lady, please calm down

After Dayi reorganized the army on the 18th, Chen Chu transferred Han Shizhong, who was training the new army in Luzhou, to lead 5,000 Huaibei troops east to Yangzhou.

At the same time, the bodies of more than 170 people who violated military discipline, including Li Fengsun, were displayed to the public for three days.

Order was restored in an instant in Dayi County, which was in chaos. More than 10,000 Zhou troops experienced suppression on the campus and could no longer show any trace of arrogance.

On the 21st, Han Shizhong's troops arrived at Dayi.

After leaving a group of troops to garrison Dayi, Han Bu continued to advance towards Yangzhou together with the Chu King's troops.

Zhang Duofu's troops, who were originally the main force in the Eastern Expedition, were reduced to retinues responsible for logistics.

Dayi Zhijun not only killed a group of thornheads and soldiers, but all the middle and senior officers in Zhang Duofu's department were punished to varying degrees, either beaten with sticks or demoted.

Even Zhang Duofu himself and even Jiang Shuquan, the Huaibei general who had little to do with the disaster, were not spared and were scolded.

According to the past, punishing all officers in the army at once is a recipe for disaster and can easily lead to mutiny in the entire army.

But this time, from Zhang Duofu down, all the Zhou army officers were obedient.

If you want to provoke the soldiers to mutiny, you must at least be harder than others with their fists to achieve your goal. However, the Huaibei Army's unyielding attitude prevented the military leaders from being as tough as they used to bully civilian officials.

On the 18th, they could clearly see the killing intent in the eyes of the soldiers of the Second Guards Regiment.

In the past, civil servants could only coax them, but now, King Jin really dared to kill them all.
On the 24th, the King of Jin personally led the Eastern Expedition Army to arrive outside Yangzhou City.

With the support of the Huaibei Sky Thunder Cannon, the cruel city wall attack and defense model that once required human lives has been overturned. This famous capital of Huaizuo and an important town in Jiangbei only lasted less than three days, making it easy to break the city in the early morning of the 27th. .
That night, the people in Yangzhou City were as silent as cicadas, and every household turned off the lights and closed the doors.

The sporadic street fighting and the Huaibei Army's cries of "disarm and not kill" gradually subsided until Yinshi.

After that, the people did not face the plundering and massacre that they had expected. Instead, the streets gradually became quiet, with only the occasional clanging footsteps of patrol soldiers heard.
At noon, Wang Erxi, the owner of Wangji Hu Cake in Datie Alley, lay down behind the door with fear and glanced out through the crack in the door.

The fear in my heart turned into doubt. The sound of fighting could be clearly heard last night, and it was expected that the Huaibei soldiers would invade the city. But at this moment, in the dim morning light outside, everything was calm, and there was no sign of chaos after the war.

Did the defenders in the city fight off the Huaibei soldiers again?
'Zhiqua~'

Puzzled, Wang Erxi boldly opened the store door.

This is the first shop to open its doors in Blacksmith Alley
Wang Erxi took a step forward, wanting to go out and inquire, but felt his feet go soft, as if he had stepped on something.

At this time, it was not bright yet, and before Wang Erxi had time to check, he heard someone yelling and scolding: "Grandma, whoever stepped on me!"

The sound came from under his feet. Wang Erxi lowered his head and looked down. He was so stunned that he felt like he was about to die. He actually stepped on a sergeant.

Taking a closer look, the sergeant was not wearing the red military uniform of the Zhou Army!

As the sergeant who was being stepped on shouted, the surroundings suddenly became agitated. The sergeants quickly stood up from the eaves of the shops along the street, grabbed their weapons and surrounded the scene of the incident.

They thought Paoze was under attack and came to support him.

But how did Wang Erxi know this? When he saw a group of tall, armored and armed soldiers rushing over, he was so frightened that he fell to his knees and kowtowed crazily: "Ah, military master, please spare my life, please spare my life." A small life."

Only then did Sergeant Huaibei, who belonged to the 1st Guards Regiment, realize that it was just a misunderstanding.

The Huaibei Army running from a distance couldn't help but complain about Pao Ze who was the first to speak out, "Li Shunmao, you made such a fuss. With that wailing voice, we thought you had been stabbed!"

Li Shunmao didn't feel sorry for disturbing everyone's dreams. Instead, he said, "I was sleeping soundly. Someone stepped on my stomach. Why can't I scream?"

