"You are a smart boy, which is a good thing." Mr. Li raised his head and drank, squinting his drunken eyes and said: "Don't worry, master, I won't let you interfere with this matter. Although you are smart, you are also

Just a kid."

"Master, you just asked me what kind of person I want to be, and I can't answer you." Li Yi grabbed the gun body with his hand and whispered, "I know that everything is not as simple as imagined, and it is impossible for everyone.

Keep living. But I will work hard and become stronger, because the stronger I am, the more people will survive."

Mr. Li nodded: "It's good that you know. What you have to do now is to grow up quickly. There is no mercy in troubled times. Since you have taken on this responsibility, no one can help you. The stronger you become, the more choices you can make."

, and there won’t be too much regret.”

"Follow me to Sun's house tomorrow to meet your other teacher." Mr. Li took back his spear and stepped back, as if to blend into the darkness.

His spear skills can destroy the earth like the fierce sun, but once he puts away his spear, he will become a rootless ghost, drinking and moaning in melancholy, just like an alcoholic.

"My other master?" Li Yi didn't know who Mr. Li was talking about, but he had a vague guess.

"I don't have time to stay here, and you can't follow me to the northwest. Combat skills are just personal bravery. If you want to gain greater power, you still have to learn a lot. Your talent is good, as long as you practice more,

Sooner or later you will be able to learn your own spear skills. What I can help you with now is to find a wise teacher for you."

The wine from the corner of his mouth dripped on his clothes, and the wind blew Mr. Li's pale hair. He looked at the sky in silence, clutching his iron gun tightly.

Early the next morning, Li Yi followed Mr. Li to Sun's house in Gaoyang.

Looking at the word "Sun Mansion" written on the door of the mansion, Li Yi felt slightly excited.

You must know that this is the residence of the emperor's master Sun Chengzong.

Sun Chengzong had a majestic appearance, "iron face, sword eyebrows, beard and beard". He was a scholar at the age of sixteen. He later worked as a tutor in the homes of court officials such as Jiang Bi, the Prime Minister of Dali Temple, and the guardian of Bingbei Daofang, and gradually became a tutor.

He has contact with official circles and has strong ability to teach students.

Later, Yinfang Shoushi was promoted to the governor of Datong, and Sun Chengzong accompanied him. Datong was an important border town in the Ming Dynasty at that time. When Chengzong was teaching on the border, he had a strong interest in military affairs.

Deng. Then he went south from Heqian, the old road of Qingbo, gathered heroes, talked with the garrison generals and old soldiers, traveled around the border and inspected the key points of Esai. He was a rare talent in the Ming Dynasty.

Not only is he talented, but he is also familiar with military policies. He also has experience in serving as a frontier fortress and commanding combat operations, so he is both civil and military.

How could Li Yi not be excited to meet such a historical celebrity?

"Mr. Li, my master is already waiting for you in the study." A young man saluted respectfully and led the two of them to the study.

In ancient times, guests were always seen in the hall, while the study was an extremely private place. This would not be possible for someone who did not know everything and was extremely trusting.

Li Yi looked at Mr. Li who was drunk, but he didn't expect that his relationship with Sun Chengzong would be so close.

"You old boy, you are so drunk again, how can you still be as majestic as the tiger from the northwest?"

Just as he entered the study, a thin old face poked out from behind the curtain, shouting somewhat ferociously.

Mr. Li glanced at him coldly and said without any sign of weakness: "So what if the tiger? It will still be locked in a cage and starve to death. The world has been corrupted to this point, but you have been hiding in this little place.

In the county town, our brothers are dying and scattered. If we continue to be tortured like this, something will happen sooner or later."

Li Yi tried his best to pull his sleeves, but Mr. Li ignored them completely and shouted loudly.

"I know what's going on in the northwest, and there's no need for you to complain." Sun Chengzong's voice was as hard as iron stone, "Now the storm is in turmoil, and the entire court has become a mess, and it won't stop in a short time. The new emperor is also a kind and peaceful king. He wants to

We need to use money to help the northwest, but it is hundreds of taels of silver, and once Wei Zhongxian dies, the court will not be able to provide it at all."

He slammed the military book in his hand on the table, obviously very angry.

