The sacrifice ended in a blaze of divine light.
The weather that had been gloomy suddenly turned sunny, and everyone's mood seemed to clear up along with the weather. Three sacrifices in one day. Such density of sacrifices has never happened before. The trouble that Mr. Guo and Zhang Ye had been worried about did not happen. Although there were Korean soldiers who came to disrupt the situation, they were quickly brought under control and had almost no impact. Overall, the sacrifice was very successful.
The magic soldiers did not return to the city. After they lined up outside the city, they drove directly into the Great Wall. The three-carriage carriage transporting the three animals was also pulled out at this time. Those who saw it realized that every person on the bus was a woman. Three lieutenant officers mounted their horses, escorted the cart, and followed the magic soldiers back to Daliang. The city lord's mansion was empty.
Mr. Guo asked Mr. Meng Yu whether the carriages given to the middle-ranking officials should be counted? Mr. Meng Yu said: "Why don't you give it away! How can you get help from a middle official by taking a ride?" Mr. Guo then stopped talking. It seems that Mr. Meng Yu often deals with middle-level officials and knows the situation very well, so I will leave it to Mr. Meng.
With the help of the diners, the city lord's mansion quickly restored its original layout and became habitable. Lord Xinling allowed Zheng Anping to live in the city lord's mansion as a sign of respect for their status.
Before the city gate closed, a team of convoys from the Great Wall left the city and brought in fishing nets.
The field hunt will begin tomorrow.
Lord Xinling did not embarrass the Han soldiers and asked whether Huayang Lieutenant or Han Wangsun, Huayang Prime Minister or Han Bushen. Lord Xinling asked to return the weapons to the Han soldiers and told them that Guanyi was just a group of villagers performing social sacrifices. , for no other reason. The Han soldiers had no choice but to retreat in succession.
It's night, the moonlight is bright and clear. The three slaughtered animals were piled outside the gate of the city lord's palace, waiting for the butcher to be invited to skin them. Now they can only watch.
After dinner, Lord Xinling invited the city lord and the heads of each family to come and introduced to them the significance of tomorrow's hunting: "A hunter must guard his land. Therefore, all those who can fight, whether old or weak, women or children, should fight to be the first." , Men should still be brave."
Zhang Ye introduced to everyone the process of tomorrow's hunting: men are responsible for driving away the prey, while women and children stay on the side, shouting loudly to cheer, and ensuring that the prey flees forward and does not fall outside the scope of the net and is captured by the net. .
Zheng Anping introduced Guan Wei and the gang leaders to everyone, assigned the teams of each family, and encouraged everyone to hunt animals bravely and make contributions tomorrow under the leadership of the gang leaders.
The next day, Xinlingjun's retainers began to install the mesh. The area between the two rivers was naturally divided into two parts by the abandoned city, and the disciples hung the nets on the city wall. The hunting was divided into two stages: in the morning, we mainly cleared the prey in the east part of the city, heading from east to west; in the afternoon, we cleared the west part of the city, chasing from west to east.
Although there are many disciples of Lord Xinling, they do not participate in the hunting. Some are guarding in the city, some are guarding on the river side, and of course, some disappear quietly...
All the people in the city, both men and women, over ten years old and under fifty years old, were called out, crossed the bridge, and lined up at the east end of the river. Mr. Xinling, the driver Mr. Xia Hou, Mr. Che Youcao and other three people led the cart across the bridge and placed the cart across the front of the queue. The three of them stood on the cart and watched everyone queuing up.
After the team was lined up, Brother Su asked Lord Xinling for instructions and waved his halberd. Xiao Si shouted: "First family, come on!" Then about ten people rushed out, and the others shouted loudly. It didn't take long for a rabbit to startle. Xiao Si shouted: "Separate the two sides! Separate the two sides!" The dozen or so people retreated to both sides.
Almost at the same time as the rabbit appeared, Mr. Xiahou shook the reins lightly, and the chariot rushed out quickly. At the sound of the bowstring, the rabbit rolled over and fell. Everyone cheered! The ten men rushed up, picked up the rabbit, and knocked it to death three times. They pulled out the arrow and handed it back to Lord Xinling. This team followed Lord Xinling's car and returned victoriously with the prey.
Then the second family, the third family... each family was sent out to drive away prey, and they could always drive away one or two rabbits or something. Lord Xinling would rush out at this time and often kill him with one arrow.
After each family had driven away and returned with the prey, Brother Su waved his halberd. Brother Quan and Xiaosi immediately lined up the two groups on the left and right. Under Brother Su's command, hundreds of people rushed out at once; Hundreds of men rushed out together, and the women and children behind them also followed behind and shouted forward under the command of Brother Quan and Xiaosi. At this moment, all the beasts in the grassland were frightened and fled in the grassland desperately. Lord Xinling attacked quickly, with the sound of his bow and strings, and wild beasts fell down after being struck by arrows; but this time, all the people in Guanyi were about to be killed. Only a few people stopped to harvest the prey, and the others drove them away mercilessly. Catching the prey and letting them gallop on the grassland. There were also constant screams from the women and children. It was a wild beast running towards them, and they were beaten and screamed. Everyone was immersed in this one-sided killing, unleashing their strength and physical strength to the fullest. The despair of the prey being driven to the sky with no way out and the ground without a way further aroused the passion of the hunters. They shouted louder and louder, Shouts of killing arrays. Until they reached the net, most of the prey were caught in the net, and a small number fell under the sticks of the hunters. Only a few could escape from this killing. Everyone enthusiastically killed all the prey in sight, and almost every man gained something.
