It doesn't matter what the lord is.

17. Get back what you lost

He Yue opened the "Famous Ministers List" again, found a ranking called "Zongheng List", and said to Lid:

"I just took a closer look and found that we don't have our own envoys. For example, when you went to the Huaiwang territory and took Liushi and Amo back to Yuxi City, you didn't have to go there in person. On the one hand, you might encounter danger, and on the other hand, it's unreasonable for a city lord to abandon the city and go out to lobby others. It's better to send someone who is eloquent and good at speaking, but not so high-ranking, to negotiate, which can save a lot of trouble."

Lid nodded and said with a smile:

"The Minister of Foreign Affairs."

As he laughed, Lid stroked his chin and fell into deep thought:

“But it’s really hard to find such a person.”

Being eloquent is a condition, but meeting this condition is far from enough. Diplomacy is a very difficult thing. Sometimes when facing a superior who is several times stronger than you, it is very difficult or even impossible to convince the other party, because the other party has no reason to listen to your ideas. Just like when Lide tried to persuade the King of the East, Shetong, it was like walking on a tightrope. Even though the deal was finally made, Shetong was still thinking about how to destroy Lide's realm cultivation.

Analyzing the pros and cons, criticizing the current situation, and even telling lies to confuse right and wrong when necessary are all basic abilities that diplomats need to possess. In addition, fearlessness is also very important. When under great pressure, it is not easy to be able to tell them your views with a normal expression. If you don't have the courage to "dare to pull down the emperor at the cost of your life", you may end up like the fool who went with Jing Ke to assassinate Qin. He immediately became depressed after taking one look at the King of Qin, causing his companions to shout in grief that there was a traitor.

There are people in Yuxi City who are courageous, bold, smart, and eloquent. For example, He Yue can do this. But He Yue, the chief minister, is equivalent to the second in command of Yuxi City. If he is detained unreasonably, Yuxi City will not be able to operate normally. The only one who does not have to worry about being detained is Bai Huang, but with Bai Huang's personality, when he goes out to negotiate with others, nine out of ten times the negotiation will directly turn into a real PK.

Lide still remembers that Bai Huang confronted the king in front of everyone. To be fair, it was really cool, but Bai Huang was happy, and Lide had to clean up the mess afterwards, which made Lide feel unhappy. Although the problem in the capital was solved, it couldn't be solved in this way, so Bai Huang was obviously not qualified for this position.

"Generally speaking, well-established families are more likely to produce such well-known envoys. After all, they have been influenced by their families since childhood, and their conversation is elegant and their manners are generous. They have seen big scenes and will not be easily frightened and at a loss. They meet the requirements of being envoys. Eight of the top ten on the "Zongheng List" are of noble birth. But the current nobles in Yuxi City are all emerging nobles. To put it bluntly, they are like nouveau riche. They do not have that kind of aristocratic temperament, but are better at studying some petty ways of seeking benefits and avoiding harm than anyone else. Let them participate in such a heavyweight game, not to mention whether they are willing or not. At present, they do not even have the ability to do so."

He Yue commented incisively.

Li De was also very distressed. He sat cross-legged next to He Yue and said:

"What to do about this?"

He Yue sat in the same position as him, stretched, and said with a smile:

"Dig another one?"

She pushed the "Zonghengbang" in her hand towards Lid and said:

"Just pick one of the top ten and the problem will be solved."

Lid took it and flipped through it in detail, then said with a wry smile:

"It's not that easy. The people here live a comfortable life. They are rich, powerful and famous. Not to mention that I am a small city lord, even if I am a lord of a certain place, they may not be willing to come here. I was born into an aristocratic family and have had a smooth life since childhood. Now I have a harmonious family and a happy life. My annual salary is unimaginable. What can I use to dig?"

He Yue thought for a moment and replied:

"By beauty?"

Lid said unhappily:

"Yours or mine?"

He Yue smiled and pinched his cheek, saying:

"What's the difference? I'm working for you now, so what's mine is yours. Besides, we're both second to none, so it doesn't matter whose you use. But I guess no one would pursue someone like me who was suddenly praised. After all, you're still the most beautiful woman in Yunhai, and I think everyone would still like you more."

Li De thought about it and it seemed to be true. He became angrier and angrier if he held back, and felt more and more at a loss if he took a step back. He couldn't help but recall the things that happened in Yunhai. If he hadn't been the Yunhai courtesan, he wouldn't have been on the "Best Beauty List". If Bai Huang hadn't stood him up, he wouldn't have had to go on stage to vote for the Yunhai courtesan. Thinking about it this way, the whole story became clear. Li De said expressionlessly:

"When you come back, make some arrangements and find a random reason to deduct Bai Huang's salary this month."

