Chapter 233: I respectfully invite General Zhao to demonstrate his martial arts!

Tang Daren...Tang Ping...Who came up with these weird names...

Inside the car, Zhao Duan resisted the urge to complain and looked through the documents in his hand.

On the paper was the basic information of the noteworthy officers of the Shenjiying.

The person ranked first was not the commander Shi Meng, but this "young master"... But considering his identity as the Duke of Zhenguo, it is easy to understand.

"It's easy to be an official if you have someone in the court." Zhao Duan sighed.

He didn't know much about the Duke of Zhenguo, but he knew that he was one of the few top military heroes in the Dayu Dynasty who held military power.

The title of Duke Zhenguo can be traced back hundreds of years.

The Tang family is also a family of military honors from generation to generation.

Very different from the useless nobleman like Xia Jianghou.

However, the Duke of Zhenguo is stationed in Xiping Road all year round, far away from the capital, and his presence is not high.

This generation of Duke Zhenguo originally had an eldest son, but he died unexpectedly. He then had several daughters, and finally Tang Ping.

Therefore, the title of "Young Master" was transferred from the deceased eldest son to him.

"With such a prominent identity, he is just an official of a thousand households?" Zhao Duan asked curiously.

Mo Chou snorted, looking surprised, and said:
"The family precepts of the Zhenguo Duke are strict. They teach the younger generations of the clan like they are commanding an army. Even the future Duke will still be thrown into the army and start from the lowest level of soldiers..."

I see... From a small soldier to a captain, and in the extremely safe imperial army like the Shenjiying... This speed of promotion is like riding a rocket...

Zhao Duan understood immediately and expressed his full understanding of the behavior of the children of top military honors coming here to gild their reputations.

Turning to the second page, the resume of Commander Shi Meng... His qualifications are mediocre. Although he is also a military commander, he was able to reach this position because of his military achievements and the support of Xue Shence...

In this way, it makes sense that a commander-in-chief is less important than a thousand-household official.

"Zhao Rong specifically mentioned this person and asked me to pay attention to him. Could it be that he doesn't like me?"

Zhao Duan flicked at the information and couldn't help asking helplessly:

"Just because I destroyed his subordinates? Zhang Changji?"

Mo Chou shook his head and said:
"That's not the case. Although Zhang Changji is under his command, he is said to not appreciate him. Moreover, he has connections with Prince Jing's Mansion... He won't vent his anger on you because of this.

To be precise, this young master hates everyone he despises equally, and you just happen to be one of them."

"..." Zhao Duan was unhappy:
"Hasn't he heard my story?"

Mo Chou said helplessly:
"I have heard it, but I have heard it too much. Well, this has something to do with you, the Thousand-Faced God."

She gave a brief explanation, and Zhao Duan finally understood the whole story.

At the beginning, the small flag officer killed by the Thousand-Faced God had been in the Beijing Camp. It was said that he had good relationships with people and his brothers also served in the Beijing Camp.

Later, he witnessed his brother being assassinated. In a rage, he cursed Zhao Du'an and was severely beaten by the henchmen of the imperial court.

When the news spread, many comrades in the camp shared a common hatred of the enemy.

In addition, more than half of the people assassinated by the Thousand-Faced God were military officers... This led to a considerable number of military officers being extremely dissatisfied with Zhao Duan.

Therefore, many "exaggerated" words naturally spread in various military camps and were learned by Tang Ping, further intensifying the young master's dislike for him.

"That little flag officer brother who caused me trouble, is he also from the Beijing Camp?"

Zhao Duan held his forehead with his hand, and suddenly had the urge to turn around and go back to the Imperial Prison, and whip the Thousand-Faced God with a whip to vent his anger.

Damn the rebels...it was definitely intentional...they were already arrested, but they still set a trap for them.

Mo Chou sighed:
"The atmosphere in the army is different from that in the civilian sector. They value comradeship very much. Not to mention the officers who are on good terms with Zhang Changji, just the incident caused by the Thousand-Faced God has caused many lower-level officers to complain about you."

Zhao Duan was puzzled and asked, "Don't these soldiers have brains?"

Mo Chou smiled but didn't:

"You think they are stupid? No, these arrogant soldiers are not stupid. Well... From what I know, many people are indignant.

