"Dang!" There was a crisp sound, and the cavalry leader looked at Ma Yaozi in shock. He had just stabbed Ma Yaozi in the chest, and the result was a clanking sound. Is this man made of iron?
"Do it!" Ma Yaozi grinned ferociously, and suddenly pulled out a horizontal knife from the bottom of the taxi. The blade shone with cold light, and he cut off the cavalry leader's arm in one fell swoop.
When Ma Yaozi shouted, Boar also shouted loudly, and like a wild boar, he slammed into the horse of the cavalry next to him.
The horse, which was not tall, neighed miserably and was knocked to the ground by the wild boar. Before the knight on the horse could get up, the wild boar pierced his neck with a sword.
In an instant, more than a dozen people started to move at the same time. Using hand crossbows and spears, they directly killed the more than forty cavalrymen and made them wailing.
None of them wore armor, or could not afford to wear armor, so they were no match for Ma Yaozi and the others who were wearing cloth armor.
Seeing that something was wrong, the cavalry leader whose wrist was cut off endured the severe pain and wanted to run away with a few trusted cavalrymen.
Upon seeing this, Ma Yaozi put his hand to his mouth and whistled, and five cavalrymen holding long horizontal swords immediately ran out from behind the mountain bag. This had been arranged long ago.
When the cavalry leader saw this, his face suddenly turned pale. This was not a merchant. How could a merchant afford such tall horses that were good for impact? These horses looked like the military horses of the Persian Saman Kingdom.
The battle ended quickly, because the horses of these cavalrymen were short, grassland horses that were good for long-distance marches. They were incomparable to the five tall horses of Han blood horse blood captured from the west of Suiye City by Ma Yaozi.
In addition, the knights on horseback are all the elites of Youyidu. They can fire their bows continuously even on the bumpy horseback, and the opponent cannot escape at all.
"The trial has come out. Yusupu, the dog slave, is at war with the pagans in the Burdag Mountains in the north. It is said that Yusupu suffered a lot of losses in the past few times, but now he has surrounded the mountain pass leading to the north. Now, we are preparing to storm the mountains."
Not long after, Zheng Tong ran over with his face flushed. The word heretic can already explain the problem very well.
"There used to be a big city near here, but it has been destroyed by continuous wars. However, the river in the north of the city is still there, leading to the mountains. It is exactly what the Yang family told me when they came to Shule nine years ago."
"You mean that we came at the right time, and the dog slave Yu Supu was besieging the castle built in the mountains by the Yang family and others?"
Ma Yaozi hesitated a little. If Zheng Tong's information was correct, there was a high probability that Zheng, Yang, and Xue's family would be besieged in the mountains. They only needed to rush into the mountains to find them.
But this is also risky. If Zheng Tong's memory is wrong, or if Shanzhong is not a descendant of the Anxi Army, then their mission will be over.
Because Yu Supu's army has blocked the way into the mountain, they will inevitably expose themselves if they want to enter the mountain.
"Everyone, let's discuss it! Should we risk going in, or should we continue searching."
Ma Yaozi did not dare to make a decision on such a big matter by himself, but invited everyone to discuss it.
. . . .
A small piece of multigrain cake and a bowl of bright red wine that looked like it was mixed with the blood of some kind of animal. This was everyone's lunch.
Multigrain biscuits are hard and rough to swallow, especially when your lips are dry and cracked. They taste like dirt in your mouth, but if you don't eat them, you won't be able to satisfy your hunger.
Yang Shouli took the multigrain cake and sipped it for a long time, but unfortunately, there was not a drop of saliva.
Xue Shouli next to him quickly brought the bowl of blood wine over. Yang Shouli hesitated for a moment, but couldn't help but took the bowl. He was too thirsty.
With all his willpower, Yang Shouli restrained the urge to drink the entire bowl of blood wine.
He took a gentle sip, and the faint smell of blood and the sweetness of the wine instantly filled his mouth.
Taking advantage of this juncture, Yang Shouli quickly threw the multigrain pancake in his mouth. If he waited for the wine to disappear, he might not be able to eat the pancake.
The blood wine in an earthenware bowl was passed around among seven or eight people. After three or four rounds, less than half of it was left. Xue Shouli forced a smile.
"Everyone, don't be polite. If you drink a little more each person, there will be mutton for dinner!"
"Is this our last sheep? We've finished killing the mutton, what will we do next year?
I heard me say this morning that there is only one jar of wine left in the warehouse. By then we won’t even have to drink the sheep’s blood wine. Who knows how long we can hold on? "Zheng Shouli, who grew up with them, seemed a little desperate.
"What are you talking about? At worst, we can rush down later and bring back some water. Those miscreants will surround us not once or twice. How can we succeed?
If someone has a set of iron armor, he must go to their formation and kill them three times in and three out! "
Yang Shouli didn't care, but he was not as relaxed as he seemed on the surface.
Every year during the autumn harvest, the bastards at the bottom of the mountain would come to surround them. From the very beginning, they could eat mutton, drink millet wine, wear clothes, and wear iron armor to fight. The bastards fled like wolves, but now they are stuck on the mountain with no solution. Even the water supply was cut off.
Everyone can see that even if they can survive this time, they will definitely not be able to survive the next time.
In order to resist the enemy this year, we have killed all the sheep in the city and eaten up all the rice in the public warehouse. If Zahu doesn't come to besiege the city next year, people will probably starve to death.
However, Yang Shouli didn't understand. Xin Qiuci was built so secluded on a high mountain. They were usually very cautious in dealing with the bastards at the foot of the mountain. They always appeared as a fishing and hunting tribe in the mountains. How could they attract the attention of the bastards at the bottom of the mountain? Woolen cloth?
pagan? It doesn't exist! Say Anrak Ahu, who doesn’t know how to wear a black headscarf? There is no reason to be discovered!
