Burning food instead of burning the village is also a gamble that Pan Chenghu has become a frightened bird and will not dare to come back after seeing the fire here.
After all, no one would be willing to burn such a perfect place to stay.
The place where Xu Huai and Liu Qiong'er are sitting is the main hall of the upper courtyard of Chonghuang Guan. Below is the valley on the east slope of Xiema Mountain. The terrain there is a bit more open. It is where the gate of Chonghuang Guan and the lower courtyard are located, and there are many more.
Barren fields; there is a dirt road heading east out of the mountain gate. After climbing over several hills, you can go to Shangliu and other villages in the upper reaches of Qingliu River.
The granary and thieves' houses that were set on fire yesterday were all located in the lower courtyard. At this time, they looked in a mess, with the embers not extinguished, and streaks of black smoke rising from the depths of the valley.
As a famous temple built over 400 years ago, Chonghuang Temple has been renovated in the past dynasties. The building complex is grand in scale. In addition to the lower courtyard at the mountain gate, there are also more than 100 pavilions and pavilions in the upper courtyard halfway up the mountain. Between the upper and lower courtyards
There are narrow and steep stone steps connecting them.
This stone staircase is only four to five feet narrowest, with a high and steep slope, sandwiched between cliffs and cliffs.
The terrain of the lower courtyard is vast and cannot be defended without a few people, but the upper courtyard is only connected by narrow stone steps, and the surrounding terrain is rugged, making it difficult to climb. If sufficient food and grass can be stored, thirty to fifty brave soldiers can be enough to defeat the powerful enemy.
Keep out.
At this moment, she saw three cavalrymen emerging from the hillock on the opposite side from a distance. Liu Qiong'er became heartbroken, thinking that Pan Chenghu had sent outpost thieves to ride over to investigate the situation here.
After a while, she saw that it was Xu Xin'an who led the two of them to gallop and dismount near the mountain gate. Only then did she know that after Xiema Mountain was captured here, Xu Xin'an led people to spy on the situation nearby.
Xu Wujiang, Xu Wuliang, Xu Wukun, Xu Guanshan, Su Laochang and others were all in the lower courtyard of the mountain gate at this time.
Xu Huai was too tired from fighting last night, so he sat on the steps and looked from a distance. He saw Xu Wujiang and the others waiting below for Xu Xin'an to walk over to talk. They didn't look at all panicked and said to Liu Qiong'er:
"Pan Chenghu doesn't have the guts to bring his men back to kill him. I can have a good night's sleep. Don't wake me up if you have nothing to do! I was really exhausted yesterday, as if I had fought a battle with fifteen or sixteen women!"
While talking, Xu Huai lay back and fell asleep. After a while, he began to snore slightly.
Liu Qiong'er pushed Xu Huai twice, and when she saw that he was motionless, she cursed twice. Worried about the cold dew in the spring morning, Su Xiaohuan went to find a thin mattress and brought Xu Huai over to cover him.
Xu Wujiang, Xu Wuliang, Xu Wuqi, Xu Guanshan, Su Laochang, Xu Xin'an, Xu Sihu and others walked up the mountain. When they saw Xu Huai sleeping soundly on the stone steps in front of the palace, they couldn't help but shook their heads and said to Liu Qiong'er
:
"Pan Chenghu didn't have the guts to come back after all. At this time, he led more than 300 thieves to the Shangliu Village in the upper reaches of Qingliu River. Xu Wufu gathered more than 300 people in Dongzhai overnight yesterday. This must have made Pan Chenghu even more afraid.
Act easily..."
Although Liu Qiong'er did not dare to stay in Shituoling last night, she admitted that she was timid, but it was not difficult for her to imagine Xu Wufu and Pan Chenghu being suspicious of each other and containing each other.
In the final analysis, it was Zheng Hui and others who acted behind the scenes and made things self-defeating.
Zheng Hui spread the news that Xu Wujiang was rejected by the Hutou Village and ran to Jinshagou to hide. When Pan Chenghu heard about this, he naturally suspected that the Xu family coveted Xiema Mountain, so he led the thieves to Lutai yesterday.
An army was mobilized in front of the village to investigate the crime.
