Naturally, Hu Biao could not, like Cao Mengde, find a scapegoat to kill when there was a shortage of food to stabilize the morale of the army.
As for the issue of killing horses for meat, it is not impossible.
The key is that now, not only the rice, noodles, and dried meat that the people eat are almost gone, but also some of the beans that the horses eat.
If the war horse is fed some grass, it does not mean that it is not good at all, but it still has to be mixed with a large amount of concentrate.
Otherwise, under the current high-intensity use of traveling every day, believe it or not, these war horses will lose weight quickly, resulting in a rapid decline in horsepower.
So after thinking about it in his mind, Hu Biao still waved the guide Qian Fu over.
After Qian Fu arrived patting his horse, Hu Biao asked:
"Besides Jizhou City, where else can we get some supplies of food and grass nearby? It doesn't matter whether it is purchased with money or in exchange for war horses."
Instead of going directly to Jizhou City to buy grain, Hu Biao was mainly worried about:
Such a large group of people is too ostentatious, and it would be troublesome if a large number of Liao soldiers were to target them.
But except for this kind of area, after Hu Biao and his friends have been here for so many days, all the brave warriors in the camp, although they are not good enough to fight on horseback, can ride on war horses without having to worry at all.
Ask yourself, no matter what happens, you don’t have to worry at all.
After hearing this, Qian Fu lowered his head and thought for a moment, and already had the answer:
"Hu Xuanzan, I do know a place where it is possible to get supplies of food and grass. But I can't absolutely guarantee it. In addition, it will take half a day to go around. Do you want to go there and have a look?"
"Lead the way." Hu Biao shouted immediately...
About three hours later, the place where Qian Fu said he might have obtained food supplies appeared in front of Hu Biao and others.
In fact, this is a Wubao called Lijia Village.
It is said that there are about a thousand people, men, women, old and young, living collectively in such a large village.
Just by hearing the name "Lijiatun", you can know that this is a gathering place for a group of northern Han people; and among the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun, the Han people are also the most populous group, so this incident is not surprising at all.
But even so, after hearing the above news, Hu Biao had more expectations in his heart.
After all, in his heart, it instinctively means that everyone is of the same lineage as the Han family, and there can be some affection for each other no matter what.
Not to mention allowing them to directly support some grain, it shouldn't be a problem for everyone to conduct a normal transaction.
Unexpectedly, Hu Biao soon realized that he had thought too much about all of this.
When Hu Biao and others saw Lijiatun from a distance, they could see that there was a two- to three-meter earth wall in Wubao, and there were a large number of large wheat fields outside.
The wheat seedlings in the wheat field are now in the grain-filling stage and can be harvested in a month at most.
Therefore, during this critical period, there were at least hundreds of people in the wheat fields, busy with watering, fertilizing and other operations.
But on a sentry tower above the village wall, one of the sentries saw a group of people from Xuange Camp from a distance, and a group of two horses approaching this way.
Immediately, he took a gong and started beating it continuously.
Amidst the loud sound of gongs, the people who were busy in the wheat fields immediately hurriedly retreated into the Wubao.
After Hu Biao and others drove to a stone's throw away from Wubao.
A suspension bridge in Wubao has been raised high, all the people have evacuated, and only some straw sandals are left outside.
On top of the village wall, almost two to three hundred people suddenly swarmed up.
In addition to most of the young and strong men, there are also a small number of strong women. Without exception, they all hold swords, guns, bows and arrows, which makes them feel like they are facing a powerful enemy.
If it were just for such a scene, Hu Biao could actually understand it.
After all, in the current chaotic world, it is completely understandable that only by being more cautious and prepared can we survive with difficulty.
But Hu Biao not only didn't understand some of the subsequent developments, but he couldn't help but frowned heavily.
****
Outside Lijiatun, Hu Biao and others stopped at a distance without picking up any weapons, so as not to cause misunderstanding among the people in the village wall.
It's just that Qian Fu took Hu Biao, and the two of them at least slowly approached.
The former Qian Fu shouted loudly:
"I wonder if Mr. Li is still in good health. I am Qian Fu, the steward of the Jingfu Merchant Caravan. I wonder if anyone in Lijiatun still remembers me."
Under such a statement, everyone on the wall of Wubao Village relaxed a little.
Not long after, a voice came down, and it sounded a little lazy: "It turns out to be the money manager. I haven't seen him for a few days. I don't know what the hell it is to be hiding in a remote place like this in this damn year.
?”
"We are passing through your land and are a little short of food. I would like to exchange fifteen stones of flour and twenty stones of soybean meal for the horses at your fortress. I can buy it with silver, or exchange it with war."
Qian Fu immediately replied.
Under such a request, Zhaiqiang was silent for about a minute or two, and then gave an extremely outrageous reply:
"There is no need for silver. There are chaos everywhere now, and you can't buy anything with gold and silver. How about just exchanging it with your war horses? Just exchange it with five war horses."
Originally, in this transaction, Hu Biao, who spoke with a southern accent, did not intend to speak, lest his identity be exposed.
But after hearing the above transaction content, Hu Biao couldn't help but speak.
Damn it! Such a small amount of food is actually exchanged for five of their best war horses. Isn’t this deceiving?
"Not only are we all old friends, but we are also descendants of the Han family, why are you so harsh? The folks in Lijiatun don't care about our bloodline at all?
You might as well say it bluntly, we are all from the Song Dynasty, can it be cheaper?"
However, such a statement was met with laughter from a group of people on the wall.
Amidst such laughter, Hu Biao became increasingly annoyed.
It even made Hu Biao suddenly realize that in the future, whether the Jin army defeated the Song Dynasty or the Yuan army destroyed the Song Dynasty, the main force in the battle would actually be the Han army.
If it weren't for these people to help the emperor do evil, it might not be possible to destroy the corrupt Song Dynasty.
It seems that I am really too naive. I thought that these people could have some love, and I thought too much!
Before the people on the wall could say anything, it was Hu Biao and the others who rescued a man in a village in Zhuozhou a few days ago. They thought he was a fool, but he followed the Xuan Ge camp.
With a sneer on his face, he spoke with emotion:
"Both are descendants of the Han family? This is the biggest joke I have ever heard in my life.
Since Shi Jingtang, Yan has never heard of the Central Plains court. When we were bullied by the Khitans and Xi people, where was the Song Dynasty, and where were our Han compatriots over there?"
After hearing such a statement, Hu Biao originally wanted to refute something.
But as soon as the words came to his lips, they immediately turned pale.
In any case, after all, the emperors of the Song Dynasty were too useless. That is to say, they conducted a Northern Expedition at the founding of the country, and the subsequent emperors did not even dare to take action.
So much so that the Han people in Yan had to struggle to survive under the hands of the Khitan and Xi people.
Finally, in the midst of the huge depression, they all turned into one sentence: "Okay, five horses will be five horses, change it~"
In this way, at Lijiatun Wubao, Hu Biao and others exchanged the high price of five war horses for food and horse feed that could last for another three to five days.
In the following time, more than 500 people from Xuan Geying continued to move forward.
On the subsequent journey, as they headed north, such forts kept appearing in front of their eyes, and they could often see as many as two or three in a whole day.
As for villages like Song Dynasty, there are some, but without exception they are all depopulated.
The modern plane, these densely populated and prosperous places, are now desolate and a bit scary.
The only thing we can be thankful for is that the speed of Hu Biao and the others has finally increased again; in the evening of February 28, Pingzhou City was already twenty miles away...
