Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

Chapter 1018: No Title (I can’t think of one, just lie down and let others laugh at me)

On the streets of Qi's cities, many bald figures walked on the streets, wearing ordinary clothes and attracting the attention of passers-by.

These are monks who were ordered to return to secular life. Some of them had just shaved their heads and were able to return to the daily routine of ordinary people. Although under the Qi State's decree to keep hair long, their bald heads were still somewhat different. However, time would bring their lost hair back. And there were more monks who had lost themselves while chanting in the temple.

"Amitabha..., uh... that, this donor... uh... ah..."

On a busy street, a middle-aged man in coarse clothes stood in front of a shop, hesitating and not knowing what to say.

"What on earth do you want to do?" A man in waiter's clothes stood in front of a wooden table facing the street, with piles of golden baked pancakes placed on the clean table.

Not far away, some diners turned their heads after hearing the words, and the leader looked at them curiously. It turned out to be Zhao Liangsi and his group who had come into the city to rest.

"No, I am just a little hungry." After swallowing his saliva, the bald middle-aged man finally said the following words smoothly: "Can you give me two naan breads? God will bless your kind soul."

"Ha!" The waiter put one hand on the naan and looked him up and down: "A monk who was kicked out of the temple?"

The middle-aged man blushed and nodded.

puff--

"This naan is five cents a piece." The waiter patted the crispy, golden bread and looked at the man in front of him: "You have hands and feet, even if you go to the west of the city to carry bags, you can earn enough for a day's expenses and even have some surplus. Go away, don't block our business here."

The middle-aged man in front of the shop turned pale and staggered back two steps.

"Hey, that guy." Someone at the table next to him couldn't stand it anymore and shouted while supporting his thigh.

The waiter turned around, bent over, and said with a big smile: "Hey, sir, I have something to ask you."

"That's enough. That man has the nerve to beg. What's wrong with giving him something to eat?"

As he was speaking, the middle-aged man in front of the stall blushed even more, and murmured in a mosquito-like voice: "I am not a beggar."

When the waiter heard this, he straightened his back and looked at the people at the table: "Are these customers from other places on business?"

Zhao Liangsi and the others looked at each other, and one of the men with a sharp face nodded: "How did you figure that out?"

"Ugh..." The man shook his head and glanced at the bald man who bowed his head and said nothing: "You don't know, these monks are the most harmful. On the surface, they say they are compassionate, but secretly they buy up land and collect crops. Half of the farmland in our city belongs to them."

The man at the table frowned and said, "It's not the monk's fault. What's wrong with you giving him two naan breads?"

The waiter was not angry, but explained: "You don't know, if I give up the naan, I will be considered to have committed a crime. Not only will I be taken to the government office and beaten with ten boards, but I will also have to do corvée for a month."

Zhao Liangsi raised his eyebrows and spoke again, "Are the laws of Qi so strict? They don't allow people to help the poor?"

"That's not it." The waiter shook his head. "The law doesn't cover this. It's just that the monks in the temple now need to return to secular life and start a new life. The government has set such rules to prevent them from begging for alms from believers as usual. Besides..."

He looked up and down at the middle-aged man who was becoming increasingly uneasy. "The government is also recruiting people to give these monks food to eat and to enable them to live like ordinary people. This person appeared on the street begging for money from the children..."

He frowned and looked at the monk in front of him: "This man definitely doesn't take the government seriously. He is what the government calls a stubborn person. Why should I risk breaking the law to help him?"

"You... you are too much. I have always obeyed the government's orders." The middle-aged man jumped up and down, saying this while moving his feet, and quickly left the place: "If you don't want to give me food, then don't give me food. If you say something nonsense, the Buddha will definitely punish you..."

When the last word fell, the man had already walked into the crowd and disappeared. The waiter pointed at the disappeared figure and shook his head: "Look, in this state, are you still worried about him?"

The people at Zhao Liangsi's table looked at each other and someone said, "I wrongly blame you."

The waiter quickly shook his hand and said, "You have come from far away, so I don't know the details. It's okay, it's okay."

Then he went back into the store to carry out naan bread to sell. There was an endless stream of people walking on the street. Zhao Liangsi said softly, "It seems that Qi is doing well in Zhongjing Road. Ordinary people actually obey the new government order."

The people around looked at each other and said, "Why does Prime Minister Zhao care about this? Two days ago, you said you wanted to go to Dading Prefecture as soon as possible."

"It's because we're almost there that I want to see what Qi is like." Zhao Liangsi rubbed his nose. "I've always told the emperor about the extraordinary military strength of Qi. Of course, I also want to see its ability to govern the country before I can think of a way to talk to it. Now it seems that it's a well-behaved person, so it's possible to listen to what I say."

