Chapter 19 fourth quarter

"After farewell, we met each other in remembrance, and shared the same dreams with you a few times." After a while, Liu Kai recited a sentence softly, and then they finished it together. "Tonight, I have left a photo of the silver scorpion. I'm afraid that the reunion will be a dream." They wiped their eyes and confirmed that the surrounding environment that Mrs. Liu Kai arranged like a dream here is indeed a real world, but they still didn't know how to start a realistic conversation. They have not too little to talk about, but too much.First of all, they will talk about the experiences of the two of them in the past three years and the reality that forces them to do immediately.They wanted to talk about Ma Kuo's two envoys to gold, about the court's decision-making and preparations, about Liu Kai's trip to Weizhou, and about the imminent war.Although Ma Zheng's family letter and Ma Kuo's and Nianniang's marriage were within the prohibition, it was inevitable to talk about them in general terms.But these topics seem to touch the water with a dragonfly, and after a little bit of sticking, they fly away across the water.Their emotions were too excited, their minds too alive, their common language too rich, and a train of adolescent memories to occupy their breasts so strongly that it crowded out all real conversation.They know that these topics that have been put on hold temporarily will still be discussed later, and in the end the problem must be solved.But at this moment, their emotions were surging like waves, which actually made them feel that everything was impossible to talk about.

Now that they tried to have realistic and calm conversations, they were put aside simply, and let the memory take them back to the Northwest Battlefield, which was so impressive and fresh, and brought them back to that exciting, joyful, and regrettable scene. To the never-ending teenage years... Ma Kuo and Liu Qi are both from military families, and both of them belong to the Northwest Frontier Army. Ma Kuo is from Xizhou.Xizhou is an ancient battlefield, and it and the neighboring Hezhou, Taozhou, Shanzhou, Huangzhou, and Kuozhou are areas where the Northern Song Dynasty government fought for a long time with the Qingtang and Qiang regime headed by the father, son, grandson, and grandson of Jisiluo.Xizhou changed hands for the last time and was occupied by the Song Dynasty, but it was more than forty years ago.In those regions, every inch of land bears the traces of fierce battles, and the bones of the dead are thrown into the valleys more than the living population of the land.

Only in the last two or three years have the two sides achieved a truce that is mutually beneficial. Ma Kuo's family history can almost be written in a blood-stained chronicle with the battles in the Xi, He, Tao, Huang, Shan, and Kuo regions.Ma Kuo's grandfather, Ma Xi, who was born as a farmer, was the first to participate in the war to recover Xizhou more than 40 years ago, and was killed because of it.Since then, the descendants of the Ma family have officially obtained military membership and become a military family.More than ten years later, Ma Kuo's uncle Ma Xiao died in battle near Hezhou. More than ten years later, in the Battle of Zonggechuan, where the Northern Song Army won an unprecedented victory and wiped out more than 3,000 Qingtang and Qiang soldiers, Ma Kuo He also lost his elder brother Ma Chi and second brother Ma Zhuo.

Those in the army remembered, many years later, how the two brothers fought to the last breath at the critical moment of the war. The family, which had a small population before, became even more depressed under the attack of the war and the plague that accompanied the war.Ma Zheng and his wife, Ma Kuo and his eldest brother's posthumous son are the remnants of the family's decades of bloody battles.However, they still had to be soldiers, still had to accept the fate of their grandfather, father and brother.This is because in their narrow field of life.It is seldom possible to conceive of any other way of life than war.

But they have never considered the nature of these wars, which is good for them?For whom and why are they fighting?How meaningful are their sacrifices?This is too advanced a philosophy of war and politics for them, and they don't want to understand it.Their task is only to fight, either to win the battle, or to be defeated and prepare to die in battle. Ma Kuo, who was born in Xizhou and grew up in Taozhou, is an ordinary soldier trained in that special environment.He learned to ride a horse at the same time he learned to walk, and learned to archery at the same time he learned to write.Everything he saw, heard, and learned was inseparable from the scope of war and military affairs.He is a military family, and their simple relatives and friends are also soldiers and comrades-in-arms, and their social relationship is pure.

Zhao Long, who first served as the military governor of Xihe and was later promoted to the governor of Xihe Road, was his father's boss and a close friend of his family.In the environment of war, the relationship between subordinate officers and officers and soldiers is much closer than usual.He and Qiniang met at that time, and later concluded a marriage contract. After he became a young man, he was formally enrolled in the military, fought with the troops, and accepted tests from the battlefield.War is a rough thing, but it takes a series of meticulous work to train an ordinary soldier to become a "real soldier".He has been finely ground for a long time with the mill of war, and gradually became a real soldier.

