Chapter 37
Everyone in Qingniu Mountain felt insecure that night, as if there was a knife hanging over their heads, and no one knew when it would fall.
"Big brother, I've added two more posts at the back mountain, tonight let the brothers take turns keeping watch." High Flying Leopard came in from outside.
"Let the brothers be more vigilant today, and as soon as there is any movement, get ready to fight." When he said this, Gao Fei Tiger subconsciously touched the back of his head. Since seeing the tragic scene of Zhu's village being slaughtered today, he had developed this habit.
After returning to the mountain stronghold, he immediately strengthened his vigilance, but even so, he was still a little uneasy, fearing that in the middle of the night, while he was asleep, someone would cut off his head with a knife.
"General, what do you think? Are there any other oversights?" Gao Fei Hu asked Yu Qian Ran.
"The master has arranged it this way, so there shouldn't be any problems. It's just a reminder to everyone to be careful and cautious. As long as we can get through these three days, once they pass by the mountain, everything should be fine."
Gaofei Hu naturally knew who they were in Yu Qianran's mouth, he sat down on the chair and said: "Originally wanted to rob this batch of longevity gifts, brothers and sisters would have spent a warm winter, who would have thought that Lu Hong would be so ruthless, slaughtering Zhujiashan, fortunately it was Zhujiashan that they attacked, if they had attacked Feihu Mountain stronghold, I would have lost my head by now."
He touched the back of his head again and suddenly thought of something. He asked, "What's the news from Cheng Dairen's side?"
"Ugh, big brother, don't mention him again. That kid was so scared he wet his pants and I heard he fell ill as soon as he got back to the mountain. Now he's still lying in bed like a woman recovering from childbirth." High Flying Leopard said disdainfully.
"Alas, after all, I'm still too young. To have seen such a miserable state... Lu Hong was too ruthless. Don't mention him, I was scared stiff today." Gaofei Hu said, rubbing the back of his head again, feeling a chill run down his spine. Tonight, he was doomed to be sleepless.
……
Toad Village
Li Xingze returned and told Li Yu'er about what happened at Zhu's village. After listening, Li Yu'er remained silent for a long time before slowly saying: "Even killing children, although they were mountain bandits, Lu Hong was too ruthless."
Li Xingzhe sighed: "In the past, I heard people say that in a war, tens of thousands of people would die in a single battle. Today, I see it and realize that killing is not a fun thing to do."
"Brother, let's find a chance to leave, it's not very safe here now." Li Yuanni.
"Uh, when we leave, let's slip away quietly and don't disturb them." Li Xingzhai said.
"Hey, chatting, haven't slept yet?"
Just then, the door opened and Cheng Dairen walked in. Li Xingzhe's two men shivered with fear, not knowing if he had overheard their conversation or not.
"Big boss, I heard you were ill, how come you're still here?" Li Yuanyu saw that Cheng Dairen's face was still a bit pale.
"It's just a bit of wind chill, nothing too serious." Cheng Daire sat down on the kang and said to Li Xiangzhe, "I still want to talk to you."
"What's up today?" asked Li Xingze.
"Let's talk about things before the empire, just casual chat."
After these dozen days of communication, Cheng Dairen has a vague impression of the location of the 108 cities in the Thirteen States of the Empire. What he learned from Li Xingzai in the past few days is the history of the empire.
Li Yuanyu lit the lamp wick, and under the lamp, Li Xingzhe talked about the three-thousand-year history of the empire from top to bottom, while Cheng Dali listened attentively and memorized it in his heart.
When he first came to this world, Cheng Dalai could be said to have been completely ignorant of this world and didn't know how the current history corresponded to that period in his previous life. Now, after listening to Li Xiangzhe talk so much, he finally had a vague impression of this world.
This world is the same as Cheng Dairen's previous life, also with Pangu opening up the sky, Nüwa creating humans, then the Three Sovereigns governing the world, the Five Emperors establishing morality, followed by the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, the Spring and Autumn period, the Warring States period, until Qin unified China, Chu and Han contended for hegemony, the Han dynasty established a country that lasted for 400 years, at the end of the Eastern Han dynasty, the world was in great chaos, the Ten Eunuchs' Rebellion, Dong Zhuo throwing the world into chaos...
It was at this time that history took a different turn. There was indeed someone named Cao Cao, but he was caught and killed when he attempted to assassinate Dong Zhuo, and did not make much of an impact on history.
So there was no later Three Kingdoms' contention for hegemony, but rather... nineteen states were divided and vied for the world.
Some of the names of famous scholars or generals that Cheng Dalai was familiar with were present, while others were not. For example, there was no Zhuge Wu Hou, no Liu Guan Zhang, no Cao Wei Wuhu Jiang... and no Zhao Yun and Diao Chan.
Then history is a mess, nineteen countries in constant strife, fighting, fighting, non-stop fighting, accompanied by death, death, non-stop death... until the founding of the country, until now.
Cheng Darui inferred from the timeline that this roughly corresponds to the Sui and Tang dynasties of his previous life, but in fact, it doesn't match up either. History is a tangled mess, and geographically, there are also many discrepancies.
"...In the end, the Rong tribe was driven out, but in recent years they have repeatedly invaded our borders, and conflicts have been constant." Li Xiangzai spoke fluently and without pause, and as he spoke, he began to talk about the war against the Rong tribe's invasion thirty years ago.
"The empire spends a huge amount of military expenses on the border army every year, but still suffers defeat after defeat, defeated to the point of being utterly disheartened. Brother, you say that for so many years, we have been fighting against the Rong tribe, why can't we win?" Li Yu'er sighed.
"Not all border army generals are a bunch of gluttons and drunkards, only knowing how to fill their own pockets, and perfunctorily handle military affairs!" By this point, Li Xingzhai was extremely indignant.
Cheng Dalai cast over a glance: "Why are you so angry?"
"Hmm, it's just a feeling, but all these years of fighting against the Rong tribe can be said to be ten battles and ten defeats. Moreover, they even falsify their military achievements. In one battle, hundreds of people died, but when reporting back to the empire, they claim to have killed 50 enemies... The more they report, the more victories there are, but the combat effectiveness of the border army is getting lower and lower." Li Xingzhai looked at Cheng Dalai and said: "Master, in your opinion, how can the empire win against the Rong tribe?"
Cheng Dalai let out a loud sneeze: "How would I know? I'm just a mountain bandit."
Li Xingze said, "Someone once told me that the armies of the world can be divided into three grades. The lowest grade fights for survival, with each soldier only concerned about his own life, and as soon as they encounter the enemy, they scatter like birds and beasts. The second grade fights for profit, with high morale when winning a battle, but as soon as they suffer a defeat, their hearts are filled with anxiety. The first grade must be those who fight for honor, regarding death on the battlefield as an honor, that is truly the elite of the elite."
"Are you talking to me?" Cheng Dalai suddenly said.
"Hmm..." Li Xingzhe raised his head and saw Cheng Dairen's big eyes staring at him with a piercing gaze: "Just an old man."
"So you're certain he's not just trying to fool you?" Cheng Dalai asked seriously.
Li Xingzai was speechless again. How could he tell Cheng Dairen that the person who said this to him was the current Marshal of the Empire?
