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

Chapter 286 Arrived in the Army

Zong Yanli felt helpless when he saw the two of them. They were so old, yet they were still fighting like naughty kids.

"Since you are here today, I think you are here to shake hands and make peace." Zong Yanli asked them to stand up, raised his hand and said, "Come on, stand face to face, we are all brothers, it should be okay to hug each other, right?"

"..."

Monkie and Fu Jiashi looked at each other, feeling somewhat disgusted with each other, but in front of Zong Yanli, they resisted the urge to get closer, put their hands aside and hugged each other.

Unexpectedly, Zong Yanli said, "Hold tight, did I ask you to let go?"

It looked awkward for these two grown men to hug each other, but Zong Yanli stood up and walked over to say, "It would be easy for you if you were punished with a stick. You are thick-skinned and don't remember being beaten. If it happens again, hugging won't solve it."

"The training ground is vast. Even if it cannot be divided, as the commander, you cannot fight for it with your real ability, and you even fight with your own brothers..."

"It's shameful that they don't stick to the conventional training. How did the Japanese general train his troops when he was the leader of the ghost camp?"

"After years of fighting, you have become more and more stupid. If you are not qualified to lead the army, I think it is time for you to retire and return to the countryside. Get out of here as soon as possible."

"Okay, get out."

Zong Yanli spoke with great compassion, and Meng Qi and Fu Jiashi finally let go. Both of them had a look of shame on their faces, and they listened to Zong Yanli continue: "The Queen Mother and the Emperor will arrive soon. Take good care of your subordinates. If you cause any trouble again, don't blame me for being ruthless."

Monkie and Fu Jiashi quickly leaned forward to agree, and Zong Yanli waved his hand to signal them to go back.

Pei Liang, Bai Xiuyun and others who were watching the show outside the tent all laughed when they saw the two of them come out. Meng Qi was very upset. He should have asked Huo Wenqi for advice earlier. He blamed him for being too impulsive and wanting to argue it out. Now, not only did he make such an ugly scene, but he was also embarrassed...

Zong Yanli never asked about this matter again until the day when Empress Dowager Gao and the Emperor arrived.

She had received the news early on that all the armor and equipment of the soldiers in the army had been polished to look brand new. Zong Yanli was no exception. He wore the black armor. Since he had a scar on his face, he wore the mask much less as he grew older.

Since she was going to meet the emperor today, she naturally could not wear a visor or a helmet. So she led the entire army to welcome the emperor at the city gate.

The royal flag could be seen coming from afar. The scene reminded Zong Yanli of the battle with Nankang when the prince came to supervise the battle. She was standing behind her father at that time and saw the same scene from afar.

Now she was standing at the front, with Zong Yan Guanghe, her adopted son, standing behind her, and her brothers standing beside her, as if they were forming an invisible trend of support for Zong Yanli.

The emperor's personal guards also had a huge number of soldiers and horses. When the carriage stopped, the emperor got off first with the help of palace servants, and then he reached out to help Empress Dowager Gao get off the carriage.

Zong Yanli led the soldiers forward, knelt on one knee and said, "Your Highness and I respectfully welcome the Emperor and the Empress Dowager!"

"Teacher, please stand up." He Honglang walked forward with a smile and looked behind Zong Yanli. He was amazed at the numerous soldiers and generals. He turned to look at the city wall that had just been repaired, and then looked down at the land under his feet, his eyes full of emotion.

"It's been so many years..." Gao Jiayue also looked at the gate of the city tower, thinking of how she had gone all the way from Shouxi County to the capital, which changed her destiny from then on.

"Your Majesty, please come this way, Queen Dowager." Zong Yanli said with his eyes slightly lowered.

Gao Jiayue nodded slightly and entered the city with He Honglang. Zong Yanli had already made arrangements. He originally wanted to arrange for the Emperor and the Empress Dowager to live in the City Lord's Mansion, but when Zong Yanli asked Gao Jiayue's opinion, Gao Jiayue said that she wanted to live in the military camp and did not plan to live in the City Lord's Mansion.

For this purpose, Zong Yanli specially expanded the camp and replanned the main camp to better protect the Queen Mother and the Emperor.

Inside the main tent, Zong Yanli let Gao Jiayue and the emperor sit down and rest for a while, while he went downstairs to arrange for the kitchen to prepare meals. When Gao Jiayue summoned them, Zong Yanli went over and saw that Empress Dowager Gao and the emperor had already changed into dry clothes.

"I'm tired, so let the general take the emperor for a walk first." Gao Jiayue's face was full of fatigue. After giving instructions to Zong Yanli, she went to sleep for a while.

