In front of Lijiazhai, more than ten miles west of Wu'an County under the jurisdiction of Cizhou, Zhangde Prefecture, Zhang Guangda stood on horseback, with nearly a hundred elite cavalry behind him.
He heard that the old man on the wall dared to refuse, and an angry look appeared on his face. With just a look from him, two knights galloped forward. About thirty steps in front of the village, they dismounted and took their bows and arrows in their hands.
"Whoosh...whoosh..." The sound of arrows piercing the air sounded.
"Tuk...tuk..." were heard twice, hitting the big wooden pillar of the gatehouse right in the middle of the old man's side. They were so frightened that they shrank their necks and ran in all directions.
Zhang Guangda then rode his horse to a place more than 20 steps in front of the village and shouted loudly: "Stop talking nonsense and call your boss to come out and answer the question!"
When the old man saw that no more bows and arrows were coming, he poked his head out from behind the wall and shouted: "Master, don't mess around. My great master was the minister of the previous dynasty, and the current magistrate of Cizhou belongs to my great master." student……"
"Du...du..." Two more arrows flew towards him, and he was so frightened that he retracted all his words.
Zhang Guangda was a little impatient. With a wave of his hand, a knight with a loud voice rushed forward and shouted: "My general has an order, please open the gate of the village as soon as possible, otherwise you will be accused of being a bandit!"
When the old man heard this, he was also panicked. In these days of war and chaos, the great master's reputation is not as effective as it was in the past. He knows this.
At that moment, he hurriedly stuck his head out and replied loudly: "Master Jun, please don't get angry. I will ask the master to come over and give you a reply. I also ask Master Jun to wait for a moment."
At this moment, a donkey cart drove slowly from the village and stopped in front of the village gate. The curtain of the cart was raised, and a middle-aged man in his forties poked his head out. A gust of cool wind happened to blow by. He shuddered and shrank back again.
A calm voice came from inside the car: "Uncle Fu, did the officers and soldiers from there tell us the name of our old man?"
Uncle Fu's slightly old voice hurriedly replied: "I've already paid for it, but those Qiu Ba insist on not leaving, they insist on seeing the uncle."
The curtain of the donkey carriage was lifted again, and a thin body wrapped in a thick plush cloak stepped out of the carriage. Uncle Fu trotted forward to support him, fearing that he would be blown down by the cold wind.
"Qiu Ba, who has never seen the world, doesn't know how big the minister is?"
Although he is thin, he speaks with great energy, so he must be well nourished on weekdays.
Uncle Fu helped him slowly walk up to the village wall. The thin middle-aged man also saw the situation outside the village wall and couldn't help but take a breath. He reached out a hand from his cloak and tightened it tightly. cotton-padded jacket collar.
After regaining his composure, Fang said, "May I ask which general they are waiting for and why they are here?"
Since this middle-aged man is the person in charge of the village, he is also Li Guangqi, the eldest son of the Li family. He who can be the person in charge of a large family must have seen some things in the world.
When he just saw the knights outside, all of them had bright armor and well-equipped equipment. Although they were well-organized, he knew that they were definitely not comparable to the local officers and soldiers, and were even stronger than the border troops in some places.
At this time, a rough voice came from outside: "A certain person is a guerrilla in front of the tent of General Zhang Cheng, the deputy commander of Xuanzhen. He is passing through Wu'an today. He has been ordered by our commander-in-chief to come to collect food. Please put Lijiazhai's national affairs first and don't do anything." shirk."
"...Zhang Cheng...Zhang Cheng?"
The middle-aged man shook his head and repeated it twice, and then muttered: "It seems familiar, but I can't remember it."
But Uncle Fu next to him said, "Sir, only these dozens of officers and soldiers have come. I'm afraid they won't dare to attack our village. No matter what they do."
When the middle-aged man heard this, his eyes widened and he said angrily: "Confused, do you really think that he is here to beg for food? What does it mean to be polite first and then fight. Do you understand?"
Gu turned around and looked at the one-eyed Zhang Guangda outside the village gate, still thinking to himself: "How many people in the world can have such a strong soldier? Why can't I remember Zhang Cheng?"
The young man who had just climbed down the village wall to go back to invite him suddenly said in his heart: "Isn't the man who killed the Tatar head called Zhang Cheng?"
"Which one?"
The middle-aged man was shocked when he heard this and said: "Yue Tuo!"
"Ah, this is Zhang Cheng."
He hurriedly ordered: "Quick, Uncle Fu, go down, open the gate of the stronghold, and invite the general outside to enter the stronghold."
Uncle Fu was stunned at first, but he reacted instantly and hurriedly ran towards the village gate, but was stopped by the middle-aged man: "Wait a minute, Uncle Fu, please invite this one-eyed general to come into the village alone.
Xu Dunzi, take a few people with you, bring some hot food and hot tea to the brothers who are riding horses outside to rest, and go to the stable in the north to drive away the cold air. Don't ask them to enter the stronghold. "
Uncle Fu and the clever young man agreed, turned around and ran down the village wall to prepare everything. The middle-aged man here was also supported by the villagers and walked down the wall.
…………
The gate to the east of Lijiazhai slowly opened, and the not-so-large suspension bridge slowly lowered. Uncle Fu changed his indifferent expression and walked out with a bright smile.
Xu Dunzi followed Uncle Fu and was directing several young and strong villagers to move or carry them across the suspension bridge. They went directly to a stable to the north of the village gate.
This is a place for people coming and going to stay and rest. It is a wooden shed built with thatched grass, with earthen walls nearly one person high built on three sides. It is quite large inside.
Uncle Fu came to Zhang Guangda's horse and said with a smile on his face: "The young man has been ordered by my uncle to invite the general to the stronghold for talks."
Zhang Guangdace looked down at Uncle Fu on his horse, and said in a cold and deep voice: "Your uncle is so arrogant, why don't you come to greet me in person?"
Uncle Fu had never been ridiculed like this before. He was about to reply, but when he raised his head, he saw the cold gaze from Zhang Guangda's single eye. He hurriedly changed his words and said with a smile: "My uncle is weak and cannot withstand the cold wind in winter. Please give me some advice." Forgive me, sir."
Seeing that his words had softened, Zhang Guangda stopped pressing him and shouted, "Please lead the way."
Uncle Fu turned around and walked towards the gate of the village. Zhang Guangda rode his horse and followed him, waving his hand to protect him and saying, "Just leave two of them to follow me into the village. The rest can rest in the thatched shed."
…………
To the northwest of Lijiazhai is a large courtyard with a high gate four deep. The courtyard wall looks thicker than the village wall. It also has a tall gatehouse, and a turret can be vaguely seen at the corner.
In the main hall of the second courtyard, Zhang Guangda sat swaggering inside, with two guards standing behind him. They pressed their swords on their waists with their eyes wide open.
Li Guangqi's expression was no longer indifferent. He had a smile on his face and said: "I'm Li Guangqi, a member of the Wu'an family. I am the person in charge of the clan. Just now, my servants treated the general poorly. I am here to apologize for him. I hope the general will not To care."
He didn't wait for Zhang Guangda to speak, and continued: "Students don't know that Deputy General Zhang is passing through Wu'an. If he had known it earlier, he would have gone to the county to pay homage to him in person. But I don't know the name of the general. Can you tell me?"
