Xu Zhiqiong also heard about the banditry in Yongzhou.
At the border between the two countries, there are places that neither country takes care of, and these places have become gathering places for bandits.
But in Xu Zhiqiong's impression, the cottage must have a fiercer name. Putting the fragrant jasmine in front of the cottage always feels less murderous.
Anyway, each village has its own customs, so we should not underestimate the fighting power of the village just because of its delicate name.
But it's hard to judge the combat effectiveness, and this tactic is indeed strange.
The leader of Liu Village attacked from the bottom of the mountain to the top of the mountain, and the terrain was really unfavorable.
If we sneak up quietly and set up an ambush, we might have some chance of winning.
But she rushed up the mountain road with great fanfare, but didn't she stretch her neck and wait to be killed?
Looking at the strength of the troops, they are indeed quite strong. The entire mountain road is filled with soldiers.
But if you look carefully, they don't look like sergeants. Some are holding hatchets, some are holding hoes, and some are holding poles.
The elder sister took a stick. Judging by its thickness and length, it looked like a rolling pin.
The prince said: "These are not bandits, these are refugees!"
He was right, these were indeed a group of refugees.
But no matter whether they are bandits or refugees, when facing a battle, Yu Shan will not show mercy. This is the duty of a general.
Yu Shan ordered the bow to be fired, but the creditor was still charging up the mountain. It only took one round of arrows to shoot her into a hedgehog.
The prince suddenly shouted: "Stay a moment and let me have a word with her!"
Yu Shan looked at the prince nervously, Lu Yunxi stopped the prince and said: "Your Highness, what do you have to say to these bandits..."
The prince pushed Lu Yunxi aside and stood in front of the military formation. Liu Jiaqi, the leader of the stronghold, came closer with a spear and shouted: "Who is the enemy general? Tell me his name!"
The prince sneered and said: "A good man will not change his name when he is walking, nor his surname when he sits down. I am the leader of the Dengzhai Village, and so is Xu Zhiqiong!"
Wait! Why are you pretending to be me?
Xu Zhiqiong looked at the prince in confusion.
Liu Jiaqi, the leader of Liu Dazhai, cupped his fists and saluted: "It turns out to be the leader of Xu Village, I have admired you for a long time!"
The prince asked: "Have you really heard of my reputation?"
Liu Jiaqi laughed loudly and said: "Don't underestimate me because I am a female prostitute. Who among the Eighty-one Villages in the Nine Mountains of Yongzhou has not heard the name of Zhangdeng Village!"
Xu Zhiqiong shouted: "You are talking nonsense!"
The prince yelled: "How shameless, I am the leader of the village, and you are the leader of the village?"
"I am……"
never mind.
After the war is over, I will never come to Yongzhou again.
Amid everyone's laughter, Xu Zhiqiong lowered his head.
The prince said to Liu Jiaqi: "Master Liu, I have never heard of your banner before, but looking at this battle, your Moli Village is considered a reputable village in Yongzhou! How could you do such a dishonorable thing?"
Liu Jiaqi shouted: "Why do you say I'm not decent?"
"It's shameful for you to bring such a group of people to steal my food!"
Liu Jiaqi sneered and said: "We are all heroes who gather in the mountains and forests. How can we make a living if we don't rob? It is our duty as heroes to dare to rob!"
"Then it depends on whose hand you snatch it from. We snatched these grains from Tunu! We fought with Tunu and exchanged our blood and lives for the food. You can eat it here ready-made, and you are worthy of it."
The word "hero"?"
Liu Jiaqi also felt that she was wrong and argued: "We originally wanted to rob the slaves, but we were all lying in wait at the foot of the mountain. It was you who robbed our business!"
The prince said: "Since we are the first, the food is ours!"
"That's not what you're saying. I brought so many people here, how could I come back empty-handed? I only need half of the food!"
The prince nodded and said: "If we only want half of the food, we can still discuss it."
Instead of burning the food, he really wanted to give it to this group of refugees.
Liu Jiaqi looked happy when he heard this: "Liu thanked Master Xu!"
"Wait a minute," Yu Shan stepped forward to stop him, "we still need to be cautious about this matter."
Liu Jiaqi was shocked. This man is quite handsome. Why is he so vicious and trying to ruin my good deeds?
