Love Affairs in Chang'an - Chapter 296

Chapter 296 This Time, This Time, This Time, This Time
Cleaning up the battlefield, tidying up the security of the city, and retrieving the cattle and sheep that had been robbed and scattered all around continued for several days. There are words in the art of war, and those who know soldiers are not easy to fight. Even if they won, the ones who stayed behind were still in a mess that was difficult to clean up. Wounded soldiers, wear and tear, chaos, nothing easy to deal with.

The Battle of Shan City had been going on for nearly a month since Xue Wanjun had dispatched his troops. Almost all of the three thousand generals led by Xue Wanjun died in battle. The pasture and farmland of Shan City suffered tremendous losses. The security of the city fell into chaos, the people were terrified and uneasy, and the spring farming production once stopped …

Qin Mubai did not reprimand Xue Wanjun, but made him regret the fact that he was anxious and bellicose. This was the result!

Xue Wanjun was speechless, lying in bed every day without leaving the house. He was even a little afraid to face his comrades and the citizens of the city. Later, he wrote a confession and a resignation form. They gave them to the Governor, Qin Shubao, and the Imperial Court.

In Lanzhou, Qin Shubao was greatly relieved when he received the news from Qin Mubai. Following closely behind him was a confession, which made him feel even more proud. The Xue brothers had always been unruly and unyielding, refusing to submit to the Qin father and son for a long time. This time, the truth had slapped him in the face and convinced him. In the future, he probably wouldn’t dare to do it again. Xue Wanjun was Xue Wanche’s father and the leader of that faction. Subduing him was equivalent to subduing the Xue Clan. From then on, the Qin Clan of Lanzhou was respected and could be expected in the near future.

A few days later, Li Shimin received several battle reports from Lanzhou and Xue Wanjun’s resignation form.

Xue Wanjun was defeated, lost three thousand elite soldiers, Shan City harm is not small; After that, Qin Mubai defeated the Tibetans and killed thousands of enemies. He tried his best to protect Shan City and quickly carried out rehabilitation work, further reducing the disaster and quickly put Shan City back on the right track to resume production.

Comparing the two, the merits and demerits were judged!

On the one hand, Xue Wanjun was guilty of violating the military order, and on the other hand, he was ashamed of himself, so he handed over his resignation form.

Although Li Shimin was not in Lanzhou, he had a thorough analysis of the situation inside. Naturally, he would not agree to Xue Wanjun’s resignation. Thus, he issued a decree commending and rewarding Qin Mubai and the other generals. At the same time, he comforted Xue Wanjun with “the common affairs of victorious and defeated soldiers.” After that, the military law was ruthless, and the sanction still needed to be imposed. Thus, Xue Wanjun was symbolically demoted to rank one, rank one, and his official, General Zuo Wei Wei, was changed from a real official to an inspector, and he was still in charge of his original post to show his merits.

Originally, Li Shimin didn’t want to interfere too much in Lanzhou’s military and political affairs, but Qin Xue’s and Qin Xue’s sects were evenly matched, which was a good thing for him. However, reality was right in front of him. Xue Wanjun did not do well. He had lost his teacher and caused a lot of calamity in Shan City. Qin Mubai was ordered to turn the tide and make great contributions in the face of danger. It was clear at a glance who should be rewarded and who should be punished. Therefore, Li Shimin had no choice but to do so.

When he arrived at Shan City under the imperial edict, Qin Mubai was in the General’s Mansion, taking care of military and political affairs instead of Xue Wanjun, who was seriously injured and recuperating. Upon receiving the imperial edict, Qin Mubai only smiled and understood the Emperor’s intentions. Emperors had their own methods. According to the usual rewards and punishments, generals like Xue Wanjun who violated military orders and made decisions would be able to cut off their heads long ago if they were defeated or defeated. Even if he could recall his previous skills, he would still be at least a demoted official exile. The emperor didn’t want the balance of power in Lanzhou to deviate too much, so he leniently punished Xue Wanjun and gave him a symbolic punishment.

