weaving

"You son of a bitch, if you can't live peacefully at home and farm, you have to rebel!"

"This man is really like this. Once he puts down his hoe and kills people and licks their blood, it will be difficult to get the hoe back."

"Then...why do you feel so happy about murder and robbery?"

"Those Shaanxi deserters are the most hateful. Several brothers in our team were killed by them..."

Chang Zhengcheng said in a deep voice: "Let's all take a rest. After dinner, take a nap as soon as possible. If you are energetic enough, go catch some tongues for me tomorrow!"

The people who had been talking about it just stuck out their tongues and kept silent. They each threw some dried meat and rice into the small iron pot on the fire, and then huddled next to the fire in the corner of the room to rest, waiting for the rice to be cooked.

It has been three days since Chang Zhengcheng's team of riders came out. Yesterday, they took a detour and went deeper to the area near Shuipoji. They found that both the Jialu River and the Guo River had stopped flowing, and the officers and soldiers in the downstream areas had almost no water available. .

Then we circled back again, just to see what was going on in the upper reaches of the Jialu River and the Wohe River, and whether the water flow was deliberately cut off by the intruders. By the way, we could capture one or two more people and return to the camp to interrogate the intruders.

This afternoon, when they arrived at Shigang Village, they saw that although the flow of the Jialu River upstream was not very fast, it was far from drying up, which further confirmed their guess.

However, along the bank of the Jialu River, there were constant traffic of bandits and horsemen, and there were many bandit camps connected at key points, making it impossible to get closer and take a closer look, and three brothers were lost.

However, I also saw that not far away to the south, there seemed to be a lot of large ponds. Judging from their location and the condition of the shore, they should have appeared recently, and there didn't seem to be many weeds beside the ponds.

Seeing that everyone was quiet now, Chang Zhengcheng nudged the stubbled man next to him with his elbow and said: "Songqiang, I'm going to squint for a while. You can stare more outside. I'll remember to do a patrol later." , don’t let the thieves steal it for us!”

"Don't worry, Chang Tou."

As he spoke, the smoker twisted his body, took out his favorite smoker, and moved closer to the fire that was about to go out. He said, "I'll take a few puffs and then go out on patrol to keep the thieves from sneaking up." ”

After listening to Yanqiang's words, Chang Zhengcheng just nodded, closed his eyes and rested his mind.

Yanqiang was originally an outstanding sentry rider in the Tiger Guards. He once served under the captain Liu Shouzhu together with Blacksmith, Suo Tou and others. After the expansion of the army, all the original Tiger Guards were transferred to the Yulin Cavalry. Liu Shouzhu was promoted to the post of commander-in-chief. Yanqiang and Blacksmith They are all included in Chang Zheng's team, and now he is also a captain.

The ruined temple where they live now is located on a mound. Not far away from it is the Jialu River flowing through it to the west. It faces a dirt road to the east. Going east along the road for more than a mile is the official road. Next to the road is an abandoned village, where Chief Duan Chengjiu led nine brothers to hide here as foreign aid.

This place is less than five miles away from Shigang Village where the bandit army is stationed. The bandit army will patrol the surrounding area from time to time, but they dare not neglect the precautions.

Chang Zhengcheng's team of thirty-four capable knights, the three commanders of which were Yanqiang, Duan Chengjiu and Zhao Xingguang, had four or five encounters with the bandit cavalry in three days. Although they killed more than ten bandit cavalrymen, He also lost three knights.

Now there are two knights resting here in the ruined temple, and there are still ten knights left in the ruined village as foreign aid, so as not to be dumped by the bandits, but the gain outweighs the loss.

Chang Zhengcheng was born as a hunter. He not only knew the skills of hunting, but also had the caution to prevent being hunted by the enemy. Especially in the past few years, his military career has made him continue to grow.

According to his idea, after the sky has completely darkened, he will lead a group of knights to explore downstream along the bank of the Jialu River to see the exact location where the bandits cut off the river and the guarding and protection conditions.

Everyone lit a bonfire in the lobby of the ruined temple, set up iron pots, boiled hot tea, ate some marching rations and dried meat, and then lay down to rest and recharge their batteries.

Zhao Xingguang, the chief of Sanshi, like Chang Zhengcheng, was both a hunter from Changjiazhai. Except for the two hunters from Changjiazhai, the rest of Sanshi's left group were also from hunters, while there were two from the right group. One of them used to be an escort.

