The north wind blows and the white grass breaks on the ground, and the sky is full of snow in August.
Zhang Zhao chanted softly in his mouth, but if Cen Jiazhou had gone to Qilian Mountain instead of Luntai, he would have discovered that there may be heavy snowfall here in June.
It's September now, and when Shouchang and Dunhuang in Shazhou can still live in just a crotchless shirt, the cold wind is already howling at the foot of the Qilian Mountains.
Zhang Zhao is wearing a linen robe. This kind of robe is made of two layers of linen sewn together, and then filled with shredded linen cloth, silk cotton, silkworm cocoons, kapok wadding, reed wadding, animal hair and other miscellaneous things, and finally compacted them.
This was the clothing worn by ordinary people in the Tang Dynasty to resist the severe cold in winter. To be honest, it was not very warm.
Compacting these things requires a lot of skill. Some people can barely keep them warm, while others can freeze them to death.
Even if it is well made, there will often be a piece of stuffing missing somewhere, and when the cold wind blows, it will freeze people to the point of shaking.
At the same time, in order to enhance the effect, ropes need to be tied around the chest, waist and both legs, which is ugly and troublesome.
But it was under this cold wind in September that Zhang Zhao found his first golden finger that could be opened.
cotton!
The fact that he can think of cotton is also related to his experience. Although Zhang Zhao was from Xi'an before time travel, due to his grandfather, he was born in Southeast Chongqing, which was in the later Republic. After attending college, his family moved back to Shaanxi.
Southeast Chongqing is a relatively poor area. When I was a child, most of the cotton clothes were made by my family. My mother was a Tujia woman. In addition to being a private teacher, she was also good at cotton ginning and weaving. My father was a well-known cotton craftsman.
As a child, he was often teased by his classmates because his father was a cotton maker. For a long time, he heard about playing cotton! Play cotton! The shouting will produce PTSD, which is manifested by feeling weak, feeling uncomfortable all over, and twisting the fingers in embarrassment.
Therefore, cotton and cotton-splitting have been with him throughout his childhood. For a period of time, his father even hoped that Zhang Zhao could inherit this craft. He was so frightened that he quickly studied hard and was admitted to a key high school in the provincial capital before his father gave up. Got this idea.
However, despite this, due to family influence and more than ten years of exposure, Zhang Zhao still knows some cotton ginning and cotton spinning techniques.
Cotton ginning technology and cotton bombing seemed to be unattractive professions in later republics, but in the Tang Dynasty, was proper high-precision technology good?
"Erlangjun, above is Ge Du's stronghold. Most of the strongholds are Ge Du's relatives!"
Qiongre Duojin pointed to a small road hidden in the mountains and said, Ge Duo's Dazhai is really hidden. No wonder Shazhou Youyi Army and Yamen soldiers can't find it.
To get to this mountain village hidden in the Qilian Mountains, you have to pass through a Gobi desert with a diameter of more than one kilometer.
After leaving the Gobi, the surrounding scenery was similar. Qiongre Duojin and Bai Congxin relied on the small piles of stones placed on the ground to confirm their direction. People who did not know that these small piles of stones represented information could easily get lost.
Since we are going to remove the ghosts, we cannot bring too many people with us. Too many people will definitely arouse suspicion.
Therefore, Qi Xiaohu, Zhang Zhong and others waited five or six miles away with fifty or sixty people, waiting until the smoke was released from the village before moving forward.
As for Zhang Zhao, he only had Yin Yaozi and two Ding Zhuangs who were good at archery under Qi Xiahu, plus Bai Congxin, Qiongre Duojin and a few Uighurs.
"How many can be beaten in the stronghold? How far is it to enter the stronghold from here?"
Zhang Zhao did not wear his own Mingguang armor today because it was too conspicuous and too heavy. He was now wearing a Tubo armor with only the upper body, and a linen robe on the outside. This way the defense was good and it was not conspicuous.
