The prince is very fierce

At noon, Qingxu County.

The small county town, which is only more than a hundred miles away from Ningwuguan, the national gate, is not prosperous. On the first day of the new year, most of the shops on the street are closed and they go home for the New Year. There are only sporadic vendors pushing carts selling candies and toys, followed by a group of people. Most of the children were chirping.

Qingxu County is a small county. Although it is located on the main north-south road, the terrain is so open that it can be bypassed outside the county. It has no strategic significance. The border army only put two hundred people on guard here.

Soldiers who join the army on the first day of the new year also miss their wives and children, but after all, they are frontier troops, and their military appearance is very strict, which is very different from the strawberry soldiers in the south of the Yangtze River.

The reason for the gap is not that the quality of the soldiers is too different, but that the concepts of raising soldiers are different.

Since the chaos of the Spring and Autumn Period, when the world was unified, all dynasties in the Central Plains were founded by force. Without exception, they all had their capital in Chang'an, and used Qin troops to suppress the princes of the world.

The reason why the Qin army is strong, in addition to the strong folk customs, is the 'military merit system', which allows soldiers to exchange military merit for titles and change their social status. The reason why Su Wang Xu Lie Being able to become a king based on his background as a butcher also benefited from this system.

Before that, the aristocratic class "Shiqing Shilu" will always be generals, soldiers will be soldiers, and their social status will be solidified. They will always fight for the landlords, not themselves.

If you cut off a head on the battlefield, you can get a title, slaves, fields, houses, and women. You can imagine how tempting it is. The martial culture was also developed from that time.

Later, after various changes, in order to raise the best soldiers in the world, the imperial court divided a large amount of land specifically to raise Qin soldiers. All military families were exempted from tax and corvee, and relied on taxes from other rich areas to support these soldiers and horses. The soldiers only had to fight. That’s it.

Today's major generals have basically accumulated military exploits over generations and risen through the ranks step by step. Soldiers had fields at home and relied on the slaves, women and children they obtained during the war to cultivate the land. Men could train their enemy-killing skills full-time in order to obtain more rewards in the fight, and their combat effectiveness would naturally be greatly improved.

Of course, the court also has restrictions. Military merit and title are reduced by one level every generation. If you don't fight for a few generations, you will become a poor person at the bottom of the class.

There has been a truce between Dayue and Northern Qi for sixty years. There has been no major war, but small-scale conflicts have continued. This is because both sides implement the military merit system. Soldiers who do not fight will find ways to stir up trouble. Xu Buling often fights in small-scale encounters when he was young. War is caused by the rotation of frontier troops to earn military merit.

The benefits of this system are undoubted. Both the Guanzhong Army and the Xiliang Army were raised in this way. They are all professional soldiers, not government soldiers who fight during wartime and are busy farming. Their combat effectiveness is much higher.

The disadvantage of this system is that it consumes too much money. The twelve states of Xiliang do not need to pay annual taxes to the court because they have to support an army of 200,000. In addition to the Guanzhong Army in Song Dynasty, there was also the army of the Western Liaoning Protectorate to support. Most of the taxes collected from various places every year were spent here.

The other vassal kings, except for the King of Wei who controlled South Vietnam alone, raised troops like this, the rest were soldiers in the wartime and farmed in their spare time. Naturally, there was a huge gap in combat effectiveness.

This is also the reason why the seven kings obeyed the orders of Chang'an City. They simply could not defeat the emperor. Even King Su could only break through the central army. When the Liaoxi Protectorate and the army of the six kings came over, they could not hold it at all.

-----

The winter sun rose into the sky, and Xu Buling, led by Zhu Manzhi, came to the countryside outside Qingxu County.

Song Yufu didn't know how to ride a horse, but girls of the same age were going out to play, so she couldn't be left on the boat as a watchdog, so she followed Chu Chu, sat on Chu Chu's horse, hugged Chu Chu's waist, and looked around.

Ning Qingye's hometown was destroyed by the imperial court and he no longer had his hometown. He was very interested in Manzhi's hometown. He kept walking beside Manzhi and listened to Manzhi's patient explanation as a tour guide:

"Have you seen that big rock? I used to sit on it and fish with my dad. Even though my dad is a swordsman, his fishing skills are terrible. He can catch anything, but he can't catch any fish..."

The small river flows through and surrounds the farmhouses in the woods. Although there are no beautiful mountains and clear waters in the winter countryside, the snowy scenery of the plains is still refreshing.

Xu Buling walked at the back with Nightingale, wearing a snow-white robe newly sewn by Lu Hongluan. He looked stern and extraordinary. He only looked at the beautiful scenery but not the beauties. It was obvious that he was still in the sage time and had not recovered from yesterday's 'New Year's gift'. .

Speaking of last night, Xu Buling was a little hard to describe.

The day before yesterday, he was squeezed by three hungry wives who didn't even give him a break. Last night, he was given a 'New Year' celebration. It was comfortable and comfortable, but it was also fatal.

We are all our own daughters-in-law, so we can't just enjoy it for ourselves. Our own experience is secondary, and the main thing is to make our daughters-in-law feel comfortable.

