Su Hao's good wishes encountered a setback when the soldiers had their first meal. The fight over food predicted by Hao Tong happened that night.
"Third brother, did you hear that, enough white rice! This soldier is really worth it." Xiong Minfan was so excited when he heard the rules about eating that Hao Tong came to convey. There are many brothers in his family, and they are all capable.
There are only a few years to eat, and the output of the fields is limited, so he has been half-starved and half-full for many years. Now that he heard that he can eat freely, how could he not be ecstatic?
"Brother, this can't be true, right?" Xiong Minyang asked doubtfully, "I did the math and found that there are more than 50 people who were left behind today. If we manage enough white rice, we won't be able to eat even one stone of rice in one meal?
"
"Perhaps that Su Baihu is rich?" Xiong Minfan said, "Didn't you listen to what the commander-in-chief said? That telescope alone is worth 50 taels of silver. Su Baihu also said that as long as it is not done intentionally, it will
It’s okay if it’s broken, how rich do you think he is?”
Xiong Minyang said: "The telescopes and other things are all valuable. They are probably issued by the imperial court. Maybe they will send people to check them from time to time. But eating is different. If you save a mouthful, you can be an official.
It’s in our pockets, why do they let us eat it freely?”
Xiong Minfan scratched his head and said: "Lao San, you are right. However, Mr. Hao Qi just said clearly that the rice is enough and the dishes are one spoon per person. He can't just ignore it, can he?"
Xiong Minyang said: "I'm thinking, this is one of their methods. They say they have enough rice, but when it comes, it's just a bucket, and everyone grabs it. If you can't grab it, who do you blame? When the time comes, you're hungry, you
There’s nothing to say. Also, in this way, no one can count who eats how much, and officials have to take care of themselves. Wouldn’t it be more convenient?”
We can't blame the soldiers for using the greatest malice to guess what the officers meant. In fact, they have heard too many such things in reality. Throughout the Ming Dynasty, whether in official circles or the army, this kind of corruption is extremely common. Ming Tai
The ancestor Zhu Yuanzhang once used severe punishments to punish corruption, but corrupt officials still continued to fight and regarded death as home. In the late Ming Dynasty, the rule of law was relaxed, and there were no officials and no corrupt officials in the government and the public.
Of course, it has to be said that no matter whether it is a civil servant or a military general, although everyone will try their best to make some money for themselves, it does not mean that they all have a dark conscience and do nothing. In most cases, officials
They will control their corruption within an appropriate level so as not to arouse public resentment. At the same time, when they need to act impartially or benefit the people, they will still do their duty very conscientiously.
Looking through the local chronicles of various prefectures and counties in the Ming Dynasty, there are many records of the government setting up almshouses, repairing river embankments, and "training farmers and mulberry trees". There was once a county magistrate who personally summarized the agricultural production experience after he took office.
It was written as a "Book of Encouragement to Farmers". It was printed in volumes and distributed to various villages to help farmers improve their production techniques. This is in line with what the sage said: in the beginning, people are inherently good, and those who want to do something good to ease their conscience are still
a lot of.
The Xiong brothers themselves had never been soldiers. But when they were in the countryside, they had heard people talk about how officers in the army deducted soldiers' pay, so they thought they had a thorough understanding of the world. What they did not expect was that they would encounter
What's more, Su Hao is such a monster. He is actually willing to spend his own money to feed the soldiers.
"Third brother, no matter what the officials think, we brothers can't suffer. When the meal starts, we will rush to the front. I will stop people for you. You can serve more rice. We will have a full meal.
, what do you think?" Xiong Minfan looked at his companions around him, put his mouth to his brother's ear, and whispered.
Xiong Min looked up at the porcelain bowl that was just distributed, shook his head and said: "What's the use of it, even if the bowl is full, we will only be half full. You can't keep stopping everyone, right?"
"Let's find a big guy to load the food, and load it 10 bowls at a time," Xiong Minfan said.
"Is there any big guy here?" Xiong Min said admiringly.
Xiong Minfan looked around and saw that except for a urine bucket, there really were no other large containers in the barracks. He sighed and said, "Oh, I still don't know the rules. If I had known this, we would have brought the bucket from home."
One is coming."
Xiong Min raised his eyes and said, "I have an idea..."
When it was time for dinner, Hao Tong and Deng Kui came to the barracks and blew whistles to order everyone to assemble. Then they lined up hastily in two columns and went to a board room used as a dining hall to eat. The Xiong brothers wanted to join the queue.
The one at the front was kicked by Hao Tong and ordered to line up at the predetermined position.
Before they even reached the dining hall, everyone smelled the aroma of food. The aroma of the dishes fried with plenty of meat oil was undeniable. Even the rice was much more fragrant than the ones at home. In rural areas,
Who is willing to steam this kind of real rice? Who doesn't put in a lot of vegetable leaves and cook it into a semi-thin and semi-dry vegetable leaf porridge to satisfy hunger?
Entering the dining hall, six large buckets suddenly appeared in front of them. Each bucket was half a person tall and as thick as a hug. They were full of white rice, which was steaming hot. Everyone's eyes suddenly changed.
