The sky was bright, but the rain was getting heavier. Chang Yu led 3,000 soldiers and finally arrived at the foot of the Prince Mountain that Orion mentioned. The mountain was high and stood out among the surrounding mountains. There was a wide valley running east-west on the east side of the mountain, with a few scattered surroundings. In a small village, many villagers were stopping to watch, wondering why there were so many officers and soldiers.
From Linzi to the mountains, we walked south for dozens of miles, spent a whole afternoon and another night, and finally arrived at the big bend. From here, we turned around and headed east, which is Qingzhou City, twenty-three miles away.
"If the mountain roads were as flat as this valley, we would be able to reach the outside of Qingzhou City before noon." Li Muxian was soaked in the rain and stood on a boulder looking around, but Orion said: "This good road is only about ten miles. Walking along the east side is full of winding trails..."
Li Muxian staggered and cursed him in a low voice. Then he looked at the little eunuch and said with a smile, "This place is a paradise."
Chang Yu snorted coldly: "It would be more appropriate to say it's a den of thieves." As he spoke, he faced due south and looked at the mountainside. There were some buildings looming in the forest. They must be the horse thieves' cottage that the bandit said.
"Factory Supervisor, look at those villagers. They don't look very good at all." Duan Wuhu, who was beside Chang Yu all the way, reminded him. Chang Yu smiled slightly: "To be precise, they are also mountain bandits, but they are just wearing the clothes of mountain people." It's just a cover-up, but it's actually colluding with the thieves on the mountain."
"Outpost?" Duan Wuhu was startled, and Chang Yu nodded.
"Then kill them all." Duan Wuhu drew his knife. As long as Chang Yu nodded, he would immediately mobilize people and horses to massacre the village. However, Chang Yu didn't have that idea at this time. He looked around and hid under the tree to avoid the rain. The resting soldiers smiled slightly: "Now that we can't kill, whoever we killed will serve us."
There are three villages at the foot of Prince Mountain, located not far from each other in three directions: Zhaiziya Village at the foot of the mountain. The village is the largest. Outside the village, there is a mountain stone wall as high as one person. At this time, many villagers are standing in the rain. They stood on the wall and watched these drowned officers and soldiers.
There are bandits on the mountainside, but the villagers at the foot of the mountain live and work in peace and contentment. Who would believe that there is no relationship between the two? At least Chang Yu didn't believe it.
Half a moment later, Duan Wuhu led 20 people with bows and swords on their backs and went straight to the entrance of Zhaiziya Village, directly identified themselves and shouted to the villagers inside: "We are officers and soldiers from the capital, and we have come to rescue Qingzhou because it is besieged by the Tatars. We have rushed all the way here." I’m tired and have a rest, so I’d like to ask you folks to light a fire.”
The villagers in the village looked at each other in confusion but no one spoke. Duan Wuhu was furious: "Stop pretending, I know you are unclean, but right now the Tatars are besieging the city and they don't have time to pay attention to you. You will be able to do it now when the accounts are settled." If you can have some mercy, please don't provoke my master to raze your village now."
"Master, Master, you must not be joking. We are all law-abiding people, not thieves." At this time, someone in the village shouted. Duan Wuhu looked up and saw a tall man about forty or fifty years old, and frowned and asked Said: "Who are you?"
"The younger one is the village chief (the Ming Dynasty had a Baojia system, and the mutual inclusion of villages was extremely complex. Here we simply use the village chief) Luo Ertang," the man said, holding his fists.
Duan Wuhu's patience was limited: "I don't care whether you are a bandit or not. I just want you to make fire and make food. I will leave after eating, or you can continue to stay in the village and I will lead my troops to go in and make enough food and clothing myself!"
Luo Ertang didn't say anything nonsense this time. He immediately ordered the gate of the village to be opened, and summoned the villagers from two nearby villages to make fire and make rice. He even killed chickens and pigs to serve the three thousand military masters.
As for whether they were horse thieves or not, they knew it in their own minds, but whether they were or not they did not dare to resist. The reason was very simple. The unsafe and defensible wall at the foot of the mountain, which was as high as a person, could not stop these three thousand officers and soldiers at all. Even the horse thieves' den halfway up the mountain behind them could not withstand the attack of so many soldiers and horses due to its steep terrain.
Therefore, peace is the most important thing, and he hastened to serve you well before the soldiers were sent away. Moreover, these officers and soldiers he has already sent out are indeed not here to suppress bandits. How can the officers and soldiers suppressing bandits give you such a polite consultation? Moreover, there have been recent incidents in Qingzhou City. The news of the Tartar siege had already reached the mountains, and they knew about it, so they believed that these officers and soldiers were going to reinforce Qingzhou City.
If you can't afford to offend him, then serve him well and send him away as soon as possible.
