No matter if you are a human or an immortal, you can still farm for me after traveling through time!

Even though military reforms have been gradually being promoted in various places, it is impossible to complete the rotation of border defenses in the short term.

There was no time limit for the first round of recruitment, which lasted from March to August. Now, nearly 80,000 soldiers have been recruited, and it is estimated that the number of troops stationed in the entire Longxi territory will reach 100,000 next year.

During the recruitment period, the total number of first, second and third class soldiers recruited in May was less than 30,000. This number was far below Yang Huang's expectations. He knew that the number of soldiers that could be recruited under such screening conditions would certainly not be large, but he did not expect that even the initial forecast would not be reached.

In order to continue expanding the size of the army, Yang Huang had to relax the restrictions ahead of time.

Those under 5 feet 2 meters tall are only provided with food and clothing, and receive no salary except for a small amount of welfare.

Among all the soldiers, privates first class have the highest treatment, but at the same time, they also receive the most arduous training. Not only do they have to practice sword, archery, and riding, they also have to learn boxing, stick techniques, and gun techniques. When the war begins, they are also required to rush to the front.

In the past, the Huihe would wait until the summer and autumn when the horses were fat and the soldiers were strong before launching large-scale harassment, but now they did not wait for the horses to fatten up, and immediately went south after the ice melted, without waiting for a moment. The reason why they were so impatient to attack must be that they heard that the Dali barracks were undergoing military reforms, and this was the time when the border defense was rotating and the troops were weak.

As a result, some neglected border areas faced rare enemy attacks.

Fortunately, Yang Huang had anticipated this and had ordered all checkpoints to guard against surprise attacks by the Uighurs before recruiting soldiers.

Some things were indeed as Yang Huang had imagined. Various problems were bound to be exposed during the military reform. Weapons, food, clothing and other military supplies had to be dispatched personally by the Jiedushi. Facing the attack of the Uighurs, what was tested was not only the ability of the soldiers, but also whether the logistical support was sufficient.

Yang Huang had just arrived, and it would take some time for him to completely take over the entire Longxi. The soldiers under his command still needed further training to form a system, but the enemy's invasion at the critical moment naturally could not wait.

Therefore, upon receiving the battle report at the border, the governor immediately picked out the newly trained cavalry from the barracks and rushed to the "Hutou Pass" which was harassed by the Uighurs overnight.

Even the newly formed cavalry had to be taken to the battlefield to "feed blood." Many of these soldiers had not seen blood for a long time.

……

Yang Huang and the other teams were just taking stock of the battle situation when they discovered something very cruel and realistic: their horses were far less numerous than the Huihe people, and their horses were not as strong as those raised by the Huihe people.

Although they had a team of swordsmen specialized in killing horses, it was still far from enough. When tens of thousands of horses came galloping towards them, the swordsmen were only able to kill one horse in the blink of an eye. They would be knocked away by another horse after killing one.

If they wanted to confront the Uighurs head-on, they had to ride on horseback like them. Whether they were archers, swordsmen, or newly formed cavalry, they all needed the support of horses. They could attack or defend, and they could easily catch up with the scattered enemies when annihilating them.

How can we get enough good horses?

When Dali traded with the nomads of the northern grasslands, the nomads needed a wide variety of things, but what we wanted were mostly cattle, sheep and horses, among which horses were the most in demand.

But the Huihe people were not stupid. They would never sell the high-quality war horses they raised with great effort to their enemies, so they ordered the small tribes under them not to trade war horses with Dali.

The grassland tribes that had good relations with Dali could still negotiate, but the trading volume was too small, far from enough for the needs of the Dali army. As a result, there were not a few excellent war horses in such a large army.

Facing the Uighurs, no matter how strong the individual soldier's ability is, without a matching horse, his combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced. Not to mention a one-on-one fight with the Uighurs on horseback, a three-on-one fight might be a long shot.

Yang Huang looked at the captains turning around and leaving the tent, and his thoughts went back to last year when he was still in Chang'an.

At that time, he had just received some news about the child and was about to rush to Shandan to bring the child back in person, but he never expected that His Majesty suddenly ordered a summons.

Your Majesty and the two Lords, the Left and Right Prime Ministers, want to set up military governors on the border of Dali, and he will be one of them.

"I want you to go to Longxi, so that you can find out the truth about the rebellion and I can implement reforms."

Regarding this reform, the two masters, the Left and Right Pushe, put forward several major points. Among them, the Right Pushe pushed for the reform of military policy, abolishing the government soldiers and replacing them with recruited soldiers. The old and weak soldiers could be eliminated from the army. Recruiting strong men as soldiers could not only improve the combat effectiveness of the army, but also reduce the power of people's resistance. In this way, the old and weak would not be able to rise up in rebellion. This was a countermeasure to prevent peasant uprisings in years of disaster.