These real soldiers are the backbone of the army.Among the vast number of soldiers and officers of the middle and lower ranks, there are some real soldiers, but among the officers of the middle and upper ranks, their proportion decreases correspondingly.Some officers who have been gradually promoted from a soldier's background, although his rank, rank, and status have been continuously improved, this true soldier's temperament has decreased on the contrary.Affluent living conditions, being separated from the vast number of soldiers and the practice of fighting are all the reasons why this temperament has been weakened or even completely wiped out.At that time, although people respectfully called him "Jinglueshi" and "General Manager", they no longer regarded him as a group of themselves who shared weal and woe and lived and died together.This kind of invisible title recognized in the army is more expensive and has more practical significance than the economic envoy and general manager appointed by the imperial court.

The reason why the Western Army is known as the elite, in addition to the vast number of well-trained and rigorously trained soldiers, mainly relies on this group of backbones.But they are still few in number after all, not every soldier can be trained to become a real soldier. At that time, there were many non-soldiers in the Western Army. Some of them were exiled to border areas because of crimes, and they were forced to join the army. They just wanted to go home; A means of earning a living.There is also the most prominent group of people, whom the soldiers angrily call "the rats from Tokyo."In fact, they don't necessarily come from Tokyo, but their backgrounds and backers are directly and indirectly related to most of the rich and powerful in Tokyo.Relying on a piece of confession or an eight-line script from the dignitaries, they strutted into the military headquarters, and could easily obtain nice titles such as "joining the army" and "counseling".They stand high above the army, go in and out of the command headquarters, participate in the secrets of various military regions, and specialize in activities that fail to achieve success and fail to reveal success.

After they had done what they wanted in the army, they returned to Tokyo as great men.Based on their direct experience in the army and their rich imagination, they created a series of heroic and thrilling battle histories.They always strategize and win the battlefield.They always win by surprise.All victorious wars were won by relying on their strength. Occasionally, some wars were not satisfactory because of the constraints of the soldiers of the Western Army.They have made a lot of contributions that are "too many to write". All these created victories are rendered so thrillingly and vividly by the narrator that it is impossible to doubt their reality.These stories were not only rebroadcasted in the living room of the dignitaries, but also ran into the Privy Council and the Political Hall, where they became the main basis for prime ministers and privy envoys to promote and dismiss front-line generals, adjust military institutions, and judge the strength of the enemy and ourselves.

These absurd stories were passed back to the border guards, and the reactions were varied. The high command remained silent as usual, neither denying it in official memorials nor confirming it in public or semi-public conversations.It gives the impression of "seemingly nothing".The High Command of the Frontier Army, which has accumulated nearly a hundred years of experience in dealing with imperial officials, treats the "rats from Tokyo" as if they were hungry tigers and wolves from Tokyo. Miscellaneous personnel from non-military backgrounds are very envious of the "rats from Tokyo", because they have done what they wanted to do but failed.A set of rumors can be made so vividly and eloquently that the dukes are convinced. This requires not only the art of making rumors, but also the need to open up a market for spreading rumors, both of which require some skill.Although they wouldn't believe a single word of the rumors themselves, because like the majority of officers and soldiers, they were very familiar with what these rats were doing in the army.

