Yesterday was dark clouds, and today the sky was clear.

The dark clouds that had condensed all day did not brew heavy rain. The next morning, the morning glow spread across the sky and the morning mist covered the mountains and rivers.

The first wisp of the morning spread to the world, Chang'an City ushered in a new day. The haze that squeezed into many people's hearts yesterday dissipated, and it suddenly became clear as if the night ushered in dawn.

Beimen Schoolyard.

A powerful altar was set up within five days. The altar was nine feet tall and nine feet high, with five steps divided into four steps on each floor.

Giant tripods are placed on both sides of the altar, with the high table facing the east sun, and incense burners and three animals offerings are placed on the table.

In front of the altar, more than 50,000 soldiers of the Jinqi Guard, the Bow and Crossbow Camp, the Brush and the County Government were all in an array. There were tens of thousands of imperial guards around him, with guns and halberds in a row, and nearly 100,000 soldiers were defeated.

This time, Li Li's army claimed that he would fight 100,000 cavalry, and the soldiers of the northern county and the Huben camp stationed in the northern region were known as the 150,000 army, which was comparable to the forces of Yu Fuluo's army.

At the third hour of Mao, the army was assembled, and all the generals who followed the army stood in front of the queue, looking up at the Altar of the Nine Five Supreme in front of them.

Under the altar, at the forefront of the army, all the civil servants and generals under the command of the General of the Cavalry were present. Six of them stood in the first row, namely: left military advisor Jia Xu, right military advisor Guo Jia, Shangshu Ling Li Xuan, Shizhong Li Ru, Lu Su, and left military advisor Zhou Yu. The second row was the generals who went to the expedition this time, including dozens of generals above the ranks of the lieutenant, including Zhang Liao, Cao Xing, Xu Chu, Chen Dao, Hu Cheer.

"It's still early, Gongjin doesn't have to be so serious, and Zijing is the same. Just relax and go on a swearing battle. It's not worth it."

At this moment, Guo Jia, Zhou Yu and Lu Su were standing on the left, while Jia Xu, Li Xuan and Li Ru were standing on the right. Zhou Yu and Lu Su, who had experienced such a situation for the first time, stood up with their heads raised, with straight postures and a solemn expressions. Relatively speaking, Guo Jia, who had long been used to going out with the army, was much more relaxed and natural. He turned his head from time to time and tried to persuade Zhou Yu and Lu Su not to be so formal, and he could completely relax his mind and avoid being sore and back pain before he set off.

Zhou Yu stood on the left of Guo Jia, and Lu Su stood on the right. Seeing such a grand occasion, Guo Jia actually spoke frivolously, and the two were stunned and turned their heads to look at Guo Jia with a puzzled expression.

"Why do you say this when you worship the filial piety? The army swore to go to war. Throughout history, it has been the most solemn ceremony for generals. It is our supreme honor and shouldering the sacred mission. How can it be regarded as a joke?" Zhou Yu turned his head and whispered to Guo Jia.

Guo Jia nodded and said softly: "What Gongjin said is not bad at all. Worshiping the world and dying through blood is naturally the glory of my life. I am naturally aware of this. However, this oath to go on the battle is indeed different from the past. The profound meaning of it is quite intriguing, and it is naturally not worthy of our treatment so seriously."

"Oh? I hope to hear the details." Zhou Yu and Lu Su were stunned and listened to Guo Jia's next explanation.

Guo Jia smiled slightly and said softly: "In fact, this sacrificial ceremony can be completed by the lord alone, and there is no need to invite the emperor to the altar to worship the sky. However, the lord did this and gave the emperor such a matter of establishing prestige to the emperor. This is quite thought-provoking and strange, and it is inconsistent with the lord's actions in the past few days. Can you tell me why the lord intends to enhance the emperor's prestige this time?"

Lu Su and Zhou Yu looked at each other in surprise, then Lu Su whispered: "I discussed the matter mentioned by Fengxiao and Gongjin in private yesterday, but I didn't understand it after all. Normally, as Fengxiao said, there is no need to invite the emperor to go out this time. You can directly guide the troops and horses and mobilize food and go on the battle. However, the lord mobilized many people to build an altar and sacrifice to heaven and earth. He missed a few days in vain and gave Yu Fuluo's army a chance to breathe, which inevitably made some missed opportunities for war. It was just that the lord insisted on doing this, and as a minister, we were not convenient for advising, so we could only follow the orders."

Guo Jia chuckled and said, "Zi Jing's words are untrue. If Zi Jing really thought that the lord's actions were inappropriate, I was afraid that he would have spoken out loud and asked the lord to take it back. I wonder if I was wrong?"

Lu Su's expression changed slightly, and he nodded slightly and said, "The military advisor's eyes are as sharp as a torch, and he can't guess. I did guess a little bit, but I couldn't grasp it correctly, so I was hesitant and did not advise my lord. The same was true for Gongjin, so neither of us took the initiative to ask the lord for the reason."

Zhou Yu continued happily: "What Zijing said is just as I thought. What the lord has done these days is quite intriguing. He intends to suppress the emperor, but after suppressing it, he will carry him out to establish his prestige. It is unexpected and makes us unable to understand. I wonder if the military advisor can solve the two of them?"

