Chapter 59 Selfishness

The wave chased out fifty miles and plunged into the ambush of the Sassanians. Seeing that the Sassans were running more and more powerless, and the distance was getting closer and closer, the wave was happy. Unexpectedly, two teams of 10,000 people suddenly rushed out from both sides. The Sassanians, who were running in front of them, turned their heads again and opened their fangs to him. Ten thousand immortal heavy armored soldiers rushed to him with an indestructible murderous spirit and suddenly surrounded him in the middle.

Bo Ting was so regretful that his intestines were blue. He scolded Ardahir for being too cunning and didn't forget to set a trap for his life. However, Ardahir couldn't hear his curse. He commanded the army to rush up and surrounded the wave in the middle. The heavy armored Imous army kept rushing at the wave's pro-guards, trying to kill 20,000 noble frost horsemen before the wave's reinforcements arrived.

The wave was forced to a dead end, and there was no way to escape. Under the instinct of survival, he shouted a fierce battle. While shouting that the iron riders of the Han people would definitely come to save them, he encouraged the soldiers to persevere to the end, while taking the guard camp to deal with the rush of the immortal army with a dense array. The Guishuang people heard the order of the wave and encouraged each other to resist desperately. They shouted directly with the horn far away. The Sassanids were not unfamiliar with the language of the Guishuang people. Some people understood their words and learned that the Han cavalry was not far behind them, and their morale was also affected. In addition, after all, they had just trekked in the desert. After half a month, their physical strength had reached its limit, but they suppressed the Guishuang people with a sense of morale. After a long time, they couldn't support it. Now that they heard that the Han cavalry was about to arrive, they were even more uncertain.

Aldahir quickly received a report from the scout. The Han cavalry was coming. Although he was not sure how much sincerity the Han people had to rescue the wave, he was more afraid of being entangled and could not escape. Seeing that he had beaten the noble frost people in a few rounds of killing, he suffered heavy losses. He decided to stop it when he saw it was good and ordered a big The army withdrew from the battlefield and covered each other to slowly withdraw to the north.

In just half an hour of battle, the wave tone lost more than 3,000 people, more than 5,000 people were injured and lost their combat effectiveness, and the originally high morale plummeted. Looking at the corpses on the ground and listening to the wailing one after another, the wave was extremely depressed. With regret, I couldn't help bursting into tears.

When Xun Yan arrived at the camp with Hu, the Sassanians had gone far away and walked on a messy battlefield, and he was also secretly surprised. Sassan's iron horse dominates the world, and Aldahir can fight well. It really lives up to his reputation, but in just half an hour, it has caused such a great killing to the nobleshuang people. It was still after they were hit hard by Lu Xun, and then walked in the desert for more than half a month. If he faced the refreshed Sassanians, he doubted whether the wave's head would have been cut off by the Sassanians now.

The battlefield is dangerous, and you really can't be careless. Any little negligence may cause irreparable losses. The Sassan people hit the aggressive Guishuang people with a backhand attack. Although it was not a bad thing for the Han people, it was a great blow to morale. They came all the way from Tianzhu by boat to refresh themselves. Originally, they wanted to get a good start, but they didn't expect to lose the battle first, which brought a lot of pressure to the psychology of the soldiers.

"Your Majesty, victory or defeat is a common thing for soldiers. Fortunately, the loss is not very big. The king should seize the time to clean up people's hearts. It's still a good thing. When it comes to Taixifeng, it's not too late for us to take revenge. Xun Yan patiently advised. Looking at the original high-spirited tone suddenly become like this, he also felt a little uncomfortable.

The wave tone felt very embarrassed, so he had to wipe all the tears on his face, ordered people to clean up the soldiers to treat the wounded, and cremated the remains of the soldiers on the spot. Most of the Guishuang people believe in Buddhism and practice the afterlife, and the Guishuang people have inherited some of the original customs. They do not have too many taboos about death in war. On the contrary, they think it is a relief. There are accompanying monks in the army. After they recite the scriptures to the dead soldiers, it is also possible to leave a little of the bones and bring them back to China.

At night, the sound of chanting scriptures and the blazing firelight made people feel the danger of the battlefield and the errath of life and death. Even Cao Zhang and others, who were used to seeing the blood, felt a little sad. Cao Zhang came back from the camp to visit the soldiers. Looking at the endless light on the grassland, he was silent for a long time and suddenly said, "If people die, will there really be a heaven?"

Xun Yun thought for a time and said with a smile, "I still like to return my soul to Mount Tai and be buried in the ancestral grave of the Xun family. I don't want to throw my bones in a foreign land."

