The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

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Chao Chao and others subconsciously held their hands on the handle of the knife, ready to kill at any time. Su Jin stabbed Xifeng Dutou in the waist and eyes, motioning him to turn around and answer.

Xifeng Dutou hurriedly stopped and turned back, "Lord She, what's wrong?"

Master She frowned and glanced at the dozen or so people in front of him, and said, "There should be 25 patrolling soldiers under your command, why are there only 13 people here including you, where are the other 12 people?"

Su Jin secretly called it a fluke. It turned out that it was not that he and others showed their flaws, but that the number of people was reduced by half and they were noticed.

"My lord, it turned out to be this matter. I was so humble and confused that I forgot to explain it to my lord. The thing is like this... that... When I was patrolling the west just now, I met Li Dutou at the gate of the city at the junction. They were searching for three They are not familiar with the terrain near the barracks, so out of good intentions... I also helped them search for a while, if not, how could the handover time be delayed? I was worried that the delay would be too long, so I decided to Order the twelve brothers to lead them to continue searching around, and rush back to hand over; they will come back in a short while, and please ask Master She to let them go."

Lord She frowned and said, "What did the grandsons guarding the city gate actually come to borrow our people, but the terrain of Beicheng is relatively complicated, and there are many abandoned houses and alleys, so it's no wonder that those guys who only know how to eat, drink and have fun Bewildered; I know about it, so go."

"Thank you, Mrs. She." Xi Fengdu's head was covered with sweat, not only because he almost gave away his feet, but also because the dagger in the back of his heart had pierced his skin, and it was a dull pain. Luckily, he was usually good at lying. I didn't expect this skill today. It actually came in handy and saved my life.

The thick and tall camp gate closed behind him, completely isolating everyone from the outside world. Su Jin peeked around while walking. There were not many soldiers on duty at night behind the gate. There were about five or sixty people, all of them with clay sculptures and wooden pestles. Standing in the darkness with weapons in hand, the coercion brought by the two arrow towers on the left and right is really not small. The strings of wind lanterns hanging on the arrow towers illuminate the aisle brightly. Looking up, the arrow towers cannot be seen clearly at all. However, everyone knew in their hearts that behind the dazzling light of the wind lamp, there might be dozens of bows and arrows aiming their black arrows at themselves.

After passing through the gate of the camp, Xi Fengdu shook his head and said in a trembling voice: "My fellows, the villain can only take you here. I know that you are going to enter the inner camp, but the villain in the inner camp has no right to enter."

Su Jin whispered: "Where do you usually go after patrolling?"

Xi Fengdu nodded and said, "You can only go back to the barracks to rest, and you can't walk around at will."

Su Jin said: "How many troops are stationed in the outer camp and the inner camp?"

Xifeng Dutou said: "I don't know exactly how many small ones are. The villain is just a small Dutou. How can I know too much? There are about 2000 people in the outer camp and about 500 people in the inner camp, but there are only two in the inner camp. One is in charge of safety, and the other three are in charge of logistics such as the custody, distribution, and storage of materials."

Su Jin said: "Under what circumstances can you enter the inner camp?"

Xifeng Dutou said: "Then... only if there is a disturbance in the inner camp, you can only enter if you need the assistance of the outer camp."

Su Jin thought for a while and said: "Okay, take us back to your barracks first, your mission is completed."

Xi Fengdu pleaded: "Heroes, spare your lives. I fully cooperate with you heroes. Please don't kill me to silence me. I promise not to say anything."

Su Jin smiled and said: "Don't worry, I won't kill you, don't be verbose, lead the way."

Xi Fengdu was apprehensive, dragged his lead-filled legs, and led the crowd in a twisted walk through the rows of snoring barracks, and finally arrived at a barracks; there was no one in it, it must be In the residence of 25 members of the patrol team, there was a large bunk set up in it, with some clothes, bedding and other things piled up in a mess, and the smell in the room was reeking.

Su Jin winked, Wang Chao swung a palm on Xifeng Dutou's neck, knocking him unconscious; several men quickly tied his hands and feet tightly, covered his mouth with a large ball of clothes, and He tucked into the darkness under the bunk, not to kill him, but not to give him a chance to yell bad things.

"What should I do? My lord! It seems that the inner camp is not easy to enter. If we go straight in, it will surely alarm many Xixia soldiers. When the time comes, we will be slow to deal with things, and it will be very difficult to get out." Wang Chao whispered.

