Soon after Zhao Yue and his entourage entered Dengzhou, it was as if they had entered another dilapidated world, as if this area was not in the territory of the Great Song Dynasty, which was still prosperous and peaceful on the surface. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Along the way, they saw that the county seat had been broken, the official offices and the mansions of the gentry and local tyrants in the city had all been breached, and the majestic and arrogant county bureaucrats, arrogant county soldiers, domineering tyrants, and slaves were all gone, leaving only some unpopular ruffians and scoundrels who were still swaying on the streets.

Along the way, as far as the eye can see, the business is in a depression, the big shops and merchants are gone, many of the doors and windows of the shops are damaged under the violence of slashing and axes, and they are broken and open under the scorching sun, and there are no corpses to be seen, but the bloodstains left everywhere prove that they have just experienced the bloody struggle between robbery and anti-robbery like the county town and mansions. All the items in the store were looted, the houses were empty, there was no owner in sight, and the things were not plundered by the powerful forces from the west, but also taken by the locals.

At present, only small businesses such as shabby rice shops still exist, and they are still working hard to run a small business to support their families, and they are trying to cheer up in the increasingly hot season.

Obviously, the forces from the west don't look down on the little money of small households, and they don't have to rob it, or maybe they have a conscience that can't bear to destroy these small traders who are struggling at the bottom, and deliberately let them go.

Passing through the countryside.

The landlords and powerful households in the countryside are as big as those in the county town, and the former compounds have now become ownerless ruffians and rogue dominators. But the villagers, like the ordinary people in the county, obviously did not suffer from looting, and there was not much residual fear in their expressions, and they were still hoeing grass and farming under the scorching sun in order to make a living.

It seems that this group of strongmen from the West is not a vicious and inhumane exterminator.

Zhao Yue could see clearly, and the anxiety in his heart was somewhat reduced.

The destruction of large stores brought great inconvenience to Zhao Yue and his party.

The accommodation was ok. Summer is so good, and there is always an ownerless mansion that can make do with one night along the way. Feeding war horses is also not a problem. But people eating is a big problem.

In this backward world, although Zhao Yue is not very particular about food and accommodation when he goes out, he really can't make do with some food in the dirty small shops and roadside wild shops where flies fly around.

In Zhao Yue's previous life, his parents were ordinary and his family background was average. He is filial and sensible, and he has long known that helping his parents and cooking is one of them. With his temperament to strive for the best in everything he does, and smart and thoughtful, he is very good at ordinary dishes, and later he was used to being meticulous in all aspects of life by his girlfriend, and there are servants, he doesn't cook anymore, but the craftsmanship is there.

The Wens brothers and their parents lived in seclusion in Mount Tai. The two families live alone in the barren mountains and wilderness. It is necessary for the two brothers to work for their parents, and they are good at killing sheep and cooking.

As for the two of them, cooking is not a problem.

Not to mention that they have undergone special military training for wilderness survival, it is simply said that they are orphans, and cooking and taking care of themselves is a necessary skill, and they start cooking at a young age.

It's all tears of happiness that reminisce about sadness.

Among the six people, only Xiao Liu Tong, who is used to growing up, can't cook, and he is disliked by others if he can't burn a simple fire.

Zhao Yue is not a person of this era, and he does not sit and wait for others to serve as a master.

In his heart, the people who are outside him are brothers and comrades-in-arms who share life and death, and it is fart to pay attention to the respect and humility of master and servant in life, only more detention and hinder communication.

He cooks with everyone, talks and laughs, and enjoys it as if he had a picnic with friends in his previous life. In this way, it can divert attention and alleviate the hidden anxiety in the heart, and at the same time, it also invisibly increases the mutual trust, cooperation and friendship with his subordinates.

He disdains what people say in this era that it will mess up the rules of the body and is not conducive to erecting the majesty of the superior, and the gentleman who is particular about cooking is far away.

