Gao Bing's recovery

Rebellions were springing up everywhere, and the situation was so dire that The Emperor and his officials were busy putting out fires in all directions, completely ignoring the "bandit" force that was rapidly rising in the Northwest.

In their view, the Northwest was too barren to support any significant force, and given its distance from the Imperial Capital, they naturally paid it no mind.

Yet, they could never have imagined that this force would expand so rapidly.

In the third year of the era name, this bandit force finally bared its fangs, establishing a regime in the Northwest known as "Northern Liang."

Not long after the start of the new year, the Northern Liang Army braved the wind and snow, marching south through the bitter cold, and launched a surprise attack on Fengling and Fufeng commanderies while the Great Qian officials and armies were still immersed in the joy of the New Year.

Losing two of the three Sanfu regions meant that the Western Capital, Chang'an, had lost its northern shield and was directly exposed to the iron hooves of Northern Liang.

Only then did The Emperor and his officials wake up from their dream, but at this moment, they realized that they had no troops left to deploy.

On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, The Emperor summoned the important officials of the court.

"The Western Capital is now in crisis. Do you, my beloved subjects, have any good strategies?"

"Your Majesty, there are over thirty thousand new recruits just raised from Deng Prefecture, Ruzhou, and other places outside Luoyang, but..."

The Emperor's eyelid twitched as he stared at the speaker.

"But what? Speak up! Do you not know that I hate people who only say half of what they mean?"

"It is just that these new recruits have no training, no equipment, and no capable generals to lead them."

The meaning was clear: sending these new recruits to Chang'an now would be essentially the same as delivering food to the enemy.

Zheng Ting stood up.

"Your Majesty, there are still some discarded leather armor and sabers in the Luoyang armory that can still be used."

Song Yehong also immediately stood up.

"Your Majesty, there are still some old generals living in retirement in Luoyang who might be recalled to lead the troops."

The Emperor briefly recalled them in his mind, but thinking of those white-bearded old fogies, he could not bring himself to make the decision. If they were to die of illness halfway there, it would only damage the morale of the army.

Shaking his head, The Emperor rejected this highly risky plan.

"Is there anyone else who can lead the troops?"

At this, almost everyone fell silent. The generals in Great Qian who were capable of leading troops were either too old or already dead.

Either they were like Jiang Huaizhen and General Ma Zhiyuan, who had already set out to suppress the rebellions, or they were like Mao Biao and Song Ren, who were far away in the Southwest and shouldered heavy responsibilities, making it impossible for them to leave.

At this moment, someone spoke up timidly.

"There... there are still two people who might be usable, but..."

The Emperor's eyes lit up as he looked at the speaker, who was none other than the Minister of Personnel, Wu Xun. Come to think of it, this Wu Xun was The Emperor's father-in-law, the father of the imperial concubine.

"Who else?"

Wu Xun hesitated for a moment before stating his candidate.

"The Twelve Protectors under the former Great General Gao Wu: Gao Bing and Gao Gui!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone was stunned, and murmurs immediately began in the great hall.

"Using people from the Gao Family—wouldn't that be a bit too risky?"

"The Gao Family has been gone for so many years; what kind of waves can these people still stir up?"

"That is true. They did not make any moves when the Gao Family was destroyed back then, so they certainly will not do anything now."

"When was the Gao Family destroyed? Do not forget the one in the Southwest."

"That one? He is so far away, and The Emperor's beloved general is watching him."

"That is true."

The Emperor naturally thought of what these people had thought of, so he deliberated for a moment before speaking.

"Where are these two?"

"Gao Bing is currently the provincial inspector of Deng Prefecture, and Gao Gui is currently the provincial inspector of Jingzhou."

"Deng Prefecture... Jingzhou... Gao Bing... Gao Gui..."

The Emperor hesitated for a long time, repeatedly muttering the names of the two men. The officials also dared not breathe loudly, quietly waiting for The Emperor's order.

It is unknown how much time passed before The Emperor finally spoke.

