Chapter 424: Meng Gong's grandson? Is this what he looks like?
The next day.
Ying Chengjiao invited Meng Wu and Meng Tian, father and son, to reunite.
After three rounds of wine, the dishes have five flavors.
The three of them were chatting and laughing happily, and both the host and the guests were having a great time.
Ying Chengjiao put down his chopsticks, stood up and bowed, looking sincere.
"Uncle Wu, Meng Tian, Cheng Jiao, please follow me into the desert."
Meng Wu stood up immediately afterwards.
"You don't need me to tell you. Uncle Wu will go with you. This time I came from Yanmen to Jiuyuan not only to support this kid, but also to accompany you. Master Chengjiao has been silent for ten years. How can you, Uncle Wu, miss this great prize?"
After he finished speaking, he saw his son still not getting up and just sitting on the chair drinking.
Meng Wu slapped the wine glass out of his son's hand.
"Don't get up yet!"
The sound of the wine glass breaking when it hit the ground almost coincided with Meng Wu's roar.
Meng Tian stood up, and his father's expression eased a little.
Lord Jiuyuan cupped his hands, and the stains on his right sleeve from the wine were particularly obvious.
"Tian cannot go to war with Lord Chang'an."
Before Ying Chengjiao could react, Meng Wu's expression changed immediately, his face full of anger, and he swung his hand to slap him.
"Rebellious son!"
Meng Tian raised his arms to block the attack, his face expressionless.
"Father, you want to destroy the Meng family.
"Going deep into the enemy's territory alone is a dead end. You have led troops for many years, don't you know this?"
Meng Wu withdrew his arm in anger.
"You little boy! Have you forgotten what I told you yesterday? Have you forgotten your grandfather? Your uncle Wang was once the deputy general of Cheng Jiao!
"Have you forgotten that Chang'an Jun defended Handan and surrounded the city to attack the reinforcements, trapping Li Mu to death! In the end, he brought Lian Po with him, using saddles, stirrups, and horseshoes to force Li Mu to surrender without a fight!
"When it comes to fighting, you are far inferior to Jiao'er!"
Meng Tian bowed and bowed to Ying Chengjiao.
"May I ask Lord Chang'an, how will we fight this time when we go deep into the desert? Do you want support from the Crown Prince?"
Ying Chengjiao responded seriously.
"No need, we will march straight in and fight to support the war.
"They recruited the Hu people as soldiers, seized cattle and sheep for food, and attacked the Xiongnu king's court."
Meng Tian didn't show any surprise at all.
Before Ying Chengjiao arrived in Jiuyuan, he stayed in Shangjun for three days.
Before Ying Chengjiao arrived in Jiuyuan, he had already received a letter from the prince via carrier pigeon.
The letter said that his uncle did not need supplies from the Seven Counties and wanted to march alone deep into the desert, so he was asked to stop his uncle at all costs.
Meng Wu was horrified and took a step forward, causing the plates and cups on the table to shake and clatter, but he didn't notice it.
"I have never heard of such a way of fighting! Qiao'er, don't think you can look down on the Huns just because they fled seven hundred miles at the sight of the enemy! Fighting like this is courting death!"
Meng Tian bowed halfway.
"Chang'an Jun stopped my father from slapping me in the street, so that I didn't lose face in front of the three armies. I would like to thank you very much!
"Tian has already communicated with the Crown Prince. If the Lord of Chang'an intends to attack the Xiongnu, the seven northwestern counties will start to recruit civilians from now on, build a city 300 miles away from Jiuyuan, and the Jiuyuan garrison will move in.
"As long as Lord Chang'an advances steadily and does not think of advancing alone, he can rely on the seven counties to expand the territory. Jiuyuan will start from peace and obey Lord Chang'an's orders!"
Ying Chengjiao refused without hesitation.
"The seven northwestern counties have just started to improve, the people have started to smile, and their homes have surplus food. At this time, we must not force the people to leave their homes, and we must take care of the people!
"The priority for the seven counties now is to recuperate and develop the economy, not to join the war. Using the seven counties at this time would be a waste of resources and would cause the people to suffer."
The seven northwestern counties not only refer to seven large cities, but also the countless villages between the cities.
There are more soldiers in Dacheng than civilians. These villages, big or small , are the gathering places for people in the northwest region and can represent the people of the northwest.
Before coming to Jiuyuan, Ying Chengjiao changed into casual clothes and investigated the real situation in Guojian, Northwest Village.