The problem of the Chinese people is that the feudal rule is too long, and the spiritual problem of official power, ideology, vanity, and face is too serious. If you have a meal among friends and relatives, you have to pay attention to the dignity and humility of the seat, otherwise you will be dissatisfied and even turn your face. A lot of warm and beautiful things have changed their taste, so that many young people are disgusted but have to conform to the boring world.

This night, while Zhao Yue was cooking with his brothers, he smiled and talked to the owner and wife of the farmer's family, who were happy and humble to help on the side.

"Uncle, what kind of group of strongmen are from the west? I don't think they're that vicious and scary. ”

When the man of this family heard this, even if he was boiling the pot in front of the stove, he couldn't help but bow down and said, "Don't torture the villain." The villain doesn't dare to be the uncle of the son, just call Li Laohan casually. ”

The man is honest but not stupid, just looking at Zhao Yue and his entourage, who are well-dressed and blatantly riding a high-headed horse with weapons, they know that they are not ordinary rich people, they must be from rich families.

He was accustomed to being humble, and when he saw that Zhao Yue smiled and didn't care about this aspect, he said: "Speaking of that gang of strongmen, hey, why aren't they vicious and terrifying?" Gongzi didn't see the ferocity with which they killed and robbed. How powerful and powerful was the Wang Dahu of our village in the past? The male servants raised in the family are not counted, and the thugs in the nursing home alone are at least seventy or eighty, all of whom are armed with knives, guns and arrows, but in a blink of an eye, they were killed by the group of people who suddenly came to the door with only a few dozen hits on the door, including the head of the sect, and the fierce men in the door were wiped out and robbed clean. ”

From these words, Zhao Yue judged that the strongman from the west was not ordinary, he was very brave and strong, and he must be proficient in group fighting.

Think about it too.

That group of people was able to sweep from the west with many followers across nearly a thousand miles to Dengzhou by the sea, and pass through so many state capitals along the way to block attacks and intercept and kill, without some real skills and hard forces, it is impossible to do it.

He was depressed who was the core force of this group, could it really be the rebellious officers and soldiers that the Zou family's uncle and nephew had learned about since reconnaissance? I can't help but worry more and more about the safety of the people in the mine.

The vast majority of the tens of thousands of personnel in the Longkou Mine have been transferred to the coal mines of the Goryeo Peninsula for production, and the mines here are to be temporarily closed and abandoned, leaving only the uncle and nephew of Zou Run, the unicorn dragon of Lin Long, Zou Yuan, with five or six hundred capable guards prepared by the mine, escorting two or three thousand South Asian miners to carry out the tail sweeping work, and waiting for the scene to be "looted" by pirates and disappear reasonably.

Over the years, the uncle and nephew of the Zou family have managed the mine, provided sufficient high-quality power energy for many ships in the north and south of the Cangzhao Group, and made a lot of money for Cangzhao by selling honeycomb coal made of inferior coal, and never made a big deal to bring tricky trouble to the group, and the credit is huge.

The housewife of this family is a cheerful person, and she doesn't like to listen to the man say that, so she interjected and questioned her husband while washing the vegetables neatly: "Wang Dahu's conscience is gone, and whoever brings someone who understands something, none of them is a good thing, I don't know how many people have been ruined, and now God finally has eyes, and the retribution is on their heads, and the children and grandchildren will die cleanly, what?" Are you still reluctant to feel distressed after their family is ruined? You haven't been bullied enough by those damned ghosts? You forgot that our family was ........ by them."

said this like a cannon, and the man was speechless with embarrassment.

The woman scolded the man and was still angry, and said, "This prince is right. Those guys aren't really bad. ”

He said to his own man: "How can they be vicious and terrible? People didn't kill or rob our poor families, and they didn't even come to the door to bully and harass us. Kill the Wang family, servants who don't deserve to die, didn't they kill either? Regardless of whether it is a man or a woman, whoever is willing to go with them will be accepted as his own, and those who are unwilling will be let go, wherever he goes. Don't you see that most of those maids and servants are willing to follow? Even the women, young ladies and girls of the Wang family who should not be killed, were spared, and they did not kill them indiscriminately like those bandits. In my opinion, they should be regarded as a thief who has eradicated the bad guys, and they are too late to kill less. Those dog things that eat people's food and are tasteless, no one in the court cares, there should have been such a good man to clean it up a long time ago........"

