A nearby Platoon Commander saw this and asked in confusion, "What are you doing? You couldn't be thinking of stealing the Colonel's saber, could you?"
The others followed suit and laughed. Stealing was impossible, with so many people watching.
The young Squad Leader turned his head and smiled at them, "It's nothing."
The others didn't bother much, only feeling that this kid might have been frozen silly.
Later when the Colonel cos out and sees his saber missing, aren't you just asking for trouble.
The young Squad Leader didn't explain, standing there tightly hugging his chest.
The iron scabbard was frighteningly cold. Gusts of cold wind blew over, freezing his lips blue.
But he remained indifferent, only the hand gripping his collar tightened a bit more.
After a long ti, the discussion inside the camp tent finally ended.
The Marquis of Anping rejected all dissenting views, insisting on finding the remaining main force of the horse tribes and annihilating them in one fell swoop.
To draw a perfect full stop to his life of military service.
A few Deputy Generals and Assistant Generals stayed behind, while the rest of the Colonels, Regional Commanders, and Mobile Generals walked out of the camp tent.
Their subordinate Centurions and Platoon Commanders hurriedly went up to et them, eagerly asking whether they were leaving or staying next.
The tall and dark-skinned Colonel Zhou Dingyuan looked down at the ground, revealing a look of confusion.
"Where is my saber?"
At this ti, the young Squad Leader, frozen stiff, shivering took out the goose-quill saber from his bosom, "M-Milord, your saber."
Zhou Dingyuan frowned, reached out to take it, and scolded, "Who allowed you to take my saber, such nerve..."
He stopped halfway through his words, only because the scabbard, which should have been piercingly cold, was actually warm and comfortable in his hand.
Zhou Dingyuan looked at the young Squad Leader's open collar, and then looked at his face and lips that were purple from the cold.
"I've seen bootlickers, but I've never seen your way of bootlicking. You think doing this will win you appreciation?" Zhou Dingyuan said.
The young Squad Leader shivered and knelt down, "Our army has made a long-distance rapid march and is already exhausted. If there are still battles to follow, Milord is extraordinarily brave and will definitely be the vanguard."
"The weather is too cold. If Milord's hands are stiff, you will kill a few less bandits."
"If your hands are warm, you can kill a few more."
"This lowly one does this to seek appreciation, and also for our army to win."
Hearing these words, one would know it was deliberate flattery. Zhou Dingyuan had been in the army for many years and had seen countless such people.
It was just that using his chest to warm the saber was sowhat novel.
Zhou Dingyuan snorted and said, "Speak less of such nonsense, say sothing I haven't heard before. Otherwise, not only will I not reward you, I will also have soone drag you down and beat you with a hundred military canes!"
The young Squad Leader lay prostrate on the ground, shivering as he said, "An elder in my hotown once said, he who... he who gathers firewood for the masses must not be allowed to freeze to death. I embrace the saber for Milord, I figure I won't be beaten to death either."
Zhou Dingyuan was startled upon hearing this. These words had never appeared in the Kingdom of Jing before.
Hearing it for the first ti, he only felt it seed to contain a great principle.
Thinking about it carefully, he felt it was even more deafening and enlightening.
Zhou Dingyuan asked with a bit of curiosity, "What kind of person is your family's elder?"
"He is a farr in the village." After the young Squad Leader finished speaking, he hurriedly added, "But he is very capable, he is already a Village Banquet Guest now."
Zhou Dingyuan was startled upon hearing this. He who gathers firewood for the masses must not be allowed to freeze to death.
If these words were spoken by a great Confucian scholar of the current dynasty, or even a Scholar, he could accept it.
But a village farr, even with the title of a Village Banquet Guest, was not worth ntioning in the eyes of a Colonel like Zhou Dingyuan.
To be able to say these words, he was sowhat extraordinary after all.
He looked at the young Squad Leader kneeling on the ground, "So you embraced the saber for , just so you wouldn't be beaten to death?"
The young Squad Leader's fingers clenched tightly, gritting his teeth and telling the truth, "It is to beco an official! When I ca, I told the people in my hotown that I would return in glory! If Milord does not disdain , I will definitely charge at the front, fierce and unafraid of death!"
