Minister

64【Six Years of Jiankang】

Lu Tiezhao was an old member of the Wang Family Army. He had joined the army for more than 38 years and was a bachelor for more than [-] years. He had never left the camp since he came here.At the age of [-], five years ago when he was fighting with the Royal Army, he was cut and wounded by the barbarians. It was winter and there was no medicine for being trapped in the enemy camp.When I came back from the battle, I had a look—the wound was really deep!Without blood-activating medicine, the wound was almost worn out.After such a toss, he almost lost his life after getting off the line of fire.After finally recovering his life, he fell to the root of his illness, and he couldn't stand the torment anymore.The superior appreciates him and sympathizes with him, and changes his military status to the gang leader battalion, which can be regarded as half a fat job in the army.However, Lu Tiexie has a very stubborn temper. The cavalryman's temper has not changed at all. He rolls up his sleeves for major and minor matters without wiping his sweat. He doesn't talk much. He is really a respectable soldier.Now this time is his last battle in the barracks. After this battle, he will retire. He has also saved some of the old Lu's family business, and he is waiting to retire from Fengyi and go home to live in peace. It's time.

There was not much time, and Lu Tiezho worked even harder.Yesterday, the head battalion boiled broth and pancakes to serve Oshio's [-] foot soldiers just in time, but counting, the wartime was not as good as usual, and the food probably lasted until midnight.Man is iron rice is steel!Captain Lu specially set up the third watch, and after cooking the food for the large group of people, he made a special trip to make some fine grains, and ordered five or six people to carry the burden with himself and then rush back.

It is said that the large troops hurried out of Wa'ena after all, and a short rest is necessary.As long as they leave this plain, the marching speed will increase rapidly. The cavalry in Monan can't beat the Qi army, and the infantry can ambush but can't catch up. Now this situation can be regarded as a temporary escape.This small group of people had no driftwood to serve them, so they could only pick up the foot of the mountain and rush back.Lu Tiechou knew the importance of military rations, and he yelled at his subordinates not to neglect them all the way.

The crowd trotted all the way for two hours, and finally saw the hilltop from yesterday. At this moment, the sun had already peeked out half of the face, shining brightly.Lu Tiechao was excited to come up, but he didn't have to feel the pain like a knife on his back. He switched the pick to his shoulder and rushed forward. He rushed a few hundred steps to the front.

Su Xiao didn't pass this year, relying on his youth and strength, he was at the forefront, but in the end he couldn't match the foot strength of the old and strong man, and was left behind in two or three strokes.Su Xiao grabbed the pole tightly and chased after Lu Tieshou, the guys behind all laughed at the young man's haste.There is a small slope ahead, and you can reach it by running down a hundred steps in a circle.Su Xiao steadied his body and slid down the mountain again, but when he looked up, he saw that Lu Tiechou had already climbed the last hillside, Lu Tiechou turned his head and smiled at Su Xiao.

Su Xiao wiped off his sweat, and also smiled. He was smiling, but felt that the rising sun was dazzlingly white, and Lu Tiechao's smile froze on his face in the glare.

"Lu Da! Lu Da!" Su Xiao was taken aback, shouted twice, and quickly climbed up the slope with hands and feet.

Lu Tiechao seemed to have fallen in love with Xie, he just stared blankly at the valley, and finally his knees gave way, and the burden lost strength and fell to the ground.One side of the load was filled with sac cakes, and the other side was filled with vermicelli. When the load tilted, the porcelain man who held the vermicelli overturned the lid and fell to the ground steaming hot.Su Xiao ran up the hill and grabbed Lu Tieshou: "Da Lu!"

"Ah!" Lu Tiexie seemed to come back to life, and tightly grabbed Su Xiao's arm: "General Du... General Du and the others..."

The valley is just a piece of scorched black, scorched soil, scorched smoke, scorched people, and there is no trace of life.One or two burning bodies are still entangled, and there are twisted gun barrels on the fort in the distance, and the swirling gunpowder smoke is tragic and unbearable in the sun.

"They...they're dead!!" Lu Tiechao seemed to forget that he was in a dangerous situation, and he couldn't help crying.

Su Xiao only felt that his whole body was cold, and when someone came up to support him, he realized that tears were streaming down his face.Steaming food, smelling like meat, floated wantonly on the battlefield, and no one was waiting for it, and no one was looking forward to it anymore.Su Xiao broke down in tears, where is General Du?Where was he in that scorched earth?

