The night wind is cold and cool, and the hazy moonlight shines on the mountains of Wangzhuangbao.
A brazier not far away was lit under the fort wall of Maoshang. Men wearing lion battalion uniforms and border army cotton armor sat around the brazier and talked.
Liu Chengzong took Li Bei, whose mouth was gagged and his hands were tied, as they walked through several piles of soldiers. When they heard what the men with different accents were saying, they stopped and listened.
"My name is Chen Qindai. I am the second commander of the Zuoshao Squadron. I have been a thief and a soldier. I used to be a subordinate of the fierce tiger general of Yulin Town."
His voice was rich, with a strange accent from other places, and he sounded like a Mongolian, but his Chinese was quite authentic, but it was not the language spoken here.
When Liu Chengzong looked at the commander's back, he was not as tall as he thought. He was not tall. He was wearing cotton clothes and armour, but he looked quite strong.
He touched Li Bei with his arm and whispered: "Your soldiers are as fierce as tiger subordinates. I don't know where the fierce general has gone."
Someone asked Chen Qindai: "You are Li Bei's soldier, how did you become a Zuo Shao?"
The left sentry was all Feng Yu's soldiers. Normally, the force composition should not include Li Bei's subordinates. Except for the first few border troops and Lao Huihui's thieves, they should be the descendants of Yanshui Pass.
Chen Qindai said: "I was originally a rear sentry, but Commander Feng gave me half a bowl of fried noodles on the battlefield, so I followed Commander Feng. The general asked me to introduce myself. I was born in Tumochuan. I have worked with cattle and forged iron. I can also Bone setting, if anyone’s bone is wrong, come to me to fix it.”
After saying this, Liu Chengzong understood that Feng Yu was a man who had suffered from hunger. Even if he went to the battlefield, he had to carry food with him.
"My father passed away early and I haven't seen him before. My mother is a Dazi and I am also a Dazi. The Chinese she taught me is different from Shanxi and Shaanxi. Who knows where Shandong is?"
This question is a bit advanced.
Several commanders looked at each other, unable to give a specific location.
Some say it's to the east.
Someone corrected me and said that the east side is called Liaodong, which produces Eastern captives.
Some people say that Liaodong is Shandong, but others don't believe it and call him nonsense.
Chen Qindai shook his head in disappointment: "Forget it, others said that the sentry commander knows, I will ask the sentry commander later."
Liu Chengzong said: "The Shandong Chief Executive has jurisdiction over the Liaodong Dusi."
Only then did all the commanders see him and hurriedly stood up to say hello.
"General."
"General."
Liu Chengzong took Li Bei and squeezed into the crowd and sat down. He said to Chen Qindai: "Go on, you are from Tumochuan. Why did you enter Han Dynasty and become a thief?"
Tumochuan is the territory of Anda Khan. During the Jiajing period, Zhao Quan, the leader of Yanbei of the White Lotus Sect, led his disciples into Tumochuan and recruited people from the border areas to farm. There were tens of thousands of Han people in Tumochuan.
They reclaimed fields and built houses named Bansheng, and helped Anda build Qingcheng, Mongolian-yinkukuhetun on the grassland, which became Hohhot for future generations.
"Uncle Han and Uncle Dazi were fighting. My mother took me to hide in the Han region. I was deceived by the generals in Datong and ran to Yulin to buy a few acres of wasteland. My mother fell ill due to the cold and borrowed money from Dahu Decoction, but the illness was not cured. The money couldn’t be paid, the land was gone, and I was ten years old.”
Chen Qindai's words reminded Liu Chengzong of Sixteen. It is difficult for a child to survive on his own. He asked: "Later you met the fierce general?"
"I had straw tags stuck in my neck four times, and each time I couldn't eat enough. When I finally wanted to leave, the blacksmith refused to let me go, so he asked me to hit him with an iron rod, steal his horse, use his knife, and rob him."