Cao Zhang looked back at him, frowned, and then laughed again. He laughed and said with a self-deprecating smile, "I have killed countless people. I think those monks with compassion will not be for the sake of transcendence. I can't go to this heaven. I just hope to have the opportunity to enter the sage hall of the Han Dynasty. It's enough to let future generations know that I have done something for the big man.

Xun Yan was a little curious: "Do you really want to build a sage hall?"

"It's going to be built." Cao Zhang smiled and said, "Before we came out, your majesty told me himself. He said that the State of Yue is a vassal state of the Han Dynasty. They all have Xianxian Hall, so that future generations can remember those virtuous ministers and famous generals who have made contributions to the State of Yue. How can the great Han Dynasty be as good as a vassal state? The Xianxian Hall is to be built, and the address has been selected and ready to be placed in Piyongli outside Luoyang City, so that those scholars who have entered the imperial school can know their achievements. "."

"Is it?" Xun Yan answered thoughtfully, "I don't know who can enter the sages?"

"Of course, he is a person who has made contributions." Cao Zhang laughed and patted Xun Yan on the shoulder: "Chang Qian (Xun Yan's character), you are now a martial artist. You don't have time to do learning, and you kill a lot of people. Don't count on this virtue. Make good contributions. This four congress alliance, the expedition to Sassan, is also a once-in-a-lifetime war. If it can be won, it will also be regarded as a precedent for thousands of miles of war. It is not difficult to leave a name in history.

Xun Yan smiled twice: "Yes, I'm just a martial artist now. My knowledge is shallow, and I'm really ashamed of my ancestors. If the ancestors knew, they would probably jump up from the grave.

The Xun family is a descendant of the great Confucian Xun at the end of the Warring States Period. Although there was no great Confucianism after entering the Qin and Han Dynasties, Xun Yun's great ancestor Xun Shu's generation suddenly emerged, and several universities came out one after another. Xun Shu herself is erudite and not good at chapters. She is known as the four chiefs of Yingchuan together with Chen Yu, Zhong Hao and Han Shao, and is known as the god. His eight sons are known as eight dragons, among which Xun Shuang's knowledge is the best. He annotated "Rite", "Yi" and "Poetry" and founded Xun's Yixue, known as a master and a scholar. In the generation of Xun Yu's father, Xun Yu, Xun Yue's knowledge is the best. He wrote 30 articles of Han Ji and five volumes of Shen Jian, which is a generation of masters. In Xun Yan's generation, his brother Xun Kai was famous for Confucianism, and Xun Qun was famous for Taoism, but his eldest brother was not famous in Shilin. Of course, this had something to do with the woman he married to the Cao family, but it was mainly because he did not have outstanding achievements in his academics. For the children of these families, no matter how big the officials are, they are not as good as having a good reputation in Shilin. His great-grandfather Xun Shu is not the prime minister of Langling, but it does not affect his high prestige in Shilin. Even celebrities like Li Ying and Li Gu worship him and call him a teacher.

"Sue?" Cao Zhang sneered and looked at it disdain: "Botong classics are just picking up people's wisdom. Even if you write thousands of books, it is just the words of a family. How can you make up for the way and what's the benefit of the country?"

Xun Yun didn't say anything. The Cao family has no knowledge, and it is meaningless to discuss these with them.

Cao Zhang looked into his eyes and was even more unconvinced. He thought for a few thought and said, "Your Xun family has Xun Shiyi. Do you know a little about Yi Xue's school?"

Xun Yu nodded quietly: "I know a little bit. Why, do you want to learn?"

"I don't learn those things." Cao Zhangyi curled his lips and said, "Don't say that there are more than 400 years of Han, and there are less than a hundred people who have studied Yi Xue, right?"

Xun Yu couldn't help laughing: "There are more than a hundred people, there are thousands of people, and there are no less than 50 people in Zhuoran's family."

"It is easy to study the road of heaven and earth, claiming to know astronomy and geography, but in the end, they don't even understand that the earth is round, and they don't know what they are studying." Cao Zhang stamped his feet and said with a sarcastic smile, "They only know how to study the ancients word by word, but they don't know if these are real roads. What's the use of tens of thousands of people? Can ten thousand mistakes be equal to one truth?

Xun was stunned and speechless.

Cao Zhang saw it and was in a better mood. He took advantage of the victory and said, "I haven't seen the Yi Xue of the king of Yue, but I obeyed his words. The highest level of Yi Xue lies in 'one yin and one yang', and what we should practice most is 'Tianxingjian, a gentleman's self-improvement. The terrain is Kun, and the gentleman carries things with great virtue. The rest is his mother's floating clouds.

"Nonsense!" Xun Yun couldn't help retorting, "He just doesn't learn skills. Isn't it the scholars of Funan College and Zhuya College who really do things? He is now invincible, so everyone respects him. If he is defeated in this battle, you can see if he can still be as majestic as he is now.

