It is the end of the twelfth lunar month now, and the New Year is about to celebrate. The weather has not been very good these days. There are dark clouds in the sky, and the howling north wind is constantly blowing. This morning, there are not much snowflakes floating. However, people familiar with the weather in Xixia know that this kind of snow is generally not heavy.

Perhaps because of the close of the year, there were more pedestrians on the official roads around Xingqing Prefecture. Although Xixia had just been occupied by the Song Dynasty and most areas were still very uneasy, Xingqing Prefecture was stationed with a large number of Song troops, which was the most prosperous area in Xixia. Therefore, after the Song army occupied this place, it immediately began to rectify public order and restore order here. Now the original prosperity has almost been restored around Xingqing Prefecture, and the official roads are also full of pedestrians and caravans coming and going.

"Jia~Jia~" With a rapid sound of horse hooves, a large Song cavalry suddenly rushed from north to south from the official road, and pedestrians on the road also hid on both sides. This was originally a normal thing, but some sharp-eyed people were surprised to find that the cavalry were all composed of generals and officials of the Song Dynasty, including old and young, and the color and standard of the armor also differed slightly, which showed that they did not belong to the same army, but now they were rushing towards Xingqing Mansion together, which was a bit strange.

Ma Dejang, who was riding on his beloved war horse, did not care about the strange gazes of pedestrians on the road. Seeing Xingqing Mansion coming, he was full of excitement now. In fact, it was not just him, but other generals and officials in this team were also full of excitement, because they returned to Xingqing Mansion to receive rewards this time. This time, many of their team made military achievements and could at least be upgraded to a higher level.

Thinking that the contribution he made during this period was finally rewarded, Ma Dejang couldn't help but clench his fists again with excitement. Speaking of which, Ma Dejang was also a student of the first military academy, and one of the best students. However, his situation was special because he was too old, and some young students could be his grandsons.

Originally, Ma Dejang was not the first student of the military academy, his son was, but his son was really incompetent and could not bear the hardships of the military academy. Just so happened that Ma Dejang was a determined person to serve the country. After understanding the role of the military academy, he immediately replaced his son and entered the military academy and became the oldest student in the military academy. Last year, he joined the army with his classmates Hu Yanqing.

Speaking of which, although Ma Dejang was old, his grades were among the best among the first class students. In addition, the military academy also took good care of him, the old student, so as soon as he entered the army, he became one of the few students who directly served as heads of the capital. In addition, thanks to his age and understanding of human relationships, he quickly got along with his brothers and established his identity in the army.

During this attack on Xixia, although Ma Derang was not as eye-catching as Hu Yanqing's performance, he also made steady progress and made a lot of contributions. However, after capturing Xingqing Prefecture, he was sent to the Dingzhou area in the north. On the one hand, he cleared out the remaining Xixia troops there, and on the other hand, he was also to guard against the Liao army. The previous incident of the Liao Kingdom taking advantage of the situation to capture Wushuhai City had already spread throughout the Song Dynasty, so they had to be careful.

Some time ago, the Crown Prince Zhao Xu went to Xingqing Mansion to reward the meritorious soldiers and court, which was also a way to boost morale. After all, they fought outside for nearly half a year and suffered considerable casualties, so the morale of the army would inevitably be affected.

Ma De asked them to be all the Song army stationed in the north of Xingqing Prefecture. Of course, the meritorious soldiers of this group of army were not only the only ones, but in order not to weaken the strength of the army. Therefore, the meritorious soldiers also rushed to Xingqing Prefecture in batches to receive the reward. These people were the first batch and were also the ones with the greatest contributions. After receiving the reward, they could also have a lively New Year in Xingqing Prefecture, which also made Ma De even more excited.

It was almost noon, and the tall city gate of Xingqing Prefecture City was also far away. This made Ma De want to enter the city faster again, but now the New Year is approaching, and there are many people entering and leaving the city gate. Although these people dare not block Ma De's way, they have too many people on the official road, so they can't hide, and Ma De wants them not to really ride a horse and hurt people, so they have to slow down in the end.

It took half an hour like this, and Ma De asked them to enter Xingqing Mansion with the crowd. There was a station dedicated to receiving them in the city. They had known this before, so after entering the city, they immediately rushed straight to the station.

The inn was just east of the palace. Made let most of them participate in the siege battle, so they were very familiar with the terrain in the city. So they quickly followed the Imperial Street to the vicinity of the palace. When the people in the inn saw the soldiers who came to report, they were very enthusiastic and hurriedly came up to settle them in the inn. There were many soldiers who came to receive rewards during this period, and the houses in the inn were not enough, so Made let them all have two rooms, and no one said anything about this. After all, they were all soldiers and they usually slept in the pile of dead people. It was already very good to have a bed now.

