Chapter 109

  Qiu Zhen followed Tang Yin for the longest time, so he naturally understood his thoughts. He chuckled and shook his head, saying: "It won't! Because the general has won a great victory and consolidated the border, Wang Ting will be even less likely to transfer the general away. On the contrary, if the general had no achievements in Pingyuan County or even suffered a defeat, Wang Ting might have transferred him back to the capital."

  "Oh!" Tang Yin responded with a smile and said: "Alright, according to your idea, help me draft a memorial and submit it to Wang Ting!

  "Yes! Sir!" How to write a memorial, how to make the content of the memorial both exaggerated and convincing, Qiu Zhenke is more skilled than Tang Yin.

  Tang Yin then made a detailed arrangement for the affairs of Biancheng, and redeployed the First Army back to Biancheng for defense. The Fourth and Fifth Armies were pulled back to Hengcheng for reorganization.

  In this battle, the 4th and 5th armies lost around 3,000 men and had about 5,000 wounded. The personnel loss was over half, requiring continued recruitment to gather new forces.

  The next day, after the First Army arrived at Biancheng, Tang Yin led his troops back to Hengcheng.

  Before leaving, Qiu Zhen saw Tang Yin still wearing a brocade garment and shook his head repeatedly, saying it was not suitable.

  Tang Yin was perplexed and looked down at his own clothes, feeling that there was nothing wrong with them. He asked, "What's not right about it?"

  Qiu Zhen smiled and said, "If it were in peacetime, sir, wearing golden brocade would be perfectly fine, but not now. To outsiders, your attire looks more like you're going on a sightseeing tour rather than leading troops into battle. The common people will naturally attribute the victory to the Wind Army soldiers, not to you."

  Tang Yin smiled and shrugged his shoulders, saying: "It doesn't matter whose name it's under, I shouldn't be competing with the lower-ranking officers for credit anyway!"

  Qiu Zhen shook his head repeatedly and said, "Sir, you are wrong. What does Pingyuan County need most now? It is the people's confidence! But how to establish this confidence requires someone to stand up as a hero, bring hope to the people, make them feel safe, and even worship them. Of course, sir, you are that person, and only you can be that person. Only in this way can the people produce cohesion and centripetal force, laying the foundation for the reconstruction of Pingyuan County. In this way, it can also further consolidate your position!"

  So that's how it is! Tang Yin really didn't think as deeply as Qiu Zhen, and after careful consideration, he felt that what Qiu Zhen said made a lot of sense. He nodded his head repeatedly and responded in agreement: "That makes sense. Should I wear armor?"

  "Exactly!"

  "Alright! I'll listen to you!"

  Tang Yin was sometimes stubborn, but also listened to advice. Following Qiu Zhen's opinion, he changed into the black helmet and armor of a wind military general, wore a sword at his waist, and rode a war horse with a red cloak flowing behind him, leading the troops back to Heng City.

  The road was quiet, and by noon they arrived at Heng City.

  Before entering the city, Tang Yin felt that the atmosphere inside the city was not quite right. In Pingyuan County's most prosperous city, even on ordinary days when it couldn't be called lively, there were still people coming and going, but now the city was eerily silent, with no sound of birds or animals.

  Just as he was having doubts, Shangguan Yuanji and Bai Yong, who had come out of the city to greet him, hurried forward with big smiles on their faces, clasped their hands together in congratulations and said: "Congratulations, sir, on your triumphant return!"

  "En!" Tang Yin responded absent-mindedly, then looked towards Heng Cheng and asked: "Inside the city..."

  Before he could finish speaking, Shangguan Yuanyi hastily said: "Sir, please enter the city!" As he spoke, he sidestepped to one side.

  Tang Yin looked at him suspiciously, then glanced at Bai Yong and the others, wondering what kind of tricks they were up to.

  He urged his horse into the city without further questioning.

  Recently, he was shocked by the scene in the city. The main street of Heng City was packed with people from Fengguo, and it was estimated that there were tens of thousands of people, a vast sea of black heads as far as the eye could see.

  Tang Yin was stunned by the scene in front of him, and at this time, the crowd on the street also saw him. Suddenly, cheers erupted, applause thundered, and countless bright red petals fell from the sky.

  He rode on horseback, slowly raising his head. It turned out that the balconies on both sides of the street were also crowded with people, men and women, old and young. People held flower baskets in their hands, occasionally swinging out the petals inside, thousands of petals floating in the air, like crimson snowflakes.

  Tang Yin stretched out his palm and caught a petal, then slowly curled up his five fingers and clenched his fist.

  The crowd's welcome moved him deeply, a sense of accomplishment that was recognized by others.

  The people of Fengguo are straightforward and casual, and the welcome for Tang Yan is not organized by the officials, but rather a spontaneous action by the people. To put it another way, if the officials could organize such an event, then Tang Yan would have seen this scene on his first day in office.

  The more he understood this, the more Tang Yin's heart was stirred and hard to calm. He urged his horse to walk slowly on the street, wherever he passed, cheers continued, the people shouted Tang Yin's name, the sound waves were loud, shaking the sky, the echo lasted for a long time.

  Tang Yin almost floated back to the county guard's mansion, until he sat down in a chair, and even when someone brought him tea and snacks, he still felt as if he was in a dream.

  Following Tāng Yín's recent crowd of people seeing his expression, they looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh.