Yu Shan whispered to the prince in a low voice: "Your Highness, it would be good if these people could take the food away. I'm afraid they can't take it away and will be robbed by the Tunu. It's better to burn it on the spot to avoid future troubles."
Burned on the spot?
From a military perspective, this is the right choice.
But judging from the current situation, this is forcing the refugees to fight with them.
The prince lowered his head and said nothing, and Yu Shan added: "This group of refugees can't even recognize the military uniforms we are wearing. They must have never experienced war. If we give the food to them, it will definitely fall into the hands of Tunu. Your Highness, listen to me."
In short, this food must be burned."
The prince raised his head and asked Liu Jiaqi: "Where is your Moli Village?"
Liu Jiaqi said: "Fifty miles to the west from here is my village. If Master Xu doesn't give up, he can follow Liu in the village!"
"I won't go!" The prince waved his hand, "I, Xu Zhiqiong, have been traveling across the country for more than ten years. What kind of storms have I not seen? I'm not afraid of you today, I really want to make you a friend!
I will give all these grains to you, but you have to let my second boss, Liang Yuyang, come to your village to take a look!"
The prince looked at Xu Zhiqiong and said: "Yuyang, I know you are a kind-hearted person. Unlike me, Xu Zhiqiong, who is despicable, vicious, ruthless, and does all kinds of evil. You must handle this matter carefully, and don't let these grains harm you."
Got them!"
Xu Zhiqiong looked at the prince and said: "Zhiqiong, I, Liang Yuyang, am not a kind person either. I have done no less bad things than you. Just don't worry!"
The prince asked Xu Zhiqiong to follow Liu Jiaqi to Moli Village, in order to let Xu Zhiqiong help Liu Jiaqi transport grain and grass.
Xu Zhiqiong is extremely vigilant. If he finds that Tunu troops are coming to rob, he will immediately burn the grain.
It sounds cruel, but this is to protect the refugees, who have no ability to fight the Tunu army.
Tao Huayuan was worried about Xu Zhiqiong and followed them. The refugees drove the carriage down the mountain and walked eastward. Xu Zhiqiong looked at the speed of the march and found that they might not even be able to cover twenty miles overnight.
When daybreak, if they still can't reach Moli Village, Xu Zhiqiong must burn the food. Let this group of people carry so much food and walk on the road in broad daylight. As long as the Tunu people are not blind, there is no reason to let them go.
.
"Master Liu, please tell your people to move faster!"
Liu Jiaqi turned around and ordered: "Go quickly! Go quickly!"
How many people can understand this?
Tao Huayuan looked at Liu Jiaqi and said, "How many years have you been falling asleep?"
"No more, no less, twenty years!"
Tao Huayuan smiled and said, "Are you twenty years old?"
Liu Jiaqi snorted coldly: "My mother died when she was pregnant. When I was born, I was in the village!"
"How many troops do you have in your stronghold?"
Liu Jiaqi pointed behind him and said: "You can see for yourself, I only brought 30% of my troops, that's all!"
Tao Huayuan turned around and took a look: "I think there are more than 6,000 people here. If it is only 30%, is it possible that there are 20,000 people in your village?"
Liu Jiaqi sneered: "What's the matter with 20,000 people? There have been fewer people in Moli Village in recent years. When my mother was alive, 50,000 people were no problem."
"Can your cottage support 50,000 people?"
Liu Jiaqi sighed and said: "Looking back on the past, it is inevitable to sigh!"
Tao Huayuan said to Xu Zhiqiong: "Turn your face away!"
Xu Zhiqiong said: "Why should I turn my back?"
"I'm going to beat her up, because I'm afraid you'll be soft-hearted and won't tolerate blood!"
Liu Jiaqi was furious: "What are you thinking? If you want to fight, I'm not afraid. According to the rules of the world, we will win one on one and ride alone!"
Xu Zhiqiong laughed and said: "Do you think she can't beat you to death one on one? Tell you to walk faster!"
Xu Zhiqiong was worried that there was no Jasmine Village at all, and he suspected that these refugees didn't even have a place to stay.
But at dawn, they actually arrived at Moli Village.
This is a very peculiar place. It seems that a crater was smashed out of the central part of a large mountain. Moli Village is in the crater, surrounded by bare cliffs, with only a canyon connected to the outside of the mountain.
If it is a secluded place, this is indeed a wonderful place, but if the fallen grass becomes a bandit, this place will be a bit dangerous.