Chen Qindai said, pursed his lips, and his expression became complicated, not shy but embarrassed: "I robbed him for a few years, and then, later I robbed the fierce tiger general."
Several commanders shouted, "Have you ever been beaten?" someone asked.
"I haven't fought him. If I have, I won't serve as a soldier for him."
Liu Chengzong also clapped his hands and laughed. It turned out that Chen Qindai was beaten as fierce as a tiger and then became a soldier.
He waved to the side and asked: "What about you, tell me where you were a soldier in the past and how you became a soldier. You don't have to stand, just sit and chat."
With Chen Qindai in front, the commanders around the campfire were no longer embarrassed and introduced them one by one after hearing this.
Only this time, they no longer introduced each other, but introduced themselves to Liu Chengzong.
"The villain Li Qianlong served in the army in Yulin Town for two years. In the sixth year of Tianqi's reign, he returned home and became a postman. The general robbed the post station, saying that he could feed his parents, and now he is in charge of the second team of Tangqi."
"My subordinate Qi Yunxiang is the assassin of the Second Division of Zuoshao in Guyuan Camp. The court does not pay me any salary, so I did not starve to death. But my mother went blind from hunger and hanged herself. My mother-in-law was so hungry that she took her baby and remarried. I know that the court has no money. "
When Qi Yunxiang talked about this, he looked at Li Bei with a frightening look: "But there is no one in my family, so why should I be afraid... Now that I have command of Wu Shi of the outpost and rear team, when will the general attack Guyuan, I will give him Please come out with my mother’s remains, get a coffin and put them down.”
"It's my turn, my subordinate Jin Pu, the right sentry and the left commander San Shi. In the past, I was the general's servant in Yulin Town. I was the one who sent the general's body back to his hometown. After he sent it back for burial, I didn't know where to go. He left it in Yulin." I don’t have enough to eat, and I really don’t want to serve as a soldier for the imperial court.”
Jin Pu loved to laugh, but this time his smile was very bitter. He looked at Liu Chengzong cautiously and said: "General, it's not that we can't defeat you. We have been training to fight with half full meals all day long, but when we send troops, we have to steal the people's food first. "
When Liu Chengzong nodded without showing an angry look, he dared to continue: "Later, I walked south and met General Yang Bai of Guyuan, so I surrendered to the general again. I felt that this was my fate, and God would not let me be the general. Submissive people.”
Liu Chengzong smiled and said: "This is also fate."
I originally let you go, but you buried the general yourself and came back again.
The commander-in-chief, who was the last to speak, had a hint of guilt in his words: "My name is Zheng Hu. I am a soldier of General Li. I am an elite soldier. Two hundred cavalrymen drove Lao Huihui out of Huanglong Mountain."
Liu Chengzong had been observing Li Bei. The previous people, no matter Li Qianlong, Qi Yunxiang or Jin Pu, Li Bei's eyes showed sympathy and sadness. Until Zheng Hu spoke, Li Bei's eyes were filled with anger. He struggled to stand up, but was stopped by the servant behind him. Pressed.
Zheng Hu was also very scared when he saw him like this, but after all, the moment passed, and he still said: "General Li treats us well. He eats whatever we eat, and eats as much as we eat. Sometimes there is less food, and a chicken If it's not enough for the team, he won't eat it and will give it to the best-trained or the weakest soldiers."
"But General, you are not full. We would rather you eat more. If you are full, eat one bowl and pour two bowls, so that we can be full."
Zheng Hu sighed. He seemed to have thousands of words in his heart, but he couldn't say anything: "I went back to my hometown after a few days of full meals. I brought back so many dead horses and let the chiefs of Yulin snatch them away. I handed over all the spoils of war." He said that he would be given it; he also said that the pay for the head he captured would be given to him later, but none of it was given, so he was given some official positions, which are not enough for the brothers to eat."
