My vicious dog, my horse, I can do whatever I want with it

Chapter 264 1 letter

The bonfire illuminated everyone's faces. It was such an unchanging celebration and laughter. The arm wrestling and drinking games that were played all day long seemed to be fresh every time.

I don't know who started singing the folk songs from my hometown.

The sounds of "yi yi ya ya" carry the unique atmosphere of the southern water towns. Next to my ears, I can hear people tapping on the table and humming along using bowls and chopsticks as instruments.

More and more people were hitting the noodles in their bowls with chopsticks. Under the crackling bonfire, many soldiers' longing for their hometown and their loved ones reached its peak at this moment.

"It's the New Year..." That sigh was full of helplessness and responsibility. From the moment he stepped into the military camp and put on his armor, he shouldered the heavy responsibility of his country.

Zong Yanli looked into the distance at the burning bonfire in front of him, as if he was looking into the distance through the flames.

Zong Yanli, who has turned thirty, is now thirty-one.

The battle in the north went much more smoothly than expected. She had made sufficient preparations, and the brothers who fought alongside her were consistent. They no longer suffered from the morale-destroying defeat before the battle as in her previous life. She avoided many detours and received more support and help.

Her father defended Daqian for her, so Zong Yanli did not have to be distracted and could concentrate on dealing with the battle.

With the help of Wuhuan, she was even more powerful. This time, every step she took was smooth and steady. Seeing that the situation in the north was completely under her control, she seemed to see the dawn of victory.

The night passed quickly. Zong Yanli stopped drinking and left the table when she was slightly tipsy and went back to her military tent to sleep. Perhaps it was because of the constant noise outside the tent and the sounds of laughter that made her feel extremely peaceful and calm.

It was as if at that moment he had dropped all his defenses and vigilance, and fell asleep peacefully without any alertness.

Even when Wen Nian came into the tent and covered him with an extra quilt, he still hadn't woken up. Zong Yanli, who was lying quietly on the bed, had a slightly drunken blush on his face, and the scar on his cheek was more eye-catching because of the drunken blush.

Her black hair was spread out, her brows were filled with fatigue, and she fell into a peaceful sleep, her breathing steady as if she had complete trust in them.

Having seen Zong Yanli always wearing black armor, calm, tough, and omnipotent standing in front of everyone, Wen Nian was a little dazed when he saw Zong Yanli like this, and his eyes were copying her face accurately.

After a long time, he stepped back and left quietly. He did not go anywhere. He just leaned against the pillar outside the tent with his arms folded, feeling the cold wind, smelling the aroma of wine, the fragrance of barbecue, and the shouting and noise coming from time to time.

His eyes were far away, looking into the distance, not knowing what he was thinking about.

Lu Peibai had seen Wen Nian guarding Zong Yanli more than once, and had vaguely heard about Wen Nian's past from other people. He also knew that as Zong Yanli's deputy general, Wen Nian was as close to him as a real brother.

But Lu Peibai always felt that something was wrong. For example, at this moment, she saw Wen Nian guarding in front of Zong Yanli's tent. She could not explain the expression on Wen Nian's face from a distance...

"I don't know how long this bunch of people will make trouble. If Mr. Mingxi feels it's too noisy, he can go back to his military tent and rest early." Pei Liang turned his head and looked at Lu Peibai and said in a low voice.

"Okay." Lu Peibai turned around and answered.

Pei Liang looked in the direction Lu Peibai had just looked at, and saw Wen Nian, who was guarding Zong Yanli's tent. He looked as if he was used to it, and waved his hand and said, "Don't worry, Wen Nian is watching over the general, no one dares to cause trouble."

Lu Peibai smiled when he heard this, and after sitting for a while, he stood up, said goodbye, and went back to his tent to rest.

After two days of such excitement, the soldiers ate all the wine and meat and finally returned to training.

Perhaps it was because of the effect of the surprise attack using ice skating that Lu Hao fell into studying it. He would take his brothers to train on the ice of Qiuding River whenever he had nothing to do. He even found a good place to chop firewood at any time, which could be transported directly from the ice to Taoyang City using skateboards. The speed was really fast.

When Lu Hao came to tell Zong Yanli about this, Zong Yanli was summoning Pei Liang, Zhan Haoyue and others to discuss matters. What they were discussing was nothing else but the matter of Qi secretly sending envoys to the Northern Kingdom and the State of Lu.

