My older brother is Gao Huan.

Chapter 144 Gao Da's Amazing Moves
August 11th, the fifth year of the Zheng Guang reign.

The rain that fell for the past few days cooled down the sweltering heat, but as the rain stopped, the scorching sun baked the earth, and the evaporation of water vapor caused the humidity in the air to soar, making it even more muggy than before.

Although Gao Huan had no expression and his emotions were hard to read, he was indeed troubled inside.

Although he had carefully placed the precious bows into the carriage when it rained, a third of the bows still got wet and were completely unusable.

During this perilous time of fleeing from war.

Bows, horses, and ring-pommel swords are weapons for self-defense and sources of their sense of security. However, there is nowhere to replace a damaged bow, which indirectly reduces their sense of security.

Hou Jing rode up to Gao Huan's side, extremely annoyed. "This damn weather, when will we ever get to the end of our journey?"

"What exactly does the imperial court intend to do with us?"

According to the original plan, Gao Huan and his group originally intended to go to Pingcheng to seek refuge with Gao Yu. After all, Gao Huan initially speculated that Gao Yu had followed the people of Wuchuan south to Pingcheng to find Grand Commander Li Chong.

But they arrived near Pingcheng.

After making some inquiries, they discovered that the situation was completely different from what they had imagined.

Yuan Shen succeeded Li Chong as Grand Commander, and Li Chong rushed back to Luoyang immediately after stepping down from his post.

In recent years, whenever there has been any disturbance, the court has sent Li Chong to lead troops to take the lead. The loyal and patriotic Duke of Chenliu is practically a brick in the Great Wei, moved wherever needed, protecting the Great Wei from wind and rain.

How could someone nearing seventy withstand such torment? Li Chong's ability to endure it for so long is a testament to his innate, incredibly resilient physique.

He was hoping to use his connections with Li Chong, but he couldn't even get a meeting with him.

That was fine then. Gao Huan originally planned to enter Pingcheng and then make further plans later.

But who can think of it.

They spent more than half a month rushing to the vicinity of Pingcheng, only to receive news that Grand Commander Yuan Shen had already led his troops north to quell the rebellion. To prevent the rebels from infiltrating the civilian population and causing chaos, the Pingcheng garrison commander left behind by Yuan Shen also adopted a "one-size-fits-all" approach, targeting anyone fleeing south from the north.

No one was allowed to enter Pingcheng. They were even afraid that if someone died outside the city, their body would be left unattended and cause a plague, so they didn't even allow anyone to stay outside Pingcheng.

Whether in Yunzhong, Pingcheng, or the counties along the way, the people of the six towns fleeing south were regarded as a raging flood, and their lives were completely disregarded.

Huge discontent was building up in the hearts of the people of the six towns.

If it weren't for the Six Garrisons protecting the people of Hengzhou and Shuozhou from the Rouran in the north, sheltering them from the wind and rain, how could the people of Hengzhou and Shuozhou live in peace?

Now that they are in trouble, and as fellow citizens of the Great Wei, it should be the time for these people to shelter the people of the Six Garrisons from the wind and rain, but instead they are abandoning their responsibilities.

The people of the six towns that Gao Huan encountered along the way were all complaining, and even harbored resentment towards the imperial court and the people of Heng and Shuo prefectures.

"It seems that the imperial court will not issue specific decrees until the main force fighting the rebels has determined the victor."

Gao Huan expressed his opinion, "Before this... we, the people of the six towns, could only wander in these mountains and fields like lost souls."

"When will that be? If the rebels aren't killed, we'll probably starve to death by now."

Hou Jing complained bitterly, "It would have been better if we had joined the rebellion back then! It would have been better than not even having food to eat now!"

Gao Huan and his men had only broken out of the encirclement because there was no food left in Loujiawu Fortress, and they had already been struggling to survive. Now they had no food left.

"Why don't we find a mountain and rob passing merchants?"

Upon hearing this, Gao Huan's eyes flickered, seemingly somewhat tempted; after all, he had to survive.

Just like in the beginning, when they couldn't survive, they had no choice but to rob the Rouran people.

It's all about looting, whether you're looting on the grasslands or in the Central Plains, the process is the same. Besides, right now, the troops in Heng and Shuo prefectures have all been transferred away by Yuan Shen, leaving only some prefectural and county soldiers to maintain order and security in the counties. These are peasant soldiers, and as long as they don't reveal their identities, these counties can't do anything to them.

"Look again, given their current circumstances, they still dare to do business in Heng and Shuo prefectures. They must have hired a large number of retainers and guards..."

Hou Jing leaned closer, looked around, and whispered sternly, "It's not good to rob traveling merchants; it's easy to lose your men. It's better to target those who are fleeing."

