They did not clean up the corpses in and outside the village, and they did not even dare to have a full meal. After cleaning the battlefield, they pushed seventeen carts into the valley and continued their long journey.
No one was riding horses on the road that followed. Seventeen heavily overloaded carts were hitched to war horses, making the entire team move even slower.
Liu Chengzong and his party had extremely complicated feelings towards the local government. On the one hand, most of them hoped that the government would still have sufficient control over the areas under its jurisdiction, but on the other hand, they did not want to encounter the government troops rushing from the towns to suppress the riots.
As a result, regardless of whether there are officers or soldiers, they will be worried about gains and losses.
Horsepower alone could not pull a heavy cart. At night, we finally reached a village called Laojunji. Everyone was rubbing their shoulders and pulling on the ropes, and their bodies and bones were so exhausted that they could no longer exert any strength.
"Master, you have to work hard on your journey and have a bowl of hot soup."
The old man in the village diligently heated the hot water and called his sons to bring it to the border army. His clothes were blackened by the stove. He stepped forward with his back slightly hunched over and put a half-black handkerchief on his shoulders. He said with emotion: "Old man."
Junji hasn’t seen so many people in a long time.”
Soldiers these days are not as friendly to the common people as they would be in later generations. Seeing soldiers is more unlucky than seeing bandits. Basically, the only people who suffer worse than soldiers are bandits.
The bandits in the mountains are not afraid that you will sue the officials, and they are sure that you will not sue the officials, so they rarely kill themselves, and even in order to extort property in the coming year, the bandit leaders will often mark off their territory to protect the local villages from other thieves.
Bandits cause harm.
Soldiers are different. Soldiers will ask for food wherever they go. If they don't get what they want, they will hang their heads on horses and use them to receive head-level merit.
Because the soldiers are afraid that you will sue the officials, they will not stop doing anything.
But Laojun gathered the remaining single-family old men who were not afraid of the enemy, and warmly greeted the two young men to chop wood and boil water. They were very courageous.
"Old man, I remember there were quite a lot of people in this market the year before last. Why -" Liu Chengzong took the water bowl, which was so hot that it was hot to the touch. He quickly put it on the ground in front of him, raised his head and asked, "You are the only one left in the village?"
"
"They're all gone, and I'm the only one left." The old man pointed to himself with a smile and said, "I am originally the temple blessing of Laojun Temple. I grew up watching Laojun's incense. Where can I go? Wait.
When will you bury the ball?"
"Master Jun has been to Laojunji before. Are you a local?"
"Yes, local." Liu Chengzong nodded and pointed south: "Have you ever been to Black Dragon King Temple Mountain?"
"Black Dragon King Temple Mountain..."
The old man frowned and recalled for a moment, but before he could think about it, he was interrupted by a young man walking by carrying soup: "Sir, you went to Fucheng to serve for the government four or five years ago, and you told me when you passed by Black Dragon Mountain.
"
The father was called eldest here, and Liu Chengzong raised eyebrows when he heard this title. He always thought that these two young men were the grandsons of the old man, but he never expected that they were sons.
After hearing what his son said, the old man remembered it and said hurriedly: "Yes, it is forty miles away. In the past few years, he could serve in the imperial court. But now his legs and feet are not working well. He has not been out for several years."
Liu Chengzong sighed, nodded slowly and said: "Yes, forty miles - burn my father-in-law's firewood, let's eat meat together at night."
Forty miles, forty miles from my hometown sounds very close, but walking is hard.
They had horse meat, which came from the only casualty in the day's battle. The horse had its legs cut off by the thieves and could not walk, so the officers and soldiers had to kill it.
The thief who slashed it was a rare warrior.
Just like few people dare to face the collision of an old sow, but horses are faster and heavier than pigs. There are three identical horses in each column, and there are malicious riders on the horses wielding sabers.
Few people can muster the courage to counterattack when faced with cavalry, even with a phalanx on their side.
