Xu Xiao usually lived with the common soldiers on the Beiliang border all year round. It seemed that he had to personally see that the Beimang barbarian soldiers were no less numerous than the Beiliang cavalry before he could feel at ease. After the wangfei passed away, his children gradually grew up. First, Princess Chang Zhihu married far away in Jiangnan. Then, his second daughter, Xu Weixiong, traveled thousands of miles to study at the Yinjia Academy. Four years ago, His Royal Highness left to travel. In any case, there was still Huang Man'er in the manor. Now, he had completely left.
However, Old Xu couldn't care less about the affairs of these emperors, generals, ministers, and nobles. All the information he had about Da Zhu Guo all came from hearsay when he went to the winery to buy distillers' grains. If he had only heard about it, then so be it. What else could he do? He had followed Da Zhu Guo into battle for many years. He had only seen him once when he was young as a cavalryman. At that time, the one carrying the beetle was still the number one vanguard, Wang Jian, and Wang Jinling. During the bloody battle of Yique, Old Xu, who had not yet gone blind, had charged out of the city gate with Da Zhu Guo. He watched as General Wang knelt on the ground and held up the city gate with both hands, allowing the Liaodong soldiers to charge out of the city. At that time, General Xu had not yet been bestowed the title of King and had not yet received Da Zhu Guo's title. He had only turned his head to glance at the city gate.
All of the Beiliang soldiers firmly believed that Da Zhu Guo was the number one hero of the present age. He was one of the four famous generals of the Spring and Autumn Period. Just based on battle records, Da Zhu Guo could not compare to Ye Baikui, who had been hailed as the only one in 500 years by the Yinjia Academy. Before the battle of Guanlan City, Ye Baikui was said to have never been defeated in a hundred battles in his life. Not to mention Ye Baikui, the Martial Saint of West Chu, who had only lost one battle, even Wang Sui, the Prince Consort of Dongyue in the past, was more confident and at ease than Xu Xiao. How could he be in such a sorry state of fleeing with only a few hundred cavalrymen left? But in the end, other than the great general of the same court, only Xu Xiao remained standing. Furthermore, of the Nine Kingdoms of the Spring and Autumn Period, the iron hooves under Xu Xiao's banner had destroyed six kingdoms. The Confucian general, who became famous 20 years later than Xu Xiao, had only two insignificant small kingdoms. How could he stand shoulder to the King of Beiliang?
This was the power of the Pillar State!
It was only the middle of the month, so Old Blind Xu wasn't willing to spend copper coins to buy distillers grains. He could only lick his saliva to satisfy his craving.
Blind Old Xu was old. He liked to sit on a wooden stump when the weather was warm and reminisce about the heroic spirit of the past. He thought about the way to survive that the old soldiers had taught him when he was young. He thought about the first time he went into battle with a crossbow in his hand. He thought about the brothers in the army beside him who had their heads chopped off like wheat being reaped. He thought about the rumbling of the hooves of the enemy's armored cavalry. He even thought about the final decisive battle at the Western Fortress in the spring and autumn. Wang Fei, dressed in white, had personally beaten the war drums. The drumbeats were like thunder. They would not stop until West Chu was broken. Who in the army was not moved?
Old Xu tilted his head. His face, which had been tempered by the flames of war, was pressed against the smooth wooden walking stick. Most of the old soldiers were like this. They were used to holding sabers and crossbows. They were lucky enough to leave the army alive, but they always felt that something was missing. After their legs were broken, this walking stick had been of great help.
These past few years, he had always heard a group of scholars say strange things. They said that more than half of the old soldiers who had fought with the Pillar State had died, and that no one had a good ending. In the end, only Xu Xiao had become a king with a different surname. If Old Xu's legs had been broken, he would have stomped his feet and cursed. What the f * ck did these scholars with water in their brains know? Those who had truly gone into battle knew the saying that sabers and swords had no eyes. Were all the injuries on the Pillar State's body fake? Were they all smeared on his body with sabers, bows, arrows, and spears? If even the Pillar State did not become the King of Beiliang, then wouldn't all those old soldiers who did not hesitate to fight with their last breaths have died in vain? Who would still remember the 600 armored soldiers from Liaodong back then and the 300,000 Beiliang cavalry that no one in the world could compete with?
Old Xu spat and scolded, "Those damn scholars are the most boring. If Old Xu was younger, I could've smacked all their teeth out with a single slap!"
Old Xu, who was panting from just taking a few more steps, heard a familiar voice above his head, "Brother Xu, are you still in good health?"
Old Xu hurriedly got up. The person who spoke was the yamen official who had come to his house to deliver the silver taels. He had also instructed several of his retainers on the spot to repair the thatched hut properly. As expected, the thatched hut no longer had any leaks from then on. The monthly taels of silver were also sent to him on time. Old Xu was an old soldier who had fought countless battles. He could vaguely guess that this yamen official had also gone through many hardships in the army. He had a murderous aura, so he shouldn't think that he was just fooling people. The cowardly Old Xu did not even eat or kill a lot of pigs. This was true, but he had lived most of his life in the army. Those fierce soldiers who had killed dozens of people would look more ferocious than ordinary people even when they were eating.
That person gently pressed down on Old Xu, who was standing up with the help of his walking stick. He laughed and said, "Brother Xu, sit down and talk. Do whatever is comfortable. There's no need to be so polite with me."
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.