"There are not many who can fight. Ge Du claims to be five hundred brothers, but in fact there are only more than a hundred who can fight. Most of them have surrendered to Erlang Jun. The rest are said to be brothers, but in fact they are Ge Du's brothers. Damn serfs!"
Bai Congxin said to Zhang Zhao in a low voice, with a slightly embarrassed look on his face. The two parties are still in the stage of just surrendering. He doesn't trust Zhang Zhao too much, and Zhang Zhao certainly doesn't trust him too much.
"You and Ge Du are both from the Bai family. Are there any relatives of yours in this village?"
Bai Congxin shook his head, "I am the descendant of the prince of Changhua County, and Ge Du is the descendant of the prince's brother. They may have been the same family two hundred years ago, but now, they are not even close relatives. The servant's parents died early and have not married yet." , the only younger brother, also died in the battle with the Canwei people long ago."
Zhang Zhao looked at Qiongre Duojin again. This was the reason why he wanted to take the two of them with him. They had no time to collude with each other. As long as he kept asking questions, anyone who dared to say nonsense would definitely be found out. .
"Ge Duo was reluctant to part with his wealth and was unwilling to keep his family in the village, so he didn't have any relatives in the village.
However, Ge Du's three sons are all grown up and quite brave. The servants can lure them here first. Lang Jun rises up and kills them. After these three people are eliminated, the village belongs to Lang Jun. "
. . . .
After passing through one trail after another, deceiving one secret sentry after another, a crude cottage appeared in front of Zhang Zhao.
Although it is called a village, it is actually very crude. The village is located on a leeward alpine grassland. Scattered yaks and a group of long-haired goats are wandering around the village. Herders wearing tattered leather robes are prostrate on the roadside in awe, not daring to He looked up at the people going up the mountain.
Zhang Zhao finally understood why Bai Congxin said that the people in this village were all Ge Du's slaves, because if they were really horse thieves under Ge Du, they would never be dressed in such rags. The way he looked at Bai Congxin and the others He won't be so afraid.
'Kuji! 'Zhang Zhao stepped on something soft, and when he looked down, it turned out to be a fucking pile of half-dried cow dung!
This shabby cottage is like a large garbage dump, and Ge Duo doesn't know how to take care of it.
"Baima'er, where is my brother? Didn't you say there is a beautiful man? Why haven't you seen him?"
Before Zhang Zhao could get the cow dung off his shoes, a fat man wearing snow leopard skin and a Tibetan fox fur scarf ran down from a large stone building in the middle of the village.
The big fat man shouted Bai Congxin's nickname unscrupulously while looking behind him.
The elder brother here does not mean elder brother, but refers to father. In the Tang Dynasty, both father and elder brother could be called elder brother, which was regarded as an honorific title rather than a specific title.
"The Han women are carrying fine silk cloth on their backs at the foot of the mountain. Those with thin skin and tender flesh are all left for Da Lang. Da Gan also brought some good things for Er Lang and San Lang. Da Lang asked them all to come out. Let's go down the mountain to meet them. Let’s do it as soon as Yingda does it!”
Qiongre Duojin bent his waist and looked at the fat man in front of him with a somewhat flattering look on his face, like a butler. This set of movements was extremely skillful and seemed to have been practiced over a long period of time.
"Dog slave! Now that the Han women are here, you don't hurry up and take one up the mountain. You have to go and pick her up yourself. If those Han women are as black as your sister, I will give your sister to a groom!"
Zhang Zhao lowered his head and twitched the corner of his mouth. He clearly saw Qiongre Duojin's lowered hand suddenly pinching the corner of his clothes.
This assist is really spot on! Originally, Zhang Zhao was a little worried that Bai Congxin and Qiongre Duojin were not resolute in their surrender, but now it seems that there is no problem.
It was a trivial matter for Ge Du's eldest son to verbally insult Bai Congxin and Qiongre Duojin. This was a feudal society, and the Qilian Mountains were still in the period of slavery. It was common for a master to just verbally insult his subordinates.
The key is that Ge Du's eldest son has no talent at all judging from his expression and words!
