"Brother, you died so miserably." A rhythmic cry echoed on the deserted battlefield.
Dead bodies lay scattered across the wilderness. A young soldier wearing a straight-lined military uniform and a helmet crookedly climbed over the corpses. Every time he passed a corpse, he stopped, howled a few times, and groped around the corpse.
This was another conflict between Zhao and Daxia. The scale was not large. Both sides dispatched thousands of people, but hundreds of people died here.
The young man's name was Wu Gen, and he was a servant of the Xiang Army in Dingyuan City.
Servants have long existed in the Zhao army. They have to serve the regular soldiers on weekdays, transport baggage and serve as death squads in wartime. Therefore, when there is a war, the ones who die fastest and most often are the servants.
The young man did not volunteer to join the army, but lived in a place called Dafeng Village since he was a child. Dafeng Village is a mountain stronghold where a group of bandits gather to rob houses and block roads and steal property. The boy was still in his infancy, and he was left in front of the village gate by someone unknown.
When he was picked up, there was nothing else except a jade pendant hanging around his neck. Although all the people in Dafeng Village were bandits, when such a chubby, jade-like man fell in front of them, they couldn't bear to ignore him and be snatched away by the tigers and leopards in the mountains.
So, someone in the village was kind-hearted and brought him back and gave him to the family members in the village to take care of him. I ate a few bites at this house and stayed at that house for a few nights, but I grew up slowly.
Because he had nowhere to come from, people in the village gave him the nickname Shi Zhuo'er. As he got older, the child turned out to be pretty and smart, so some knowledgeable people in the village gave him the name Wu Gen.
But soon, the people in the village discovered that this seemingly harmless young man was actually full of evil, capable of beating sap, taking drugs, stealing chickens and dogs, and tearing down tiles and windows.
It's no wonder that he is surrounded by a bunch of murderous talents. The principle that those who are close to Mo will become evil also applies to Wu Gen.
Every time they saw Wu Gen passing by with that innocent face, the people in the village looked happy. There will eventually be a successor to Dafeng Village. Such a bad guy is born to be a villain.
As the second generation bandit, Wu Gen originally thought that in a few years, he would be a helmsman, a military advisor, and one of the four pillars of the village. He would not have to go out to fight for his life, and his future would be bright.
However, when he was fourteen years old, this dream was shattered, and the officers and soldiers of Dingyuan City came.
An attack was like a ravage, the stronghold was leveled, some were killed, some were captured, and the bandits scattered like birds and beasts.
As for Wu Gen, he was caught by the army.
This was actually due to his greed. Taking advantage of the chaos, he ran to the public treasury of the village to plunder, and obtained a lot of property. In the end, he was wrapped in a bundle that was taller than himself.
Naturally, he couldn't move quickly with so many things. Seeing the officers and soldiers arriving here, he was a little quick-witted and hid in a muddy puddle behind the village, leaving only a reed tube outside to breathe.
Unfortunately, this clumsy trick was discovered by an army commander named Zhang Yuan. After all, the huge burden was very conspicuous even in the muddy water. An arrow was shot, and Wu Gen had to walk out of the mud in embarrassment.
Zhang Yuan saw that he was still a baby, so he couldn't be cruel to him, so he captured him and made him his servant.
In today's battle with Daxia, most of the people who died were from Zhao.
This is not surprising. Who makes Daxia's soldiers brave? It is no wonder that it is known as a great country. Zhao was weak and mostly on the defensive. He was attacked hastily and many soldiers died.
Wu Gen had already escaped. Although he was a servant, Zhang Yuan took great care of him considering his young age, and escaped back with his neck on horseback.
Both sides stopped their troops, and the corpses of the regular soldiers were buried in the ground, while the servant soldiers were abandoned, just in case Daxia Kingdom killed them again.
After returning to the camp, Wu Gen asked Zhang Yuan for leave, saying that he was too frightened and wanted to rest early. After he agreed, he turned around and returned to the battlefield to pick up the belongings of the dead.
