Chapter 143 Send Them Home

Faced with such an enthusiastic Emperor Zhengde, Yang Tinghe also had a headache.

You should know that a month ago, Li Chengxun was promoted directly from the fourth rank to the third rank for his contribution in suppressing the Hualin bandits.

Ou Zanghua pacified the Yao Yuan bandits without spending a single soldier. If we talk about legends, it is obvious that Ou Zanghua's move is more propaganda-oriented.

It can’t be that Ou Zanghua’s reward is not as good as Li Chengxun’s, right?
But the problem is that Ou Zanghua has just been appointed as an editor in the Hanlin Academy and has not worked a single day, yet he has to be promoted again. His superiors are the sixth-rank tutors and lecturers, and this position is currently full and no one can be squeezed in.

As for using the age card.
Yang Tinghe was sure that as long as the cabinet did this, the young emperor before them would definitely come up with new tricks to make trouble for them.

Thinking of this, Yang Tinghe had no choice but to activate his cabinet skills and said, "Your Majesty, let's discuss the specific rewards after we receive the victory report!"

"Well, all right! When Yang Qing returns, please discuss this with the cabinet, and I will also think about it carefully." Emperor Zhengde nodded and said, "I already rewarded Ou Qing's wife last time, so I can't reward her again this time."

When Yang Tinghe heard this, he thought, well, the last road is also blocked.

He couldn't help but look up at Emperor Zhengde. Seeing that his boss was deep in thought, it didn't seem like a trap had been set in advance.

"I'm leaving." Yang Tinghe remembered after leaving the Qianqing Palace that he had come to advise Emperor Zhengde to handle state affairs seriously, so why was he kicked out for no reason?

He looked back and finally did not go in again. Instead, he returned to the cabinet to discuss with the ministers.

A few days ago, Prime Minister Li Dongyang again submitted a petition to retire, but it was still kept by Emperor Zhengde.

Everyone could see that Li Dongyang's health could no longer hold on, but Emperor Zhengde, like his father, trusted Li Dongyang very much.

As long as Li Dongyang was there, he would be the examiner for the palace examination, and his disciples would be spread all over the world.

This also led to the fact that Ou Zanghua would meet his senior brother no matter where he went.

Although this master-disciple relationship is not very strong, it is always a good topic that can bring people closer together.

If Wang Anshi and Zhang Juzheng had a similar configuration as Li Dongyang, why would they not be able to achieve great things?
Ou Zanghua had no idea what was happening in the capital. He was in Yaoyuan County, standing in person at the gate of the military camp, seeing off the soldiers who were taking off their armor and returning to their fields.

The soldiers looked at Ou Zanghua with an expression of reluctance to leave, and many of them wanted to put down their luggage and re-join the army.

However, their desire to serve the country was suppressed by Ou Zanghua. He gently comforted the soldiers and said, "Finally, let me say two words to you all! For the people, you should cultivate your mind with virtue, so that you can live forever and prosper your family. For the soldiers, you should use force to gain power, so that you can conquer thousands of miles of territory and pacify the four seas."

"Thank you Lord Ou for your teachings!" The soldiers remembered these two sentences firmly and embarked on the journey home with hope.

The military camp, which was originally built for 20,000 people, suddenly became much emptier. The remaining 4,000 soldiers still insisted on training, learning to read and reasoning every day.

In addition, Ou Zanghua also invited Master Ding Xian to explain some simple first aid methods to the soldiers.

We will also invite Taoist priest Tianmen to explain how to determine directions in the wild, as well as some simple arithmetic.

Zuo Lengchan didn't understand. It would be fine for soldiers to be literate and knowledgeable, but why did they have to learn medicine, astronomy, and arithmetic as well?
Now that we are about to go out on a campaign, can we still consider ourselves as generals and soldiers?
Le Hou sorted out Sima De's belongings. When he led his horse out of the tent, he saw Tang Ying'e waiting for him with thirty soldiers.

Le Hou was stunned, looked at Tang Ying'e with some confusion and asked, "Junior Brother Tang, what are you doing?"

"Lord Ou asked me to send the fallen Songshan disciples home on his behalf. I am now a centurion, and I have Lord Ou's letter. If I encounter unreasonable gentry, I can suppress them better than you."

Tang Ying'e smiled, then pointed to the thirty soldiers behind him and continued, "These are the thirty cavalrymen and fifteen musketeers arranged by Lord Ou. Let's take them with us. Who in the martial arts world dares to act so recklessly?"

After hearing this, Le Hou's eyes suddenly became moist.

At this moment, he felt moved and was completely devoted to Ou Zanghua.

The horses neighed and galloped, raising a cloud of dust. The thirty-two riders set out from Yaoyuan County, passed Ningzhou, Qizhou, Huanggang, Luohe, and Xuzhou, and after twelve days, they finally returned to Henan Prefecture.

Because they were taking the official road and there were thirty-two riders, no ignorant people in the martial arts world dared to provoke them.

However, when they passed Xinzheng County, two young men suddenly rushed out from the front. Tang Ying'e frowned slightly, raised one hand, and pulled the reins at the same time. The thirty-two riders rushed forward for more than ten feet before stopping.