You must know that Bai Congxin and the others are in the business of horse thieves. Once Ge Du dies, there will be no successor. If they don't quickly find a big man with thick thighs to rely on, they may die soon. As for why they don't stand on their own, haha! I'm afraid it's not that easy to be a leader.
'Boom! Boom! Boom! 'When the big fat man was looking unhappy, two little fat men with different looks but similar looks also ran down from the stone building he had just run down.
The eldest one looked to be 18 or 19 years old, and the younger one was probably 14 or 15 years old. They were followed by a few servants with low eyebrows.
"Erlang Jun, Sanlang Jun, you are all here! Okay! Okay!" Qiongre Duojin, who had been worried about helping Zhang Zhao deceive the village gate along the way, suddenly became happy and said yes again and again.
Several fat men frowned and looked at Qiongre Duojin in confusion. They were all a little confused.
"Okay? You bitch slave! What are you doing? Are you hysterical?"
The fat man who was called Erlangjun had a look of reluctance. The old man was getting more and more arrogant, and he still needed people to greet him. What was there to welcome him? On such a cold day, it would be too cold to warm yourself by the fire while wearing a fur robe. Who would want to go down the mountain?
"Brother Duojin said yes, that's because you all happened to be here, so go find each one of them one by one!"
Erlang Jun was stunned, but then he saw a horizontal knife with a cold light shining at him, stabbing him.
What does it mean? Someone wants to kill me?
"Ah! It hurts!" The tip of the sharp blade was pierced into his stomach. Only then did Erlangjun react from his dazed state. He screamed and looked at his brother, "Brother, it hurts!"
"Who are you? How dare you stab and kill my brother? My brother is Ge Dudagan!"
The knife came so fast, and in the flash of lightning, the second fat man was already twitching on the ground. The sudden change immediately stunned the big fat man. It is estimated that he has never seen such a scene. He has never been the only one to curse others. No one dared to stab them with a knife.
'brush! The sword swept across again, and the big fat man stretched out his hand and pointed at Zhang Zhao's five fingers on his right hand, and four of them were suddenly gone.
Zhang Zhao pulled out the horizontal knife and stabbed it again. The blood-red blade easily penetrated the leather robe on the big fat man's body. He pushed harder, and the big fat man couldn't bear the strength and fell to the ground, with his mouth, hands, and abdomen At the same time, blood spurts out crazily.
The remaining third child is still a handsome boy. Although he is a little fat, he is much more pleasing to the eye than his two brothers.
Seeing that his two domineering brothers were suddenly gone, the third child howled miserably and fell to the ground, crawling back on his hands and feet like crazy.
The ground was full of cow dung and mud, mixed with ice flowers and was very slippery. The third child was like a hamster on a running wheel. After working for most of the day, he could not get very far.
Zhang Zhao hesitated for a moment, he looked like a junior high school student! He has no hesitation in killing adults. If you don't kill me, then I have to kill you. But for minors, the moral conscience laid down for him by the later republic still restrained him at the bottom line.
Zhang Zhao hesitated, but others did not. Qiongre Duojin, who was beside him, saw that Zhang Zhao did not go after him, and looked at him gratefully. The Tubo slave soldier thought that Zhang Zhao deliberately left a bastard for him to escape. Taking it out.
'Boom! Boom! Qiongre Duojin, who quickly caught up with him, took a black iron hammer and aimed it at Lao San, who was crawling on the ground, and hit him hard, causing red and white to splash everywhere.
"You bitch! You are a dog slave, your brother is a dog slave, your mother is a dog slave, and your whole family is a dog slave. My sister and I want to marry a hero, so your sister will follow the groom and become a slut! "
Qiongre Duojin, who was shouting while smashing, fell into a frenzy. After smashing the third child, he rushed over and smashed the head of the boss, who was still struggling on the ground, into a rotten watermelon.
"The Qiongre family of Langmi Dongdai has a lot of money. Ge Duo is dead. All the men from all the families came out and came with me to surrender Ge Duo's property and submit to Mr. Zhang's Erlang!"
