Xiaoyao Nongjiazi

Bows and arrows were relatively common in the Great Zhou Dynasty, and ordinary people could equip one or two, but crossbows were not. This item was controlled by the imperial court, and even princes and nobles were not allowed to own it privately.

Zhong Qingran is not a military enthusiast, and he doesn't know much about firearms. At least he has seen pictures of crossbows. Combining existing materials and referring to Jian Mingyu's opinions, he finally figured out a more feasible production plan for hand crossbows.Zhong Qingran couldn't help with the next matter.Bow and crossbow cannot be spread casually, after much deliberation, Jian Mingyu became the best candidate.

Armorer Yin Cheng can make many weapons, but not including crossbows, otherwise, he can make them with Jian Mingyu, which can save a lot of trouble.Zhong Qingran thought about getting Yin Cheng involved, discussed with his family, and finally decided to keep it a secret for the time being.

Large-scale crossbows are extremely lethal, and also not very mobile. Regardless of this, the main reason is that Zhong Qingran and the others are not yet able to make them. Hand crossbows are relatively small and do not hinder movement. They are the most powerful military equipment that Fukumura can possess right now.

Jian Mingyu was busy making hand crossbows, and Zhong Qingran was not idle either.He didn't know why Zhou Ming's three village guard captains were so convinced that they could find the bandits. Could it be that he was so believable?Zhong Qingran shook his head, throwing this unreliable thought out of his mind.He doesn't need to know the reason, as long as he doesn't suspect him, doesn't betray Fukumura, whatever they think.

Zhong Qingran didn't have too much ambition, if no one bullied him, he wouldn't bother to try his best to climb up.Just like this time, if it weren't for the existence of bandits, which seriously threatened Fukumura, he could live comfortably at home with peace of mind.

It's just such a simple request, no matter in the Great Zhou Dynasty or in Hanhai Prefecture, it seems that it is difficult to achieve it. Zhong Qingran can only cheer up and kill all threats in the cradle.

In his previous life, Zhong Qingran was a law-abiding ordinary citizen. He had never even killed chickens or ducks. When he came to the Great Zhou Dynasty, he had seen blood, but it was only the blood of prey. He was really not sure if he could do it.In this regard, Zhong Qingran is far inferior to the local residents.

Zhong Qingran didn't think that Fucun was lucky enough to avoid the sight of the robbers.They can be found in Valin Village, not to mention the bandits who have traveled all over Hanhai Prefecture.

Zhong Qingran speculates that Fu Village is very likely to come into the sight of the bandits when they come to Valin Village to collect protection fees.If he had faced them at that time, even if Fukumura defeated them completely, he would have endless troubles.If the small and medium-sized tribes living in Hanhai Prefecture can be forced into such a situation, there must be a large number of bandits. With the population of Fucun, they may not be able to cope with the follow-up reinforcements.

More importantly, how can there be any reason to guard against thieves for a thousand days?To be missed by others, many things have to be guarded against, which will seriously affect the lives of villagers in Fu Village.Didn't the small and medium-sized tribes in Walin Village have to compromise because they couldn't stand the harassment of bandits?If this gang of bandits is not wiped out, they will not have a peaceful life.

Zhong Qingran didn't want to abandon Fucun and live a nomadic life without a fixed place. Besides, it was not safe. The bandits didn't do production, and if they didn't smash their early rafters, other tribes had to follow suit. They could bear it. Take this breath?The next thing is obvious, Hanhai Prefecture is not small, and it is not difficult to find someone in the flat terrain.He didn't want to be in fear all day, so he had no choice at all.

Zhong Qingran felt good about Wan Fei, but he couldn't guarantee that the people of Walin Village would not spread the news of Fu Village.It's not that he judges the heart of a gentleman with the heart of a villain. As the saying goes, a gentleman can't stand under a dangerous wall, and he can't pin the safety of Fucun on the hearts of illusory people.

Every day that passed, the threat of bandits to Fucun increased a little bit, Zhong Qingran and the others couldn't afford to wait.When Jian Mingyu made the fifth hand crossbow, Zhong Qingran didn't intend to wait any longer.Before leaving, he convened the villagers and told them all the things that needed attention when he and most of the village guards were away.

