"Hei Wa, after passing the valley in front of you, walk twenty miles west to Hequ County. Once you get to the city, I will buy you some candied haws."
"Okay, Master."
Five-year-old Hei Wa lay on a cart filled with millet. The cart followed a group of ragged refugees, running over the grass on the post road and squeaking forward.
The two scrawny mules snorted and grated, refusing to move forward. The old man with a gray beard behind them swung his riding crop and slapped the lazy donkey on the buttocks.
"drive!"
The two skinny donkeys trotted forward reluctantly for a while, then started grinding again.
"Master, stop smoking it."
Because he had been driving carriages for his employer before joining the family and was very familiar with the road conditions around Pianguan County, Hei Wa and his father, Heizi, became the long family's carriage driver during the invasion.
The old horseman wielded his riding crop skillfully, whether he was working for the army or his previous employer, as long as he had enough to eat. What's more, he doesn't eat alone now. His grandson Hei Wa has lost his parents and needs him to support him.
If you follow the invaders, you will have food. Of course, you may end up becoming food yourself, but this kind of thing rarely happens now. After the bandits broke through Pianguan County, they looted a circle in northwest Shanxi, and now their bags are full. Without food, no one would think about cannibalism anymore.
Heiwa just lay on the donkey cart and followed the refugees everywhere. He crossed the Yellow River from Shaanxi to Shanxi, and then returned to Shaanxi from Shanxi.
Children like Heiwa followed adults on the Loess Plateau for ten and a half days in the winter, and either died of exhaustion or illness, and were eventually thrown into ditches without even a straw mat.
By the way, didn't I say it before? We have been together for a long time, and there is no shortage of food, so now we are not interested in eating human flesh.
Hei Wa is still alive, thanks to his grandfather Lao Heizi.
"Master, where are my parents buried?"
The riding whip in Lao Heizi's hand trembled, and he blurted out: "In this geomantic treasure land, Mr. Yin and Yang said that our Lao Li family is going to have a general marshal."
Heiwa's buttocks bumped up and down with the donkey cart, shaking him so much that he almost vomited out the lumpy soup in his stomach.
Hei Wa didn't listen to his father's nonsense, and only directed his razor-sharp eyes at the two withered corpses beside the road.
The body was naked, its clothes and shoes had been stripped off by the refugees in front of it, it had no stomach, its face was sunken, and its two eyeballs were taken away by crows. Fortunately, the refugees today were not hungry enough to eat people.
Hei Wa thought of the sheepskin raft that his grandfather used to cross the Yellow River last year. It was like this when it was leaking air. Hei Wa thought about his dead parents. Will they die like this and be thrown on the roadside to be eaten by wild beasts and crows, and eventually turn into bone sticks.
"I buried it with my own hands."
Lao Heizi raised his whip, whipped the mule twice more, and turned back to his grandson.
Heiwa's parents died in the forty-seventh year of Wanli. That year there was a severe drought in Yulin. The general military officer of Yulin led troops to aid the Liao Dynasty, and followed the Protector to fight against the slaves. The Yulin soldiers were in front of them, and the post soldiers started to cause trouble. They plundered everywhere and forced Yulin Mansion to pay wages. The leader was Li Xianzhong, the king of Chuang. At that time, he was still a postmaster and had no shortage of food and drink.
However, around the forty-seventh year of Wanli, there were many heroes in the north and south of the Ming Dynasty who thought they had a chance to dominate the world and replace the Zhu family.
The chieftain can rebel, General Feihu can rebel, the White Lotus Sect can rebel, why can't Yi Cheng?
This may be the reason why Li Xianzhong rebelled. After all, King Chuang was well-informed at the time and knew more about the situation in the Ming Dynasty than Emperor Wanli who lived deep in the palace.
Heiwa's family lived near the Yulin Post Station and was considered a well-to-do family. On the day when the postmen were demanding payment, his parents became victims of the sword for no apparent reason.
Heiwa was only one year old that year.
At this time, groups of horse soldiers passed by the roadside. Old Heizi quickly winked at the riders passing by to express his goodwill. The folds on the old man's face were squeezed together, making his smile look uglier than crying.
These horse soldiers whizzing by are the elites of the old battalions of the invading army.
The old camp is an existence that ordinary refugees look up to, because they are well-equipped, with three or even five horses per person, and their own dedicated servants, both men and women.
During the war, Laoying was very fierce. It was the most elite force in the invading army. It only stayed with General Li on weekdays and basically did not show up. It would only show its face when attacking the Ming army's fortified city.
Half a month ago, the Chuang army attacked Pianguan County. The county magistrate surnamed Niu refused to give up his title. He sent strong men to arrange many rolling logs to beat lime and bottles of gold juice at the top of the city. The 60,000 Chuang army attacked for a day but could not defeat him. He died. Thousands of people were finally conquered by this group of old campers. They climbed up the city wall along the burning ladder with daggers in their hands regardless of life and death, and killed the magistrate in one fell swoop.
Hei Wa and Grandpa both lowered their heads and did not look at the passing Laoying.
One of the cavalry soldiers glanced at the grandfather and grandson and said angrily to Lao Heizi:
"Grandma, you bastard will enjoy it. This car is for transporting food and grass to the army, not for you to have fun. Get off!"