As for Xie Mashan being burned last night, even if Pan Chenghu knew for sure that it was Xu Wujiang and the others, he would only believe that it was a strategy negotiated between Xu Wujiang and Xu Wufu.
Can Xu Wufu still send someone to explain to Pan Chenghu? Pan Chenghu’s thieves were forced to camp in Shangliu Village, not far from Lutai’s East Village. Xu Wufu couldn’t explain it, and he was afraid that Pan Chenghu would lead the bandits to massacre Dongzhai to vent his anger, so he could only
The main force of Xu's village soldiers concentrated on defense.
Under this situation, Pan Chenghu was afraid that his retreat would be cut off by the main force of the Xu clan soldiers, and he did not dare to return to Mashan. The two sides could only remain in a stalemate in the upper reaches of Qingliu River.
In other words, Xu Wujiang and the others are staying in Xiema Mountain at this time, and there is no need to worry about a large group of thieves coming back in the short term. Liu Qiong'er looked at the tired expressions of Xu Wujiang and others and could not hide their excitement, knowing that they
He must have made up his mind to establish himself here.
Thinking of this, Liu Qiong'er saluted and said, "Then I would also like to congratulate Master Xu."
"It's easy to talk about," Xu Wujiang laughed, and added, "How will we settle down in Xiemashan in the future? Please ask Miss Liu to help discuss the idea..."
"Me?" Liu Qiong'er asked, pointing to her nose in confusion.
"Without Miss Liu's help, we would never have been able to reach where we are today; and we are still very weak at this time, so we still need to ask Miss Liu to continue to help us," Xu Wujiang said.
Yesterday, Xu Huai, Xu Wukun, and Xu Wuliang rushed back to Shituoling Xinzhai to propose an attack on Xiema Mountain, Xu Guan Mountain, and Su Laochang. Xu Xin'an and others also thought this was unnecessary, but Liu Qiong'er
A woman from a romantic background saw the beauty of burning grain and building a stronghold early on.
In the past month, it was Liu Qiong'er who provided money and food to help the military soldiers and their families move to Shituoling to open a new remote village, away from Xu Wufu's control, and to solve everyone's worries.
Therefore, Xu Xin'an, Xu Sihu and others were also convinced by Liu Qiong'er.
"Don't you wait for this idiot to wake up?" Liu Qiong'er pointed at Xu Huai, who was sleeping soundly on the stone floor, and asked doubtfully.
"You silly man, we discussed whether we should settle down here when we captured this bandit stronghold. Xu Huai only said, 'When the enemy advances, we retreat; when the enemy garrisoned, we disturbed; when the enemy tired, I attacked; when the enemy retreated, I pursued'. Listen to this.
It's quite mysterious, but we still have to discuss the details of what to do." Xu Laochang said.
The lower courtyard of the mountain gate has been burned down, and the upper courtyard is easy to defend but difficult to attack. The soldiers worked hard and carried three to four thousand kilograms of grain and other light belongings on their backs overnight.
Even if Pan Chenghu led a large group of thieves to counterattack at this time, they could still defend the upper court for more than a month.
And as long as they can gain a firm foothold in Xiema Mountain, they have nothing to fear even if their whereabouts are exposed. After all, no one wants to hide their heads and tails for the rest of their lives.
Now that everything is fine, the worst thing is to evacuate the whole family to Xiema Mountain.
As for whether officers and soldiers will come to suppress us in the future, there is nothing to worry about.
The soldiers came to block it, and the water and earth came to cover it; if they couldn't cover it, they all turned towards the sky.
The poor people at the bottom are just such bachelors, and they don't have many worries like having a rich body and not being able to sit down in public.
…………
…………
Liu Qiong'er and Xu Xiaohuan stayed by Xu Huai's side, and she followed Xu Wujiang and the others into the main hall.
After this Taoist temple was occupied by bandits, the statues and clay sculptures in the main hall were pushed down and smashed, and the bronze statues were smashed and replaced with money, food, and armor. The main hall was vacated and became a gathering hall for bandits to discuss affairs.
Hall.
The main hall will be five feet deep and more than two feet high. It is a very rare tall and broad building in Tongbai Mountain. The nine huge pillars that cannot be hugged by one person are mottled with carved paint. The plaque in the deep part of the hall has already been replaced with the words "Juyi Hall"
"Three words, but the writing is so ugly that Pan Chenghu, the soul-stealing gun, actually signed it, which is really shameless.