"Grandpa, I'm leaving. If I encounter a strong enemy that cannot be defeated, I will take everyone to retreat to the building." Zhong Qingran lightly jumped on the horse, glanced at the plaque of Fucun Village behind, pulled the rein, and signaled to step on the snow to get ready. OK.

"Grandpa will take care of the affairs of the village for you. Be careful yourself. Don't be careless." Mr. Zhong's eyes are full of worries. After Qing Ran's departure, he still doesn't know what the outcome will be. His whole heart is hanging.

Tong Shi blinked and held back the tears. She couldn't shed tears at this time, it would be unlucky, she had to send them out with a smile.

Zhong Qingran glanced at the family members who were seeing him off one by one, and said what should be said before, staying too long will only add to the sadness.Zhong Qingran raised his horsewhip, and Taxue threw off his four hooves and galloped towards the target direction.As soon as he moved, Jian Mingyu and others followed closely behind him.

For a while, the village entrance was dusty, blurring people's sight.

It wasn't until Zhong Qingran and his party turned into little black dots that Mr. Zhong and the others returned to the village.

It's a bit white to open the way in the air, Zhong Qingran and others can easily avoid the sight of the locals, and they don't even step into their range of activities.

A few days later, Zhong Qingran and his party crossed Hanhai Prefecture and came to the foot of the mountain on the western edge.

Zhong Qingran narrowed his eyes and looked at a mountain in the distance, which was the stronghold of bandits.If it weren't for the fact that most of Hanhai Prefecture is grassland and it's not easy to hide, they wouldn't have to make a detour and cut in so far.

After driving for several days, everyone was tired. Zhong Qingran discussed with Jian Mingyu and decided to rest for two days before talking.Although this side is far away from the bandits' den, it is not safe. To be on the safe side, everyone went into the forest.

With the insect repellent powder provided by Zhong Qingran, they would not be harassed by snakes, insects, rats and ants, and there was little danger in entering the mountain.

After the men and horses recovered, two scouts, Wang Zaiming and Zhang Ji, led by Dian Bai, quietly sneaked into the vicinity of the bandit's den to investigate the situation.

"How's the situation?" Jian Mingyu looked at the tired-looking two people who returned safely, and was not in a hurry to let them go down to rest. It's the time, and the most important thing is to complete the task.

The two explained in detail what they had found out, Zhong Qingran listened intently, and used charcoal to simply draw the layout of the bandit den on the paper.Not long after the two finished talking, the sketch map of the stronghold was also drawn.

"Come and have a look. If there is anything wrong, point it out." Zhong Qingran changed the direction of the diagram, facing Wang Zaiming and Zhang Ji.

The two carefully compared the schematic diagram with the gangster's den in their memory, and found that there was no deviation in the general direction, and they couldn't take care of the details. It was a bandit stronghold, how could they let them sneak in easily?They only wandered around the perimeter, and they didn't know much about the bandit's lair.

Both Zhong Qingran and Jian Mingyu knew this.Everyone in Fukumura is precious, and the two don't want to see unnecessary sacrifices.If they are too aggressive, it is likely to scare the enemy, which will hinder their actions.There are few of them, so a sneak attack is the best solution.

"Of course, the gangsters are not all in the stronghold. It is impossible to catch them all in one go. Is there any way for you to avoid hunting dogs?" Jian Mingyu is a good hunter. Although he has never raised a hunting dog, it does not prevent him from knowing the dog's nose. sharp.

"When we take action, we apply medicine to cover up our breath, and when we retreat, we erase all traces of our whereabouts, so we won't be tracked." Zhong Qingran brought a lot of medicine, which just came in handy at this time.

"Well, set off at dusk and act again at night." After Jian Mingyu finished speaking, there was no movement at the temporary station.

The waiting time was extremely long, and everyone was excited and nervous. The plan seemed to be foolproof, but even the perfect plan requires people to realize it. As long as one person makes a mistake, it may lead to the failure of the operation. Is this the consequence? I am afraid that everyone can't bear.

