Chapter 522: The world is complicated, ugly and dirty
As Zhou Tong said, whether people in the green forest live well or poorly, what they really care about is face. This statement is true when applied to other people, but it is inevitable for Zhou Tong himself.
As a seventy-year-old martial arts saint, there is not much to criticize about the old man's character. In order to provide disaster relief, he set foot on hundreds of bandit villages within a few months. After hearing about Ning Yi's incident, he used his advanced age to
He has traveled thousands of miles. As long as it is a kindhearted thing and a moral thing, even if there is no reward and the person involved does not know it, the old man will not hesitate to work hard for it, or even pay more.
However, over the years, he has become the most respected person in the world. Although he may not care about this false reputation, wherever he goes, the old man will be treated with respect. If he puts forward ideas, others will definitely take them seriously.
.Even some disciples like Yan Huan - although they may not be smart - can be inspired by his arrival to risk their wealth and life.
As for his trip south this time, although Ning Yi was respectful to him, he actually didn't give him much face - the two encounters between the two sides were like this - Zhou Tong didn't worry about it.
He could hold a grudge, but he couldn't put his hot face on a junior's cold buttocks, so when he finished what he felt he should do the next day - leaving behind his ideas for improving the battle method - he left directly.
When Tian Donghan handed over the pages of improved formations to Ning Yi, Ning Yi felt somewhat emotional. But at this time, his mind was no longer on these matters. After the explosion in the center of the small county town, the matter of seeking revenge and intimidation was
It has already ended, and he will return to the capital, and then immediately set off for the north. Due to the wedding incident, things have lagged behind the original plan - he had already sent a letter to Hongti, informing her that he was going
Regarding the news about Lu Liang, I don’t know if she can wait impatiently now.
Since knowing about Qiyan Buluo and Bole Jijin Temujin, many plans have been redone. For Ning Yi, when a lot of information is unclear, the end point of these plans is also difficult to
Calculation: What enemies will I need to face in the future? The minimum thing I need to ensure is self-protection. The highest thing I need to ensure is that the strength of the enemy cannot be calculated and the things that need to be dealt with cannot be estimated. So what is the minimum level of self-protection?
, it is also difficult to calculate.
When the standard of things is uncertain, the plan can have no upper limit. Therefore, the time that will come next is basically not enough. Even if you only do the personnel work, you have to race against time for the work at hand. Even with such pressure, he
He was not willing to give up his family or the people he cared about. He spent a lot of time in the capital with his wife and children.
Fortunately, he is no longer an entrepreneur who starts from scratch and slowly explores. Even with such nervousness, he can still lay out more than a dozen lines of work to move forward in an orderly manner: the development of Zhuji, Jiawei's training, and the training of Jiawei.
Storytelling, control of propaganda, research and development of new products, use of gunpowder, plans to operate Luliang, attention to the Miao border... After determining what was in mind, plans for these things expanded rapidly.
Although some of these things are still in the stage of laying the foundation with no visible effect, if we look back and forward, starting from February of this year, Ning Yi's plans and projects have expanded to an almost crazy level, just for the improvement of gunpowder.
and application ideas. Within a month, he selected more than a dozen directions, including mines and phosphorus fires, and let the fireworks workers in the workshop try them.
Since most of these craftsmen are not geniuses and their abilities are limited, even with Ning Yi's inspiration, many projects still encountered problems at the beginning. These projects around Ning Yi are like walking on a high wire rope.
Generally. But soon people will find that, on the whole, these projects began to grow rapidly within a few months. Although some failed and were relegated to the archives, many ideas still succeeded in a crazy and radical state.
Landing on the other side, the person walking on this tightrope is obviously a veteran acrobat with rich experience.
Compared with the research and development of new items and the richness of Zhuji products, the expansion of business and the confrontation with various families involved in the disaster relief incident can only occupy a part of Ning Yi's mind. As for the green forest people in Taoting County, it is even more so.
A small part of a small part. It was also because there was too much commotion in the capital before. At the party where Ning Yi married Yunzhu and Jin'er, a group of people came to make trouble. Although some of them were captured and killed on the spot, some still escaped.
The party was not a grand one, but many people from the Right Prime Minister's Palace came to congratulate them, such as Yao Zunian, Ji Kun, and Monk Jueming. Although they seemed to be kind on weekdays, the relationships around these people were...
Which one is not complicated. Yao Zunian was a contemporary scholar and actually had his own family behind him. Ji Kun was the general manager who handled the dirty work for the Prime Minister's Palace. Monk Jueming was born in the royal family. Ordinary Green Forest,
The underworld simply doesn't dare to bully these people.
At that time, these people got angry with gloomy faces. Later, because the news of the Taoting County Heroes Conference came too timely, Ning Yi took the time to go south. "Your position is too right, I couldn't help but kick him over."