Unexpectedly, He Yue smiled and refused:

"I'm afraid it's difficult. Not only does Bai Huang not care about Yuxicheng's salary now, but we also owe her a sum of money, which we estimate will not be able to pay back until this fall. So before that, whether you get your pocket money or not is up to her, so don't even think about deducting her salary."

Lid: ???

Perhaps because she hadn't had enough rest recently, He Yue leaned on Lid and said in a slightly lazy tone:

"The cash stored in Yuxi City is not enough for pensions, resettlement fees, food, weapons, and materials for rebuilding the city walls. I originally reserved a sum of money for you to renovate the City Lord's Mansion. Now that the situation is urgent, I will use it first, but there is still a large deficit. Bai Huang sold half of the box of jewelry she brought to Yuxi City and gave me all the money privately, so we were able to get through this crisis safely."

Perhaps fearing that Li De would worry, He Yue said with a smile:

"The situation is not particularly severe. The sales of various industries in Yuxi City are gradually increasing, and the monthly income is also increasing. The money owed to her in the past was an astronomical figure. Now, if we live frugally, we can pay it back in less than half a year. It's a pity that even if Bai Huang didn't say it, she can't buy back the jewelry she sold even if we pay it back. Those are treasures passed down from generation to generation in the Yunhai family. Once they are sold, it's like a fish returning to the sea. Even if we offer two or three times the price, what we lose can't be recovered."

Reed suddenly recalled that there was a period of time before when Bai Huang looked inexplicably sad, and when he asked her about it, she said nothing.

Given her personality, even if she expressed her gratitude or apology, she would probably brush it off with an attitude like "Does my lady look like someone who needs that little jewelry?" In fact, she didn't have to do so much for Yuxi City, just like her brother didn't help Yuxi City with any major events after signing the agreement.

"Will be back."

After a moment, Lid said calmly:

"One day, I will make all the things that are lacking sufficient, and return all the things that are lost to us."

18. The story behind a strong army

midsummer.

The sound of cicadas chirping is endless.

The silver armor reflected a dazzling luster in the sunlight.

It was hot in the south. The air was filled with waves of heat. Soldiers stood on the barren land with sharp spears in their hands. Fifteen hundred people stood in several square formations. At first glance, they looked amazing, but only the soldiers standing there knew that the clothes under their armor had long been soaked with sweat, and behind their resolute eyes were waves of dizziness.

Having only a bowl of porridge for breakfast, they had been standing motionless under the scorching sun for half the morning. The sun made their iron armor scorching hot and burned their skin through their clothes. Every second was an agonizing torture.

At this time, the third son of Yunyang, Li Neng, was sitting under the shade of a tree, with two maids beside him fanning him considerately.

A school officer staggered over, half-knelt on the ground, and said to him:

"Sir, the brothers can't hold on any longer. Please give us a definite answer on when we will attack Yuxi City..."

“Can’t hold on…?”

Li Neng stood up, walked to the officer, and said:

"If you're a soldier, don't say such nonsense! What kind of soldier is he if he doesn't endure hardships? Which of the powerful armies throughout history wasn't forged through hardships? Sweating now is better than bleeding in the future! You've only been standing for half a morning, and you're already shouting about being tired. What's wrong with you? If you keep shouting, I'll take you all out to run, and see who's more tired!"

The officer opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end just sighed.

To be fair, Li Neng was better at managing the army than his brother Li Yi. He had read some famous books on military strategy and learned some theoretical knowledge, so he could talk about many things clearly. There was nothing wrong with the plan of "training the formation before training the troops". The only problem was that when Li Neng was recruiting troops, he wanted to win by numbers. He recruited as many people as he had money. As a result, the budget for logistics and supplies was a bit tight. Although he borrowed money from Li Yi to buy food and grass, the small leaders in the army were basically the personal guards of Li Neng and Li Yi. They made a lot of money by doing things, and the rations actually given to the soldiers were very few.

Moreover, those famous military books did not record everything. They said that training should be done from morning to night and soldiers should not be too lax, but they did not say that such a process should be followed even in the hot summer in the south.

Appropriate suffering is called tempering the mind, and pure suffering is called disguised abuse. This principle is simple to say, but many people who have lived for decades cannot understand it. Li Neng himself was immersed in the happiness of being a superior and holding all the power, and he did not care about these issues at all:

"It turns out that suffering is useful. It was a mess at the beginning, but now it finally looks like a strong army."

Fifteen hundred men stood in the sun without saying a word, and in Li Neng's eyes they were a model of military solemnity.

The harvest in Yunyang was average this year, so it was not uncommon for people to flee. Most of these soldiers were poor people whose families were so poor that they could not afford to eat, and they had no other choice but to join the army. They did not care about death, because life was worthless, and they were displaced, and there was no point in living, and they had nowhere to go. But they really did not want to suffer such a punishment, which was more torturous than simple death.