Pingcheng was, after all, the former capital of the Great Wei Dynasty, and it had a large number of granaries. The grain reserves were sufficient. It is unclear whether Yuan Shen gave the order before leaving or the garrison commander was afraid of something going wrong. While driving away the refugees from the six towns, they gave each person a ration of grain, enough for several days' use, saying that it was to help the people of the six towns continue to move south.

Hou Jing set his sights on the food rations of these 'refugees'.

In the current situation, someone will always starve to death, so why should it be me?

"We are all people from the six towns, and life is not easy for any of us..."

Gao Huan did not explicitly refuse, but changed the subject, saying, "Let's wait for news."

After another half day of travel, Cai Jun, who had led a group to the front to gather information, hurriedly returned. He walked to Gao Huan and the others and spoke.

"There's a situation ahead."

"what's the situation?"

Cai Jun lowered his voice and said, "I don't know if there were bandits here originally, or if the people of the six towns were bandits disguised as bandits, blocking the road and robbing people ahead."

Hou Jing, however, perked up and became extremely excited. "Great! It seems these bandits have already looted quite a bit of grain!"

Just when I'm feeling sleepy, someone hands me a pillow?
They were just worried about where to get food.

Lou Zhao also suggested, "It would be a good opportunity to kill these bandits and take over their stronghold. This would give us a place to stay and save us from having to run around everywhere."

They have their own troops and veteran soldiers like the Shooting Army who have been on the battlefield. Killing a group of mountain bandits would be a piece of cake for them.

Everyone looked at Gao Huan, waiting for him to finally make up his mind.

Gao Huan said, "No rush. Let's wait here for two days. Wan Jing, A Zhao... take some men to find out where the bandits are hiding. We'll make a plan after we've found out the situation."

Gao Huan ordered his men to rest on the spot. Other people kept their distance from them. Gao Huan's side had a large and powerful force. If they were to harbor evil intentions, how could ordinary people like them cope?
Wait patiently for two days.

Lou Zhao, Hou Jing, and Cai Jun had thoroughly explored the surrounding terrain and successfully located the bandits' hideout.

There was a cave on the mountain, and a simple village was built out of the cave.

There were about a hundred people, some of whom were bandits who had been there before, and some who were newcomers. They were originally military households from the Six Garrisons, and they had killed people and seen blood. It was a combination of two groups of people.

After staying for two days, Gao Huan continued to order the march forward.

The bandits had obviously spotted Gao Huan and his group from afar, and seeing that they were not to be trifled with, they kept their distance.

Gao Huan saw many people lingering there, and he recognized many of their faces; they were people who had passed by their resting place a couple of days ago.

Most of them were elderly people, young children, and frail adult men, but there were no young women.

These people all had lifeless eyes, many of them had bruises, and some even had wounds. They lay sprawled on the ground, as if they had completely lost hope.

Upon seeing Gao Huan and his group arrive, they all glanced at them and then reverted to their lifeless expressions.

Gao Huan is waiting.

at this time.

Two elderly men, trembling, stopped them.

"Could it be... could it be Huai Shuo Gao Lang?"

Gao Huan reined in his horse and said loudly, "I am Gao Huan. Is there something you need, old man?"

The old man immediately knelt on the ground, pleading, "Gao Lang, please save us!"

Gao Huan immediately dismounted and stepped forward to help the old man to his feet. "What has happened to you?"

"Gao Lang, we are all people from Huai Shuo, fleeing here. We never expected that a group of bandits would rob us here and steal all our food. I have been hungry for two days. I beg you, Gao Lang, to save us."

The old man wept uncontrollably, and his cries attracted everyone around him, who all knelt before Gao Huan.

"Gao Lang has a good reputation for virtue in Huai Shuo. In this time of crisis, I hope you will remember our hometown and save us."

"Gao Lang, please save us!"

"If Gao Lang refuses to save us, we are doomed!" "…………"

Gao Huan looked embarrassed. "Please rise, everyone."

He gritted his teeth and said, "We are all from the same hometown. When we encounter such a disaster, we should help each other. Don't panic, everyone. I will send someone to find out what's going on."

The old man immediately knelt down and kowtowed.

Gao Huan then summoned Hou Jing and the others.

"Ah Zhao, you take men to guard this place, while we take men up the mountain to kill the bandits."

"Brother-in-law, let me go."

"You stay here..."

Gao Huan left Lou Zhao and Duan Rong behind, while he, along with Hou Jing, Cai Rong, and others, led three hundred soldiers of the Archer Army, all clad in armor and with bows strung, and headed up the mountain.

The benefits of having Hou Jing and his men survey the terrain earlier have become apparent.

