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Chapter 110: Po Jun Joins the Army

The golden seal lies quietly on the blood-outlined map.

The button is made of a tiger. Although it is not big, it exudes a pure aura of dominance. This is the greatest hero in the Western Regions from ancient times to the present. He was the king of Tuyuhun three hundred years ago. He conquered all directions, conquered thirty-six tribes, and flattened the Buddhist country.

This object was forged by beheading the leaders of each tribe and using their blood as the furnace fire.

Po Jun slowly stretched out his hand, covering the royal seal, and then lifted it up. He closed his eyes for a long time, and there seemed to be a starlight aura flowing around him. Then he opened his eyes and said, "The aura of the king and overlord has dissipated, but the remaining traces are indeed flawless."

"It seems that the demise of Tuyuhun has something to do with you."

Pojun put down the royal seal and closed his eyes.

He pushed the royal seal back and said, "It is a trump card for a sure kill. Unfortunately, you should know that it would be a pity if it is used at this time. For the overlord who dominates the Western Region, it makes no difference whether there is a royal seal or not."

"This royal seal is just a decoration of his hegemony."

"And if an ordinary person got this royal seal, it would be the cause of his death. The overlords and forces in the Western Regions have a million ways to make him die quietly."

"This seal will only be of great use when one has the power but lacks great fame."

Li Guanyi said: "My extra bet is that I have this thing."

Po Jun smiled and said, "Yes, my lord, you really scared me. I really don't know how many cards you have left. But please protect this thing. The forces in the Western Regions, the Dangxiang and the Buddhist Kingdom are all here. If they knew that the king's seal was in your hands, I'm afraid they would stop at nothing."

"Those who want to obtain this item include Yuwen Lie of Ying State, Tantai Xianming of Chen State, and even the seven Turkic kings. They all took a piece of Tuyuhun's land, and what they need is the legitimacy represented by this royal seal."

"But that's fine. With this thing in hand, there will be no shortage of buyers."

"At this critical moment, if you give me the royal seal, I can exchange it for 800 elite soldiers for you, and I guarantee that the royal seal will return to your hands in the end. If you have the determination to give up the seal, I can exchange it for 3,000 fully armored elite soldiers for you."

Three thousand fully armored elite soldiers, at least at the border troop level, and a complete army, means there are six thousand logistics personnel, and a total of more than ten thousand soldiers.

Among them is at least one warrior commander from the third heaven.

Thirty captains from the second level of heaven.

If more than 600 inbound warriors were all wearing armor, holding long-handled weapons, and equipped with crossbows, they might not be considered important in the eyes of huge countries like Chen and Ying, which have vast territories and famous and divine generals. However, in the Western Regions and outside the Great Wall at this moment, this is the power of the warlords.

Po Jun added: "But, in that case, it will cost money to feed people and horses. In times of war, food, steel, and medicinal materials are even more difficult to obtain than gold and silver."

"Of course, if Old Master Xue were here, he would be able to withstand an army of 30,000, not to mention 3,000 men. As long as he occupied a city, he could be self-sufficient."

Li Guanyi suddenly thought of the free and easy young man who traveled thousands of miles carrying a donkey on his back.

The young man shook his head and said softly, "It's too early to talk about this now."

Po Jun laughed loudly and said, "Yes, it is indeed a little early. Besides, although the world is in chaos right now, it is not a big chaos yet." He was very excited and found that the blood he dipped in had dried up. He simply bit his finger and continued to sketch, saying, "But all countries in the world have their drawbacks."

"The grassland is too vast. There are 18 tribes on the grassland, each with its own horse farm, tribe, history, and hatred among each other. It is absolutely difficult to unite them without a great leader. Although the current Turkic king has great ambitions, his sons have grown up."

"When a son grows up, he will always want to challenge his father's authority."

"So the concept of the grasslands is different from that of the Central Plains. They will assign the oldest sons to the place farthest from themselves, give them grasslands and horse farms to avoid fighting between fathers and sons, and finally give their love and everything to the youngest son."