I feel that a fool like you is promoted and rewarded by His Majesty just because of your face, while those who are better at martial arts and have more merits than you are not favored... It is extremely unfair. "

Zhao Duan suddenly realized.

He was originally just a small soldier in the Imperial Guards, but he rose to the top overnight. What do the other officers and soldiers in the Imperial Guards think?
It's human nature to feel jealous.

As the saying goes, "We are afraid of our brothers suffering, but we are even more afraid of our brothers driving Land Rover"... The lower-level military officers were much more upset than the civil servants about the promotion of Zhao Duan, a idiot.

Coupled with the incident where the small flag officer’s brothers were dealt with…the hostility was further fermented.

"Of course, there aren't that many officers who have a bad impression of you."

Seeing that he looked unhappy, Mochou added jokingly:

"If I say I look down on you, it's because I think you're not good enough at martial arts. Haha, just like the civil officials look down on the vulgarity of the military commanders, the military commanders also look down on the evil hearts of the civil officials...

In the military, only martial arts prowess is admirable. They have always looked down upon your sinister methods of dealing with others.

Therefore, if you want to gain a firm foothold in the Shenji Camp, if you do not have the martial arts strength to convince them, no matter how powerful your tactics are, the reckless men in the army will not recognize you. "

Martial arts?

Zhao Duan's expression suddenly became subtle.

In fact, up to now, there are only a handful of people in the capital who truly understand his progress in martial arts.

The empress knew the most, followed by Zhang Han, Haitang and others from the imperial court, and then the rebel party of the Kuangfu Society.

No one else knows.

The last time he took action publicly, he defeated Zhang Changji.

Therefore, in the impression of most people, Zhao Duan's cultivation is still at the initial level of a mortal, or at most the middle level.

Little did he know that after being personally taught by the Empress, his martial arts had completely changed.

"That's it..."

He whispered softly.

Seeing his expression, Mo Chou thought he was feeling pressured, and after hesitating for a moment, she comforted him:
“I say this just to give you an understanding of the situation in the Shenji Camp.

The Beijing Army is strict in military discipline. As a newly appointed assistant commander, you don't have to worry. The army is not like the Pear Blossom Hall. If you commit crimes against your superiors, you will be punished by military law. Even if you are the son of the Duke of Zhenguo, you must abide by the rules."

Zhao Duan smiled and raised his hand to lift the car curtain.

Looking at the barracks gradually appearing in the distance in the early autumn air, they whispered in an imperceptible voice:

"It would be better if we didn't follow the rules..."

He did not forget that he was holding the imperial sword promised by the empress.

……

...Shenjiying.

Stationed in the southern suburbs of the capital, across the distance from the bamboo forest where we traveled through.

It is surrounded by loess walls on the outside, with barracks and houses scattered inside, as well as a large open space used for military training.

When Zhao Duan and his party arrived.

Shi Meng, the commander of the Shenji Camp, had already led several officers and was standing at the camp gate to greet them in person.

Seeing several people getting off the car one after another, the third-rank commander, who was extremely burly, with dark skin, needle-like hair and beard, and the appearance of a fierce general, immediately laughed out loud and stepped forward to greet them.

"Mo Zhaorong, Zhao Chenshi... you two are finally here. I, Old Shi, have been waiting for you for a long time!"

Zhao Duan got off the car and stood side by side with Mochou, looking curiously at the brave general who was walking towards them enthusiastically.

Mo Zhaorong represented the empress. At this moment, she looked dignified. She smiled and nodded, introducing the visitor to Zhao Duan.

"General Shi has a majestic appearance, worthy of being a great general."

Zhao Duan smiled and clasped his fists:

"From now on, I will work under the general."

Shi Meng pretended to be displeased and said:
"What are you talking about, Zhao Chenshi? When you come to our Shenji Camp, just think of it as going home. You and I are both here to share His Majesty's worries. We should treat each other as equals and there is no need to distinguish between superior and inferior!"

A dignified third-rank military officer treated a fourth-rank officer like this.

The attitude is very humble.

Mo Chou's lips curled up slightly and she nodded with satisfaction. She felt that Shi Meng was indeed sensible and there should be no accidents when he performed his duties today.

"hehe."

Zhao Duan smiled and didn't argue, accepting it gladly.

He whispered a few words to Hou Renmeng and Qian Kerou, two of his direct descendants who were following behind him.