The situations faced by each region are different. Your Majesty summons each candidate for Jiedushi in turn and issues different orders.

Yang Huang came back to his senses and looked at Li Changxiang's tall figure, which was no less impressive than the other middle-aged team leaders. An idea suddenly came to his mind.

"Li Changxiang! Wait!"

Li Changxiang paused and immediately returned to the tent: "General, what instructions do you have?"

Yang Huang looked at Li Changxiang's good face but it became like this. He and Ji Langjun both owed them a favor, but one was disfigured and the other was missing. He was filled with emotion for a moment: "Are you still wearing the medicine on your face?"

"I'm still applying it. Although the effect of this medicine on scar removal is slow, it's better than nothing. The doctor said that if I apply it for another year or so, the scars on my face will be almost healed."

Yang Huang nodded: "If that's the case, the general's mansion still has a few burn ointments brought from Chang'an. I will send someone to give them to you after I return. If a man has a scar on his face, it will be difficult for him to get married."

Li Changxiang smiled as he thought of something: "General, don't worry. My mother has already chosen someone for me. Before I entered the barracks, my mother specifically told me to earn more military merits and bring them back."

Yang Huang laughed: "What kind of woman would require you to earn more military merits before marrying her?"

Li Changxiang looked doting, but smiled without saying a word.

Seeing this, Yang Huang did not ask any more questions, but instead brought up the purpose of this conversation: "The reason you were appreciated by Cao Shuting is because you have better eyesight than ordinary people?"

Perhaps because Deputy General Cao was not Yang Huang's man and had been transferred away from Longxi by him, Li Changxiang did not know why Yang Huang mentioned this and answered honestly: "Besides this, I have another tracking skill."

This is exactly what Yang Huang wants!

"Now I want you to go deep into the grassland to find the horses raised by the Huihe people. Are you willing?"

Li Changxiang reacted immediately and knew what Yang Huang wanted to do. He only took a few breaths to accept this difficult task: "General, please allow me to pick a few people to go with you!"

Yang Huang told him to feel free to choose and be bold, and to choose as many as he wanted: "If you can complete the task this time, you can no longer refuse to join my army because of the doubts of the soldiers in the camp."

Seeing the general so resentful, Li Changxiang couldn't help but find it funny.

He had a selfish motive for not immediately serving under Yang Huang after entering the camp. He never worried about whether he could convince the people. That was just an excuse. He wanted to make some trustworthy partners and more importantly, stay in Ganzhou and wait for news from Ji Qingyue.

Eight months passed and there was still no news from Ji Qingyue, so he decided not to wait any longer.

After getting the map and some basic information from Yang Huang, Li Changxiang left the big tent and returned to the soldiers' tent.

Now that the invasion of the Uighurs has been defeated, they will not harass Hutou Pass again in the short term. The soldiers who have fought a battle are taking a rare break to relax, just waiting for the general's order to return to Ganzhou.

Li Changxiang opened the tent curtain and saw that several people in the team were missing. After asking, he found out that one of them accidentally tore his wound while playing and was taken to the military doctor for treatment.

"Feng Yingman, Tang Kaide, Yang Xiaolai, follow me out."

The teammates, who had originally looked easy-going and cheerful, saw him so serious. Knowing that he had just come out of the general's tent, they thought he must have received some mission. So, the teammates quickly put away their carefree expressions and immediately followed Li Changxiang out of the tent.

"Captain, what's the matter?"

"But what orders did the general give us?"

The three men were all privates first class and entered the barracks at the same time as Li Changxiang.

Because of their good treatment, privates are highly regarded in the barracks. If they do well, no one will care. If something goes wrong, it will be magnified by those who are watching behind their backs, and they will inevitably be ridiculed for a while. Height is not absolute. Tall people are not as good at everything as they seem. Faced with the high expectations of other teammates, some people will naturally be overwhelmed over time. Those with poor physical fitness can't bear it, and their psychological defenses are broken down by all kinds of rumors.

Don't underestimate rumors and slander among men.

Li Changxiang would be on good terms with the three of them, and it would be a lie to say he didn't do it on purpose.

When choosing companions, Li Changxiang has already conducted conditional screening. He will take the initiative to look for those who have special skills and strong abilities to form a team.

After becoming teammates, based on equal strength, no one will look up to or down on anyone, and it is easy for them to get along and become teammates with a decent relationship.

They rescued each other from danger several times on the battlefield, which helped the four of them become good friends who could talk about anything.

Although it has a purpose, it is also sincere.

When Li Changxiang confessed to them, it was no surprise that they had known everything for a long time. They were not children anymore, and Li Changxiang was the youngest among them. They were all as perceptive as anyone else, and they had long seen that Li Changxiang had a special relationship with the general. The general seemed to want to recruit him as a personal soldier, but for some reason Li Changxiang refused.