Platoon leader Zhao Conggui looked at Wang Erxi who was shaking like chaff from fright, then looked back at the entrance of the alley, and hurriedly reminded: "Shunmao donkey, help this fellow up quickly, be careful that the people from the Jinyi Institute see you. I'll tell you then. If you oppress the fellow villagers, you will be finished!"

After saying this, Li Shunmao, who was still holding his head, suddenly got an idea and hurriedly bent down and pulled Wang Erxi up.

Even the brothers who were watching the excitement quickly moved aside to avoid being misunderstood by the Jinyisuo gang.
The scene in front of you is indeed easy to misunderstand. A person who looks like a common citizen at first glance kneels down and kowtows to the tall Li Shunmao. Anyone who takes a first look will feel that Li Shunmao is bullying people.

Although Wang Erxi didn't know the situation at this time, he knew that the group of people in front of him were most likely the Huaibei Army. Since ancient times, when the enemy army broke into the city, the life of this little common man had not been left to others to take whatever they wanted.

In fear, Wang Erxi, who was pulled up, knelt down again.

But Li Shunmao was even more anxious than him, and only said: "Fellow, I just scolded you, you can't harm me!"

Pao Ze next to him was clever and quickly pushed Wang Erxi back into the store and then closed the store door.
The store door closed, and both inside and outside the store breathed a sigh of relief at the same time.

Li Shunmao and others outside the store were only afraid of Jin Yisuo, but what they were even more afraid of was that if a misunderstanding arose, they would discredit the Guards Regiment and even the entire Huaibei Army.

Beating a military stick is a trivial matter, but if the Guards regiment is criticized by the entire army for this, it will be a life-threatening situation!

In the store, Wang Erxi was also confused. If it hadn't been for the pain in his forehead caused by kowtow, he might have thought it was just hysteria.

Just as he was standing there confused, the closed shop door creaked and was pushed open again.

Wang Erxi was startled again, and subconsciously wanted to kneel again, but the young platoon leader Zhao Conggui was already prepared. He stepped forward and held Wang Erxi's arms, and then said with a smile: "Don't be afraid, fellow, I just noticed it." , I dare to ask you, this shop sign, you sell biscuits here?"

"Yes, yes," Wang Er replied hurriedly.

"It's just right! Our army has just entered the city and the Huotou Army has not yet had time to make food. Could you please help the shopkeeper get us some biscuits?"

“good good”

Compared to looting and massacre, losing a few pancakes is worth it!

Wang Erxi even felt the joy of escaping, but Zhao Conggui did not let go of his arm. He turned around and looked at the prices of various kinds of Hu cakes hanging on the wall, and said: "Let's take the sesame Hu cakes that cost three yuan each. There are thirty-seven people in my row, two for each person, a total of seventy-four cakes, priced at two hundred and twenty-two coins."

Wang Er liked to be surprised for a while, and then he was surprised that this soldier actually wanted to pay?

Secondly, I was surprised that this military man was not only literate, but also good at arithmetic. He casually calculated how much money he had to pay for so many pieces of cakes.

But without waiting for him to give in, Li Shunmao whispered: "Zhao Tou, our platoon is down to thirty-seven people. Wu Datou died in the battle last night."

Zhao Yuanke was startled, and the smile on his face gradually disappeared. Wang Erxi, who had just relaxed a little, couldn't help but become nervous again.

Although what the Huaibei Army has done so far has repeatedly exceeded Wang Erxi's expectations, a soldier's mood and anger are unpredictable. It is not impossible that the Huaibei platoon leader vented his anger for Pao Ze's death in the battle on him.

In the midst of anxiety, Zhao Yuanke shook his head, as if to get rid of some emotions, and then touched his body, but found nothing. Then he turned back to his subordinates and said: "Whoever has copper coins, first Take it out, I only have our Huaibei cargo ticket with me, I'm afraid they won't recognize it."

"Tou Zhao, who among us still carries those heavy copper coins? We only have cargo tickets with us."

All the subordinates touched their bodies, but they could only collect less than ten cents.

When Zhao Yuanke saw this, he sighed and said to his brothers: "Then there is nothing we can do. Let's wait for the Huotou Army to deliver the food."

Then, towards Wang Erxi, he cupped his fists and said, "Sorry for disturbing you, I'll leave right now. Don't blame me for disturbing shopkeeper Wang."