"The grassland is plagued by a large territory and a weak ruler."

"The emperor of the State of Chen did not come to power legitimately. It was originally established three hundred years ago when the Duke of Chen relied on his military prowess to conquer the monarch of the State of Liang. In the past few decades, first the Regent King, then the Duke of Taiping, were all divine generals who dominated the court."

"What Emperor Chen saw was that the generals were arrogant and the emperor's dignity was lost."

"So no matter who it is, they will restrict Wu Fu."

"Please allow me to describe the world in his eyes."

Po Jun looked down on him:
"In his eyes, Chen State occupies the southwest and has no shortage of food and grass. Now there is a new general, Liu Zhong, who has conquered 300 miles of territory in the western region, which can be used as a horse farm. He also supports the Tanguts and unites with the Turks. He also has the natural barrier of the south of the Yangtze River to confront the Ying State."

"This is a perfect strategy, like a giant god. However, those unruly warriors are like the rotten flesh on the giant god's body. If they continue to fight, the rotten flesh of the warriors will only grow bigger, so he will want to cut off the rotten flesh first."

"First, [pacify the country]; this is the national policy of the State of Chen."

"However, those who are good at fighting do not have great achievements. The current situation of Chen State is indeed very good, enough to balance the power of Ying State. However, the emperor of Chen State has overlooked one point..."

Po Jun said: "It took the emergence of four talented generals, the Regent King, Xiao Wuliang, Duke Taiping, and Yue Pengwu, in the past few decades to keep the situation under control. Liu Zhong is a talent, but his strength can only be compared with that of your brother Yue at best."

"He is a brave general, a talented general, but not a commander who can bring peace to the world."

"These gods will stabilize the court and expand the territory; the civil officials in the court will praise them."

"But the emperor thought it was his own achievement. The incompatibility between the upper and lower levels and the incompatibility between civil and military officials is the number one problem of the State of Chen. The Emperor of Chen may have forgotten that the current strategic plan was left behind by the Regent Prince Taiping during the period when the two imperial powers coexisted."

"The emperor ignored the civil and military officials and killed famous generals in order to consolidate his own power."

"Although this emperor intends to shift the blame for killing the famous general to the civil officials and the aristocratic families."

"But I still have the heart of a Cambrian."

"This is the second problem of the Chen State."

"Officials are redundant, the court is extravagant, and even human trafficking and taxation are rampant. The court has opened the Western Garden. This is the third evil of the Chen State."

"The crown prince has been established, but he favors the imperial concubine and his relatives. The relatives and their families are confronting each other, all vying for the position of crown prince. This is the fourth problem of the Chen state."

"If a crown prince is appointed, the victors will settle accounts with the losers, and the losers will all want to flee to save their lives. These are the five evils of the Chen State. All of these five can weaken a great country. If all five exist, the Chen State will inevitably weaken within 20 years."

"If not a warrior rises up and seizes power, then the aristocratic family controls the government."

"Within fifty years, if there is no sage and wise ruler to turn the tide, the State of Chen will be destroyed."

Po Jun took a sip of wine and his expression became serious: "As for Yingguo, there is a wise king in it. The Turks are terrified. Among the top five generals in the world, one is stationed outside the pass, one is the Turkic king himself, and the remaining three are all in Yingguo."

Li Guanyi: "Three..."

"How did Chen win?"

Po Jun sighed and said, "Because one of them is already old."

"So, during the most prosperous years of the Chen Kingdom, the Regent King led Xiao Wuliang, and the Duke of Taiping led Yue Pengwu, but they could only fight the Ying Kingdom to a draw, with both sides winning and losing. That was also the time when the Central Plains was the most powerful and domineering. I remember that."

"During those years, the Western Regions, the Turks, outside the Great Wall, no matter who it was."

"If you dare to go to the Central Plains, you will be beaten up."