Thinking through this layer, Qin Mubai did not want to stay in Shan City for too long, lest he lose his reputation of taking advantage of others’ danger to seize power. He wrote a letter to Qin Shubao, asking him to issue a military order in the name of Commander-in-Chief to temporarily transfer Xue Wanjun’s younger brother, Xue Wanche, to Shan City to take over his brother’s military and political authority. As for Liangzhou, Xue Wanjun could temporarily appoint a capable person to take over.

Over the past few days, Shan City’s “butt” had almost been wiped clean. Qin Mubai could indeed leave without worries. It wasn’t that he wasn’t worried that the Tibetans would come back and cause trouble, he was more concerned about the production and livelihood of the people here. Seeing that everything was back on track, Qin Mubai brought Xue Rengui, Yuwen Hongtai, and the other generals and led his troops away.

Xue Wanche heard that Shan City’s defeated elder brother’s life and death were hard to predict, and he was already anxious to burn, wishing he could fly to Shan City to help. If it weren’t for the military order, how could he have waited until today? After receiving Qin Shubao’s transfer order, he couldn’t wait to rush over, and he felt a little grateful in his heart.

The two brothers finally met.

Xue Wanjun lay on the bed and sighed, “Second Brother, this time, Fool Brother is really embarrassing!”

“Brother, there’s no need to blame yourself. Victory or defeat is a common occurrence in the military. When brother recovers, the two of us will send troops to conquer Da Feichuan together. We swear to take down the Tibetan camp and avenge brother!” Xue Wanche gritted his teeth.

“No, no, absolutely not!” Xue Wanjun waved his hand repeatedly and said, “Fool Brother, you’re embarrassing. It’s not because of defeat. You and I have killed countless people in the army for half our lives, and we can still afford to win or lose for the time being. Ah! Hate only hate, fool Brother. Helplessly, we received Qin Mubai Ruo’s grace. In the future, you and I will probably not be able to lift our heads up in front of their father and son!”

“Brother, what are these words!” Xue Wanche hurriedly said, “Didn’t he, Qin Mubai, pick up a dead fish and win a battle? Victory, who hasn’t fought? Didn’t the two of us win a battle for the Great Tang for half our lives! Why can’t we raise our heads in front of their father and son?”

“Brother, you only know one thing, you don’t know the other.” Xue Wanjun said with a bitter face, “Even though Qin Mubai is young, he is truly proficient in the art of war. He possesses unfathomable abilities of ghosts and gods.” Just winning the battle was indeed not worth mentioning. Then, he played tricks on the Tibetan army like an ignorant child. Foolish brother was truly convinced! Moreover, after a few short days, he reorganized the situation and allowed Shan City to quickly return to normal, minimizing the calamity of Brother Yu’s defeat. We can’t be unconvinced by this ability! Besides, if you don’t provoke me like this, how can I explain this defeat to the Emperor? It was precisely because Qin Mubai had minimized the disaster after his defeat that Fool Brother was able to survive and survive without being punished by the army. Could it be that I didn’t receive Qin Mubai’s favor? It’s not like you don’t know Qin Shubao’s temperament. He could not tolerate his subordinates disobeying the military order, let alone defeating their masters because of the order, so he would undoubtedly be killed. “If Qin Mubai hadn’t vouched in front of his father, I’m afraid that Foolish Brother would have been killed long ago, let alone today!”

After Xue Wanche heard this, he shook his head helplessly and let out a long sigh, “Skill is inferior to people. I can only admit it!”

“Originally, Qin Shubao was only a martial artist. At best, he was on par with my brothers. He was fearless.” Xue Wanjun said, “It’s only his son Qin Mubai that’s powerful. It’s time for us to comprehend. The emperor sent him here with far-reaching schemes. From now on, the lord of Lanzhou will undoubtedly be Qin Mubai!”

“Really? He’s so young, and he can manage the River Dragon in the frontier?” Xue Wanche said in surprise, “If it was Li Jinglai, I would believe it.”