By the time the matter was finished and Zhou Tong arrived, Ning Yi was already dealing with other things.
A hunting spree in Taoting County ended quickly, and most of the problems directly involved afterwards were solved by the government. However, due to the indirect influence of the expansion of the reputation of the "inner demon", more Green Forest people were filled with indignation, and there were more problems there.
Because of the complex cause and effect, it is difficult to boil it down to this single incident.
In this tragedy, the only thing that can leave some traces in Ning Yi's heart is probably seeing Zhou Tong again. Even though it is not pleasant, the existence of this old man is not easy to forget. But it is just
Just a little memory left in my heart.
However, although the meeting was not pleasant, after leaving Taoting, Zhou Tong still traveled to many places for Ning Yi's matter. It was not until a year or two later, during some rather direct information collection, that Ning Yi finally
I know bits and pieces that the old man had specifically mentioned this matter in his meetings with many people, explaining and guaranteeing Ning Yi's behavior during the disaster relief. However, the reputation of the inner demon had already spread widely.
Guang, Taoting's tragedy has been deliberately publicized, and Zhou Tong's words and guarantees are actually unlikely to play a decisive role.
But no matter what, thinking about these things at that time, recalling these two unpleasant meetings, eventually formed extremely complicated feelings in Ning Yi's heart.
This is a topic for later, so I won’t mention it again for now.
*******************
The weather has entered summer. In the far north, after the fall of Emperor Tianzuo, the Jin Kingdom was busy sweeping the land to the west of the perished Liao Kingdom. After Zhang Jue was killed, whether it was Guo Yaoshi's ever-victorious army stationed at Yanmen Pass
The Wu Dynasty troops to the north no longer made major aggressive moves and began to switch to passive defense.
The situation in the north was delicate, and an atmosphere of solemnity and vigilance had already brewed in the south court. In the spring of this year, Tong Guan was named the Prince of Guangyang for his contribution to the recovery of the six states of Yanyun. After that, he became an official and retired.
Tan Zhen, who succeeded him, began to actively build his political achievements: that is, he tried his best to recruit and win over the refugees and bandits in the north, and tried to recruit and surrender the Tiger King Wang Qing to build a defense line in the north centered on Taiyuan.
Whether such unscrupulous recruitment can play the necessary role has not yet been tested in practice. But it is conceivable that the numbers on the books will become very beautiful, and it will also expand the deficit in the logistics accounts of the Ministry of Accounts and the Ministry of War.
With Blank. Qin Siyuan and others tried to write a letter to dissuade him, but the emperor was willing to trust the newly appointed privy envoy and knew that the matter would not be fruitful. After a symbolic rebuttal, Qin Siyuan had no choice but to give up.
In any case, compared to a master like Tong Guan, in the eyes of Qin Siyuan and others, Tan Zhen can only be regarded as a bastard with mediocre qualifications. With mediocre qualifications, the damage he can cause is limited.
Of course, this qualification is limited compared to Tong Guan. Any disturbance in the court will cause huge waves among the people. Since Tan Zhen's first fire requires political achievements, the review, leadership, and control of soldiers are not strict.
, the people in charge below responded to the court’s call one after another.
On the roads to the north, some green forest people with criminal records and bandits who robbed homes have begun to use this stock wind to clear their names, kill people and set fires, get recruited, ask for supplies from the court, eat royal food, become rich and handsome, and marry Bai Fumei.
Stepping onto the pinnacle of life, it was a little exciting to think about the change. At this time, this change was still in the beginning stage, but many Green Forest people had already been attracted and joined the mountain camp bandits with connections, passing on their identities.
Hand it over for cleaning.
The fluctuations caused by Tan Zhen's ascension are naturally more than superficial. Imperial officials are not all mediocre and fools. While recruiting people, of course they also want leadership, and the various bandits in the cottage intend to maintain their power.
When they were independent, they could get salary from the court for free. Some bandits found themselves stupid after being recruited. Others did not hand over their leadership, but they did so. They really became the leading soldiers of the hard-working people.
Start the action below.
In any case, the issuance of an order from the imperial court also means the change of invisible governance power in several places in the north. Every change and transfer of power and interests in history, no matter how big or small, will not be quiet. Bandits, officers and soldiers
, the conflicts in the green forest have not calmed down because of the recruitment, but are becoming more and more intense day by day in the name of these immature recruitment policies.
In the land of the North, the imperial court, and the Wu Dynasty, the laws of survival composed of undercurrents are like the complex food chain on the prairie. Sometimes they are calm, sometimes violent, sometimes hidden, sometimes brutal. And in such a world, there are also more
Many people, living their seemingly plain and simple lives, only experience an occasional disturbance when they are watched by the cruel laws of survival.