"When the many divine generals in the Central Plains lost their money and population in fighting, they would go to the Western Regions to sweep the Turks on their way back. There were also divine generals in the Western Regions, but they dared not speak out. Unfortunately, it only lasted for a few years."

Li Guanyi: "What is the world's number one general?"

Po Jun's expression showed awe and admiration, and he said:

"I know many ways of fighting, and I am proficient in all of them. They are bloody and cruel, but I can recognize heroes."

"Infantry against infantry, we can defeat the heroes outside the Great Wall; cavalry against cavalry, we can defeat the Turkic king."

"In a water battle, Chen will win."

"To defeat the many with the few, I have fought 73 battles in my life."

“And he only had one tie.”

Li Guanyi sat up straight and said, "Once..."

Po Jun said softly, "The opponent was the Regent King, the Duke of Taiping. That was a time before Xiao Wuliang and Yue Pengwu rose to prominence. In that battle, the Turkic King led the Iron Buddha and waited on the grassland for the wind to rise. The Tuyuhun troops withdrew, and the reason why it was so abrupt was only because of one thing."

"The world's number one general led his troops to go around the rear, descending from the cliffs and mountains that divided the north and south for thousands of miles, and went deep into the city alone. He almost destroyed Jiangzhou City directly, forcing the two generals, the Regent and the Duke of Taiping, to fight to the death. In the end, Cao Yuan set foot on the land of Ying State, and he left."

"So calm, the invasion is like fire, coming and going like wind."

"He suppressed the Duke of Taiping and the Regent with a gun, and promised the two young men that he would allow them to grow up and then fight him for the world." "That was the battle in which the Duke of Taiping and the Regent truly became famous."

"And the reason they are famous all over the world is simply because they were able to stop the lone army from going deep into the country and become the world's number one general."

Li Guanyi was shocked.

Po Jun said: "According to the records of my lineage."

"After that battle, Duke Taiping cleaned up the mess and prevented the defeated soldiers from harming the people."

"When the regent returned angrily and asked his brother why he had not provided support for so long, he saw the emperor at that time coming out to greet him. The emperor smiled and shook his hands warmly. He told him that he had been fasting for 30 days, bathing and burning incense every day, and asked the concubines to pray to the Buddha together."

"Thank the Buddhas for blessing us, and finally the world will be at peace."

"Then he pressed a stick of incense into the Regent's hand."

Po Jun talks about the documents recorded by the disciples of the Donglu Stargazing School at that time.

As he calmly narrated, Li Guanyi seemed to have returned to that time.

The regent at that time had just killed an enemy with his own hands. The spear of the world's number one general made his wrist numb. He used his palm to smooth the eyes of his comrade, but he couldn't press it back at all. That was the brother who had accompanied him in his conquests since he was sixteen years old, and he died there.

The bodies haven't been buried yet!

He was about to come back to ask why, but he saw the cheering royal family.

Then he was stuffed with Buddhist incense and dragged by his elder brother Cihe to worship Buddha.

The Regent raised his head, looked at the towering and majestic golden Buddha statue, and looked into his elder brother's eyes. He almost crushed the incense, but he didn't. It was sandalwood mixed with gold threads. Each one was more expensive than a bundle of wolf-tooth arrows. He couldn't bear to part with it.

He wanted to cry, wanted to howl and roar, but in the end he just quietly inserted the incense into the incense burner. The incense was burning brightly and he sang and danced without noticing.

The blood in the sheath still smells strong.

Historical records record the reaction of Emperor Chen after seeing the battle report.

[The emperor wept for several lines, then stopped]

In this battle, Li Wanli, who was of an outsider, was given the title of Duke of Taiping, while the emperor's younger brother was given the title of King of Puyang. The emperor moved the Duke of Taiping to the Western Regions, while Puyang was in the Central Plains, close to Ying State. Both directions were extremely far away from the capital of Jiangzhou.

