Three Kingdoms: The Kingdom Cannot Be Partial

Chapter 105: It’s Hard to Repay Your Majesty’s Kindness

The emperor personally helped the lame general to walk towards the warhorse, and then personally helped the general onto the horse's back, and then they rode together towards Wuzhangyuan.

The confused soldiers around were extremely surprised and talked about it, asking who was so powerful to be so favored by the emperor.

After learning that it was a member of the Mi family, many middle-level military officers began to talk about Mi Fang.

I thought that the late emperor and Your Majesty were truly kind-hearted people who valued friendship and loyalty. Even though Mi Fang almost ruined the fate of the Han Dynasty, they still treated the Mi family well.

This man from the Mi family almost died for his country this time, and he finally did not let down the late emperor and Your Majesty.

An officer who had just been promoted to Sima by the emperor smiled and said jokingly:
"Wu Qi sucked the carbuncle from his father first. His father did not turn back in the fight and was killed by the enemy.

"He sucked his child again, and his mother wept bitterly, knowing that her child would die.

"It is difficult to repay your Majesty's kindness."

Upon hearing this, several middle-level officers around burst into laughter.

Although this Majesty is incapable of doing such disgusting things as sucking out sores, he possesses many qualities such as decisiveness, pragmatism, wisdom, kindness, and generosity. He is able to win battles and give generous rewards.

Since we have to fight anyway, who among the warriors who are willing to fight with their heads on the belts will not want to make some money by fighting with such an emperor?

This is selfishness.

And what about public spirit?

Alas, how can we expect the fighting men to have any sense of justice these days?

Although these fighting men laughed and joked about how it was difficult to repay the emperor's kindness, they knew that even a noble man like Mi Wei could sacrifice his life for the country. Their simple values ​​more or less made them develop another selfish desire: since they had received the emperor's great favor, they would have to repay him one day.

From the entrance of Xiegu Valley to Wuzhangyuan, Liu Chan galloped on his horse all the way.

The Tiger Cavalry Inspector Mi Wei rode a warhorse to guard the left and right.

Dozens of tiger riders and some dragon riders who had just learned to ride horses followed closely behind.

Liu Chan, dressed in a dark military uniform that rustled with light, was full of vigor and showed off his increasingly skilled horsemanship in front of Mi Wei, as if to show off his might.

Mi Wei was still a little nervous at first, but soon he let go under the emperor's unrestrained and heroic roar, and showed off his riding skills which were not impaired by his lameness.

More than 20 Tiger Riders who had followed Mi Wei for many years were in high spirits when they saw this situation.

The Tiger Cavalry Guards and Dragon Guards, who had recently been promoted to serve the emperor, were quickly aroused by the sight of the emperor and the lame Tiger Cavalry Supervisor acting so wildly and unrestrained.

Nearly a hundred riders galloped on their horses, raising huge clouds of dust. It was indeed a spectacular sight, attracting people from far and near to stop and watch.

Before the dust raised from the plateau had settled, the group returned to the emperor's camp on the plateau.

Before the emperor could dismount, Mi Wei was the first to jump off his horse.

Then they limped forward, one tall and one short, and took the emperor off the horse.

When the ministers who were walking in a hurry or taking a walk around the camp saw the emperor returning in a hurry, they all stopped and saluted him.

Liu Chan walked ahead without paying any attention to the officials who came to greet him, nor did he wait for Mi Wei who had difficulty walking.

He just walked into the camp, then turned around and disappeared behind the door.

The ministers who did not get a response from the emperor all stayed where they were, looking at each other, thinking that something had happened again. Mi Wei and a group of dragon-shaped and tiger-riding cavalry also stayed outside the door.

Many people knew Mi Wei. They hadn't seen him for almost two months, and seeing him limping just now made them feel sad. Regardless of whether they were close or distant, some people came forward with a slightly sad look on their faces to greet him.

Mi Wei responded politely to each of them, but the sorrow and regret in their voices dampened his excitement.

Upon hearing the noise, Guo Youzhi, Chen Zhi, Li Feng, Li Yi and other close ministers of the emperor also put down their work and gathered in front of the camp gate.

Before they could all greet Mi Wei with greetings, the emperor appeared from behind the camp gate holding a lacquer box in his hands and walked out.

Guo Youzhi, Chen Zhi, Li Feng and others who had not yet been greeted did so immediately.

Liu Chan nodded and walked straight towards Mi Wei.

Only then did Mi Wei remember that His Majesty had just said he would give him a gift, and he looked at the lacquer box in His Majesty's hand with curiosity.

The lacquer box was so shiny that it reflected light, without a speck of dust. Mi Wei vaguely guessed that it was probably because His Majesty dusted it from time to time.

"Buwu, get on your horse." Liu Chan looked at Mi Wei calmly, while raising his chin towards the warhorse in the distance.

"Uh..." Mi Wei nodded blankly, then limped away with his legs raised high and low under the gaze of nearly a hundred pairs of eyes.

