Pingshui County is located on the edge of Yanzhou, separated by mountains and bordering Longyuan and Baizhou. It cannot be said to be prosperous, but it was originally densely populated.
Unfortunately, after the Great Rebellion in the Northwest, there were so many people fleeing that it seemed a little cold.
In broad daylight, no shops were open. In the wind and snow, there were only Yang Yu and his party, as well as a few government officials and soldiers, most of whom were old and infirm.
Yang Yu's five senses were so sharp that he could naturally detect the anxious eyes staring at him in the gaps between doors and windows. The whole town was filled with twilight energy.
A few scattered children were having fun in the snow, which was the only place that looked alive.
The door of the blacksmith shop was open, but there were not many fires. There were only a few blacksmiths huddled in the room, smoking dry cigarettes and frowning.
Seeing the guests, he was not very happy. It wasn't until Yang Yu took out the gold ingot that he managed to smile, and he didn't object at all to borrowing the fire.
And took out all the ores and iron ingots in the store.
The northwest road is rich in minerals. Although there are no black iron veins near Pingshui County, there is also a lot of black iron in this blacksmith shop. In the past, this was just something that was kept at the bottom of the box, but now it is a hot potato. See Someone wanted to buy it instead of grabbing it, so they took it out immediately.
Unfortunately, this amount of black iron is far from enough to create a ten-forged black iron soldier. For Yang Yu, it can only be said to be better than nothing.
"Give me the information on the rebels that Lord Yan Dong belongs to, especially those in nearby prefectures and counties."
Yang Yu gave an order.
"yes."
Qi Wensheng followed the good example. Although he still had many doubts about this young master, he could only lead his disciples away.
"The corruption of the Northwest Road is probably the epitome of many state capitals in the future...
Yang Prison was silent in his heart.
Longyuan Road is also in some chaos, but with the strength of the garrison in the three states, it can be managed for the time being. However, not every road or state can have a garrison as powerful as Longyuan Road.
The troops stationed at the border are far from comparable within the border.
Whoosh!
The bellows were beating, the flames were rising, and the heat wave was surging. Yang Yu held a sledgehammer and struck it casually. The eyelids of several blacksmiths jumped wildly, and the whole blacksmith shop was trembling.
The art of armor psychic communication is probably the slowest among all the magic arts that Yang Yu has learned. Apart from black iron arrowheads and two-edged knives, he rarely makes other things.
At this moment, the beating is still about repairing the two-edged sword that was cut into two pieces by the sloppy Taoist's finger.
For him, this process is naturally not tedious. When hammering the iron ingot, he can still concentrate on it and sense the Living Dead No. 2 on the other side through the Evil Suppressing Seal.
At the same time, you can also devote your mind to pondering the practice of observing the precepts.
Martial arts and observing the precepts are two completely different things.
The former, no matter how obscure it is, will often have some images. Even if it is drawn as a stick figure, it can be imitated step by step.
Upholding the precepts is a lot more mysterious. Even if there are explanations for many of the terms, those who don't know how to practice them will only be confused when they see them.
But in the final analysis, observing the precepts is not something you can just say silently in your mind, it needs to be practiced.
He had spent some time with the monk Jie Se from Fulong Temple. The Fulong Temple where this young monk lived was a very small branch of Buddhism. Each generation only had 18 people with the "Eight Precepts and Ten Good Deeds", each of whom held one precept.
The reason why the young monk went down the mountain was not to do chivalry, but to prepare for observing the precepts.
Rebooting, rebooting, not seeing color, how do you know what rebooting is?
Keeping the precepts is not just a word in the mind, but one must put it into action, feed it back to the soul, and strengthen the mind. Only in this way can we walk in the sea of laws.
boom!
Under the sledgehammer, sparks flew everywhere. Yang Yu took out the two-edged knife that was broken into two parts, but his mind fell into silence:
"This method of observing the precepts is very similar to the legendary immortals and Buddhas."
Huhu~
The fierce north wind blew heavy snowflakes across the sky and earth.
Twenty miles south of Pingshui County, there is a small town. It is said to be a small town, but in fact it does not even have a city wall. It is just a gathering place for many small villages nearby.
The felled wood is not enough to make a wooden wall, and many people are needed to patrol and guard it.
That night, the north wind was particularly cold. The patrolling militiamen were shivering in the wind and snow. They could only stomp their feet and rub their hands to keep warm, and sometimes cursed fiercely.
But no one dared to be careless. Every time he walked to a place not surrounded by wooden walls, he would tightly hold the knife and fork in his hand. To be precise, it was a hatchet and a dung fork.
There are naturally a lot of weapons in the town, but they are only patrolling, so naturally they cannot use them.
call!
At a certain moment, a figure emerged from the darkness, alerting the guarding militiamen.
"who?!
"It's me, Ergou!"
The visitor stamped his feet fiercely, shaking off the snow on his body, and his face turned blue from the cold.
"Ergou, how are you? Did you find anything?"
Several militiamen surrounded him.
"Keep watch, I'll go find Boss Huang!"
Ergou's face turned blue and he didn't stay. He quickly rushed to somewhere in the town. His speed was very fast, and he obviously had martial arts skills.
After a while, they arrived outside a small courtyard.
