choke element

Chapter 32

This vast area in the north of Hebei, south of Yanshan Mountain and east of Taihang, has never been a stable place.

For hundreds of years, the river here has no fixed course, the embankment is not formed, the ravines are vertical and horizontal, and the terrain is low-lying.

When the Song Dynasty occupied this place, it used the dotted Dawa and Dian to build the Tangluo line of defense.As the Song and Liao countries see-saw along the border, many water thieves who survived on lakes and ponds appeared on the border between the two countries.

Later, Dajin entered the Central Plains, and most of the military villages and military forts in this area were abandoned.However, repeated inspections, land expansions, and miscellaneous taxes continued to increase, forcing the local people to survive and flee, and finally turned every place into a hot spot for abandoned people from the imperial court.

At this time, the imperial court lost a series of battles with Mongolia, natural disasters hit Hebei again and again, the people of the military prefectures withered, and the fields were abandoned.

As a result, private salt dealers, thieves, green forest heroes, merchants who sell stolen goods, and tycoons who gather for gambling all haunt the continuous lakes and marshes.As a result, a unique style has been formed in this land of alienation.

Three years after arriving in Da'an, a huge number of defeated soldiers from northern Xinjiang came one after another and fell into this secret but actually existing big net.

On the upper reaches of the Feijun River, on the west edge of Wuguan Lake, there is a small beach hidden deep in the water.There is an unnamed wild store built of logs and poorly structured, which is a node on the big network.

Due to the drought for two consecutive years, the water volume of several small river ditches in this reed pond is close to exhaustion, but the hydrological environment is still complicated, with deep and shallow depressions and swamps scattered all over the place, the road is very difficult to walk, and the inspection of the imperial court and the local soldiers are not enough. As a last resort, no one will come here.

This morning, the owner of the shop, Xu Ting, opened the door early, set up a table in the open space in front of the door, and brought out a few sheep's heads that had been stewed all night. , The crystal clear lamb head meat is shaved into translucent slices, and the aroma is tangy.

Xu Ting is a native of Yingshang County, Shouzhou Prefecture. He came from an official's family. He has read some books, practiced some spears and sticks, and can draw a bow of two or three stones.When he was a teenager, he got into trouble in his hometown and ran away, and he has made a living from this wild shop for a long time.Over the past ten years, I have not saved much money, but I have made a lot of good fortune.

The servants who suffered from the epidemic, the military academy that was hit by gold, the scholars who lost their money, the robbers who broke their legs, the officials who were framed, the merchants who were plagued by plague, the people who fled from their relatives, and the tycoons who roamed the rivers and lakes, as long as they came In this wild shop, Xu Ting either took in the wounded and recuperated, or helped to hide her tracks, or sponsored Sichuan funds, all of which helped a lot.

Last autumn, he also received a group of rout soldiers from northern Xinjiang, and helped them find an abandoned camp in the lower reaches of the Feijun River to settle down.To him, it's just a trivial matter, and he forgets it when he's done.

Xu Wei never expected that the young leader of the rout was Guo Liulang, who had defended the enemy many times during the retreat of the army.

He didn't even expect that Guo Ning would turn over after being silent for a long time.He not only forced back the Tiewa Ganzhan Army entrenched in Zhuozhou, but also became the common leader of 31 rout camps within the five states!

The 31 rout camps were fully mobilized, enough to provide Guo Ning with [-] experienced soldiers.Once these forces are assembled, they will be the best among the local forces in the military states of Hebei!

What kind of appeal and what kind of prestige is this!

Xu Yu has heard of the name of Guo Liulang in Wushabao.But Guo Ning was in Wusha Castle back then, wasn't there only one regular army?Could it be that the leaders of those rout soldiers disliked the good old days, so they had to find a mere regular army to be their boss?
Xu Yu has never been in the army, nor participated in the battle of thousands of troops, so it is really hard for him to understand, and he can't imagine how many difficulties Guo Ning went through in the big retreat the year before last and last year, to win this kind of response. reputation.

Xu Yu frowned and thought for a while, and suddenly felt a figure flickering in front of him, and he realized that his hands stopped for a while.He hastened to concentrate and speed up.A group of potbellied men will arrive at any moment, and there is no delay.

The person in front of him suddenly ascended to a high position, and it was time to attract people's hearts.He was willing to let his subordinates eat better, that's why he gave Xu Yu a chance to make a small fortune... just flatter her!

It was Guo Ning who appeared not far from Xu Yu.

Guo Ning was originally under a big tree, talking with the young soldiers sitting around him.

These young sergeants were dispatched to Guo Ning's tent by the leaders of the rout troops from various places in response to Guo Ning's recruitment.Generally speaking, they are all the sons and nephews of the leaders of the defeated army, the elder is sixteen years old, and the youngest is only 13 years old.

There is no mediocre boy who can survive in troubled times.

Among these teenagers, some are brave enough to fight, and even have the experience of killing the enemy; After farming, his hands and feet are covered with calluses. The first impression is a bit awkward, but at least he is hardworking and reliable.

The teenagers are not yet familiar with each other.Among them is Ni Yi, who is older and has more outstanding martial arts skills.Guo Ning asked him to temporarily serve as Pu Liyan, the assistant of the head of 50 people.

And Pu Liyan of the personal guards is Zhao Jue.

Zhao Jue is very young, but he is a bit reserved and doesn't talk much.In the past few days, Guo Ning talked more with the teenagers, and everyone was very relaxed and laughed from time to time.

While smiling, Guo Ning heard a dull voice coming from the depths of the swamp.He got up and stood outside the wild store, looking south.

Zhao Jue followed closely behind him.