The scholars of the Han Dynasty paid great attention to their appearance and demeanor, and he was no exception, not to mention that their Mi family was known for their grace, generosity, honesty and elegance.

At this moment, being seen by so many people, whether close or distant, friendly or hostile to him, in his ugly limping state, he felt uncomfortable all over, as if there were millions of ants crawling around, and felt a little irritated and disgusted in his heart.

This feeling of embarrassment gradually disappeared after I nimbly mounted the warhorse.

When he came to his senses, he saw the emperor already walking to his side holding the lacquer box.

Then he squatted down, placed the lacquer box carefully on the ground, stood up, and reached out to grab his stump, which had lost all feeling.

Mi Wei was stunned for a moment.

All the ministers were stunned.

The emperor had a solemn expression on his face, and he calmly took off the boots and socks of the Tiger Cavalry Supervisor in public.

A "foot" carved out of wood was exposed to everyone.

It was crude and simple, starting from the tibia, with an iron ring on the top and two iron belts extending from it, tightly wrapping around the calf whose muscles were slightly atrophied.

"Your Majesty..." Mi Wei was a little frightened and at a loss.

Have you ever heard of an emperor taking off the boots and socks for his subjects?
Without waiting for him to say anything, the emperor took off his crude and simple wooden prosthesis in front of everyone. The calf was chopped off at an angle, and the ugly scar as big as a bowl at the end was exposed, which made him feel disgusted instinctively.

The hundreds of people around were all silent and solemn.

Liu Chan squatted down again, gently placed the wooden prosthesis in his hand on the ground, opened the lacquer box, and carefully took out an object shining with metallic luster from the box.

Everyone looked closely and realized that it was not an iron prosthetic limb, but what else could it be?
Although Mi Wei was mentally prepared, he was still shocked after seeing the thing clearly. The muscles on his cheeks twitched slightly unconsciously, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.

"Buwu." Liu Chan didn't look at his expression, but just held the prosthetic limb that was considered to be well-made and put it on him.

"This artificial limb was made from the several pounds of arrowheads that were taken from your body that day, combined with the armor plates from the iron armor you wore that day.

"With this limb, you can strut with your head held high and proud even in front of me."

At this point, Mi Wei and the surrounding colleagues were all stunned.

Liu Chan did not raise his head or eyes, but kept moving his hands as he spoke slowly: "Next time you come to see me, do not bow your head or rush forward."

By the time he finished speaking, Liu Chan had successfully fixed the hollow iron foot firmly on Mi Wei's knee and thigh. He then took a step back and looked at the prosthesis.

He measured the size himself, and it fit perfectly.

As for the design, he had also relied on his rough memory and had a blacksmith polish it based on modern products. The comfort level should be several steps higher than Mi Wei's original rough and low-quality wooden products. He raised his head with satisfaction and looked at Mi Wei.

This time, Mi Wei did not notice the emperor's gaze. He just tilted his head and stared at the inscription engraved on the side of the prosthetic foot.

"On the fifth day of the third month of the sixth year of Jianxing, Mi Wei, the commander of the Han Tiger Cavalry, resisted the enemy at Weibin. He fought to the death, and one of his feet was chopped off. He was struck by thirty-two arrows, and six pounds and four ounces of arrowheads were recovered. The arrowheads and armor he had carried were then melted together and cast into this foot to commemorate his extraordinary feat."

"Its praise reads: 'He who draws his bow to tug at the four seas, draws his sword to repel ten thousand men, and fights even with a broken foot, has a heart of steel that can stabilize mountains and rivers.'"

After being in a daze for a long time, Mi Wei's face turned red from his neck to the top of his head, and to his ears and eyes. After he came to his senses, he finally got off the horse.

Just as she was about to bend down to express her gratitude, she remembered what His Majesty had just said, and immediately straightened her back and chest, with her round belly also protruding forward.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your great grace and gift!" Mi Wei shouted in a trembling voice, and saluted the emperor with his fists clasped together.

Liu Chan immediately stretched out his hands to clasp his fists, and pressed them down again:

"How is it that I have given you this? I can still stand firmly on Han soil, but you cannot. I owe you this."

Mi Wei was stunned for a moment and said quickly, "Your Majesty, you are too kind! I am truly embarrassed!"

Liu Chan shook his head:

"It's not important. For someone like me who only knows how to command the country but has never had to fight bloody battles, the reason I can still stand here firmly is because of you and those soldiers who sacrificed their lives and fought bloody battles like you.

"I shouldn't forget, I can't forget. In the future, when you walk beside me and the clanging sound of the floor tiles makes your feet, it might alert me and make me feel less complacent."

Hearing this, the civil officials headed by Guo Youzhi and Chen Zhi completely restrained their expressions, and their eyes became somewhat complicated.

This is not to warn Your Majesty, but to warn those empty talkers who sit on the plateau and feel at ease, thinking that the world depends on strategy rather than courage, and on planning rather than fighting.

"Come, take a few steps and take a look." Liu Chan let go of Mi Wei's hand.

Mi Wei had lost his composure to the extreme, and his whole body seemed to have flown away into space. He was completely unaware that the emperor had let go of his hand, and he didn't hear what the emperor was saying at all.