Zhong Qingran wasn't too worried, at least he still had Fu Yunzhu as a backer, besides, even if he didn't use Fu Yunzhu's ability, he could avoid most of the little troubles only by relying on his own high luck.He will come with the team, mainly holding the formation, if everything goes well, he doesn't need to make a move.

"Let's go." Jian Mingyu got up and walked quickly towards the bandit's den.

It's quite far away from the gangster's stronghold, so you don't need to cover up your figure too much, and it's okay to make a little noise.When you enter the range of bandit alert, you can't be so careless, you'd rather slow down, and don't expose your body.

After everyone arrived at the designated location, they hid their bodies and waited for orders.

Zhong Qingran looked at the bandit camp in front of him, feeling quite surprised, the number of people was much smaller than he expected, it shouldn't be.Now, no matter whether it is crops or livestock, it is not time to harvest. There should be very few people who go out to collect protection fees.But with such a small number of people, is it too difficult to control all the small and medium tribes?

Zhong Qingran didn't believe that a village like Walin Village would be helpless against such a large number of bandits.So where did everyone go?Is it really scattered to patrol all over Hanhai Prefecture?

Now is not the time to think about these things, Zhong Qingran suppressed the weird feeling in his heart and focused on the action in front of him.

It is estimated that the gangsters never thought about who would be so bold to raid their lair. The two guards were not very vigilant, and they talked a few words from time to time, not taking duty seriously at all.

Jian Mingyu lowered his eyes, they can't make such a mistake, and they must strengthen the teaching in this area in the future.

Now it is the end of the meal, and the gangster's den is quite lively, the sound of drinking and drinking floats into everyone's ears from time to time, even mixed with the sound of having fun.

The village guards were all young and strong, so it was inevitable that some people would be shaken. Zhong Qingran's face was a little uneasy. He didn't expect to encounter such a thing, so he had to make people back a little to avoid the range of the sound.

Time passed slowly, the sound in the stronghold gradually weakened, and the rooms darkened one by one until the last light went out.

Jian Mingyu didn't act immediately, and waited for another half a quarter of an hour before signaling the first mover to take action.

The two night watchmen didn't know what was going on, their eyelids became heavier and heavier, and then they couldn't take it anymore, and fell asleep back to back.

Seeing that the operation was successful, everyone immediately acted according to the previous plan. Taking advantage of the cover of night, they carefully entered the bandit's den, blowing misty smoke into each room, waiting for a while, and then breaking in.

Perhaps it was Zhong Qingran's Gao Fuyun who played a role, and the operation was extremely smooth without any mistakes.

"Captain Jane, what should we do with these people?" The fire in the stronghold was not extinguished, and under the light of the fire, Zhong Lin's eyes were shining brightly.

"Just do as we discussed before." Jian Mingyu has a serious face and firm eyes. This test must be passed, not to mention him, everyone present has to overcome, "Remember, they are enemies, and you must not treat them softly. "

Long before, Zhong Qingran knew that except for the boatman, most of the others would not be able to do so. He had already prepared for them and gave them two options, one is to use the knife directly, and the other is to use medicine.The drug that he took just now was not too heavy, it could only stun the culprit, but what he took out now was a high concentration drug, as long as the dose was enough, he might never be able to wake up.

As a result, Zhong Qingran expected much more.None of the village guards asked him for high-concentration drugs. Although they were so nervous that they couldn't even hold a machete, they all stepped forward. They were village guards, equivalent to soldiers. If they didn't even have this If you can't overcome it, it's better to quit the village guard team as soon as possible and give up the position to a capable person, so as not to miss a major event in the future.

Zhong Qingran had thought about how to deal with the gangsters, the first way he thought of was to arrest them and bring them back to Fucun to do coolies.Later, after discussing with Zhou Ming and other veterans, this plan was abandoned.Coolies can solve the labor shortage problem in Fucun Village, but they can only be placed in a place where they cannot be seen by outsiders. Otherwise, wouldn't it be obvious that they are the ones who set up the bandits' stronghold?