Mr. Li, who was still drunk just now, looked like a vicious wolf, looking at Sun Chengzong's back fiercely, and spat: "Why don't you return to Beijing? Don't think I don't know, Jin Yiwei has given you the chance."

It was trampled to pieces."

He walked into the room with an angry face, sat on a chair and took a sip of tea from the teapot. Then he pointed to the chair next to him and motioned to Li Yi not to talk and just sit down with him.

Grabbing a handful of pastries and stuffing them into his mouth, Mr. Li's eyes returned to Sun Chengzong. It could be seen that he liked the current situation very much, talking so unscrupulously, eating and drinking so casually, especially in front of the person in front of him.

It was precisely because of this that he never let Li Yi speak.

As if he had not seen Li Yi, Sun Chengzong sat back on the nanmu chair and sighed.

"I really don't know why you are hiding here? Do you have several concubines and are too tired to get up all day long?" Mr. Li sat cross-legged on the chair and didn't care about etiquette. "When I followed Mr.

Among the few people in my brother's family, you, the scholar, are the most boring. You refused to go to the brothels when I asked you to, and now you are all acting up at home."

Sun Chengzong snorted coldly: "You old boy is still so vulgar. Even at your age, you don't know how to calm down. Don't you know why I have been staying in Gaoyang?"

"When I managed Liaodong, I achieved initial results. Unfortunately, I could withstand the offensive of Jiannu, but I couldn't guard against the hidden arrows behind me. If the late emperor hadn't tried his best to comfort me, I'm afraid you wouldn't have seen me. Now that the new emperor has ascended the throne, he faces

The right one is a mess. The court has no money, there are great disasters in the northwest, and slave establishment often violates borders. Under such circumstances, the emperor is already exhausted and thirsty for talents. But because of this, I cannot go back because I want to solve the problem.

Those people in the south will not sit idly by on these issues. When the time comes, the struggle will be ten times more intense than it is now, and Ming Dynasty will no longer be able to withstand such chaos."

"But what should we do now? After years of severe disasters, the northwest has been devastated for thousands of miles, and there are tens of millions of refugees. And Wei Zhongxian is dead again. In this case, who will organize relief for the refugees and bring peace to our northwest?" Mr. Li's face looked ugly.

"No one!" Sun Chengzong closed his eyes in pain, "There were many disasters in the Ming Dynasty. Natural disasters and massacres occurred at the same time. There were tens of millions of refugees outside crying for survival, and there were parties fighting against dissenters inside. It was a mess. All we can do now is wait, wait.

Only after the new emperor stabilizes the government can he find ways to relieve the situation."

"Wait?" Mr. Li smiled miserably and said: "Can we people in the northwest afford to wait? Thousands of refugees are starving to death every day. Now hundreds of thousands of refugees have already starved to death. We still have to wait.

Do we have to wait until we all starve to death?"

"I want to tell you that the Mongolians have become more and more dishonest in recent years. The refugees have no way of living, but no matter who they are, as long as they have food to eat, they will do anything. It is estimated that nearly one million refugees have entered the country in recent years.

Beyond the Great Wall, do you know what this means?"

Li Yi could clearly see that Sun Chengzong's eyes were cold, filled with lingering pain and panic.

"The imperial court is now the imperial court of that group of people. They are unwilling to save them. Some of the generals can no longer bear it. Now there are refugees everywhere. They are so hungry that they don't think of themselves as human beings. They will do anything as long as they have food.

Qian. I know that several forces such as Yulin are involved in this. This time I am not only asking the court to help the refugees, but also to give you a warning." Mr. Li's eyes have never been so scary. Under the candlelight,

The reflection is full of death.

The two of them stopped talking, and Mr. Li returned to his drunken appearance. He took off the wine gourd from his waist and poured it into his mouth, as if to suppress the chill in his heart.

Sun Chengzong, on the other hand, was holding the handle of the chair tightly, with blue veins popping out of his dry palms. His serious face was still full of intimidating majesty, but now it seemed that he was more frightened and fearful.

"I will continue to contact people in the court and ask them to mobilize food and help the refugees. This is the only thing I can do. There can be no chaos in the northwest. You have to watch them, otherwise you know better than me how many people will die."

