The lobby of the Privy Council, with a high dome and solemn appearance, is solemn. Sunlight shines through the carved window frames, casting mottled light and shadow on the gold bricks on the ground. Just now, the passionate words of the Northern Expedition plan echoed, and now it has fallen silent.
The three military officials, Dong Fuge, the palace commander, Wang Minghao, the infantry commander, and Xu Binwen, the horse commander, have received detailed strategies and bowed down.
The heavy palace door slowly closed, making a dull sound, leaving this huge space to Xin Qiji, the privy councilor of the Great Song Dynasty, and Han Mu, the transcendent Quanzhen young ancestor.
Xin Qiji stood with his hands on his back, his eyes still seemed to be on the huge map of the northern realm, his eyes were as sharp as eagles, as if he had penetrated the palace and saw the homeland of the Central Plains.
Although he was over sixty years old and his sideburns were frosty, his back was straight like a pine, and the purple official robe was worn on him.
Han Mu was dressed in a purple Taoist robe, standing quietly aside, his temperament was dusty.
He saw Xin Qiji thinking intently and did not disturb him, but suddenly remembered something and said: "Elder Xin, the plan for the Northern Expedition has been decided, and the food, ordnance, and strategies are all ready. However, a thousand troops are easy to obtain, but a general is hard to find. The brave generals who charge into battle and destroy the edge are the key to the outcome of the battle."
When Xin Qiji heard this, he withdrew his gaze and turned to look at Han Mu with a question in his eyes.
Han Mu smiled slightly and continued: "I don't know if Xin Lao still remembers, I recommended a general named Yang Tiexin to Xin Xiaoyou before?"
Xin Qiji thought for a moment, nodded and said: "Naturally remember. Could it be that this person has something extraordinary that allows you to recommend Han Xiaoyou personally?"
"Exactly." Han Mu nodded, "This person has an extraordinary background, he is the grandson of General Yang Zaixing, the first brave general under Yue Wumu in the past, who fought bloody battles at Xiaoshanghe and frightened the Jin people!"
"Oh?" Xin Qiji's eyes flashed, obviously extremely moved. Yang Zaixing's name is a symbol of bravery and loyalty in the army.
Han Mu said: "Yang Tiexin has mastered the Yang family's unique skills, and the Yang family's marksmanship is superb, although it is due to fate, he has never practiced superior internal skills, and he is not a martial arts master in the rivers and lakes, but he is an unrivaled fierce general who fights in front of the army! Its bravery is quite the legacy of its ancestors."
After hearing this, Xin Qiji clapped his hands and laughed, and his loud voice echoed in the hall: "Okay! Good! The people recommended by Brother Han are indeed extraordinary!"
"To be honest, I already know this person. In the Battle of Shandong, he would take the lead in every battle, charge ahead, slay the generals and seize the flag, and bravely won the three armies. I have already been promoted, and now he is in charge of the Shandong Loyal and Righteous Army, guarding one side for the imperial court. Such a tiger general, when the Northern Expedition, was the vanguard, and he would attack the Yellow Dragon in the future!"
Knowing that the good general had been reused, Han Mu was also happy. The two looked at each other and smiled, everything was in words.
They walked out of the Privy Council lobby side by side. The sun outside the hall was just right, shining on the white marble steps and square, the sky was blue, a few thin clouds floated leisurely, and the clouds were light and the wind was light. The breeze blew, gently lifting the hem of Xin Qiji's official robe and the gray beard under his chin.
He stopped and looked up at the clear sky, but his eyes seemed to have crossed this tranquility and saw the smoke of the north.
He raised his hand and stroked his beard, with emotion, desire, and incomparably firmness in his eyes.
Han Mu looked at him from the side and suddenly asked: "Xin Lao, this Northern Expedition is related to the fate of the country, which is not trivial. I wonder who will command the army and take charge of the overall situation?"
When Xin Qiji heard this, he withdrew his gaze towards the sky and stared at Han Mu instead.
His eyes were deep and scorching, as if they contained flames that had been stagnant for decades.
He nodded slightly, his voice was calm and powerful, and every word seemed to have a thousand weights: "Recovering the Central Plains and avenging the shame of Jingkang is Jiaxuan's lifelong wish. Now that my long-cherished wish has been fulfilled, how can I help others?"
"Moreover, since I am in charge of the Privy Council and the highest military commander of the Song Dynasty, it is my duty to personally lead the army and go north to recover my homeland!"
In his words, there is no passionate shout, only a kind of unswerving determination that has been precipitated over the years, which is moving.
Han Mu looked at Xin Qiji's old but still tall figure like a pine, and the light in his eyes that was hotter than that of a young man, he couldn't help but smile and said in a somewhat joking tone: "Old Xin is ambitious, and I naturally admire him."
"However, if I remember correctly, Xin Lao is over sixty years old this year, and he has entered the age of sixty, right? The ancient famous general Lian Po, in his old age, still needed to wear armor and eat to show that he could fight. Could it be that Xin Lao is more confident than the ancient Lian Po?"
When Xin Qiji heard this, instead of being annoyed, he laughed loudly, laughing heroically, dispersing the solemnity around him.