"But it doesn't fit?" Liu Chan asked.

“Ah?…Oh, it fits, it fits!”

Mi Wei finally came to his senses. He first wiped his face vigorously, then without wearing shoes, he lifted his slightly heavy legs and started walking.

The iron foot shining with metallic luster stepped on the yellow earth without making any sound, but Mi Wei's figure and spirit became visibly more upright.

I don't know if it was because Liu Chan personally tailored it for Mi Wei, but after running in for twenty or thirty steps, his walking posture was no longer as uneven and limping as before. If you don't look closely, he is no different from an ordinary person.

As he walked, he actually started to jog.

Liu Chan originally wanted to let Mi Wei mount the horse again and try, but at this time, the Tiger Cavalry Sima Huang Chong suddenly rode up the plateau.

Everyone made way for him, and Huang Chong quickly walked up to Liu Chan and reported, "Your Majesty, the Prime Minister's army broke camp and set off an hour ago!"

The Prime Minister has set off? Liu Chan paused.

"Why the sudden change of plans?

"Didn't we say we should wait until this batch of food and supplies arrives in Wugong before leaving?"

Huang Chong reported: "Your Majesty, the Prime Minister met with the elders of the Su, Ji, and three other minor families at the Wugong camp last night.

"The conversation lasted until midnight, and they were very happy. These families donated more than 40,000 dan of grain to the Han Dynasty and sent more than 800 soldiers to accompany the expedition.

"The Prime Minister said that since we have enough food and fodder, weapons and armor are ready, the soldiers have rested, and the rear is stable, then we should move quickly rather than later, and he gave the order to move camp."

Liu Chan nodded suddenly.

The 35,000-strong army that the Prime Minister brought from Longyou broke camp and left Wuzhangyuan five days ago, heading for Su's Wugongwu.

One is to avoid the plague.

The second is to proceed step by step and transport the subsequent food and supplies to Su's Wugongwu as a transit station.

The Su family is now loyal to the Han Dynasty. The last time Cao's army raided Wuzhangyuan, Sima Yi sent envoys to Su's Village to collect grain.

The Su family naturally refused, so the Wei envoy made a harsh statement, saying that the Su family would be wiped out after Sima Yi destroyed the Han Dynasty.

Tribal leader Su Wei thought about it, and finally killed the messenger with his own hands, leaving no way back.

After Cao's army failed in its surprise attack on Wuzhangyuan and fled in disappointment, Su Wei sent people to actively move around in various towns in the county.

He successfully persuaded the Ji family, one of the four major Wugong families, and three other small families, the Li family, the Wu family, and the Wei family, to submit to the Han Dynasty.

At that time, the four newly surrendered families had already offered more than 16,000 dan of grain.

Now that the Prime Minister has taken action, he has requested more than 40,000 stones of grain and fodder from the commanders of these fortresses.

I don't know if he was shocked and inspired by the Prime Minister's strict military appearance, so he decided to continue to increase his bet on the Han Dynasty in order to gain more political resources in the future.

But no matter what, it is indeed a timely help. The Han Dynasty is indeed facing the problem of food shortage.

It was all because of the plague. The prisoners who could have been sent to transport food were now forced to hoe the fields for isolation. Although they were not idle, the logistical pressure still increased sharply.

It’s not that there is no food, but that there is no manpower to transport the food.

Liu Chan had no choice but to issue an edict, ordering Gao Xiang, who was guarding Hanzhong, to recruit another 6,000 laborers from Hanzhong to transport grain, further burdening the people.

It was precisely because of the increasing logistical pressure that Liu Chan personally went to the entrance of Xiegu Valley to supervise the management, taking charge of everything from trivial matters to major events.

It not only ensures logistics, but also allows the troops fighting outside to have no worries.

It also allows you to understand and become familiar with logistics management in a high-pressure environment, and to deeply understand how the state machine and the war machine actually operate.

Since ancient times, the founding monarchs have always been the most capable, but the quality of their descendants has become worse and worse.

Often it is not the IQ or extravagance that is the reason, but the fact that the emperors of later generations have been exposed to the most complex and macro-level national affairs since they came to power.
Therefore, there is no way to understand how the state apparatus actually operates from the bottom up.

Since they don’t understand, they always come up with some bizarre or self-righteous actions.

Not only were later emperors like this, but many officials elected through the recommendation system were also boastful.

They all thought they were extremely talented and capable of being prime ministers, but in fact they couldn't even figure out how a county operated, let alone govern it.

Liu Chan did not think that he was much stronger than these people, so he was determined to go deep into the capillaries of the empire and sort it out, taking a bottom-up approach.

He walked to the east wall of Wuzhangyuan and looked towards Wugong County.

The scattered forts and dock walls looked like fuzzy squares, and the prime minister's tens of thousands of troops became a black line slowly crawling eastward.

It was only sixty miles away from the Huaili camp where Sima Yi was stationed.

If we proceed steadily, it will be a two-day march.

(End of this chapter)