Chapter 203

"Congratulations, Lord Chen Yan!"

"Felicitations, Lord Chen Yan!"

As He Ba Le appeared and tossed the unconscious Mo He Du before Chen Yan, You Xian was the first to lead the chorus, and the sounds of congratulations rose one after another.

"My Lord, we have not failed our mission!"

Helian Shi and the other generals followed closely behind, standing shoulder to shoulder with He Ba Le, bowing and cupping their fists toward Chen Yan as they spoke in loud, clear voices.

"Just now, a strong southeasterly wind rose, whipping up a sky full of yellow sand that charged at the Turkic army, which greatly increased the probability of capturing them alive..."

"Even the Heavens are helping him!"

Wang Xiong lowered his eyes, swept a glance at the captive Mo He Du on the ground, and then flicked a glance toward Chen Yan, sighing inwardly to himself.

He has ability, he has means, he has courage, he has the favor of the Grand Chancellor, and he even has the blessing of the Heavens and great fortune; furthermore, he is the direct grandson of the Old Pillar of State...

Wang Xiong made a secret resolution: after returning to Chang'an, he must firmly and unswervingly persuade his father to choose a side!

To pledge allegiance to such a direct grandson of a Pillar of State, the Wang family's future would surely be bright and brilliant!

"Hahahaha!"

The heart that Chen Yan had been holding in suspense finally settled, and he laughed heartily: "He Ba Le is truly a tiger general!"

"My Lord, you flatter me too much!"

He Ba Le nodded, his face glowing with health, and said solemnly: "Being able to serve you, My Lord, is this subordinate's honor!"

He Ba Le was riding high on his success, yet he did not become so carried away that he forgot himself...

He knew clearly in his heart who his benefactor was!

"Damn it!"

"How did He Ba Le snatch the first merit!"

"Stealing all the limelight in front of Lord Chen Yan!"

Hearing Chen Yan's praise of "tiger general," the surrounding generals, including Helian Shi, would be lying if they said they weren't envious.

Who wouldn't want to be remembered by their leader?

Especially a leader with a bright future and limitless potential...

"Speak, what kind of reward do you want?"

Chen Yan smiled indifferently, gripped He Ba Le's wrist, and asked.

For such a great merit, giving ten thousand taels of gold, ten thousand bolts of silk, or even asking the Grand Chancellor to confer a title upon him would not be excessive at all...

That was a Turkic Tegin!

The son of Chuluo Khan, and alive at that!

Mo He Du was of immense value; Chen could use him to play a big game of chess...

He Ba Le pondered for a moment, shook his head, and said: "My Lord, as for gold, silver, and silk, this subordinate has hands and feet and can go rob them myself..."

He paused, his gaze sharpening, and continued: "I only ask that you bestow a poem upon this subordinate to praise this merit!"

He Ba Le came from the He Ba family; he was no uneducated brute...

Following this master, there would be no shortage of worldly possessions.

What he wanted was to leave his name in the history books!

One must know how difficult it is for an ordinary person to leave a mark in the history books...

"He Ba Le really knows how to ask!"

Helian Shi, standing to the side, was stunned upon hearing this, and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

"This guy is truly a smart man!" Wang Xiong and Dou Lu Ling exchanged glances and also praised him in low voices.

Everyone around who had any discernment was sighing at He Ba Le's quick wit...

After all, as long as one could obtain a masterpiece that would be passed down through the ages from this Great Zhou Poet Immortal, he would also be remembered by the world together with it.

"How is that difficult?"

"Let me think carefully..."

Chen Yan raised his eyebrows slightly and paced away, imitating Cao Zhi's seven-step poetry composition, though in reality, he was filtering through his mind.

The generals held their breath and focused, watching him sideways as he followed.

"Got it!"

When he reached the seventh step, Chen Yan clapped his hands suddenly and chanted: "The moon of Qin times, the pass of Han times; the long march of ten thousand miles, the men have not returned."

Having reached this point, he paused slightly, turned back to walk before He Ba Le, patted him on the shoulder, and continued: "If only the flying general of Longcheng were still here, he would not let the Hu horses cross the Yin Mountains!"

"If only the flying general of Longcheng were still here, he would not let the Hu horses cross the Yin Mountains!"

Liu Mu Zhi muttered and repeated it, savoring the rhyme, and couldn't help but praise: "Good poem, truly a good poem!"

The bright moon became the eternal witness, and the frontier pass was the stage of history; the two intertwined, outlining a vast and desolate scroll spanning a thousand years.

The brightness of the moon and the desolation of the frontier pass formed a sharp contrast, creating a majestic and grand artistic conception while implying the historical vicissitudes of time passing and dynasties changing.

"The long march of ten thousand miles, the men have not returned" pulled the perspective from the grand historical space-time back to reality, focusing on the individual fate within the war.

The three words "men have not returned" were concise yet heavy, speaking of the tragic fate of countless conscripts.