"My lord, you worry too much." A servant beside him laughed, "They have been defeated by me. No matter how many people they have, they can't turn the tables. Once we take over Yanyun, I might turn around and take this..." He stopped talking, glanced at the pedestrians on the street, and didn't dare to say it out loud: "Destroy this short-lived court."

"That's right, I think so too."

"Hahaha, heroes think alike."

Several servants were chatting with each other happily.

"…It's not that simple." Zhao Liangsi shook his head, then lowered his head to eat the food in front of him, looking thoughtful.

……

Adjust the time back to the northwest of Shangjing Road.

The sky was a strange blue-gray, as if someone had turned the entire grassland upside down into an iron pot. At first, there were only a few scattered brown shadows dancing on the grass tips, but in the blink of an eye, they formed a web that covered the sky and the earth.

The buzzing sound of the locusts' wings bent the grass, like a million dull saws cutting the air at the same time, and startled the marmots so that they fled deep into the earth with their cubs in their mouths.

The green waves faded to brown at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the newly born insects used their serrated mouthparts to tear the alfalfa flowers into powder. When they swept through the stream, the clear water suddenly became turbid, and even the tender bark of the red willows on the bank was gnawed to reveal the white wood.

The sheepdog barked wildly and pounced on the swarm of insects, but was soon submerged by the brown tide. The dog, which was bitten and bloody, ran out whimpering.

The midday sun was filtered by the insect cloud into a turbid copper mirror, and the meadow was filled with a choking smell of grass and trees. The locust king, the size of a horse's hoof, flapped its wings and hovered, its compound eyes reflecting the disappearing world - the undulating sea of ​​grass just now had turned into a crawling insect carpet, and even the hemp rope on the horse post broke into pieces with a click.

When the last piece of amaranth disappeared between the serrated jaws, the grassland suddenly fell into deathly silence, with only the wind blowing the grass residue across the exposed sand, as if mourning the spring that had been devoured.

"Eternal Heaven——"

The man with a pale face and a necklace made of animal bones around his neck knelt down in front of the pasture with exposed soil, raised his hands and bowed to the ground: "What crime did my Zubu tribe commit that you have to punish us like this? How can we live without the pasture! If you want to punish us, why don't you punish only me, Gudu!"

The tribal leaders and officials who followed behind him saw the king kneeling on the ground in front of them. They did not care whether the ground was clean or not, and they also knelt on the ground one after another and prayed to the Eternal Sky. More nomadic people also followed suit.

Dedede——

The sound of horse hooves came from the west. Someone outside heard the sound and turned around to see a knight with an anxious look on his face running towards them.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"

The warhorse was reined in, and the man on the horse jumped off the horse without waiting for it to stop. He ran over in three or two steps, and one of them fell to the ground because he couldn't stand firmly.

Zhubugudu heard the shout and turned to look. He saw the knight propping himself up in a panic and crawling over using his hands and feet: "My king, the Ulia tribe is invading from the west, the west."

"What do you mean!"

The big king of the Zhubu tribe propped himself up with his thighs and barely stood up. He went over and pulled the man up from the ground: "How dare they come and touch the tiger whiskers of my Zhubu tribe!" "Big... King." The man, who was kicking his legs in the air like a chicken, barely spoke: "They... They also lost their ranch, so... ah!"

The figure hanging in the air fell down, rubbing his butt with his hands, grinning.

Zubugudu snorted coldly, turned around and shouted at the tribesmen who were looking at him: "Gather the troops, first cut off the heads of the invading Ulias and feed them to the dogs!"

He panted and took two deep breaths: "They reminded me that after we beat them back, we might have to go to the south to fight in Caogu."

"Your Majesty..." Someone wanted to say something, but changed his mind and held back.

Zhubu Gudu glanced at the tribal officials below and said softly, "For the continuation of the tribe..."

Many people lowered their heads with red eyes.

Then the burly King of the Zubu tribe stepped aside and grabbed the scimitars on the guards' waists and said, "Warriors of the Zubu tribe, let us take up our weapons and defeat the invading enemies, and then..."

choke--

The machete was raised above his head, reflecting the sunlight.

"Go south!"

"Go south!"

Someone echoed loudly.

"Go south——"

More people stood up and shouted, and there was the sound of swords being drawn.

"Go south——"

The swords stand like a forest.

In late midsummer, a conflict broke out on the northwest side of the grassland. The Zubu tribe and the Ulia tribe fought at Wushan, and both suffered losses. Later, other tribes also sent troops to plunder due to the pressure of survival, and the entire Northwest Route Recruiting Office became a mess.