Their eyes were wide open, and they wanted to rush over, grab the rice bucket into their arms, and eat as much as they could. This bucket of rice was almost as big as a bucket of rice, but everyone firmly believed that they could finish it by themselves.
.
"Every little flag will line up and take the rice in order. Each person will have a bowl, and then serve it after eating. After taking the rice, each little flag will sit around a table to eat. No noise is allowed, and no food is allowed to be left..."
Hao Tong and Deng Kui announced the discipline loudly, and then tried their best to line up the small flags, and then asked them to go to the rice bucket to serve rice in turn, while they patrolled back and forth in the dining hall.
The Xiong brothers were lined up in the middle of the flag, feeling itchy as they watched their companions in front of them fill their bowls with rice. The companions in front of them obviously had the same idea as they did, and worked hard to fill the porcelain bowls with rice until it was piled up like a hill.
Usually, when he really can't hold it anymore, he reluctantly puts down the wooden spoon, carefully holds the bowl, and walks to the designated table.
"This guy has packed so much, it looks like this bucket of rice has gone down a lot." Xiong Minfan muttered to his younger brother in a low voice.
"I thought about it, this bucket of rice is only enough for each of us to fill a bowl. We can put everything in after we finish it. After finishing one bowl, even the bottom of the bucket will be gone." Xiong Min said admiringly.
Xiong Minfan said: "Third brother, you are smart enough to come up with such a good idea. What's the idiom called? The teacher taught me what the idiom is called..."
"Take the fuel out of the cauldron." Xiong Min said admiringly.
"That's right, that's right. When it's our turn, we'll have all the food covered. As for the people behind, huh, let them find officials." Xiong Minfan said.
Xiong Minyang shook his head: "No, we must leave a bottom at the bottom of the bucket. We can't finish the meal in our hands, otherwise, the officials will hate us."
Xiong Minfan said: "That's right, but just leave a little less, just enough for a small bowl."
When the two people were talking, it was already their turn. Xiong Minfan looked over and saw that only half of the bucket of rice was left. He reached into his pocket and took out a clean little coat.
With his hands spread out, Xiong Minyang picked up the wooden spoon and began to put rice on the small gown held by Xiong Minfan. Xiong Minfan's gown was spread out, almost three feet square, and Xiong Minyang desperately piled rice on it one spoon after another.
"Hey, you two, what are you doing?" The soldiers lined up behind the Xiong brothers saw that something was wrong. Everyone was loading rice in bowls. No matter how much they packed, this bucket of rice would still be enough.
But these two people actually used their clothes to pay for their meals. This was a way of trying to make a circle. Everyone was a big-bellied man. Who could tolerate the food in their name being taken away by others? For a while, four people were ranked in the queue.
All the people behind rushed forward.
"We're serving dinner!" Xiong Minfan shouted, "The commander-in-chief told everyone to line up. Do you want to break military regulations?"
"Are there any of you who serve food like you? Everyone uses bowls, how can you use your clothes' pockets?" Soldier He Benzheng said angrily.
Xiong Minfan used his back to block the surging companions, rejecting his brothers from serving rice. At the same time, he turned around and said, "We brothers forgot to bring bowls. Can't we bring some clothes to carry the rice?"
"How much have you packed? Will others still eat it?"
"Our brothers have big bellies, and we can't eat enough if we pretend less. Besides, look at who is pretending less."
"Others pack more, but do you have as much? Your bag is worth a dozen bowls of other people's. Look, it's almost to the bottom of the barrel."
Hearing that the rice had reached the bottom of the barrel, the four soldiers who were not carrying rice could no longer calm down. Someone began to push Xiong Minfan, while He Benzheng rushed forward and snatched the wooden spoon from Xiong Minyang's hand.
"What are you doing, are you going to fight or something!" Xiong Minfan roared. He was strong and used to fight when he was in the countryside. Seeing that He Benzheng and others were not as tall as him, he began to threaten with force.
"It doesn't matter if we fight. Don't think that you are big because you are big. There are four of us!" a soldier shouted.
"It doesn't matter if I beat the four of you one by one!"
"Try hitting it!"
"My mother is a prostitute, how dare you push me?"
"Why did you push me?"
"Third brother, hold the rice and don't spill it. I'll take care of these guys first!"
"Ouch!"
"Puch!"
"Crack!"
A string of onomatopoeia passed, and the six people fought together. Xiong Minyang initially planned to stand aside to protect the hard-won rice. Seeing that his brother was a bit overwhelmed with one against four, he packed up the coat with the rice and left.
He placed it on the table next to him and joined the battle group.
The other soldiers around saw the lively fighting here and got out of the way, leaving the field free for them to fight. At the same time, they held bowls and ate with big mouthfuls while watching this free show.
"Stop it all!"
Hearing a roar, Deng Kui rushed over. He just walked away a little bit, but he didn't expect such a big leak to occur here. Several fighting soldiers were fighting fiercely, but they didn't hear Deng Kui's order.
Waving his fist reluctantly.
Deng Kui stepped forward in two steps, reached out and grabbed the collars of the two fighting soldiers, and pulled them back. The two soldiers staggered and fell into the crowd of onlookers.
Deng Kui pulled the two of them away again, leaving only the disheveled Xiong brothers on the field.