Time seemed to have stopped. The expressions on the faces of the poor herders who had been watching them kill Ge Du's three sons suddenly became vivid.
"Let's go! Divide the gold and silver with Duo Jinjiula (eldest brother)!" Someone shouted, and the cowherd slaves, who were cowering just now, seemed to have felt some kind of call, and screamed from their respective shacks. Zhong rushed out.
Zhang Zhao glanced at it and saw that the fastest one seemed to be the shepherd slave who was kneeling on the roadside just now.
Blue and black smoke rose in the village, and several horse thieves armed with weapons rushed out from the stone building of the village. However, when they saw the darkness below, dozens of herdsmen were already rioting with wooden sticks and dung forks, they hurriedly He slipped back and seemed to want to rely on this stone building to hold on.
Zhang Zhao suddenly felt a little boring. He also deliberately wore a Tibetan armor. He was freezing all the way. He thought that there would be a big killing in this village, but he successfully knocked Ge Du to death. After having a son, all the herdsmen in the village were able to take care of Ge Du's family.
"Erlangjun, there are still more than ten Ge Duo confidants at the key road at the foot of the mountain. Let's go and kill them now. Let Qiongre Duojin handle this place. I guarantee that no chickens or dogs of Ge Duo's family will be left alive!"
Bai Congxin thought that Zhang Zhao was worried, because there were Ge Du's wives, concubines, and daughters in the stone building. If he did such a thing, he would definitely be eradicated.
Zhang Zhao was stunned for a moment, shook his head and said nothing. He just drew out his horizontal knife and walked towards the middle of the mountain. If the chickens and dogs are not left alone, the chickens and dogs will not be left behind. This is the rule of this era. If he, Zhang Zhao, were in Qi Xianghu's If Ge Du is taken care of in the village, nothing will be left of the people around him.
. . . .
Southwest of Shouchang, a cavalry regiment of about one regiment was resting. These soldiers were all wearing simple cotton robes, brown leather hats on their heads, light cowhide armor, and linen tied around their faces to protect them from the wind and sand.
They all have one person and two horses, one horse is riding by himself, and the other horse is tied with a uniform chain mail.
"Fourteenth Prince! The Qi family's descendant's stronghold should be in the mountains within a few miles of this place. The traitors from the Sixth Group of the Third Regiment we caught outside Shouchang City said that Sanniang was sent away by them. We entered Qijia Village, but it’s hard to find this place.”
A guy in a linen robe who looked like a herdsman came down from a mountain and was reporting to a man wearing a robe on his head.
"Ma Yaozi, it's best for your men to move quickly. Mr. Luo Erlang is waiting for you to make a contribution!"
The Fourteenth Prince stared hard at Ma Yaozi who came down from the mountain, and specially emphasized the word "meritorious service".
Ma Yaozi's expression changed, and he didn't even bother to drink water, so he quickly got on his horse again.
It would be better if Cao Sanniang was not kidnapped, but Zhang Zhong, who had been living in Shouchang, was also missing.
What's even worse is that the man Zhang Zhong was protecting has also disappeared.
What's even worse is that the chief culprit who kidnapped Cao Sanniang, Zhai Tongjin, the captain of the sixth team of the third regiment of Jiezhen Yaqian Yamen soldiers, and three other people, died in the husband's cave.
The biggest problem is that his superior, Jiedu Yamen and Shouchang Envoy Luo Erlangjun Luo Xianda's brother, Luo Tongda, the right horse in front of Jiedu Yamen and the military envoy guarding Yunmen, was once The prime ministers of the White Emperor, and it can even be said that the three brothers of the Luo family were all promoted quickly during the Zhang Chengfeng period.
In this picture, Mr. Erlang is missing, and Lady Cao Sanni is also missing. As long as you are not stupid, you can easily contact the Luo brothers. Therefore, the top priority is not just to find Lady Cao Sanni, but you must also find Mr. Erlang!