Su Jin climbed up the bunk, leaned close to a window and looked out, but saw a high wall between the inner and outer barracks was faintly visible, and there were wind lanterns hung on the wall at intervals, illuminating people who could hardly hide, but It is conceivable that if one wants to climb over the wall, the soldiers on the two arrow towers outside the inner camp will definitely be spotted.

"Of course we can't force it. We have to go in secretly. Before the food and supplies are lit, we must not disturb the defenders. Once the fire is lit, our fire oil bag can make the fire burn fiercely. The wind is strong at night, so it is difficult to extinguish the fire. , When they react and come to rescue, I am afraid that the fire will already be raging; the problem now is how to avoid the two arrow towers near the wall, our actions are under their noses, and we cannot let them sound the alarm. " Su Jin pondered.

"My lord, that's easy. Let's kill the people on the arrow tower first. They are the eyes of the inner camp. If we blind them, we'll just have to." Ma Han muttered.

"It's easy to say, how do you do it? Swaggeringly climb up to kill people? He was discovered before he got close to the wall." Wang Chao scolded.

Ma Han scratched his head and said, "Then what should we do?"

Wang Chao spread his hands and said, "How would I know?"

Su Jin clapped his hands suddenly, and said with a light smile: "Yes, Ma Han's method is good, first poke their eyes blind."

Everyone looked at Su Jin in astonishment, wondering how Su Jin would agree to Ma Han's unreliable method.

"It's very simple. The arrow tower is illuminated by wind lamps. If we try to turn off the wind lamps, they will be blind. As long as the movement is not too loud, they should not warn people; you bows and arrows are not Is it accurate? There are several bows and arrows here. Try to shoot the wind lamp of the arrow tower on the west blind, so we can quickly climb over the wall from the southwest corner, and the people on the arrow tower on the east should be watching Not to the southwest corner."

"But the lanterns on the wall will also expose us." Zhang Long said.

"The same solution is, as soon as the lanterns on the tower go out, we will shoot him blind all the lanterns in the southwest corner while they are in a daze, so they shouldn't notice."

"Okay, let's do it like this. Although it is a bit risky, there is no other way. We can't just wait here." Wang Chao said.

Su Jin said: "Time is running out. If you delay for a while, it will be dangerous for a while. Today's matter can only succeed and not fail. Hesitating will not accomplish anything. Ma Han is responsible for sneaking into the arrow tower and shooting out the lanterns on the tower. It is a string of lanterns. You You have to shoot off the top suspension cable in order to extinguish all the wind lanterns, so with your archery technique of shooting off the suspension bridge suspension cable at Bagong Mountain, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

"Look at me, my lord." Ma Han patted his chest and said.

Su Jin patted him on the shoulder and said: "This time I succeeded, I will give you a great credit, and later I will pick you a beautiful woman from Yangzhou in the Bianliang tailor shop to serve you. Aren't you worried that you will not be able to get married if you are disfigured?" Daughter-in-law? I will give you a beautiful concubine for you to enjoy."

Ma Han twitched, "This...what should I do?"

Dynasty Zhang Long and Zhao Hu cupped their hands one after another and teased: "Congratulations, congratulations, you're going to be a real man, and your ass hole is going to be up."

Ma Han blushed and waved his hands: "Go, go, don't make fun of me."

Su Jin smiled and said, "I'll drink the wedding wine later, and get down to business first."

Ma Han took down several bows from the wall, tried them all, and chose a satisfactory one to carry behind his back; Chao Chao and others equipped the rest of the bows on their upper bodies, and everyone walked out of the barracks lightly, along the The base of the wall of the barracks tiptoed to the west; halfway Ma Han walked alone, lurking under the arrow tower and approaching.

Su Jin, Wang Chao and others came to the bottom of the wall of the last row of barracks without any danger, hid in the shadows and waited with bated breath. The wall between the inner and outer barracks was more than ten steps away from the barracks. Those who show their faces will be discovered once they show up, and they can only obtain temporary darkness when Ma Han succeeds and then shoots down a few tall lanterns on the wall.

The surroundings are completely silent, night insects chirp, a dozen moths fly around the outer wall of the wind lamp on the wall, and from time to time they pounce on the outer cover of the wind lamp, making a soft bang bang sound; everyone is a little nervous, and their hearts are pounding The sound seems to be clearly audible.