This hunt lasted twenty miles on a ten-mile-wide pasture.
In the afternoon, the same hunt was repeated on the west side of the abandoned city. The harvest in the afternoon was not as great as that in the morning. Perhaps the hunting activity above was too loud, which frightened away some of the prey in the west. But no matter what, the rewards are huge. When night falls, the moon rises, and bonfires are lit, every family has more than one prey of their own.
When Lord Xinling entered Guancheng, the warriors had already gathered, put away the nets, and drove their chariots. They wanted to enter the Great Wall before Guancheng.
The warriors walked out of the city and passed by the bonfires raised around the family. Each bonfire triggered bursts of heartfelt cheers. The people in Guanyi experienced a hunt for the first time! They are celebrating their harvest!
Zheng Anping and five others also left with the team. Their mission is successfully completed, they will go home to celebrate the New Year, and will not return to perform their duties until the next full moon day.
Amid the cheers of the crowd, the four hundred troops entered the Great Wall and entered Putian Station.
The aroma of Guanyi’s barbecued game seems to be still coming...
Zheng Anping was busy until the next night before returning home. Zhang Lu asked with great interest: "Is it true that the sacrifice to Lord Xinling made the heavens open?"
Zheng Anping said: "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it. Although we are far apart, it's definitely good to see a crack in the clouds! Then it will clear up the day after tomorrow. What's the sign?"
Zhang Lu said: "It is a good sign that the sacrifice has been well received by heaven. However, the King of Wei is afraid that it will be difficult for him to recover!"
Zheng Anping asked: "What do you mean, sir?"
Zhang Lu said: "If the sacrifice of Lord Xinling is overwhelming, but the king does not respond, does the king have no virtue?" Zheng Anping thought about it, and it seemed that this was indeed the case. If Lord Xinling’s sacrifices were fulfilled, what about King Wei?
In the next few days, Zheng Anping went to Mr. Wei's residence every day on errands. Although he had nothing to do, he became familiar with the doorman and met many of Mr. Xinling's retainers. Then he also visited his old superiors and colleagues with whom he had friendships in the past. Although these old colleagues were very respectful in person, it could be seen that they were quite unconvinced in their hearts. In the neighboring village, pigs and sheep were being slaughtered, and Zheng Anping also went to buy some pigs and mutton. There were people making wine and vinegar in the village, so Zheng Anping also went to sell some wine and vinegar. There was a village festival to be held in the village, so Zheng Anping naturally prepared a sacrifice.
Although everything seems to be going on lively, the atmosphere this year is different from usual. This difference goes deep into the soul: he doesn't know where he belongs! In the past, he was a military soldier and a postman of Liang Xiyi. Both the military soldiers and Liang Xiyi had celebration activities. All they had to do was participate. At that time, he knew that he was a member of this group. But this year, things are different. He left the team of military soldiers, and Liang Xiyi had already stationed a new one. He didn't know which group he should belong to?
He told Zhang Lu his confusion. Zhang Lu said: "You are in charge of the order, and you should be happy with the people in charge. However, if you leave the management and return to Liang, it is like a tree leaving its roots."
What Zhang Lu said seemed to hit Zheng Anping's pain point. He suddenly felt attached to Guan Yi and wanted to go back as soon as possible!
The village chief came with the Wumon family. When Zheng Anping met Wu Wang and his family, they were indeed honest villagers and agreed to rehabilitate Wu Wang. Wu's father was overjoyed when he saw Zheng Anping agreed and said a lot of good things. Everyone listens to Mr. Zheng's orders and will never dare to disobey them! Zheng Anping just nodded in thanks.
A few days after the matter was settled, Wu Wang insisted on paying homage to Zheng Anping in the presence of the villagers. Zheng Anping also solemnly returned the gift, establishing the principal-subordinate relationship between Zheng Anping and Wu Wang. The head of the village officially changed Wu Wang's name to Zheng Anping's household name. Wuwang was about to come that day, but Zheng Anping stopped him. He asked Wuwang to spend the New Year with his family before moving here. The family left with many thanks.
Finally it’s New Year’s Eve. From morning on, every village is filled with sweetness and solemnity. Today we can't cook porridge, so every family uses a steamer to steam corn, which is the star of the dinner.
Zhang Lu is also steaming corn, and has already steamed three guis. There are washed clover leaves in the basket next to it. Zheng Anping said: "Sir, you have worked hard, but one is enough, why three!"
Zhang Lu said: "If you stay in Donghongli, you may never be able to see him again. This year I can get an extra gui, so that I can do my best." Zheng Anping felt a little sad, so he simply sat down and watched Zhang Lu steaming millet.
A portion of the meat and wine he bought has been prepared, and will be served to the elders when they honor the elderly at night.
Zheng Anping looked at it, and it was already dusk.
