"Sir, I have never been married either!"
"And I, my lord, I'm almost twenty, and I haven't been matched yet!"
"Sir, although I am married, I can still divorce my wife and marry another one!"
Jiang Tuo laughed out loud and said loudly: "Everyone!"
His voice was loud, and a circle of soldiers had unknowingly gathered around him, looking at Jiang Tuo in the center with piercing eyes.
Jiang Tuo looked at them proudly and said loudly: "You are all from poor backgrounds. Some of you may have been bandits, some have been thieves, and you all know what it's like to be hungry!"
"Now, you are our soldiers in Qingshui County. The people support you, and you are also protecting the people! Now, the time has come for you to make contributions and make the people richer and stronger!"
"At the beginning, I took a team of less than a hundred people, old, weak, sick and disabled, and lacked food and clothing, so I established Qingshui County to protect the people from wind and rain."
"Now that you are following me, I want to occupy Sanguan and Baoji, control the Chencang area, protect the people of the state, and save the people from the suffering of war. What do you think?"
"My lord, you did the right thing!"
"We follow your lord!"
"OK!"
Jiang Tuo waved his hand and said to Lu Qing beside him: "Bring up the good meat and wine."
Then someone brought the wine and meat. Jiang Tuo raised his wine glass and asked his servants to divide the wine and meat and eat them with the soldiers. However, a general said: "We haven't won the battle yet, so we don't dare to get rewards from you!"
"Winning the battle is a matter of time, and this is what we practice! After the victory, not only you, but the people of Qingshui County will celebrate, and all the expenses will be paid by the county government!"
"My lord is kind and righteous!"
Jiang Tuo quickly blended in with these soldiers and drank with them with a smile. Jiang Tuo's informal style and good at bragging were just in line with the temperament of these soldiers.
Those soldiers who had never seen Jiang Tuo dared to step forward at this moment and asked with a smile: "Sir, I heard that when you were a bandit, you also robbed a lady from the village?"
"Fart, who started the rumor?!"
"That's what the military says."
"You're talking nonsense, how dare you belittle me? Is one enough? I snatched three of them, but they were too ugly, so I sent them back!"
"Ha ha!"
Everyone burst into laughter.
Three days later, after everything was sorted, Jiang Tuo led the army and set off. He was wearing armor, riding a tall horse, and carrying a sword in his waist. He looked majestic.
He looked at Chu Liang, who had dark circles under his eyes, and comforted him: "After I leave, I hope Mr. Chu will take care of his health. Although government affairs are important, don't break your health."
Looking at Jiang Tuo who was speaking in human language, Chu Liang nodded.
Then Jiang Tuo turned around and looked seriously at the soldiers on the school field. These soldiers were also fully armed, with several large flags fluttering in the wind. Although there are only more than 2,000 people, everyone is an elite.
The sword suddenly pointed in the air and shouted loudly: "Let's go!"
Jiang Tuo took the lead and rushed out on horseback. Behind him, the soldiers were divided into four rows and followed closely.
When we left the border of Qingshui County, we immediately felt a different environment.
Desolate, dilapidated.
Although the mountains and forests are dense and there are wild animals and birds, there are no other people except animals and mountains and forests. Occasionally, when you encounter a village, it is basically deserted. The cultivated fields are covered with grass and there is no human habitation at all.
After decades of fighting in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the population dropped sharply by 60%, from more than 60 million to more than 20 million.
And except for Liu Bei, all other warlords enjoyed massacres, especially the national thief Dong Zhuo.
Dong Zhuo's Liangzhou legion had the worst military discipline. After conquering an enemy city, they would plunder all the property in the city and kill all the remaining people.
Those surviving people had no choice but to flee to the mountains and become despised bandits, struggling to survive.
Therefore, in this chaotic era, there is no etiquette and morality, only bloody reality.
As the troops walked in the mountains and forests, the soldiers became much more serious and looked around.
Jiang Tuo didn't take it seriously. He didn't feel any pressure and looked very natural. Whenever he had free time, he would chat with the soldiers. The soldiers were also infected by him and gradually became less nervous.
This time they carried a lot of supplies, including everything they needed. They loaded fifty cars with everything. Those who didn't know it thought they were going on vacation.
"Haha, actually this mountain forest is quite nice. When I have nothing to do in the future, I will build a summer resort here and live here every summer."
Lu Qing reminded: "Then you must not be bitten to death by mosquitoes?"
"This is not easy to handle. Then I will find a few girls with tender skin and tender flesh to surround me every day, so that the mosquitoes will only bite them and not me."
"Your Majesty, what a great idea!"
Everyone laughed, and a guide spread out the map, pointed to the coordinates on it and said, "Sir, we are going east now and will pass the ancient road. After walking for three days, we will reach Mianzhu."
"Oh, does Mianzhu have a garrison?"