From then on, these two famous generals joined forces to balance the world's number one general, brothers who trusted each other in life and death, and good friends who met in the rivers and lakes and met at the top of the world.

From then on, the East and the West were separated.

Except for thirteen years ago, we have never met again in this life.

Po Jun talked about the past, and he said: "Don't think that Duke Taiping is loyal blindly. Don't forget that from the time when the regent started the rebellion until he imprisoned the two emperors, Duke Taiping never went back, but..."

He remained silent, with a look of incomprehension on his face, and said softly:

"But later on, even King Puyang changed."

"He was originally a hero who saved the world from disaster, but after taking that position, he became the most brutal king."

"The Duke of Taiping suffered the most."

"He traveled all his life, only to find that even his friends and brothers who had fought side by side with him had become his enemies, becoming the kings that the young man, who was once high-spirited and full of vigor, had sworn to fight against. He was now deserted by his friends and family, and was in pieces."

"But he is still willing to fight for the peace of the people of the world. If he doesn't fight, the world and the State of Chen will really be just a chessboard for a group of heroes, and no one will fight for the people."

"And in the end, he picked up a knife and fought for his wife and children."

"I will die of exhaustion."

"This is the last hidden danger of the State of Chen."

Pojun looked at Li Guanyi, but just spoke word by word:

"The world's number one general is just old, not dead."

"And the Regent is still alive."

"That lame old wolf king is still lurking in this era."

"His best brother, friend, and enemy, the Duke of Taiping, is dead. The regent will not do nothing. Such a man, cruel, fierce, heroic, and affectionate, will only die on the grandest battlefield, with all the heroes of the world as guests of congratulations. He will never die in obscurity on his bed."

"And they will all be your enemies."

Li Guanyi lowered his eyes, thinking about his father and mother. Finally, he pressed the Autumn Water Sword and asked the question again, "If I choose to live peacefully, will they let me go?"

Pojun replied: "No."

"The Duke of Taiping has a great reputation throughout the world."

"Let me put it this way. The southwest of the empire is stable, but if you rise in the Western Regions and become one of the heroes of the world, and then announce that you are the son of the Duke of Taiping, at least one-third of the southwest will come to you and join us."

"At least one third."

"Among the armies fighting you, the young men from the southwest will flee to your side without worrying about you killing them."

The young man looked at the young man in front of him, but it seemed as if he was looking behind him, as if he saw the hero who was famous all over the world in the past, and said softly:

"This is the last strength your father left for you."

"Son of the Duke of Taiping, pray for peace!"

"This statement is not recognized by the heroes of the world."

"But the people of the world recognize this sign!"

"But the miserable people of the world know this hero!"

"So, how could the emperor let you live? It doesn't matter whether you have the heart to fight for the world or not; as long as you have the potential to cause chaos in the world, there is no way he will let you live."

The young man gently stroked his chest and lowered his eyes.

His mother sacrificed one third of her soul and spirit for him, his father cleared the way for him, and even killed the masters of the Huguo Villa and the royal family so that he could survive. So, should he take over his parents' flame and continue the unfinished journey?

Li Guanyi didn't know that such a lofty ideal was too far away from him.

But I only understand one thing.

It was really cruel. This world was like a whirlpool, sucking everyone in and pushing them onto the path of killing each other. He replied, "Then let's fight. Such is the blood feud, such is the destiny."

“They never let me go.”

"I don't intend to let them go."

Li Guanyi clasped his hands and bowed.

This was a similar etiquette to the one used by ancient kings to appoint generals and ministers, so Pojun did not avoid it. He simply accepted the salute, then placed his right hand on his left hand, bowed, and returned the salute.

The young man said softly, "Please help me, sir."

Po Jun said: "Yes."

I share the same hatred with you.

Work together with you.

Walk with you together; don’t let you down, in life or death!
Thus, the ancient agreement was fulfilled.

At this moment, the voice of the imperial guards finally came from outside.

(End of this chapter)