After opening the door and stepping on the Huaibei soldiers a quarter of an hour ago, Wang Erxi was hit one after another.

Seeing that these men who were slightly embarrassed because they didn't bring any copper coins actually retreated out of the store, Wang Erxi blurted out: "You military masters, it doesn't matter if you don't have money, I will bake pancakes for you right now. I don't need any money." You eat"

There is even a hint of sincerity in these words.

After hearing this, Li Shunmao and others subconsciously licked their lips and looked at Zhao Conggui.

They attacked the city last night and fought fiercely in the middle of the night. At this time, they were really hungry.

Zhao Conggui looked around at the eager eyes of his brothers, but still hardened his heart: "Thank you, shopkeeper Wang, for your kindness, but our army has military discipline and will not take a stitch from the common people. Thank you!"

After saying that, Zhao Conggui turned around and waved his hand, and everyone followed him out of the store.

Wang Erxi stared blankly at the group of soldiers, perhaps because of the fear he had accumulated for many days after Yangzhou was besieged, or perhaps his relaxed mood reached the critical point. Suddenly his nose became sore and he said hurriedly: "Everyone, stay! Your Huaibei cargo tickets are in the city. It can be circulated in several major trading houses. I will accept this coupon!"

With these words, Zhao Conggui stopped and turned around, seriously confirming: "Seriously? Shopkeeper Wang, please don't lie to me. If I violate military discipline, I will be punished with a military stick!"

"Of course it's true!"

At the end of Mao Shi.

In the morning light, Wang Jihu Cake Shop is already busy. Wang Erxi and his two apprentices who live in the shop are mixing noodles and lighting the oven.

Zhao Yuanke led the entire row of thirty-five brothers to sit in the store. They all had their upper bodies upright, neither walking back and forth, nor risking losing their way back to the house. At this time, Wang Erxi felt confident and took the initiative to talk to the Huaibei Army, "General Zhao, how did you sleep under the eaves after entering the city last night? Although the weather is getting warmer, it is not the first month after all, and it is very cold at night."

"I'm not a general, uncle, just call me Xiao Zhao." Zhao Yuanke continued, "Since the establishment of my Huaibei Army, the King of Chu has set a military discipline that we will not demolish houses even if we freeze to death, and we will not steal food even if we starve to death. We entered the city in the middle of the night and there was no time to allocate a camp, so we borrowed the eaves of the villagers' houses."

This Zhao Yuanke was about twenty years old. He was tall and handsome. Wang Erxi felt a little fond of him and said with a smile: "If General Zhao still doesn't have a camp to stay in tonight, you can come to the little old man's place and stay in the inn." It’s better to spend one night here than sleeping on the street.”

"Haha, thank you for your kindness, uncle, but this is not the case. We are all rough people. If we disturb the uncle's family, it will be a sin."

chuff? He is both literate and good at arithmetic, but can he still be considered a roughneck?

The speaker was unintentional, but the listener was intentional. Wang Erxi turned around and took another serious look at Zhao Yuanke. He handed over the dough-kneading job to his apprentice with a smile and went to the backyard.

In the main room of the back house, Wang Erxi pushed open the door, walked to the bedside, lay down on the ground, and lifted up the sheets hanging to the ground.
Before Wang Erxi could say anything, the woman hiding under the bed screamed and came over with scissors in both hands.

Fortunately, the woman lost her focus in fear and stabbed the bed with the scissors.

Wang Erxi was startled and said hurriedly: "It's me! Are you a mother-in-law trying to kill her husband?"

"Daddy!"

"Dad, have the Huaibei soldiers retreated?"

Two voices, one male and one female, were heard from under the bed. It was Wang Erxi's mother-in-law who was hiding here with her son and daughter.

Wang Erxi asked his family to crawl out from under the bed and explained in detail what they had seen this morning.

Finally, he said: "It's okay. I'm too busy up front. You can come out with me to support me."

After hearing Wang Erxi's words, the whole family was doubtful. It's not that they didn't believe their husband and father, it was just that he told the Huaibei Army that there were few people in the world who would not take a needle or a thread from the people, or even freeze to death without demolishing the houses or starve to death. Don't grab food'.
It's too fantasy and a bit unreal.

Every moment.

When the Hu cakes came out, it was just as General Zhao said. No matter the officers or soldiers, each person got two Hu cakes.

For a moment, the store was filled with the sound of men chewing and swallowing.