That's all, at least there are still many places where they can be used. The fear is that Fucun is understaffed and there are not many people to take care of them. If they escape, Fucun will be in danger.Zhong Qingran has many ways to confront him head-on, but he is afraid of doing it secretly. If he is not in a hurry to rescue and is succeeded, no one can bear the consequences.

"Qing Ran, let those women and children go?" Jian Mingyu's voice was slightly hoarse, and tonight was destined to be a sleepless night.

"Otherwise, what should we do?" Zhong Qingran had a trace of confusion in his eyes.

"..." Jian Mingyu couldn't make up his mind. Just as he was thinking about it, he saw a woman move her finger out of the corner of his eye. If the woman stays, it will be settled immediately.

Zhong Qingran was startled: "Mingyu, what's going on?"

"Qing Ran, I think that since the matter has been done, it's better to simply send the Buddha to the west. You once said that if you cut the grass and don't get rid of the root, it will be born again when the spring breeze blows. I don't know what happened. I just saw The woman twitched her fingers. If they were let go, I don't know what kind of troubles would happen. We have too few people, and sooner or later we have to recruit people. If they get mixed in, this..." Jian Mingyu's eyes dimmed , but the hand is very steady.Today's incident had a great impact on him. Instead of escaping, he would rather bear the condemnation of his conscience and protect the safety of his family.

Zhong Qingran stabilized his mind and held Jian Mingyu's hand tightly: "I will do as you wish."

There was no turning back when the bow was opened, and the village guards who had never been on the battlefield at the beginning were reluctant to fight. They did not close their eyes until the boatman inspired the remaining courage in their hearts. After that, things became much simpler, even Those are women and children.

Seeing the clean and neat movements of the boatman, Zhong Qingran felt very ashamed.Others can hesitate and be merciful, but he can't.He is in charge of Fucun. Once he makes a wrong decision, not only he, but his family, and the whole village will fall into an irreparable situation.

"The first team carries supplies, the second team is on guard, and the third team checks to see if any fish have slipped through the net." Jian Mingyu calmed down and quickly gave instructions.

Zhong Qingran added: "After the task of the three teams is completed, gather the people together and cremate them."

Everyone was doing their own things in an orderly manner, Zhong Qingran felt his hands trembling slightly, and his words were trembling.He realized once again that the world's indifference to human life was far beyond that of a person like him living in a peaceful age.He had to adapt to the rules here and not be trapped by this.

After everything was done, it was early morning.When we came, because we wanted to hide our whereabouts, we traveled quietly. Unexpectedly, on the return journey, the atmosphere was even more dignified. If there were no boatmen joking around, I am afraid that we would have been silent all the way.

This night, few people who experienced this kind of thing for the first time could sleep soundly, including Zhong Qingran and Jian Mingyu.Don't look at Jian Mingyu's extremely decisive action. After all, he is not a hard-hearted person, and his inner torment is no less than that of other people.Zhong Qingran was even more serious, this action was his order, no matter right or wrong, everything must be taken care of by him.This night, he kept having nightmares, and woke up several times in the middle of the journey. Unconsciously, he hugged Jian Mingyu tightly, absorbing the warmth from his body.

After getting over the initial discomfort, Zhong Qingran felt that there was something different about him. Taking a closer look, Zhong Lin and the others also showed obvious changes, becoming more determined.

After exterminating the bandits, Zhong Qingran and his party did not return to the village. Before the bandits could react, they wiped out two more small groups of people. Afterwards, they made a large circle to eliminate all traces before returning.

Zhong Qingran himself noticed that he had lost a lot of weight, and it wasn't because of the long-distance travel. Anyone with a discerning eye could understand what was going on.No one else can help with this matter, he can only figure it out by himself.Jian Mingyu had no choice but to cook some good food to nourish his body.

Zhong Qingran knew exactly where the problem was. Rationally, he agreed with this approach, but emotionally he couldn't accept it for a while, especially when he destroyed the stronghold, he felt a deep sense of guilt. Only time can heal all this.