It is precisely because of this that Chang Zhengcheng arranged for them to rest first and take them out on night sentry later. After all, the hunters and escorts were not only skilled in personal combat, but also good at camouflage and hiding.

The Yulin Cavalry rarely goes out for sentry inspections now. Most of them are handled by the sentry teams of each battalion. Even the Tiger Guard Cavalry has more opportunities to come out than them. However, the battlefield area in Zhuxian Town is too wide now, and the surrounding area is like Chenliu, Tongxu, Qixian and other places also need sentries to detect whether there are bandits ambushing troops, so nearly half of the Yulin Cavalry's knights were sent on missions.

When a small group of cavalry goes out to scout, naturally they cannot stop and cook rice like a large group marching. When they go on a mission, they eat pre-made rice.

At this time, the Ming army mostly used this as military rations. The rice was cooked and then exposed in water. After repeated several times, the final dry rice was very similar to the compressed biscuits of later generations, which is equivalent to a kind of compressed rice. .

When you need to eat it, you only need to put the rice in hot water and simply boil it. As for the taste, I can't say. The most important thing is that it is very convenient and fast, and the weight is also reduced a lot, making it easier to carry.

Such a small ball of rice can be transformed into a large bowl of rice or even a large pot after being soaked!

However, the treatment of the Yongyi Army is obviously higher than that of other Ming armies, and Yu Linqi is the proud son of the Yongyi Army, so he naturally gets the best treatment, which is fully reflected in his salary, equipment, and food.

When they went out to scout, although the porcelain meat jars were not convenient to carry, there were a lot of meat jerky, dried fish and bacon and other meat and vegetables. In particular, the bacon pieces were newly made in the twelfth lunar month of last year and then dried.

Of course, this cannot be dried too thoroughly. It is still different from mummies. Yingmi’s cured meat and dried meat have become authentic mummy products because they are dried very thoroughly. They look just like dried meat. It's like firewood, and even the texture of the muscles looks like wood fibers.

That’s why it can be preserved for a long time. Not to mention the Americans, during the Crimean War, the British sailors still ate the dried meat pickled in Nelson’s era. Because the quantity was too large and too many survived, those dried meats were eaten as military rations. It was not until the 20th century that they were finally eaten up...

The quality of Yingmi's dried meat is indeed very good, but when their soldiers eat dried meat, it is like eating the mummies of pigs, cows, and sheep. They need to use a saw to cut it and wash it clean before eating. Soak it overnight so it can be cooked the next day. As for the dried meat and bacon prepared by Zhang Cheng for the soldiers of the Yongyi Army, there is no need to go so far. It can be kept for about one year. However, the bacon tasted quite authentic until the third month of the lunar calendar, but now. At this time, although the meat quality remains unchanged, the taste will become slightly harsh.

Of course, if there is a cold room, even if it is stored for three to five years, it will not become stale, let alone get insects. However, we do not have such conditions and time now, so we will make do with it for the time being. .

As far as the current situation is concerned, we are very happy that we can still have something to eat when we go out to explore!

There were two small fires lit in the lobby, each with a small pot on top. Everyone poured rice, dried meat, etc. into the pot, as well as some salt and other seasonings.

It quickly boiled, and everyone picked it up and ate the soup. At this time, the spring cold had just left. Although it was already very hot during the day, there was still a cold breeze at night. With this hot meal, you would Feel extremely comfortable.

After taking two puffs from the pipe, he put it down and put it in his arms. He filled a bowl and gave it to the team leader Chang Zhengcheng. Then he turned around and poured a bowl for himself. He sucked down the soup along with it and drank it down. A commotion.

Although they are equivalent to military police in the army, and they adhere to military rules and regulations on weekdays, but when they are out on guard duty, it is a different scene. They all behave rudely and casually, and they can use all kinds of foul language without any hesitation. Open your mouth without hesitation.

Chang Zhengcheng was supervised by several brothers from the Chang family. He usually behaved in a moderate manner, but he did not restrict his subordinates too much when he went out on sentry duty. After all, this could not only relieve the fatigue of going out on sentry duty, but also improve everyone's morale. emotion.

The smoking gun was different. He had worked in an escort agency before, and he had traveled extensively. In addition, he had just taken two puffs on the smoking gun. Now he was full of energy, so he softly told everyone about his past experiences. Weird experiences, I don’t know which ones are true and which ones are fake, anyway, Yanqiang told them vividly, and everyone listened attentively...