Li Changxiang brought his friends to a secluded place, explaining the task given by the general as they walked.

Yang Xiaolai was shocked: "What? The general wants us to rob horses?!"

Before Li Changxiang could say anything, the oldest Feng Yingman glared at Yang Xiaolai: "Why are you making such a fuss? If you're not trying to grab the horse, you should be trying to feed the horse!!"

Among the four, in order of age from oldest to youngest, they are Feng Yingman, Yang Xiaolai, Tang Kaide, and Li Changxiang. None of them are over thirty, and Li Changxiang is not even twenty years old, but no one dares to treat him as a child.

As the team leader, Li Changxiang gestured to them to be patient: "I know this task is very difficult. If we do it well, we will have accomplished another great feat!"

Tang Kaide rubbed his hands excitedly: "The captain dared to accept the task, which means he had a plan in mind. He only picked the three of us, which means he trusts us. Tell me, what do you want to do?"

Yang Xiao looked at Tang Kaide and envied him for being good at talking. He patted his chest and said, "I'll follow you. I was born on the grassland since I was a child. Smelling for water is the way I survived."

Where there is water, there is pasture.

Autumn is not only the time when the Uighurs attack and plunder most frequently, but also an important time for them to migrate to winter pastures.

Yang Xiaolai is a nomadic person who has accepted Hanization and speaks with a slight accent: "Usually each tribe has its own fixed pasture, but the Huihe are powerful and have seized a lot of good pastures. In order to feed tens of thousands of horses, they often move pastures, making it very difficult to find their tracks in the vast grasslands."

"So many horses!!" When Tang Kaide heard that the Uighurs had tens of thousands of horses, his eyes suddenly lit up. As long as they could grab them, all of them would be theirs!

Yang Xiaolai nodded: "It's true. Because there are so many horses, the migration is huge and takes a long time. They should have started to move to winter pastures by now!"

At this time, Feng Yingman interrupted: "Just now I said that the Huihe people like to attack us at this time, so we can do the opposite and wait for them to come!"

Li Changxiang gave him an approving look and went deep into the vast grassland to look for horses. Even if there were tens of thousands of horses, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Without a bit of luck, it would be impossible to find them in a short time.

Then, the four of them continued to discuss and decide on a more detailed plan for stealing the horses.

Ji Qingyue, who was far away in Chang'an City, was completely unaware of what was happening on the border. Ever since the scroll placed him in an ear room somewhere, no one cared about him.

He has decided to escape from this place, the key is how to get out!

In the past few days, every night he would come out of the painting and secretly observe the situation outside in this small room under the cover of darkness.

The ear room is in Lu Lu's yard. It is a room used by this young lady to temporarily store things. The main room connected to the ear room is the study. Ji Qingyue only took a look and then retreated, fearing that he would touch something that should not be touched.

He looked out from the window with intricate patterns. Opposite him was Lu Lu's boudoir, but there was no light in the room at this moment.

No one was walking in the dark courtyard, as if no one was patrolling. Even so, Ji Qingyue did not dare to go out. Perhaps there was no one in sight, but there were many people hiding in secret.

The fact was exactly as he thought. The courtyard, which men were not allowed to enter, was secretly populated by many female guards who were there to protect the owner's safety.

Ji Qingyue sat on the round stool in the room, thinking about how to escape.

Suddenly, he looked at the basket on the low table, which contained some needlework, silk, and other things. The most eye-catching thing was the small golden scissors.

What Ji Qingyue was interested in was not the gold, but the scissors themselves.

It was impossible for him to go out openly in human form, so hiding in the painting and being taken out in some way was the most feasible option.

What is now an obstacle to escape is the scroll itself. Too many decorations make the scroll thick and heavy, and it is very conspicuous even when rolled up.

and so……

Ji Qingyue picked up the scissors, cut the canvas along the core of the painting, and cut the core off the scroll.

Not only was there a layer of paper stuck to the back of the painting for fixing, it was also mounted on a silk canvas. Even after it was cut, it was still very thick. In the end, Ji Qingyue had to use various tools in the basket to peel off the mounting silk cloth bit by bit.

Thanks to the sturdy backing, the paper was not damaged when peeling off the silk cloth.

In the end, only a layer of backing and a layer of drawing paper remained on the core of the painting. After being rolled up, the thickness was greatly reduced to less than two fingers wide.

Ji Qingyue rolled up the more than one-meter-long painting core and folded it in half, then tried to put it into a dry thermos cup.

He searched the room but couldn't find a suitable container. In order to prevent the drawing paper from getting wet or other accidents, he had to temporarily sacrifice the thermos to hold the painting.

The thermos has good sealing performance, so even if it falls into water, the painting inside will not get wet.

Now that the drawing paper is ready, what should I do next?