Hengzhou City in the early winter morning is shrouded in a layer of milky white mist.

Before dawn, Zhao Ping went to the Central Army Headquarters to report some ordinary military affairs. He was not embarrassed to stay in the Central Army Headquarters at this time, and had already walked out of the courtyard where the Central Army Headquarters were. He walked to the personal followers waiting outside the door and silently took the reins.

Zhao Ping was not very interested and was always taciturn. On the day of the decisive battle in Baoqing Mansion, he knew that his performance was very poor.

Although some of the surrendered troops were lifeless in combat, there were certain reasons; Zhao Ping recalled many times and had to admit that the biggest problem was that he, the main general of the left wing! He failed to judge the situation in time in time, and did not reinforce the Quan Yong team to places where troops really needed. Zhao Ping turned around and thought that day, he wasted a lot of troops and the entire left wing was very chaotic.

The Battle of Huguang is a crucial battle in the entire "battle of crimes"! The King of Han gave Zhao Ping a huge opportunity and sent veterans such as Chen Zhen to assist, but Zhao Ping still did not seize the opportunity.

The battle was ultimately won, covering up Zhao Ping's guilt. However, he still felt very scared and guilty when he thought about it... Fortunately, the advantage of the good-man Wang Jun's right wing was too obvious and the breakthrough was too fast. Otherwise, how could Zhao Ping bear the huge guilt? It was related to the victory or defeat of hundreds of thousands of troops, and the lives of countless brothers under the Han Palace!

Zhao Ping was depressed, put his hand on the horse's back and stepped on the stirrup with one foot.

At this moment, a woman said in a voice: "General Zhao, lucky to know."

Zhao Ping turned his head and immediately recognized him. Diao Ya was the one who greeted him.

Diao Ya is a native woman, and a member of the Diao family, the chieftain of Yunnan, and can be regarded as an old friend of Zhao Ping.

Back then, when Zhao Ping had met Diao Ya, he was still a hundred-household official, responsible for guarding the "Da Ming City" and the jade mine. The Yunnan government ordered Diao Ya's father to come to "Da Ming City" to be a translator, coordinate the relationship between the Ming army and the natives, etc.; but at that time Diao Ya's father was in poor health, and she seemed to want to take on that position, so she went on behalf of her father.

Later, Diao Ya did not go home, and kept working as a local official in Kunming Han Palace as a place of her father. After the "Battle of Crimes" broke out, the Han Palace considered that there were a large number of chieftains and natives in the southwestern provinces, so she accompanied the army to bring local officials of various races... Something wrong must have happened, so Diao Ya, the local official, also came to Huguang; if she did not have her fellow tribes in the Huguang mountain area, she could not help.

Diao Ya's skin color is still dark, the color of the Yunnan sun; but if it were not for the climate, the appearance of the Diao natives should not be much different from that of the Han people. Her skin is smooth and her face is round and not ugly. She looks pretty in colorful hometown clothes.

"Now I have to be called General Zhao." Diao Ya waited for a while, but didn't hear Zhao Ping reply, and said with a little self-deprecating expression.

"Where is it?" Zhao Ping hurriedly clasped his fists and replied, "Are you okay with the old friend?"

Diao Ya smiled and said, "It's okay, I almost forgot that Marshal Zhao is a scholar."

"Tongsheng." Zhao Ping corrected.

Seeing Diao Ya, Zhao Ping couldn't help but remember the past of his defeat in "Da Ming City"... He felt that he was not blamed for the defeat in that battle. The local people in Si family were dozens of times that of the Ming army, and that battle could not be fought. However, Zhao Ping looked back and seemed to have never won much in the war!

Fortunately, the King of Han still protected him very much. Zhao Ping couldn't help but sighed "ah" at this time, with a bit of emotion.

Zhao Ping led the horse to Diao Ya and said, "We haven't seen each other for a long time. Today, I'll be here to find a restaurant to have two drinks."

Diao Ya whispered: "I am a woman..."

Zhao Ping was stunned for a moment, remembering that she seemed to have ignored these etiquettes before. He immediately said, "You are not a Han person, but an official who receives salary from the Han Palace. You don't have to stick to those common etiquettes."

Diao Ya no longer objected.

Zhao Ping led the horse and walked side by side with her. The guards all followed from behind with tactfulness.

When Diao Ya was silent, Heihei's face was a little sad. Zhao Ping turned his head to look at her and asked, "Mr. Diao is not happy?"

"What sir?" Diao Ya gave Zhao Ping a blank look.

After a while, she sighed softly: "After the war that was over not long ago, I went to the battlefield to help and saw corpses everywhere; I also saw many wounded Han soldiers in the military camp in pain... I felt uncomfortable when I remembered it."

"Miss Diao is really a bodhisattva." Zhao Ping said casually. But he didn't understand very well. What does the Han people fight against each other have to do with their natives?

Diao Ya said heartbrokenly: "All of them are such good men, they are gone... Why do you Han people have to fight with your own people?"