The teenagers hurriedly lined up behind, more than [-] people, all of them were straight and serious, with one hand on the handle of the knife at their waist, and they never whispered to each other, looking around.

Ni Yixiang took an extra step forward and looked at Guo Ning.

Seeing Guo Ning nod his head, he took out two small flags, stood them on the ground on the left and right, and drew a long horizontal line between the two small flags with his knife.

The muffled rumble was getting closer and closer, and gradually turned into the roar of hundreds of people stepping heavily through the mud.

The young man's eyes couldn't help showing anticipation, and some people raised their heads high in advance to show that they had the chance to win.

In the next moment, the two centurions rushed out of the reeds, almost side by side, staring at each other. After a short look, they rushed towards the flag gate.It can be seen that they have all traveled hard and rolled in the mud along the way, and many of them were muddy yellow from head to toe.

One of the centurions ran out of strength, and after running wildly for a while, the line got longer and longer. In the end, only a dozen or so people arrived at the same time as the previous centurion.In contrast, the previous centurion was full of members, and their spirits were obviously higher, and they even straightened the queue while rushing to the flag gate.

Guo Ning noticed that in addition to the straw sandals, the soldiers of this group also wrapped their feet with reed leaves and tied them tightly, making them look like boots from the ankle to the calf.In this way, not only can the soles and ankles of the soldiers be protected from bruises and sprains, but also the calves are protected from being cut by broken withered grass and reed leaves.

This is a common trick, and it is very beneficial on long marches.But to do so in a marching competition that lasts twenty miles, the soldiers have to stop every other distance, risking being caught up or thrown off by competitors, to patiently make these reed boots.

It is absolutely impossible for a general who is not deeply trusted by the soldiers to do this.

This centurion will be Han Xuan.He was one of the first rout leaders who came to the Feijunhe camp and participated in the decision to go to Shandong. He was very effective in his work these days, and Guo Ning saw it in his eyes.

Seeing Guo Ning walking towards him, Han Xuan bowed in salute, and proudly puffed out his chest.

He opened his mouth to say a few words, but found that he was completely hoarse after shouting and motivating along the way.

Within the range of the 31st camp in Wuzhou, some leaders are only willing to obey Guo Ning, but want to continue to maintain their independent attitude.There were also some people who rushed to defect with their subordinates, so that the troops that Guo Ning could directly command increased again.

So Guo Ning decided to organize it into seven capitals, and appointed seven capitals to command respectively.The first, second and third are naturally Monk Luo, Li Ting and Wang Shixian.For the other four capitals, Guo Ning appointed temporary generals, but also announced that the ranking of each capital, and even the position of the generals, must be finalized through competition with each other.

After this match, Han Xuan deserved his name.

Guo Ning thumped his chest hard, took a military flag from Ni Yi, and solemnly handed it to him: "General Han, please."

Generally speaking, Zhumeng Anmouke of the Jin Army used the five-color flag with a yellow center, while the town defense forces in various places mainly used khaki and red flags.After arriving in Hebei, the defeated soldiers were generally embarrassed and did not have the intention to make new military flags, but many flags used in the early years still survived.

Guo Ning used the remaining red flags to transform them into the military flags of his subordinate capitals.The flag is small, triangular, and the words on it are very simple: "The Fourth Capital".

Holding the military flag, Han Xuan couldn't help laughing, and the soldiers behind him cheered even though they were exhausted.

Seeing this situation, the other person next to him would sigh and beat the ground repeatedly.

This will be named Qiu Huiluo, and he was born in the same Changzhou rout as Guo Ning.It's just that Guo Ning is from the Yongtun army, and he is the first army of the sub-fan garrison army. He was signed from Shandong two years ago.This person is tall and has extraordinary martial arts skills. Guo Ning once asked him how to use Tie Guduo.

Qiu Huiluo's spirit is very high, and it is not easy to compete all the way here for twenty miles.It was a pity that it fell short in the end.Guo Ning comforted him with kind words, awarded him the military flag of the "fifth capital", and raised his voice to encourage the soldiers of the two capitals, asking them to refresh and prepare for a feast.

Later, Xu Yu hurriedly called out to the staff, and brought out the prepared fat lamb, scones, dry fried noodles, broomcorn porridge, etc.His country shop looks dilapidated, but in fact, his family has a lot of good things hidden in it.

In this world, the vast majority of ordinary soldiers may one day fill in the gullies and fill in the blades.Their thinking is much simpler than that of the leaders, so talking to them about their way of life and future is not realistic.For them, it is best to have a full meal; and the only thing that is more attractive than a full meal is a full meal with meat.

The soldiers from the two capitals set off in the early morning, and they were already very hungry. After seeing the delicious food, everyone was smiling and devouring it hungrily.Han Xuan's subordinates each got an extra mutton bone and a bowl of mutton soup, and they were even more proud.

There are a few elders who are the elders of the young people around Guo Ning.They came over cheerfully and gave the lamb bones to the boy to eat.

All the young men holding the sheep bones felt their faces glowing.

Just when I was full of joy, there was the sound of rumbling footsteps in the reed marshes.

Many soldiers put down their bowls and chopsticks. They looked at each other, whispered constantly, and there was some commotion.

　King Hailing set up 32 households, and every [-] households were awarded good names such as Shence, Shenjie, Shenwei, and Shenrui. Since then, the Jin Kingdom and the Han Army have also clearly granted good names.But for less than [-] households, it should be simply divided by numerical serial number.

For example, according to the documents of Heishuicheng in Russia, there is an establishment from the first to the seventh mouk; according to the Jin History, the Qingyuan Road is also directly ranked from the first general to the tenth general.

　
(End of this chapter)