A group of people entered the camp in a mighty procession.

From a distance, you can hear the sound of soldiers training in the parade ground.

Shi Meng explained with a smile:
"It's autumn now, and it's time for training. Our Shenji Battalion has a full complement of 5,000 soldiers, 3,600 infantry, 1,000 cavalry, and less than 500 rocket soldiers. We divide them into the central army, left and right wings, left and right patrols... a total of five armies, each with an eunuch and a military officer...

Oh, now that Zhao Chenshi has come, he is the chief military officer of the inner court... Today's training is for the central army... It's a good opportunity to take you two to see the atmosphere in the army, which is very different from the palace in the city."

Zhao Duan asked curiously:

"How come during the drill, we only hear commands but no gunshots are heard?"

"Gunshot?" The third-rank commander Shi Meng was stunned for a moment, with a puzzled look on his face, and then he said "Oh" and said:
"You are talking about firearms, right? Today we are just practicing archery and horsemanship, so I can't hear it."

Isn't it... shouldn't the infantry of the Shenji Camp also use muskets or something like that? What are rocket soldiers... shouldn't they be artillery? Zhao Duan was curious.

He didn't know much about the situation of Dayu Shenjiying and could only guess based on inertia.

However, in order to avoid showing his weakness, he just kept his doubts to himself.

As they were talking, the group walked around the barracks and suddenly the view in front of them was a huge training ground.

At this moment, flags were fluttering all around the parade ground, and armored infantrymen, some holding spears, some holding bows and arrows, formed square formations for training.

Some low- and middle-ranking military officers nearby saw Shi Meng coming from afar, and ordered their infantry to stop, turn around, and line up to welcome the new commander.

"The commander of the Divine Machine Camp..."

"Hand the cards..."

"General of the Central Army Camp...meet the Commanding Officer!"

In the blink of an eye, dozens of officers came running over and saluted to greet them.

Zhao Duan smiled and nodded one by one. Together with Mochou, he reviewed the formation of thousands of soldiers, which felt like an inspection.

Shi Meng smiled and nodded slightly, thinking that his advice was indeed effective and these soldiers performed well.

At least this made Lord Zhao, who was appointed by His Majesty as a clerk in name but actually a "military supervisor", happy.

Things will be much easier after that.

However, as soon as this thought came to his mind, Shi Meng's eyelids twitched.

I heard the sound of approaching horse hooves and my heart skipped a beat.

Zhao Duan also raised his head upon hearing the voice, and was surprised to see a young general in a white robe rushing out from the army in the distance on the parade ground!
This man was riding a rare white horse, and riding on it was a young officer wearing a white cloak and shiny silver armor.

He was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, with a handsome face and sharp eyes. When he rode the horse at full speed, it was obvious that he was an excellent horseman.

Amid the thundering sound of horse hooves, the white-robed officer suddenly raised the iron bow in his hand, took out three arrows from the quiver on his back, and put them on the bowstring like flowing water.

Bow and arrow.

The horse galloped.

Clouds of dust rose from the ground.

"Whoosh!"

The three arrows turned into afterimages while running, broke through the air and accurately hit the scarlet bull's eyes of the three targets in the training ground!
"it is good!"

"mighty!"

There were faint sounds of cheering in the army formation.

Accompanied by the sound of low drums.

The scene prepared to welcome Zhao Duan seemed to have become a stage for this man to perform his archery skills.

Shi Meng's face suddenly changed, and he shouted "Ancestors!" in his heart, almost wanting to curse on the spot.

"General Shi, this is..."

As luck would have it, Zhao Duan turned around and asked him with a smile on his face.

Like a fierce general on the battlefield, Shi Zhizhi, who was actually rough but delicate, moved his lips and forced a smile:
"It's Tang Ping, the captain of the camp."

That young master?
Zhao Duan raised his eyebrows.

At this time, the drumbeats gradually stopped, and the white-robed officer reined in his horse, came close to the crowd, turned over and jumped down.

With Shi Meng's extremely ugly face, he faced Zhao Du'an and bowed slightly, as if saluting.

He held up a large iron bow with both hands and said loudly:
"General Tang Ping, in accordance with military tradition, invites General Zhao to demonstrate his martial arts skills!"

(End of this chapter)

previouscatalognext