"Having a nightmare again?" Jian Mingyu took the cotton handkerchief at hand, and gently wiped the sweat from Zhong Qingran's forehead.

"En." Zhong Qingran's throat was dry, as if he hadn't drunk water for several days.

This is not the first time such a thing has happened, Jian Mingyu took the water glass that was set aside, Zhong Qingran took his hand and drank it in one gulp.A glass of water slipped into his throat, his throat was moistened, and Zhong Qingran felt much more comfortable.

"It's almost home, just keep going." Jian Mingyu didn't know what to do, so he could only take care of Zhong Qingran's diet and daily life more carefully.

"It's okay, I can bear it." Zhong Qingran also admired himself, he didn't feel too uncomfortable, and he didn't have much trouble psychologically, but the nightmare still came every day, it was beyond his control, and he couldn't control it. It's okay, I can only deal with it like this first.

As he got closer to Fucun, Zhong Qingran's symptoms improved significantly, and Jian Mingyu felt much more at ease.It's delicious, but it's getting thinner day by day, which makes Jian Mingyu feel uncomfortable watching, afraid that something will happen to Zhong Qingran.

"Come back, the village chief and the others are back!"

"Really? Let's all meet the village chief."

Seeing two eagles hovering over Fucun, the villagers immediately reacted, put down their work and waited on the road at the entrance of the village.

After Zhong Qingran and the others went there for so many days, the villagers were not at ease.There is no way, Fucun only has so many armed forces, and Zhong Qingran took most of them away, it would be strange for them to feel at ease.What's more, what Zhong Qingran and his party have to do is still very dangerous. If they are not careful, they can't even talk about whether they will have a chance to meet again. Who doesn't have a heart?Traveling far away normally is always worrying about children traveling thousands of miles, let alone Zhong Qingran and the others.

Zhong Qingran and the others stayed at the entrance of the village for a while, and then dispersed.

"Qingran, why have you lost so much weight?" Tong Shi pulled Zhong Qingran up and down to look him up and down, his voice tinged with worry.

"It's okay, I've been having nightmares these days, and it's much better now. Ah, I guess I miss my grandparents." Zhong Qingran didn't want to dwell on this matter, so he said casually.

"Are you all right?" Tong asked again worried.

"Grandma, don't worry, I'm fine." Zhong Qingran assured.

"Okay, old lady, since Qingran said it's okay, then it's okay. Seeing that they are tired, let them go back to their room to rest." Mr. Zhong stopped Tong from continuing to ask questions, and sent them off.

"Old man, did you think of something?" Tong has been married to Mr. Zhong for many years, and Tong knows him well.

"I think Qingran is very energetic, but he has lost a lot of weight. I'm afraid that the things he did during this trip have caused trouble to him. I guess the problem is not serious, so I didn't ask any more questions." Mr. Zhong didn't make it clear. Tong Shi also understood.

"It was all murdered by that murderous villain, otherwise, why would Qingran have to suffer this crime?" Tong was annoyed, "And the emperor's old son is also the same. It's such an obvious thing, so what's the point of saving face?"

"It's not all a bad thing. In the past, Qingran used to do things with his hands and feet bound. Here, you don't have to think so much. Now it's just a temporary difficulty, and it will be fine after a long time." Mr. Zhong knew in his heart that the initial period was difficult. However, when Fucun really develops, the days will only get better and better.

"Oh, I hope so." Tong Shi sighed, got up and went to the kitchen, "I'm going to get Qingran and Mingyu something delicious to nourish their bodies, do you want to eat some too?"

Mr. Zhong turned his head to look at the sky, waved his hands and said, "There is no need to deliberately prepare, if there are many, just give me some."

"Okay, then I'm busy." Tong stepped out of the threshold and happened to meet Jian Mingchen.When he heard that he was going to the kitchen, he hurriedly followed to help.

"Auntie Tong, brother, is he alright?" Jian Mingchen's face was full of worry, thinking to himself, it's better not to have any accidents.

"It's nothing serious, just rest for a while." Tong comforted herself in this way.