"Second brother, please come over!" When Yang Shouli was puzzled, his younger brother Yang Sili came over and called him.
Yang Shouli got up immediately. He, Yang Tongyi, was the clan leader. If he was asked to go, there must be something important.
New Qiuci, this is the name of the mountain city built by the three families of Yang, Zheng and Xue.
New Qiuci is built on the mountainside, with only a small road to the south accessible. To the east is a vast alpine pasture, to the north is a steep hillside, and to the west is a cliff.
The urban layout of the new Qiuci is similar to that of the original Qiuci. Although it only covers an area of a few hundred acres, it is divided into four urban areas: east, west, south and north. People of the three surnames live in the three urban areas of east, west and south respectively. The north city is the meeting hall and the public hall. The warehouse is located.
In the meeting hall, the elders of the three surnames Yang, Zheng, and Xue are already here. After decades of sharing the joys and sorrows, the three surnames are actually about to form one. This can be seen from the naming patterns of the descendants of the three surnames. .
The descendants of the three surnames were named according to the words "benevolence, justice, etiquette, wisdom, trust, loyalty, filial piety, integrity, forgiveness, bravery".
It's just that the word indicating seniority is placed at the end. Children of similar age even have the same word in the middle.
That's why there are naming rules like Yang Shouli, Zheng Shouli and Xue Shouli.
There is a guard in the middle, which means they are about the same age, and a ceremony at the end, which means they are from the same generation.
So beside Yang Shouli's Ye Ye Yang Tongyi, there was also Xue Tongyi, who had gray hair, sitting next to him. As for Zheng Tongyi, he had already passed away.
"No water dug out?" Yang Shouli didn't care about the unkind looks from the elders around him.
"I have already said that this new Qiuci is not easy to defend. The grass grows well, which does mean that there is water in the ground. But now we are almost out of iron pots, so what can we dig for?"
Yang Tongyi's cheeks twitched and he raised his hands. If he hadn't lost the energy to walk due to lack of water and water, he would have rushed down and slapped this traitor.
Xue Tongyi, who was next to him, hurried over to smooth things over, because Yang Shouli was not only someone he had grown up watching, he was also his son-in-law.
"Shou Li! When will you come back to anger you? You are the smartest among our younger generation. Come up with a solution. If this continues, we will all die of thirst."
Yang Shouli let out a long sigh, "I said a few years ago that we can either go down and abandon our ancestors and become obedient people, and believe in God and peace.
Or unite with the various ethnic groups in Beishan who don't believe in Tianfang Religion and work together to do something big.
But you are unwilling to abandon your ancestors, and you dare not unite all the tribes in Beishan. So what good solution is there now?
Later today, I rushed down the mountain with Li Zi and Zhi Zi, no matter what, I had to bring back some water. If I can survive this year, then go to the snow-capped mountains. I can barely survive by drinking blood like hair. "
Everyone in the meeting hall was silent as they talked. Five years ago, they still had a few sets of armor, dozens of bows and arrows, and enough food.
At that time, whether they were going down the mountain to become obedient people, or uniting the various tribes in Beishan that did not believe in the Tianfang religion to resist, they were still capable of fighting.
But now, every year, they are beaten by wild men from the mountains during the autumn harvest season, and their weapons and armor cannot be replenished, so they have to eat the most grain every year.
Now the bastards are waiting to break New Kucha and turn them into slaves. They will no longer even have the qualifications to surrender!
"Stop fetching water, you can pour out the wine from the warehouse and let everyone eat it. You young people, let's go up to the snow-capped mountains!"
Yang Tongyi closed his eyes and thought for a moment, and a cloudy tear flowed from his eyes.
Abandoning the old, weak, women and children, leaving a way for young people to survive, in his opinion, this is the only option.
Yang Shouli was also very sad, but he had to sneer at his father's ideas.
"My lord, you are overthinking. Why do the bastards at the foot of the mountain come to attack us every year? Isn't it because they think we can farm and women can weave?"
What they want is not this new Qiuci, nor do they want to kill people, but they want us to be their cattle and horses.
This year, three to four thousand soldiers were deployed at the foot of the mountain to besiege us. How could we, a few hundred young men with wooden guns, escape? "
"It's God's will! It's God's will! Can't you imagine that we will be Hu'er's slaves for generations to come? Is there no way out?"
Xue Tongyi screamed directly. Yang Shouli was right. The Zahu who came down the mountain had been attacking every year. It was not because they couldn't tolerate them. The place was vast and sparsely populated, and there were many unclaimed lands.
Those bastards have been attacking every year because the descendants of the Anxi army in Xinqiuci are too capable compared with the local herdsmen who only know how to herd sheep and milk cows.
Men are good at farming. Whether they are growing wheat and millet, making wine, or making pottery, they are much better than those bastards who only know how to herd sheep.
Not to mention women, Han women are very ingenious and are excellent at farming and weaving.
Although people at this time didn't know what productivity was, they just knew that Tang'er in these mountains was as good as any of the others in farm work. If they were caught, they would become slaves who could produce a lot of wealth.
Yang Shouli looked up to the sky and sighed, with tears streaming down his face. He touched the short knife in his sleeve, which was given to him by his wife Cainiang.
Cainiang looks pretty, but once she falls into the hands of Zahu, she doesn't know what kind of torture she will suffer.
So the couple had already agreed that once the city was defeated, Yang Shouli would kill Cainiang first and then commit suicide.
"There is no way, there is no way at all, unless the Tang Dynasty comes back to save us as our ancestors said!"