Only a few real soldiers like Ma Kuo could feel great anger at those wild stories and their creators. It is not surprising that the "rats from Tokyo" regard the battlefield as a hunting paddock, and it is not surprising that they must dress themselves as heroic hunters in order to obtain their quarry.But in order to achieve this despicable goal, they did not hesitate to tarnish the honor of the Western Army, portraying all officers and soldiers as an ugly foil for their heroic deeds.Let such a group of people who know nothing about the war monopolize the right to speak about the war, which makes the real soldiers feel a great shame. Furthermore, due to their ignorance of war, especially their extreme fear of war, these rats fabricated these thrilling scenes to show their bravery and contribution to the war, which made the real soldiers laugh.In fact, since war is a daily life that soldiers must get used to and adapt to, there is no danger or tension at all. Ma Kuo's seven-year military history is a strong proof of this point.He had not experienced the kind of psychological process that they described so exaggeratedly and distortedly.Of course, he was a little nervous when he first entered the battlefield, but with repeated practice, he easily overcome it.Later, he became more and more calm, and less and less regarded the war as an extraordinary event beyond the track of his life.In fact, during their days on the front line, they did not confront each other every day and fought all the time.Sometimes, I felt too leisurely, so I risked being discovered by the enemy and sneaked into the deep mountains and grasslands belonging to the enemy's warning area to hunt.You kill a roe deer, I shoot down a gazelle, everyone happily brings back the prey, and a rich meal of wine and food is settled at night.After drinking and drinking, they put a few dead logs on a bonfire, and talked about the government, the war situation, and the memories of the country and places handed down from their grandfather's time.But what interested them most was the joke a certain senator from Tokyo had made in the army.Even though the joke was years old, they still coaxed such gleeful laughter every time they told it.From a serviceman's point of view, there is nothing more amusing than to laugh at a civil servant who wields authority in the military.It is a privilege bestowed by the imperial court on civil servants, and mocking civil servants is a privilege bestowed on them by soldiers.The military itself is a highly exclusive organization, and they are basically uncooperative and resistant to outsiders. Their ridicule of civil servants is indeed sometimes excessive and unfair.For example, Liu Fan, who was a councilor in the Xihe Military Region, brought his two sons, Liu Ziyu and Liu Zihui, to the army to experience the experience.It turned out that they performed well, not only adapted to life in the army, but sometimes made some contributions.Ma Kuo also established a friendship with them.However, in Ma Kuo's traditional psychology, the contempt for clerks still cannot be completely ruled out for them. This prejudice is almost deeply rooted in many soldiers. Of course, they have to fight, and when the war is the most intense, they even have to fight three, four, five, or six times a day and night, and sometimes they have to march and fight without rest for several days or more than ten days.This is already used to them.When they heard the shrill sound of horns and the rapid sound of war drums urging them to enter the battlefield, it was as common as hearing the sound of bells entering the dining hall and picking up chopsticks to eat. In that kind of real hand-to-hand combat with the enemy, the enemy's cold blade kept making crisp sounds in their ears, and flashed in front of their eyes with bloody flashes.A cold arrow flying from nowhere seemed to have eyes.The mouth and wings quickly split the sky, whistling and galloping happily, and then got into the cracks of their armor all at once.How calmly they dealt with the approaching death that was only modest!They pulled out the arrows indifferently, looked contemptuously at the name of the enemy general engraved on the arrow receptacle, and threw it on the ground casually, as if throwing a rotten straw, and their hearts didn't beat much. Sometimes the battle situation is unfavorable and they fall into the enemy's siege. They rely on courage, courage and combat experience to find the enemy's weaker link and break out.Naturally, breaking out was not always successful, and when they failed, they had to accept death.Death is one of the natural outcomes of war. As long as they have fought hard and paid the price, death will be nothing to regret.They will never write any suicide note and bid farewell to their parents, wives and children on the eve of the decisive battle.This kind of farewell letter that looks tragic in writing was done by others. Real soldiers don't do this, and they don't think of it at all. This is a portrayal of the war life and war psychology of a group of real soldiers, including Ma Kuo.How far they are from the mice in Tokyo! Only those who have the same understanding of war, the same degree of adaptation, and the interests on the battlefield are so closely aligned, can there be a feeling of brotherhood and comrades-in-arms.They have a clear distinction between what they like and what they hate, and they hate those who can't stand the test of the battlefield and are self-important; but if they are comrades-in-arms, within the scope of their own people, then without saying a word, each other can contribute their lives for each other.Their right to life is not privately owned but collectively shared. Both Ma Kuo and Liu Qi belonged to that invisible collective, and a deep friendship was formed in the battle.If there is any difference