Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 182 The Nation Has Become Like Pigs and Dogs

Since he wanted to give Adianlun a way out, Liu Huai naturally would not let such a useful local person go unused.

It is of course a joke to smell horse manure, but although Adianlun came from outside the Great Wall, he had been in Juzhou for a long time after all, so he could still find a few places in the mountains where large cavalry could gather.

Sure enough, before it got completely dark, after searching only three places, they saw a flat area about two miles long and wide between two hills far away from the official road.

It seemed that there had been several households here, but now all the man-made buildings inside, including the houses and courtyards, had been flattened to the ground, and even the beans and millets planted around them had been trampled away.

Zhang Baiyu walked around with a torch in hand, pointing to a nearby field and saying, "Look, my dear! These are horse hoof prints, all traces of war horses trampling on the ground."

Liu Huai nodded in response: "The millet has been harvested, but there are still signs of being eaten... Hmm... About six or seven hundred cavalrymen."

Zhang Baiyu drove his horse around twice more, then returned to Liu Huai and whispered, "There's no horse manure, and the millet has been harvested, so why aren't there any rumors?"

What this guy meant was very clear. He was saying that the people in this valley had obviously suffered from the very beginning, but the remaining millet had been harvested and the horse manure had been picked up. Logically, the news that the entire village had been massacred should have been concealed. Why didn't I hear about it after a quick tour of Yishui County today?

Liu Huai glanced at Zhang Baiyu and said, "Firstly, we have only been here for half a day, and we have to hide our heads and tails to get information. This kind of gossip that has been spread countless times will naturally be useless.
Secondly, because of the grain collection these days, people are in a panic. The people of Yishui are almost eating manure. How could I tell you this..."

After finishing the explanation, Liu Huai lost interest in speaking and turned to thinking about countermeasures.

It is now certain that the Jin army has arrived, or at least the vanguard has arrived.

Several hundred to more than a thousand cavalrymen had secretly assembled in the north of Yishui County, and then secretly entered Yishui County and hid there, waiting for Liu Huai to lead his army to attack the city, and then they would rush out of the city and bite the Loyal Army hard in this place where mountains and rivers meet.

This bastard Zhu Tianshou is really deceiving himself!
Why did he do this?
Liu Huai was angry, but he immediately suppressed his unnecessary thoughts.

Now is not the time to think about that.

Now we should think about how to deal with it.

Zhang Baiyu, who was standing aside, was very smart and figured the matter out quickly. He then looked at Liu Huai again.

Liu Huai happened to look at Zhang Baiyu as well. The two exchanged glances and whispered the same word at the same time: "Take advantage of their own strategy?"

This is just a rough idea, and how to do it still needs to be carefully considered based on the cards in hand.

"Let's go." Liu Huai's face darkened and he ordered loudly, "Get back overnight!"

"Here!"

The command was quite loud, so Atenlun, who was sandwiched between two knights, also heard it, and he immediately became very anxious.

Seeing that Yishui County was about to fall into chaos, it would be easy for him to leave, but what would happen to his family, clansmen, and friends who worked with him to collect excrement?

Therefore, even if Adianlun was afraid of these nobles turning against him, he could only say loudly at this time: "My dear, I don't think it's appropriate."

"Ok?"

Liu Huai just turned around and looked coldly at Adianlun who was still riding on the mule in the light of the torch.

Adianlun wanted to dismount and kowtow again, but seeing the two knights on his left and right reaching for their weapons, he dared not move and could only kowtow on the mule: "My dear, you are strangers... I dare not ask where you come from, but it is pitch dark, surrounded by mountains, rivers, and mounds. It is too dangerous to gallop at night. If the horse stumbles... My dear, you are a man of great wealth, you cannot sit under a dangerous wall."

This fellow's cultural level is indeed not high. He can't even speak the language of a rich man's son.

Liu Huai thought for a moment, then smiled again, "Do you know of any good places to go?" Adianlun was delighted, "My lord, my family's current place is right nearby. Although it's small, it's still a good place for you to water your horses and rest."

Liu Huai continued to smile and said, "Tomorrow, the whole family and the villagers will leave with us, right?"

Adianlun immediately felt a little embarrassed: "I dare not deceive you, my lord, that's exactly what I am doing."

"Well," Liu Huai calculated the time and felt that it was still plenty of time. He was also afraid of getting lost again on the way back, so he said, "I'll stay at your place tonight."

Adianlun was even more delighted. He took Liu Huai and others along the mountain path. After twists and turns, they arrived at the foot of a mountain.

There are about five or six households here. The thatched houses are all dilapidated and surrounded by a low adobe wall. Not to mention human voices, there is not even the sound of chickens, dogs or large animals.

It seemed that these families could not even afford oil lamps, and the scene was pitch black. If it were not for Adianlun's knowledge of the road, Liu Huai would probably have regarded these houses as abandoned even if he passed by.

"Mom! Ninth brother! Aunt Daliang! I'm back!" Adianlun shouted loudly from a distance. After shouting several times, a light came on in one of the larger thatched houses. After a while, an old woman pushed open the door and walked out tremblingly.

"Alun, why are you back?"

Adianlun jumped off the mule and hugged the old woman: "Mom, I brought some noble people with me. We can live a good life now!"

At this time, the doors of several other thatched huts also opened, and some men and women looked over here from the doorway. Adienlun waved and greeted them loudly.

At this point, Liu Huai was too lazy to pretend to be a dandy: "Chen Liulang, Guo Wulang, you two go water the horses."

The two knights bowed in agreement.

"Zhang Silang, bring some more biscuits and dried meat." Liu Huai continued to direct, then bowed to the old woman and said, "Old lady, we are sorry to bother you this time. We will need some firewood, pots, bowls and chopsticks."

The old woman was stunned for a moment, then pushed Adianlun and said, "Didn't you hear what the noble said? Hurry up and go!"

Adianlun patted his head, turned to the woman next to him and said, "Aunt Daliang, I need to borrow your big pot."

The woman forced a smile in the torchlight and said, "Of course, but you'll have to get it yourself."

As they walked, Adianlun asked, "Where's Uncle Daliang? He went to the mountains to collect herbs again. Hasn't he come back yet?"

The woman's face turned bitter. "I was conscripted by the county government the day before yesterday. I don't even know what the task was."

Adianlun was stunned: "The county doesn't even have our household registration, how can we collect taxes?"

"Alas..." the woman sighed. "They didn't collect taxes based on household registration. Your uncle Daliang was just carrying herbs to the city to sell, and he was caught at the city gate! If it weren't for Hou Er from Housan Village, he might have disappeared without a trace. Ah Lun, you're familiar with the city. Can you help me find your uncle Daliang someday?"

Adianlun hesitated for a moment. While he was getting the pot, he said to the woman, "Aunt Daliang, let's go with these nobles tomorrow. Once we've settled them, I'll come look for Uncle Daliang."

Seeing that the woman was about to say something, Adianlun directly held her shoulders and said, "The county has been getting more and more scary these days. We are two grown men, so it's easy for us to run away, but there are so many elderly and weak people here. How can we leave if we don't take care of you first? Aunt Daliang, listen to me this time."

The woman covered her mouth with her hands, tears falling like beads from a broken string, but when she looked back at her two young sons in the room who were also covering their mouths and looking at her, she could only nod her head heavily.

Adianlun breathed a sigh of relief, holding a big pot and carrying a bundle of firewood, and strode towards where Liu Huai was.

(End of this chapter)