A Journey Through the Worlds of Film and Television.

Chapter 111 Xiong Tingbi

For the next period of time, Lu Cheng did nothing and concentrated on learning swordsmanship from Ding Baiying.

Although Ding Baiying was young and a woman, she had a natural talent as a teacher. She explained the key points and force-generating techniques of various sword techniques clearly, making it easy for Lu Cheng to learn.

Of course, it is not enough to just learn theoretical knowledge. You also need to practice diligently, integrate the sword skills into your bones, form muscle memory, and reach the state of eyes, heart, and hands, similar to the "unity of man and sword" in martial arts novels.

Seeing that Lu Cheng had a high level of comprehension and learned quickly, Ding Baiying taught more attentively, imparting to Lu Cheng everything he knew and all his experiences without reservation.

Lu Cheng also returned the favor by teaching the other party all the special forces' close combat techniques.

The blade of the Miao Dao is long and thin, which is not conducive to its use in indoor or narrow alley battles. Therefore, Ding Baiying learned the method of close combat to make up for his shortcomings.

In order to learn better, Ding Baiying also specially prepared two handy daggers. According to the close combat method taught by Lu Cheng, combined with the double-sword technique, he used the two daggers quite skillfully.

In the process of mutual teaching, the relationship between the two people became more and more familiar.

At the beginning, Ding Baiying taught Lu Cheng the swordsmanship in order to repay his senior brother for saving his life. He even had some reservations in his heart and was not prepared to pass on all the essentials of the swordsmanship to Lu Cheng.

But after getting to know Lu Cheng, Ding Baiying began to admire his conversation and knowledge, which were beyond the reach of that time, and his erudition, and they gradually became friends.

The topics of discussion between the two also expanded from sword fighting at the beginning to all aspects.

"Brother Lu, what do you think of the situation in the court? Since Senior Brother came back, he seems to have become a different person. He has lost his former ambitions and has become cautious."

"The situation in the court changes too quickly. But no matter how it changes, we must select a suitable commander as soon as possible to go to Liaodong to guard the border and resist the Jiannu. As for Brother Wen Zhao, he narrowly escaped death on the battlefield. The feeling of being almost beheaded is hard to describe in words.

After experiencing the despair between life and death, people always have to change. Brother Wen Zhao just wants to change his way of life. He doesn't want to die like the tens of thousands of Ming soldiers who died on the battlefield, dying in vain. "

"Then what about my elder brother..."

"No one can predict the future, so we can only take it one step at a time."

In fact, Lu Cheng has been inquiring about the situation in the court recently to make his actions more convenient.

As early as mid-to-late March, Emperor Wanli appointed Xiong Tingbi as the Left Secretary of the Dali Temple and Censor of Henan Province to comfort the military and civilians in Liaodong.

After the imperial edict was delivered to Xiong Tingbi's hometown, Xiong Tingbi set off immediately and was now on his way to the capital.

However, the situation in the court was still unclear. The cabinet chief Fang Congzhe had been protecting the defeated commanders Yang Hao and Li Rubai, and was trying to keep them in Liaodong.

Of course, it was only a matter of time before Xiong Tingbi would govern Liaodong. Lu Cheng was also waiting for Xiong Tingbi at this moment, waiting for an opportunity.

At this time, the entire Liaodong had already become rotten and was completely a big fire pit. No smart person would jump into this fire pit.

But Xiong Tingbi dared to jump into this fire pit, and after arriving in Liaodong, it took only a few months to stabilize the situation. On the one hand, he adopted a defensive strategy, and on the other hand, he sent out small troops to use guerrilla warfare to constantly harass the Later Jin, forcing Nurhaci to shrink his troops and enter a defensive state, buying time for the Ming Dynasty.

However, this tough guy who is both civil and military is not very likable. He is hostile to everyone he meets, likes to curse people, and has a very bad relationship with his colleagues.

Later, after arriving in Liaodong, Xiong Tingbi was also constrained by all parties. He was eventually impeached and imprisoned due to party disputes. He died unjustly and his head was even sent to the nine borders.

