Jiuqu Garden, parade ground.

Behind Lu Yi, the mighty general Yu Dianhu was holding a staff and sitting upright on a blood-hoofed black horse.

Several large banners fluttered in the wind, and wolf tails of various colors swayed in the wind, exuding an intimidating murderous aura.

A nine-curved green umbrella was covering Lu Yi's head diagonally. On the umbrella was a Kunpeng pattern used exclusively by the royal family. It was luxurious and majestic, highlighting the supreme privilege granted by the emperor himself.

Dozens of young eunuchs in purple and red, together with a group of palace guards, captains, strong men, and guards dressed in robes of various colors, totaling a little over 10,000 people, were separated to the left and right in a majestic manner, making Lu Yi's ceremonial procession look even more menacing.

Twenty thousand Yulin troops, together with Lu Yi's three thousand personal guards, also rode on blood-hoofed black horses and lined up behind Lu Yi.

On the left side of the Yulin Army were 10,000 heavy cavalrymen of the Imperial Guard, wearing heavy armor, holding wheel-shaped axes, and wrapped in thick armor all over their bodies, with only their eyes exposed.

The mounts of these imperial guards' heavy cavalry were a circle larger than the blood-hoofed black horses, with fat and strong bodies, and dragon-horned horses with one or two sharp horns on their foreheads.

The dragon-horned colt, like the blood-hoofed black horse of the Yulin Army, is also a mount of exotic beast bloodline unique to the Dayin Imperial Army.

Although this mount is not as fast as the Blood-hoofed Black Horse, which can run five or six thousand miles in six hours, it can still run at a stable speed of around four thousand miles. Most importantly, the Dragon-horned Colt is extremely powerful and has great endurance. It can carry heavy cavalrymen wearing hundreds of pounds of armor and run at a stable full speed of four thousand miles a day for more than half a month.

The dull sound of running came from afar, and two majestic young men wearing black armor, blood-red cloaks and holding long spears, led a team of Gray Wolf Riders and rushed into the parade ground in a mighty manner.

Lu Jun and Lu Yi are the sons of Lu Yu. Lu Jun is ten years older than Lu Yu, and Lu Yi is eight years older than Lu Yu.

Both of them practiced the skills of the Great Vajra Temple. Like Lu Yu, they had broad frames and were extremely tall, nearly ten feet tall. Sitting on the backs of the wolves, they looked like two iron towers.

Lu Yu returned to Beijing and held a banquet at Tian'en Mansion. Lu Yu met and drank with Lu Jun and Lu Yi. With Lu Yu's help, Lu Yu established friendship with his two cousins.

"Brother Yi!" Lu Jun and Lu Yi came roaring with three thousand Gray Wolf Riders. The two brothers shouted and two Gray Wolves stopped in front of Lu Yi. The two brothers raised their right hands and tapped them lightly on their chests, their fiery eyes swept over the ceremonial guards behind Lu Yi.

"My two brothers have arrived at the right time. Let's set off now. Hmm? Who are these people?" Lu Yi saw that among the Canglang Riders brought by Lu Jun and Lu Yi, there were a few fair-skinned men wearing silk robes, with an air of wealth and nobility.

"Oh, they are my three uncles and five cousins." Lu Jun glanced at the trembling men disapprovingly and said calmly, "Father said that supervising the army this time is an easy job, so he used the axe bestowed by the emperor to recruit them, let them serve in the army, and they can also get rich."

Lu Jun lowered his voice and said, "Otherwise, these guys are neither good at literature nor martial arts, and the whole family, young and old, are rich... Hehe, we can't let our mother cry in the storeroom every year, saying 'We've been robbed', right?"

Lu Yi laughed.

During the years that Lu Yu was guarding Beijie City, the Tian'en Mansion would be robbed at the end of every year, which had become a laughing stock among the powerful circles in Gaojing.

The problem is, the Tian'en Mansion is heavily guarded by retainers, and if you lost a few thousand eight hundred taels of gold and silver, perhaps the retainers were negligent, which is explainable.

You are robbed every year, and each time tens of thousands of taels of gold and silver, or even hundreds of thousands of copper coins, are stolen. This is too outrageous.

One string of copper coins weighs several kilograms. Hundreds of thousands of them would be a pile as big as a mountain. Even if you ask Lu Yi to steal them now, he won't be able to take away so many copper coins by his own strength!

“You’re such a brother-supporting demon.” Lu Yi sighed and grinned at Lu Jun and Lu Yi’s three uncles and five cousins: “I’ll just follow the two brothers’ lead and call them that. Three uncles, five cousins, you must follow the rules and behave yourself in the army, otherwise, I will… chop off your heads!”

Thirty-six mighty generals looked at them at the same time.

An 'uncle' who looked to be the oldest, probably in his early fifties, started to howl in tears: "We can't. What can we do in a war? Brother Ming, can you, can you, can you let us go home?"

Lu Jun frowned and shook his head, saying, "The rules in the army are so strict. Your names have been reported to the Ministry of War and the General's Office, and the emperor has also sent a list of soldiers. If you go back, it will be desertion, and you will be beheaded."

The tears of several uncles and cousins ​​flowed down one by one.

Lu Yi was amused, shook his head, bowed towards the depths of Jiuqu Garden, and waved his right fist: "Let's set off. My two brothers are veterans in the army, so let them arrange the scouts and sentinels."

Lu Jun and Lu Yi agreed in unison, and they also waved their hands lightly. More than a dozen teams of ten people rushed out from the Canglang Cavalry, gradually separated, and rushed out of Jiuqu Garden along the road.

