Han official!

Chapter 182: Fenglangjuxu
The moment Wei Qing and Guo Jie locked eyes, the two veteran generals simultaneously recalled the siege of Mayi in the sixth year of the Yuanguang era.

That night, they watched as Huo Qubing, then fourteen years old, sneaked out of the camp. Now, the flame in the boy's eyes was a hundred times more intense than it had been back then.

At midnight, Huo Qubing appeared upstream of the Ruoshui River with eight hundred elite soldiers.

The Xiongnu would never have imagined that the Han army would dare to cross the Ghost Cry Gorge on a moonless night.

This place is the burial site of seven detachments of the Han army over the past thirty years, and rusted ring-pommel swords can be seen everywhere among the jagged rocks.

"Dismount." The young general took off his jade-hilted sword, cut his palm, and smeared the blood on the warhorse's blindfold: "Blindfolded, gag in the mouth, and let men sneak up on you."

As the eight hundred warriors bound their horses' hooves with strips of cloth and followed Huo Qubing as they climbed the cliff, they heard the sound of sacrificial drums from the bottom of the valley.

In the darkest hour before dawn, the Weak Water suddenly shimmered with silver light.

Huo Qubing stood on a cliff hundreds of feet high, looking down at the Xiongnu camp ten miles downstream, and threw a torch into a pile of sulfur.

As the first fiery dragon flowed downstream, the young general recalled the river map that Guo Jie had drawn on the sand table the night before he left Chang'an.

Those seemingly random ravines are now becoming a reality in the fires of hell.

Suddenly, countless sparks exploded on the surface of the river, and the pungent smell of sulfur mixed with saltpeter wafted into the Xiongnu camp on the morning breeze.

Huo Qubing lay prone on the edge of the cliff, watching the first wave of fire overturn the Xiongnu grain carts, and the burning millet bursting into golden-red sparks on the river surface.

This was a "ground dragon turning powder" that he specially instructed the Mo family craftsmen to prepare, which burned even more fiercely when it came into contact with water.

"The Left Wise King's tent is on fire!" came the exclamation in the Xiongnu language from the bottom of the valley.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, eight hundred Han soldiers threw out grappling hooks, and their dark figures slid rapidly down the cliff face.

When Huo Qubing landed, the sole of his deerskin boots touched a warm object, and when he looked down, he saw half of a bronze wolf head mask.

The Han scout who was shot down by a poisoned arrow last night was still biting the throat of the Xiongnu sentry until his death.

On the riverside altar, a shaman is using a golden knife to cut out the heart of a prisoner.

Huo Qubing raised his hand and fired a whistling arrow; eight hundred crossbow bolts left the bowstring simultaneously, turning the altar into a pincushion.

As the young general charged up the altar through a pool of blood, severing the banner bearing the tails of nine white yaks with a single sword stroke, he heard a familiar whooshing sound behind him.

"Young General, be careful!" Zhao Ponu's chain hammer knocked away three flying axes.

Huo Qubing turned around and saw the fierce glint in the single eye of the Left Wise King's personal guard captain.

This scar was left from the Battle of Hexi in the second year of the Yuanshou era.

The young general suddenly revealed his gleaming white teeth and deliberately shouted in the Xiongnu language, "Your queen cried beautifully at Juyan Lake."

The one-eyed giant's scimitar appeared momentarily delayed, and Huo Qubing's jade-hilted sword had already pierced through the gaps in his leather armor.

As the sword was pulled from between the third ribs, the young general suddenly spun around, directing the spurting fountain of blood toward the charging Hun shaman.

The drops of blood landed on the bone flute in the wizard's hand, emitting a mournful whistling sound.

Fifty miles away on the main battlefield, Guo Jie was using his Dingjiang sword to lift the sand table.

The old general suddenly pointed to the black smoke rising into the sky in the northeast: "General, Qubing has succeeded!"

Wei Qing drew his Zhanlu sword with a snap, its spine reflecting a rain of arrows: "Order the entire army to change the Changshan Formation to the Arrowhead Formation!"

Upon receiving the order, the Xuanjia Heavy Cavalry changed formation, and the warhorses linked by iron chains suddenly broke their locks, transforming into hundreds of triangular assault teams.

This was Huo Qubing's unique "wolf pack warfare tactic" created during his sand table simulation at Ganquan Palace, which Wei Qing used with perfect ease.

Yizhixie Chanyu's golden chariot suddenly turned, and nine white horses neighed as they charged toward the breach.

Guo Jie seized the drumsticks and personally beat the war drum to launch an attack.

When the seventh drumbeat sounded, the old general saw Li Gan use his severed arm to hold a drawn crossbow and shoot a poisoned crossbow bolt into the window of the Xiongnu's secondary carriage.