Guo Jia nodded slightly and whispered: "Zijing, Gongjin doesn't have to be so polite. You two have just entered Xiliang and do not understand many things well, so it is difficult to make an accurate judgment. In fact, the reason why the lord asked the emperor to preside over the expedition ceremony this time was not to deliberately raise the emperor's prestige, but to use the name of the emperor to warn the princes in the world not to take advantage of the chaos to rob and harass our Xiliang border. Because our barbarian army was famous for its troops, but actually a righteous army, and was a great force for the Han Dynasty, which was different from the disputes and wars of the princes. If someone took the opportunity to rob our Xiliang border, it would be to help the evil and indirectly help the barbarians to become enemies with our Han Dynasty. It was actually a Han thief, and would be despised by our Han people in the future.

However, if you want to achieve the effect of intimidating the princes of the world, you must personally climb the altar to worship the heavens. After all, although today is chaotic, most people still regard themselves as the people of the Han Dynasty, and the emperor represents the orthodox Han Dynasty. Therefore, the lord must give the emperor the matter of climbing the altar to worship the heavens. No matter what the future is, at least this little emperor is still the irreplaceable true dragon emperor in my Han Dynasty."

"So that's it." Zhou Yu and Lu Su nodded suddenly, and after a little thought, they realized it and agreed with Guo Jia's explanation.

As Guo Jia said, the Western Liang army is the most powerful now, and there is no doubt about this. However, there are many princes in the world, including many powerful princes, and they are not the only one in the Western Liang army. At present, the Western Liang army needs to fight against the Fuluo army head-on, and they must not ignore the existence of the princes, and they cannot throw it behind their heads. Otherwise, once Li Li personally led his troops to fight against the Fuluo army, and the surrounding princes will take advantage of the chaos to attack the Xiliang army's border, the Western Liang army will be attacked from both sides, and the situation is extremely passive, and the situation is worrying.

After all, no matter how fierce a tiger is, it cannot withstand the wolves. If it is attacked from both sides, it will definitely lose something.

It seems that Li Li's request to the emperor to climb the altar to worship the heaven and go to war, which was a wise move. He used the emperor's flag to shock the princes in the world, so that he did not dare to act rashly. After the Fuluo barbarian army was wiped out, the northern border of Xiliang could be completely settled. At that time, the Xiliang army could free up his hands and focus on dealing with the princes of the Central Plains, without fearing that any princes would invade the jurisdiction of Xiliang.

"It seems that the filial piety is still not fulfilled, so why not tell me in detail?" Just as Zhou Yu and Lu Su were thinking secretly, a gentle voice came from behind.

"Greetings to the lord!" Seeing Li Li wearing Rong armor slowly coming, Zhou Yu, Guo Jia, Jia Xu and others saluted one after another.

"You don't have to be polite, please get up quickly." Li Li smiled and raised his hand, saying, "The emperor has not arrived, and we are just here to talk about the past. After the army sets off, we are afraid that we will not be able to meet within two or three months."

After laughing, Li Li walked up to Guo Jia and said in a harmonious voice: "I heard what Fengxiao said just now, and it was right, almost exactly the same as what I thought. However, I heard that Fengxiao did not say everything, and seemed to deliberately hide some of the truth. Am I right?"

Guo Jia nodded gently and asked softly: "Does the lord really want his subordinates to tell them all?"

"Uh, what's wrong?" Li Li said in surprise.

Guo Jia bowed and whispered: "Since this is the case, my subordinates should obey the orders and must know everything. In fact, the reason why the lord asked the emperor to swear an oath to go to war was to tell the world that we were to defeat the crimes for heaven and protect the territory of the Han Dynasty. We used this to warn some ruthless princes in the Central Plains that if they dared to invade my borders, they would be the thief of our Han people, and the lord would definitely attack us.

In addition, the lord suspects that the Fuluo barbarian army invaded Beidi County this time, there must be the result of some princes in the Central Plains being instigated by it. It must be that they secretly assisted Fuluo in sending troops to invade the territory, causing our army to fall into the quagmire of fighting with the barbarians, thus destroying our long-term strategy of resting in Xiliang and taking the opportunity to weaken our army's strength. If our army's war is not going well, they will take advantage of the chaos to attack our Xiliang's jurisdiction and further erode our Xiliang territory, causing us to be attacked from both sides and be trapped in both sides, and be trapped in both internal and external affairs. In the end, our strength is greatly damaged and we are unable to send troops to the Central Plains. I wonder if what my subordinates say is correct, please make it clear?"

Li Li smiled and nodded, and praised, "What Fengxiao said is exactly the same as my wish. I think Yufuluo is just the right wise king of the Southern Xiongnu who was in exile. Although he was in power as the Southern Xiongnu Khan, he was excluded by the nobles of the Southern Xiongnu tribes and even allowed him to take a step forward in the territory. Why should such a down-and-out person join forces with his tribes to invade our Xiliang border county? If there were no secret support from the princes of the Central Plains, the old king of the Southern Xiongnu, the Xianbei and Qiang tribes in the western region would not have formed an alliance with him, and it would not have been possible to dispatch so many troops to invade our border."

Speaking of this, Li Li's expression became gloomy and fierce, and he said in a deep voice: "So, the enemies we have to face this time are definitely not just the Fuluo Barbarian Army. The truly powerful enemies are still dormant and waiting for the opportunity. Once our army and Yufuluo Army are in a stalemate, these ulterior motives behind the scenes will immediately appear and launch a large-scale attack on us. Because of this, our army cannot attack the barbarian army this time, and even use county government troops to participate in the battle. The troops garrisons in various places should not be drawn, but should secretly strengthen their troops and actively prepare for the war."

Li Li's words surprised everyone, and suddenly there seemed to be a layer of lingering haze in everyone's heart, which made people feel depressed and worried.

—————————————— (To be continued)
Chapter completed!