Northern Dynasties

Chapter 185 Strict Military Discipline
As winter deepens, the grass and trees in the wilderness are withered and there are few people.

There is a village on the south side of Piyuan. The houses of the villagers are scattered in the valley facing the sun. There are about two or three hundred households.

There are the most houses distributed at the turn of the mountain stream, and there are forty or fifty households.A woman set up a spinning wheel inside the fence and carefully spun flax under the thin heat of the sun. Beside her were half-grown children who were drying the hay harvested in summer and autumn.

There are chicken coops in front of several houses. When the hens clucked in the hen coops, the children immediately pricked up their ears and squinted. Go, but often before the hand is poked into it, a pair of big eyes are already staring at the top of the head, not to mention the warm-skinned chicken that has just been delivered to the father, and it still has to bear a few beatings from the adults.

The crying children wiped their tears and went out, and they also carried wooden wedges around the dry riverbed to dig out the grass roots buried in the ground, picking out some soft grass roots and feeding them to the skinny sheep with bulging bellies.

There are stone mills and mortars in the center of the village, and the villagers who are still considered strong line up here to pound the grains and remove the shells.The stone mills are all pushed and pulled by manpower, and a few dull-colored farm cattle and horses are drawn by people, pacing back and forth and stepping on the dung pile.

In the corner of the small square in this village, the largest number of villagers gathered, three floors inside and three floors outside surrounded a big stove with a pottery urn on it, and black glue with a strong and pungent smell was boiled in it. Still rushing through the greedy crowd.The glue will become viscous after cooling, and it can be fireproof and waterproof when applied to utensils.

The plant ashes under the stove will not be wasted, and the fine powder is taken out and packed in a black-painted wooden box, which is reserved for daily laundry and hair washing.Others are mixed with dry manure and stored as fertilizer for the next year's cultivation.

People have three urgencies. From time to time, people standing up from the crowd warming by the fire, squeezed out of the crowd and ran home with uncomfortable expressions. After returning with a relaxed face, they could not squeeze into the nearest fire, so they could only squat helplessly On the periphery, waiting for the people inside couldn't help but vacate their seats.

"Why hasn't the clan elder come back? Do we still have to give confession to the bandits this year? The chaos in September will get worse, and it will be difficult to make another confession this year..."

A villager looked at the entrance of the village and said, which immediately caused a sigh in the crowd.

"Didn't it mean that there are strong soldiers from other states coming in to eradicate the bandits in Longzhou? If the serious trouble is really eliminated, naturally there is no need to confess, and the kidnapped Erlang may be rescued..."

"If the Longzhou bandits can really be easily suppressed, how many years will they do? I'm afraid some army man has no food for the winter and goes to the countryside to pretend to be able to urge the payment of food. These bandits are worse than the bandits. Lack of trustworthiness, even if you save the village boy, you still have to pay a few stones to redeem it! It’s good to have healthy hands and feet, but if the body is disabled, it will be a burden to come back!”

No wonder the villagers are ruthless. In fact, there are too many sufferings in this world. Even if you stay in the village honestly and dutifully, you will have the luck of stealing your life for a day.

A swaying ox cart appeared at the entrance of the village, and an old man with gray beard walked briskly in front of the ox cart, followed by a dozen villagers carrying sticks.

Seeing the people from the village gathered around him, the old man swung his wooden stick across his hand and said loudly: "Those who have called you, go forward and get the things. Black dog, half a bucket of salt..."

The people in the village came forward to receive supplies one by one, and someone shouted impatiently: "Clan elder, has there been any result in suppressing bandits this year?"

"The Longzhou bandits are gone. Ma Jinlong and his generals were all skinned and cramped, and hung on the tower!"

A young man from Zhuang who went out with his entourage shouted excitedly: "The army that came to suppress the bandits this time is really ferocious. It is said that they took all the way from Kusang Ridge to attack the stronghold, and it took less than two days to break through. Ma Bao's lair, when Ma Jinlong was arrested, he was said to be sleeping naked with his head covered!"

When the people in the village heard this, they immediately burst into smiles: "God finally opened his eyes and accepted this group of villains. This year we finally saved sacrifices!"

But there are also people who are not without worry: "It's too early to rejoice...the number of horse bandits is thousands, how many troops will the officers and soldiers win? How can they leave without enough food? Big families don't know how to donate things to support soldiers, they still have to Let the people down!"

"This is wrong! It is said that there are only five hundred officers and soldiers on this route, and they are led by a brave governor. There are five hundred iron beasts that don't show their hands and faces. Let alone a few thousand, tens of thousands of thieves can kill one It's clean! The county government also deliberately posted a list, the officers and soldiers on this road are righteous teachers, they will not take food from the villagers, and they will leave as soon as they kill the thieves..."

Hearing such shouts from the villagers who went out, the villagers were surprised: "There are still such benevolent officers and soldiers in the world?"

The clan elder raised his hand to stop everyone from discussing, and said in a deep voice: "The government has ordered that there will be no levy this winter, and those who have received the goods should go home!"

Seeing that the clan elders said so, the people in the village breathed a sigh of relief. They each received the distributed supplies with a smile and then dispersed one after another.

The banditry in the territory has been wiped out, and the county government has not imposed additional taxes, so that this double-layer exploitation is avoided, which is always a good thing worthy of great celebration.