Fortunately, there were only forty miles left. If they had walked for another three to five days with their current load, I'm afraid some of the horses would be exhausted.
Their loot is too much.
When the old man's young son passed by Liu Chengzong, he heard that there was meat to eat at night, and his eyes lit up. He also saw the dirty boy secretly swallowing his saliva.
But for the old man, this information made him look at the officers and soldiers with a little more worry. He did not dare to talk to Liu Chengzong anymore and went into the yard to boil water.
The sound of horse hoofbeats was heard in the distance of the village. Liu Chengzu, who had set up a camp sentry, led his horse back, greeted his subordinates who were scattered in various courtyards, and walked towards his younger brother.
He walked easily and sat down on the ground. It seemed that the night sentry and the terrain had been surveyed. He raised his hand to pick up a piece of firewood and carried it in the bonfire: "Let Sixteen feed you the red flag at night, and go back tomorrow."
Liu Chengzong raised his head, and on his brother's half-dark face illuminated by the firelight, he could clearly see worry, and said: "Brother, don't worry, look at this village, not even a single household has been robbed, they have not left from this way.
"
"Baishui King Er, Yanchuan King Monk, Luochuan King Tiger Black Evil God, and the Zijin Liang are all in Yichuan. Zuo Guazi, Feishan Tiger and Big Red Wolf are probably going there too."
He recalled the news his brother told him in Yuhebao two days ago, drafted in his mind the activities of the older generation of contemporary revolutionaries, and comforted him: "As for the Qingyang Han Dynasty Prime Minister, Wudu Zhou Dawang is still far away.
Nothing will happen at home."
"You calculated it clearly."
Liu Chengzu chuckled and asked: "What about Master Gao? He is in Ansai."
Master Gao is talking about Gao Yingxiang, who taught the brothers practical experience and horse-drawing skills in the prison of Mizhi County.
The brothers only knew that Gao Yingxiang had raised an army, but because his name was unknown, his troops were not large, and he never attacked the county town, no one knew where he was now.
There were so many thieves, soldiers, and bandits who raised armies in northern Shaanxi last year. Only Gao Yingxiang was the only one. The Liu brothers wanted to go around when they saw him.
On the one hand, it was due to their past interactions and disputes; on the other hand, the two brothers knew very well that Gao Yingxiang's unit had a strong combat capability that could not be compared with the likes of Bai Yingzi.
Longwangmiao Mountain is just at the junction of Qingjian, Fushi and Ansai counties. If Gao Yingxiang was still in Ansai, their hometown would not be safe.
It couldn't help but think about it, and whenever it thought about it, it had to worry about it.
The brother's rhetorical question made Liu Chengzong lose his mind. He happened to see the young man passing by carrying a kettle, raised his hand to stop him and asked: "Hey, baby, come here, what's your name?"
Lao Miao Zhu's son was shocked when he was suddenly called. He still remembered that Liu Chengzong was the one who said he had meat to eat at night. He looked left and right, then raised his dirty finger and pointed at himself:
"Master Jun... call me?"
He thought he could eat meat, and he became excited, his eyes were bright, and his thin spine was straight: "Come back to the army, Miao Sheng, my name is Chang Miao Sheng!"
Liu Chengzong smiled at his look, and turned to look at his brother: "The name is quite good, let him eat some meat too - I ask you, temple student, have any thieves passed by in the south in the past two years?"
The name is really good, and it even explains where the person was born. Moreover, the child looks to be a few years older than Sixteen. He is very smart and knows that he is asking about the Black Dragon King Temple.
"Thieves? Master Jun, there are barren mountains all around. There are no rich households, and no thieves will come. I haven't heard of the Black Dragon King Temple being robbed."
Chang Miaosheng was talking here, and Liu Chengzong heard his brother stand up and call Cao Yao to give the boy a bowl of horse meat soup. He turned around and said to him: "Go home tomorrow morning. If nothing happens, call the tenants and Min Zhuang will welcome you."