The six of them hugged together, not knowing whether what was howling was sadness, anger or something else.

The sun was still rising, and was steamed by the dazzling heat, the valley was filled with steaming white air, and the tragic piece of soil seemed to be far away.Lu Tiechao suddenly struggled to get up—this hill, the last line of defense that General Du was going to guard, after six hours, no Monan dog could cross it!Lu Tiechou sprinkled the food in his burden on the slope, then knelt down and kowtowed deeply three times: "General Du! You are full! Let's go!"

This side of the valley is peaceful and serene.

On the first day of October, fog.

In the evening, the army rested for a while, and Wei Chi wrote a diary in the army book.Stepping out of the carriage, the diffuse mountain mist scattered from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the valley.Wei Chi thought that yesterday, that person still asked himself with a smile: "Is this winter or autumn?"

He clasped his hands together, winking and teasing himself.

"Will it be foggy at this time?"

He straightened the hat for himself.

"Brother, I will hand over my back to you."

When everyone, including himself, questioned himself, he believed in himself so freely.

"Alas! Officialdom has always been like this. If I feel sorry for elder brother, I will divide the golden snail rewarded by the emperor between me."

In his eyes, the things that he was so entangled and cared about were just jokes after a little loss.

"Go, go out for a walk."

He consoled his nervousness, as if he had risked his life to the rescue.

"I think you look like my sister."

If there really is such a brother...

"Wei Shenling is so free! Instead of going to the big tent to obey orders, he came here to cool off!"

I have never had anything worthy of your favor, but you always help me and protect me, without complaint or regret.

The hazy mist obscured Wei Chi's sight, Tang He pulled up the military post, and was about to march again. It was too late to be sad, and he had to cherish the vitality that Du Yun bought with his life.Dajun packed his luggage silently, while Zhang Huaiyuan tied and untied the bags of the luggage dully, untied and tied them again.Wei Chi looked at him from a distance, looking devastated, and wanted to persuade him, but was afraid that he would not be able to continue if he couldn't say a few words.What do you say? "We want to avenge him?" "Don't let him down?"

Are these words really enough to comfort a man of extreme grief?

Hu Yanglin patted Wei Chi's shoulder from behind: "Shaohu, you and General Tang and Master Xue go first, and General Zhang, I'll persuade..."

In the middle of the night, half an hour after the army set up camp, Hu Yanglin and Zhang Huaiyuan caught up. Wei Chi didn't dare to look, nor did he want to look, but wrapped himself tightly in the blanket, thinking about this day, hoping that it never came .

This is hate?I finally understood why Saul Hahan's gloomy and indifferent eyes came from when he was talking about peace.

In the early morning, Wei Chi rubbed his slightly swollen eyelids and climbed out of the carriage. In the bitter cold, heavy snow fell, and it fell on Wei Chi's shoulder in an instant.In the silvery white, the tall figure stood silently on a cliff, and he stood facing the direction that the person left for an unknown how long.Wei Chi wanted to pull him down, but he couldn't move, so he finally turned his face away and blew the morning whistle.After a short commotion, the army began to advance again.

The cold in Monan was so severe that the troops quickly removed the straw hats and put on sheepskin coats.After another two days of hasty marching, the terrifying mountains all around finally gradually turned into low hills.Wei Chi heaved a sigh of relief, and Geng Zhuqiu gave the tired young man an approving glance: "...Fengyi is two days away, there are villages along the way, you and Xue Zhu drove everyone away, and you can't take them with you." The grain and houses left behind were burned, all the wells that could be filled were filled, and those that could not be filled were poisoned.”

Strong walls and clear fields, Geng Zhuqiu said so.

As we walked west, we saw some villages, which were not as orderly as those in the Central Plains, but they still had some appearance.It's not just Qi people, there are all kinds of Monan people and Jin people.Wei Chi led a cavalry force of more than a hundred men, and rushed as soon as they saw the village.Naturally, the people in the village would not do it, but they couldn't be more stubborn than these vicious soldiers. Seeing that they didn't rob and kill people, they just wanted to chase them away.

Every time the residents of a village were driven away, Wei Chi and Xue Zhu carefully destroyed the property of the village, leaving nothing but a blade of grass.Hu Yanglin originally thought that Wei Chi's temperament would not be able to attack, but he did not expect that he was more careful than ordinary generals, and he did not waver in the face of a group of crying old and weak.The little property of the poor villagers was also destroyed. Wei Chi didn't explain anything, and he didn't intend to comfort them. He would do such a stupid thing a year ago, but he won't do it now.