How many families were shattered by war, how many loved ones waited in vain for the return of the wanderer; the cruelty and ruthlessness of war were revealed at this moment.

This line formed a strong contrast with the previous one, the grandeur of history and the insignificance of the individual, the eternal moon and the fleeting life reflecting each other.

Immediately, the tone shifted abruptly, from sorrow to heroism, showing an eager anticipation for good generals.

Expressing the determination to defend the national territory and protect peace with a firm tone, the momentum was magnificent and resounding.

Liu Mu Zhi had previously heard of the great reputation of the Great Zhou Poet Immortal, and seeing it today, it was indeed well-deserved!

"A Xiong's poetic talent is truly unprecedented!" Yuwen Ze was already accustomed to this, the corners of his mouth lifted slightly, and he thought to himself.

"The praise of the flying general of Longcheng, is that something he, He Ba Le, can bear?" Dou Lu Ling exhaled a breath of foul air, feeling quite sour, and thought indignantly.

He, Dou Lu Ling, would only be stronger than He Ba Le!

Next time, he would also ask for a poem from Chen Yan...

"The flying general of Longcheng, he, He Ba Le, can do it, and I, Fu Fu, can too!"

"Next time, I will definitely build an unparalleled merit for Lord Chen Yan!"

Fu Fu kept muttering those four words, subconsciously clenching his fists, his gaze incomparably firm.

He would also walk into the Lord's line of sight and be heavily used by the Lord!

"Many thanks, My Lord, for the poem!"

He Ba Le, the focus of the entire scene, was incomparably excited at this moment and knelt respectfully on one knee on the ground.

Comparing him to Wei Qing and Li Guang, what high praise!

From now on, he would be Lord Chen Yan's most, most, most loyal dog!

He Ba Le: Loyalty!

Chen Yan smiled indifferently, reached out to lift the kneeling He Ba Le, turned his head, and shouted: "You Xian."

"Here." You Xian responded and stepped out.

Chen Yan pointed lightly and ordered: "Record the merits of all the soldiers in the register; after returning to Chang'an, I will request rewards for them!"

He Ba Le indeed had the first merit, but without the assistance of the other garrison soldiers, no matter how brave he was, he absolutely could not have done it alone...

Chen would not favor one over the other.

No one knew better than him how to hold a bowl of water level.

"Yes." You Xian nodded.

"Many thanks, My Lord!" Helian Shi and the other generals and garrison soldiers were also incomparably excited.

They knew that Lord Chen Yan would not forget them...

"Wake this Turkic Tegin up..." Chen Yan gave Zhu Yi a look.

"Yes."

Zhu Yi responded and moved, took out a bucket of water, and poured it over his head.

"Splash!"

"Cough... cough cough..."

Mo He Du woke up amidst a fit of light coughing, looked around at the strange environment, and subconsciously asked: "Where am I?"

As he spoke, he suddenly remembered that before he lost consciousness, he had been captured by the Zhou army...

"Awake?"

Seeing this, Chen Yan took a step forward and smiled: "Tegin Mo He Du, nice to meet you for the first time!"

"..."

Mo He Du looked up at Chen Yan, silent and speechless.

Seeing that this Turkic Tegin did not respond, Chen Yan thought it was a language barrier, so he gave up on temporary communication, then turned his head to look at Helian Shi and asked: "Helian, in this battle, how many did our main force of one hundred cavalry lose?"

"Three killed in action, two seriously injured, seven lightly injured!" Helian Shi replied quickly without any hesitation.

Because of the strong wind and yellow sand, the casualties this time were extremely low...

Those three casualties were because he was too obsessed with fighting and got surrounded, unable to get out.

Chen Yan was just about to speak when he saw Mo He Du, who had just been "unable to communicate," with a face full of shock and astonishment, speaking in broken Han Chinese: "You only have one hundred cavalrymen?!"

"With so few people, you dared to charge at me?!!!"

——

PS: How difficult is it for an ordinary person to leave their name in history books?

Taking the fictional official history of the Northern and Southern Dynasties in this book as an example, the Battle of Heqiao between the Eastern and Western Wei.

Under Yuwen Tai, there was a small soldier who found the lone enemy general Gao Aocao (known as the Little Xiang Yu) hiding under a bridge.

Gao Aocao said to him: "Come, take my head and exchange it for a founding duke title."

Yuwen Tai did not give him the founding duke title when he returned, but rewarded the small soldier with ten thousand bolts of silk.

However, Western Wei did not have that much money at the time, so they agreed to pay in installments; it is said that it was paid in installments for 43 years, spanning Western Wei, Northern Zhou, and the Sui Dynasty, and it was not finished even after Yang Jian usurped the throne to establish the Sui Dynasty...

The point is, to this day, we still don't know the surname or name of this small soldier!

Compared to leaving a name in history books, leaving a name in literary works is relatively simple:

For example, Wang Lun, who invited Li Bai to travel, and Zhang Huaimin, who was shaken awake by Su Shi in the middle of the night...