Mr. Li put the wine gourd on the small table next to the chair. Knowing that this was what Sun Chengzong could do for you, he turned and pointed at Li Yi: "One more thing, accept him as your disciple."

Li Yi stood up quickly, avoided Sun Chengzong's sharp eyes uneasily, and respectfully showed the courtesy of a junior.

"Who is he to you?" Sun Chengzong's face relaxed slightly, but he was still serious.

"My apprentice." Mr. Li looked at Li Yi with soft eyes and drank while talking.

Sun Chengzong walked out slowly, motioned for Li Yi to sit back, and took a deep look at Mr. Li, "Close disciple?"

Mr. Li's face seemed to turn red, and then he nodded.

"I really didn't expect it." A smile finally appeared on Sun Chengzong's face as he said, "I didn't expect that you haven't accepted a close disciple for decades, but you have accepted one when you are old. If you let the general disciples know that you look down on them,

Their descendants have chosen an outsider, so I'm afraid they won't cause a huge stir."

Mr. Li held the wine gourd and took a sip, looking a little embarrassed.

"When we rode horses together to kill horse thieves outside the customs, no one expected that we would reach this point today. At the beginning, you were a fierce general. None of the brothers could compare with you. I thought we were the number one god in the frontier.

The art of spear skills has been lost, but I didn’t expect that now you would secretly accept a closed disciple.”

Sun Chengzong snatched the wine gourd from Mr. Li's hand and drank the remaining liquor in one gulp.

"Li Wuyang, we haven't had a drink face to face for many years." He looked at Mr. Li.

Mr. Li's face suddenly became a little strange. He no longer had the free and easy decadence just now. He looked silently at the old and wrinkled Sun Chengzong, as if he saw his own reflection and his former colleagues.

The study was so quiet that it made people feel uneasy. Li Yi looked nervously at Sun Chengzong and then at Mr. Li. This was the first time he heard the name "Li Wuyang", which should be Mr. Li's real name.

Looking at these two old people who had gone through many vicissitudes of life, Li Yi suddenly felt that they must have had a deep friendship and that they might have had unforgettable memories in their youth.

Mr. Li scratched his messy hair and smiled.

"Tell me about your apprentice." Sun Chengzong frowned, obviously very dissatisfied with Mr. Li's current behavior.

"You should have heard of it, An Xin Li Yi." Mr. Li stood up and rummaged through the cabinets, looking for something.

"Qianlong Li Yi?" Sun Chengzong knocked him back, took out a bottle of wine from the bookcase, poured a new glass, tasted it himself, and then handed it to Mr. Li, "You have good taste, you are indeed a good person."

seedling."

The atmosphere in the study seemed to have suddenly become harmonious. Mr. Li began to taste the rare and good wine, and occasionally poured wine for Sun Chengzong.

It was getting dark. Li Yi wisely took out the candle from the box and lit it. Balls of orange flames illuminated the study room. Only Mr. Li and Sun Chengzong were talking, as if they were reminiscing about the people and things in the past.

, gradually both of them became a little drunk.

Sun Chengzong's gloomy face was already red, and Mr. Li was probably really drunk. He was swaying around with a drunken smile on his face, and the armor plates under his black robe jingled.

Both of them were talking about people and things that Li Yi didn't know, and then hummed some songs that Li Yi didn't understand.

Outside the door, a housekeeper came to report that his wife had prepared a meal and asked Sun Chengzong to go out to eat. But with Mr. Li around, Sun Chengzong, who was very drunk, would not go, so he just stayed in the room.

The lights were getting darker and darker, and a vague smell of burning wicks filled the study. The two old men who were talking as if no one was around were sitting side by side on the ground, laughing. Mr. Li took off his iron gun and loosened his belt.

After opening his robe, the dampness and heat all over his body gradually dissipated. However, Sun Chengzong was still well-dressed, with a reserved smile as he listened to Mr. Li vividly talking about the interesting things that had happened in the frontier fortress over the years.

Finally, Mr. Li stood up first, remained silent for a while, and said: "From now on, I will be his Master Li, and you will be his Master Sun. I will teach him combat skills and lead troops, and you will teach him military strategies and knowledge."
To be continued...