At that time, Xiao Yixue, who was ordered to be on standby at the Northwest Road Recruiting Office, heard the news. Without caring about comforting the people and herdsmen in Zhaozhou, Zhenzhou and Weizhou, he hurriedly led a thousand elite Khitan cavalry to Wushan to mediate.

……

The clouds over the grassland are as white as jade, and beneath the clouds is an endless expanse of green grassland. The cattle and sheep lower their heads to eat the tender green grass tips at the call of the shepherd.

The young man rode his horse holding a bow, and occasionally shot fat prey. The singing of girls echoed in the sky, boldly expressing her love to her lover who was riding a horse to hunt.

...It should be like this.

The brown land was filled with heads of various tribes. The originally green ocean now revealed the dark brown land underneath. Groups of herdsmen riding war horses stood facing each other with wooden spears and iron knives in their hands. The surroundings were filled with the stench of war horses and people. The faces that used to have hearty smiles were now filled with hatred.

A solemn and murderous atmosphere was flowing in this area, and among the nearly ten thousand knights, figures with either strong or broad builds sat on stools, looking at Xiao Yixue, who represented the Liao court, in silence.

They knew that Liao had lost the war with Qi, but this was not a reason for them to ignore the majesty of the Liao court. Salt, iron, grain and even trade continued in the area bordering Xijing Road and the grassland.

As for the Qi State across from them, although they did not have much good or bad feelings, it was just that the emperor across from them was a Han Chinese, who was naturally different from them, the people of the grasslands. When comparing them with the Liao people, it was natural that the Khitan people, who also came from the grasslands, were more trusted by them.

Moreover, the oaths sworn by generations are still there. Many tribal chiefs hold official positions in the Northwest Road Recruiting Office and have positions recognized by the court. Their positions as chiefs are as stable as Mount Tai, and no one dares to disobey their orders in secret.

In a sense, the tribal leaders of the Northwest Route Recruiting Office were more in a mutually supportive relationship with the Liao Kingdom, and the interests entangled between them were not comparable to those of the tribes in other places.

But now, a locust plague has shattered all of this, and in order to plunder more resources, the various tribes have been stained with blood.

"My dear leaders..." Xiao Yixue glanced expressionlessly at the tribesmen who were staring at each other, and pinched his nose tiredly: "We all live by drinking the water of the Urugu River. What can't we talk about with each other? Why do we have to resort to force?"

"Don't ask me." Zubugudu pointed at the dirty figure over there and said, "Ask the bastards over there. If they hadn't started the fight first, why would we pick up swords and guns and let the blood of our people be spilled on this grassland?"

Xiao Yixue turned his head to look over there. The headman of Ulia's tribe first blushed, then straightened his neck and said, "We have suffered a disaster and lost our pastures. If we don't rob them, we will die. Since it doesn't matter whether we die early or late, we should let the people of our tribe eat first."

"Then come and rob us!"

"Who made your ranch the biggest?"

"All right!"

The roar interrupted the quarrel between the two sides. Xiao Yixue looked at the two angry chiefs, pressed the handle of the knife with force, and then said: "We are all the people of Changsheng Tianxia. Why should we use our energy outside? Besides, the tribes present have all suffered disasters, and the pastures have been eaten up. How can there be so many supplies and livestock for you to rob? Even if we kill everyone, who of you dares to say that the things you rob can guarantee that you can survive the winter?"

The Khitan man looked around and said, "Now I have a suggestion. Since you don't have enough livestock and food to survive the winter, why don't you unite and go to the Qi State in the south to rob it."

Everyone present looked at each other in bewilderment. Xiao Yixue smiled grimly, "You better make a decision quickly. Winter is only a few months away. It will take a long time for us to gather people, seize the border, and return to the tribe. If we delay for too long, we may end up staying in Qi and not be able to return."

The chieftains in the field were silent for a while. The chieftain Ulia, whose face was covered with dust, slapped his thigh fiercely and said, "Let's do it. If we want to rob, we'll rob the richest."

"...Yes, rob the richest one."

"Count me in."

"And me!"

A noisy sound rang out on the brown soil, and Xiao Yixue had a smile on his face.

……

same moment.

A caravan of dozens of people entered the city gate of Dading Prefecture in Zhongjing. The leader, Zhao Liangsi, found a restaurant to stay in. He looked at the people walking on the street and exhaled: "You wait here, I'll go out and find some old acquaintances first."

"My husband goes out alone, if someone recognizes him..."

"So what if I recognize it?"

The figure walking away waved his hand: "There are no enemies here."

My daughter was sick. She cried a little at night and slept for less than five hours. I was so sleepy. . . . . .

(o-ωｑ)).oO困

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(End of this chapter)