The servants had no pay, only five pounds of grain per month. The belongings Wu Gen brought from the village were confiscated, and now he is hanging a pot to beat the bell, and is very poor.
These servants usually did not dare to hide their personal belongings in the camp, and they only carried their belongings with them, so Wu Gen had the idea of taking advantage of others.
After touching the corpses one after another, Wu Gen gradually found more coins and broken silver in the bag he was carrying on his back, and he accepted anything that looked valuable.
However, Wu Gen was also a moral person. Whenever a corpse found money or belongings, he would insert three branches and place three stones next to it as a sacrifice. Then sprinkled a handful of soil and kept chanting, "I will be at peace in the earth, and I will not miss the world of the sun."
After searching for a long time, Wu Gen felt a little discouraged when he looked at the bag that was only half filled with things.
Suddenly, Wu Gen's eyes lit up. There was a person lying in front of him. Judging from his exposed gray beard, he should be a veteran who had been in the army for many years. This kind of person has been in the army for many years and has become a soldier. He must have a lot of savings.
Wu Gen crawled to his side while lying down. As usual, Wu Gen howled a few times, turned the body over, then raised and lowered his hands towards it, and pinched it little by little along the outer clothing.
The corpse's face was covered in blood and its appearance could not be clearly seen. I touched it all the way to my waist, but still found nothing.
"Poor guy, you don't have any money on your body, and you won't have any money to spend even if you go to the underworld." Wu Gen cursed and put his hand under his crotch to see if he had caught anything. Some people in the military like to sew pockets on their underwear and hide valuables inside.
"Huh?" Wu Gen's body stiffened and his hands stopped. The corpse was still warm.
"What a fool, competing with Mr. Mo for a living." The corpse sat up, blowing his beard and yelling.
"Ah, it's a fake corpse." Frightened, Wu Gen screamed, took off the iron helmet on his head, rounded it up and hit the corpse's face.
It's not surprising that he was surprised. In fact, the guy with his face covered in blood sat up suddenly. The two of them were facing each other, with only less than a foot of distance between them.
"You bastard, you are so cruel, you actually kill people and take wealth." The corpse fell down in pain, covered its face and rolled on the ground.
He casually grabbed the knife on the ground next to him and pointed it at the corpse that was still screaming in pain. Wu Gen finally understood that the man was not dead and asked tentatively: "Is it still positive, or..." Could it be This man had a great destiny, passed out, got a breath of his own yang energy, and came back to life.
The corpse wiped his face and wiped away the blood stains on his face, "What a fart, I am in the same business as you. At first, I thought that the people who came here were from the Great Xia Kingdom, which made me pretend to be dead for a long time. The atmosphere was also... Don’t dare to come out.”
Rubbing his somewhat black eyes, he said angrily: "My grandson, you were so ruthless. You almost died here. No, you have to pay for my medical expenses and give me half of the contents in your pocket."
Wu Gen looked at the other party with a smile, and the knife in his hand was curled up, "It has been natural since ancient times for me to beat my son, and I still want to ask for money. If you dare to be nagging, even if you are dead, I will get rid of this rebellious son like you." The knife in his hand was placed on the opponent's neck.
Turning his head and glancing at the shimmering blade, the man shrank back, secretly thinking that he had met a ruthless person, and a smile as bright as the sun broke out on his face, "This elder brother, no, uncle, is being abrupt, blind and blind." Sir. When I think about it carefully, this injury was caused by a toad falling from the sky, and it has nothing to do with you."
"It really doesn't matter."
"Absolutely true."
Seeing that the misunderstanding was resolved, the two sat down and started chatting with each other.
After some conversation, Wu Gen found out that this old boy was also a servant of Zhao State, his surname was Mo Mingxin, and he had been in the army for twenty years. Today, I had the same thought as myself, thinking about touching dead people's money and things.
People of the same ideals share similar odors.