"He can't win, so you can win by pulling a few great scholars?" Cao Zhang sneed: "It's pedantic!"

"Ignorance!"

The two stared at each other like two toads for a moment, and then couldn't help laughing. Xun Yan shook his head and took the initiative to change the topic and said, "How do you think we got here? Aren't we talking about heaven and hell?"

"Heavenly hell, it's just a thought." Cao Zhang said solemnly, "Those monks said, put down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha. After this battle, I will put down my knife and become a Buddha. In the future, I will go to heaven and look down on you corrupt Confucians in heaven.

Xun Yu sneered, and the two looked at each other and smiled, walking side by side towards the big tent.

The next day, Cao Zhi and others who got the news came. Everyone discussed and felt that after the failure to intercept the Sassanians, it was a foreterm conclusion that the main force of Sassan returned to Taixi to seal the city safely. Whether to continue to besiege Taixifeng or to stop it, none of them dared to be sure, so they had to send the news to Sun Shao to see how he arranged it. . Before receiving Sun Shao's order, they rested in place. At the same time, Chen Hai arranged for the ship to transport food and fodder to prepare for the siege or retreat. The siege is a war of attrition. The amount of food needed by tens of thousands of troops is not a small amount. Even if the power of Vietnam is very large now, it still needs to be prepared in advance to avoid a dilemma.

In Damascus, Sun Shao is still waiting for the results of the Romans' discussion. The Romans did not know that Sun Shao had also arranged people to intercept Ardahir in Sassan, and of course, they did not know that the interception had failed, but they knew that although the Sassans had lost a lot, they were far from the point of exhaustion. They had different opinions on the siege of Taixi with Yue and Guishuang. The conservatives, represented by Goldian, believe that it is fortunate that the Romans were able to fight today after the attack of Maximus rebellion. Instead of going deep into Sassan, it is better to make peace with the Sassanids and get more benefits when the situation in Sassanid is bad, such as returning to those. The land occupied by the Sassanids, asked for some compensation and so on. Even if there is less compensation, it is better than fighting a lot, but getting nothing in the end.

The radicals led by the Roman emperor Quintus disdained this. They believed that the Sassanids had always been a strong enemy of the Romans, and the desire to destroy Rome would not die. This time, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join forces with Yue and Guishuang to besiege Taisifeng. They did not take this opportunity to destroy Sasand and divide up their land. Do you have to wait for them to catch their breath before attacking Rome? Do you think that the State of Yue and Guishuang are our vassals? If we want them to come, we will come, and if we want them to leave, we will leave? At that time, only Rome will face Aldahir's anger alone. Can you, Gordian, be sure to defeat him?

Goldian was speechless and couldn't wrap the fire. Although Quintus did not make this clear, he knew that Quintus must have heard some rumors and knew that he had actually fought a defeat on the shore of Timsach. He himself also knew that the two wars that brought him a great reputation were actually the credit of the Yue people. Without the help of the Yue people, he might have died as early as Byzantium. If he wants to keep his reputation and prepare for the future struggle for power, he can't push Quintus too hard. Besides, he can't afford this responsibility. If he says he is sure to deal with the Sassanid now and really loses on that day, the Goldian family will come to an end.

Goldian avoided this question and asked a question to Quintus and his supporters. There are still 50,000 to 60,000 elites in the Sassanids. Even if they lose in the desert, at least more than half of them will return to Taixifeng. Taixifeng is a big city with tight defenses and a large population. With the appeal of Aldahir, they can soon recover their vitality. With the current people, can they capture Taixifeng? With the current strength of the Three Kingdoms, can we guarantee a long-term siege? If you are not sure at all, why do you go to Taixifeng? Who dares to say that when it comes to Taixifeng, he will definitely take Taixifeng?

This time it's Quintus' turn to be silent. They need to go to Taixifeng to make contributions, but they are not sure of success. They not only need to cooperate with Yue and Guishuang, but also need the support of Goldian. If Goldian passively resists, with the more than 40,000 people they have just been recruited, they can only be regarded as subordinates in the coalition of the Three Kingdoms, even if they take it. Tai Xifeng, the benefits they get are also limited, the risks are too big, and the benefits are too small, so who else is willing to go? Once the war is really as Goldian expected, they will be miserable, and they can only listen to Goldian's fingers in the future.

Everyone's own interests are measuring the gains and losses. As for the interests of Rome, the interests of all Romans are just an excuse when attacking others, and no one really takes these seriously.

Quintus is not stupid. Of course, he can see the original intention of Goldian and the senators. No matter how awe-inspiring they are, they are actually fighting for their own interests. But it can be seen that it is one thing, and how to do it is another. He not only had to rely on these legislators to compete with Goldian, but also had to unite with Goldian to bargain with Sun Shao, so even if he despised these people in his heart, he could only deal with them with his surname.

