Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 28 Unknown blessings and disasters
"Slow down, slow down, don't spill this can of meat!"

"I know, but your steps are shorter."

"I know..."

June is the hottest month in the world, and this also applies to this era.

Li Ji and Geng Ming, whose injuries had mostly recovered, carried a clay pot and walked carefully into an adobe house.

The mud house was fairly spacious, but after five or six people squeezed in, it became a bit crowded.

Fortunately, no one in the room cared about this. They just waited for Geng Ming and Li Ji to put down the pottery jar, then they added the corn rice in the wooden basin next to it into the bowl, and stretched out their chopsticks to attack the chicken in the pottery jar.

"It's so hot..."

"It will be cold in two months, and I'll need a cotton coat then."

"I don't know if the army will give us cotton-padded clothes..."

In the hot weather, Liu Jilong, Zhang Chang and others from the former third group, along with Cao Mao, the young man who took care of Liu Jilong, were chatting and eating lunch.

The Battle of Zhangye took place half a month ago. As time went by, their injuries had mostly healed, so they were so energetic.

"By the way, Captain, the money has been delivered, and Aunt Zhao and the others have also asked someone to write a letter of thanks on their behalf."

Zhang Chang suddenly mentioned something, and Liu Jilong nodded after listening: "Just get it."

Half a month ago, Liu Jilian asked Ma Cheng to send 500 strings of cash out of the 600 strings to Jiuquan City under the command of a team transporting disabled soldiers.

Later, these five hundred strings of money were sent to the homes of Zhao Qian, Jiao Da and others.

The aunt Zhao that Zhang Chang mentioned was Zhao Qian's mother.

"Alas, after this meal, the next meal of chicken will probably have to wait until the time of departure."

Sitting in the house, Li Ji sighed. Ma Cheng glared at him and said, "We've been eating chicken, lamb, and beef every day for the past half month. Don't you think it's not enough?"

"How can I get tired of eating meat..." Li Ji clicked his tongue a few times, and Geng Ming and Zhang Chang nodded in agreement.

"Don't worry, we still have more than a hundred strings of cash, so you won't starve."

As the housekeeper, Zhang Chang couldn't help but speak, and the others smiled when they heard it.

Liu Jilong's expression remained normal, and he just looked at Cao Mao, who was about fourteen or fifteen years old, and asked, "Did Governor Zhang send anyone here today?"

"No." Cao Mao's mouth was full of oil while eating, and the Governor Xiao Zhang mentioned by Liu Jilian was naturally Zhang Huaishen.

Since Zhang Yichao had not yet publicly called himself the Jiedushi of Hexi, people called Zhang Yichao and Zhang Huaishen the Great and Small Governors.

However, for Liu Jilian, he vaguely remembered that not long after Zhang Yichao recovered the entire territory of Ganzhou, the envoy sent by Shazhou took a detour to Chang'an and obtained the imperial edict and seal bestowed by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang to Zhang Yichao.

In the end, Zhang Yichao did not get the title of Jiedushi of Hexi that he had longed for, but instead got the title of Jiedushi of Guiyi Army.

Although they are both Jiedushi, the Jiedushi of Guiyi Army is obviously not as valuable as that of Hexi Jiedushi.

In this regard, there was nothing Liu Jilong could do except to express regret over the consequences of the actions of Zhang Yichao and others.

After all, since the An-Shi Rebellion, everyone in the Tang Dynasty looked like a traitor, not to mention Zhang Yichao and other Hexi survivors who had been separated from the Tang Dynasty for nearly a hundred years.

"I heard that the soldiers outside the city started packing up this morning. Could it be that the army is going to set out to retake Shandan?"

Ma Cheng was well-informed and told everyone the news he had found out in the morning.

"Fight again? My injury hasn't healed yet..." Li Ji had a toothache.

"They won't send us to go with them, right?" Geng Ming was also a little worried.

"Of course not. We have all been promoted to higher positions. We can't just be soldiers with the title of an official."

As Zhang Chang said this, he looked at Liu Jilong, hoping that Liu Jilong would give him an explanation to put his mind at ease.

"Don't worry, even if we set out, it won't be our turn to fight."

Liu Jilong gave a reassuring answer, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. But before they could finish their breath, a voice suddenly rang out from outside the door.

"Captain Liu, Governor Zhang wants you to go to the Yamen to discuss matters!"

"Okay!" Liu Jilong had a bad feeling when he heard the words outside the door.

He stood up and walked out of the door. Zhang Chang and Ma Cheng opened a box and took out a light green robe for Liu Jilong to change into, and tied a leather belt representing his rank.

After putting on the robe and leather belt, Liu Jilong then put on his fu hat.

Since he did not know what the specific clothing of Tang Dynasty officials looked like, Zhang Yichao only stipulated the color of the officials' robes but did not establish a specific shape.

After Liu Jilong changed his clothes, he followed the soldier who had been waiting at the door for a long time and walked towards the Yamen.

The city of Zhangye is larger than Jiuquan, and the military camp is also larger, so after walking for a while, he finally arrived at the Yamen of the military camp.

He walked into the Yamen and, based on the color of his robes, stood in the same row as Zhang Huaishen.

His injuries had not yet healed, but they no longer affected his walking, running and jumping, and even the wound on the base of his thumb had scabbed over and fallen off.

According to the doctor, his recovery speed is much faster than that of ordinary people. He will be able to fully recover after resting for another ten days.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong took a quick look at the situation inside the tooth gate.

Zhang Huaishen was wearing a dark crimson robe, and Li En, Suo Zhongyi and others were wearing light crimson robes. Next were Suo Xun, who was wearing a dark green robe, and myself, who was wearing a light green robe.

The light green ones should be captains, and Liu Jilong doesn't know about the rest. Anyway, judging from their positions, these people are of higher rank than him.

"Provincial Governor..."

Suddenly, everyone bowed and saluted, and Liu Jilong also bowed quickly.

Under the gaze of everyone, Zhang Yichao walked out and sat in the main seat.

He glanced around and stopped at Liu Jilong for a while.

"Okay, everyone, get up."

Zhang Yichao stroked his beard and spoke as everyone stood up one after another.

Seeing everyone standing up, Zhang Yichao spoke up, "We were originally planning to rest until late July before attacking Shandan, but Shandan just sent us a message saying they were ready to surrender to our army."

"In order to prevent Shandan from pretending to surrender, I plan to send a group of soldiers to take over Shandan City first, and I will lead the army to follow behind."

"If this is not a fraud, it will save a lot of effort."

Hearing this, everyone looked at each other and their brows relaxed a little.

Shandan has an important location. Its city is less than 100 miles away from Zhangye and 150 miles away from Fanhe County in Liangzhou.

To the north of Shandan is the Longshou Mountains, to the south is the Qilian Mountains, and to the east is the Yanzhi Mountains that separate Shandan from Fanhe County in Liangzhou.

If Shandan is captured and stone forts are set up in Yanzhi Mountain, it will be possible to provide early warning of the movements of the Tibetan army in Liangzhou and provide timely defense and support.

In the era of cold weapons, a good geographical location is better than thousands of troops.

"After taking over Shandan, I plan to relocate the old and weak people in Shandan to Zhangye, leaving the young and strong people alone to settle in Shandan."

"Shandan is an important place. Who among you dares to recommend yourself?"

As Zhang Yichao spoke, his eyes turned to Liu Jilong. However, Liu Jilong was calm and didn't feel his gaze at all.

In his opinion, he was still injured and had no soldiers or money, so it was not his turn to take on such an assignment.

Unfortunately, he miscalculated in the end.

"Liu Jilong, are you willing to go?"

(End of this chapter)