"who?"
In the small courtyard, the lights were turned on, and a thin but slender man wearing a single coat stepped out, holding a steel knife with a cold light in his hand.
"Brother Huang."
Ergou breathed a sigh of relief when he saw someone coming.
The man in front of me, named Huang Hu, is one of the most famous figures within a hundred miles. Not only can he read and write, he has served in the army for several years, he has also served as a head catcher in the city, and he is very skilled in martial arts.
In the past few years, it was he who single-handedly brought together dozens of nearby villages, formed a militia, and invited some retired veterans to protect this small town.
"Anything found?"
Huang Hu frowned.
The little thin man in front of him was named Wang Ergou. He was one of the ten most vigilant scouts he selected in the town and wandered in the wilderness every day.
"Trouble is coming"
Ergou's face turned bitter, and his facial features were squeezed together: "Over there at Niutou Mountain, there are at least twenty torches, a dozen bonfires, and many dragons and horses...
"Ryuma?!"
Huang Hu's expression remained calm after hearing the previous words, but when he heard the word "dragon horse", his heart couldn't help but tremble.
"Did you see clearly?"
Even in the Northwest Road, where there are two major horse breeding areas in the Ming Dynasty, dragon horses are extremely valuable. In the town where he was at this time, there were nearly ten thousand people, but there was not even one.
Such precious animals cannot be afforded by ordinary people even in normal times, not to mention in times of chaos.
"Those beasts are more than nine feet tall at the shoulders, and their eyes are like lanterns at night. How can this be wrong?"
Ergouzi was panicking.
"Calm down and inform the escort team to be on alert!"
Huang Hu's expression changed several times, but he still suppressed the worry in his heart and ordered Er Gou to notify others while he returned to the house.
"Uncle..."
In the house with only one oil lamp, a thin and shriveled old man was smoking a dry cigarette. When Huang Hu came in, he knocked on the cigarette pouch:
"What, are you panicking?"
"If the people here are bandits and refugees, I won't be afraid of Qianbai, but Longma...
After entering the door, the sadness on Huang Hu's face was no longer concealed.
In the past few years, he has dealt with a lot of bandits and refugees, but these days, all the big bandits have gone to respond to Yan Dongjun. Anyone who can take a fancy to a small town like him will naturally not be famous.
Role.
Maybe those who ride dragon horses are the best among the best in the army, and they are even less likely to be ordinary people among the bandits.
"If you can't beat it, just join."
The old man didn't take it seriously. He took another puff of dry smoke and blew out a smoke ring:
"After all, you are also a good player who has changed blood four times. Not to mention a group of bandits, you are qualified enough to join the Yan Army!"
"No!"
Huang Hu flatly refused:
"There are many folks in this town who watched me grow up. I can never abandon them!"
In the past few years, he has seen too many tragedies. Villages and small towns were looted and burned, and countless people died in the rebellion.
He grew up eating the food of hundreds of families, how could he bear to see these fellow villagers suffer such a disaster?
"Then let's die together."
The old man shook his head slightly:
"In today's world, if you can protect them for a while, is it possible that you can protect them for a lifetime? If this group is dismissed, sooner or later there will be another group..."
"The world is like this, how do you deal with it?
Gently tapping the pipe pot, the old man looked cold.
"The imperial court bullies us, the rebels bully us, and the bandits bully us too! We are all human beings, why should we always be bullied..."
Huang Hu fell to his knees with a 'pop' and almost gritted his teeth:
"Uncle, I know you are a very capable person, please save us."
"The weak prey on the strong, this has always been the case. Don't talk about me, even the heroes of the past and present, who can do anything?"
The old man was neither happy nor angry, and his expression was so cold that his heart went cold.
"I can save you, but I can't save everyone."
"I.…
Huang Hu's body was shaken.
"They are coming soon."
The old man gently raised his hand and pointed a finger at Huang Hu's eyebrows. The latter's pupils shrank, and a wave of heat filled his body. He felt that his ears and eyes had become extremely sensitive.
I could faintly hear the sound of horse hooves coming from far away.
"Is there no other way?
Huang Hu shook his head bitterly. From the sound of the horses' hooves, he could tell that it was the sound of at least a dozen horses.
Coming from a military background, he certainly knew what this meant.
Fourteen dragons and horses charged in formation. Without an organized army or martial arts masters, ordinary militiamen and local warriors, even a thousand people would be killed!
Dangdangdang~
In the small town, the gong sounded, and a large number of militiamen poured out from various streets.
They were old and young, some were carrying steel knives, some were carrying manure forks, some were veterans, some were farmers, and they all gathered towards the courtyard where he was.
"There are other ways..."
The old man's eyes became profound:
"It's just that I'm afraid you don't have the courage."
In the snowy night, the sound of approaching horse hooves was like thunder, and the sound was scary.
"Please teach me, uncle!"
The yellow tiger grabbed the ground with its head and made a sound.
"good very good."
Amidst the faint laughter, Huang Hu suddenly raised his head and saw that the old uncle who taught him Yue Yu martial arts turned into a black smoke and disappeared.
On the spot, only a palm-sized stone tablet was left.
"All things are created to nourish people, and people have nothing to repay to heaven."