Lao Heizi said with an apologetic smile on his face: "This gentleman, this little old man is the groom of Chang Liu's family, who specializes in driving carts. This child is my grandson. This child is too young to walk."
As he spoke, Lao Heizi took out a string of beads from his pocket and handed it to the old battalion captain. The cavalry soldier weighed it in his hand and recognized it was Dong Zhu. He nodded slightly, cursed and spurred his horse forward.
"Master, what's going on up front?"
The horse soldier suddenly turned his head and said with a ferocious expression:
"A group of dog officers and soldiers are here to die."
Lao Heizi was still smiling apologetically, but the cavalry soldiers had already left, galloping towards the mountain pass.
"Master, why are they walking so fast?"
Lao Heizi coughed. On the other side of the mountain pass, the horse soldiers from several battalions were running wildly. Then, explosions and screams of men and horses came from all around.
~~~~~
The raging fire ignited the trees beside the road. In the black smoke, the thieves fled in all directions like ants, but Heiwa stayed put.
"Where are your parents?"
"died."
"you alone?"
Hei Wa pointed to a mangled corpse on the side of the road. It was lying on its back and its face could not be seen clearly.
"There is also a man who was trampled to death by horse hooves from the old camp just now. They also killed his parents."
Wei Zhao looked at the child who was calm and calm in the blood and fire, and saw that he had sharp eyebrows and starry eyes, and thick bones, which were different from ordinary people.
A pity rose in his heart.
The leader of Yang Hao's servant pointed to the three men standing behind him - more than 20 of his men had died in the battle while guarding the mountain pass, and these three were the only ones left.
"I am the number one swordsman in Jinmen and the flag captain of the Twelfth Guards Army. I am also Wei Zhao. This time I led the army to Shaanxi to suppress the rebellion. I see that you have a beautiful skeleton and a beautiful face. You are a rare good thing in a hundred years." Miao Zi will become a great weapon in the future, why not join the Kaiyuan Army and join me in the future. Come, this is the first weapon I will give you."
Wei Zhao took out a candied haws from his arms, ate one himself, wiped the blood from the handle on his chainmail, and removed the candied haws one by one with his dirty hands, holding only the bamboo stick in his hand. Here, he made a thrusting movement like a spearman.
See the child motionless.
Then he smiled and handed the candied haws to the child.
Hei Wa took the candied haws and held it in his arms.
"What's your name? Do you have a name?"
"Heiwa."
"No, I'm asking for the name."
"Li Dingguo."
After a night of killing, a flash of fish belly white appeared in the eastern sky, and a red sun rose.
The soldiers guarding the mountain pass suffered heavy casualties, with only a hundred of the nine hundred soldiers left.
Wei Zhao and Cheng Liang looked at each other:
"I survived again this time. It was a near miss."
No near misses.
The two of them walked out of the mountain pass as they talked, with corpses piled densely behind them.
Wang Zengbin shouted:
"The injured are carried onto the carriage and go first, while the rest follow behind and return to Hequ County!"
Wei Zhao and Cheng Liang looked at each other and the battle continued.
~~~
"What? A bear was ambushed by the army and the old camp was completely destroyed?"
Li Xianzhong stood up as he slapped the table, his eyes widened into bull's eyes, and he looked at the sentry horse who came to report in disbelief. Several people around him also looked surprised.
"General Li was also killed. His men and horses ran into the mountains and were difficult to collect."
Li Xianzhong wiped his mouth, looked at the people around him, and asked the sentry horse:
"Didn't Zhang Jinxiao go with a bear? Why didn't he go to the rescue? He just watched the officers and soldiers kill them and ignore them?"
The sentry horse quickly said: "General Li did not listen to Leader Zhang's advice and insisted on advancing. Leader Zhang led his troops to rescue and was blocked at the mountain pass. They had sharp firearms and rockets. The sound was like thunder. Many brothers were killed and injured. Later, When the officers and soldiers fled, Leader Zhang led the old battalion in a pursuit and captured dozens of heads."
Li Xianzhong frowned and waved the sentry horse down. A group of intruder generals in the tent looked at each other, and the surrounding atmosphere seemed quite awkward.
Ma Jinxing, the first counselor under Li Xianzhong, kept shaking the goose feather fan in his hand, as if he thought the weather was not cold enough in this winter month.
"Who dares to hit an egg against a stone? Whose troops are there? All the officers and soldiers in the north of Shanxi have fled. There are really some people who dare to seek death!"
Li Xianzhong looked at Liu Zongmin beside him. Liu Zongmin was a horse soldier in Yansui Town. He knew all the people in the Ming army.
Before King Chuang could ask him, Liu Zongmin said carelessly:
"Except for the Kaiyuan Army, which official army has so many firearms."
"Kaiyuan Army?"
The tent suddenly exploded, and everyone was whispering to each other.
"Don't the Kaiyuan Army only have a few thousand troops and are they still trapped in the meander of the river?"
"Thousands of people dare to confront us head-on. This is really brave."
"A Xiong Lao camp with five to six hundred people was killed by them?"
Li Xianzhong waved his hand to interrupt the argument, clenched his fist and slammed it on the table. There was a sudden silence around him:
"Inform Zhang Zicheng that tomorrow he and I will besiege Hequ, capture this city, and kill all the Kaiyuan troops, leaving no chickens or dogs behind."