On Shandong East Road, in a small village near Yuying County, Lin Chong was sitting under a tree beside a field, watching a stream flowing quietly in front of him.
The spring plowing season has passed, and it is now leisure time in the countryside. Lin Chong often goes out to see if there is anything to do. Sometimes he follows a talented man named Fang nearby to do some short-distance escort work.
But it was long-distance and too troublesome, so he still didn't want to get involved.
He thought that he was satisfied with the current life and the days in the countryside. But many times - such as now - he was not willing to go home. He just wanted to sit by the stream and think about it.
Just think about it. Sometimes I just think about it for a long time.
Last winter, after meeting Gao Yanei in Daming Mansion, the confusion in his heart became more and more obvious. This confusion was mixed with huge hatred, self-blame, and pain: that day he followed Gao Yanei until the end, thinking
He thought that he should take action and risk everything. The time had come for this beast to be full of evil. However, in the end, he still failed to kill him, so he suddenly realized that he was so cowardly.
Widow Xu in the village - now his woman - can satisfy him in a sense, and this satisfaction does not come from appearance. He no longer pays attention to these things. She makes him feel
Warmth, although at the beginning this widow made people feel aggressive and even domineering, but since she got together with him, the woman has been really submissive to him, maybe because a husband-in-law died. She cherishes the man in front of her very much.
She relied on him, and he even had a certain dependence on her, as if she was the only treasure left after everything was lost.
However, since last winter, the pain and hatred in his heart often made Lin Chong unwilling to return home too quickly. He thought vaguely in his heart that he should not enjoy the warmth so willingly. If he felt that he was enjoying it, how could he?
Doesn’t it make him look even more cowardly? He has such deep hatred and reasons for having to take revenge, but not only does he not take revenge, he is still here, feeling warm...
At the same time, another part of his heart that was as gray as ashes was telling him that he should forget everything and just live out his life peacefully in this small mountain village. This was what he thought until Daming Mansion saw him.
At the moment when Gao Mu'en passed away, the pain piled up again.
When he occasionally met with "Brother Gao", he could also hear some news from the outside world, mostly from the green forest, such as the Great Light Sect, and Zhou Tong. Perhaps the most complicated thing for him now is
Hearing Master's name. These emotions made him sit under the tree, unwilling to go home and feeling depressed.
But no matter what, when the sun set, he got up and walked back. The woman would wait for him at home. After cooking the food, at night, she would try her best to please him with her body, making his heart feel warm. Thinking of it
Here, he felt guilty for coming home late. It was on this day that when he walked outside the door of his courtyard, he heard the noise.
"Get out! Get out! I chopped off your hand...you try..."
"Hey, you woman, you still dare to be so shabby. Your concubine hasn't come back. Do you know that he doesn't want to come back at all..."
"Fuck you, did you know he would come back and beat you to death..."
"Beat me to death, come on! Beat me to death! You are a free-spirited whore, you are my cousin's woman..."
"I've paid you back all the things I owe you, get out-"
"Huh huh, you're still very arrogant. Let me tell you, that wild guy of yours is not a good person. Judging from the scars on his face, he must be a fugitive arrested by the government. He must have been tattooed... Do you want me to sue the government?
——”
"Go and sue, you go and sue, I tell you, you made a mistake, get out now, I won't care about you, if you don't get out, if you continue to gossip here, I will chop you to death with a knife. Then I will kill your whole family.
People, at worst, I, Xu Jinhua, will be buried with you all by myself. Do you think I can do it?"
Lin Chong's face darkened. He also knew the man who was quarreling with Xu Jinhua in the courtyard. He was the cousin of Xu Jinhua's former husband. People called him Geng Er Lezi. He was a well-known lazy idler in the village. Because he was idle and had nothing at home,
No woman was willing to marry him, and because of this, he became a bit messy when he saw women. For this reason, he was beaten many times by the villagers.
After Xu Jinhua's husband-in-law, that is, his cousin, passed away, he probably had a lot of thoughts about Xu Jinhua. Lin Chong noticed this at first, but he had just arrived here at that time, and he seemed tall, and Widow Xu also
Being shrewd, he didn't dare to do anything. Now he probably felt that he had figured out Lin Chong's weakness, so he couldn't help but come to the door. I'm afraid it wasn't the first time.
The affairs between men and women in the countryside are far simpler than in the city, but in many aspects, they are also far more chaotic than in the city. This kind of idle man comes to the door and gossips about a widow. If he resists less, he will be raped.
The possibility is not impossible. This kind of people are already notorious, and there is no shame at all. In many villages, there are more or less one or two people.
