"Hyah!"
Outside Lanzhou City, warhorses neighed as a large number of soldiers began to withdraw from the city.
Now that the grass had turned yellow, the weather had gradually turned cold, and winter was coming. In the winter of the northwest grassland tribes, even the strongest grassland warriors were huddled up in their yurts to keep warm. It was almost impossible to fight in winter.
Since the situation in Tuyuhun had stabilized, the army that had remained in Lanzhou City to intimidate the various tribes in the Western Regions would naturally retreat to Chang 'an.
In the long army, the unique crew-cut heads were particularly eye-catching. Along the way, they would cause a huge uproar in every city. Many people surrounded the soldiers who had cut their hair and pointed at them.
"Why are there so many monk soldiers?" the commoners who were watching the commotion asked.
"You don't know about this, do you? This is a cure that Mo Jiazi found for head lice. As long as you cut off your hair, head lice will be immediately eradicated, "a well-informed peddler boasted loudly.
"But you can't cut off your hair!" a commoner said disdainfully as he touched his glossy hair.
"Why not? I heard that Mo Jiazi personally took the lead in cutting hair. Brother Mo Jiazi and the other disciples of the School of Medicine all cut off their hair, claiming that they wanted to lead by example and eradicate head lice in the Tang dynasty," the peddler said in admiration.
"The body, hair, and skin were given to you by your parents. You don't dare to harm them. This is the beginning of filial piety! The son of the School of Mohism is playing to the gallery and offending public morals. He's like a barbarian, cutting off his hair is simply unfilial to the extreme! "A Confucian scholar said bitterly as if he had heard the most heinous crime.
When the peddler heard the Confucian scholar's words, he retorted, "I heard that Mo Jiazi's parents died young. Even if he wanted to be filial, he didn't have the chance. How is that unfilial?"
"The body, hair, and skin were given to us by our parents. Mo Jiazi degrading his hair like this is the greatest unfilial act!" the Confucian scholar said stubbornly.
The merchant sneered, "It seems like you haven't been infected with head lice. You wouldn't understand that kind of uncomfortable feeling. In my opinion, Mo Jiazi is leading by example, voluntarily cutting off his hair and eradicating his chronic disease. That is truly a great courage!"
Many commoners nodded their heads in agreement. No matter what, Meton's actions had contributed greatly to the relief of the commoners' suffering from head lice. With Mo Jiazi taking the lead and Mo Jiazi's younger brother and the disciples of the School of Medicine following suit, many commoners who had suffered from head lice were moved. More importantly, this method did not cost a single cent and was guaranteed to be completely eradicated.
From then on, whenever the army went to a city, there would be many commoners who would follow suit and remove their long hair to treat their head lice. Since ancient times, head lice had been a chronic disease, and the itchiness was unbearable. The commoners had long been unable to bear it. Now that Mo Jiazi was personally leading the charge, it was like a spark that started a prairie fire.
At the same time, the news of Mo Jiazi cutting off his hair and the commoners following suit spread like wildfire to Chang 'an City. Before Meton returned to Chang' an City, the entire city was in an uproar.
Even within the Confucian school, it was no less shocking than a stormy sea.
Ever since the Han Dynasty, the concept of ruling the country through filial piety had become popular. Filial piety could be said to be the foundation of Confucian ethics. Parents would not dare to harm the body, hair, and skin. This was the beginning of filial piety! This was the beginning of filial piety, and also the beginning of filial piety.
And Mo Jiazi cutting off his hair, in the eyes of the Confucian school, regardless of the reason, had already destroyed the foundation of Confucianism.
"Your Majesty, Mo Jiazi cutting off his hair in public is not only a corruption of filial piety, but also leading the soldiers to follow suit. The Tang dynasty rules the country through filial piety. If the soldiers who fight for the country are a bunch of unfilial people, how can they be loyal to the country and protect their families and people?"
In Taiji Palace, Kong Yingda's face was red as he spoke furiously.
"Your subject pleads for Your Majesty to punish Mo Jiazi severely!"
"Mo Jiazi is lawless. If we don't punish him severely, the commoners will be appeased!"
…
In an instant, the Imperial Court was in turmoil. The civil officials were filled with righteous indignation, and Meton was instantly condemned by everyone.
Li Shimin immediately felt a headache. Meton was too much of a troublemaker. He hadn't even returned yet, but he had already caused such a huge commotion!
Li Shimin thought for a moment, then said dryly, "As far as I know, Meton cutting off his hair for a reason!"
"Hair ornaments are part of the etiquette of our Huaxia civilization. Even if there is a great reason, we cannot cut off his hair," Kong Yingda said resolutely.
The other civil officials also stroked their hair ornaments proudly.
"That's because you haven't experienced being with warhorses all day long, fighting on the battlefield for months, and not seeing a single water source in the Gobi Desert. Every drop of water is precious. You haven't experienced the tragedy of people freezing and horses freezing in the snow. You haven't experienced the scene where everyone's head is covered with lice and fleas are flying everywhere in the barracks after months of fighting." An impassioned voice came from among the generals. A white-haired figure leaped out from the leader of the generals.
"Li Jing!" Kong Yingda was shocked. They didn't expect Li Jing to take the initiative to advise Mo Jiazi.
Now that Li Jing had wiped out the Turks and Tuyuhun, his prestige in the military had reached its peak. After the battle with Tuyuhun, he took the initiative to give up his military authority to prove his loyalty. Now, even Li Shimin respected Li Jing.
"I have been in the military for my entire life. I have spent countless days and nights in the military camp, and I have been infected with lice no less than ten times. Even an Old Man is like this, let alone an ordinary soldier," Li Jing said with emotion.
The other generals nodded. After the war, lice was indeed rampant in the military camp. Even the generals couldn't avoid it. Even in normal times, lice was still rampant in the military camp.
"And these soldiers who have shed blood and sweat for the Tang dynasty, protecting the country and guarding the border, are despised by the world because of this. They are called boorish men, boorish men, ignorant men, and bandits!" Li Jing said proudly, but his eyes were fixed on the civil officials.
The civil officials couldn't help but feel awkward. It was likely that these titles came from the mouths of the civil officials first.
"General Li, what we are discussing today is the matter of Mo Jiazi's hair loss, not these derogatory titles for soldiers," Kong Yingda said awkwardly.
"Chancellor Kong, what this general is talking about is precisely this matter. Chancellor Mo had followed the army into battle and not to mention his numerous military exploits, he had sensed the drawbacks in the army. On this general's way back to the imperial court, he reined in his horse and had a long talk with Chancellor Mo. We talked for a long time and with the firearms supervision as the blueprint, we came up with a new recruit plan together!"
"The recruit plan!"
The civil officials were stunned. Even the generals looked at Li Jing in confusion.
"What is the recruit plan?" Li Shimin asked.
Li Jing laughed and said loudly, "This is one of Mo Jiu's ideas. That is, the ordinary soldiers are all literate, clean, and loyal to the country! The military officers are all brave and smart, skilled in both the pen and the sword. Not only are they skilled in martial arts, but they are also familiar with military books. If the Tang dynasty has such recruits, the world will be stable! "
Meton didn't expect that Li Jing would extend his idea of a military academy into the recruit plan and use this opportunity to push it out in the imperial court.
Li Shimin suddenly stood up, his eyes shining. All the officials stared at Li Jing in shock. No one expected the military to have such great ambitions.
"And to complete the recruit plan, the first step is to eliminate the lice in the military." Li Jing said proudly.
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