Tang Dynasty Bandits

Chapter 109 Legacy
"Grandpa, don't die!" A boy of twelve or thirteen years old rode a pony and rushed into the field from somewhere, and no one stopped him.

Ge Congzhou jumped off his horse and threw himself on Ge Jian's corpse, shaking his father's blood-stained body. With tears in his eyes, he shouted desperately, but he could not stop his father's body from slowly cooling down.

Some of the armored cavalrymen around Ming Shiyin wanted to use swords or guns against the young man, but Ming Shiyin stopped them with a look.

"I'm about to die, why bother to attack my old friend?" There was a rare hint of emotion in Ming Shiyin's words, which was very different from his usual cold tone.

When a person is about to die, his words are also good.

Upon hearing this, the armored cavalry stopped their attacks.

"Child, I want to ask you a question. I have brought the Ming Cult to a new level. In the future, as long as my cult does not oppose the imperial court, it will be able to preach legally. Why does your grandfather still hate me so much? Is it because I had something to do with your mother's death?"

Although Ming Shiyin looks like a person from the Central Plains, his ancestors were Persians. It was only because of intermarriage with the Han people for generations that he lost his Hu characteristics, but his facial features still have some characteristics such as a high nose and deep eyes.

His family has believed in the Ming Cult for generations, and even took Ming as their surname. His feelings for the Ming Cult are not false.

Ge Congzhou seemed to have heard Ming Shiyin's words clearly, but also seemed not to have, as he continued to himself, "Grandpa actually didn't like fighting. He joined the army as a young man just to have a full meal. What he missed most were the days of laughing and laughing in the mountains with his brothers, drinking and eating meat with hearty bowls."

"Several times, he cried bitterly while drunk, deeply regretting not dying with his brothers in Xuzhou. This year, after receiving the news of the deaths of Uncle Yuan Chang and Alliance Leader Wang, his grief became even more unbearable."

Ming Shiyin was silent. The question that had been bothering him was finally answered.

Leader Pang claimed that the uprising was a gesture of "brotherhood under heaven," but he opposed it, believing it would most likely bring destruction to the Holy Church. Even if successful, it would not establish a heavenly kingdom on earth. After a few generations, when the rulers became corrupt, the theocratic system would plunge the people into an unprecedented hell.

But a pure person like Ge Jian doesn't care about this kind of ideological dispute at all.

Regardless, his soldiers had murdered Ge Jian's wife, Ge Congzhou's mother, so it was only natural for Ge Jian to seek revenge on him.

"I eat your salary and share your worries." Ming Shiyin said to Ge Congzhou, "I want to atone for my sins, but I have already betrayed you once and cannot betray you again. I cannot give you the military seal."

"But I've always wanted to give you something. This is the fruit of my life's work. Please accept it! If you are an old brother of the Ming Cult, you can also follow my nephew."

Ming Shiyin took out a spear manual with a bright red cover from his blood-stained armor and threw it under his horse. On the spear manual were written four large characters "Ghost King Spear Technique" in flying white script.

"Ming is a man of limited talent and learning, so I can't say I created my own martial arts. This spear technique is actually a combination of the Seven-Probing Snake Spear left by Zhao Zilong of Changshan, combined with my Ming Cult martial arts."

"The halberd is good for melee combat, and the spear is good for breaking through enemy lines; each has its own strengths. If you want to dominate the world in the future, in addition to the Wenhou halberd technique your grandfather taught you, you can also study my spear technique regularly."

At this point, Ming Shiyin sighed. Ge Jian, having learned the halberd technique from Lü Bu, the "three-surnamed slave," remained a lifelong loyalist. He, however, learned the spearmanship from Zhao Zilong of Changshan, yet became a treacherous and ungrateful person. Perhaps this was just a trick of fate?
"The Ming Wang is immortal, and the heart lamp lives forever."

At the end, Ming Shiyin also recited the bright slogan of the Ming Cult.

Ming Shiyin's throat suddenly felt sweet, and a stream of blood spurted out of his mouth. He smiled slightly, wiped the blood from his mouth with his sleeve, and muttered something. Suddenly, his head tilted into the arms of the guard beside him, and he closed his eyes and died.

Ge Congzhou was still hesitating whether to pick up the spear manual, but one of the armored cavalrymen dismounted, picked up the spear manual, and forced it into Ge Congzhou's hand. He then bowed and said, "General Ming has ordered that from now on, Mr. Ge will be our master. I will obey your orders, come rain or shine, and never refuse!"

The rest of the armored cavalry suddenly changed color.

Thirty or forty warriors originally from the Ming Cult all rushed out, forming a tight circle around Ge Congzhou and confronting their comrades who had just fought side by side. Although these veterans were outnumbered, they had more combat experience.

"I didn't support the Ghost King's decision back then," sighed the knight who had helped Ge Congzhou up. "But the final decision he made in his life was truly the act of a true man."

Ge Congzhou didn't say anything, but he also knew that these thirty or forty armored cavalrymen were capable of fighting against ten or even a hundred enemies at once.

The inheritance left to him by Ming Shiyin, the murderer of his mother, was quite generous.

He couldn't refuse a dead person anymore.

"Grandpa, are all you Ming Cult members so efficient and decisive in your work?"

Ge Congzhou muttered to himself.

Back then, Pang Xun was able to mobilize hundreds of people to respond with a single call and shake the world with only 800 garrison soldiers. He truly had gathered a group of outstanding heroes under his command.

His father had taught him how to be a great man with his life, and as for Ming Shiyin, his mortal enemy, he seemed to have learned something from him as well.

"Retreat." The personal soldier holding Ming Shiyin's body said coldly.

He was clearly a member of the Yan Marshal's arsenal. But even he could see that with Ming Shiyin dead and over thirty elite armored veterans defecting, another fight wouldn't offer any advantage.

Bo Chulong also waved the flag in his hand, summoned the official cavalry, and retreated with his troops in a well-organized manner. The Cao army did not dare to pursue him for a while.

"As expected of Marshal Yan's army, even though Ming Shiyin died, they didn't give us any chance to take advantage of." Zhu Wen sighed and sent people to collect Ge Jian's body and prepare for burial.

But even so, more than 30 elite armored cavalry of the enemy joined their side, and General Yan lost Ming Shiyin, the top cavalry general. The situation between the two sides has clearly changed.

Ge Congzhou walked to Zhu Wen silently.

"Grandpa told me to follow you if anything happened to him. I thought he was joking..."

It was impossible for the young man to say anything more. He had just lost his father, the last relative he had in the world.

Even though he didn't know that this young man would grow up to be a famous general with both wisdom and courage, Zhu Wen knew the value of Ge Jian entrusting his son to him.

Just those thirty or forty cast-iron armored cavalrymen can greatly enhance the strength of their own camp!
"I didn't even find a flaw." Tian Jun failed to break through during the pursuit and retreated dissatisfied. He said to Zhu Wen, "Why isn't your bronze-faced senior brother here?"

Zhu Wen thought to himself that your skin is not much whiter than his, but it is not easy to say it to your face.

"Fool, do you think that if Marshal Yan goes north, the Pinglu Army won't send troops to support him?"

Tian Jun was shocked: "That means, north of the mountains, Pinglu Town has already assembled a large army..."

"We're fighting on two fronts," Zhu Wen said calmly. "And with fewer troops against a larger force in the north, the pressure is quite high. Fortunately, Pinglu doesn't have many famous generals today. Shang Rang is also there, so they should be able to hold out."

(End of this chapter)