Then came 10,000 light cavalry of the Yulin Army, followed closely by 3,000 Yulin Army, 10,000 Palace Guards, and 3,000 Canglang Cavalry under the command of Lu Yi as the central army. Behind the central army were 10,000 heavy cavalry of the Imperial Guards, followed by another 10,000 light cavalry of the Yulin Army, and finally thousands of cooks and logistics soldiers transferred from the Yulin Army to cover the rear.

The large group of people and horses marched along the road in a mighty procession. The sound of horse hooves shook the earth. Wherever they passed, the people on the streets all looked sideways and pointed at the group of people.

As the sky gradually darkened, inside the city of Haojing, on both sides of the road that the army would pass through, pillars of light and smoke rose up along the way, marking the route that Lu Yi's team would take.
This was also a warning to the common people in Haojing to get out of the way quickly.

Otherwise, he would be trampled to death by the galloping army, and his death would be in vain. Moreover, he would be held accountable by the military for the serious crime of obstructing the march.

The speed of the horse team gradually increased, and gradually reached the maximum speed of the dragon-horned colt. The team stabilized at this speed, whistling all the way and rushing towards the west.

Amid the sound of horse hooves, the military supervision team led by Lu Yi galloped straight past the road in front of the Ministry of War’s office in Kunpengfang.

Inside the gate of the Ministry of War, Zhu Chong and others frowned as they watched the team speeding past.

"The emperor actually sent a military supervisor!" Someone was angry: "This shows a lack of trust in our ministers."

"Stop talking nonsense. The military supervisor cannot enter Anping Prefecture." Someone said coldly, "We must send someone to stop them outside Anping Prefecture."

"They can't enter Anping Prefecture." Someone laughed bitterly: "But, our vanguard army hasn't set out yet, and he, a military supervisor, actually ran to the front? If he turned around halfway, the number of our vanguard army..."

Moro Xiu coughed dryly, "It's not easy to ambush 500,000 people. With this kid in the way, our vanguard army must at least send out 200,000 people. Otherwise, the difference in numbers is too big and we won't be able to explain it."

Zhu Song, who was standing next to Zhu Chong, looked at the retreating troops with a gloomy gaze and said calmly, "Lu Yi, this little dog, is here just to cause trouble for us. Well, if the rebellion was bigger, it would be understandable if a duke died in the battle, right?"

Zhu Chong looked at his brothers and thought about how his only son had died inexplicably. Zhu Chong sighed and patted Zhu Song on the shoulder: "Who can be sure of what's going on in the world? Even the emperor could have an accident in the army, right?"

By nightfall, the military supervision brigade led by Lu Yi had already rushed more than a thousand miles westward along the highway.

In an eighth-grade market called 'Queqiaofang', the team set up camp near the imperial guards garrison camp and started digging stoves to cook.

At the General's Mansion, a message-delivering hawk had already delivered the order in advance.

The garrison at Queqiaofang opened the granary and allowed Lu Yi to take food and fodder.

Lu Yi even ordered people to purchase a large number of live pigs and sheep, as well as chickens, ducks, geese and other poultry from the households in Queqiaofang. The cooks and logistics soldiers who accompanied him happily slaughtered the pigs and sheep, and stewed them in a big pot until the aroma of meat wafted everywhere.

Because the army is still in Haojing City, close to the imperial guards' garrison camp, there is almost no risk here.

Therefore, Lu Yi made an extra effort to allow each soldier to be given half a pound of old wine to dispel the cold air that was blown into the body by the cold wind while running all the way.

For a moment, the soldiers cheered in unison, drank wine and ate meat, and were very happy.

As they were eating and drinking, the thunderous sound of hoofbeats approached rapidly. The vanguard of the rebellion-suppressing army led by Zhuge Li had already caught up.

Lu Jun and Lu Yi, who were sitting by the campfire eating and drinking, raised their heads at the same time and looked in the direction of the vanguard corps.

"This city defense army is taking shape." Lu Jun praised: "The mobilization order was issued early in the morning, and the army was able to set out in the evening. They were able to catch up with us at this point. It seems that this city defense army is not completely empty!"

Lu Yi bit a piece of sheep hoof bone hard and crushed it into pieces.

He sneered and said, "Whether it's just an empty shell or not, we'll have to wait until we get into battle to see... Tell me, if we use 10,000 heavy cavalry to attack now, can they withstand it?"

"Naughty!" Lu Jun pointed at Lu Yi and said with a smile: "They are all wearing light armor and cannot stop the heavy cavalry. However, the disparity in strength is too great. The number they reported is that the vanguard corps has 500,000 people!"

"Tsk!" When they said 'five hundred thousand', Lu Jun and Lu Yi laughed at the same time. The generals of the Canglang Cavalry sitting next to them also laughed very happily.

Lu Yi dropped the bone in his hand and asked with a smile: "Why are you laughing so happily?"

Lu Jun shook his head and said, "When we were in Beijie City, several nearby cities had both imperial guards and city defense troops stationed there."

"The Imperial Guards are doing their job well. The number of soldiers is exactly the same as on the military roster. The general is very strict in commanding the army. But the generals sent by the Ministry of War and the city defense troops under their command... The number of soldiers on the military roster is full, but in the camp, the more conscientious ones have 30% fewer soldiers, and the more courageous ones have 60% fewer soldiers!"

Lu Yi stared at Lu Jun in astonishment: "Eating 60% of the salary for nothing? How many years has this city defense army's headquarters been built? A hundred years?"

Lu Jun and Lu Yi spread out their hands at the same time, shook their heads and laughed strangely.

Just as they were laughing, a fierce quarrel was heard outside the gate of the imperial guards garrison camp in Queqiaofang.