Chapter 410 Friends and Enemies
Chang’an City.
The city had long been under martial law, the shops in the east and west cities were basically closed, and there were few pedestrians on the streets. As the patrolling guards went past, you could hear the rings on their armor clanging, which signified clearly the extreme times.
The mountains were full of wind and rain. Although the war had not yet broken out, the dark clouds had already shrouded the city. Even the blazing sun seemed to be mixed with the chill that could make people feel cold.
Martial law did not just apply to the streets, but even the Imperial Palace.
Many rarely seen grand masters had all revealed themselves at this moment. They would now appear inside and outside of the palace walls from time to time. With the current situation, no one could know whether the opponent would send Great Cultivators to assassinate. After all, the emperor’s safety was very important.
At the end of Vermilion Bird Street, stood a tall tower, sweaty armored guards and young men were moving the city guard equipment in groups.
The commandments of the generals never stopped, but other than that, there were not many other noises. Everyone tried to keep quiet, and the silence deepened the sullen atmosphere.
In front of the tower, Regal Guard Lieutenant Yang Fuguang and Prime Minister Wang Duo were standing side by side looking at the Fengxiang troops outside the city. Their brows were tightened.
Unlike ordinary vassal states, the Fengxiang Army fought many battles during the battle of the imperial dynasty. Thus they had many strong soldiers and horses. Whey they spread out their Military Formation, it expanded to as far as the eye could see, even the Wei River was hidden among the sea of iron armor.
During the battle of Huang Chao, Yang Fuguang, who led the Zhongwu Army with Li Ye achieved many meritorious feats. After the war, he was named Lieutenant of the left wing Regal Guards. Unlike the perverse actions of Liu Xingshen and Han Wenyue, after taking office, he did not fight power and or personal gain, but trained the Regal Guards day and night.
Although he hadn’t been Lieutenant for long, his training of the Regal Guards had already taken effect. The Regal Guards now had a new look, which also made Yang Fuguang now somewhat more confident.
He said to Wang Duo, “The Fengxiang army was already strong. After defeating Wang Chongrong, Li Maozhen took in his Hezhong troops, therefore at present, his military strength had expanded greatly. He now possessed no less than 300,000 troops. This was why he dared to deploy his troops in Chang’an and asked the Emperor to move out. The Fengxiang army was now confident and strong, we must not take them lightly and frighten the emperor.
Prime Minister Wang Duo had been through many ups and downs, so he was very seasoned and agreed with Yang Fuguang. And as a Confucian student, Wang Duo hated Li Maozhen for the coup he started.
He said suddenly, “Li Maozhen is a perverse person, unworthy of being a man! The old Fengxiang commissioner had once taken the emperor hostage and tried to drive the emperor out of the city, but luckily the Prince An arrived in time with his troops and fought off the commissioner. He was then named the new Fengxiang commissioner. Who knew that years later, he would follow the old Fengxiang commissioner’s footsteps. He deserves to be hacked into pieces!”
Yang Fuguang did not comment on such angry words. He was thinking about how to deal with the Fengxiang army if they attacked the city.
After Wang Duo vented his anger, he suddenly asked Yang Fuguang, “I’ve heard that the reason why Li Maozhen dared to rebel is because he has the support of Militarism. Is that true?”
With the Regal Guards at Yang Fuguang’s command, he was naturally more informed than Wang Duo. He did not intend to hide anything from him so he nodded and admitted. “It’s been reported that in the Songyang land of Militarism, there had been a large number of their disciples that had gone west to Fengxiang. And they were all appointed to military posts by Li Maozhen. When Li Maozhen attacked Wang Chongrong, he mad countless Militarism Formations at his disposal. Wang Chongrong did not plan for the formations and therefore lost his life to the Militarism Formations in just ten days’ battle. That’s why the Fengxiang army could take Hezhong so quickly.”
“What a group of inscrutable rebels! No respect for order at all! They’re just like Huang Chao, creating chaos everywhere!”
Wang Duo was furious and vented his anger for a while before asking Yang Fuguang, “I heard that the Militarism cultivators would not be able to reach the warrior realm without joining the army and experiencing war. So why then could Songyang’s disciples become warriors as soon as they got to Fengxiang?”
Yang Fuguang sighed.
His eyes were full of concern. “Songyang is a sacred place for Militarism, and naturally has the heritage. In times of peace, they’re no different from ordinary schools, where they’d only teach their disciples theories. But in times of war, Militarism taught their disciples like the Taoist sect, where they’re preparing to have a big coming-out party. In Songyang, there are no fewer than a thousand Militarism disciples, which is in itself an army.”
“Different from the Militarism cultivators who cultivated different realms step by step on the battlefield, the best of the Songyang Militarism disciples had long had the qualifications to become warriors. The only thing they lacked was to command a sect on the battlefield. Once they’re given the opportunity, they’d quickly achieve the warrior realm.”
The logic made a lot of sense. In history, there had been many famous generals who had honed their skills step by step through hundreds of battles. There were also those that had studied for a decade and reached their peak with just one battle under their belt, creating dazzling records in the first battle.
Wang Duo said with a chill, “So then Chang’an is in danger?”
Yang Fuguang said slowly, “It’s just a battle. It is my duty as a Tang minister to guard the capital for the emperor. So how could I be scared to die for the city?”
“Well said Lieutenant!” Wang Duo beat rhythmically, then he glared at the Fengxiang Army outside the city angrily, “It is preposterous and Militarism disciples are starting a coup instead of serving their country. They are not worthy of being men!”
...