"If the three countries of Qi, Bei and Lu form an alliance, it will undoubtedly escalate the war situation." Pei Liang, Zhan Haoyue and others were not too surprised to hear the news. Instead, they felt helpless as if it was as they expected and what was coming had finally come.

"The armies of various countries have their own strengths. If we complement each other's strengths and make up for each other's weaknesses, we can join forces to fight the enemy. It may be very difficult for our army to deal with them with its current strength." Zhuang Chengbi said in a low voice.

"Yes." Zong Yanli obviously knew the problem, nodded and said, "Gentlemen, do you have a good plan to destroy the coalition forces of the three countries of Qi, Lu and Bei?"

Pei Liang and his colleagues came up with many strategies for this, but there was no guarantee of their effectiveness.

There are many disputes among the northern countries. No matter whether it is new hatred or old grudge, there are always people who cannot get over it. At this time, they will try every means to dig out the old grudges in the past, and then polish them, intensifying the contradictions and fighting, and guiding the people's hearts, which may have some effect.

However, the monarchs of those countries are not stupid people. I believe they will be able to come up with a countermeasure soon. Before the country is in danger, those old things will not cause much sensation.

Instead of thinking about how to destroy, it is better to think about how to meet the enemy.

Zong Yanli had no idea what to do for a moment. After giving Pei Liang and others some instructions, he met with Lu Hao.

Lu Hao came into the tent in the snow and it looked like he had been waiting outside for a long time.

"Why didn't you come in earlier?" Zong Yanli looked at Lu Hao and waved, "Drink two sips of hot water first."

Lu Hao smiled and stepped forward and said, "I saw that the general was discussing something in his tent, so I didn't want to disturb him. It's just a bit windy and frost, it won't be a problem."

As Lu Hao spoke, he walked forward, took the water handed to him by Zong Yanli, blew on it and drank two sips. He got closer to the stove to warm up his body. Then he began to talk about his method of transporting firewood, and mentioned that the Qiu Ding River was very far away, and it would be very convenient to use it to transport food and military supplies.

Zong Yanli listened and nodded. He was very satisfied with what Lu Hao proposed, and asked him about ice skating.

"Moving on the ice on ice skates is very fast, and it's suitable for surprise attacks." But Lu Hao obviously didn't want to just focus on getting on the road, what he wanted more was to be able to kill the enemy!

Whether it is ice or snow, the presence of the sled greatly improves mobility. Lu Hao has many more ideas of his own about this, and wants to use this as a direction to train a swift team.

The reason I came here to tell Zong Yanli all this is because I want Zong Yanli to give me support and military supplies.

Zong Yanli listened carefully, then asked in detail about the training direction of this group of soldiers. Finally, he asked Lu Hao to prepare a written report and submit it before approving his military supplies.

"Thank you, General!" Lu Hao was overjoyed. Although he had a bit of a headache writing a detailed military report, he felt excited when he thought that this could be accomplished!

Although the beginning of spring has arrived, the north is still covered with snow and the wind and snow are still blowing.

There is no sense of the warmth of the beginning of spring.

The only thing worth mentioning is that the weather is getting better and better. The sun is shining every day, and the soldiers' training is going on day after day.

Zong Yanli received the letter from Daqian. To her surprise, the letter was written by the emperor in the name of a student to Zong Yanli. It was not an imperial edict, but just a letter from a child expressing his condolences to his teacher and seeking answers to many problems he encountered.

He Honglang is already twelve years old. He is no longer the ignorant child. He has read the letters that Zong Yanli left for him over and over again. As he grows up, he can understand more and more of the things recorded in Zong Yanli's letters.

Zong Yanli was reading the emperor's letter. In the letter, He Honglang mentioned that he had already begun to govern the country, but it was obvious that the first time he took the throne was not going smoothly.

He encountered many problems, and he gradually discovered that not all of them could be answered in books. He had more directions to think about, and they were more messy and complicated, so much so that He Honglang was completely unable to cope with them.

Empress Dowager Gao helped him a lot, but it was obvious that she did not want him to rely on her. Whenever he encountered a problem, she let He Honglang solve it on his own.

As a result, He Honglang encountered many setbacks. His ideas were immature and his actions were simple, which made many ministers in the court believe that the emperor was temporarily incapable of controlling the government.

In the letter, He Honglang expressed his complaints against the ministers in the court, his reproach to his mother, and his confusion about whether he was really unfit to be the emperor. He had no one to talk to about his sorrows, and his mother would surely be disappointed in him.