  To them, this may be a normal thing, but the shock it brought to Tang Yan was too great. He is an orphan who has suffered from human suffering and is now a hero in the eyes of the public. The ups and downs are too great, and it's also hard for Tang Yan to adapt, even feeling unreal.

  "Sir, I have two pieces of news to report to you!"

  Shangguan Yuanyi's words startled Tang Yin awake. The latter came to his senses, looked straight at him with both eyes and asked: "What news?"

  "The letter written by the adult to General Ying Bu has been delivered, and General Ying Bu promised that as long as the adult needs it, he will definitely provide assistance. For the purchase of Mo horses, he will also assist in the matter. In addition, I have already asked the Mo merchant to bring 100 military horses for the adult's inspection, which are currently on the way."

  Tang Yin was overjoyed, he really didn't expect that Ying Bu, who had only met him once, would help him so much. He nodded repeatedly and smiled: "I should thank General Ying Bu heavily!"

  Shangguan Yuánjí didn't say a word, reached into his bosom and took out a letter, handing it to Tang Yin, saying: "Sir, this is the reply from General Ying Bu."

  "Oh?" Tang Yin took it over, opened the envelope and pulled out the letter.

  The content above is simple, the handwriting is very sloppy, and it's clear that Ying Bu's cultural level is not high. There are many typos in just a few sentences, but Tang Yin can still roughly understand the meaning. Ying Bu has made up his mind to be deeply connected with him, hoping they can become bosom friends, brothers, and support each other, etc.

  After finishing reading, Tang Yin closed the letter carefully and put it away, then looked up at Shangguan Yuange and asked: "Yuange, what's the second piece of news?"

  Shangguan Yuanji said: "Her Royal Highness, the Princess, has been sent to Ning State to mediate a truce between Feng and Ning States. Ning State has accepted the mediation and ceased its military actions against our country. The Ning army outside Tongmen is gradually withdrawing. Moreover, in order to show sincerity, His Majesty has replaced the commander of Tongmen with Yao Zhili."

  This news was exactly what Tang Yin had been concerned about. It turned out that Princess Yin Rou's mediation in Ning Guo had also achieved great success, which made a stone in his heart land safely. Afterwards, he picked up his chin again, tilted his head back and fell into silent contemplation.

  If I'm not mistaken, the commander of Tongmen should be Liang Qi, the eldest son of the Liang family. Qiu Zhen once said that this man was a military genius. Replacing him with Yao Zhili is truly unexpected.

  He asked doubtfully: "Who is this Yao Zhi Li?"

  "The grown-ups may not know him, but if they mention his father-in-law, they will definitely be familiar with him."

  "His father-in-law is..."

  "General Shang, Zhong Tian!"

  "Ah!" Tang Yin certainly knew who Zhong Tian was. The four major families, Zi Yang, Liang, Wu, and Zhong, were collectively known as the Four Nobles of Fengguo, the most powerful nobility in Fengguo. Zhong Tian was the head of the Zhong family. In Tang Yin's impression, the Zhong family had always been low-key, neither competing nor fighting, just watching the other three families fight to the death.

  In Tang Yin's view, the dog that bites doesn't bark, and the Zhong family is actually the most fearsome among the four powerful families, even more so than the arrogant Liang family.

  Because Tongmen is too far from Pingyuan County, one in the westernmost part of Fengguo and the other in the northeastern part of Fengguo, people didn't react much after hearing Shangguan Yuange's words.

  But Qiu Zhen sighed and said, "Your Majesty's decision is really too risky. If Liang Qi were to sit in Tongmen, it would be as solid as gold, even if thousands of troops came to attack, they wouldn't be able to take half a step into Tongmen. But Yao Zhili is different, he has an empty shell with a pretty face, actually just a brainless wine bag and rice bucket. If he guards Tongmen and Ningguo suddenly breaks the agreement and launches a surprise attack, Tongmen will surely not be safe!"

  Tang Yin listened and secretly frowned, but most of the others didn't think so.

  Juno waved her hand and said: "Whether Tongmen will have an accident or not has nothing to do with us."

  Qiu Zhen raised his eyebrows and asked, "Is there a complete egg under the overturned nest? If Tongmen is broken, then one horse will be flat, Ningjun can directly break through the capital, the capital cannot be protected, won't our Dafeng also perish? Without Dafeng, do we still have Pingyuan County?"

  "This..." Juno's face turned red with anger at Qiu Zhen's words. Although he was the commander of the Third Legion, he was also a rough man, a typical straightforward person who spoke his mind without thinking, but he also had one good point, which was that he would correct his mistakes as soon as he realized them.

  He glanced at the others and saw that everyone was looking at him with dissatisfaction, blaming him for talking too much. He scratched his hair awkwardly and repeatedly said that Qiu Zhen was right to scold him.

  He paused for a moment, then asked: "Is it... necessary for adults to advise the emperor not to replace the general guarding Tongmen?"

  Qiu Zhen laughed and said, "Although your position is not low, it's just a local official, how can you change Wang Ting's decision? Moreover, the internal relationship of Wang Ting is complicated, and one careless move will lead to fatal consequences. It's better for you to stay out of this, as this is a struggle among the four major powers!"

  Isn't saying it just like not saying it at all! Juno pouted and muttered to herself, but didn't dare say it out loud.

  "So it's said, adults should make arrangements early to prevent unexpected events!" Qiu Zhen said with a hint of meaning, then closed her mouth and didn't say another word. Some things are not suitable to be spoken in front of everyone.