The fully armored Li Maozhen stood before the Fengxiang Military Formation on his horse and observed the city defense. His overly fair and handsome face was not feminine at this moment, but full of strength and power.
Especially his flawless eyes, which was full of battle will.
“Actually, I’ve always been curious, why did Militarism choose Fengxiang, which was quite far.”
Li Maozhen fixed his helmet with his whip. When he said those words to the middle-aged man in cloth robes, there was a clear joking element in his eyes. “Songyang was originally in Henan, wouldn’t Zhu Wen be the better choice seeing he is much closer?”
The middle-aged man had a square face, large eyes coupled with thick eyebrows and a burly figure. Although he was wearing cloth robes, it still couldn’t hide his killing sense. Even if such a person was teaching in a school, hooligans would not dare to make trouble.
Zhao Bingkun said, “Not all things in the world are done because they’re convenient.”
“Oh?” Li Maozhen raised his arched eyebrows, which showed that he was not satisfied with Zhao Bingkun’s answer. “But doesn’t choosing inconvenient things often mean asking for trouble?”
Zhao Bingkun, like most men on the battlefield, was not good with words, so he said directly, “Militarism chose general Li because they value you. They also had their reasons for not choosing Zhu Wen. So why would you ask questions you already know the answers to?”
Li Maozhen chuckled, and played with the whip in his hand. “Everyone knows that the Taoist sect had already chosen Zhu Wen. Could it be that Militarism is afraid Zhu Wen would reject them?”
Zhao Bingkun looked disdainful, and replied coldly, “Everyone says that the Taoist sect is powerful, that’s only because they have the backing of the Immortal Court and the immortals. However, since the emperor blocked the tunnel between heaven and earth and the immortals could no longer descend freely to the world, what power does the immortal court still have over the world? Take us military warriors of Militarism for example, as soon as we reach the senior general realm, the Taoist sect Immortal Realm cultivators could do nothing to us!”
Li Maozhen was still noncommittal and continued to turn his whip, which seemed that he felt bored to the extreme.
Zhao Bingkun continued, “At the end of the day, all wars are decided by the strength of the army and not the cultivators! True the Taoist sect Immortal Court holds the path of ascension, but we, Militarism, care nothing about heavenly affairs, and we only want to do meritorious deeds on earth. So what if the Taoist sect is strong? During times of chaos, war flames are burning for tens of thousands of miles and there are hundreds of battles erupting and many famous generals appearing. As soon as we reach the Famous General Realm, not even the Daluo Golden Immortal could do anything to us.”
Li Maozhen suddenly stopped playing with the whip in his hand.
He repeated Zhao Bingkun’s words and muttered silently, “When we reach the Famous General Realm, not even the Daluo Golden Immortal could do anything to us.”
Zhao Bingkun added proudly, “Four great religions, Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism and Militarism, equal in status—Blah, what Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism and Militarism, as far as China is concerned, there are only three, Confucianism, Taoism and Militarism—The Taoist sect have their noses up in the air because they have the support of the Immortal Court, but we, Confucianism and Militarism never car about what’s happening in heaven, and we just worry about things on earth! If we controlled the things on earth, what could the Immortal Court Taoist sect do? They’d only split!”
Li Maozhen smiled and said, “Your words are full of confidence and pride. However, for thousands of years, heaven and earth have fought. I admit that Militarism is strong, but doesn’t Taoism win out in the end every time? So your mockery of the Immortal Court is useless, and you’re kidding yourself.”
Zhao Bingkun blushed, but still replied confidently, “The Immortal Court is somewhat capable, but my Militarism soldiers will not lose to them! If general Li has the ambition to take over the world, why are you scared that you might lose to Zhu Wen in the future?”
Li Maozhen laughed scornfully. “Why would I be scare of Zhu Wen? Out of all the heroes in the world, even if there is one that I’m afraid of, it would not be this loquat.”
Before Zhu Wen joined Huang Chao, he hadn’t done anything. He was just a lazy loaf, no different from a hooligan, which was a name many people used to attack him.
Some people may not care about birth, but when despising an opponent, they would remember it unconsciously.
Zhao Bingkun naturally knew who Li Maozhen was talking about.
He had been around Li Maozhen for long enough to know Li Maozhen’s character and habits. Li Maozhen would mention his name often and showed immense admiration.
However, Zhao Bingkun did not feel the same way about this person, and he pouted. “The Prince An, who is a minister of the Tang Empire, is bound to go down with the Tang Empire. It’s impossible for the Tang Empire to return to its peak, so he has no other path but to die.”
“Really? If so, then it’s really a pity.” Li Maozhen looked up at Chang’an City, his narrow eyes gradually blurred. On the roof of the sun-drenched city tower, he seemed to have seen the past when he was drinking and partying with his opponent.
From the assassination at the long street that night, to battling side-by-side, then to going their separate ways. They used to be allies, perhaps even friends.
If it weren’t for all the chaos in the world, they might even be friends. They might be ministers working in the court and writing each other’s achievements in history books. It might even be passed on as a story.
Things were unpredictable in troubled times. Be it friends or enemies, the story between them was far from over.
The corners of Li Maozhen’s mouth was gradually raised, and only he could understand the smile spreading on his goose-egg shaped face, which could rival that of the queen in terms of beauty.
He slowly pulled out the blade on his waist and lifted it towards the glaring sun. His smile never faded, and it seemed like he had many wonderful expectations for the future. Just like a girl looking forward to her new clothes, or a loving wife looking at her husband.
Then he said, “Pass my command to the three armies: Siege!”
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