?"
Xu Xiao quickly waved his hand. "Not at all."
Hsu Fengnian sighed and said, "The Beiliang Army has been turned upside down. There have been many changes from the top to the bottom. If there is a conflict, and I cannot suppress it, you may have to come out to pacify."
Xu Xiao said calmly, "There will not be any major issues. The Zhao Family has been 'ruling the world' for twenty years. Our Xu Family has been 'ruling the Beiliang' for almost twenty years. Father, if I ask myself, I do not owe any of the old men in Beiliang who are about my age. Also, I have a long line of good fortune. They should be satisfied. I know about Zhong Hongwu. If he dares to work with Yan Wenluan in secret, I do not mind letting him drink the northwest wind. He will not be a general, and even his title will be taken away. He will be content to be a rich family's farm sheweng. As for Yan Wenluan, in the past, he and Changling tried to persuade me to divide the river and rule the world together. All these years, he has been called the leader of the emperor faction by Yi Shanxiao. He has roped in many old people who have complaints. The group of young generals that Yan Wenluan has raised are mostly the descendants of old generals who were disheartened and retired when they had no hope of joining the dragon. "
Hsu Fengnian drank a mouthful of yellow wine. "Almost twenty years of rotten meat. It is fortunate that you had the courage to have Yan Wenluan establish his own faction and not let this vine reach the cavalry. That is why the entire Beiliang cavalry did not fall ill."
Xu Xiao held the wine pot and sighed. "There was nothing to be done. In the Spring and Autumn War, the Nine Countries fought for supremacy. Our Beiliang Army destroyed six countries in one go. We fought with our lives in exchange. How many heroes do you think died? I was not willing to be emperor. Later, I entered the jianghu. Fortunately, those who left were old soldiers who had connections to the jianghu. But when I went on the expedition to Beimang, the emperor's decree was vicious. When I had no choice but to withdraw, the morale of the Beiliang army started to slacken. The reason was complicated, but the result was that they lost many of their captains. Many old people who wanted to make great contributions in one go faded out of sight. So it is said that it is difficult for a scholar to rule a country, but it is easy for a scholar to harm people. You have to be especially careful of Yuan Benxi, a strategist who is as famous as Yi Shanxiao. That secret decree came from his hand. In the Spring and Autumn War, the hard knives were used by me and Gu Jiantang's group of martial people. These soft knives that do not see blood were mostly his work. The blue-eyed Zhang Julu, who jumped so many steps as an insignificant yellow-doorman, and became Grand Secretary three years later, was also instructed by him. In my opinion, scholars are naturally more knowledgeable than us, who ride horses and carry sabers, but most of them have high vision but low ability, they cannot achieve great things. They are extremely knowledgeable, but they rarely achieve great things. The truly frightening ones are scholars like Yuan Benxi, who can take advantage of the situation and display their ambition. Before the current emperor ascended the throne, he sincerely said, 'I am willing to be Mr. Yuan's puppet.' Therefore, Yuan Benxi let him become the Emperor. Zhao Heng, that woman, must have hated this Mr. Yuan, who made her lose the dragon throne. Ha ha, that resentful woman, Zhao Heng, before she died, it was rare for her to be a man. He used his death in exchange for Zhao Xun's hereditary succession. If he had this kind of mentality twenty years ago, there would be no such thing as the current emperor. That blind man called Lu Xu, his eyes are blind, but his heart is lively. He wrote two strategies and fourteen strategies beautifully, even I can understand it. I heard you played chess with him at Yongzi Alley? Why didn't you directly capture him and make him Beiliang's strategist? "
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.