"boom--"

A mushroom-shaped black cloud rose from the direction of the Chanyu's golden tent, and the shockwave overturned soldiers within a radius of a hundred feet.

Huo Qubing looked up on the banks of the Ruoshui River and saw burning cowhide tents falling like a meteor shower.

This was his final trump card before setting off: to melt down the captured Hun sacrificial golden statue and cast it into a gunpowder urn.

"Report!" The messenger, covered in blood, knelt before Wei Qing's horse: "General Guo led his elite troops to break through the Xiongnu's eastern camp!"

The Grand Marshal's sword, however, pointed southwest: "Tell Qubing to retreat immediately! A sandstorm is coming!"

As if responding to his command, a sound like the wailing of ten thousand ghosts suddenly filled the heavens and earth.

When Huo Qubing tore off his cloak to cover his mouth and nose, he saw the yellow sand pressing down like a giant wall, with glittering obsidian fragments mixed in with the sand grains.

This is a unique type of "Yanwang Dust" from the northern desert, capable of grinding through iron armor within the time it takes to burn an incense stick.

"Form the tortoise shell formation!" The young general's roar was torn apart by the sandstorm. The Han army quickly rallied, sealing their shields into an impenetrable iron shell.

The sound of the sandstorm pounding against the shield was like a million evil spirits beating a coffin, but Huo Qubing smiled in the darkness.

He touched the warm, smooth jade pendant with a coiled dragon design at his waist. Three days ago, when Wei Qing sent someone to deliver it, it still carried the scent of agarwood from Weiyang Palace.

The sandstorm lasted for a full three hours.

When Huo Qubing lifted his shield, the moonlight shone on a bronze wolf-head armor.

Yizhixie Chanyu's right-hand king, Rizhu, lay on his back, his seven orifices filled with black sand, and his golden sword had already cut seventeen notches.

The young general kicked aside the corpse and suddenly noticed a trail of footprints on the sand stretching northwest.

Each footprint was three inches deep, and the stride was measured with the precision of a ruler.

"Chase!" When Huo Qubing mounted his horse, he found that his guards' horses had already collapsed and died.

He untied the jade pendant, tied it to the broken halberd, stuck it into the sand, and turned to walk towards the nearest unclaimed warhorse.

The Xiongnu horse, with its injured right leg, did not resist the Han rider; instead, it affectionately licked the blood scab on the boy's palm.

Eighty miles away at Bailang'ao, Guo Jie was tallying the casualties. Suddenly, the old general pressed his twitching eyelids and turned to ask the quartermaster, "How many arrows does the Marquis of Champion's force have left?"

"General Huo took all three thousand armor-piercing arrows that were replenished last night."

Before the quartermaster could finish speaking, a green plume of smoke suddenly burst open in the northeastern night sky.

This was a signal from the Xiongnu seeking help, but it rose from the heart of the Han army's territory.

Wei Qing suddenly drew his Zhanlu sword: "The light cavalry of the central army, follow me!"

As the Grand Marshal's white horse trampled over the arrows strewn across the ground, Guo Jie noticed the dark red seeping from the cracks in his armor.

That old wound from seven years ago finally ruptured in the sandstorm.

At this moment, Huo Qubing was following the footprints into a branch of the Qilian Mountains.

The moonlight bathed the canyon in a stark white light, and the young general suddenly reined in his horse.

On the cliff a hundred feet ahead, the golden wolf-head banner of Yizhixie Chanyu fluttered in the night wind.

Thirty Blood Wolf Riders lined up in front of the cliff, wielding not curved swords but the standard Han army ring-pommel swords.

"So that's how it is." Huo Qubing stroked his mount's neck and suddenly shouted in the Xiongnu language, "When did the eagles of Helan Mountain become the claws of rats in Chang'an?"

The sound of metal clashing came from the cliff, and a dark figure fell to the ground.

The young general saw the other person's waist tag before the body hit the ground.

That was the token of the Attendant of Weiyang Palace.

The snow on the summit of Langjuxu Mountain was a pale blue color. As Huo Qubing inserted the blood-stained banner into a crevice in the rock, he heard the sound of iron armor scraping behind him.

Three hundred elite Han soldiers are carving a stone tablet with Xiongnu battle axes. Amidst the flying stone chips, the two seal characters "Hanjiang" gradually appear.

"Bring me the wine." The young general took off his helmet, letting the mountain wind tear at his hair.

The lacquered cup handed to me by the guards contained an amber liquid, made by mixing the last water from the skins of fallen soldiers with imperial wine.

Huo Qubing poured the wine in front of the stele, watching the liquid meander through the grooves of the inscription, forming a river of blood.

