One hundred and sixty-eight red dust and white waves
An hour of waiting, on a snowy night in Jinzhou City and Wansong City, is a great torment for the weak. The martial artist's sharp five senses undoubtedly amplified this torment, and the cold breath touched the dryness of the person.
The chapped skin felt like someone was pricking it with a very thin needle, and a slight but continuous pain lingered on the exposed skin.
People who grew up in Jinzhou often forget about the bitter cold here. Gu Sheng, who had been silent for an unknown amount of time, wanted to take a few steps to stretch his muscles. His numb and numb legs made him fall down on the snow and scream.
There was a muffled sound, and a cloud of snow dust rose up around him.
Gu Sheng stood up with his hands on the ground and patted the snow on his clothes. The old man's gloating laughter came from behind.
"Uncle Qi, I have never seen my nephew suffer and still be happy." Dragging his legs to the foot of the wall, Gu Sheng imitated the posture of an old vegetable seller and squatted under the wall to complain, while groping for any scratches on his body.
I haven't touched the entrance of the cave for a long time, so I breathed a sigh of relief.
The sound of the watchman's gong came from not far away, and accompanied by the watchman's softer voice, it spread very far in the night sky. The people of Bingyuan City knew that this was the last time that ordinary people could move on the streets.
In an hour, since the beginning of autumn, in order to guard against the barbarians marching southward to plunder, the South Camp of the Jinzhou State Army, which was originally stationed south of Bingyuan City, has moved eighty miles to the north, forming a corner with the East Camp.
.
After all, it is a state city less than 200 miles away from the northern border of Dayao. Many people have witnessed the battle between Dayao's army and the barbarian cavalry in the north this spring. The pale yellow fields
A thin line of black rose in the distance. The barbarian cavalry rushed like a tide towards the infantry formation with machine guns and bows and arrows. The lives of the people on both sides were lost in the countryside like mowing grass. A group of owl lingered over the battlefield.
Waiting for fresh blood food.
The famine in the south did not shake Emperor Yao's determination to march north. The forcibly raised military rations and civilian labor not only aggravated the famine to a certain extent, but also caused Huizhou, Suzhou, and Jiangzhou to use up all the remaining grain in Jiahecang.
It will take far longer than the Ministry of Revenue’s estimate for the state to recover its due strength. The previous dynasty’s Civil Affairs Bureau made the nearly ten million taels of silver surplus in the treasury invested in reorganizing the armaments of the Northern Expedition. During the Dayao Dynasty, the northern states issued Ding Er
More than 100,000 people, 20,000 carts multiplied by the food and fodder to ensure an army of 100,000 people, and the manpower involved cannot be counted.
The famine did not shake Emperor Yao's determination to march north. The forcibly raised military rations and civilian labor not only aggravated the famine to some extent, but also made Huizhou, Suzhou, and Jiangzhou, which had used all the remaining grain in Jiahecang,
The time it took to recover to its due strength far exceeded the estimates of the Ministry of Household Affairs. The previous dynasty's Civil Affairs Bureau made the nearly ten million taels of silver surplus in the treasury invested in reorganizing the armaments of the Northern Expedition. During the Dayao Dynasty, more than 20 soldiers were sent out from the northern states.
Ten thousand, 20,000 carts times the food and fodder for a hundred thousand troops, and the manpower involved cannot be counted in numbers.
For the first time since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the co-owner of Dayao's territory in the Sixteen Prefectures led an army of 300,000 men, and annihilated several groups of Autumn Bandits who fled from the grasslands to Jinzhou, and later fought with the allied forces of the barbarian tribes.
In the wilderness twenty miles north of Jinzhou City, at the northern wall of Bingyuan City, a towering northern city, Lifu, who was urgently recruited by the governor's office, and the soldiers guarding the city witnessed this from the perspective of bystanders.
In a unique drama, the Emperor Yao, who was on his own expedition, pulled out the sword of his ancestors from the four horses pulled by dragon horses with white pheasant feathers on their heads, and shouted to the three armies, intending to inspire the ancestors' martial arts. The swords were as sharp as the founding of the country.
When the emperor stood on the top of the capital city and raised his sword, it was like the moment when he raised his sword.
The roar of iron tools, the sound of horse hooves, the sound of wailing, the sound of armor scraping together, and arrows breaking through the wind.
There were sounds, the sound of weapons clashing, the forces changing and moving, and finally the brilliance of pig iron surged like a tide and swallowed everything.
The savings of several generations of Emperors of Yao were invested in this war. The Ministry of War worked day and night to forge the latest weapons and armors. The generals spent their whole life studying and forming formations to restrain the barbarian cavalry. Millions of people sweated for this Northern Expedition.
The Yiqing Pond, which could fill the capital of Dayao, and the emperor's determination to fight, were defeated one by one in front of the barbarian cavalry.
The latest armors and weapons of the Ministry of War were pierced and abandoned in front of the fearless cavalry. The generals who spent their whole life in setting up the formation failed under the hooves of the barbarian horses. The hard work of millions of people was in vain. Emperor Yao, his
All his determination, his ambitions, and his plans were wiped out in the wilderness twenty miles north of Bingyuan City, leaving only the barbarian tribesmen who had retreated with unbearable losses, a nuptial princess, and a large herd of skinny cattle and sheep.
When commenting on the biggest battle after the founding of Yao, later generations of historians often lamented that if the emperor had followed the example of his father and grandfather, Yan Wu Xiu Wen, or led his army to retreat into the city of Bingyuan, even if Jinzhou and the nearby
The prefectures and counties were burned and killed wantonly by the barbarian cavalry. The hard work of the emperors of Dayao would not have been lost in Jinzhou, as well as the lives of tens of thousands of good men of Dayao.