A canyon seems easy to defend and difficult to attack, but if the enemy blocks the canyon, these people will have no way out and can easily trap them here.
The defense of the canyon is related to the survival of the village, but village leader Liu obviously has no common sense in this regard. He only placed two gatekeepers at the mouth of the canyon, and there are no sentries on either side of the canyon.
There are indeed more than 20,000 people in Moli Village. Except for the more than 6,000 people who followed Liu Jiaqi out to grab food, the rest are all old and weak.
Village leader Liu cupped his fists and saluted Xu Zhiqiong and said: "Second Master, you have seen my village. Liu is a real person. There is indeed No. 1 of Moli Village in Yongzhou. Please leave this food for me." Get off!"
In any case, they have a place to stay, and as long as they don't show off, Tunu won't come knocking on their door.
But the leader of Liu Village is indeed quite arrogant.
Tao Huayuan looked at the structure of the village and asked Village Master Liu: "Where do you live?"
Liu Jiaqi pointed to a dilapidated wooden house and said, "That's where I live. Let's go in and have a drink!"
Tao Huayuan took Liu Jiaqi's hand into the cabin and locked the door, preventing Xu Zhiqiong from entering.
Half an hour later, Liu Jiaqi walked out, following Tao Huayuan, her face flushed.
Tao Huayuan pointed to the two wings of the valley and asked her to place some hidden sentries at designated places. Liu Jiaqi nodded repeatedly: "I listen to my sister."
Tao Huayuan gathered carpenters and blacksmiths together again and taught them how to make weapons and build sentry forts.
Liu Jiaqi nodded and said, "I listen to my sister."
Tao Huayuan stayed at the village for a whole day and helped the village to set up many magic circles.
Until dusk, the two of them said goodbye. Village leader Liu held Tao Huayuan's hand, but was reluctant to let her go: "Sister, will you come again?"
Tao Huayuan nodded and said: "As long as you are here, sister will definitely come. If you can't stay here anymore, then come and join sister."
Leader Liu said with tears in his eyes: "I want to join my sister, but like her, do I have to be a wife who suppresses the village?"
Tao Huayuan smiled, stood next to Xu Zhiqiong, and said to Village Master Liu: "Such a good man, but he still wronged you?"
The two left Moli Village, and Xu Zhiqiong asked: "What did you say to the village leader? Why did she listen to you so much?"
Tao Huayuan smiled and said, "Why do you ask?"
"Where did that woman come from?"
"He was originally from a scholarly family. Due to the war, he was separated from his family while fleeing. With his literacy and martial arts skills, he roped in this group of refugees and turned them into bandits."
Xu Zhiqiong smiled and said, "Is this considered falling grass?"
Tao Huayuan sighed: "She is a little young, but she still has the courage. One day, if I get my freedom, I will come to this village to join her, and we can become kings of the mountain together!"
Xu Zhiqiong said: "Why go to her? It would be better if we start a new mountain by ourselves?"
Tao Huayuan said: "Mountains are easy to find, but where can people find them?"
"Let's give birth to our own children! I will be the king of the mountain, and you will be the wife of the village. We will give birth to more than a dozen at one time, and they will all serve as our minions!"
Tao Huayuan cursed, her face turned red, and she was about to use the magic circle to send the two of them back to Shuangxiong Pass, but she saw Xu Zhiqiong standing still.
"Tao'er, you go back first, I have something important to do and have to go somewhere else!"
Tao Huayuan frowned and said, "You can't tell me where you are going?"
"Now is not the time, I will tell you later!"
Tao Huayuan didn't ask any more questions, bit her lip, and walked away from the magic circle.
Xu Zhiqiong spun around in circles, jumped up, and went to the Punishment Department.
He just received news from Xia Hu.
Brother Qian Limu and Qian arrived at Xia Hu's court, and Xia Hu was trying his best to keep him.
…
Returning to Shuangxiong Pass, Tao Huayuan returned to her room, sighed softly, and said to herself: "You don't tell me anything, but you hide everything from me. Who do you think I am? And you asked me to give birth to your child?" I will give you a baby..."
Someone outside the door coughed and said, "The baby still has to be born!"
Tao Huayuan immediately stood up and saluted: "I have met Master!"
Taibu arrived in Yongzhou.
He wanted to personally take the prince back to the capital.