between the two of them, it is that it is easier for Ma Kuo to become a member of this group, but it is much more difficult for Liu Qi to walk. Liu Kai's father, Liu Zhongwu, then commander-in-chief of the Northwest Frontier Army, followed the tradition of this army and sent his three sons Liu Xi, Liu Rui, and Liu Kai to several front-line military regions as "trainee officers".In doing so they both exercised their military talents and gained progressive qualifications as a senior officer.This is the most straightforward path for the children of military officers who disdain to depend on the powerful and do not want to take shortcuts in their careers. Liu Zhongwu sent Liu Xi to the Jingyuan Military Region and Liu Rui to the Huanqing Military Region. These two military regions were in a relatively stable state at the time, with more peace than war. Liu Kai, who was favored by his father, was sent to the Xihe Military Region. The establishment is a partial assistant under the horse administration department of the Bingmadujian.The war in this military area was the most intense at that time, and Liu Zhongwu was obviously willing to allow him to receive more training and education here. Although he is the son of the commander-in-chief, Liu Qi is still a guest in the Xihe army.He had to choose one of the following two paths: he could stay as a guest until the end, let the officers, colleagues and soldiers maintain a superficial courtesy to him at a relatively long distance, put him in a safer rear, and be polite. Keep him until the time limit when he should be transferred from this military region, and go out to be a higher-ranking officer; or fight for the initiative, fight for their true friendship and trust, and fight for being the master of the army. Liu Kai chose the latter.And during his five years of service, he worked hard to realize this wish.He did not often remind others that he was a son of the General, nor did he make himself a special figure in the army.According to his status, it is not easy to achieve the above two points. He has to live and fight with soldiers and low-ranking officers, and get along with them on an equal footing. Only in this way can it be possible to accept the severe test of war. He stood and passed the test victoriously. He and Ma expanded into a detachment, and the two often went out to perform tasks together.In the beginning, the two competed with each other who was braver than the other. Later, this competition became more caring for each other and would rather let oneself take risks, with a very friendly nature.Such friendships often arise during the most romantic teenage years of life.In the course of their friendship, each tries to influence the other with its own characteristics.Ma Kuo grew up in the army since he was a child. He knows more about the situation of the enemy and ourselves, and the skills and skills of combat, and has a more sufficient military temperament.Liu Kai, however, because his father had become a famous general in his childhood, he had more opportunities to get in touch with dignitaries of the imperial court and scholars of letters. Interests in politics and literature also arose.His world is wider and more complicated than that of Ma Kuo.In addition, he was several years older than the horse, which gave him the status of the leading older brother in the relationship between the two. They used each other's strengths to supplement their own deficiencies. During the five years of actual combat, they completed the strict and complete education that a real soldier should receive. During Liu Kai's last year of service, the relationship between the Northern Song government and the Qing, Tang and Qiang regimes underwent unexpected and rapid changes. It turns out that Song and Qiang have been fighting for decades, consuming a lot of manpower and material resources, and there is no clear winner.In recent years, the war has become more intense. Almost every year there are one or two major battles involving tens of thousands of people.The Northern Song army gained a slight advantage and made slight progress in some areas, but the end of the war was still very far away.No one dares to predict when and how the war will end. The spring and summer of that year were spent in fierce battle. One evening at the end of July, a small delegation composed of a Qingtang and Qiang knight leading a banner officer, a drummer with a drum and a Qiang flute suddenly ran away without any prior contact. Come to the front and ask for an audience.They were sent to the headquarters and received and entertained by Liu Zhongwu.The knight's expression is not only poised, but also very proud.He clearly conveyed what their leader Zang Zhengpu asked him to pass on with an air of no tolerance for grievances. If the Northern Song Dynasty government is willing to strike a truce, Zang Zhengpu will not object. The two sides formally held a peace negotiation for this. .In order to ensure that the Northern Song army would not suddenly change their minds during the negotiations, Brother Zang Zhengpu asked Liu Zhongwu to send one of his sons to him as a hostage.Without resolving this preliminary issue, there can be no talk of formal negotiations. The envoys of Qingtang Qiang came too suddenly, and the high command was not prepared for it.Whether Brother Zang Zhengpu's proposal is sincere or not, or what conspiracy and tricks are contained in it, it is impossible to judge for a while.Liu Zhongwu excused that this was a local issue that should be decided by the warring military region, and sent the delegation back to the front line of Xihe, asking the generals of the military region to study a countermeasure on the spot, and authorized Liu Kai to decide whether he would like to be a hostage. The generals and envoys on the front line lingered for six