He said loudly: "Han Xiaoyou, have you forgotten the old man's song "Yongyule Jingkou Beiguting Nostalgia"?"
Without waiting for Han Mu to answer, he recited it in a frustrated manner, every word full of deep emotions: "Think back then, the golden iron horse swallowed thousands of miles like a tiger...... Yuanjia was hasty, sealed the wolf and won the hurried north. Forty-three years, I still remember the beacon fire on Yangzhou Road. It is worth looking back, under the Buddha Li Shrine, a divine crow society drum. Who asks: Lian Po is old, can he still eat?"
After reciting it, he looked at Han Mu with bright eyes: "This poem is written about my feelings when I was in Zhenjiang. Forty-three years! I remember the beacons on Yangzhou Road all the time, and I miss the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains all the time! How much helplessness and expectation is there in these three words 'who asks'?"
"Now, the court has decided to launch the Northern Expedition, and I, an old minister, will finally have a chance, how could I retreat because of my age? Yes, I am sixty years old, but I feel that my energy has not diminished, and my ambition is better than before.
Han Mu could feel his surging and passionate innocence and was deeply impressed.
The more Xin Qiji spoke, the more interested he became, he suddenly turned to Han Mu, a hint of competitiveness like a young man flashed in his eyes, and he said with a smile: "If Han Xiaoyou doesn't believe that the old man is still old, why don't you and I live here a few tricks? It also allows me, an old generation, to experience the style of the world's number one today!"
Han Mu was stunned when he heard this. He knew that Xin Qiji was not only a literary giant and a famous general on the battlefield, but also a master whose martial arts had reached the peak of first-class.
But compared with himself, although it is already a huge gap. However, seeing that Xin Qiji's interest was so high, and this move could confirm his physical condition, he gladly agreed, and said with a smile: "Since Xin Lao has such elegance, I will accompany him. Please also show mercy to Xin Laoduo."
The two then came to the spacious white marble square in front of the lobby. The surrounding guards had already been ordered to retreat far away, leaving enough space.
Xin Qiji took off his slightly cumbersome official robe and coat, revealing the tight outfit underneath, making him even more capable. He put on a posture, and his whole body suddenly changed, and the important minister of the imperial court just now seemed to instantly turn back into the brave general who had led fifty cavalry to break into the camp of tens of thousands of Jin troops and capture the traitor alive!
His eyes were boiling, and he laughed: "Haha, okay! I have long wanted to have a happy fight with the invincible Quanzhen Young Patriarch in martial arts! Little friend, look at the move!"
Before the words fell, Xin Qiji's figure moved, like a tiger out of the gate, extremely fast.
He threw out both fists, his fists were fierce and violent, implying the sound of wind and thunder, and he went straight to Han Mu's central palace. This move opened and closed wide, full of the tragic atmosphere of battlefield fighting, and there was no extraordinary martial arts tricks.
Han Mu's purple robe moved slightly, and his feet were not eight, and he was already the beginning of the Quanzhen Xuangong. He saw that his fist was fierce, but he did not catch it hard, his body was slightly sideways, and his left palm circled around, exerting a soft force, as if to draw away Xin Qiji's fierce punching force. It is the Quanzhen Sect's clever method of transforming energy.
Xin Qiji said silently, and in the middle of the punch, he suddenly changed his move, turning his fist into a palm, and slashed Han Mu's shoulder and neck diagonally with a hand knife.
His martial arts were comprehended and tempered by himself in actual combat, integrating the art of battle formations, paying attention to efficiency and power, and striving to defeat the enemy with every move.
Han Mu praised: "Okay!" At the moment, he no longer blindly avoided it, turned out his right palm and used a move "Don't use the hidden dragon", the palm force was hidden but not released, and Xin Qiji's hand knife was firmly sealed.
With a muffled sound, both of them shook. Han Mu only felt that the other party's palm was extremely powerful, and it was indeed a first-class peak realm.
In an instant, the two started a unique duel on the flat ground in front of the Privy Council.
I saw Xin Qiji's fists and palms alternately, his moves wide open and closed, but they were closely connected, and the offensive was like the Yangtze River, gushing endlessly. His palm technique is sometimes like a giant axe opening a mountain, sometimes like a spear and halberd, full of power.
Xin Qiji's steps were even more steady and unusual, stepping on the jade bricks, making a dull sound, and he had the majestic momentum of a soldier on the battlefield.
Han Mu was erratic, and he spread out the exquisite palm technique of the Quanzhen Sect, seeing the moves and dismantling the moves, and overcoming the strong with softness.
His palm technique is mellow and meticulous, and he guards it flawlessly, sometimes like a spring breeze blowing willows, sometimes like snow falling without a trace, and can always resolve Xin Qiji's fierce offensive when there is no time to go.
His internal cultivation is far better than Xin Qiji's, but he does not overwhelm people with force, but deals with him purely with moves and responses, deliberately looking at the martial arts realm of this "dragon in words".
The two figures moved and changed, fighting faster and faster. The fist wind palm shadow was intertwined, rolling up the fine dust on the ground. Under the sunlight, the two figures were intertwined at times, moving so fast that they were dizzyingly fast. In the blink of an eye, more than a hundred moves have been fought.