The fruitless discussion made him tired again and again, and he had no choice but to ask Momia again.

After listening to his prison, Momia said lightly, "What they are looking for is nothing but benefits. Where do the benefits come from? We don't have it, and we won't give it to them for nothing. No matter who wants to get benefits, he has to fight for it. It is impossible to get it for no reason. Their quarrel is not terrible, which shows that they want to fight for interests, and they are afraid that they have no desire. People without desire are the most terrible. The sages of the Han people said that only those who do not fight with others are those who cannot be defeated. If they have desire, there is a way to control it. Now all they want to think about is how to find this way.

Quintus was a little surprised. He was stunned for a moment: "Who did you hear? I don't seem to have said that.

"You didn't say that, I wouldn't listen to others?" Momia said quietly, "There are many Han people in Rome. What's the difficulty in finding someone who knows me? It's you. Since you became the emperor, you don't have time to study anymore.

Quintus turned his head awkwardly and squeaked twice. Momia is his queen, but he has a lingering sense of inferiority in front of Momia. Although he has liked Momia's beauty for a long time, he dare not ask her. Only once or two times ended hastily because of his psychological reasons. Although Momia didn't say anything, he left Momia's silence. He felt great harm. In order to avoid this harm, he tried not to go to Momia again. Anyway, there was never a shortage of women in the palace. Compared with his psychological disadvantage in front of Momia, he can enjoy the emperor's supreme dignity from other women. This made him addicted for a long time. He felt that Momia was just accusing him of being greedy for women and neglecting business.

"That... How can I find this way now?"

"Find a friend who can help you." Momia lowered her head, picked up the brush, learned to write Chinese characters one by one, and no longer looked at Quintus. Quintus hesitated for a moment: "Your Highness, King Yue? Can he help me solve this problem? Will he ask me for more?

"How do you know if you don't talk about it?" Momia said lightly, "Goldian relied on the help of Yue to win the battle. Would you like to watch him keep helping Goldian? Even if it doesn't work, pull him over from Goldian's side. Anyway, now you are the Roman emperor. All Goldian can do is promise, but you can fulfill it immediately. I don't think King Yue can't see the difference. She paused, gave Quintus a time to digest, and then said, "As for the conditions, we need to talk about it. At the beginning, he refused to come to Damascus to meet you. You were worried that he would have to let go of the whole city of Damascus, but did you solve this problem in a manor later?

Quentus smiled, and his worries melted a lot. At the beginning, Sun Shao refused to enter Damascus, and Quintus did not dare to give Damascus to Sun Shao as Alexander gave Axum directly to Sun Shao. After all, Axum was just a distant dependency, while Damascus was the official territory of Rome. Just when he was in a dilemma, it was Momia who reminded him to come up with it. The method of sending a manor to replace the city of Damascus has successfully achieved its goal. And Sun Shao did not insist, which was also what he didn't expect at the beginning. Just as he took a letter from Momia and asked Sun Shao to send troops to help the Romans solve the crisis, Momia could play an irreplaceable role at the most critical time.

"Yes, the king of Yue did not have a concubine with him on this trip. Do you want to choose a few women to serve him?" Quintus suddenly remembered Sun Shao's lecent problem, and his eyes suddenly lit up. Momia's hand shook, and a drop of ink melted on the paper. Quintus was thinking about it, but he didn't pay attention to it. He just said to himself about Sun Shao's beauty selection standard he knew: "He likes plump figure, especially the plump ru room. Hee hee, his habits are really strange. Why do he like it? Isn't it just right for a woman with such a big ru room, a pigeon-like ru room..."

According to the aesthetic habits of the Romans, women with big breasts are not good-looking, and the best breasts are described as pigeon breasts, so Quintus has never understood Sun Shao's standards for beauty. Thinking of this, he was a little puzzled, but he didn't notice that Momia's face had changed several times.

"It's really strange for people in the Han Dynasty. How can they connect such exquisite ideas with things between men and women? Since they liken such things to a war between men and women, why do they develop knowledge that makes people feel infinitely happy? Is war also a kind of enjoyment for them? But what's the happiness of war to kill people and many people? Speaking of which, it's better to do this.

Momia is fantasical.

"Queen...Queen..." Quintus patted the table and interrupted Momia's distraction. Momia was shocked, and her face turned red involuntarily. She secretly took a sip and asked, "What's the matter?"

"I said, can you choose a few women to give to the king of Yue as I just said?"

"No way." Momia blurted out and looked at Kuntus's stunned expression. She regretted it. The blush on her face suddenly recededed, and her already white face was like jade.

(to be continued)