Zhao Ping simply said: "Because the big thing has reached that point, either you die or I die! No one wants to die, and he always scores a good or a bad point."

Diao Ya said worriedly: "I saw this beautiful and clean huge city, and I felt that the people here were kind-hearted and obedient, and I really couldn't bear to see you kill each other. The soldiers of the Ming Dynasty were hard-working and never complained; the civil servants were polite and always so patient and elegant, and this place was like the kingdom of heaven... But you kept fighting. I was really afraid that such a place would decline, and I couldn't bear to see the death and injury of the Han'er."

For a moment, Zhao Ping didn't know how to respond.

He observed Diao Ya's eyes as he watched the pavilions and towers in the city with relish, and felt that although Hengzhou City is a relatively large city, it is really incomparable to the cities in Suzhou and Hangzhou.

But only looking at the scenery outside is not the whole of the Ming Dynasty; or Diao Ya just chose what she wanted to see. Zhao Ping thought to himself: At least not all Ming soldiers abide by the rules. Some troops will be like thieves and bandits when they arrive in other places!

However, the Han Wang Army was actually quite abide by the rules, just as Diao Ya said; because most of the hundreds of households in the army were from the King of Han, they followed the instructions of the King of Han, and those hundred generals were very capable of restraining the soldiers.

He thought for a while before saying, "The King of Han is more capable than the pseudo-dynasty emperors and other royal vassal kings!"

Diao Ya nodded and said, "I have met the King of Han. When I saw him, I was like seeing a god. I always felt that he had infinite divine power and kindness... But it was not a good thing for him to kill Han people on the battlefield."

Zhao Ping thought to himself: If you want to fight for the world and fight a war, can you not kill anyone?

The two were silent for a while.

Diao Ya remembered something again, and a faint smile gradually appeared on her face, and she said, "The clerk who helped me copy the documents is really interesting. Every time he speaks very politely and has a lot of etiquette, I often look at him curiously; but he will blush! Don't look at anything that is wrong, all the words I have read in the book."

Zhao Ping shook his head slightly and refused to say anything.

Diao Ya said again: "There is also the servant who swept the yard, who is also very polite. When I passed by, he stopped from a distance, for fear that I would get dust, so he bowed to give way... Even the servants of Han people were so careful and polite, as if they knew a lot of things. Unlike people in some places, except those with identities, ordinary people were like savages."

Zhao Ping was even more shocked. He said: "The Ming Dynasty had superiors and inferiors. Those servants and peddlers were the most humble ones. Miss Diao was an official of the Han Palace, so of course they did not dare to offend you. You don't have to care about those people."

"I think they are all very good." Diao Ya muttered, with a serious look, not like a joke. She whispered, "My father is an official, but in Yunnan, I don't bring a few slaves, so how dare I go out? But in Hengzhou City, I go wherever I want, and everyone is well-behaved and will not provoke me."

Zhao Ping casually said: "Every street has official shops. Apart from the outlaws, who would easily trigger the law?"

After saying this, he no longer wanted to correct Diao Ya's knowledge. Although Zhao Ping felt that Diao Ya's view was biased, it seemed that it was not a bad thing.

Zhao Ping pondered for a while and suddenly said, "I have realized some truths. The court should not rely solely on military ease to govern the border areas. It also has to have a prosperous and powerful national strength to convince and admire the local people."

Diao Ya seemed to understand the implicit sound, and she felt a little embarrassed on her face, and said, "I am not a person who forgets my roots, but seeing it is true."

Zhao Ping didn't say anything for a moment, frowned and thought about what. They both walked along the street silently.

There are not many pedestrians on the streets of Hengzhou City, which seems a bit depressed. From time to time, a team of infantry and cavalry pass by on the road, and most of their military generals will salute Zhao Ping, who is of higher status.

After the Han Wang Army occupied Hengzhou City, although it issued an Anmin List that day, promising to the people not to harass and robbery; it was obvious that many people did not believe in martial arts, and people still closed their doors and hid in the streets and alleys everywhere.

However, some brave people have already opened shops and traded; most people still need time to wait and see.

As Zhao Ping knew, the hundreds of households of the Han Wang Army were mostly personal soldiers of the Han Wang Army. They were grateful to be able to turn from military households to military generals and were very obedient. Those generals would not disobey the Han Wang Mansion's military orders that prohibited the robbery of the people. Without chaos in the army, the people would soon be able to believe in the Anmin List. (In the Daming Guard, ordinary military households and generals were completely different identities.)

At this time, Zhao Ping finally saw a restaurant that opened. He turned to Diao Ya and said, "The restaurant seems to be not open, so let's just go here."

Diao Ya nodded.

The two walked to the door. The shopkeeper was afraid and attentive when he saw Zhao Ping's military armor, for fear of offending them. Zhao Ping glanced at the shopkeeper and said, "Don't be afraid, I will not be short of money, I will have to do without you! First serve some fruit tea and water, and prepare two tables of wine and food at noon."

"The grass people understand, please come in!"
Chapter completed!