The villagers were forcibly taken into the pass. Xu Longshan, the guard of the pass, was taken aback when he ordered someone to switch it on and off. He didn't expect there to be such a large group of burdensome people.Regardless of teachers and students among military generals, there is also a layer of seniority. Xu Longshan is a direct descendant of Geng Zhuqiu, and he admires Geng Zhuqiu from the bottom of his heart.

Geng Zhuqiu experienced more than ten days of ups and downs, his face was extremely pale, and he pointed out the people around him to Xu Longshan one by one.Seeing Geng Zhuqiu dying, Xu Longshan was so choked up that he couldn't say a word.Most of the people in this group know each other, only Xue Zhu and Wei Chi are strangers. Geng Zhuqiu pointed to Wei Chi and said, "You call those people." Then he turned to Wei Chi and said, "You let them go." Xing, write to Zhizhou in Jiaxing, don't use the name of the Ministry of War, just think about how to get him to accept it. Tonight, you and Xue Zhu will check all the yellow books in the city, and all suspects will be chased away. Go to Jiaxing."

Faced with such a messy task, Wei Chi couldn't say much, so he nodded, thinking about how to write the letter that threatened and begged but could not borrow the light of General Wang.Geng Zhuqiu sighed and said: "Nowadays, both Yulong and Fengyi are considered empty, and the defense of Yulong city is not as good, but after all, there is King Qin, Fengyi city defense is new, but the people in the pass are miscellaneous, and the generals defending the army are cumbersome. ,” Geng Zhuqiu pointed to himself with a smile: “I don’t know where the opponent is going to screw their brains.”

Xu Longshan knelt on the ground: "General, don't say that about yourself!"

Xu Longshan is only 36 and not well-known, so the Monan people naturally don't take him seriously.Pang Jisheng, the county magistrate, is a capable man, but he is proficient in official career and economics, but he is not good at fighting.As for Wei Chi and his ilk, it is even more unreliable. It is really a frustrating situation.

Just as he was talking, Pang Zhixian came in with the county magistrate Bo: "Master Geng, it's too late to be dismissed."

Geng Zhu Qiuchong, this seventy-year-old old man, made an arch—this old man, how many people were driven back to the Central Plains by this Fengyi pot head, but he stayed behind and didn't say anything, and he insisted on smoothing out these troublemakers!What about the eighth grade?There is also admiration in my heart.

The magistrate of Pang County didn't pay much attention to etiquette, and ordered Bo to come forward: "There are 3000 people in the county, and Huang Bo is here."

Geng Zhuqiu smiled knowingly, and ordered Wei Chi to go forward to pick it up: "This is Wei Chi, and now he is the leader. He will do the purge."

When Wei Chi and the master were gone, Pang Zhixian said with a smile: "I've heard of him before, and he seems to be a stable person. The Ministry of War really has a good eye."

Geng Zhuqiu shook Pang Zhixian's hand: "Pang Da is too much, he is still young, so don't show mercy on what should be said."

Geng Zhuqiu, Pang Jisheng, and Xu Longshan talked until midnight.

Wei Chi, Xue Zhu, and the master came to the county government office together, checked the 3000 people, and recorded the names of all those who lived here under the third generation, and prepared to rush to the pass.

"Master Wei, how should I write the letter?" Xue Zhu was having a hard time.

Wei Chi scratched his head and asked the master, "What kind of person is Zhizhou in Jiaxing?"

The master Bo, surnamed Wen, is an old scholar in his [-]s and [-]s. Hearing this young man’s question, Wen Zhubo knew that he was a smart man: “The scholar in the early years went to the Imperial College later. Well done, I was later sent to Jiaxing to be the magistrate, and I have been here for five or six years."

"Jingcha from the year before last, what did he get?" Xue Zhu also understood a little bit.

Wen Zhubo chuckled: "B."

Wei Chi thought for a while, licked the nib of his pen and began to write——I'll give you a chance to win next year... Although I made it up...

Wen Zhubo and Xue Zhu both laughed after seeing it, and Wei Chi nodded respectfully at Wen Zhubo: "I need a lobbyist."

Wen last understood what this meant: "I'll beg Pang Da for orders when the preparations are finished tomorrow morning!"

Wei Chi and Xue Zhu cupped their hands in a salute: "Mr. Thank you!"