Suddenly, a bugle call sounded from the foot of the mountain, and Wei Qing's central army banner broke through the morning mist.

Guo Jie led the way, his Dingjiang sword adorned with seven gold seals of Xiongnu nobles. The old general looked up and saw the red flag fluttering atop the mountain, then suddenly reined in his horse and let out a long roar.

This battle cry, honed over thirty years of battlefield experience, startled the remaining snow in the mountains, causing it to fall in a soft rustling sound.

At noon, smoke rose from the altar made of five-colored earth. Huo Qubing took the prayer text handed to him by the Grand Astrologer and found dark red fingerprints on the edge of the silk scroll.

This is a talisman drawn by the doctoral student who died in battle three days ago, before he bit his finger to ward off evil.

The young general unfurled the silk scroll, his voice piercing the biting wind:
"The sun and moon shine brightly, and the mountains and rivers bear witness!"

The echoes of 100,000 soldiers shook the mountains.

When the words "The Han army has arrived" resounded through the sky, the soldiers in the front row suddenly raised the captured Xiongnu battle flags and set them ablaze with torches, turning them into towering pillars of fire.

Guo Jie noticed that Wei Qing quietly pressed his left chest as the flames rose.

That old wound could no longer be hidden.

Seven days later, the triumphant army reached the Yellow River crossing.

Huo Qubing's crimson battle robe had been replaced with a plain gauze robe, but the jade-hilted sword still hung at his waist.

Looking at the hundreds of multi-story ships on the river, he suddenly smiled at Guo Jie and asked, "Uncle, do you know what rewards His Majesty has prepared?"

Before the old general could answer, thirty-six drums suddenly sounded from the opposite bank.

Emperor Wu of Han's black dragon banner appeared on the horizon, and twelve golden chariots shimmered in the sunlight.

Even more shockingly, the emperor walked on foot in front of the ceremonial guard, his twelve-symbol crown robe trailing behind the newly built imperial road.

"Where is my Marquis of Champion?"

Liu Che's shout startled a flock of geese.

Huo Qubing dismounted and rode quickly, but was stopped by Wei Qing thirty paces in front of the emperor.

The general gently shook his head, and only then did the young general realize that behind the emperor were all officials with a salary of two thousand shi or above.

This is the highest honor bestowed upon a person who is welcomed sixty miles outside the city.

"Good! Good! Good!"

Liu Che said "good" three times in a row, his finger tracing the knife marks on Huo Qubing's armor. "Was this left by the golden knife of the King of Xiutu? Was this wound caused by the poisoned arrow of the King of Zhelan?"

His familiarity with each wound was as if he had witnessed the carnage firsthand.

Guo Jie followed at the end of the group of officials and saw Zhang Tang rapidly writing on bamboo slips.

The Imperial Censor's pen suddenly stopped, because the Emperor had done something that shocked everyone.

Liu Che took off the sword that Emperor Gaozu used to slay the snake and personally tied it around Huo Qubing's waist.

"This sword accompanied Emperor Gaozu into Guanzhong, and today I bestow it upon you to open up Hexi."

Liu Che's voice trembled strangely, "Tomorrow I will hold a banquet in Weiyang Palace, and you will sit to my right."

Wei Qing coughed at that moment.

The Grand Marshal and General knelt and reported: "Your subject requests that the Marquis of Champion be punished for his offense of wearing armor while visiting the emperor."

These words caused the courtiers to whisper among themselves, but then Liu Che laughed and helped Wei Qing up: "The General has taught his nephew well! He deserves a reward!"

That night, smoke rose from the chimneys of thousands of homes in the Han army camp along the Yellow River.

When Guo Jie was inspecting the camp, he heard soldiers with Longxi accents singing "No Clothes" and warriors from Bashu tapping out rhythms with bronze spear shafts.

He walked to the front of the central command tent and saw Huo Qubing sitting alone under the lamp, wiping Yizhixie's golden seal of the Chanyu with a cloth.

“Uncle, look at the wolf head on this seal.” The young general suddenly spoke up, “It’s exactly the same as the embroidered image inside the fur coat of Marquis Hunxie Gudu.”

Guo Jie leaned closer for a closer look, then suddenly pressed down on Huo Qubing's hand: "This black jade with wolf eyes is a precious item that the Nanyang craftsmen presented as tribute last year."

As the two men looked at each other, they heard the sound of rapid hoofbeats coming from outside the tent.

An urgent, confidential report from Chang'an has arrived.

As the chime bells of the Imperial Ancestral Temple pierced through the autumn rain, Guo Jie was trying on his newly made Xuanduan court robes in the armory.

