The ancient Taozhou is called the Tea Horse Market. It is located in the Gansu Plateau. It is said that Mu Ying, the general who conquered the West during the Great Migration of the Ming Dynasty, fought here. Therefore, both in terms of historical origins and humanities, it has Famous for a while.

Nowadays, the former Qing army has long since disintegrated, leaving only a mess and raging hatred. The sprouts of hatred and the fanaticism of war eventually made this turbulent era even crazier. The three brothers of the Ma family, Ma Jun and Ma Jingqian, Ma Dongqing grew up in the tea-horse mutual market since he was a child. Ma Jun was recognized as a kind and righteous person when he was young. The death of his mother made Ma Jun extremely hate his father's incompetence. The half-brothers Ma Jingqian and Ma Dongqing It also made him feel alienated, but at least he was a good helper.

People are always like this. When they are most helpless, in the most helpless times, they will think about changing themselves and even the world.

It was on a Lantern Festival, but the local Lantern Festival was different. The tug-of-war that had been popular for hundreds of years was the most fascinating culture of the Lantern Festival. On this day, people from both upper and lower villages would gather in the central streets to participate in the tug-of-war. According to legend, The one who wins will have a great harvest and peace this year.

The three brothers were still sleeping soundly under their mantles like oil gourds and without any protection from the rain. A large piece of rotten wood fell from the roof and hit the sleeping Ma Jun. He jumped up in pain and panic and stepped on them several times. Rotten wood, suddenly remembered that today is the Lantern Festival. There is a story my mother told when she was alive. It is said that after every Lantern Festival tug-of-war festival, when everyone rushes to participate in the tug-of-war, there will be an old Kunlun man disguised as begging in search of a powerful man. So on this day, being kind and charitable has become an opportunity for wealthy people to pursue their desires. During times of war and chaos, you have to spend the festival carefully, and such a high-profile tug-of-war can be peaceful every year, all thanks to the sage. Bless.

After all, stories are stories, and legends are legends after all. How come there are so many coincidences? The two brothers who couldn't wake up were hungry and couldn't get up. There was no way to go on like this. As the eldest brother, Ma Jun must also take responsibility. In the chaos and excitement of the tug-of-war, I thought I would steal some to satisfy my hunger.

There are also many soldiers selecting good horses in the cattle and horse dealer's field. Usually when the three brothers are bored, they especially like to come here to watch the fun and daydream about when they can have a good horse.

"I'm out of the way, and the tug-of-war will be over in another hour. I'm still fascinated by it."

"It's none of my business, I just care about whether there is something in my stomach." Ma Jun was very disdainful, but the handsome young man in front of him was actually a wealthy man.

"Oh? Can I treat you to flower buns?"

"The iron rooster has plucked its feathers, forget it, tell me, what do you want from me?"

"Go into the city. There is the "faucet" of Shangcun there today. As long as you can do a good job with the "faucet" before the tug of war, I guarantee that the winner is the one from Xiaocun, and I will be rewarded in the future!" The young man was very happy! He said to him proudly.

"It's a deal?"

"It's a deal!"

It's past noon, so let's take this piece of flower bun to the two younger brothers. It's time to wake them up. In order to ensure that the person guarding the "dragon head" will not be discovered, we have to think of a foolproof strategy. How should we do it? Although He said that he would get something good after this, but Ma Jun could not help but feel a little regretful. After all, this is a "very special" holiday event for Tea Horse.

Ma Jingqian disagreed. He usually had the most bad ideas, but Ma Dongqing was a child who didn't like to express his opinions very much, and he was still young. Ma Jun hesitated for a while, then looked back at his two younger brothers, who were very thin, and finally said Compromise: "Okay, do it!".

Almost few families in the upper village are wealthy, and there is not even a decent ancestral hall for the "dragon head". However, because there are more people in the prime of life, there is a better chance of winning. After the three brothers arrived, they first thought about how to get rid of the guard, and came up with some clever ideas. Ma Jingqian, who was more in charge, whispered and planned to let Dongqing suffer some pain first. After grabbing Xiao Dongqing's arm, Xiao Dongqing burst into tears and ran to the guard to tell the guard that his father had just turned down the alley and could not find him. When they arrived, the guard couldn't do anything. The child was crying pitifully, so he went to look for him and distract him. It was time for the two brothers to take action, but Ma Jun still felt that something was wrong. The culture that had been passed down for hundreds of years was unfair because he was unfair.

"Ma Er, I still feel guilty for doing this!"

"When you're starving, all the guilt is gone. Just do it, brother. Even if it wasn't me, I can at least let Dongqing live at such a young age."

"Ma Er, I really can't be cruel."

"Okay, I'll do it!"

After saying that, Jinggan went up and used the thin piece of iron to cut the neck of the "faucet", pried open the breaking point of the steel plate embedded in the ground, then wrapped the neck of the "faucet" tightly and slipped away quietly. , during the tug-of-war, if the iron chain with the "dragon head" neck embedded in the ground breaks, the downstream will follow the trend and win.

As night fell, more and more people gathered on the street, and they all lined up up and down according to the previous rules. After a gunshot was fired, everyone spread out their postures noisily, and the three brothers lay down on the big poplar tree in the distance to watch. lively.

"Yo hey! Yo hey! Yo hey..."

Sure enough, the young and middle-aged people had the upper hand in this kind of activity. After a stalemate for about a moment, the upper reaches clearly had the advantage. Everyone's face was full of joy, and they pulled hard, and the trumpets and drums became louder. Ma Jun felt very uneasy. In an absolutely fair situation, I used such crooked thoughts, either because of greed or because of survival. I looked at Ma Er in the tree next door, hey, where are the people? Looking around, I saw the stars on the top of the mountain. The dots are getting closer and closer. What is going on? I quickly jump down from the tree to find Ma Er and Xiao Dongqing.

Suddenly, a large group of cavalry rushed into the crowd with torches in one hand and sabers in the other. Blood and flesh flew everywhere, and the crowd scattered. The cavalry did not know whether they were frightened or stunned by the tragic scene. For a while, they didn't even know how to move their feet. Fortunately, someone kidnapped him and he escaped the difficulty. After he was far away, he calmed down and murmured: "Where is my brother? What should I do with my brothers? Please, please." , look for my brother!" Living in troubled times, you never know what will happen in the next second. The so-called blessing of the Lantern Festival every year has only become the most comforting spiritual sustenance in these troubled times. Ma Jun is even more guilty and helpless. He thought it was a divine punishment. He thought it was a very inhumane choice that he made to survive. He abandoned principles and justice. Where is the justice? Believe in God, God will not bless you. Believe in God, God will not bless you. !

Maybe he was hungry, maybe he was frightened. After being comatose all night, he woke up and saw his two brothers in front of the bed. He didn't know where they were. In short, he saw Ma Er and Dongqing unscathed, which made the original My fearful and guilty heart felt somewhat comforted.

"It's okay, brothers! Help me up and go see how the Tea Horse Street is doing."

After walking out of the house, I found that I was at the top of Xifeng Mountain. Looking down the mountain, everything was in a mess. There was smoke everywhere. After the wind blew, the smell of blood hit my nose. The river in the west of the city mixed with blood into a river of blood. The horse army plopped.
Chapter completed!