From the moment he entered the village, Xiaoman's eyes drifted toward the sergeant.
It's just that he was wearing patchwork linen clothes, he was not very old, and he came with Jiang Zhi, so he was not scolded by anyone. He asked after asking if he was delivering medicine and food and put him in.
Jiang Zhi went to the doctor Xu Dong and asked Xiaoman to follow the handyman to send the rabbit fungus to the back kitchen of the medical shed to see if they would accept it. If not, he would think of a solution.
Who knew that Xiao Man would be stared at before he even walked over.
Outside the medical shed, some wounded soldiers who were gradually recovering from their injuries were bored and gathered together to pass the time by bragging.
Seeing two villagers carrying things on their backs, I naturally became energetic.
When Jiang Zhigang went to the pharmacy, he immediately said: "Hey! Boy, what's in that basket of yours? Bring it over and show it to your brothers!"
Someone waved to Xiaoman.
Xiaoman was so eager that he trotted over and said, "Brother Bing! I have a live rabbit here!"
"Rabbit! Look! Look!"
As soon as they heard that there was a live rabbit, several wounded soldiers came around and opened Xiaoman's backpack with all their hands.
The "quick hands and eight feet" elsewhere are adjectives, but here the "quick hands and eight feet" become a quantifier.
Several wounded soldiers either had their arms hanging or were lame, and some were missing an arm. None of them were intact.
Xiaoman didn't let the military masters do anything, and took out the contents of the backpack himself.
Seeing several big rabbits inside, as well as smoked and dried pheasants and hares, several people suddenly became happy.
"Hey! After half a month in this medical shack, my mouth has lost the smell of birds. Why don't we get together and buy these things, and we can have a meal." One of the big men suggested.
Someone said: "Xiangtou, this is sent to the medical shed. Zhang Juntou uses it from the public account, so why do you have to pay for it yourself!"
The man known as Xiangtou spat: "Look, everyone needs to eat this little meat, which is not even enough to stuff between the teeth. He drinks medicine every day and only has a meager meal. The money must have been swallowed by someone named Zhang."
Before others could agree, someone else said: "Everyone, let's think about what's going to happen in the future. We are injured and it's hard to say whether we can return to the camp. It would be great if we have medicine. You still want to be rewarded for your meritorious service." .”
"How can we not perform meritorious service? Look at how Zhang Juntou dares to come and give us some humiliation.
We brothers have worked hard to fill the Yuzhou Prefecture and will return to the camp in the future. We must find a leader to act as a leader. "
"I'm useless. I just want to keep myself healthy, go home, plant a few acres of land, marry a wife and have a few babies. When it's hot, someone will fan me when I'm lying on the couch, and when it's cold, someone will warm my feet! Hey, I can do that on this day. Get over it!"
"Yes, King Zhou said that in the future, you only need to pay 10% of the grain tax, and the rest of the harvest will be yours. Life will be much better than now!"
In front of Xiao Man, several people talked unscrupulously about how they killed people and made meritorious deeds, talked about their future plans, and imagined the future. Xiao Man looked admiringly and didn't even blink when they heard this.
After saying a few words, he still thought of eating meat, so Xiang Junhan said to Xiao Man: "Little brother, how do you sell these rabbits, pheasants, and fungus? We take care of them all?"
Xiao Man came to his senses.
These people can kill corrupt officials and are full of courage. You must make good friends with them.
"I admire you guys for your hard work when you are injured. These things... I will sell them to you cheaply to replenish your health!"
When the soldiers saw that Xiao Man was still selling this precious food at such a low price at such a young age, they were startled and then burst into laughter.
Their food and accommodation were taken care of by the medical shack, and they never owed military pay. They just complained when they were bored.
Knowing that this child is a hot-blooded person, if he decides to sell it at a low price, he will definitely not feel comfortable when he goes back.
Besides, a few of them had to save money for the medical shed and eat for free. They deserved the bad name of taking advantage of others. It was the man named Zhang who took advantage.
Xiang Junhan said directly: "Don't sell it cheaply, let's do this! Your family must be in need of food. We can also give food. Just go to the stove and get it for you. Those cooks don't dare to disobey."
Having said this, Xiao Man naturally agreed, and soon a cook came over to cut the rabbit into pieces of meat, and added pheasants to start a small stove for those people.
Several people also paid to have the kitchen prepare grain and some salt, oil and seasonings.
The cook in the back kitchen had obviously received orders from Zhang Juntou. He knew that these wounded soldiers who had just come off the battlefield were the most agitated, so he did not refute. He complied with the requests one by one, and then went to find someone to report.
Xiaoman was overjoyed: "Brothers, you heroes in the army are honest and upright when you speak. I really admire you!"
He was happy to be able to sell rabbits, and he was even happier to be close to these idols.
The burning heat in his eyes made the wounded soldier feel like he was in the bright sun, making several grown men feel embarrassed.
However, this kind of heartfelt admiration makes these grown men elated. Now is the time when they are injured and depressed. Who would reject the enthusiasm of a little fanboy at the lowest point in life?
"Come on, little brother, sit down and chat. What's your name? How old are you? Where do you live? You're from Xujia Village! Then why didn't you run away with the villagers..."
Several people gathered around Xiaoman and started asking questions.
Xiaoman talked about everything he could about his family, and he said it pitifully.
I have elderly grandparents, an elder brother who is paralyzed in bed, and a 3-year-old niece. If the family fled the famine, they would die on the road, so I hid in the mountains with my neighbors to survive.
Finally, he also talked about the mountain fire and Uncle Zhao who was hacked to death. It was also dangerous to escape to the mountains.
This encounter made several grown men sympathize with each other and marveled: "It's right for you to stay here and not run around in this situation. The road is not easy to walk on.
But you can survive the fire in the dark night, and you can still find food in the barren mountains. You are really lucky! "
Xiang Junhan said: "The mountain-burners you mentioned should be the guards who escaped from nearby counties.
They usually oppressed the people, but when something happened, they would wrap up the refugees and break into several towns. They would first use the refugees to call the door, and then the defeated soldiers would hide inside and enter the town, waiting for opportunities to plunder and kill. "
He was in the military, so he naturally knew what happened during that time.
Just as Jiang Zhi thought, the defeated troops were indeed set on fire and killed, but the target was not Yuzhou Prefecture, which was hundreds of miles away, but several neighboring towns.
Xiaoman's face turned pale when he heard this: "What's wrong with the people in those towns?"
"What else can we do? Not only did they take away the gold and silver, but they also took away many young girls and young wives. The defeated troops also occupied the top of the mountain and became bandits.
But don't worry, there are medical sheds set up along the way now to protect the official road, and there will be a government-run post station here in the future. "Someone patiently explained and even revealed some inside information.
Xiaoman looked surprised: "It turns out that the medical shed is an inn!"
Now the bandits are fleeing in all directions, and the new army is fighting with the imperial court at the front. They are exhausted for a while and have no manpower and material resources to track them down.
In order to prevent further chaos due to fires in the rear, ensuring smooth flow of every official road is a top priority, so medical sheds will be built along the way.
Some lightly wounded soldiers and garrison soldiers can serve as military depots, and can also allow refugees who are running around blindly to stay and then return home voluntarily.
Of course, if something happens to a medical shack, military camps from nearby counties will naturally be dispatched to suppress the mountain, which really kills several birds with one stone.