It’s so miserable!
The people outside the Great Wall are vigilant and tough.
In order to find out the real situation, Ying Chengjiao would always change into local rags and sneak into the village bypassing the sentry post at the entrance to avoid being treated as an outsider and strictly guarded.
He was able to sneak in, and succeeded every time, but every time he tried to ask questions after observing, he would be discovered. Because the villagers all knew each other, and Ying Chengjiao was the only stranger.
There are only about a hundred people in these villages outside the Great Wall, and the largest number does not exceed 500, all of whom are from this village.
In order to conquer the six kingdoms, Guanzhong recruited soldiers repeatedly, but no matter how many people there were, they were not enough.
Wang Jian sent out an army of 600,000 to destroy Chu, and there were more than one million soldiers accompanying the army to transport baggage and food!
There were only five million people registered in Guanzhong, Bashu and other places, and 1.6 million of them went to war. On average, one out of every three Qin people served as a soldier.
The Qin State was preoccupied with internal wars, and with such a high intensity of conscription, there were no extra people left to move outside the Great Wall to open up wasteland.
The law that states that reclaimed land is one's own has long been abolished, and these villages have not seen any fresh blood from outside for more than a decade.
The looting of the Hu people and the heavy corvee forced the villagers to die, which far outnumbered the number of newborns. The big village became a medium village, the medium village became a small village, and the small village disappeared.
When Ying Chengjiao made a secret visit, he saw that the houses in all the villages were similar. They were civil structures, very simple, built with grass and earth bricks, and had the most basic function of blocking wind and rain.
There are almost no trees planted in every village, and it looks barren .
The villagers were pale and thin, short and with sunken eyes. In just a few decades, they had a subtle difference in appearance from the people in Guanzhong.
They were also more cheerful than the people in Guanzhong and would talk about family matters. They were full of energy when harvesting wheat and looked forward to how much grain they would have left over after paying taxes.
Since the prince came to the northwest, taxes have been reduced.
The Huns were driven back seven hundred miles by Meng Tian, and the Hu people did not come.
The lives of the people in the seven counties have just started to improve. Although such a life seems really bad to Ying Chengjiao, it is very good in the eyes of these people, much better than before.
In the past, there was an endless amount of Great Walls and passes to build, and endless amounts of grain and taxes to collect.
The two accompany the people outside the Great Wall from birth to death.
Meng Wu and Meng Tian looked at each other, and the father and son went into battle together to do ideological work on Ying Chengjiao.
Ying Chengjiao also wanted to convince the two of them, so he brought out the same tactics that he had told the First Emperor.
But the father and son of the Meng family were masters of military strategy, and they could tell the difficulty right away. Meng Wu asked how to use the Hu people for their own benefit, and Meng Tian asked how to find the direction in the desert and find the Hu tribe.
Ying Chengjiao had not just been traveling these days, he had also been well prepared and answered all the questions one by one.
However--
"Those who are not of my race must have different hearts!"
Meng Wu shook his head vigorously.
"This is a trick to fool the people. You can't trust Chang'an Jun."
Meng Tian gave sincere advice.
Both father and son have always believed that Ying Chengjiao's tactics were not feasible and had major problems, and they were determined that Ying Chengjiao should proceed steadily, step by step, to build the city.
Ying Chengjiao laughed angrily.
So all my words are a waste of time. If you don’t believe me after I explain, then why do I need to explain?
With a sudden wave of his hand, he made the final decision.
"The Taotie Army is mine, and you can only follow my tactics. There is no room for negotiation."
Meng Tian held his head high and chest out, his demeanor dignified, his aura more than ten times stronger than when he first met Ying Chengjiao in Chang'an Jun Mansion.
Although the battle with the Huns was not considered a military achievement, the results were real and completely allowed Meng Tian to wash away the shame of the defeat in the war against Chu.
Today, Meng Tian is at the peak of his age, physical strength and self-confidence, a combination of energy and spirit!
"Chang'an Jun is determined to do what he wants, and Tian can't follow him."
"Why, you're going to use the same tactics against me that you used against the younger generation? Are you going to deduct my Taotie Army?"
"Tian is unwilling to do so, but if Chang'an Jun insists on doing it, wasting the country's strength, Tian will have no choice but to offend him."
The two people standing guard outside the door were Li You, a personal soldier of Meng Tian, and Ying Jianglu, the third son of the Qin Dynasty.