"There should be, but the Kingdom of Wei and the Kingdom of Shu are at war. Some of the defenders in Wei have fled. Maybe there are no soldiers to guard them."
"Then let's go to Mianzhu first."
Just as they were discussing, they suddenly heard the cry of killing coming from the front. Jiang Tuo frowned and immediately got on his horse. The other soldiers clenched their weapons to deal with emergencies.
"What happened ahead?"
"Lord Qi, there are bandits shooting arrows at our army ahead!"
A spy came to report and led Jiang Tuo forward. He saw a narrow pass in front of him. In the mountains and forests on both sides of the pass, there were dozens of bandits hiding. These people were dressed in rags and stared at Jiang Tuo and others with vigilance. .
"Didn't you tell them that we were just passing through here?"
"I told you, but instead of giving way, these people dared to shoot arrows at our army!"
Lu Qing hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Sir, they are just some common people who have fallen into disgrace. You don't have to worry. I can kill them all with one charge."
Jiang Tuo slapped Lu Qing on the head and said angrily: "Fuck you, these are Han people. They fled to the mountains to avoid the disaster of war. Why kill them?!"
"Ahem, I'm just kidding, I'm kidding, what do you want to do?"
"I'll negotiate."
Jiang Tuo asked the spies to report his name, and explained that he and his group had no ill intentions, and invited the leaders of these bandits to come out and meet them.
Hearing this, the bandits on the mountain looked at each other in confusion, still looking at Jiang Tuo and his group with vigilance. After all, the two thousand soldiers led by Jiang Tuo looked so mighty and majestic, it was scary.
Not long after, a little old man appeared. He had dark skin, holding a bow and arrow in his hand. He squinted and looked at Jiang Tuo and others with unkind eyes.
"Who are you and where do you come from?"
Jiang Tuo waved his hand, indicating that he was not a threat: "Hey, we are all Han people, why should we be so open-minded? Can you make a way and let us soldiers pass by?"
Looking at the familiar Jiang Tuo, the little old man shook his head quickly and explained loudly: "No, this is passing our village. What if you take the opportunity to rob us? Please leave here."
The guide hurriedly said: "That won't work. The mountains are high and the forests are lush. There is only this way."
For a while, the two sides were in a stalemate.
Jiang Tuo frowned and whispered: "Let's do this, Lu Qing, you come with me to their camp and explain your purpose to them."
Lu Qing was shocked and advised: "Sir, are you crazy? These bandits are uneducated and have no credibility. It's just the two of us. What if something happens to us?"
The spies on the side were also very puzzled and said: "Sir, why bother? Why don't we just fight over..."
"How about letting me go? I'll persuade them!" Lu Qing said.
Jiang Tuo waved his hand calmly, rubbed his chin and said, "I do want you to go, but I'm worried that you'll fight with them. Do you know that you are not as safe as me in what you do?"
"Then you can't put yourself at risk."
"You know nothing." Jiang Tuo didn't bother to explain. He took a few steps forward and shouted to the little old man: "How about this? I'll just take two people to your village and talk about the specific situation together."
The little old man was stunned. He didn't expect the young man at the foot of the mountain to be so brave.
I couldn't make up my mind for a while.
"You'd better make a decision as soon as possible." Jiang Tuo looked at the little old man with a serious face, pointed at the soldiers behind him, and said loudly: "I just don't want to kill, you don't know what is good and what is good!"
At this time, the soldiers behind him shouted in unison, their flags were fluttering in the wind, and there were crowds of people.
The little old man was immediately startled.
"I'll count to three. If you don't agree, we'll have to go to war!"
"three!"
"two!"
"Okay, then come up!" The little old man took a deep breath and agreed, but added: "You can only bring two people with you, otherwise don't blame me for being rude."
The bandits on the mountain put away their bows and arrows, the camp in front opened the door, and Jiang Tuo walked forward leisurely.
Lu Qing on the side stared with bated breath, the strings of his body tensed, and he watched the surroundings vigilantly, for fear that someone would be harmful to Jiang Tuo.
However, Jiang Tuo was very carefree, walking around and looking around as if he were on a sightseeing tour.
Lu Qing couldn't help but rolled his eyes. He really didn't know if his master was a big-hearted person or a brainless person. He didn't think it was a drama, right? When your tiger body shakes, the bandits in front of you will wake up and bow to you?
Jiang Tuo and Lu Qing followed the instructions and walked around the mountain for about a quarter of an hour before finally arriving at the bandits' camp. The houses here were so short that you had to bend down to enter.
It was messy and messy, like a large refugee camp, without any planning.
However, there were a lot of people. Jiang Tuo made a rough estimate, there were about three thousand people, and the weapons held by those young people were all kinds of, and some even held simple wooden sticks.
Overall, there was not a single fat man. They were all sallow, thin, and malnourished. Even the clothes they wore were in tatters, revealing their dark skin underneath.
Compared with here, the people in the Gaza Strip can be called a well-off society.