Wang Erxi's wife and daughter shuttled around the store, refilling water for everyone. When it was Zhao Yuanke's turn, he put down the cake, stood up and saluted Wang's wife, and said gently: "Thank you, little lady."

It made Wang Xiaoniang blush slightly.

Li Shunmao ate quickly, and Wang Erxi, who had finished his work, found some free time, wiped his hands on his apron, sat down next to the former with a smile, and took the initiative to chat: "Master, how old is General Zhao this year?"

"Zhao Tou, after three months, he will be twenty years old."

"So young?"

Wang Erxi became more and more satisfied as he watched, and he deliberately inquired: "I see that General Zhao is polite, literate and good at arithmetic. He is not like ordinary people."

"No, Zhao Tou graduated from Lanxiang Academy after nine years of study! People with such academic qualifications as him are rare in our Huaibei Army!"

Li Shunmao talked to Yourong, but Wang Erxi asked doubtfully: "You have been studying for nine years? Then you must have an extraordinary family background, how can you join the army?"

'A good man should not be a soldier' ​​is still the mainstream thought of the people of Zhou State, but Li Shunmao was not happy after hearing this, and deliberately showed off: "What's wrong with joining the army? Our prince is not from the army? We, Zhao Tou."

Speaking of this, Li Shunmao lowered his voice and said mysteriously: "I heard from the gossip that our Zhao head is still the nephew of the princess!"

Even if Wang Erxi had a good opinion of Zhao Yuanke, he still didn't quite believe Li Shunmao's words. He couldn't help but laugh and said: "This rumor can't be true, can it? Will the princess be willing to let her nephew go to the battlefield? And she only has a small official in charge of dozens of people. ?”

"What are you talking about! What happened to the junior officer? Which of our generals in Huaibei didn't start as a junior officer? Even Xu Xiaoyi, who is regarded as a brother by the prince, has been in the army for many years, and this time he was deployed as a company commander. Still Our leader Liu Erhu from Huaibei is a tenant farmer; our leader Ding is a refugee from the refugee camp."

Li Shunmao has countless family treasures. This is the belief of these low-level sergeants. Jewels come first. Anyone who is a little ambitious in their career feels that it is possible to copy the successful path of these middle- and upper-level officers in Huaibei.

Although Wang Erxi is a junior citizen, he still knows a thing or two about officialdom. Not to mention the distant ones, let’s just say that in Yangzhou City, whether civil or military, when promoting subordinates, who doesn’t choose those who give more gifts and have close connections?
This Huaibei Army allowed the nephew of the princess to start from a small platoon leader? Aren't you afraid of dying on the battlefield?
And those tenants and refugees Li Shunmao mentioned, can they also make a career in the army?
At first, Wang Erxi only felt that the Huaibei Army was different from other armies in every way, but after listening to Li Shunmao's description, Wang Erxi could not understand this army even more.

But he could indeed feel the confidence, vigor, and vigorous mental state that valued honor hidden in Huaibei Bing.

While deep in thought, I suddenly heard a faint suona sound of "Didi, di, di, di, wow~".

In the store, all the officers and soldiers of the 1st platoon of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Company of the 1st Guards Regiment, who were chatting in low voices, fell silent for an instant. Zhao Yuanke was seen listening with his ears straight up, and then suddenly stood up, grabbed half of the half piece of biscuit that he had not finished, and stuffed it into his arms. In the middle, he stood up and said: "Everyone in the row is here! Assemble and move quickly to the direction where the assembly horn is sounded."

Wow~
There was a sudden sound of chairs and stools shifting and armor rubbing against each other.

Before Wang Erxi could react, the sergeants with pancakes in their mouths and pancakes in their arms had already lined up outside the store.

"Thank you, uncle, for your support. I have military affairs to attend to, so I'll say goodbye!"

Zhao Yuanke gave a neat military salute, and then led his brothers to line up neatly and trot away to the direction where the assembly horn was sounded.

Wang Erxi didn't even bother to return the favor. The store suddenly became empty, leaving only slightly messy tables and chairs.

Somehow, Wang Erxi, who had been unable to sleep due to fear last night, felt inexplicably disappointed when he looked at the empty hall.

Over there, Wang Erxi's mother-in-law picked up three small pink tickets from the table and took a photo of them in the morning sun. The watermark of the Xiashan Tiger hidden in the tickets was clearly visible.