This was because Ying Chengjiao intended to train the two of them, just like when King Zhaoxiang of Qin, King Xiaowen of Qin, and King Zhaoxiang of Qin always took him with them in everything they did.
The reason he could grow to where he is today was mostly due to the training of the Three Kings. The Three Kings died young, but their teachings were not interrupted and were passed on to Ying Chengjiao.
"Brother Li, what do you think my uncle will do? I guess my uncle has an imperial decree from my father in his sleeve."
Ying Jianglu said in a low voice.
In Jiuyuan, Meng Tian, who had absolute military power, was unstoppable.
With the tiger talisman in hand, if one wants to make the Jiuyuan Army defect, it will be impossible unless the First Emperor himself or the Crown Prince comes.
Only the First Emperor could suppress Meng Tian.
"Won't.
“Yesterday, Chang’an Jun rebuked you and was very disappointed in you. He clearly thought that you should have freed yourself from the restrictions imposed on you by the general, rather than relying on an external force like Chang’an Jun.
"Chang'an Jun is facing the same dilemma as you. If you take out the imperial edict, wouldn't that also be a way to resolve the evil? How could you say that to you yesterday?"
Ying Jianglu curled his lips.
"You don't understand your uncle. He has always been like this. He didn't get the title of "boy" for nothing.
"If you question him afterwards: 'Wasn't it also external force that you produced the imperial edict?'
"He will reply to you with a surprised look on his face: 'What kind of external force is this? I asked for the imperial edict, it didn't fall from the sky. I can get it because of my ability. If you have the ability, why don't you go and get it? Am I tying your hands?'"
Li You was speechless for a moment and said:
"Then you could have said yesterday: 'It's my ability that I can get you to come. If you have the ability, don't come!'"
Ying Jianglu sighed lightly.
“I don’t dare.
“He would beat me up and throw me back to Xianyang.
"There are some things that only he can say. He has such double standards."
What is double standard? What does this term mean?
Li You was about to ask when a voice came from the hall, which made him suddenly realize that it was so simple.
His good brother was stunned on the spot.
In the hall, Ying Chengjiao stopped Meng Wu who was about to speak, and said to the imposing Meng Tian with a smile:
"OK."
good?
Meng Tian frowned, not understanding what he meant.
Do you mean to let me keep it? This tone doesn't sound like surrender.
"If General Meng wants to fight, Cheng Jiao will accompany him."
Didn't you want to fight the Huns? Who was I to fight?
Meng Tian didn't understand at first.
"I don't know whether I can conquer the Xiongnu, but I can definitely conquer Jiuyuan."
Meng Tian looked up in horror!
He finally understood that Ying Chengjiao wanted to use 47,000 Taotie troops to go to war with him, Meng Tian!
Meng Tian opened his mouth wide, wanting to say, "How dare you do this! You are plotting treason!"
The Jiuyuan Army was a registered regular army of the Qin State, and the Taotie Army was a private army.
When private armies attack regular troops, it is treason.
But when the words came to my lips, the words changed.
"…I was just joking."
"Haha, Cheng Jiao was just joking."
The two brothers guarding outside the door did not take it as a joke.
Ying Jianglu lowered his head and was suddenly slapped in the face.
Li You watched silently without stopping him.
Before Ying Chengjiao arrived, the Taotie army obeyed Ying Jianglu.
The First Emperor would not be angry if the Taotie army was detained to guard the border, but would be happy to see it happen. If nothing happened, everything would be fine.
But what if something goes wrong?
Ying Jianglu was the third prince of the Qin Dynasty and had troops at his disposal. How could a mere general like Meng Tian suppress him?
If the two sides start fighting, can Ying Zheng still send out a large army to kill his son? What is he afraid of?
"The Taotie Army belongs to Lord Chang'an, but the generals do not."
Meng Tian said in a deep voice.
Forty-seven thousand people need officers to coordinate their efforts; it is impossible for a general to command them all.
The officers of the Taotie Army were all former members of the Meng family, generals of the Great Qin who resigned from their official positions and rushed to the army at the order of Meng Ao, including many generals.
Without officers , Ying Chengjiao could not defeat the Huns alone.
Ying Chengjiao still stopped Meng Wu and said with a smile:
"Is this a joke?"
"no."
Ten days later.
A lonely city on the frontier and green land in the desert.
Outside Jiuyuan County, an old general led a group of veterans to Fangma Pass.
The old general's armor had scratches from sharp swords and dents from blunt weapons.
He rode forward.
