My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 358 Good Deeds
It was already dark.

The city of Liuhe was unusually quiet.

Inside the temporary tent, Li Xuanba lay on the bed, fast asleep.

His brows were furrowed, his whole body was trembling, and he was curled up.

"Ah!!!"

Li Xuanba suddenly woke up, raised his golden mace, and looked around warily.

The room was pitch black, with moonlight streaming in through the small window. Li Xuanba looked uneasy, his eyes were wary, and he was sweating profusely.

"General?"

A voice called out from outside.

The voice sounded familiar. Li Xuanba put down the golden mace in his hand and let out a breath.

He got off the bed and pushed open the door.

Outside the gate stood a tall, imposing man.

Qin Shubao stood majestically at the door, a sword tucked into his robes.

Li Xuanba was taken aback. "What is this?"

“Although those major thieves have been eliminated, there are still many people who want to deal with Lang Jiang in secret. This is not the Xiaoguo Guard, so I am here to guard.”

Li Xuanba was taken aback. "There's no need for that."

"It's alright, General. Just go in and rest. I'll guard this place, and no one can get in."

Li Xuanba stood calmly in place, raising his head to look at the moon on the horizon.

A cool breeze was blowing, and Li Xuanba's breathing gradually became steady.

"In the past, all my killings were on the battlefield, and they were all enemies."

"General, you are now killing the enemy. The battle of Liuhe City is far more dangerous than the battle of Liaodong City."

Qin Qiong slowly said, "When I was about the same age as the general, my biggest enemy was the little girl next door. That girl was very naughty and always stole my snacks."

Li Xuanba hesitated for a moment before slowly saying, "When I was young, I always stayed indoors and rarely went out."

"Therefore I say that the general is benevolent and righteous."

"The general probably doesn't know what those people outside have gone through. Take my family for example. My family was originally quite wealthy, but unfortunately, after this emperor came to power, he raised taxes year after year and forced labor was frequently imposed. My grandfather is old, and I am the only male in the family. There was really no other way but to come to the military government."

"I gave so many gifts to the important people my father knew, and my family fortune was almost emptied before I was able to enter the military government. I was very lucky. I first gained the favor of the Duke of Rongguo and then the promotion of the general. My life was not bad. But those other people, even if they tried their best to enter the military government, did not have a good ending."

"The corvée labor was exempted, but the taxes were not exempted at all, and they kept increasing. It seems that three or four years ago, the emperor ordered a forced collection of grain and fodder for the conquest of Tuyuhun within ten days. No military household was exempt from the expenses of digging the canal."

"Many military households objected and refused to pay, so the court confiscated the ironware from the people, saying they were causing trouble."

"The Guanzhong and Hedong regions are actually quite good. The generals and captains here are all important figures who can protect their own people, but people from other places wouldn't dare to do that."

"If the military officials are like this, then the common people are even more speechless."

“There have been bandits in my hometown, a lot more than in other places. They are people who can’t survive.”

"This time, I must thank the general on behalf of the elders of my hometown. The general fought in Liaodong City to protect the country, and fought in Liuhe City to bring peace to the people."

"If this war can really be quelled and the soldiers can return safely, then the outrageous taxes and corvée labor can be stopped, which could save millions of lives."

"This is all thanks to the general."

Qin Qiong spoke in a relatively relaxed manner, his tone not heavy.

Li Xuanba, however, kept a straight face and said, "I'm not sure either. I don't know how things will turn out. Maybe we can save a lot of people, or maybe we'll kill even more."

"Doing something is always better than doing nothing."

"If 300,000 elite troops die on the front lines, their weapons and armor will be lost to the enemy. If the emperor still wants to continue his expedition, I'm afraid that in ten years, the Goryeo people will become the next Xianbei and come to the Central Plains to graze their horses. Even if Goryeo doesn't come, once the domestic situation deteriorates, the Turks will come too." "In this light, what we did this time should be a good thing."

"Maybe."

The main camp outside the city.

When the generals stepped onto the platform and officially announced that they could evacuate from this hellish place, the entire army cheered.

The soldiers no longer had the same anticipation they had when they first set out on the campaign. When they heard that they could finally go home, they laughed and hugged their comrades. Some even cried tears of joy.

With a simple imperial edict, the emperor brought all the armies in the country to Liaodong.

The emperor sat in his carriage, with a road paved in front of him, dancers performing before him, and even a special team bringing him the freshest fruits. He arrived in Liaodong in this way. Upon arrival, he couldn't help but remark to everyone that he had been so diligent, personally leading an expedition to such a remote and harsh place, something that even ancient emperors could not do.

And even when the emperor couldn't see them, these soldiers still traveled over mountains and rivers to get there.

The soldiers in Youzhou and Hebei were perhaps in a better situation, but when they reached the Central Plains and Guanzhong, they began to complain. They traveled day and night without rest, the weather became increasingly harsh, and their bodies became increasingly exhausted. Once they collapsed, they could never get up again.

For the soldiers who came from even further afield, the order to die had already been given the moment they set out on the campaign.

Soldiers who set out from Chengdu, Panyu and other places, even with the help of the canal, had few left when they reached the front line. The further they went, the more terrified they became.

Those young people who are used to fishing in the river wearing only light clothing may be seeing this scene of heavy snow covering the sky in Liaodong for the first time.

This is a deadly road; even if you manage to reach your destination by chance, you cannot escape your fate of death.

One scholar described the scene as follows: "The road is treacherous and long, with the dead lying piled up one after another, and the stench filling the road."

The exhaustion from the journey, the unfamiliar environment, and the chaotic logistics killed far more people than the Koreans. And with so many dead, plague soon followed. After enduring all these external factors, they had to face the emperor's misguided orders.

For example, clever ideas like carrying heavy loads during a sprint.

Historically, during the retreat of the army, the official data from the Sui Dynasty showed that half of the soldiers had died. The emperor had summoned more than one million soldiers, and if half of them died, that meant that 500,000 people had died directly.

According to other historical records and later scholars' speculations, no more than 300,000 soldiers survived the first expedition. In other words, the emperor's expedition cost the Sui Dynasty more than 800,000 strong soldiers.

If the sage's purpose was simply to eliminate the powerful nobles of Guanzhong, then this can be considered a huge investment, even risking his entire fortune.

This is an extremely exaggerated number.

After this battle, the Sui Dynasty basically lost the support of the people, the morale of the army, and its deterrent power against foreign powers.

This meant that during the second expedition, the imperial court had to recruit soldiers from local areas.

This time, at least the soldiers can go home sooner.

The survivors cheered, their shouts echoing through the sky.

The generals remained silent, only clenching their fists as they looked at their comrades who had followed them into battle.

The soldiers had waited far too long for this day. As the imperial edict was issued, the soldiers began to move out, and one army after another began to pack up their camps and gradually retreat towards home.

Those burly, tall men wiped away their tears, their minds filled with images of reuniting with their families, and their steps quickened considerably.

The army withdrew extremely quickly, one after another.

After they left, the makeshift training ground became empty.

After the soldiers withdrew, only the surrounding mounds remained, one after another, stretching endlessly.
Beneath each mound of earth lies a father of children, a son of a father, the apple of a woman's eye, and the pillar of a family.

The captain at the front of the group looked up and began to sing.

The captain's accent was strange, seemingly from the south, and the other soldiers on their way couldn't understand it at all.

The captain raised his own military banner high, his head held high, his voice hoarse, as he sang all the way.

Behind him, however, there was no one.

(End of this chapter)