Gao Huan and his men deliberately circled around to reach the vicinity of the mountain stronghold from the side. It was clear that the bandits on the mountain had received advance notice and had the stronghold gates tightly closed, as if facing a formidable enemy.

There are no tricks involved.

"kill!"

Gao Huan shouted and led his men to charge forward. Soon, a few arrows came flying, but they posed no threat to Gao Huan and his men, who were clad in armor. Instead, Gao Huan easily approached the outer perimeter of the stronghold, stormed in, and quickly drove out all the bandits inside.

This gang of thieves was able to act arrogantly towards unarmed civilians.

However, when faced with the Shesheng Army, a group of brave soldiers who had actually been on the battlefield and were handpicked by Gao Huan, they couldn't make a dent in their numbers.

When Gao Huan entered the cave, he saw twenty or thirty young women, all barely clothed, huddled together, looking at them with fear and unease.

"First, find food and supplies."

"found it!"

Hou Jing shouted, and Gao Huan rushed over. Sure enough, there was a lot of grain and fodder there.

"Hahaha, we no longer need to worry about supplies!!"

Gao Huan pulled him aside and carefully instructed him, "Wan Jing... you're like this..."

Hou Jing was extremely surprised, "Why..."

"Do as I say."

Hou Jing sighed helplessly, then a lewd smile appeared on his face. "Go outside and wait for me for a moment. I'll be right out."

"I'm so suffocated!"

Gao Huan didn't say anything, but walked out of the cave. Many soldiers of the Shooting Army also excitedly rushed into the cave.

Gao Huan only heard the screams of women, followed by Hou Jing's roar.

"Damn it, what's the rush? Go to the back and line up. I'll leave as soon as I'm done."

"Everyone gets a share, what's the rush?"

After a while, Hou Jing walked out of the cave with a satisfied look on his face, and the fierceness on his face had lessened a bit.

They then called over a few more people to carry grain and fodder out of the cave, load it onto a cart, and then carry it down the mountain.

Gao Huan reappears.

It quickly attracted a large crowd of onlookers, whose eyes were sharp from hunger.
From afar, they could see horse-drawn carts carrying grain and fodder.

If it weren't for the armored soldiers with swords standing beside the carriage, they probably would have swarmed in and snatched it long ago.

Everyone looked at Gao Huan, but hesitated to speak.

Unable to resist in the end, the old man stepped forward.

however……

Before the old man could speak, Gao Huan interjected, "Gentlemen, the bandits are cunning. We risked our lives to snatch back this little bit of grain from them..."

“I cannot bear to see my fellow villagers starve to death in this desolate wilderness. I have decided to distribute this food to you all…”

"Gao...Gao Lang, is this really true?"

Another group of people gathered around.

"With so many people, this amount of food is probably not enough... Wan Jing, bring us our rations!"

Hou Jing was not happy about it and quickly refused.

"We should share the grain we fought so hard to retrieve with them, but we also have to share our own rations with them?"

"What we took back was their food supply."

"They're incompetent; they can't even hold onto their own food. What's stolen by bandits, can it even be considered theirs?"

Hou Jing glared angrily, his face full of menacing features, which frightened the crowd into retreating. "We took it back because of our own ability! How can we just hand it over to others?"

Gao Huan frowned and shouted sternly, "A true man should have principles of conduct and principles of refraining from action. If we do not return the grain rations, how are we any different from those bandits? Quickly distribute the grain to the people!"

"you……"

Hou Jing snorted coldly, "Let whoever wants to post it post it, I'm not posting it!"

After saying that, he stormed off.

Gao Huan also looked helpless, and then called over several soldiers, "Distribute the grain to everyone, and do not withhold any!"

"Gao Liang!!"

"I kowtow to thank you, sir, for saving my life!"

"I can never repay your kindness, sir. In my next life, I will serve you like a slave!"

"…………"

The people were deeply moved, even though the grain they received might only be enough to fill their stomachs.

But this was something Gao Huan and his men fought their way back at the cost of their lives!

Not to mention that Gao Huan's own food rations were also included.

What more bike do you want?

at night.

Gao Huan had already led his men to retreat to the mountain, where they seized the mountain stronghold as their base.

The cave was still piled with a large amount of grain and fodder. During the day, Gao Huan only transported a small portion of the grain from the mountain stronghold down the mountain.

Hou Jing smiled and came up behind Gao Huan, "He Liuhun, you've really earned a good reputation this time."

Gao Huan smiled faintly, "We're all from the same hometown, so it's only right that we help each other out, but it would damage Wan Jing's reputation."

Hou Jing waved his hand dismissively, "What use is reputation? If it weren't for you, I certainly wouldn't have given them a single grain of rice!"

"How can anyone in this world be so foolish? They don't even have enough food for themselves, yet they want to share it with others?"

(End of this chapter)