Ma Dejang and a nicknamed Lao Gui were all separated into a room. The old ghost was about the same age as him. The two had talked several times on the way. They were not very familiar with each other, but they also knew each other's names. At that moment, the two came to the room they lived with their luggage. At this time, Ma Dejang found that the old ghost was carrying a large bag of luggage. He couldn't help but smile and said, "Old ghost, you have brought a lot of spoils this time!"

"Hehe, I don't have such great ability. Most of these things are from my brothers. If they can't go back to Xingqing Mansion, they ask me to bring them to the bank to avoid accidents. Speaking of which, the bank will only send people to establish branches in big cities like Xingqing Mansion and Xi'an Prefecture. The places we are stationed are all places where birds do not shit, so we can only bring these things back to Xingqing Mansion." The old ghost replied with a smile.

"So that's it." Ma Derang couldn't help but smile when he heard this, and then said, "This cannot be blamed on other banks. After all, the banks collect all valuable things. Xixia has just been occupied by us, and there are all the remaining soldiers from Xixia everywhere. If something happens to the bank's escorts to property, it will be bad, so the bank can only open in a safer city."

"That's right, when it comes to banks, when the Cao family and the prince opened a bank in Xi'an Prefecture, I was the first to deposit the spoils in. Some time ago, I wrote to my hometown that I had received the things I asked the bank to send, and there were a lot of them. My family bought more than ten acres of fertile land with the money and things, and finally had some wealth." The old ghost said again at this time, and at the end of the day, a hint of relief appeared on his face.

"Haha, what our school supervisor made is naturally good!" Hearing the old ghost's words, Ma Derang couldn't help but laugh and said, "He was convinced by Zhao Yan, the school supervisor.

"School Supervisor? Is it difficult... Are you also from a military academy, Ma Dutou?" Lao Gui was stunned when he heard Ma Dejang's words, and then looked up and down incredibly. During this period, the name of the military academy had spread in the army due to the excellent performance of the military academy. However, in Lao Gui's impression, the students who graduated from the military academy were all young generals. But now, he seemed to have also been from a military academy when he heard Ma Dejang's words.

Seeing the old ghost's surprised look, Ma Dejang couldn't help laughing: "Old ghost, you think I'm too old, so you can't believe that I was from a military academy, right? But I'm really from a military academy, but I'm quite special. Even those instructors in the entire military academy are not as old as mine."

Ma Dejang was a cheerful person and did not hide his own affairs. He immediately told Lao Gui, but Lao Gui was very surprised after hearing this. He never expected that Ma Dejang was already middle-aged and could still make up his mind to study in the military academy with a group of teenagers. This kind of courage is not something that anyone can do. It is precisely because of this that Lao Gui couldn't help but admire Ma Du, who was born in a general, even more.

"It's a pity that my son is really not good. He is not a material for leading troops to fight. However, my grandsons are pretty good. Two of them have been sent to the military academy by me. I believe that after training in it for a few years, I will be a qualified general after coming out!" Ma Derang also showed an angry expression on his face when he mentioned his son, but when he finally mentioned a few grandsons, he turned angry and happy again. As long as he could cultivate a few grandsons, their Ma family still had hope.

"Ma Dutou's grandson can also go to the military academy to study. It's really envious. After Lingsun graduated, you will have a firm foothold in the army. You will definitely be able to help you, and Sun's future will definitely be broader!" The old ghost couldn't help but say with envy when he heard this.

"Haha, don't be envious of Lao Gui. Now the military academy has begun to select outstanding young people from the army to study in the military. Generally, generals and officers above the commander are qualified to recommend it. With Lao Gui's contribution, this time he is at least a deputy commander. Even if he cannot recommend it, it is not difficult to take a walk and send his son to the military academy. However, the military academy is not so easy to enter. Lao Gui, if you want your son to go in, you will choose someone who is smart and able to endure hardships in the end. Otherwise, you may be eliminated by the military academy if you go to the capital." Ma Derang saw the envious expression of Lao Gui, and immediately smiled and pointed.

"It's really great that there is such a thing. Thank you, Brother Ma, for reminding me, I'll find a way!" Lao Gui heard about the recruitment of military academy in the army for the first time. He looked excited. Now he understood that the generals and officials of the Song Dynasty may have to be from military academy in the future. There will definitely be fewer and fewer generals like him who climbed up from the lower level. While there are not many students in the military academy now, he has to plan for his children and grandchildren immediately. (To be continued, please search for Astronomy, novels are better, updated and faster!
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