I want to serve four young women who are just the right age and relatively conservative. However, for a big job, everything from skills to eloquence is indispensable. You can't just focus on one thing and neglect the other. It doesn't matter if you work hard and work hard without complaining. You almost feel exhausted from the effort. I have no words, if I can still think about it when I wake up in the morning, I would be reincarnated as a pervert.

But as a man, you have to take some responsibility. Sometimes it’s okay to fight everything alone. No one can blame you!

Speaking of which, although I was a little tired last night, it was obviously quite interesting.

Xiao Qi's "Qiqi is the best" is still there, that is, she would rather die than give in. If she is exposed, she will act like a big sister and scold anyone who dares to make fun of her. It is indescribably funny.

Aunt Lu, who was watching the show nearby, reacted, needless to say, with confusion at first, then shock, then shame, anger and embarrassment. She was pulled by the baby and was not allowed to move, so she could only cover her eyes with her hands.

He covered it, but he couldn't help peeking. After a while, he began to feel jealous.

After all, it was not a good feeling to witness the precious baby he cherished being abused by other women, but he couldn't eat it.

Then Aunt Lu started to scold the girls without any lightness or severity. Her tone was sour. She also served tea to Xu Buling and wiped his sweat. She felt so distressed.

When Xu Buling thought about it now, he couldn't help but sigh secretly: Aunt is still the best.

If it weren't for Aunt Lu pulling him last night, he wouldn't be able to go out today, and it would be difficult for him to even get up.

Walking and looking along the way, the group, led by Zhu Manzhi, came to a small osmanthus forest by the river.

The osmanthus forest is where Zhu Liu lived in seclusion. The scenery is very good, but the fields have been abandoned. The path is full of weeds and fallen leaves, and even the road can't be seen clearly.

Zhu Manzhi jumped off her horse and walked happily in front, bringing many sisters to the osmanthus flowers, pointing to a small farmyard in front:

"This is the former residence of the Sword Saint, um... there's nothing to say..."

Xu Buling walked up to it and glanced left and right. The yard was overgrown with grass and the gate was locked. It was obvious that no one had been here for a long time, and there was really nothing to see.

Zhongli Chuchu blinked, obviously not expecting that she would end up like this after running all the way here.

Song Yufu glanced a few times and said:

"How about we clean up this place?"

Although Zhu Manzhi grew up here, her heart is no longer here. Even if her parents live in seclusion in the future, they will definitely move to another place and it is impossible for them to come back. She looked around with nostalgia, then waved her hand and said:

"No need to clean up, let's leave it at that. I'll take you to the county town for a fish feast. I know a shop whose dishes are better than those of Longyin Pavilion in Chang'an City. It has been open in Qingxu County for decades..."

Ning Qingye looked at the sky: "Today is the first day of the Chinese New Year. Are there any restaurants open?"

"No, but you want to see who is eating. I was in charge of that shop back then. Not to mention the first day of the Chinese New Year, it would be open even in the middle of the night. This is called appearance..."

"Tsk~"

...

While chatting, Xu Buling followed Manzhi to the county town not far away. He rarely accompanied the girls to relax, so he was naturally not in a hurry.

Song Yufu was not a woman of the rivers and lakes. She didn't have much in common with the four little chivalrous women of the rivers and lakes, so she couldn't get a word in. Xu Buling didn't forget to walk in front of her and chat about poetry and songs with her to prevent Song Yufu from getting bored.

The group arrived outside the gate of Qingxu County. Manzhi wanted to greet the soldiers guarding the city, but after a quick glance, he found that the soldiers had been rotated and he didn't recognize them. He took out the "ID card" that he had prepared long ago from his pocket.

Xu Buling did not run around as the prince of a vassal king. He was about to enter the county with a fake identity, but he heard a voice from the class room outside the city gate: "Hey! Xu...".

Xu Buling frowned, put his hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist, and looked at the wooden house where he was on duty. He saw a soldier in armor standing up, looking at this side with surprise and joy.

The soldier stood up and held a red tasseled spear of the border army. Judging from his dress, he should be the sergeant of the city gate guard. He looked quite rough and his expression and behavior were a bit of a gangster. Xu Buling thought about it and didn't remember such a person.

Hearing the word "Xu", several girls also became alert and frowned at the sergeant.

The sergeant opened his mouth, as if he remembered something, and hurried over and raised his hand:

"Get out of the way, this is a friend my brother met in the martial arts world back then, Lao Si, you help me hold it, if the commander-in-chief comes over later, you can say that I went to pee and will be back soon..."

The sergeant walked with a limp, maybe because of an old injury in previous years. Although it did not affect his movement, it was obvious.

When Xu Buling saw this, he suddenly realized who this little sergeant was.

Last year, after pushing the baby, he went to Yufeng Mountain to pay homage. There was a martial arts man with a bad brain who was used by someone. He ran over with a stick and wanted to beat him up, but he was beaten half to death.

At that time, he met the old mother of the martial arts man who stayed in the town at the foot of the mountain. He did not kill her, but he never thought that he would meet her again here. I remember her name was "Thunder Stick Kou Meng"...