It was already the twenty-third of the twelfth lunar month when Shen Lie arrived at Panyu Sandou Ridge.
In the desolate northwest, where frost, snow and loess were mixed on the ground, Liang Jun and Zhai Jinsheng pretended to be drinkers and waited here for two days before finally seeing Shen Lie's figure.
The tavern was packed with people, and a group of rough men were banging their wine bowls and singing loudly in a harmonious atmosphere.
After taking Shen Lie into the tavern, the waiter brought him warm tea.
Shen Lie took off the bamboo hat on his head, put it aside, and took a sip of tea. This tea from the northwest was a bit dry even with the water, and felt rough when entering his throat.
"General, is there any answer now?" Liang Jun asked.
"Yes." Shen Lie put down the tea cup with a calm and gentle voice.
Liang Jun nodded, with a bit of sadness on his face: "But Pan Yu is not convinced, I'm afraid the situation will be bad."
Shen Lie looked at him with a pair of quiet black eyes, waiting for him to continue.
"There are not many people left," Liang Jun continued. "More than half of the men have gone to join the army, and all the strong women have gone. The rest are all lonely, old and young. It would be unimaginable for those horse thieves to live forever."
"Has the horse thief been there during this time?"
"Not really, but the New Year is coming, so I might go."
Shen Lie said nothing, thinking carefully about the terrain of that area on the map.
"By the way," Liang Jun took out six letters, "Master, these are the letters of more than ten days."
Shen Lie took it and looked around, but there was no girl.
However, it has not been long since the last time she sent a letter. Due to the geographical distance, she has to send letters, sometimes even one letter a month.
But what is outrageous is that among the six letters, three are from Ji Xiahe.
The last two emails were sent out only one day apart.
Things had to be prioritized, and thinking that it might be urgent to send another letter so soon, Shen Lie opened the latest date, although the latest date was more than twenty days ago.
While Shen Lie slowly read the letter, Liang Jun and Zhai Jinsheng looked at Shen Lie.
There was a sudden sneer, a faint coldness in the deep eyes under his eyebrows, and a banter that Liang Jun had never seen before.
Liang Jun's heart tightened: "General, something happened..."
"Ji Xiahe provoked me." Shen Lie put away the letter, said no more, and opened other letters.
Liang Jun and Zhai Jinsheng looked at each other.
"How to...provoke?" Zhai Jinsheng was rarely so curious.
Shen Lie didn't answer, even if it was Liang Jun and Zhai Jinsheng who were no longer with him, he didn't want to ask this before them.
The previous letter was much more normal, mentioning the first big fish that bit the hook, Li Xiao.
Li Xiao's bait was set by Ji Xiahe, Wei Dongyou and others after they got together. They specially sent a letter to Liu Jingfu Inn, but Li Xiao beat him up and took the letter away.
In addition to Li Xiao, there are also people who Shen Lie specifically asked him to inquire about before, Xie Zhong and Qian Fengrong.
In the further letter, Ji Xiahe said that he was confused and confused, and that all the people who came to look for him all day long were just like a dog, and he almost knelt down to call him daddy after offering him a small favor.
Shen Lie put it away and opened the other letters.
Seeing that his expression had calmed down, Liang Jun said, "It seems that these three letters from Brother Ji are not of any importance."
The word "urgent" made Shen Lie's cold handsome face soften a little.
There is indeed nothing important, but the first letter I read reveals that there is an important person.
"Where is the army now?" Shen Lie asked.
"The river valley three miles away."
"Let's go." Shen Lie stood up and said.
Liang Jun was stunned: "General, if I don't take a break, the tea will still be hot."
Shen Lie took long steps and was almost at the door: "Go back and reply to the letter."
Liang Jun and Zhai Jinsheng chased them out the door, and Shen Lie was taking off the reins.
The person in charge of looking after the horses was the daughter of the owner of the tavern. Shen Lie was wearing a bamboo hat when she came. She only thought that Shen Lie was handsome, but she didn't want to look at him too much.
Now without the bamboo hat, the shopkeeper's daughter, who was used to seeing rough and burly men, couldn't take her eyes away from her handsome face in the sky.
Shen Lie's eyes glanced inadvertently and fell on her boots.
The shopkeeper's daughter lowered her head and smiled sheepishly: "Here, these shoes were given to me by someone on the way."
"Is there another booklet?" Shen Lie asked.
The voice became clearer and deeper, and the shopkeeper's daughter was heartbroken: "Yes, yes, it's at my dad's place. My dad looked at it a few times and said it was nonsense and told me not to look at it, but after he took it away, he would look through it from time to time and look at it. I’m addicted!”
"That's the brochure sent by people from Beiyuan." Shen Lie said.
"Yes, they are mean-spirited!"
After saying this, the shopkeeper's daughter felt a little embarrassed. After all, she was still wearing the shoes given to her.
As if he could read her thoughts, Shen Lie said calmly: "The shoes are very good, thick and warm, and can be worn casually. I think I am taking advantage of them."
"Yeah, I think so too." The shopkeeper's daughter obeyed.
Shen Lie said no more and led the horse outside.
Liang Jun and Zhai Jinsheng led their horses out from behind. They saw Shen Lie chatting with the shopkeeper's daughter from a distance and caught up to ask.
Shen Lie saw what he saw during his trip to Cangjin and Juezhou and told him.
"So insidious," Zhai Jinsheng frowned, "This is really killing people and killing people."
"I would like to see that booklet and see how shameless they are." Liang Jun said.
"They boast that the soldiers of the Northern Yuan Dynasty have strong horses and bold temperaments, and they belittle our border defenders everywhere except for books and boots. There are often sharp-tongued people who instigate people among the people, causing chaos in people's hearts." Shen Lie said as he walked.
"This is really too much."
"Excessive?" Zhai Jinsheng shook his head, "You are fighting against me on the battlefield. You are all trying to seize territory and take a bite of each other's flesh and blood. Who would care about the mere word "excessive"."
"No," Liang Junsurong, "We cannot let them mess with our people's hearts like this. We must find a way to fight back against them."
At the intersection, Shen Lie put on his bamboo hat. Zhai Jinsheng and Liang Jun got on their horses first. When Shen Lie did the same, Liang Jun said: "General, a hundred years from now, the history of this dynasty will have an article written by me, Liang Jun, about 'Giving Boots for Hypocrisy.' I want to expose his ugly face. But the winner is the king and the loser is the enemy. The history books are only written by the victors. We must not let the Northern Yuan take away the vastness of China!"
Speaking of the last four words, Liang Jun's eyes turned red as he thought of the hatred between his country and his family.
"No," Shen Lie said, "Don't worry."
Dai Yu returned to the team early. When Shen Lie and others arrived at Hetan Valley, Dai Yu was scolding and punishing people.
The new soldier system was implemented on the day we came out of Ningsi, more than half a month ago.
The original team leaders were promoted one after another, and soldiers were selected as new team leaders before promotion.
The entire army implements a responsibility system. When subordinates make mistakes, the officers directly under their command will be punished together and twice as much.
In order to prevent malicious attempts by subordinate officers and soldiers, directly subordinate officers have one opportunity to self-identify in writing, and they can only do so in writing.
This move was suggested by Shen Lie himself.
This caused a lot of illiterate soldiers to suffer.
Several people who were fighting today got into a fight because of this incident and finally started fighting.
Now everyone is walking steadily, their legs are sore and they are crying.
This chapter has been completed!