A sharp arrow shot down from above, one step away from the warhorse, and half of the arrow was embedded in the ground.
An old defender on the city wall shielded his eyes from the sun with his hands, squinted his eyes and shouted.
"Everyone who comes here may give their names!"
The veteran immediately took off his helmet, his white hair fluttering.
"Wang Zhi! Tell that bastard Meng Tian to come see you!"
The sound is like muffled thunder.
There was no movement in the city.
Not long after, the city gates opened wide.
Two black lines spread wildly outward from the Jiuyuan city gate!
The first to run out were the cavalry whose horses were running out like phantoms, followed by the infantry whose legs were running fast, the cavalry and infantry were running together, there was no end.
The cavalry galloped, standing on both sides a hundred steps in front of the veteran, each circling an arc, just like making dumplings, wrapping the veterans and soldiers in the middle.
The war horses snorted restlessly, shook their heads and wagged their tails, extremely dissatisfied. They were finally let out to run for a while, but they only ran this short distance? Then why did they wrap iron ladders around them? Not enough!
The Qin sword in the infantry's hand was unsheathed, its sharp edge was exposed, and the reflected light seemed to blind the sun!
The two long rows are curved, not in a straight line, and are connected to each other.
In the meantime, Meng Wu and Meng Tian were riding their horses at full speed.
The horse rushed to twenty steps in front of the old general, and the two men dismounted and walked to the old general on foot.
The dignified Lords of Yanmen County, Meng Wu, and Jiuyuan County, Meng Tian, did not dare to ride their horses to the front of the old general!
It stands to reason that it is inconvenient to perform the full etiquette while wearing armor, but even when meeting the First Emperor, some etiquette could be exempted.
But the two fully armed men clasped their hands, bent deeply more than 90 degrees, and performed a salute that could not be more complete!
"Nephew greets uncle!"
"Meng Tian greets the prince!"
The old general sat on his horse and looked at the two men, thinking of the Qi man who broke a leg on the battlefield and chased the enemy for ten miles. With just one stop, the Qi man, who was originally a small soldier, caught the attention of Wang Xi, the captain of 500 men, because of his bravery.
From then on, the man from Qi fought against Wang Qi, and the two of them were promoted based on their military achievements. They had wins and losses in battles, but overall they won more battles than they lost.
Ten years later, both of them became generals, and the title of the man from Qi was actually higher than that of Wang Xi.
Wang Xi complained that the world was unfair, but in his heart he always felt that it was justified.
This Qi man who could not read, was not familiar with military tactics, and spoke foul language was even more Qin-like than Wang Xi, a Qin man, on the battlefield!
He conquered more cities than Wang Zhi and killed more people than Wang Zhi, so it is natural that his title should be higher than Wang Zhi. This is the principle of the Qin State.
Moreover, that man from Qi respected the King of Qin more than anyone else.
If that Qi man hadn't been there in the Battle of Changping, the butcher Bai Qi would have definitely captured Handan!
"Naigong is not from Qin, but from Qi! If you want to gain a foothold in Qin, you must respect the king! The king is wrong! So are you!"
The man from Qi seemed to have lived a glorious life. He scolded all the civil and military officials in the court and even dared to slam the table when he saw the King of Qin.
In fact, he never had his own opinion in his life. He was like the king's shadow. He did whatever the king wanted to do.
When Wu'an Jun died, Wang Zhi felt aggrieved , so he resigned from his post and returned home, ignoring the king's order.
The man from Qi was also upset, but he held back his grief and followed the king's order to persuade Wang Xi to return to the army.
If I don't obey the king's order, I will betray my conscience and I will betray Wu'an.
When he arrived at Wang Xi's house, the man from Qi didn't say a word, but just sat for two hours and then left.
Given a choice, the man from Qi did not betray Wang Xi.
He originally wanted to whip Meng Tian in the face with a horsewhip, leaving the old general with skin and flesh torn and blood all over his face, but in the end he just snorted coldly.
“Get lost!”
The men on the horses stood up, the father and son separated, and the old general spurred his horse on, galloping past.
"Three armies, listen up! Follow me into the city to see the general!"
"only!"
The sound of thousands of people shouting together was not loud, but only hoarse and old, and sounded even less loud than Wang Xi's voice alone.
The responder is an old man who does not have much life left, so how can he make a loud noise?
War horses rushed past Meng Tian in an orderly manner, and the glances they gave him were full of coldness, contempt, and hostility...
Meng Gong's grandson? Is this what he looks like?