"Yes." Zong Yanli bowed his head and responded, then took He Honglang out of the tent.

He Honglang was full of energy and excited to follow Zong Yanli outside. He was very curious about many things in the army. He saw the soldiers patrolling outside the camp, the soldiers still training in the parade ground, and even took a second look at the scarecrow.

Zong Yanli followed behind He Honglang and only started to explain something after listening to his questions.

"What do the soldiers usually practice?" He Honglang asked in confusion, "Is it also horseback archery?"

"That's a lot..." Zong Yanli lowered his eyes and counted them carefully.

"What are these stones for?" He Honglang stopped and asked in confusion, "Is there anything else the army needs to build?"

Zong Yanli glanced at it and said, "No, this is used for carrying weight."

She patiently explained, "There is too much wear and tear on the weapons, so they don't wear armor during normal training. But the armor is heavy, and if it can't bear the weight, how can it work? So we let them carry huge rocks and do weight-bearing training to achieve our goal."

He Honglang's eyes lit up and he said, "I know. When my teacher was General Yan Luo, he used this method."

"I have seen the military report. It turns out to be made of such stone." He Honglang seemed to feel that his vision became clearer little by little. The things that were once in books and the records in the many letters left to him by Zong Yanli, those vague things that could only be described in words and imagined, became extremely real and clear at this moment.

"Who is the commander of the ghost camp now?" He Honglang continued to ask.

After all, he is still a child, and he has a natural admiration for General Yanluo and the Ghost Camp, which are such intimidating names.

Zong Yanli called Bai Xiujun and asked him to have a good talk with He Honglang about the Ghost Camp.

After Gao Jiayue had rested and got up, Zong Yanli also brought He Honglang back. When it was time for dinner, He Honglang still felt unsatisfied. He thought that he would have to stay here for several days anyway, so there was no need to rush.

"Does the emperor like the army?" Gao Jiayue was dressing up. She couldn't help but smile and asked when she heard He Honglang excitedly talking about the Ghost Camp.

"I like it!" He Honglang thought about it seriously and said, "Teacher is really amazing. He can command such a large military camp."

"Then Your Majesty must work hard and learn from General Zong Yan." Gao Jiayue looked at herself in the mirror, adjusted her hairpin, and stood up.

He Honglang obediently reached out to support Gao Jiayue, nodded and said, "Son, I understand."

Outside the tent, Zong Yanli, Long Feiguang and others were waiting quietly. When they saw Gao Jiayue and He Honglang coming out, they stepped forward and bowed to greet them. Then they escorted the Emperor and the Empress Dowager to the table to take their seats. This banquet was held to welcome the Empress Dowager and the Emperor.

Zong Yanli felt pain in his heart even when he drank the wine in the glass. These were all considerable expenses!

"The military facilities are simple, I hope the Emperor and the Empress Dowager will forgive me." Zong Yanli bowed to Gao Jiayue.

"These are already very good." Gao Jiayue smiled gently.

Zong Yanli turned around and began to introduce his generals one by one. Meng Qi, Bai Xiuyun and others were not left out. They all came forward to greet and toast. Then came Pei Liang and Zhan Haoyue and other counselors. When Zong Yanli introduced Lu Peibai.

Gao Jiayue then took a few more glances at the woman in green standing in front of her, her eyes full of admiration and appreciation, and perhaps even a little envy?

"In this battle against the State of Qi, we were fortunate to have the help of Mr. Mingxi." Gao Jiayue smiled and asked someone to bring the reward.

Lu Peibai was somewhat flattered and quickly leaned over to express his gratitude.

Gao Jiayue had seen all the generals around Zong Yanli a long time ago. They had fought many victories with Zong Yanli and had gone to the palace to express their gratitude and receive rewards. The only people she had not seen were the later ones, such as Sha Haoqian and Zhuang Chengbi.

Then there are Yu Jinghui from Jin and Wang Yi from Gao.

After the welcoming banquet, it felt more like a gathering to get to know someone.

He Honglang, who was sitting nearby, was also checking the names one by one. Although he had never seen these generals before, he was already familiar with many of their names from the military reports submitted by Zong Yanli. Now he finally matched the people with the names.

Monchi and others have never been so honest. How could they be as bold and unrestrained as they were when celebrating in the past?

They all sat upright, with small cups placed beside them instead of wine bowls. The wine they took was not enough to fill their teeth...

But no one dared to say much. They ate the bean sprouts carefully presented in front of them, but they couldn't taste what they tasted for a long time. These were made by the chef specially invited by Zong Yanli from Shouxi County City. The main feature was that they looked delicate and beautiful!