The rhinoceros-hide belt was fastened to the third jade pendant, and the old general suddenly recalled the snowy night in the northern desert.

Back then, using Xiongnu bowstrings to bind armor was more comfortable than wearing these luxurious clothes.

"The jade-hilted sword His Majesty bestowed upon the Marquis of Zhi has arrived." The attendant's shrill voice startled the birds roosting under the eaves.

Guo Jie turned around and saw the Imperial Attendant holding a gilded wooden box. The gold-inlaid patterns on the sword inside were exactly the same as those on Huo Qubing's great-grandfather's serpent-slaying sword.

The newly engraved characters "Loyalty and Courage" on the hilt gleamed with an eerie blue light on a rainy day.

At the west gate of Weiyang Palace, Wei Qing's carriage encountered Guo Jie.

The Grand Marshal lifted the carriage curtain, revealing half of his pale face: "I heard that His Majesty has brought forward the audience of the Salt and Iron Commissioner of Hejian by a quarter of an hour?"

Guo Jie noticed the cinnabar floating in the medicine bowl in the other person's hand.

This is Five-Stone Powder, concocted by a Taoist priest. The Imperial Physician had explicitly banned it half a year ago.

Inside the Chongde Hall, Zhang Tang raised his ivory tablet first: "Your subject requests that the Marquis of Zhi be appointed as the Imperial Censor of the Northern Army and supervise the military farms in the Three Auxiliary Regions."

Upon hearing this, suppressed gasps rippled through the ranks of the Nine Ministers.

Guo Jie stared at the flickering candlelight on the lacquered table and suddenly noticed the black sand stuck to Zhang Tang's brocade shoes.

It was the same color as the refined iron ore in the wooden box of the Xiongnu envoy.

"Approved." Liu Che's fingertips traced the dragon carvings on the dragon throne. "Add another two hundred households to the fiefdom, making it a thousand households."

The emperor suddenly coughed, and the attendant hurriedly brought him a medicine cup, in which floated the poisonous wolf flower, a plant unique to the northern desert.

When the imperial edict of reward was read to the point of granting him entry into the palace in a carriage, Huo Qubing's sword suddenly fell to the ground.

As the young general bent down to pick up the sword, he gestured to Guo Jie as if drawing a bow.

This was a secret code agreed upon during the Battle of Hexi, meaning "there is an ambush inside."

Guo Jie glanced at the corner of the hall and noticed that the ring-pommel swords of the twelve Qimen warriors had all been replaced with horse-slaying swords used to deal with cavalry.

Returning home on a rainy night, the steward presented him with a confidential letter.

The bamboo slips were inscribed with "Helan Mountain Bright Moon" in the Xiongnu script, and included half of a broken tiger tally.

It fits perfectly with the troop deployment tally from the third year of the Yuanguang era that Guo Jie treasured.

Three days later, during an inspection of the Northern Army, Guo Jie discovered three hundred new types of crossbows in a corner of the armory.

These crossbows have precise mountain-view markings down to the millimeter, yet the inside of the wooden arm is engraved with the mark of the Weiyang Palace's Junior Office.

That night, the old general ventured alone into the Imperial Archives and found a record in the dusty military register: "In the third year of Yuan Shou, fifty catties of gold were paid to the Imperial Treasury to cast an astronomical instrument for the Water Balance Commandant."

During the Winter Solstice Heaven Worship Ceremony, Guo Jie, wearing an imperial jade-hilted sword, stood at the altar.

When the Grand Sacrificer poured the sacrificial wine northward, a sudden gust of wind arose, blowing the wine into a bloody mist that splattered onto Zhang Tang's court robes.

Guo Jie took the opportunity to step forward and caught a whiff of wolfsbane emanating from the Imperial Censor's sleeve.

This poisonous herb, unique to the northern desert, was the medium through which Xiongnu shamans cursed Han generals.

At a night banquet in Weiyang Palace, Huo Qubing feigned drunkenness and performed a sword dance.

The young general's sword swept past Zhang Tang's desk three times, knocking off the Imperial Censor's official hat.

On the bamboo slip fragments that fell from the crown, the five characters "a pact with King Hunxie" are clearly visible.

Guo Jie tilted his head back and drank the wine in his cup to the last drop, but what he tasted was the bloody stench of the Weak Water River.

The following day at court, Guo Jie took off his jade-hilted sword and said, "Your subject requests to go to Yunzhong County to supervise the construction of the Great Wall."

Liu Che played with the agate presented as tribute by the Xiongnu queen, then suddenly poured it onto the steps: "Granted. I hereby bestow upon the Marquis of Zhi the insignia and grant him overall command of the military affairs of the twelve border commanderies."

(End of this chapter)