Li Neng walked along the army formation, and two maids carefully held an umbrella for him to prevent the sun from shining on him. But even so, the heat in the air still made Li Neng feel a little chest tightness and shortness of breath. After walking a circle, sweat soaked his cheeks, and one of the maids had to wipe his sweat with silk.

"Team one can take a break now. Get some watermelon to cool off. The rest of you, stand for another half an hour, then temporarily disband! We will practice weighted marching in the afternoon. At noon, everyone will get two sandbags to tie to their legs!"

Li Neng shouted and returned to sit under the shade of the tree. With a burst of cheers, one of the teams quickly threw away their spears and lances, took off their armor and threw them on the ground, wiping their sweat while running to the river. They jumped into the cold water and took a comfortable bath, and rinsed and wrung out their sweat-soaked clothes, wearing them half wet, and ran to eat watermelon. Although each person only got a few pieces, you could tell from their expressions that they were extremely comfortable.

The other soldiers didn't look envious, most likely because they were used to it.

This seemingly fair reward mechanism actually contains a lot of inside information. The so-called "Team One" is the 300 soldiers that Li Yi lent to Li Neng. They are considered to be the elite soldiers under Li Yi, and are very different from the other people who were put together temporarily. In fact, they are the ones who get rewards every time. Although there are factors of strength, the soldiers will not believe that there is no bias. The enthusiasm for winning at the beginning was quickly worn out. The noise disappeared and was replaced by silence. Under the silent appearance, the heart gradually became numb.

So, this army has become what it is today.

The school officer who was just scolded by Li Neng was named Selaginella. This name actually refers to a plant with extremely strong vitality. People in cold and harsh climates often name their children after creatures that are easy to live, thinking that the child's life will be cheaper and easier to raise.

Most of the other officers took off their helmets and armors as "supervisors" and watched to see if anyone was slacking off. Although this didn't completely avoid the sun, it allowed them to stroll around in the shade more often. And without the airtight armor, they felt less uncomfortable.

Only Selaginella stood with the soldiers in the square formation. He didn't know why, but he simply felt that he couldn't abandon the soldiers and go lazy. More than 80% of the officers here were appointed by Li Yi and Li Neng. Only a few people including Selaginella were elected by the soldiers. The other officers didn't like them, and Li Yi and Li Neng didn't pay much attention to them.

Selaginella is not a hero, nor does he want to be one. Some time ago, a school officer had his legs broken for contradicting Li Neng, and the soldiers spread the news privately. Selaginella hopes that his two legs can grow well on his body, so after being scolded by Li Neng, he will come back obediently and no longer insist on pleading for the soldiers.

But out of conscience, he would stand here and share the joys and sorrows with the soldiers.

He is just a small person, a small person that no one takes seriously.

The sun was still shining directly on the world, generously giving away its scorching temperature. Selaginella gradually felt that he had difficulty breathing, and his body swayed slightly from side to side, but thinking that time was almost up, he gritted his teeth and persisted. But then, he suddenly heard a dull crash, and looking to the side, he found that his companion had fallen to the ground.

19. All in one color

Selaginella had witnessed countless people falling to the ground. Yunyang was not as rotten as Tiancheng, but in years with bad harvests, it was common for some people to freeze to death or starve to death.

Selaginella had seen a neighbor who looked quite strong before. He was used as a laborer. One day, he suddenly vomited blood and slowly fell to his knees. He never got up again. There was no external injury on his body, but he died suddenly. Later, he heard from the people who moved the body that he had a lot of muscles, but his internal organs were as brittle as paper due to years of hard work. He was just an empty shell.

There are also some miners who work underground all night long, some of them often fall asleep, and the blood vessels in their heads suddenly burst silently, and they never wake up. Those workers are also overworked to the point of numbness, sometimes a person dies in a corner, and no one will find him for several days. He will only be carried out and buried when he starts to rot.

Although he had seen many similar situations, when someone fell down beside him, Selaginella immediately reached out his hand to help him up. At this moment, Li Neng turned around, saw this scene, and walked over with a frown.

Selaginella didn't notice Li Neng approaching, and quickly helped the man take off his helmet. He found that his black hair was all stuck to his face. It was like a steamer under the helmet. When it was opened, hot steam came out. The soldier was a middle-aged man in his thirties. He was obviously very thin, but his face was abnormally ruddy. He was already unconscious.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

Li Neng asked coldly, and Selaginella quickly replied:

"Sir, someone has fainted. He must be taken to a cool place immediately and given some water, otherwise..."

"no need!"