Of course, most of them would listen to the pipes and tell jokes while gently wiping their armor and weapons, especially the two short-handed blunderbuss that they always carry around. These things need to be wiped, oiled, and made every day. It's easy to clean, etc. Otherwise, it may get stuck when you are unable to use it. In that case, it will not be a life-saving tool, but a life-threatening scam.

…………

"Smoking Gun" is just his nickname. In fact, his real name is Shi Dacheng. However, all the brothers in the army are used to calling him "Smoking Gun". Even his brothers in the army mostly call him "Cigarette Butt" or "Smoke Gun". "Brother", his real name is habitually forgotten by everyone.

After he told two jokes, he called Han Xiancheng, the commander of the right corps, and asked him to take the brothers from the right corps to the outside, replacing the left corps to set up patrols outside, so that the blacksmith's left corps could come in and have hot food. Take a breather.

At this time, the Third Chief Zhao Xingguang also ordered the two corps commanders beside him: "Assign two brothers to feed the war horses, so as not to be too weak for the mission at night and cause trouble."

War horses are more precious than humans. Three meals a day is not clear at all. It is best to have one in the morning, one in the afternoon, and one more in the early morning. As the saying goes, "a horse will not gain weight without night grass"!

But feeding horses in the middle of the night is a chore, especially in winter, when the cold is unbearable...

The most important thing about war horses is to chew carefully and slowly. People can eat quickly, but war horses can't. It takes at least an hour for them to eat grass and beans once, and people can't leave when feeding horses, and they have to give less food. Tim, it’s very tedious and time-consuming.

And if conditions permit, the horses should be brushed every day, preferably twice a day. Otherwise, if the horses sweat and are not cleaned in time, they will easily get sick. Similarly, unclean water cannot be given to the horses. , otherwise horses will also suffer from gastrointestinal diseases.

Furthermore, this gastrointestinal disease is very difficult to treat. Once it suffers from this disease, the horse will lose weight quickly and will no longer be able to withstand people's riding, let alone go to the battlefield.

Only with such careful care can a war horse become fat and strong, run fast, and become the horse owner's closest comrade!

Just like when Chang Zhengcheng and the others went out on guard duty, they each brought at least two horses with them, but they never exchanged horses with each other. They only rode their own horses. Unless there was an emergency or a last resort, they would seize the enemy's horse. , or temporarily borrow a companion's war horse.

The main reason is that each war horse has a different temperament. They are very acquainted with others except their own owners. The owner will naturally behave honestly when riding, but if another person rides them, they may have other ideas. He will stop you, sometimes when he gets angry, he will even kick you off your horse, or bite you...

…………

"Changtou...Changtou..."

Amidst the soft calls, Chang Zhengcheng slowly opened his eyes, narrowed his eyes and looked at the tall and thick Zhao Xingguang in front of him, and asked softly: "Is it time?"

There was no hint of confusion in his words. He had clearly woken up early and was just curling up next to the fire to take a nap. However, Zhao Xingguang did not dare to care about this and replied softly: "Well, I think it's almost the second watch." "

Seeing Zhao Xingguang who was ready, Chang Zhengcheng felt very satisfied. He nodded and said, "Move gently and don't wake them up. It's not easy to have a rest for the night!"

Everyone got up very carefully and walked slowly outside the temple. Ten knights in groups of about three dozen had prepared everything and were waiting with their horses. Even Shi Dacheng, who had a long pipe and a long pipe, was waiting outside the temple gate. Send Chang Zhengcheng off.

"Chang Tou, pay attention to safety. If you can't do anything, withdraw. We will go explore again when daybreak comes."

Chang Zhengcheng looked at the smoke gun and said: "I won't do it forcefully, don't worry. We can't relax here either. The brothers of the two groups are keeping vigil alternately, and we have to pay more attention to the abandoned village. If we are attacked, it's okay. Support each other.”

"Well, don't worry, Changtou, I will take good care of you."

Chang Zhengcheng stopped talking nonsense. The twelve people in his group were all riding one person, and each war horse was also caged to prevent the neighing of the war horses from revealing their whereabouts.

They first led their horses slowly down the mound, until they were far away from the ruined temple, then they all got on their horses and gently urged their horses to gallop to the west bank of the Jialu River.

Like a black line enjoying silky smoothness, it gradually goes further and further away, gradually disappearing into the long night... (End of this chapter)