"Issue an edict: appoint Gao Bing as the commander of the Guannei Circuit campaign, and Liu Jin as the army supervisor, to lead the thirty thousand new recruits and the Left Gate Guard to set out on the expedition."

The immediate crisis, combined with his confidence that Gao Bing would no longer rebel, led him to finally make the decision to reinstate Gao Bing. However, he still took precautions by making the long-disfavored Liu Jin the army supervisor.

He even inserted the Left Gate Guard, who usually guarded the palace, as a monitoring force.

Gao Bing had originally become disheartened. Since taking office as the provincial inspector of Deng Prefecture, he had been hiding at home every day, lying flat. He never expected that he would one day be reinstated.

After hearing the imperial edict, the spark in his bones began to burn fiercely, and his hands trembled as he received the edict.

Liu Jin had seen this look on Gao Bing many times before, and he smiled.

"General Gao, The Emperor has entrusted you with such a heavy responsibility; you must work hard, fight bravely, and absolutely do not harbor any selfish motives."

For Liu Jin, whether he could return to The Emperor's side and become that revered eunuch now depended on the man before him. Therefore, he was extremely patient, putting on a show of treating subordinates with courtesy.

"Eunuch Liu, rest assured. This humble general will certainly not fail The Emperor's trust and will set out immediately."

Digging out the war robe and armor from the bottom of his chest, Gao Bing seemed to return to the glorious years when he followed Gao Wu in the wars. He could not help but tear up.

"Great General, This humble general has returned!"

Putting on his war robe and armor, Gao Bing bade farewell to his family before mounting his warhorse and riding out of the city.

It only takes two or three days on horseback to get from Deng Prefecture to Luoyang. Because time was tight, even Liu Jin did not complain of hardship or fatigue.

Sure enough, when there are interests involved, human potential is limitless.

When he saw the thirty thousand new recruits, Gao Bing still felt a little disappointed.

However, he quickly realized that if it had not reached a point of no other options, how would The Emperor have chosen him?

Moreover, there were over a thousand soldiers from the Left Gate Guard; these were rare elites.

"Eunuch Liu, I plan to split up all these Left Gate Guard soldiers and have them serve as group leaders and Squad Leaders; this way, with the veterans leading the new recruits, we can train as we go. By the time we reach Chang'an, we can turn this army into an elite force. How about that?"

Seeing that Gao Bing would consult with him first on matters, and that this method sounded good and would also make it easier for him to control the entire army, Liu Jin agreed to his proposal without even thinking.

Therefore, Liu Jin agreed to the proposal of Gao Bing without much thought.

For the Left Gate Guard, they originally only needed to be responsible for guarding the palace.

They did not expect to be sent out this time and to have to fight alongside such a mob, so many of them had complaints.

However, they did not expect that Gao Bing would let them become officers, allowing them to enjoy the life of ordering others around.

This immediately satisfied the vanity of these Left Gate Guard soldiers to a great extent.

Just like that, this patchwork army, after simple training and receiving supplies, set out on the journey to the west.

At this moment, in Fufeng Commandery, the county seat of Yong County.

The original Prefectural Office had now been converted into the headquarters of the commander of the Northern Liang Army.

A young officer with a resolute face walked into the main hall and bowed to the middle-aged man in the main seat.

"Father Commander, scouts report that reinforcements are coming from Luoyang, with a force of about thirty thousand."

"Oh? I did not expect this little emperor to still be able to squeeze out reinforcements. Who is leading them?"

"It is said to be Gao Bing."

"Oh? I did not expect it to be him. It seems we will have to meet an old friend this time."

The middle-aged man put down the book in his hand and looked at the map with great interest.

"Since reinforcements have arrived, let us give him some face. Order the army to pause the advance toward Chang'an, and after gathering the grain, the army will retreat to Fufeng."

"Father Commander, it is just a mob temporarily cobbled together. One charge from our iron cavalry should be enough. Why do this?"

"I have my own considerations."

"Understood!"