Hearing these words, the other Colonels and Regional Commanders around all laughed out loud, "At least he told the truth."
Zhou Dingyuan also smiled.
He didn't like bootlicking. As a military general, he only appreciated two kinds of people.
One kind was those with hot blood and courage.
The other kind was those with ambition.
"These words are sowhat interesting. If one joins the army and doesn't want to establish ritorious deeds and beco a high official, what's the point of chasing after those rats who only know how to flee."
Kicking the young Squad Leader in front of him away with one foot, Zhou Dingyuan strode forward.
The young Squad Leader felt the pain, but it couldn't compare to the disappointnt in his heart.
At this ti, Zhou Dingyuan stopped his steps, turned his head and asked, "What was your na again?"
The young Squad Leader hurriedly knelt down again, "This lowly one's surna is Liao, Liao Shouyi."
The Colonel strode forward again, leaving behind words that the cold wind could not blow away.
"If you want to be a high official, then prove your abilities. Be a Platoon Commander first."
"Whether you return ho in glory wearing brocade, or die in the Northern Desert like a wild dog, depends on yourself."
As a Platoon Commander, the head of the soldiers and the tail of the generals, in the army of the Kingdom of Jing, it was a subordinate eighth-rank grade, which a Colonel had the right to appoint directly.
Although only leading ten soldiers, it was still a proper low-level military officer.
During warti, the death rate for such low-level military officers and soldiers was extrely high.
It was possible that after one battle, the Platoon Commander of the sa unit would have been replaced several tis.
Therefore, through the ages, not many important figures cared too much about military officers of this level.
The young Squad Leader, no, Platoon Commander Liao Shouyi.
Was ecstatic in his heart, kowtowing incessantly towards the departing Colonel.
Even if the other Squad Leaders, Platoon Commanders, and even Centurions nearby cast disdainful glances, he didn't care at all.
Secretly leaving ho to join the army back then was not to experience a few years of military life.
He wanted his appearance to be drawn on New Year pictures, for thousands of commoners to revere!
To achieve this goal, so what if he lost face right now.
The childhood na his parents gave him was Shitou.
A stone that couldn't be smashed or boiled bad.
A stubborn stone from Pinecone Village!
Another year passed.
Through the governance and planning of the two County Magistrates, Tang Shijun and Zheng Xiuwen, a new area was opened up around Pingshui Town.
The forr refugees couldn't afford houses in the town, but after being tenant farrs for many years, they had accumulated so wealth, which was enough to build two mud houses.
After the autumn harvest.
The already thirty-seven-year-old Chu Xun stood by the field.
He had grown a mustache at the corners of his mouth, making him look more steady and mature.
He ford a hand seal with one hand, and the soil under his feet continuously surged.
Spiritual Soil Spell 1
[Spiritual Soil Spell 41449/100000, Change soil quality in a small area, or control the movent and shaping of soil in a large area]
In seven years, the progress had increased by forty percent.
Calculated this way, in about ten more years it would be able to advance to the next level, and by then it seed it wouldn't be far from the Spirit Pearl Grass bearing fruit.
In the vegetable patch, a few small voles rubbed their heads in the spiritual rain. Two weasels squatted nearby, holding their heads high.
The massive water buffalo chewed in its mouth, slowly pulling the plow alone in the field.
In comparison, the voles appeared very inconspicuous.
Originally, before the new year, Chu Xun wanted to sell this water buffalo, but Zhang Anxiu hugged the buffalo and cried like a tearful person, absolutely refusing to let go.
After all, having raised it for so many years, their feelings were deep.
The green and white striped large snake, already three ters long, slithered past the water buffalo's feet.
The water buffalo swished its tail, showing no signs of fear.
The green and white snake slithered to Chu Xun's feet and was about to climb up his legs.
Chu Xun only felt his leg was extrely heavy, and couldn't help but look down and laugh, "You beast, you're so big and still want to climb on , do you think you're still a small snake?"
"When you grow a bit bigger, you'll also have to go hide in the Songliu River."
[End of Chapter]
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