Chapter 117 The scholar encounters the soldiers

Chapter 117 The scholar encounters the soldiers

The night view of Nanyang is certainly not as good as that of Dongdu, but it is much better than Longmen and Jiufeng Mountain. At least there are more living people than dead people here. Of course, it is hard to say outside the city.

Zhao Yushu walked aimlessly on the street and unknowingly arrived at the gate of the government office. The government office should have been closed by this time, but the lights were still on inside. I wonder what Governor Lan was still busy with.

Two soldiers at the government gate watched Zhao Yushu standing there for a long time, looked at each other, and couldn't help but walked over: "If this young master has nothing to do, it's better not to linger at the government gate."

Perhaps because Zhao Yushu was dressed neatly and looked like a scholar, the soldier spoke in a relatively polite tone.

"Oh, sorry, I just suddenly thought of a friend and got distracted. I'll leave now." Zhao Yushu nodded, turned around and was about to leave.

"Sir, please stay. You thought of your friend at the government office gate. Could it be that your friend is inside the government office now?" A voice came from behind, certainly not from the gatekeeper.

Zhao Yushu thought the voice sounded very familiar. He turned around and saw General Sun in casual clothes standing at the gate of the government office looking at him.

"General Sun, nice to meet you again." Zhao Yushu complained bitterly. He had lost face with General Sun this morning and was caught by him now. Although General Sun was not a cultivator, he was a real general in charge of troops. If he was really determined to make things difficult for him, he would have to set off for the southeast tomorrow morning.

"So he is a great scholar from Dongdu Academy. I was wondering who would be so bold as to come and hang out in the government office. People from Dongdu are incredible."

When the two soldiers saw that the two gentlemen knew each other and seemed to have a bad relationship, they quickly slipped aside and pretended they saw nothing.

"General Sun, if you have nothing else to do, I will leave now."

"I have something to do. How come there is nothing to do? A bunch of scholars are busy settling accounts in there and I am a rough man who is bored to death. I came out to get some fresh air and saw you. Come on, talk to me, Old Sun. Which friend of yours is in the government office?"

This man, a general, how could he act like a rogue?

Zhao Yushu didn't want to pay attention to him, and bowed: "General Sun, I don't think I did anything wrong in what happened this morning. If I have offended you, please tell me clearly."

"Hey, you are an educated person, and I am a rough man. How can I win against you?"

"So what does the General want?"

"No, your voice this morning was like thunder, monk?"

“A mere second level, not worth mentioning.” Although Zhao Yushu had already reached the third level, he still used Madam Xu to hide a layer of his cultivation. As long as Lao Lan, the only person who knew about it, didn’t see it on the spot, he wouldn’t be exposed.

"Since you are a cultivator, do you dare to follow me to the camp outside the city? I still have three thousand men stationed outside the city."

Zhao Yushu frowned. What did General Sun want to do? He wouldn't call thousands of swordsmen to chop him down just for such a small matter. But it was late at night and everything was dark. The Shadow Step wouldn't be too easy to use. It wouldn't be easy to chop me down.

"Since General Sun is so kind, I would be disrespectful to refuse. Please!"

"Hmph, let's go!"

General Sun was dressed in a brocade robe and did not ride a horse. He walked slowly towards the west of the city. Zhao Yushu did not hesitate to walk side by side with him.

"What do you call it?"

"Student Zhao Yushu."

"Then I'll call you Mr. Zhao. Where are you from?"

"Xijing Lianshao is studying at the White Horse Academy in Dongdu."

"Oh, you are a noble from the two capitals, you have a bright future, why do you have to get involved in this mess?"

Zhao Yushu was a little unhappy: "General, do you think those refugees are a problem?"

General Sun stopped and looked at Zhao Yushu deeply. He couldn't help but sneered: "At such a young age, after reading a few books, you think you have seen through the world. You can only talk about great principles and do small kindnesses. Then you wave your sleeves and drink and have fun and brag about your "great achievements". Ha, how childish!"

"You!" Zhao Yushu was a little angry. Why did he curse at me directly? If it were another book, you would be doomed to death just for this sentence.

"Oh, yes, that's right. We are young and naive. I guess General Sun must have a better plan."

"Me? I'm just a soldier. The governor and his men will take care of those matters. It's none of my business."

You are such a jerk! Zhao Yushu had the urge to stab this guy to death, but he finally held back. He was clearly a scoundrel and mocked you. What could you do?

Zhao Yushu seldom loses in verbal battles, but this time he really doesn't want to fight back. The other party is too thick-skinned and there is no way he can win.

So the two of them walked in silence on the increasingly quiet streets, quietly heading towards the west city gate.

After showing the token to the city guards, General Sun and Zhao Yushu lowered themselves down from the city wall and continued to walk westward. According to the laws of the Tang Dynasty, the main camp had to be stationed ten miles outside the city. So of General Sun's more than 5,000 soldiers and horses, except for the 2,000 infantrymen and 500 elite cavalry who were ordered to enter the city, the remaining 3,000 infantrymen were stationed outside the city.

"Has Mr. Zhao ever been to the military camp?"

"I once went to the Dongdu Guard camp to watch the military formation drill."

"Hey, you have quite a lot of experience. When you enter my camp, you can compare my men with the Dongdu Guards."

Zhao Yushu curled his lips. You want me to do such an offensive job? If I say something good about you, you turn around and spread the word everywhere. Will I ever go back to Dongdu?

Ten miles was not a short distance, but the two men, one a monk and the other a general, were not slow in their pace, and they saw the lights of the camp in less than half an hour.

"Stop! Who are you?" A shout came from the arrow tower when they were still far away from the camp. Soon, several light cavalrymen came. After seeing who was coming, the cavalrymen hurriedly dismounted and saluted.

General Sun was somewhat proud: "Mr. Zhao, how about my young man?"

"That's right. If there is an enemy attack, we can give an alarm a hundred steps away from the main camp. It takes the enemy about ten seconds to charge a hundred steps, which is three to five breaths. An average archer can shoot three arrows. There are two archers here, and each archer has two archers. As long as they can hit the target every time, they can kill more than a dozen enemy soldiers before they rush into the main camp. It's amazing!"

General Sun's face turned pale: "If you have something to say, just say it!"

"General Sun, it's fine that your camp doesn't have cavalry patrols, but are the people so simple and honest that they don't lock their doors or camp gates at night?"

Humph, although I don't know how to fight a war, I read so many novels in my previous life, and my ability to talk about war on paper is first-rate. Not to mention novels, I have also dabbled in famous military books like Ji Xiao Xin Shu, The Art of War, and Liu Tao. It's more than enough to fool you.

"Hmph, this is a peaceful and prosperous time, and this is the heartland of the Tang Dynasty. How could there be so many enemy troops?" General Sun was still being stubborn.

This won't do, Old Sun. You have to admit your mistakes and stand at attention when you're being beaten. It won't work if you keep pretending to be stubborn.

So Zhao Yushu lowered his voice and said, "General Sun, what is the purpose of the court's temporary tax increase?"

General Sun's face trembled, and after a while he suddenly waved his sleeves and said, "Beat the drum to gather the generals! Zhao Yushu, follow me!"