There are six chairs in the main hall, where Pan Chenghu and the main leaders discuss matters.
Entering the main hall, Xu Wujiang asked his father-in-law Su Laochang to take the top spot. Su Laochang stood in the hall and said:
"You are deserting the army, and there is no way back except to fall into the grass. And everything needs someone to take the lead and make decisions, so that everyone can calm down - you have to shoulder this burden without hesitation."
In the past, Xu Wujiang was the main one who made the decision, but he never said anything about his status. Seeing this scene, Liu Qiong'er thought that Xu Wujiang and the others were going to officially establish a stronghold here, right?
Xu Wukun and Xu Wuqi knew that Xu Huai was still too young and the soldiers could not obey him, so they all advised Xu Wujiang to take the top spot.
"Wu Kun is good at training soldiers. In the future, we will rely on him to assist Wu Jiang in matters such as copycats. Wu Kun will take the second position." Su Laochang said.
"No, no, how can I sit in the second place," Xu Wukun said. "If I had to sit, it should be Xu Huailai. He is the bravest and has contributed the most. No one is dissatisfied with him sitting in the second place."
"Xu Huai is brave, as everyone can see, and he still has a lot of room for improvement in martial arts, so he can't be entangled with too many complicated matters. He can sit in the third or fourth place, but the second place needs help.
Wu Jiang handles many village affairs, please Wu Kun for your hard work!" Su Laochang said.
Xu Wukun thought that Su Laochang was right, and said: "In that case, let Wu Liang take the second position. He is good at forging. In the future, the village will need soldiers and armor, and this piece cannot be missing. And Xu Huai is brave.
But in battle, no risk is taken into account, and no strength is spared. It is really worrying that he needs a horse leader to take care of him. Until there is a suitable manpower, I will stay by his side, this fool!"
"..." Su Laochang nodded and said, "Wu Kun's suggestion is also very reasonable. Xu Huali killed three thieves in front of Lutai Village. I was shocked when I saw it from a distance. I really need a good hand to take care of him on the battlefield.
, but I feel so wronged to you, Wu Kun!"
"Ha, what's wrong with this?" Xu Wukun laughed.
"Wu Liang takes the second seat, and let Xu Huai, the bastard, take the third seat. Who should take the fourth seat?" Xu Wujiang also followed the good advice. He heard that his father-in-law and Xu Wukun were discussing it, and it made sense. Xu Xin'an, Xu Sihu and others stood there.
The people on the side nodded repeatedly, and simply left it to them to decide on the subsequent sorting.
Su Laochang said: "Xu Xin'an is a rare good player of the younger generation, but he is a little younger. It is more suitable for Guan Shan to take the fourth top spot on his behalf; in addition, Xu Xin'an cannot all take the top spot in the village.
The descendants of the family will come to sit here. I'm afraid it will be difficult to recruit soldiers and horses in the future, so it is better to leave the vacancies first..."
Liu Qiong'er was secretly surprised. She came to Lutai Village with Xu Huai a few days ago and saw Su Laochang walking out of the fields. He was wearing ragged clothes and bare feet, and holding a load of dung and water in his hand. However, he had no physical skills except fists and feet.
He is weak and organized, and it is even rarer that he can still see the subsequent development problems of the cottage at this time.
"Third Master, come here and take the seat!" Liu Qiong'er heard Xu Xin'an greeting her outside the palace. She looked over and saw Xu Huai yawning and walking in, looking like he had just woken up.
"Third master, what third master?" Xu Huai asked doubtfully.
"Are you happy that everyone recommends you to take the third position?" Xu Xin'an told him what everyone had discussed just now.
"I don't want to sit in this third position. What Father Su said makes sense. This position cannot be occupied by all the children of my Xu family. Otherwise, how will we recruit troops in the future?" Xu Huai said, "Miss Liu's name is the shadow of a tree.
, it’s her turn to take the third spot!”
"ha……"
Everyone was stunned. Unexpectedly, Xu Huai was unwilling to sit in the third position, but pushed Liu Qiong'er to sit...