A few years later, when farmers in Jinzhou were cultivating that wilderness, they often saw unburied bones and broken iron tools in the fields. In Dayao, where the salt and iron business was monopolized by the government, these residual irons were taken to the local iron factory by the farmers.
When spread out, the already refined iron can be sold for a very high price, which is no less than a sudden windfall for farmers. Men, women, old and young from nearby villages and towns all plunge into the fields in search of iron.
There were countless fights, and even the cultivated fields were abandoned.
In the fifth year of Emperor Yao's reign, on his way back to the capital, the emperor looked back at the battlefield where the smoke and blood had not dissipated, and he wondered what he would think in his heart.
These are not things that the people in Bingyuan City can touch, and Gu Sheng does not want to think too much about them. As a young man who practices martial arts, if he does not have the status of a bodyguard, he will most likely be drafted by the government to serve as a strong man to join the army.
, in this tragic war with ten to fifty soldiers, it is extremely difficult to survive.
There was a harsh creaking sound from the rusty door bolt of the small courtyard. Gu Sheng, who was still squatting just now, patted his buttocks, then stood up and disappeared into the shadows under the eaves with the old man, and at the same time tilted his head to look at the courtyard door.
direction.
"The girls of the Zou family are really strong people..." The old man who was responsible for the doctor's duties in Wuhe Escort House murmured as he looked at Wei Changpan who came out alone.
He and Zou Yongan's father were old acquaintances. They were both strong men who were drafted to defend the city when the Northern Barbarians invaded Jinzhou many years ago. The latter was hit in the throat by a stray arrow shot by the attacking barbarians.
At that time, he was only proficient in medical skills. Even now, he has no way to get medical treatment and can only watch him die.
It was he who went to the Zou family to report the funeral. At that time, the old man had not been invited to sit in the hall by the owner of the Wuhe Escort Agency. He was an unsuccessful scholar who had not seen many things between life and death. When he was conscripted onto the city wall, he could not even stab him with a spear.
, it was Zou Yongan's father who always protected him behind him. Whether it was killing barbarians or grabbing food during the meal, he helped him, jokingly saying that he was a scholar and could not do such a stupid job.
It was summer when the barbarians invaded for the first time. The corpses would stink if left for a long time, which would easily cause disease in the city, so they were piled together and burned. It was impossible to tell whose ashes were whose. So he thought what should be done, so he
I made a jar and washed it countless times by the river. I put as much ashes into the jar as possible and took the government with me.
With a few taels of scattered silver as compensation, and the half-toned copper plate he got from going to the city, he came to the front of the small courtyard carrying an ashen jar.
At that time, the wall of the small courtyard had not collapsed, the two copper rings on the cedar door were still there, and there was not even a hole as big as a fist. The childhood sweethearts, brother and sister were playing in the courtyard. After hearing the news that their father died in the battle, they were still worried.
He didn't understand, so he just thought that his father had gone on a far journey. Although it would take a long time, he would still come back, so he pulled the sleeve of his toga and asked when his father would be back.
Although the two children were both yellow and thin, their bodies were still clean. The boy had a tough head and the girl had two braids. When they knew that their father would never come back, they sat on the ground and cried loudly. They were still young at that time.
Zou Yong'an's mother persuaded both children to stop crying, then took him into the house and treated him with the last bit of old tea and cakes at home.
Zou Yong'an was able to join the Wuhe Escort Agency, mostly due to his recommendation. Perhaps he was moved by the woman's perseverance in enduring the grief but not forgetting to entertain the mourners. The old man's reputation in the Wuhe Escort Agency gradually increased due to his superb medical skills.
Now that he has the weight, and Zou Yong'an, who was still a tough guy at the beginning, is also able to live up to his ambition, he relies on his hard-working sword skills to gain a foothold in the Wuhe Escort Bureau. He just waits for Zhang Bashun to retire and takes over the responsibility of the escort chief. Unfortunately, things are unpredictable.
"Brother Wei, what's wrong?" Gu Sheng's voice pulled the old man out of his trance. The ebony box hanging on Wei Changpan's chest had been left in the small courtyard, "Brother Yong'an, did his mother and sister say anything?
"
Gu Sheng held Wei Changpan's shoulders with both hands, trying to see something from his lowered eyebrows, but found nothing, so he asked anxiously.
"Staying in Jinzhou, he was dragged away by the government's recruiters. He died on the battlefield during the war. His soul could not come back. He died on the way to escort the escort. It was his life." Read these sentences in a low voice,
Wei Changpan still lowered his head, making it difficult to see his expression, "If Yong'an and his father can leave something back, I'll be satisfied, old lady."
What he didn't say was that when the half-limbed old man was leaning on the kang and saying these words, muddy old tears couldn't stop flowing from the corners of his shrunken eyes. The tears flowed without hearing the cry, which was the extreme grief.
, but still touched his hair to comfort him, saying that there is no need to take this matter too seriously. Things between life and death can be seen clearly when you grow old. The dead are already dead, and the people who are still alive should take good care of them.
live.
Zou Yong'an's sister was newly married this spring, and her husband also died in the Northern Expedition. Together with tens of thousands of husbands, tens of thousands of sons, and tens of thousands of brothers, they were in that wilderness since then.
, the world is surrounded by white waves, she sobbed sadly, not loudly, her clothes were wet with tears.