Soon, the two of them were talking and laughing, as if they had been old friends for many years. After discussing for a long time, we finally agreed that each would find his own, and how much he could get would depend on his ability.
The two slowly stood up and walked in opposite directions. After taking a few steps, they suddenly turned around and the knives in their hands collided heavily, causing sparks to fly.
"Old fox."
"Wolf cub."
Seeing that he was unable to assassinate his opponent, Mo Xin took a few steps back and threw away the knife in his hand, "Brother, we are both seeking money today. We don't have to fight for life and death. Why don't we just let it go and focus on making money."
"Yes." Wu Gen didn't want to fight with anyone. He just searched for this little money today, and it wouldn't be good to risk his life.
The two of them looked over the battlefield and hurried back to the camp under the cover of night.
The Xiangjun camp in Dingyuan City is located outside the city. Although Wu Gen has been here for a while, he has never entered Dingyuan City once.
The people of Zhao are divided into three classes, according to the three-grade scale, namely nobles, middle-class people, and common people. Only middle-class people and above can buy property and settle down in the city.
The same is true in the army. Only those with middle-level qualifications and above can serve as officers, while ordinary people can only become corps commanders in their lifetime.
Wu Gen and Lao Mo did not dare to enter through the main entrance, so they found a dog hole and crawled in. When they were about to part, the two of them looked at each other with sympathy and spoke sincerely, as if they regretted meeting each other so late and had known each other for a long time.
From then on, the two of them hung out together whenever they had free time.
Mo Xin has been in the army for a long time and has quite a lot of experience. He is very knowledgeable in all kinds of crooked ways, which makes Wu Gen admire him. Especially when he learned that the other party had participated in more than fifty battles and was unscathed, Wu Gen even regarded him as a god.
You must know that Dingyuan City is located on the border of the Zhao Kingdom, and there are frequent conflicts with the Daxia Border Army. On weekdays, it also has to take on the responsibilities of suppressing bandits, arresting theft, and protecting the territory and the people. Mo Xin is definitely talented in being able to return safely every time. Distinctiveness.
In the camp, the life of the servants was very difficult. Not only did they have no salary, they often did not have enough to eat. Even five pounds of millet per month is often withheld.
A half-grown boy like Wu Gen is often so hungry that his eyes turn green just when he can eat.
On this day, unbearable from hunger, Wu Gen secretly found the person in charge of the military kitchen, bought half a chicken at a high price, hid in the camp and ate it.
This is also something that everyone in the army knows very well, and the commanders and commanders of the army turn a blind eye to this. After all, if the boss of the house makes money, he will be filial to him.
It's just that the owner is quite evil, and the same thing is more than twice as expensive as outside.
While I was enjoying my meal, I heard footsteps behind me. Wu Gen turned around and saw that it was the treasurer of the camp.
This man's surname was Zhou, who was in charge of the public treasury in the camp. He was quite greedy. When the soldiers' millet passed through his hands, he would always deduct some of it for various reasons. I grew a bunch of hair, so I got the nickname "Hunter".
"Okay, I have a lot of money, I can even buy chickens." Zhou Yi Maopi smiled, twirling the black hair on his face.
Wu Gen quickly stood up. Although this man did not have a high official position, he was a good person.
According to the laws of the State of Zhao, when common people see a stranger, they must stand respectfully. If they do not do so, they will be beaten, or in more serious cases, they will be sent to the government to be punished for the crime of disrespect. Moreover, nobles, middle-class people, etc. who beat common people to death can pay for their crimes with property. And if a commoner hurts a noble, at least it will cost his life, or at worst, the three clans will be killed.
"Secretary Zhou, please use it." Wu Gen rubbed the oil on his clothes and handed the chicken with only the head left over.
Bang, Zhou Mao reached out and knocked the chicken out of Wu Gen's hand, "You are a little servant, how can you have enough money to buy a chicken? Did you steal it?"