Li Neng interrupted him and said in a serious official tone:

"A soldier should act like a soldier. Not to mention that he is still alive and well, even if he only has one breath left, he must obey the general's orders first! If this precedent is set, and dozens of people faint in a day, will our team still be able to train? Help him stand up! The men of Yunyang are not that fragile!"

At that moment, Juanbai felt his blood boiling, and he wanted to ask Li Neng loudly: You are not the one who doesn't have enough food, and you are not the one who has to stand in armor for half a day under the scorching sun! What qualifications do you have to say these high-sounding words? People are not made of iron. Do you want us all to die in this wilderness before you change your mind?

But when the words came to his lips, Selaginella swallowed them with difficulty.

He slowly calmed his breathing, put his hands under the armpits of the unconscious soldier, helped him stand up, and used his body to shield him from the scorching sun. Li Neng glanced at him, and left with the maid, and before leaving, he did not forget to leave a warning:

"Don't let me catch you slacking off!"

Selaginella naturally would not be lazy. He stood silently in the sun, listening to the other officers pointing fingers at him. The more common ones probably said that he wanted to show off in front of Li Neng but failed, while the more ruthless ones said that he intended to win people's hearts with this. Anyway, most of the comments were not positive, which was in line with the consistent truth of this world. When black became the main color, a little white seemed a bit glaring, so everyone voluntarily mobilized and made their own contributions to the unification.

After the training, Selaginella helped the unconscious person to rest, taking one step at a time. Just as he managed to walk under the shade of a tree, he fainted himself.

He was awakened by the cold water. When he turned over and sat up, he found that he was surrounded by ordinary soldiers under his command. Everyone gathered around him and said nothing. The person who fainted before was also there. He woke up earlier than him. At this moment, he lowered his head with a look of self-blame on his face and said:

"I'm sorry to have caused trouble to the officer."

Selaginella shook his head and replied:

"I am the person you nominated, and I have to lead you to survive."

The expressions of the thirty or so people around him did not change much. The man who had fainted smiled bitterly and said:

"But officer, what's the point of living? When I fell down, I thought I would never get up again. I don't know how to say it... At that time, I actually felt relieved. This kind of life has no end. It's like being imprisoned, tormented and tortured until we die in pain--"

Selaginella clenched his fists and said:

"Don't say such things anymore! Since we are in the army, we must find ways to earn some military merits. As long as we can make merits, everyone will look up to us."

Another person in the crowd said:

"Really? Captain, I heard from the soldiers outside that this afternoon's drill is actually a preparation for the future siege. The "First Team" is the core combat force from the beginning. We are just scapegoats who rush to the front."

Selaginella was silent for a while, not knowing how to answer.

A voice deep in his heart told him not to make any excuses because he himself would not believe them.

But he still smiled bitterly in the end and said a few words for Li Neng. It was not because he believed in Li Neng, but because if he fell into despair, these people would completely collapse:

"It's not that serious, don't worry. I have accurate information. Who will lead the charge will be decided by drawing lots. Although I am not very lucky, I have survived many life-and-death experiences over the years. This shows that my luck is not that bad. I can't guarantee anything else, but if there is really a day of separation between life and death, I, Selaginella, will definitely die before you all."

The soldiers all bowed their heads and said nothing to express their loyalty, but no one left.

After a long time, someone sighed softly:

"Actually, for people like us who are as insignificant as ants, will anyone care whether we are alive or dead?"

Selaginella stood up, wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, and looked up at the scorching sun.

"some."

He paused and continued:

"Don't care what others say, staying alive is the most important thing. Every time I want to die, I tell myself that it would be too pathetic to die like this in this life. I don't know if death is like the extinguishing of a light, and I don't know if there is any next life to look forward to, but if not, my life would be a waste. So I have kept this life and refuse to throw it away easily. The same goes for you! If no one in the world cared about your life or death before, from now on, at least I care about you... So don't die."

Seeing that his soldiers all nodded slowly, Selaginella concealed the tiredness on his face and regained his spirit.

What awaited him was a seemingly fair lottery. Selaginella was the first to enter the military tent and drew a lot that would determine his fate. There were a few small words clearly engraved on it. The moment he saw it, Selaginella's face did not change much. He just silently put the lot back into the box and walked out alone under the gaze of other officers.

The first line, a position where there is no life or death.

Selaginella came out of the tent and raised his head. In an instant, the sunlight took away all his vision. He couldn't help but think of the rumor circulating among the soldiers. It was said that the enemy general in Yuxi City loved his soldiers very much and made sure that they were well fed at every meal. But this rumor only flashed through Selaginella's mind for a short moment, and he quickly smiled bitterly and shook his head.

How could there be such a person? It's just a crude ploy to shake the morale of the army.