Troubled times: Start practicing spiritual practice by taking care of your sister-in-law

Chapter 167 Qingzhou Military Academy Lieutenant Li Yunzhang
July [-]st.

Northland.

Also called Luobei.

It does not refer to the entire north, but to the entire northeastern boundary.

After the Heavenly Master Army swept across the Northland, in addition to being good to the people at first, its power gradually grew and lost control. In addition, the upper-level connivance caused the Heavenly Master Army to have no governance at all in the Northland.

After the looting was completed and a large number of people were forced to leave, the entire Northland could be said to be in dire straits. The people in the Northland hated the Heavenly Master Army even more than the imperial court.

But there was nothing they could do. The Tianshi Army captured most of the young people in the North and killed some of the young people who were unwilling to join. Only a few young people hid in the mountains and escaped.

The people who are still surviving in the entire Northland can be described as living in a state of despair.

And because the Heavenly Master Army robbed most of the money and food in the North, after the Heavenly Master Army left, the remaining people could only eat Guanyin soil and dig tree roots.

Hu Qiang, Su Wen, and Wei Qing, along with a small group of elite Divine Guards and several Gaozhou natives, followed Chen Mo's instructions and stepped into Gaozhou territory carrying the tokens given to them by Geng Songfu.

Ever since they entered Gaozhou, they could not see any green wherever they looked.

Fertile fields are dry and cracked.

There was not a single good house in sight, and unburied corpses whose internal organs had been eviscerated by vultures could be seen on the roadside.

"This is Gaozhou?"

Hu Qiang was shocked by the scene in front of him.

Gaozhou and Qingzhou are adjacent to each other, but even when Qingzhou was at its worst, it never reached this point.

Especially after it was Chen Mo's turn to govern Pingting County, the many days of peace even made them forget the tragedy of the troubled times.

This is not the human world, and it is not an exaggeration to describe it as purgatory.

Huang Li was from Gaozhou, and his eyes turned red when he saw this scene. He was not like this when he left.

Huang Li felt more uncomfortable than anyone else when his homeland was destroyed like this.

"Damn the Heavenly Master thieves!" A man next to Huang Li knelt on the ground with a thud, and then kowtowed three times, saying, "I, Huang Ye, always swore to God that one day, I will kill all the Heavenly Master thieves."

Although they are currently members of the Tianshi Army, they know that they only have a title, so neither Hu Qiang nor Su Wen and others said anything about Huang Yeshi's words.

"Gaozhou has become like this, can we still complete the tasks assigned by the county magistrate?" Wei Qing frowned. The people have dug up tree roots and stripped away all the grass. They are in this state of hunger, even if they still raise crows. Taiwanese horses should basically be killed and eaten.

Hearing this, Su Wen and Hu Qiang's expressions became serious.

For them, completing the task is obviously the most important thing, but judging from the current situation, it may be difficult to complete it.

In the end, Hu Qiang made up his mind and said: "Anyway, now that I'm here, I'd better go to Wutai County to check the situation first. If it's really not available, I'll see if I can catch a few Gaopu wild horses in the mountains before I go back." Cross over.”

Su Wen and Wei Qing nodded. Now it seems that this is the only way.

According to Chen Mo's arrangement, their team was led by Hu Qiang, but Hu Qiang knew how much he weighed, so he often asked Su Wen and Wei Qing for their opinions.

Especially Wei Qing, after all, the other party was a centurion of the Qingzhou Army.

It took the two of them three days to reach the border of Wutai County.

However, the closer they got to Wutai, the three of them discovered that the situation here was better than that of other counties in Gaozhou.

Hu Qiang sent someone to inquire about it.

I learned that not everyone in the Tianshi Army would massacre people, and there were also some who were kind to the people.

Of course, they weren't much better. They just didn't kill people casually, didn't rape women, and didn't force the local young men to join the Tianshi Army. However, they plundered all the people's money and food, and they didn't even have rice seeds. Stay, this is no different from killing them, it's just that the method looks better.

Stepping into the border of Wutai County and passing by a mountain forest, Wei Qing's expression suddenly changed, he turned over and dismounted, and then raised his arms.

The team stopped immediately.

Although Chen Mo didn't have many horses, the three people leading the team still had horses to ride on.

"What's wrong?" Hu Qiang asked.

"Captain Hu, do you think this forest is too quiet? There isn't even a bird chirping." Wei Qing said.

"It's not surprising, isn't it? The people were so hungry that they dug up tree roots and ate them. Maybe they had already thought of a way to catch birds. Maybe all the birds around them were caught." Su Wen interjected.

Hu Qiang was born as an Orion, and his sensitivity was beyond ordinary people. Hearing what Wei Qing said, he did feel a little weird, too quiet.

"There is something wrong, but the Tianshi thieves have all arrived in Qingzhou. The officers and soldiers were either driven away or killed, and no one is a bandit in such a poor place. It's strange, but there is no need to worry so much." Hu Qiang said .

"It's better to be careful. We don't have many people with us, so we should move forward according to the formation." Wei Qing said.

Hu Qiang nodded, and at his signal, the team following him suddenly changed into a three-by-three formation and moved forward.

However, not long after advancing, there was a commotion in the mountains and forests on both sides.

