Which is more important, life and property, everyone who comes to An Yuanwei knows very well. Only by living can it be possible, only by living can it be possible to make meritorious contributions, only by living can it be possible to become an official and become a knight, and only by living can it be possible to return to Beijing. And a dead man is a dead man after all.

Most of An Yuanwei's original soldiers did not have permanent property, but the newly arrived guards in front of the imperial front, they were originally raised in the capital with good food and drink, in order to cultivate their combat strength, the imperial court spent a lot of money and food, and they also had some spare money in their hands. Now seeing An Yuanwei's appearance, he is willing to take out and buy grain and grass on credit with this caravan.

Even Ma Liang gritted his teeth and bought it when he looked at the list taken out by the caravan: "Ya, it's just three times the price in the Jingshi!" Bought! You must know that those who dare to come to the border to do business, which one has not speculated the price of grain to more than seven or eight times?! Even if the price is ten times higher than that of the Jingshi, it is also very common. We don't have to pay now, we just have to wait for them to deliver the food. You can even take credit! There is no need to settle immediately, and the same is true for the settlement when you return home for meritorious service in the future. Lao Tzu also came out of the army, and this is the first time I have encountered such a good thing! Buy! A must buy! ”

The people who came with him rushed to buy this and that, and some even rushed to pick up food in other people's cars.

An Yuanwei's original soldiers were all poor ghosts, and the court owed them money and grain for several years, of course they couldn't afford to buy grain and grass, but the new guards in front of the imperial front not only bought half of the grain and grass after calculating their own savings. also ordered food with the caravan, which made An Yuanwei's soldiers all kinds of envy, jealousy and hatred.

They were jealous that the guards could have so much money to buy rations, because they knew that the guards were also from the military households. If they have the luck and strength to do so, they or their descendants may also become royal guards. But they had no way or the strength to be jealous of Jia Yu.

These days, Jia Yu has also inquired a lot about An Yuanwei, and he also knows that his net worth and life are tied to An Yuanwei. Therefore, An Yuanwei's soldiers did not have the money to buy rations, so he paid for these rations, and then handed them over to Zhang Guerrilla for distribution. In order to retain the combat power as much as possible, and to fight for every point to increase the chances of his father and son surviving.

This kind of amnesty not only did not arouse the jealousy of the soldiers below, but was grateful to everyone.

In this bitterly cold spring season. For the first time, An Yuanwei's soldiers were full of food and drink, and they had a warm feeling on their bodies. The well-bodied men rushed into the snow with hoes, and they had to race against time to set up a trap in the shortest possible time within a range of 500 feet north of An Yuanwei; And Jia Amnesty, Jia Lian's father and son followed the old and weak to set up bamboo rows and reject horses in the camp.

Ma Liang and An Yuanwei's main general, Zhang Guerrilla, has regretted it more than once, who let it be early spring and the ice and snow at the border pass have not melted? At present, we can only set up a trap first. The kind of two-pointed murderous weapon in the back can only be made up when the time comes. It's a pity even more. There were too few bamboo poles sent this time. If there is a little more, this kind of trap will be made within the range of 3,000 feet around An Yuanwei, which is enough to make those small and medium-sized tribes have no return, and the soldiers under his command only need to deal with those big tribes that may come.

Just as Zhang Guerrilla knew very well that he had attracted the jealousy of others because of the matter of Hongjiao, Ma Liang also knew very well that An Yuanwei was the bait now.

Originally, An Yuanwei's geographical location was not good, and it was easy to be attacked by the Di people, but Zhang Cuifeng went to Beijing to raise a lot of money and food. made everyone pay close attention to Zhang Cuifeng. Zhang Cuifeng planted the red lotus in An Yuanwei, and some people said that the money and grain were hidden in An Yuanwei. When it first started. Everyone is just skeptical, but when no one is behind the scenes, the original falsehood has become three points false and seven points true.

Now, with the addition of Jia Yu, the prison army, and the addition of a hundred former imperial guards, they have added to this rumor again and again, so that there are more than one or two Di people who believe that An Yuanwei has a lot of money and food, and the Di tribe that is about to move is not one or two.

The border pass is bitterly cold, and the life of the Di people who are further north than the border pass is even more difficult. An Yuanwei's side has more than three months of ice and snow, but on the grassland, there are many places where the winter lasts for half a year, and even in some places, you can only see green turf for three months a year. It is said that further north, the snow on the ground does not melt all year round, and even the ocean is frozen into icebergs.

Living in such a place is naturally conditioned by the weather. At least there is a fixed amount of grass on the grassland every year. Since there is a fixed number of grasses, the number of herbivores is also limited. Based on this number, the number of omnivores and carnivores is limited to a certain range. Therefore, if there were no caravans, the people on the grassland would have had enough food, and the people who could feed the grassland would be limited to a certain value.

