It was almost noon, and the city of Qingzhou was still boiling. The soldiers and civilians worked together to repulse the Qing troops who were attacking the city. They were very happy, but they did not dare to relax too much. After all, although the Qing troops retreated but did not leave, they were still loose inside and outside. tight.
Nearly ten thousand Ming troops were patrolling along the Nanyang River a few miles north of the city. There were also small groups of patrol posts all around outside the city chasing the defeated Qing troops around them.
Although the warriors in the city and countryside were tired, they could not go to the city without military orders. They sat and lay down anywhere and fell asleep. Dozens of porridge trucks moved slowly to provide them with the most considerate service.
In the watch tower, four brothers, Jia Waixiong and Lao Jiu Song Luoyu, sat on the ground against the wall and smiled at each other. There was a bag of gold beside each of them, worth a thousand taels. This was the silver reward of King Heng.
"I never dreamed that one day I would be so rich!" Lao Jiu bit his lip and laughed, while Song Luoyu curled her lips: "Promise!"
"Hey, I'm a loser too!" Jia Waixiong took out a gold ingot and played with it in his hand: "Would you laugh at me if I said it was the first time I saw gold?"
"Me too." Song Luoyu didn't laugh at him this time.
"We are all the same." The four of them laughed.
Some people are happy, while others are sad. The heroes who defended the city suffered heavy casualties, all of them were young men in the city. The families who lost their loved ones were filled with joy and sorrow. They were happy that they defended the city and received pensions, but they were sad that their loved ones would never come back... …
There were even more miserable howls in the military camp in the city. More than 2,000 injured village warriors and soldiers were sent here. There were many injuries from swords and arrows. It was not uncommon to see missing arms and legs. The military doctors were very busy.
It has to be said that under the deception of the little eunuch, Prince Heng Zhu Youyi showed the greatest sincerity. During the mobilization before the war, he sent people to pay and provide food and shout out people. After the war, he spent a lot of money, not to mention the wound medicine and doctors in the palace. They gave everything they had.
This is also the reason why Chang Yu looks at him differently. Although he is timid, he is practical!
The smoke of gunfire gradually dissipated, but the spectators on the hill to the west of Qingzhou City did not disperse. Instead, they were more interested in discussing the previous battle. These spectators were Yuan Wentian and other horse thieves.
Since they were requisitioned as logistics in the mountains, Yuan Wentian's gang of horse thieves have performed their best, boiling water, cooking, and patrolling without being sloppy at all, which won the favor of the officers and soldiers.
The ambush came out before dawn, and three thousand soldiers went to the city to kill the enemy. Yuan Wentian's two hundred horse thieves had not received military orders to help, so they would not take the initiative to join the battle, so they watched the battle at the mountain pass with only beer, peanuts and mineral water. .
"Master, the emperor's personal guards are really powerful. Three thousand people can kill tens of thousands of Tatars..." There were a few horse thieves lying in the grass on the hill, still silently talking about the previous battle. In the plot, after all, my eyes have been opened today. The kind of fights that I used to rob homes and homes are incomparable to the scene of two armies fighting in front of me!
"Awesome, really fucking awesome," Xiang Wentian was also shocked. They knew the usual virtues of officers and soldiers, and they had heard of how ferocious the Tatars were, but who would have thought that three thousand guardsmen would be so powerful? Tens of thousands of Tatars were killed and retreated. Tai Ni Ma was so powerful that he was secretly glad that he surrendered early in the mountains without any trouble, otherwise he would have been thrown into the wilderness by now.
"Yes, yes" the horse thieves echoed, who knew that it was not only 3,000 Ming troops but more than 30,000 who could relieve the danger of Qingzhou City, but they didn't know it when they were watching from a distance on the hill. They were just watching the excitement.
Seeing that it was already noon, the fighting in Qingzhou City was over, but no one came to greet them. Could it be that they had forgotten? Anyway, there was still food left in the mountains and he was not hungry for the time being, so Yuan Wentian sent people to light a fire to make food, and mentally considered whether he should go to Qingzhou City to pay his respects.
He didn't contribute during the war, but he can still do the aftermath work. At least he can clean his face.
"Someone is coming, someone is coming." Several horse thieves on lookout at the mountain pass hurried over. Yuan Wentian and the other thieves quickly got up from the grass and looked outside the mountain. They saw thirty-four people riding horses slowly. close.
Not an officer or soldier? Yuan Wentian frowned, and one of his subordinates rushed over: "Brother, that person said he came to discuss matters with you on the order of the senior official."
Under military orders? They were also officers and soldiers, but when Yuan Wentian looked at the group of people in front of him, they didn't look like officers and soldiers at all, especially the strong man at the head, who was thick and thick, with a fleshy face and red and swollen eyes. His temperament looked more like... a horse thief.