At this time, everyone's expressions changed, because they saw flags set up in the mountains on both sides, and black shadows killed them quickly but without losing chaos. "Set up the formation..."

Wei Qing quickly ordered the brave soldiers to form a formation. They formed a thick small circular formation around Wei Qing. The shield soldiers were outside, the spears were placed on them, and the rifles and bows were inside, ready for battle.

Hu Qiang tightened his grip on his strong bow and looked through the gap between the soldiers in front, ready to let go and take off the string at any time.

"Wait, wait first."

At this moment, Wei Qing was shocked because he saw some people wearing Qingzhou Army armor among the black shadows rushing down from both sides.

The group of people who came down from the mountain also saw that Wei Qing and others were unusual, so they stopped sixty steps away from the Shen Yong Guard.

This distance is already beyond the reach of ordinary archers.

This group of people didn't seem to want to be enemies with Wei Qing and the others. One of them, a middle-aged man wearing infantry armor and general attire with a few scars on his face, shouted:
"I don't care who you are, please leave quickly. Wutai County is not the place you should come."

"The Qingzhou army has arrived, don't dare to move." Wei Qing also shouted.

The middle-aged man with scars on his face was startled when he heard this, and immediately said: "Move, the country will be destroyed!"

After saying that, he shouted again: "The general's will is to fight a hundred battles."

"Determine the world and bring peace." When Wei Qing said this, his face was already happy and said: "It turns out that he is a brother of the Qingzhou Army. What do you call him?"

What they just said were all passwords used by the Qingzhou Army.

"Li Yunzhang." The middle-aged man with a scar on his face was also moved, but he did not relax his vigilance and said: "Which battalion do you belong to?"

"Wei Qing, Centurion of the Ninth Battalion."

"It turns out we are brothers from the cavalry battalion, and I am the captain of the second battalion."

"It turns out to be Colonel Li." Wei Qing bowed his hands respectfully with awe on his face. The Colonel is above the commander of thousands. According to the establishment of the Qingzhou Army, he can control 3000 people.

Li Yunzhang smiled lonely and said immediately: "Brother, are you also the remnant of the army who was dispersed by the Heavenly Master's thieves and is now living here?"

Li Yunzhang was on duty at Fengxian at that time, and he was fighting against the Tianshi thieves who came from Gaozhou.

Later, Fengxian was defeated, the leading general died in battle, and the vanguard general led them to break out. Liao Liao, the [-] Qingzhou army who broke out, was one of them.

There are less than 300 people in the remaining troops, including half of the disabled and sick.

Later, he was intercepted by the Tianshi thieves and came to Gaozhou.

"No, we came to Wutai County because of important matters. Now I am no longer in the Qingzhou Army, but have joined the magistrate of Pingting County and become a brave guard." Wei Qing told the truth.

"Have you surrendered to the enemy?" Li Yunzhang's face showed anger. As a captain of the Qingzhou Army, he knew that Pingting County was a superior county of Qingzhou, and now that Qingzhou was occupied by the Tianshi thieves, Wei Qing surrendered to the magistrate of Pingting County. , isn’t that just surrendering to the thieves?

"No." Wei Qing shook his head again and said immediately: "Liu Lieutenant, can we talk alone? I will come out now and you can tell your people not to move."

"If anything happens, just say it directly." Li Yunzhang was still very wary.

"Then let me come closer and tell your people not to move to the head office." Wei Qing said, but he was too far away and could not hear clearly.

"Yes, but only you are allowed." Li Yunzhang said.

Wei Qing walked out of the formation, and Li Yunzhang also kept his promise and did not let anyone below him move.

When the two were thirty steps apart, Li Yunzhang asked Wei Qing to stop.

Wei Qing stopped and then told Li Yunzhang his experience.

Wei Qing spoke very carefully, just to make Li Yunzhang believe in him, and finally made it clear his intention to come to Wuyun County.

After finishing speaking, he even began to persuade Li Yunzhang, saying: "Captain Li, your military rank is higher than mine, and your ability must be greater than mine. If you join our county magistrate, the treatment you will receive will definitely be higher than mine. The most important thing is that I can live a stable life in the future.”

Next, Wei Qing talked about his current treatment: "I now get a salary of two thousand dollars a month, three meals a day, one of which includes meat, and the county magistrate even found a wife for me in the village. When the territory becomes larger in the future, they promised to divide the land for me.

Even in the Qingzhou Army, I would not have dared to think of these things. "

As soon as these words came out, Li Yunzhang was moved and it was hard to say, but the remnants of the Qingzhou army under him were already moved.

Although after they arrived in Gaozhou, they occupied Wutai County, which was surrounded by mountains on three sides and had relatively rich supplies. However, due to the plundering of the Tianshi thieves, they lived by slaughtering the old Wutai horses every day.

In order to save food, I only eat one meal a day.

Li Yunzhang's expression moved slightly. He was also moved by this treatment, but he had never heard of Chen Mo, so he could not confirm the authenticity of Wei Qing's words.

If you are cheated, the price may be death.

Li Yunzhang didn't dare to believe it and said: "For the sake of being brothers in the Qingzhou Army, you should leave quickly. I will never touch you."

Seeing that he didn't say anything, Wei Qing frowned.

At this moment, Hu Qiang said: "I have a token from Mr. Geng Songfu, the former magistrate of Wutai County."

(End of this chapter)