"I know the general is good. If the general ran away, I would run too. But the general did not run out and let the horse handler run away by himself. What should we do? Death is easy. Our brothers have no weapons and armor, and we are all ready to fight when the thieves come with their swords. , let’s fight.”
After Zheng Hu said this, he couldn't talk any more. He changed his sitting position. The tall and thick man buried his head in his knees. Then he raised his head and shouted to Li Bei with tears on his face and a cry: "But they are here with porridge. !ah!"
Li Bei's struggle stopped.
It was as if Zheng Hu's howling had ripped away his spine.
At first, he didn't know who was aroused by his crying, but Liu Chengzong heard someone sobbing softly by the bonfire on the other side of him.
Later, the crying became more and more frequent.
Hunger seems to have become a common painful memory for the border troops in Yulin and Guyuan towns.
"You General Li did nothing wrong. He did everything right. Don't blame him; he won't blame you either."
Liu Chengzong patted Li Bei, stepped over the brazier to comfort Zheng Hu, and then said to a few people: "My name is Liu Chengzong. You all know it, but you don't know that I was a scholar in the first year of Tianqi. How old was I then? I am from Yan'an Prefecture. The youngest scholar, a child prodigy.”
"I taught Confucianism in my childhood, worked as a classics historian in Mizhi, and later worked as a tax collector in Yan'an Prefecture. I couldn't collect taxes and was imprisoned. The people were poor. Who is to blame? I couldn't take the imperial examination. My brother and I I went to take the martial arts exam, but was kicked out halfway and ran to Yulin Town to become a soldier."
"From the time I was a soldier until I returned home, I received no military pay and was very hungry, but I never thought about rebelling. In the end, there was no food in the fort, so I was released. After I was released, I went home. There was no room for me to be hungry at home. , Our whole family has eaten Lumi from the imperial court, and we can’t rebel against anyone who rebels, right?”
"The village in the north was attacked by thieves. Thousands of Yan'an guards went to the mountains to extort food. They asked for 1,500 meals of dry food and gave it to him. He took our food and ran to the north, asking the thieves to cut off the people's heads and take them back. In exchange for merit."
"Hey, don't cry. Have you ever fought against a tiger general who robbed Wangzhuang?"
Hearing Liu Chengzong's question, Zheng Hu stopped crying and was still out of breath. He nodded: "Gan Quan, we chased him for one hundred and seventy miles."
"You killed the wrong person. The tiger general was me. Hungry people rushed into my mountain and destroyed our fields. The prisoner said that there was a very wealthy king's village over there. At that time, I still didn't want to rebel. I just wanted to grab some food. Let the tribe live, but guess what?"
Liu Chengzong looked around, and even Li Bei looked at him unconsciously. When he saw him looking at him, he glanced aside.
Zheng Hu and Li Bei were both stupid. Did they kill the wrong person?
Liu Chengzong laughed and said to the people around him: "The villages along the way are extremely dilapidated. The villages in Yan'an Prefecture where there are still people living are either close to streams or rivers. Even so, they can only make ends meet."
"That Wangzhuang is different. I have never seen such fertile fields in the past few days. I always thought that the Xichuan River had stopped flowing. Only then did I realize that it was Wangzhuang who built a dam and blocked the river water. Wangzhuang was broken. You guys Do you know how much food there is?"
Liu Chengzong raised a finger and asked people to guess.
Chen Qindai guessed a hundred stones, but Qi Yunxiang laughed at him: "At least one thousand stones!"
"Ten thousand stones!"
Liu Chengzong said: "The grain has turned into wine in the mountain cellar, and the whole village is filled with the aroma of rotten grain. It's not that there is no grain in northern Shaanxi, the grain is there. Just that one Wangzhuang can feed a thousand frontier troops for a year. If this is a natural disaster, why is it not a man-made disaster?”
The soldiers sitting around several braziers also noticed Liu Chengzong's presence. They all sat down outside and listened to what Liu Chengzong said.