It was the first time for Wang to receive such a large amount of cargo invoices, and she couldn't help but excitedly said: "Oh, could this be the White Tiger Coin that the three major trading houses in the city are competing to collect?"

Hearing this, the twelve-year-old son also came over, looked at Chen Yang from the same angle, and asked curiously: "Mom, the watermark in this ticket has no color, why is it called the White Tiger Coin?"

"Mother doesn't know. I heard people say that this is what Huaibei is called."

Wang Er, who was in a daze, heard the words and hurriedly walked a few steps, took the Huaibei cargo ticket from his son's hand, and couldn't help but stamp his feet and said: "Three tickets are three hundred coins! We haven't asked anyone for the money yet!"

Both husband and wife were businessmen, and Huaibei Bing suddenly gave him seventy-eight more coins, which was no longer a small sum. Wang quickly went to the cash box to find some change.

But when they got to the counter and took a look, they remembered that in order to prevent the Huaibei Army from looting after entering the city, the couple had buried the cash box under the peach tree in the backyard in advance.

In the rush, it was too late to find money.

Wang Erxi ran out of the shop quickly. The blacksmith alley was already empty, and there were no traces of Huaibei soldiers anywhere.

"Hey!"

Wang Erxi couldn't help but sigh. It was only then that the neighbors on the left and right carefully opened the door a crack.

At dawn, the noise in Wang Ji Hu's bakery had already been heard by the neighbors.

At that time, they all thought that the Hu Cake Shop had been occupied by the rebels, and everyone couldn't help but worry about the fate of Wang Erxi's family. If they were lucky, their money would be looted.
The Wang family's wife is only twenty-eight years old, and she is the most lively girl in this alley. If she is found by the Huaibei Army, Wang Erxi will definitely resist, and the whole family will be doomed.

Worry is worry, but no one dares to go out to help. After all, the friendship between neighbors is not as important as the lives of one's own family!
It wasn't until they saw the Huaibei Army leaving through the crack in the door that the neighbors opened the door to take a peek.

But at a glance, he saw Wang Erxi standing at the door in a daze. The neighbors breathed a sigh of relief for him. Seeing Wang Erxi's dejected appearance, the shopkeeper Zheng of the sesame oil store next door kindly tried to persuade him: "Brother Wang, don't worry about it. We have lost a little." Money doesn't matter, as long as people are good and better than others, you can still earn more money."

Wang Erxi looked back and was confused for a moment before he understood what shopkeeper Zheng meant. He then saw him smile bitterly, raised the receipt in his hand, and sighed: "My neighbors have misunderstood. This soldier from Huaibei came to my store and didn't steal a penny. I spent money to buy more than 70 pieces of pancakes. The little old man was so busy that he even forgot to change the money."

"Buy your pancakes?"

"No change?"

After hearing Wang Erxi's words, everyone looked around and confirmed that there were no rebels nearby, and then they walked out one after another.

I saw that Wang Ji Hu Cake Shop was very orderly. Wang Xiaoniang and her mother were wiping the table, and Wang Erxi's son was also helping to clean up the drinking bowls.

The whole family was intact, without any fear or panic.

Only then did everyone believe Wang Erxi's words, and couldn't help but marvel. They all asked about the situation of the Huaibei Army.

Wang Erxi summarized it for a long time without saying anything, and only said: "I can't say for sure, but this Huaibei Army is different from the other armies in the world! When I met them, I felt a sense of familiarity out of thin air."

Everyone was silent for a while, then shopkeeper Zheng suddenly said to Zhang Dong's house in the cotton cloth shop next door: "Shopkeeper Zhang, I heard someone said that these Huaibei soldiers are in Huaibei and are called disciple soldiers by the people. Is this true?"

Zhang Dongjia is the richest and most knowledgeable person in Blacksmith Alley. Hearing this, he nodded and said, "I've heard people say this too."

Immediately afterwards, Zhang Dongjia sighed with emotion and said with a complicated expression: "Now, I finally understand why Huaibei has been transformed from a place full of soldiers and bandits into a prosperous place first-class in the world in less than ten years! Such a people-friendly and strong army can open up borders for the people and protect their wealth. How can Huaibei not be rich for me, the Zhou Dynasty? In the future, not only will we lose troops and lose soil, but the hearts of the people in the world will also turn to the King of Jin." ( End of this chapter)