It is precisely because of this reality that the rules on the grassland seem cruel and simple. When winter comes, if the food in the tribe is not enough, then the old man will go into the vast snow, save the ration for the rest of the tribe, if this ration is not enough, then it is the turn of the middle-aged person to go into the heavy snow, and if it is not enough, even the young man will go into the cold snowfield, leaving the chance to live to the woman and the child. Of course, at that point, the tribe is not far from disappearing.

Therefore, before winter comes, the Di people will use every means to collect materials for the winter, even if they steal to rob and kill. As long as they can live, they don't care that their hands are stained with blood.

Under such circumstances, there was a place where a large amount of grain and grass was stored, and it was also a place that was often swept by their Di people, and the tribes on the grassland could not sit still.

The big tribes are strong, but the small and medium-sized tribes are not. Especially small tribes, whose strength is not comparable to others, naturally it is impossible to occupy a whole area of pasture for wintering, and it is impossible to prepare enough materials for winter. Even before spring arrives on the prairie, their days are the hardest.

Inside the tent. The woman who is not yet pregnant has green eyes, licks her lips, and little by little mixes the quota with spittle, which is unique to pregnant women. I was reluctant to swallow it in my mouth for a long time. There are even people who are afraid that eating too quickly will make the good feeling disappear too quickly. The ignorant little doll howled and cried when she smelled the food, but only a few were able to get a little bit of scrap from her mother's mouth, and more, all they got was an ear scraper. The older children, honestly curled up and leaned against their families. Trying to hold back every bit of warmth in the body. No matter how hungry they are, they also know that if they can't keep their voices and cry loudly, they will only consume more energy and make people hungrier.

Look at the yellow-skinned woman and the crying child inside the tent. The men couldn't sit still.

Is it to watch women and children starve to death?

Men don't have such a thick skin to watch their women and children suffer.

Seeing the appearance of women and children with their own eyes, the men of these small tribes couldn't stand it at first. Their eyes were always looking at the hungry appearance of their families, and their ears were constantly echoing the news that An Yuanwei had a large amount of grain and grass.

The men finally couldn't sit still.

Although it is said that this may damage the horses. But the horses on the prairie are worthless, if they grab something good. It's possible to buy good horses from other tribes. But this ration is saved again and again. It's also come to this point. If this heavy snow is two days late, if this spring breeze is two days late, wouldn't it be the rhythm of freezing to death together?

Finally, a small tribe closest to An Yuanwei couldn't sit still.

In the eyes of Di Ren, An Yuanwei's people are a group of two-legged sheep who can't even hold a knife, and An Yuanwei is a granary where they can come and go at will. The only thing they had to care about was that the wind and snow outside would make it difficult for them to orient themselves and that the cold might hurt the horses. But no matter how much I cherish the horses, in the face of hunger. It's also a gamble.

With this in mind, the men carried scimitars on their shoulders and bows and arrows on their backs. led the horse and braved the wind and snow to go to An Yuanwei.

To be honest, even An Yuanwei's Zhang Guerrilla was not sure that Jia Jiu's method would definitely work. Because God is not beautiful, when they had just finished the 300-foot trap north of An Yuanwei, it began to snow in the sky again, forcing Zhang Guerrilla to withdraw the people.

Although Zhang Guerrilla had tried his best to select the thickest kind of bamboo, and the section of the root was used to make the trap pit, he was even more afraid that the ice and snow would freeze the trap and make the trap ineffective. At that time, An Yuanwei's soldiers could only rely on rejecting horses and bamboo rows to fight with the Di people.

When he thought that An Yuanwei now only had more than a hundred swords in his hands, and the others only had spears in their hands that had been almost worn out, Zhang Guji's heart beat a drum.

Therefore, on this day, when there was a sound from the vat in the middle of the camp, Zhang Guerrilla immediately jumped up.

He hurried to the bottom of An Yuanwei's north wall. There are also several large vats half-buried there. Zhang Guerrilla listened attentively and finally determined the identity of the person who came. It was the Di people from the north, who seemed to be so hungry that they couldn't stand it, and they came to An Yuanwei to try their luck.

An Yuanwei has no village or market, and the people who come back here, except for the lost people and heralds, are only Di people.

With people like Guerrilla Zhang, they had already been able to tell how many riders had come in the echo of the vat.

Zhang Guerrilla waved his hand, and immediately someone lifted the rejection horse out, sealed several entrances and exits of An Yuanwei, and the bamboo rows were also erected. Even Jia Yu and Jia Lian followed Ma Liang. After knowing that the Di people liked to shoot, Jia Yu knew that it was no longer safe inside the tent.

Ma Liang waited for Zhang Guerrilla to stand up straight before he spoke: "How?" ”

Zhang Guerrilla waved his hand and said, "Okay." It's just a group of small thieves, and there are only about twenty people in total. ”

In the silence of the snowy night, there was only the sound of the wind. The materials in An Yuanwei are not complete, so there are a few places where torches are lit. The beeping of torches echoed in the snowy night, making the echo inside the vat clearer.

Both Zhang Guerrilla and Ma Liang pricked up their ears and kept an eye on the movements in the vat. Jia Yu and Jia Lian behind them were even more angry, as if their hearts were about to jump out with the sound of horses' hooves.

Suddenly, several thuds came from the vat, which became clearer and clearer in the night. Then there was Di Ren's muffled voice, interspersed with a few abrupt screams. Obviously, someone was trapped in a horse pit and fell to the ground, and some even fell off the horse. He was also trampled by the hooves of the people behind him. The weight of a horse, plus the weight of a knight on horseback and the impact of galloping. Those who are stepped on are only afraid of a life.

Jia Yu was frightened by the screams and had not yet reacted. I heard the sound of aggressive bows coming from the bamboo row. The bamboo rows in this direction were the only four bamboo rows covered with horseskin on An Yuanwei, which blocked those bows and arrows tightly. Then there was the mournful sound of the horses.

Before Jia Yu could react, he heard the man's terrible howl before he died. He and his son had a hard time shivering.

After a while, Zhang's adjutant came over and said, "General, there are twenty-two people here. Seven fell on the pit, and the horses broke their legs and feet, and they were already ruined. Two of them were trampled on by the people behind them and died on the spot. The other five were injured in their legs and feet. It was mended by the brothers. The rest were either hung on the horses or stabbed to death by their brothers. It's a pity for the twenty-two good horses. ”

Although the people on the grassland are accustomed to riding one horse and one horse, but it is such a cold day. Even a grassland man who doesn't care about it can't bring his beloved horse out to suffer. In addition, An Yuanwei, a place where they came and went freely in their impression, these Di men each rode a horse.

Zhang guerrilla said: "People are thrown into the pit dug before. The horses are all down. The brothers also had a good meal. Freeze the rest and eat it slowly later. Remember to peel off all the skin, it works. ”

Someone answered immediately.

It was the first time in so many years that twenty heads had been taken without casualties. An Yuanwei felt that this was a good sign. Spurred on by such good news. The soldiers' original nervous mood was also relieved, and they were in the mood to eat meat.

In previous years, even a few Di people may take a few lives. Where is it as easy as it is today.

Zhang Guerrilla patted Jia Yu's shoulder, who had not yet reacted, and said, "It's okay." Now it's just the first batch. There will be no shortage of such harassment in the future. God knows how many tribes of Di people there are on the steppe. ”

What answered him was the father and son who vomited darkly.

I saw a lot of this appearance on the recruits, and Zhang Guerrilla didn't say much, but asked someone to move the father and son back to the tent. And he followed Zhang Liang to the Chinese military tent. Not only were there warm stoves, but his lieutenant would come to them with a pot of hot horse meat.

As for the rest. Of course, these veterans know what to do.

In the winter, it is really a pleasure to be able to eat a pot of hot broth.

Mei Zizi swallowed a mouthful of horse broth, Zhang Guerrilla had already squinted his eyes comfortably, and even Ma Liang and his deputy also poured it into their stomachs with a bowl. If they were in Beijing, they wouldn't have looked at this kind of broth without much salt. But now, this is An Yuanwei, and there is nothing. It's salt, and it's just a small packet. Even Ma Liang and others, who had become accustomed to brushing their teeth with green salt every day in Kyori, had to relive the old days.

Ma Liang's deputies and clerks had already recorded the merits of the army, and Zhang Guerrilla grabbed the merit book and looked at it, and said, "Write down the two heads in the name of the father and son." ”

Ma Liang's deputy, Monkey, couldn't help but flatten his mouth and said, "The credit of this prison army is really easy. They were all scared and vomited, and there were people who took their heads. ”

Ma Liang couldn't help but punch him and said, "You haven't suffered enough, haven't you?" Even if it's the first time for people to go to the battlefield, they can't forget it, this horse pit, bamboo row, and horse rejection are all the ideas of other people's daughters, and even this bamboo pole is helped by other people's daughters. What about putting two heads in the names of their father and son? If you want me to say, even if you remember half of it, Lao Tzu will recognize it in their name. ”

The monkey stuck out his tongue and said, "Boss, that's what I said." It's really strange that this General Jia and his son are both such people, why is his daughter so powerful that she can come up with such a method. ”

Zhang guerrilla said: "It may not be his daughter who came up with it." I heard that the Duke of Rongguo was the cousin of Emperor Taizu and one of the most useful generals around Emperor Taizu. can make great achievements in war and make great contributions to Emperor Taizu, do you think that Rong Guogong is a vegetarian? Maybe this method was specially thought up by Rong Guogong in order to pacify the north. ”

The monkey touched his head and didn't speak, but Ma Liang opened the conversation: "Brother Zhang, to be honest, I was sent to this place by Banzai, and the brothers didn't have a pimple in their hearts, it was fake." We have survived for so many years, and it is easy to become the people in front of Long Live again, and we have to come through the border again. The big guy doesn't feel good in anyone's heart. Brother Zhang, your time in Beijing is short, so I don't know. The reputation of the Jia family is really rotten. ”

Zhang guerrilla said: "I don't know about the Jia family's idea. But today's good prison army is hard to find with lanterns. If you don't say anything else, let's just say that Weiyuan Army, wasn't it damaged by the prison army? Those prison guards, as soon as they came to the border pass, asked for wine and women, and also pointed fingers at the affairs of the army, and insisted that everyone follow them. Everyone said it wouldn't work, so they thought about it. But as soon as the battle began, the prison guards urinated. This father and son, although they are also timid, but they don't have much to do. He also gave us money to buy us rations. And the credit for this time is also picked up by us for nothing. You can't be so ungrateful. ”

The words "ungrateful" were used a little strictly, and the monkey immediately blushed.

Ma Liang patted the monkey and said, "I also know that this General Jia is not bad these days. When they first arrived, they distributed their luggage and dry food to everyone, and they shared weal and woe with everyone, and they didn't try to tribulate everyone. I admit that such a prison is indeed rare. But Brother Zhang, do you know that their father and son are the people who need to be cleaned up? If Banzai really remembered the merits of their family and would have taken them back to the capital a long time ago, where would they send us over? We also have resentment in our hearts. Just like the monkey, he has three sons, two of whom threw their lives at the border, and now he is the only one left in the family. If he has three long and two short, who will take care of him? ”

Lao Yu, the deputy general of Zhang's guerrilla, immediately threw away the horse bones in his hand: "He is the only son left in the family? This kind of thing has gone to the sea in our An Yuanwei. We knew that it was thanks to those two that we were able to sit here and eat horse meat now. Eating other people's, and saying that other people's are not. Lao Tzu can't do it. ”

The monkey immediately stiffened his neck and said, "You eat him and drink him, but Lao Tzu is not." ”

"You!"

Lao Yu immediately stared at the monkey.

Zhang guerrilla said: "If you have something to say, you have something to say." Everyone is now on the same rope, and if there is infighting, it will be a joke. To be honest, their Jia family is their Jia family, and General Jia is General Jia, doesn't it mean that the previous head of the Jia family was not General Jia, the person who attacked the lord, but his younger brother who relied on his mother's favor to do nonsense? We all see General Jia's personality, what else is there to say? Moreover, it is an old rule that every battle should be given credit to the prison army, and everyone still eats meat and eats meat. ”

If Jia Yu was like those prison soldiers before, Zhang Guerrilla would never be so polite, even if he scolded the prison army behind his back, he didn't do less. But Jia Yu is different. Not to mention anything else, the auspicious rui he reported was still given by Jia Yu's daughter. If he spits out something bad about Jia Yu, others will be able to point at his backbone and accuse him of being ungrateful.

Therefore, even if it is for his own sake, he can't allow anyone in his army to scold Jia Yu. Not to mention that Jia Yu is also a worry-free, as long as he survives and lives peacefully to the capital, he doesn't care about anything else, giving Zhang Guerrilla the greatest freedom, so that Zhang Guerrilla doesn't have to worry about plotting from his colleagues when he is desperate on the front line.

Isn't this what the border generals are asking for?

Therefore, in order to prevent Jia Yu from going to Jia Yu and coming to a worse prison army, Zhang Guerrilla will also protect Jia Yu well. This is also the consistent idea of An Yuanwei up and down.

There are many prison soldiers who eat empty pay and drink the blood of soldiers, but this is the only one who is willing to spend money on them. If you don't hurry up, do you want to squeeze this away, and replace it with a master who wants to squeeze oil out of the bones of the soldiers, but grovels to the Di people?

Ma Liang saw that the strategy of mourning the soldiers and the sympathy card did not work, so he had to say: "Brother Zhang, do you know about the former Jingying Festival envoy Prince Tengwang?" (To be continued......)