After the welcoming banquet, Gao Jiayue kept Zong Yanli to talk, with He Honglang staying by her side.

"General, there is no need to be so reserved." Gao Jiayue looked up and saw Zong Yanli sitting upright, as cold and distant as he was back then. She couldn't help but say, "There are no outsiders here, so there is no need to be polite."

"Yes." Zong Yanli responded, but did not make any big moves. He then took the initiative to talk to Gao Jiayue about the military competition, and asked with his head down: "According to the emperor and the queen mother, when should it start?"

"Hmm..." Gao Jiayue pondered for a moment and said, "How about three days later?"

"I obey your order." Zong Yanli certainly had no objection.

Gao Jiayue smiled and looked at Zong Yanli and said, "I heard that the general brought his adopted son to the army? Is he training with the soldiers now?"

Zong Yanli lowered his eyes and said, "It can't be called training, it's just to strengthen the body."

Gao Jiayue smiled and said, "That's perfect. Let the emperor also keep fit with the general's adopted son these few days."

Zong Yanli was stunned for a moment when he heard this, he looked up at Gao Jiayue and then at He Honglang, but in the end he didn't say much and just responded in a low voice.

After that, Gao Jiayue chatted with him for some casual conversations, and Zong Yanli stood up and said goodbye. After leaving, he asked someone to call Zong Yanguanghe. Since the emperor also needed to exercise, let Zong Yanguanghe go to keep the emperor company and serve as a sparring partner.

Zong Yanli gave some instructions to Zong Yanguanghe alone, and then asked everyone to go down and rest.

The next morning, He Honglang was called up when he was still sleepy. He Honglang thought he was going to attend the morning court. When he got up and looked around, he realized where he was. He heard that Zong Yanli and Zong Yanguanghe were already waiting outside.

He Honglang woke up with a start...

"Greetings, His Majesty." He Honglang came out hurriedly after washing up. Zong Yanli had been waiting for a while.

"Teacher." He Honglang felt a little ashamed that he made the teacher wait for so long for the first time he practiced martial arts with the teacher.

"Is the emperor ready?" Zong Yanli asked again patiently.

He Honglang took a deep breath and nodded, "Ready!"

Zong Yanli raised his hand and said, "This is my adopted son, named Guanghe. He will train with the emperor today."

Zong Yanguanghe bowed respectfully to He Honglang and when Zong Yanli saw that the two knew each other, he asked them to go to the training ground to practice boxing first and then sword fighting, while he stood aside and watched.

He Honglang was not without any foundation. Empress Dowager Gao had hired a martial arts teacher for him since he was a child, and he had learned some kung fu, riding and archery, etc., so it was not the case that he could not keep up with Zong Yan Guanghe. In fact, He Honglang's foundation was not worse than Zong Yan Guanghe's.

After practicing boxing, the next step is to practice swordsmanship, and this is when the gap appears.

Zong Yan Guanghe inherited the swordsmanship of the Zong Yan family, but He Honglang was not proficient in it. Or it could be said that as an emperor, he needed to be proficient in all kinds of martial arts, so he had no idea about Zong Yan Guanghe's swordsmanship.

Zong Yanguanghe also noticed this gap, so he deliberately exposed a few flaws or slowed down...

"The general's adopted son is very smart." When Pei Liang came to find Zong Yanli, he also saw this scene and immediately laughed.

Zong Yanli smiled but said nothing. He watched Zong Yanguanghe taking He Honglang to train on the training ground, running laps, lifting weights, and finally shooting targets. All this made He Honglang's legs and feet weak, but He Honglang didn't even complain.

He followed without saying a word, and in the end, his hands and feet were shaking from exhaustion, but he still insisted, "Is this how you train every day? That's all."

Zong Yanguanghe glanced at He Honglang and said, "Your Majesty, this is just the morning lesson my father arranged for me."

He Honglang: “…”

He suddenly felt that the teacher was really kind to him.

Zong Yanli walked forward and asked the two to rest for a while, wash up and have breakfast.

He Honglang enthusiastically invited Zong Yanguanghe to have dinner together. Zong Yanli did not stop him. He Honglang asked Zong Yanguanghe to go with him. When the two walked side by side, He Honglang suddenly realized that Zong Yanguanghe, who was younger than him, was almost as tall as him.

When He Honglang asked him about his diet, Zong Yanguanghe scratched his head and replied, "Eat whatever you want, whatever is available..."

The little emperor was silent again. He was thinking with some sorrow that his food, clothing, housing and transportation in the palace were very demanding, but he was still not as good as others. This really made him unhappy!

"Can you read?" He Honglang changed the subject and continued to ask.