or seven days, entertaining them with banquets and hunts every day, trying to find out the true meaning of each other from their expressions, behaviors, or flaws that accidentally leaked.The generals got the common impression that any disputes of any nature that might arise within the Qingtang and Qiang ruling group were eager to resolve them, and the request for a truce was quite sincere.But their military power and ruling power show no sign of weakening, so an agreement cannot be easily reached in negotiations.The negotiation process may be tortuous and arduous, with great repetition, and no one can guarantee the personal safety of the hostages.Whether Liu Qi is willing to be a hostage or not has to be decided by himself. Liu Kai is a person who can think deeply and fully understands the danger of this trip. He is not afraid of dying heroically in the war, but he is afraid that he may suffer endless torture after being a prisoner, thus losing his fame.But he realized the deep meaning of his father sending the enemy's envoy and asking him to decide whether to stay or not.Liu Zhongwu did not force Liu Kai to do anything with the dual orders of the commander-in-chief and his father, but hoped that he would consider this issue from the perspective of the soldier's sense of honor.Liu Kai understood that if he refused to be a hostage, then Qingtang Qiang could unscrupulously mock the Northern Song Army commander and his son as cowards, people who are greedy for life and afraid of death, which would severely damage morale.For himself, for his father, and for the honor of the whole army, he resolutely decided to go to Jishi Shanxi Gecheng to be Zang Zhengpu's hostage.His good friend and close comrade-in-arms, Ma Kuo, also volunteered to act as his companion and accompany him to Xige City.They talked and laughed happily, and followed the envoy who was secretly surprised, as if nothing had happened, and went deep into the caves of dragons and tigers to become volunteer captives. Their bravery quickly had visible results.Brother Zang Zhengpu didn't expect Liu Qi to agree so readily.He treated Liu Kai and Ma Kuo as honored guests, and sent one of his sons to the Northern Song Army of the Xihe Military Region as an equal hostage.Within a month, negotiations were held in an old castle on the border between the two sides. The court of the Northern Song Dynasty attached great importance to this negotiation, and specially appointed Liu Wei, a senior councilor in the Western Army, as a counselor to preside over the negotiation.Liu Ziyu, Liu Fan's son, accompanied his father to participate in Zhechong.The high command also sent Ma Zheng, who is suitable for people and places, to act as Liu Fan's deputy.Negotiations proceeded smoothly, and the two sides reached an agreement in less than a month. Brother Zang Zhengpu accepted the title of the Northern Song Dynasty and voluntarily gave up two fortresses that must be contested in the military. After the peace treaty was established, he was willing to enter the court and only asked for a little material compensation.The affluent Northern Song court could easily satisfy his request in this regard, but the shrewd negotiators Liu Qi and Ma Zheng kept the other party's demands to a minimum, and only agreed to pay a "reward fee" of 50,000 taels of silver and silk. In exchange for 50,000 silk horses, the other party will pay tribute to 1,000 good horses. This can be considered a small victory for diplomacy. The Northern Song Dynasty government, which had always been losing money in this area, publicized it as a top-notch event, and Xuanhe Junchen was happy to take this opportunity to revel in himself.During the month Zang Zhengpu entered the court, the court had a small banquet on three days and a big banquet on five days, so that the expenses for entertaining and presenting him exceeded the "reward fee" that was finally reduced during the negotiation process. When this matter was over, the imperial court rewarded him for his meritorious deeds, and Tong Guan received the greatest benefit by ennobling him as Duke of Chu for his meritorious deeds.Liu Zhongwu, the commander-in-chief of the Northwest Frontier Army, was given the honorable title of Jiedushi, and Liu Wei, the planner, was promoted to Huiyou Pavilion waiting system. The son's deeds were not written in the previous memorials led by Liu Zhongwu, but the achievements of a handsome son will not be easily obliterated.Liu Fan, who is good at style, wrote his own book for this, praising Liu Kai's courage and contribution to riding alone into the enemy's cave and creating conditions for peace talks.The memorial was quickly forwarded, and Liu Kai's legendary actions were deeply in line with the holy will. The officials not only encouraged him, but also sent him to Tokyo to serve as a sanitation officer.The Sanitation Officer has a high status, generous salary, and many opportunities for promotion. It has always been a special official position used by the imperial court to give preferential treatment to the children of generals.On the one hand, it is to win over them; on the other hand, it also means to prevent their father and brother, who are armed with heavy soldiers, from being held hostage if there is any change, which actually plays the role of hostage.The government of the Northern Song Dynasty traditionally did not trust military officials.Liu Kai understood this truth, so even though he didn't like this position, he couldn't refuse it.He has to go to Tokyo to be a hostage of officials, just as he cannot go to Xige City to be a hostage of Brother Zang Zhengpu. The latter is a test of his courage, and the former is a test of his patience.People can't forget that he is the son of a handsome man. No matter how you look at it, Liu Qi has to bear the shadow of his father.

---

Notes: