"What, you want to go with us?" Ma Shaoteng was taken aback, shook his head again and again, "Never." ”

Shen Weiyong actually wanted the caravan to move forward with the escort procession of death row prisoners, but Ma Shaoteng flatly refused when he heard it.

What are you kidding? Escorting death row prisoners to the front line of the bitter sea is no longer a local prisoner affair, but a military affair. However, all military affairs have heavy responsibilities, and those who violate the order will be beheaded, and there is no room for mistakes.

Let the caravan accompany you, in case of a mistake, maybe all the sergeants here will be sent to the death row to serve directly by the border army without a judgment.

"Ma Patrol School, in front of you is to ask for rain valley, the only way to go to Dawangtan. The valley of the rain is about 200 miles, the mountains are high and the roads are dangerous, and there are often strongmen who haunt them, although the strongmen rob the caravan, they never dare to rob the army. But whenever the military food crosses the border, even if there is no one to escort it, I have never heard of anyone daring to rob it, this is military might, and no one dares to provoke the tiger's whiskers. ”

Shen Weiyong said patiently: "My lord will go to the bitter sea, and on the way, he will pass through Dawangtan and pass through Lanfeng Station, and it will take seven or eight days to travel by land." Adults can take the waterway, one day to reach Shangsi County, Shangsi County is only fifty miles away from Lan Fengyi, half a day's walk, so that adults can save at least five or six days of foot strength. My caravan has a big ship at Dawangtan, and if the adults go with me, they can take the adults on a ride, and I only want to use the prestige of the adults' army to cross the border and ask for the rain valley, so how about the two?"

Ma Shaoteng hesitated a little, looked at the sergeants, the sergeants were in a state of exhaustion, and they all showed eager eyes when they heard that they could save a few days of foot strength.

"My lord, the brothers were killed by that mother-in-law, and almost lost half their lives, and they really need to rest and recuperate. If you can take a free ride and save a few days of rest, it is a good idea. Yu Zheng also persuaded.

Yu walked the bitter sea road normally, knowing that no one dared to rob the military rations, and now that many sergeants vomited and their legs were weak, they could save so many days of foot strength, so they naturally eagerly hoped that Ma Shaoteng would agree to go with the caravan.

"When we wait to escort the prisoners, we just need to hurry slowly, and we will always arrive safely. Walking with the caravan, but there are many dangers, after all, in the precipitous place, there are always strongmen haunting, seeking money and killing people, if they are tired, delay the military aircraft, military law is not allowed, so there is a convenience to save footwork, there is a worry about life. Ma Shaoteng sighed.

As the leader of the army, the most important thing is to complete the task safely and not take unnecessary risks.

But everyone tried their best to advocate walking with the caravan, and some even said: "Since it is only a convenient way to save effort, when you really have to worry about your life, you can get out at any time." ”

After all, Ma Shaoteng couldn't make a decision alone, so he could only follow everyone's opinions and agree to go with the caravan.

Looking at Ma Shaoteng's distressed appearance, Lei Shaoxuan could see that Ma Shaoteng was unwilling to go with the caravan, but he couldn't forcibly go against the general trend, so he could only agree against his will.

It's just that why Ma Shaoteng doesn't want to go along? Obviously, this is very good.

"The Ma Patrol School is the head of the group, and he can command the whole team, but he needs to be responsible for the safety of the whole team to escort the prisoners, and the safety of the whole team is the primary responsibility of the Ma Patrol School, but saving foot strength is what all the sergeants and prisoners want. ”

Shen Weiyong said to Lei Shaoxuan: "Young Master Lei, if you want to be different, you naturally think differently. After all, Ma Patrol School couldn't compete with everyone's desires, so he had to agree. ”

If Lei Shaoxuan wants to live, he needs to slowly learn to think independently and adapt to the world.

The world is still complicated for him, especially the human heart. For Lei Shaoxuan, the most terrifying moment has passed, when he was put on death row, he felt the fear of death all the time, and now these death fears have passed, and what remains is the hesitation of facing the real world.

The mountains on both sides of the valley are towering like clouds, like a giant dragon flying, and a path in the valley winds through the forest.

Legend has it that the deep valley has been inhabited by the Yao tribe for generations. On the seventh day of the seventh month of the seventh month of summer, when there is a great drought, the Yao people gather in the valley, build a altar, beat the drum and ask for rain, and the name of the rain valley comes from this.

Ma Shaoteng lined up the procession on both sides of the caravan, and the prisoners lined up at the front of the procession.

It was suggested that if someone robbed the road, the team only had to bluff and then quickly break away from the caravan, so as not to be reprimanded by Ma Shaoteng in a hurry.

Since the caravan has been allowed to play the banner of the army, at the moment of life and death, who would believe that the sergeant has nothing to do with the caravan?

In order to strengthen the momentum, Ma Shaoteng asked the sergeants to take out the remaining military uniforms, let the caravan guards put them on, put away the caravan flag, hang out the Beichuan military flag that had never been hung out on weekdays, and let a guard hold it, walk in front of the team, lead the team, and move forward.

The chains were chained to the prisoners, and the sergeants marched forward in unison, followed by the horse teams connected from end to end, one by one, in an orderly manner, looking quite imposing, like a team escorting military rations.

The valley is snow-capped, the pine trees are verdant, and there is quite a view, but the birds are gone, the people are gone, and the group is quite small, lonely and lonely in the empty valley, only the cold wind in the valley hovers from time to time, making a whimpering sound.

"Elder Shen, the weather is so cold, the mountains are covered by heavy snow, the trade routes are cut off, the mountains are deep and the valleys are secluded, how can there be strong people?" asked Lei Shaoxuan.

"Be careful!" Shen Weiyong raised his eyes and looked around.

Knowing that Lei Shaoxuan was originally innocent, Shen Weiyong couldn't help but feel extremely sympathetic in his heart. Lei Shaoxuan was a precocious young man, went to a county school, came from a family, had different identities, and had his own temperament in conversation, which was very suitable for Shen Weiyong's temper; plus Shen Weiyong felt that he was also interesting when he met a young master in distress; Shen Weiyong was old enough to be Lei Shaoxuan's grandparents, and it was inevitable that he would have the feeling of licking calves and caring for him, and the meaning of teaching, and he came together with Lei Shaoxuan all the way.

Faced with a bleak future and feeling hesitant, Lei Shaoxuan was also willing to listen to some teachings. Any life experience is undoubtedly precious to Lei Shaoxuan at this moment, and it is also what he urgently needs. Before he was imprisoned, Lei Shaoxuan was just an ignorant and ignorant teenager, but now he was suddenly thrown into the torrent of turbidity, and since then he has to struggle to survive on his own, so Lei Shaoxuan is also willing to follow Shen Weiyong's side.

Along the way, the two chatted quite closely.

As the procession progressed deeper into the valley, the road narrowed and narrowed, and the trees became denser.

Suddenly, "whoosh, whoosh...... Whoosh......" The sound of breaking through the air sounded in everyone's ears, and several arrows fell from the sky and shot at the front of the team.

"Alert!"

"Enemy attack!"

“......”

"One team is on guard, bows and arrows are ready, and the second team is on guard, squatting!" Ma Shaoteng shouted.

After a little panic, some sergeants immediately squatted down to be on guard; some sergeants came over and lined up in front of Ma Shaoteng with bows; and several people were at a loss, Lei Shaoxuan knew that most of them were caravan guards wearing sergeant clothes and pretending to be sergeants.

Ma Shaoteng was behind the gate, and his sergeants were well-trained, and they were not afraid of danger, and quickly formed a defensive formation, and it could be seen that although they were only county soldiers, they were elite soldiers.

"Who is it?" Ma Shaoteng shouted, "We are the soldiers of Beichuan County who escorted the prisoners, who are you, why did you rob our army's baggage?"

In the woods on both sides of the road not far ahead, dozens of people suddenly flashed out.

Some were dressed in strong suits and held rudimentary bows and arrows in their hands, while others carried steel forks, spears, and woodcutters...... In the middle of the road, there was a messy crowd of people standing. These men were ragged and their faces were full of old men, children, and even women...... Everyone holds a weapon, which is said to be a weapon, but in fact it is nothing more than sharpened wooden sticks and bamboo sticks.

Several people walked out surrounded by a tall man, dressed in a black robe, wearing a wide fur hat, beard, thick eyebrows and leopard eyes, showing perverseness and arrogance.

This person held the saber in his hand, pointed forward, and said viciously: "Lao Tzu has the final say on this road, and when Lao Tzu passes by, he will also spend money to buy the road, and leave half of the goods so that people can pass." ”

Shen Weiyong's expression was extremely nervous. Half of the goods are left, even if all the remaining goods are sent to the place, the cost of various checkpoints, business taxes, accommodation and so on is huge, which is basically a loss, it is better to go back directly and re-traffic the goods.

Shen Weiyong could only comfort himself in his heart, after all, these bandits just wanted money and didn't hurt people's lives, which was a blessing in misfortune, not to mention that there was still half of the goods left.

Lei Shaoxuan's heart also lifted, but then he was nervous and expectant.

There are often records of bandits and strongmen in the book, such as robbing the rich and helping the poor, or how to make heroes in a reckless way, but I have never seen robbers with my own eyes. The leader said that he would not kill anyone, which made Lei Shaoxuan even more relieved, but as for Shen Lao's loss, Lei Shaoxuan didn't think about it so much, and vaguely hoped that something would happen in his heart, so that he could witness the robbers' path cutting behavior.