"Is Shaanxi suffering from drought for the first time? In the Hongwu year, the Yellow River was cut off, and it was possible to walk from the river bank to the other side; in the fifth year of Chenghua, the land was thousands of miles away, and the court waived the summer tax of 450,000 shi; from Chenghua to Hongzhi, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Shandong and Northeast Zhili suffered from drought for seventeen consecutive years, with severe drought in the Zhengde year, severe drought in the Jiajing year, and severe drought in the Wanli year.”
"Only this time, the imperial court is not exempting taxes. It is increasing taxes. Doesn't the imperial court know what has become of the people? The imperial court knows."
"General Li said that he recommended me as General Manager Qian, and it has been spread among all the posts, right?"
Liu Chengzong looked around at everyone, Chen Qindai, Qi Yunxiang and others nodded. In fact, people were still looking forward to it.
If he becomes President Qian, the people below him will also get official positions.
But then Liu Chengzong poured cold water on him: "If I become President Qian, or if someone in the camp kills me, give my head to the court and replace it with President Qian. The court is already like this. The officials are full, you guys Can you eat enough?"
Zheng Hu took the lead and said: "If you don't have enough to eat, even General Li won't have enough to eat!"
Qi Yunxiang also said: "Whoever is willing to recruit you can recruit him. I will not recruit him. If the general does not recruit him, I will follow the general. If the general recruits him, I will go elsewhere. I will not have enough to eat with the court!"
Then more commanders echoed, and finally they shook their fists and shouted: "No peace! No peace!"
"It's okay not to recruit people!"
At this time, Liu Chengzong could no longer sit and talk to everyone. Dozens of commanders had gathered around him, and more commanders were gathering here.
He stood up and raised his hands to stop the crowd from shouting, and said: "You are the commander. This position is held by one officer in each team in the army. You are one of every ten. What you do is to monitor the morale, unite the soldiers' friendship, and understand the internal affairs of the army." Situation, if anyone can read, please raise your hand and let me see.”
This is really interesting.
People looked at each other, no one raised their hands.
Qi Yunxiang said: "General, how does it count as literacy? I know a few words, but I can't write much, does it count?"
There were echoes all around, and people generally had this level of education.
When it comes to literacy, I know a few words, but I can't write a few words. After all, I used to be a big-headed soldier, so there's nothing I can do about it.
Liu Chengzong waved his hand and said: "It doesn't matter. When those students from Zhuantianmao come back, you will learn first. From now on, you will come to see me once a month. In addition to training, your work also has to observe the combat auxiliary troops, It’s nothing like the captain’s thoughts.”
"When you encounter an auxiliary soldier who is being bullied or a commander who is doing something unfair, you have to speak up for others. You are my mouth, eyes and hands in the camp. You have to tell the auxiliary soldiers why they are not being recruited. , Recruitment is good for a few people, but it is a betrayal of everyone."
All the commanders in charge agreed in unison, but Liu Chengzong was helpless at this scene.
The construction of the Lion Battalion has a long way to go. There are no senior officers and the grassroots officers have no education level. Whether it is recording orders or completing missions, it will be greatly compromised.
The rice can only be eaten one bite at a time.
At this moment, Li Bei struggled again. Liu Chengzong really didn't know what he had to struggle for, so he walked over and loosened his gagged mouth and asked, "General Li, what do you want to say?"
But in fact, Li Bei struggled and struggled. He never expected Liu Chengzong to let go. He was stunned for a moment and then said: "You are all soldiers of the imperial court. You have been loyal for generations. Rebellion will only lead to more people dying!"
"Hey, General Li, you should tell Emperor Chongzhen."
Li Bei was stunned: "What are you telling the emperor? I'm talking about you."
Liu Chengzong looked directly into Li Bei's eyes: "Ask him to go to the Ancestral Temple to ask his ancestors and ask Emperor Taizu why the people of the Yuan Dynasty rebelled!"