However, there were still a few villagers who were keenly aware of the worried look on the elder's face, so they deliberately stayed, and only came up after the villagers had dispersed, and asked in a low voice with some anxiety: "What else is the elder worried about? It's not stone slaves and the others..."

Hearing this, the clan elder's eyes sharpened sharply, and he didn't let them continue talking, and then he sighed again: "Master Zhou called me into the yamen, and told me that this group of people wanted to leave from our Zhangyuan, and asked my family to provide Grass Valley horse feed."

"This week's master is really hateful. Although several people from other clans were killed in the old year's fight for water, we also compensated them. If it wasn't for Song Linggong leading his children to fight to the death in Kanto, Nanbaishui would have his family's place to be brave? Let us It turns out that it's not just that, all these years, the county has sent my family to do any kind of hard work!"

When a villager heard this, he said bitterly.

Another person said: "If it's just grass and horse food, it's difficult, but if the clansmen get together, they can afford it. Didn't Qilang say that there are only five hundred officers in that team?"

The clan elder snorted coldly after hearing the words: "I have lived for over a year. I have seen officials turned into thieves, and thieves into officials, but no matter whether it is an official or a thief, I have never seen an officer who does not lick blood! When the army crosses the border, it is always a catastrophe, and it is a proud soldier who has won a great victory against the bandits. How can it be easy to ask? The family's heavy goods are hidden, and a dozen sheep are left. If they are still dissatisfied, I will hand over my old life Go! Just remember, don’t tell Shi Nu and them!”

Everyone in the village obeyed the old man's orders and hastily mobilized the villagers to hide grain and goods in the village.When it was learned that there would be officers and soldiers crossing the border, the village that had just shown a little joy was suddenly shrouded in haze, and there was even a burst of freezing rain in the afternoon.

The next day, the sky was still cloudy, and the falling ice particles turned into snowflakes, falling intermittently, covering the village with a layer of plain white. Everyone was anxiously waiting for the arrival of the officers and soldiers, and no one even dared to move. fire smoke.

In the morning, there was a rush of horseshoes outside the village, and a dozen or so villagers surrounded the old man and stood at the entrance of the village, waiting anxiously.Finally, more than twenty knights in thick robes appeared in sight.

Before entering, a knight wrapped in a kerchief shouted to the village people: "This is the pioneer of the bandit suppressing Li Dadu, the governor's department. Is the owner here? Have you received the order from the county government?"

"The old man is Zhuang Zhanghe. He entered the yamen yesterday to receive orders. After returning home, he made preparations for the villagers. The grass and grain materials have been collected in the village. Please come to the village to check the collection!"

The clan elder hurried forward and crossed his hands and said, the knight nodded after hearing this, got off his horse and signaled the villager to lead the way, and led ten people into the village to check.The other knights ran around the village to inspect the terrain around the village.

Having seen the quantity and quality of the grass and grain piled up in the villa, Lu Chuan, who has already served as the team leader, nodded with satisfaction, and smiled when he saw that the village people were a little nervous: "Li Dadu is strict in supervising the army, and the soldiers are not allowed to disturb the people. Don't worry about fellow countrymen. The materials of the grass and grain are quite comprehensive, but there is one other thing that needs to be done to the owner of the village."

Although he was very polite, the people in the village did not dare to be negligent. The elder of the clan quickly stepped forward and bowed his head: "What orders does the general have?"

"It's snowing on the way home, but the headquarter's luggage is not prepared enough, and we still need felt and fur to keep out the cold. If there are reserves in the village, we need to borrow a hundred collars. If not, please borrow from other places. After the headquarter stops here, we will discuss the expenses with the owner of the village. .”

Hearing this, the Zhuang people breathed a sigh of relief, but then pulled their hearts back.It wouldn't be too difficult if it was only a hundred collars of felt fur. There are thousands of people in their village, and they can barely make up.But the question is, is the requirement really that simple?

They have also experienced that soldiers crossing the border are worse than bandits. The large group of people made new demands before entering the village. The soldier commander in front of him seemed polite, but if he couldn't satisfy, he would turn his face and be ruthless.

The people in the village were still pondering how they should respond, when sheep blew suddenly sounded from the nearby house, Lu Chuan walked over and looked around, and saw more than a dozen sheep in the empty adobe house, he casually said with a smile: "The appearance of this village is not very eye-catching, There are quite a lot of savings inside. It’s just that these sheep don’t have much fat, and they need to be raised carefully to survive the winter!”

This was just a casual remark, but the expressions of Zhuzhuang people changed drastically after hearing the words. The clan elders hurriedly stepped forward and said: "These raw sheep are the people of Zhuang who donated their entire family to comfort the general and so on. Although there are not many animals, they are already It is the people of Zhuang who try their best to give it, and I implore the general to..."

Lu Chuan's expression darkened when he heard the words, and he raised his leg and kicked the old man to the ground, and immediately shouted angrily: "Take down this powerful and evil man, and the governor has ordered that anyone who uses our army's power to strangle the village will be punished." It must be punished! Gather all the farmers here, and judge this beast publicly!"

Soon, all the people from Zuojinzhuang were driven to the vicinity of this courtyard. Lu Chuan raised his legs and jumped onto the wall with his knife, and looked at these trembling villagers and said loudly: "A certain class of Dushui Administrative Office Li Dadu is under the command Invited by the county magistrate to enter the country to suppress bandits, they will not take any property from the villagers except grass and horse materials. The county government has an order. Please don't disturb the villagers. Those who come in, come and get it!"

(End of this chapter)