"I, Qin Fugui, have come to discuss something with the head of the Yuanda family under the military orders of the Governor." Qin Fugui was still very discerning and stared at Yuan Wentian as he spoke.
"I'm not a big boss, Yuan Wentian. Master Qin, please don't make fun of me. We brothers are half of the officers and soldiers and we are all our own people..." If Master Qin had any instructions, Yuan Wentian smiled with a smile on his face. road.
Qin Fugui touched his head. He was not used to being called an adult by Yuan Wentian, but he enjoyed it very much: "Brother Yuan, please don't call me an adult. You are too uninformed. The Governor has asked Brother Yuan and I to discuss it. Let's discuss it." Let’s take a step to talk.” After saying that, he took Yuan Wentian and walked to a tree not far away to chat in secret.
"Why don't these people look like officers and soldiers? They are also mountain bandits. Will the senator be deceived?" The horse thieves looked at Qin Fugui's group of men not far away and murmured in a low voice.
Luo Ertang raised his eyebrows: "Where the army is, why are the bandits so bold and dare to impersonate us? Besides, what else can we deceive?" Then he looked at Qin Fugui under the tree over there: "Maybe these people were originally related to We are peers."
Under the tree, Yuan Wentian looked confused: "Let us continue to be horse thieves? Didn't we agree that we should be officers and soldiers?"
"You pretend to be a thief but you are actually a soldier. You will be remembered for your great achievements after defeating the thief. At that time, the Yuan brothers would have to become a guerrilla general and receive the royal salary. It is much more prosperous than in the mountains..." Qin Fugui continued.
Yuan Wentian was a little hesitant. These days, it is difficult for the people to make thieves. Previously, Chang Yu wanted to make a living among the officers and soldiers, but now he is asked to become a thief in the mountains. To be precise, he is allowed to dominate the generals in the mountains. Bandits and horse bandits from all walks of life were recruited and bulldozed.
Isn’t this just fighting fire with fire and killing someone with a borrowed knife? Yuan Wentian is not stupid!
Qin Fugui looked around carefully and said: "Brother Yuan, the world is in chaos now and heroes are emerging in large numbers. The food in the world is not good. If you want to live a long and prosperous life, you must find a big backer. The Lord Governor has tens of thousands of elite soldiers under his command. Even the Tatars cannot defeat him, and there is no mountain in the world that is more solid than this one."
Yuan Wentian was startled, then narrowed his eyes: "Master Qin, I would like to ask, before you..."
"Yes, my brother has done this before." Qin Fugui admitted readily. He knew that the traitorous temperament in him would not be gone for a while. His peers could see through it at a glance, so there was no need to pretend: "Our brothers are known as The Three Tigers of Mount Tai..." He said with his eyes red: "Brother Yuan, although there are risks in this matter, there is no such thing as losing the pie in the world. We used to rob homes, kill people and set fires, but when we threw away our knives, we became officers and soldiers of the imperial court. How can we do this? Waiting for something good to happen, the court is not like a Buddhist who just puts down the butcher's knife and becomes a Buddha immediately."
"To put it bluntly, I just want to submit my name." Yuan Wentian immediately lowered his head and gritted his teeth!
"That's what I mean." Qin Fugui nodded vigorously.
"Master Qin, you were..." Yuan Wentian couldn't help but asked curiously. Qin Fugui's eyes turned red again, and he took a long breath: "I am the only three-legged cat left among the three tigers in Mount Tai."
Yuan Wentian was shocked: "Could it be..."
"Last night the Tatars attacked the city, and my two brothers died in battle... The governor allowed our brothers to join the army." Qin Fugui looked back at his subordinates not far away: "In the blink of an eye, there are only one hundred and three brothers left from the two hundred and twenty-six."
ah! Yuan Wentian's face changed greatly. Being an officer and soldier was so risky. He turned his head and looked at the brothers on the hill. He couldn't help but shudder. It seemed that it was safer to be a horse thief, and he was an officially authorized horse thief.
"Brother, we did it." Yuan Wentian gritted his teeth and said, "But how to do it? As far as I know, there are no less than a dozen groups of horse thieves around Qingzhou Prefecture, ranging from more than a hundred to five or six hundred. How can we fight?" Better than others!"
"Take the small ones and fight the big ones. We directly obey the orders of Qingzhou garrison General Li Shiyuan. If you want money and food, you can pacify the Qingzhou bandits within half a year. Brother Yuan, let's join forces and fight vigorously!" Although Qin Fugui didn't. He's not a big deal, but he has a pretty good tongue.
Yuan Wentian was instantly moved. The risk of becoming a soldier was too great. Now, he would just be used as cannon fodder. But if he could really unify the bandits and horse bandits in Qingzhou, he could simply exchange the certificate of surrender for two guerrilla generals. He would not have to charge into the battle personally, and he could Chickens and dogs ascend to heaven. I thought it was a good deal, so I immediately agreed.