Wu Gen glanced at the chicken on the ground with a frown and said, "Secretary Zhou, you have wronged me. I really bought it with the kitchen."
"Shit, even I wouldn't eat this chicken on weekdays. Where did you get the money? Let's go and check it in your camp account. No wonder there's been a lot of money missing from the treasury in the past two days." As he said this, he couldn't help but say something. Followed Wu Gen to the tent.
After arriving at the tent and driving out the people in the tent, Zhou Yi Mao rummaged around on Wu Gen's bed.
Wu Gen's heart was in his throat, and he felt regretful. He should have known better not to hide the money in the account.
After searching for a long time, Zhou Yimao didn't find anything valuable. Suspiciously, he threw the quilt to the ground, and there were a few crisp banging sounds.
"Huh?" Zhou Yimao picked up the quilt and tore it open. Reed flowers flew everywhere, and more than twenty copper coins fell out of the quilt.
Wu Gen quickly said, "Treasurer Zhou, there are all silver coins in the public treasury. These are really the copper coins I saved."
Zhou Zhou Mao frowned and shouted loudly, "How dare you, a servant with no pay, actually has money hidden in your pocket? You must have come from a wrong way and it will be confiscated." Without any explanation, he stuffed the copper coins into his sleeves.
Wu Gen still wanted to argue, but Zhou Mao's eyes widened and he said, "If you continue to be verbose, military law will take care of you." After that, he walked away.
Looking at the mess on the ground with a mournful face, Wu Gen wanted to cry but had no tears. The money he had worked so hard to collect from the dead was given to Zhou Mao in vain.
Walking out of the tent listlessly, Wu Gen ran to the horse pen and lay down.
While he was depressed, Mo Xin's voice came, "Shi Zhuo'er, my money is gone, so I came here to talk to Ma Er about my heart."
Looking up, Mo Xin was holding a chicken leg dangling in front of his eyes. Wu Gen snatched it and stuffed it in his mouth, "Old Mo, where did you get so much money? You usually have a lot of good food and drink."
Mo Xin bared his big yellow teeth and smiled, "The mountain man has his own clever plan."
"Tell me, if you don't tell me, I will report it to Zhou Mao today."
"You kid, I kindly gave you a chicken, but you repaid me with kindness."
"I don't care, I have no money anyway, so I have to find someone to support me."
"Yes, let me tell you, but God knows that you know it and I know it. If it is leaked out, everyone will lose their head."
Mo Xin knelt down and told Wu Gen his secret.
It turns out that the old boy raised two mice, one male and one female. After training, these two mice will steal things. Normally, Mo Xin would let the male rat out, and when he stole something, the male rat would follow the scent and return to the female rat. Even the money lost in the warehouse was done by Mo Xin.
Wu Gen grabbed Mo Xin's collar and said, "Good boy, I'm the one to take the blame for the good things you did. That week, Zhou Mao kept saying that I stole money, but it turned out to be you."
"Don't worry, since I told you, if my brother has something to eat from now on, you will be indispensable." Mo Xin said slowly without panicking.
"That's more or less the same. I was born a bandit, and today I was robbed by Zhou Mao. Tell me, I'm the one who will disgrace my ancestor. I hate gangsters and gangsters the most in my life. If I don't deal with him, I won't be able to calm down."
Wu Gen let go of Mo Xin and rolled his eyes, "By the way, yes, Lao Mo, there are marks on the silver."
"Yes, these treasury silvers are all marked, which are completely different from those circulating outside."
"Okay, Lao Mo, let me play with the mouse for two days."
"What are you going to do? I can tell you that although the money is good, you can't steal too much. If you make a small fuss, you won't attract attention. If it gets bigger, you and I won't be able to bear the strict investigation from the top."
"Don't worry, nothing will happen. I will make sure that Zhou Mao eats the taro and chokes him to death." Wu Gen's delicate face was a little ferocious, and his tongue gently licked his teeth.
Mo Xin shivered inexplicably and moved farther away from Wu Gen.