Therefore, Luo Ertang worked very hard and organized the mountain people from three villages to work hard and spent almost all their money to cook hot water stew for Chang Yu's three thousand soldiers and horses.
It is said that the soldiers were exhausted from a night's trek and were bitten by mosquitoes. Coupled with the mountain rain, they were extremely embarrassed. They never thought that they would be treated like this at the foot of Prince Mountain, or that they would take shelter from the rain in the surrounding woods or cottages. Meat and soup make me feel good immediately.
Kuang Ren led his bodyguards into the village and walked around to confirm that there was no potential danger. Chang Yu also entered the village. Luo Ertang invited him to stay in his room to rest, but he refused. Instead, he stood under a big locust tree in the village and looked south. Halfway up the mountainside of Prince Mountain, someone could be vaguely seen peeping.
"Mr. Factory, we found some weapons in the village," Kuang Ren said in a low voice. Chang Yu nodded slightly, seeing through that he was not here to suppress bandits. As long as the other party did not seek death, he would not bother to cause trouble, let alone in such a mountainous area. The identity of the people is complicated. It is difficult for the common people to distinguish between them and they are very likely to be horse thieves, but they cannot bear to make a blanket decision.
"What is the name of this cottage? What is the name of the bandit leader and how many people there are?" Chang Yu asked Luo Ertang, who was staring at the mountainside for a while, nodding and bowing beside him.
"Master Jun, there are horse bandits in this mountain, but they rarely go out to rob the mountain, and they are very good to the surrounding people..." Before Luo Ertang could finish his words, he was interrupted by Kuang Ren angrily: "Just answer your questions." , Why are you talking about so much useless stuff?"
Luo Ertang was shocked: "Yes, yes, yes, there are a hundred and twenty horse thieves on this mountain. The leader calls Yi Jian Da Tian Yuan Wentian. Oh, by the way, their village is called Tianwang Village..."
Chang Yu laughed dumbly, and all the names were thrown away. I am afraid that even the names are fake. Hey, Li Zicheng, an internet celebrity, has ruined so many Green Forest fans.
"Is it possible to ride a horse in the mountains?" Chang Yu asked again.
"It's okay," Luo Ertang said quickly: "But we can only go to the second village. The big village up there is on the cliff and cannot be walked. Those thieves are entrenched there. It is easy to defend but difficult to attack..."
Chang Yu chuckled and turned to look at Luo Ertang: "Second Village, Dazhai, then your village is the Front Village..."
"No, no, no," Luo Ertang waved his hands hurriedly, his face pale and lifeless: "Sir, we are really just ordinary people and have nothing to do with thieves..."
Chang Yu grabbed his hand, looked at it again and smiled at Qiao Sanxiu next to him. Qiao Sanxiu glanced at it and said to Luo Ertang: "You are not an ordinary person with this hand, you are a practitioner, and your hand is He’s not weak even if he works hard.”
Luo Ertang was horrified: "No, no, no, it's unfair, my lord, the common people can only make a hoe and can't do anything."
"Still want to cheat..." Duan Wuhu shouted angrily, raised his hand to draw the knife, but Chang Yu stopped him, looked at Luo Ertang and sneered: "I always keep my word, this time I just passed by to say that I won't suppress you. I will not suppress you, and in recognition of your hospitality, I will give you two months to disband the village on your own, otherwise you will have to go into the mountain to clean it up after two months. This two-month grace period is to return your favor."
Luo Ertang lowered his head and said nothing, but was shivering. He didn't know whether he was scared or just pretending. Chang Yu turned a blind eye and looked around: "Don't do that by chance, thinking that there are Tatars outside the mountain and the governor has no time to wait for you. I The governor has been able to chase the Tatars for thousands of miles and drive them away. He will have time to entertain you. He pointed at Li Shiyuan next to him with murderous eyes. He forgot to introduce you. That person is Qingzhou Prefecture guard Li Shiyuan. You must have heard of it."
Sure enough, everyone in Qingzhou knew about Li Shiyuan, and Luo Ertang had obviously heard of it. He looked up in panic and met Li Shiyuan's murderous gaze. He couldn't help but feel chilled in his heart, and quickly lowered his head again.
"Please tell the bandits in the mountains, if there are any lucky ones in the next two months, just wash their heads and wait for Li Shoubei to come and take charge." Chang Yu sneered and walked towards the eaves of a house with his hands behind his back.
"Don't think that my lord is just talking. We are the Guards in the capital. Li Zicheng was killed by hundreds of thousands in Taiyuan and fled in embarrassment. The Tatar army of 100,000 was defeated in Ningyuan outside the pass. You and other bandits, hehe, it's really not enough to watch. ..." Duan Wuhu continued to threaten Luo Ertang in a low voice, but Chang Yu quickly changed his clothes and drank a bowl of broth.
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