Lin Chong touched a stick and walked in through the door. At the door of the room over there, Geng Erzi noticed Xu Jinhua's gaze. He turned around and saw Lin Chong, and his eyes flinched.
"You, you, you, what are you going to do... Mu, what are you going to do..."
Lin Chong raised the stick towards him. Even though he was cowardly in some aspects, he was still half a soldier, with martial arts skills, murderous intent, and scars on his face. When he really showed his murderous intent, not many people could stand in front of him.
Maintaining his emotions, the wretched village man's legs almost trembled: "You, you, you, you want to kill someone... you can't... do you know that if you kill me, someone from the government will come, surnamed Mu, you are a fugitive."
, the scar on your face must be a tattoo. You dare to kill me..."
The stick in Lin Chong's hand was fixed. At this moment, Xu Jinhua rushed out of the room and pushed the scoundrel Geng to the dirt floor in the yard: "Get out! Get out of here -"
The village man got up from the ground, but stared at Lin Chong: "Haha, I'm right, right? Mu, if I were to report to the official, what would you do... Haha, kill me if you dare, kill me...
...Xu Jinhua, you adulterers and adulterers. You must have teamed up to kill my cousin. You will have retribution. You..."
He saw Lin Chong walking straight over, stumbling on his feet, running out of the courtyard door in a panic, with urine streaming from his buttocks. Lin Chong stood at the courtyard door, and was pulled by Xu Jinhua. His eyes were full of bloodshot eyes. His whole body was trembling. For a moment,
After that, he swung the wooden stick down in his hand, and heard a bang. A crack was split into a piece of bluestone in the yard, and the front part of the wooden stick was also broken into pieces, making a buzzing sound. If anyone knew him before,
When you meet him, you might be surprised at how advanced his martial arts has become.
In fact, with his martial arts skills, if he really wanted to kill that scoundrel Geng, how could he need a stick? How could he have found out, walked in and stabbed him to death with just one finger. But he is indeed afraid of the government at the moment.
He was just afraid of disrupting Widow Xu's life and getting her involved in all kinds of troubles.
He stood at the entrance of the courtyard for a long time. Xu Jinhua stretched out her hand behind him to calm him down: "Calm down your anger, calm down your anger, he doesn't dare, he doesn't dare."
But after a while, Lin Chong finally said: "I'm going to kill him."
Widow Xu hugged his hand suddenly. Her eyes were complicated and she didn't know what she was thinking. She just shook her head subconsciously. After a moment, she looked at Lin Chong: "Don't kill him. Let's go. You take me with you."
Bar……"
Lin Chong's body stiffened and he turned to look at the woman behind him.
"Are you...willing...to come with me?"
"I, what do I don't want to do? I have returned everything I can to the Geng family. Now this family is empty, and they still come over every now and then. You are my man, you go
Wherever I go, I will go. You...you can't leave me."
After rescuing Lin Chong, although she didn't ask, she must have had an inference in her mind. It didn't matter to her whether Lin Chong was a strongman, a gangster, or a wanted criminal. In fact, she definitely didn't care if Lin Chong wanted to kill Geng Erzi.
Yes, I was just worried that Lin Chong would kill someone, so I wanted to flee alone.
"The rice in the field... has just been planted..." After a moment, Lin Chong said subconsciously.
"I don't want it anymore, and I don't want the fields anymore." The woman shook her head, "You, can't you get a job? I'll follow you, and I'm happy to eat chaff and drink water. You take me with you, and we'll find a place where no one knows you.
Stay here and I will help you give birth to the baby. You don’t want to go alone..."
When the woman said this, she became a little emotional. Lin Chong stood there, and after a while, he slightly tilted his head.
As night fell that day, they packed up their few belongings and money and left the small mountain village. They agreed to live in a friendly place unknown to others and plant a few acres of land.
, give birth to a group of children, and grow old together. This is another, new beginning for them.
At the same time, a little to the north, a woman named Lou Shuwan was sitting on a step in the cottage, looking up at the stars. This was a cottage under the command of the Tiger King Wang Qing. When she sat here
, not far away there were many men pointing and looking.
Once upon a time, she may have liked the feeling of being watched, and enjoyed the interactions with certain men, but now, whether it is a scholar-like pretty girl or a rugged green forest hero, she only thinks of it in her heart.
What remains is an ugly impression and a feeling of disgust.
Although many people are watching her, not many men dare to come over and say or do anything. She has her own journey, just passing through here and staying for one night. When she arrives tomorrow, this woman will accept the order from the Tiger King
The woman will lead her escort team and head northwest. Her purpose is to go to Luliang Mountain, contact and cooperate with a large village there, and open up a way to do business.
Since returning to the Tiger King, she has accomplished a lot of things.
This time, there will be no problem.
She thought like this and looked into the distance. Her eyes were full of confusion.