So after thinking about it, He Honglang missed his teacher Zong Yanli very much. With the admiration and worship in his childhood, Zong Yanli seemed to have become someone he could trust and rely on.

That's why such a letter was sent.

The letter was so thick that it was already late at night when Zong Yanli finished reading it.

At the end of the letter, He Honglang mentioned the trajectory of many decisions and policy changes in Daqian at present. Zong Yanli's rough guess about the general direction of Daqian's current development was absolutely correct, except that the young emperor did not seem to have any more far-reaching vision of the overall situation.

However, judging from her letters, she put forward her views in an orderly manner, with clear thoughts and no flaws in her words. It seems that the emperor she chose is at least intelligent.

"General, the kitchen has sent us some soup." Gao Feilin came in with a bowl of soup and said, "They say it's a bird stew. Let the general have a taste."

"Yeah." Zong Yanli raised his eyes slightly and responded. He looked up at Gao Feilin from the gap between reading the letter and raised his eyebrows and asked, "What did you use to catch the bird?"

"Zhu Jin originally used a slingshot to shoot, but he couldn't hit it..." Gao Feilin said with a smile on his face, "It was Mr. Mingxi who gave him the idea. He made something like a lid, sprinkled grains on the snow, and used a wooden stick to support the lid."

"When I saw a sparrow taking the bait, I would pull the stick to cover the sparrow while it was eating the grain. I repeated this process and caught many of them."

"Those birds are very smart. You can't use this method three times in one place, otherwise they won't take the bait."

Zong Yanli laughed when he heard what Gao Feilin said, and in a good mood he reached out and picked up the spoon to taste it.

He also called Gao Feilin to help him grind ink so that he could write a reply letter to the emperor.

She carefully considered her wording. After all, the emperor wrote to her not to listen to her advice as a subject, nor to her education as a teacher. Perhaps he needed someone who could confide his feelings to him and was both a teacher and a friend?

Zong Yanli could not speak too casually. After all, the person he was facing was the emperor, and the etiquette between the monarch and his subjects had to be just right.

But he couldn't be too radical, lest the emperor develop a rebellious heart and think that Zong Yanli was the same as the court officials, the Grand Tutor and others.

Therefore, Zong Yanli took great pains to reply to the little emperor's letter. He needed to strike a balance between comforting and giving some motivational suggestions to guide the little emperor to be positive and better control the court.

Zong Yanli revised this letter repeatedly and it took him three or four days to finally finish it.

"Take it and send it away." After replying the letter, Zong Yanli felt exhausted all over. She sighed deeply and wondered how writing a letter could be more painful than writing a military report.

Even so, Zong Yanli realized the mental fatigue of "serving the king is like serving a tiger".

During the Lantern Festival in the first month of the lunar calendar, there was no news yet from the envoys from Qi State who were sent to the Northern Kingdom and the Kingdom of Lu, but Zong Yanli had already informed his generals of the news. Long Feiguang and others who had been relaxed became tense again upon hearing the news.

"Qi is decisive. They said they would send an allied force and they went." Long Feiguang was a little upset. Seeing that Qi was already in his pocket, if the Northern Kingdom and Lu intervened at this moment, it would undoubtedly make it difficult for them to move forward.

"It's not all bad." Zhuang Chengbi thought for a moment and said, "If the Northern Kingdom and Lu Kingdom come to help, at least we can ensure that all our troops are here."

"I'm worried that when we concentrate on attacking Qi, the Northern Kingdom and Lu Kingdom will turn around and attack the heartland of Daqian..." Zhuang Chengbi said quietly.

"..."

Everyone felt a sharp pain in their teeth when they heard Zhuang Chengbi's words. If this was true and they came back from the north to help Daqian, it would really be...

Monkie didn't understand the twists and turns, so he asked with wide eyes, "So do you want the Northern Alliance or not?"

Huo Wenqi glanced at Monk, sighed and said, "This is not something we hope for or not, but we need to make more preparations and responses for the upcoming battles. No matter what the enemy is like, we will be able to respond immediately."

"But there is no need to worry too much about Daqian at the moment. Not only is General Zong Yan in charge, but Jin and Gao will not sit idly by."

"It will be more than enough to hold out until our troops come to our rescue."

Zong Yanli pursed his lips and frowned, "This is exactly the problem. If the three countries' coalition forces in the north come, we may have difficulty dealing with them with our current military strength. We will have to send more troops."