Fifteen cavalrymen quickly raised their crossbows and aimed at the two men. Tang Ying'e frowned slightly and said, "Who are you? How dare you block the path of the soldiers!"

Facing the sleeve crossbow, the two men quickly knelt down and said, "Sir, we were being chased and had no choice but to run to the official road!"

As they were talking, a dozen people in strange costumes rushed out from the bushes. They were stunned when they saw the thirty-two knights. One of them saw Tang Ying'e and Le Hou and exclaimed in surprise, "Le Hou, the great Yin-Yang master of the Songshan School, and Tang Ying'e?!" "Qiu Songnian, the monster of the Demon Cult? Who gave you the courage to kill innocent people in Hejian Prefecture?!" Tang Ying'e's eyes turned cold, and he waved his hand. Fifteen knights immediately pulled the triggers, and arrows flew out instantly.

Four of the ten people were shot immediately, and the others waved their weapons to block the arrows.

Le Hou leaped off his horse, rushed towards the remaining people and entangled them.

The next moment, Tang Ying'e shouted, "Get out of the way!"

Le Hou used his internal energy to leap away from the battlefield. Several demons from the evil sect saw fifteen cavalrymen on the opposite side aiming their muskets at them.

"open!."

"boom!"

After several consecutive explosions, the demon cult monster had no time to dodge and was shot into a sieve by fifteen iron guns.

This was not the end. The soldiers who had reloaded their hidden arrows pulled the triggers again. The arrows pierced the throats of these people, and then they said, "Report to the captain, the bandits have been killed!"

Tang Ying'e looked at the two young men and said calmly, "We have dealt with your enemies. You two can help dig a pit to bury them!"

The two young men looked at Tang Ying'e, who hadn't even gotten off his horse, and said with admiration, "Thank you for saving our lives, seniors from the Songshan Sect. We are from the Golden Blade Wang family in Luoyang, and the great hero Wang Yuanba from Zhongzhou is our grandfather. We will definitely go to Songshan to thank the two seniors for saving us in the future."

"Wang Yuanba, the Invincible Golden Sword?" Tang Ying'e understood, and then said, "No need to thank me, we may not be in Songshan. Let's go!"

At Tang Ying'e's command, the thirty-two riders started again and rushed directly past the two young men.

The two brothers looked at the cavalry in the distance, and Wang Jiaju couldn't help but sigh: "The Songshan School is really impressive! They even have iron guns."

"Brother, are we going to dig a hole and bury them?" Wang Jiajun looked at the bodies scattered on the ground and asked with some disgust.

"What are you digging for? It's none of our business. Go back to Luoyang!" Wang Jiaju shook his head decisively and immediately left with his brother.

When the two brothers heard that Lin Pingzhi had joined Wudang, they originally wanted to go and make the connection with him. However, they did meet him, but they did not get along very well. Lin Pingzhi even refused to let his grandfather see the improved version of "The Manual of the Sword of Exorcism", which was extremely unfilial.

A day later, in a village at the foot of Mount Song, Wang Liu was sitting in the inner room, dozing off with her eyes closed.

In the small courtyard, her youngest son Wang San was chopping firewood.

Suddenly, there was the sound of horse hooves. Wang San looked up and saw two cavalrymen approaching his yard. They asked, "Is this Wang Er's home?"

"Yes, Wang Er is my brother." Wang San put down the hatchet and said nervously, "But my brother ran away from home five years ago and has not returned yet."

Wang Liu, who was in the inner room, heard the noise outside and shouted, "Let Wang Er, that bastard, die outside! I don't recognize him."

The neighbor next door came out to watch the fun, and seeing this, he also said: "Sir, Wang Er used to be a thief, and he left home a long time ago!"

The two cavalrymen looked at each other and realized that Li Lao had not lied to them.

They dismounted and took out a small wooden box from the package. They said in a serious tone, "Wang Er followed Lord Ou and died in battle in Ruizhou Prefecture, Jiangxi. Due to the long journey, Wang Er was buried in Jiangxi. In this wooden box, there is Wang Er's pension and one of his relics, as well as Lord Ou's commendation letter. Can you read?"

Wang San shook his head. He was a little confused. His idle brother actually died in a foreign land?
"Then let me read you Lord Ou's letter of commendation!" The cavalryman understood, took out the letter of commendation from the wooden box, and read it aloud.

The neighbors who had been talking about it a moment ago suddenly fell silent. No one had expected that the official would speak so highly of a country bumpkin like Wang Er.

"The commendation letter has Lord Ou's official seal on it," the cavalryman handed the commendation letter to Wang San, pointed to the red seal on it, and said, "If you encounter any trouble in the future, you can take this and come to Songshan to find us."

The neighbors all showed envy after hearing this. No matter what, the Wang family will now have a backer.

"I, my brother..." Wang San held the commendation letter blankly, with a wonderful expression.

He couldn't understand how the man who hated dogs a few years ago became a hero in the blink of an eye?
Wang Liu came out from the inner room in a hurry, looked at the small wooden box, and her eyes suddenly turned red: "My son."

"Please accept my condolences!" The two cavalrymen lowered their heads and whispered in comfort.

(End of this chapter)