Many sergeants thought that they could break away from the caravan and leave on their own. After all, it had been said in advance that the caravan was only crossing the border in the name of the army, and the army had no obligation to protect the caravan.

They underestimated Ma Shaoteng.

As a general, he has the responsibility of protecting the territory and the people, and in the face of bandits and robbers, he fled without a fight, how will he face his sergeants in the future?

What's more, on the other side are obviously robbers composed of farmers, old and weak women and children, Ma Shaoteng doesn't think they have any combat effectiveness.

Ma Shaoteng found that the arrows shot earlier were rough and rudimentary, and there were even no arrows, and a few arrows fell on the hard dirt road, but they did not go into it, and fell crookedly on the road. Ma Shaoteng didn't think that these arrows would be lethal.

"Listen to the people on the other side, I'll count dozens, get out of the way, otherwise we're welcome!"

Ma Shaoteng shouted.

"Start counting. Ma Shaoteng ordered a sergeant beside him.

"One...... Two...... Three......" one sergeant shouted.

"The first team obeys the order: when charging, the bow and arrow are fired freely to suppress the rear of the enemy's charging team, and the second team is ready to charge!"

“...... Eight ......"

The sergeant counted to "eight", and the crowd on the road in front of him, instead of dispersing, rushed up first.

Old, young, women, children...... The people in scattered formations and ragged clothes, without the cowering they began to see, their eyes were full of despair and fierce gazes, and they completely changed into a person, and they came in a crowd, and the strange thing was that those men in strong suits only shouted behind them, and did not participate in the charge.

"Shoot ...... "Ma Shaoteng gave an order, the arrows were like rain, and the people were fierce.

Swords and swords, flesh and blood flying.

A rain of arrows shot into the middle of the rushing crowd, knocking down a large area and cutting off the team.

Some of the people who were shot were nailed to the ground and screamed in pain, some were shot to death, and those in the back turned around and ran away in terror, and those in front rushed up and collided with the sergeant's door.

The shouting and scolding, the sound of swords and guns, and the crying and shouting all converged together, and the poignant sound was endless......

After a while, the valley fell silent.

The people who rushed up were ruthlessly cut to the ground, and their bodies were on the spot, with stumps and broken arms all over the ground, and blood flowed everywhere, which was unbearable to see.

"How can this be?" Lei Shaoxuan muttered, suddenly feeling sick to his stomach, his stomach turned upside down, he squatted on the ground, and vomited violently.

Those who retreated were quickly scolded and driven away by the fierce man, and prepared to charge a second time.

Obviously, the defeat of the first time did not make these robbers flinch. Or, these robbers didn't take their lives seriously at all, or Ma Shaoteng was shocked that these robbers were deliberately sending these obviously weak people to death.

Ma Shaoteng's eyes showed a fierce light, and he shouted again: "Ready!"

"Wait!" Shen Weiyong suddenly walked to the front and shouted, "Wait!"

Shen Weiyong came out and said, "Although the goods transported by our horse team are large, they are useless to you!"

One by one, Shen Weiyong lifted the cowhide covering the horses, revealing baskets of tea and porcelain.

"Tea and porcelain are not uncommon to be produced locally. Most of the local tea and porcelain shops operating within a thousand miles are a few businesses, familiar with each other, and will never accept tea and porcelain from unknown origins. ”

Shen Weiyong was very nervous in his heart, and said stubbornly: "The caravan stayed with it and didn't carry too much food. The silver two more than the silver ticket carried, must go to the designated money bank with the ticket to withdraw the silver two, all the silver ticket for the money issued by the bank, marked with a secret mark, lost after the report to the bank, the money bank at any time to monitor the lost silver ticket. Silver tickets are a necessity for businessmen, but they are a killing weapon for you!"

Everyone was stunned, the merchant had so much knowledge.

Shen Weiyong said: "If you don't kill all of us, the silver ticket is useless." The snow covers the mountains, food is more important than property, I will leave you a few hundred taels of silver and all the food I bring, if you let us pass, you can also create less slaughter, how about it?"

Shen Weiyong didn't wait for the other party to answer, he directly picked off a few bags of grain that were held by a few horses, put them on the side of the road, and by the way, put a cloth bag on it, untied the bag, revealing snow-white silver.

The man on the other side was silent for a while, and then suddenly blew a few whistles, and the crowd dispersed on both sides of the road, hiding in the woods, and making way for the road.

Resisting the discomfort of vomiting, Lei Shaoxuan was supported by Hu Youde and followed the team quickly.

Witnessing all kinds of dead bodies and broken arms and stumps scattered all over the place, Lei Shaoxuan couldn't help but shudder, he couldn't bear to open his eyes, his mind was red with blood, he seemed to be floating and struggling in a sea of blood, the sea of blood was full of corpses, floating human organs, broken arms, and heads......

After walking a short distance, Lei Shaoxuan's eyes darkened and he fell to the ground.