But it is undeniable that Xiong Tingbi's strategic approach is correct and effective.

Later, General Yuan, who claimed to have pacified Liaodong in three years, saw the corrupt situation in Liaodong after arriving there and finally had to continue Xiong Tingbi's strategic policy.

In fact, if the Ming Dynasty could be united and the civil and military officials could work together to implement many policies, there might be a chance to change its destiny.

But at this time in the Ming Dynasty, factional strife had already become extremely serious. Two years later, after Emperor Tianqi ascended the throne, the eunuchs' power became increasingly prominent.

By then, the struggle between the Eunuch Party and the Donglin Party will also consume the last bit of luck of the Ming Dynasty.

The more one understands this era, the more one realizes that the Ming Dynasty had long been in a state of deterioration and was in a terminal state.

Thinking of this, Lu Cheng couldn't help but sigh.

Ding Baiying on the side glanced at Lu Cheng: "Brother Lu, why are you sighing? Is it because of the situation in the world? Although I don't understand these, I also know that you and my brother have your own ambitions in your heart."

Lu Cheng looked towards the north and spoke slowly, "I've heard someone say before, 'Those who worry about the country are the saddest people in history.' I didn't understand the meaning of this sentence before, but now I have some understanding of it. It's already very difficult to stand firm in the torrent of the secular world. It's probably harder than ascending to heaven to stand out."

"I didn't realize that Brother Lu is such a concerned person for the country and the people. However, being successful is something you men should do. I don't think too much about it."

Yes, Ding Baiying did not think so much, but she followed her senior brother and several of her disciples until she died in battle.

Thinking of this, when Lu Cheng turned around and looked at Ding Baiying, there was a hint of pity in his eyes.

Ding Baiying immediately noticed something was wrong and turned to look at Lu Cheng: "Brother Lu, what's with that look in your eyes? Why do I feel weird?"

"Nothing, let's practice swordplay."

"Okay, practice swordplay. There's no point in thinking too much. The most important thing is to practice swordplay well."

A few days later, Lu Cheng went to the blacksmith shop again and took back two custom-made knives, a slender Miao knife and a Yanling knife.

Lu Cheng planned to learn two sword techniques at the same time, the Miao Dao for fighting on the battlefield, and the Yanling Dao for self-defense.

While learning the swordsmanship, Lu Cheng also asked Lu Wenzhao to help him find two good fighters from the Jinyiwei, one who was good at flying knives and the other who was good at bows and arrows.

Lu Cheng followed these two masters to learn the basic archery and throwing knife techniques.

Of course, these two masters are not at the same level as Ding Baiying, they can only be considered relatively outstanding.

But it is enough to teach Lu Cheng some basic things.

If you want to be a good military general, you must learn the bow and arrow.

Although Lu Cheng has a gun, he cannot use it often, especially not in public, so as not to be targeted.

We may travel to other ancient worlds in the future, and we can’t always rely on guns and firearms.

He studied like this for more than a month, from the beginning of March to the end of April. Lu Cheng had already mastered all the basics and had become proficient in the Xinyou sword technique.

What remains is to practice diligently and then put it into practice.

It was at this time that Xiong Tingbi finally arrived in the capital from his hometown.

It was only because of the obstruction of Fang Congzhe, the chief minister of the cabinet, that Xiong Tingbi was temporarily shelved.

A few days after Xiong Tingbi arrived in the capital, Lu Cheng prepared a visiting card and a letter and went to Xiong Tingbi's temporary residence.

At this time, Xiong Tingbi had been unemployed at home for more than seven years. He had just arrived in the capital and lived in the temporary residence arranged by the court.

Because of the targeting by the prime minister of the cabinet, and the fact that no one was willing to go to Liaodong at that time, not many people came to visit Xiong Tingbi.

Lu Cheng handed the visiting card and letter to the gatekeeper, and stuffed a piece of silver into his pocket, then allowed the gatekeeper to deliver his letter and visiting card.

After waiting at the door for more than half an hour, Lu Cheng finally received a message from inside allowing him to come in.