“You’d better believe it.” Xue Wanjun smiled bitterly. “We can only look up to this brat’s ability and ambition. In other words, if he wants to kill us, it’s just a matter of flipping his hands over and over again. This time, he will let me off with kindness and resentment. In the future, we will have to be more sensible.”

“Forget it!” Xue Wanche let out a long sigh. “Fool brother Xiang has no opinion. Everything will be handled by brother!”

“Alright, these words aren’t worth listening to by outsiders. Since you’ve come to Shan City to take my place, you should concentrate on reorganizing the army to restrain the people and fulfill the orders of the Governor-General’s Manor!” Xue Wanjun sighed, “Focus on farming. Don’t even think about going out to war. I think their father and son already have plans in mind. When the time comes to fight, they will naturally think of us.”

“Alright! Just listen to your elder brother!”

When Qin Mubai led his troops back to Lanzhou, the people in the city welcomed him. He rode his horse into the city and enjoyed the unique treatment of a hero.

Qin Shubao was extremely happy to receive his son. This time, Qin Mubai had given him a big face. This was even happier than him personally winning a great battle. Therefore, he held a celebration banquet for the victorious soldiers in the Zhongjun Commander’s tent, and it was very lively.

After half drunk, the father and son returned to their room. Qin Shubao took out a letter and said, “Sanlang, here is a letter from your mother.”

“Oh?” Qin Mubai took a look and asked in surprise, “Mother and sister are also coming to Lanzhou?”

“Yes!” Qin Shubao said, “After the imperial court approved your memorial to invite the people into the Orchid, it was immediately implemented. The families of the soldiers of the armed forces are not few, so they moved to Lanzhou in batches. The first batch is naturally the military family of the two capital cities in the pass. Isn’t your mother and sister the military family?”

“What does father mean?” Qin Mubai asked.

“It’s better not to come.” Qin Shubao replied decisively.

Qin Mubai nodded without any objection. He understood what his father meant. It wasn’t that he didn’t miss his wife and daughter, but that he wanted to reassure the Emperor and avoid suspicion. Just imagine, Qin Shubao no longer had any worries after the entire family moved to Lanzhou. If something really happened one day, he could raise his flag and stand on his own feet.

Leaving his mother and sister in Chang’an meant that he was going to be a “hostage”.

“Your two brothers also sent a letter saying that they wanted to come to Lanzhou together. I also rejected it.” Qin Shubao said.

“En … that’s good too.”

“Sanlang, it’s not easy to be a monarch, nor is it easy to be a minister!” Qin Shubao sighed and said, “We have to contribute to the country and help the monarch avoid suspicion. Otherwise, it will be hard to accomplish. We martial artists will die for the country. The only thing worth our worries is that we must not let these minor matters affect the country’s plans. It is undesirable to lose so much because of small matters!”

“Father is determined to serve the country. I admire him!” Qin Mubai praised sincerely.

“My old man … Although he is very ambitious, he still feels a little helpless.” Qin Shubao patted Qin Mubai’s shoulder and said, “Lanzhou, Guanlong, and even the Western Regions are still counting on you in the future. I’m telling you this because I hope that you will do your best to forget your selfishness and not let your selfishness get in the way of national affairs.”

“Yes, this child has memorized it.” Qin Mubai cupped his hands and bowed.

“Right.” Qin Shubao remembered something and said, “Your bookboy, Qin Shi, came back to the Governor’s Mansion to look for you a few days ago. Probably because of something important. I asked him, but he refused to tell me. It seems that he is only willing to tell you one person. You just have to be careful.”

“Yes, I understand.” Qin Mubai’s heart couldn’t help but brighten up. In Lanzhou, Qin Shi and the hundreds of skilled craftsmen who came with Tu Youhai disappeared from everyone’s sight. They have been studying and casting red-robed cannons in the iron mine area under my secret orders. Could it be that they have come to a conclusion?

Very good, I’ll go and see for myself tomorrow!