The man's face was red and faceless, and he listened to his mother-in-law attacking the court in front of the rich and noble guests, talking casually, worried about causing disaster, so he quickly found a handle to stop the mother-in-law from complaining, and retorted: "Still a thief? The women and children of the Wang family were not killed. But wasn't it snatched and occupied by that gang? What's the difference with those bandits? the child, don't talk nonsense again, so as not to make the distinguished guests disgusted with jokes. ”

How do you know that his mother-in-law has been holding grudges in her heart for a long time, and when she gets angry, she doesn't care about Zhao Yue and his party at all, and she is scolded by her husband, and she also understands what her husband means, but she is even more angry, and she can't help but say hatefully: "What's wrong with snatching it?" That group of people is a good man, rich and powerful, the court has no choice, there is a way out for the sea, and they are at ease from now on, at least they can let the mother-in-law and baby who have no support not have to despair about how to live, and have protection. If you don't take it away forcibly, will you leave a ruffian like Wang Ergou in our village to take the opportunity to bully and sell it without any end? ”

The man was anxious, and he looked at his mother-in-law and told her to shut up quickly.

The mother-in-law sighed and said, "It's not me who is in charge, it's not me who doesn't abide by women's morals and slaps your face in front of guests." You're a good person, but you're too honest and timid, and you're really not a gentleman compared to those guys. How can we ordinary people live in this world? What's wrong with me saying a few words? The government condemned the crime. The old lady can't die early and end it happily, so that she doesn't have to live to suffer the crime. ”

Saying that, he looked at Zhao Yue's reaction, and said, "If I were a man, I would have a knife and a gun, and I would follow that group of people." What are you doing here? Today, Wang Dahu is dead. Tomorrow there will be another big Li and Liu Dahu. Anyway, the ownerless land and property will not fall on the heads of people like us. We can only continue to be oppressed by poverty and oppression, how can we hope? ”

Zhao Yue had another layer of understanding of the group of strongmen from the west, and felt that this group of people acted to pay attention to their reputation among the people and tried their best to attract people to follow, and he was afraid that his ambition was not small. He thought for a moment and smiled at the woman, "Auntie is so courageous. I agree at least a little. A good life is a person who breaks out, not an honest wait for the nest to come out. People go to high places. The water flows downward. Seizing the opportunity is the most important thing. The tree died. People move to live. Where can we live well, where are we going? ”

When the man heard this, he looked at Zhao Yue with a shocked face.

The woman showed a little shyness, was not angry, bowed her head slightly and whispered: "Thank you for understanding the suffering of the people." Thank you for your teaching. ”

After saying that, he didn't say anything more.

Zhao Yue noticed that she was rolling her eyes and didn't know what to think, and she forgot to clean up the dishes even after they were washed. Zhao Yue knew that this woman was only afraid that she had a careful mind, and she should have the determination to force her husband to follow the pirates overseas with his family and floating wealth when the pirates came to immigrate.

He smiled gently at the man and beckoned, "The meal will be ready in a while, please eat with the uncle and aunt and the children." Meeting is fate, and there is no need to be confined to anything. Is it the same human? Like you, we are not living an easy life, and we are trying to find a better way to live as much as we go. Hugh said what dignity and humility. ”

In this way, there is no need to say dryly that the woman will not be held accountable for talking nonsense or reporting to the official for questioning afterwards, the man also understood what Zhao Yue meant, and breathed a relaxed sigh.

Because he was worried about the safety of the mine, he didn't know what was going on over there, and the next day, Zhao Yue got up early in the morning, quietly left a handful of silver in the room to further comfort the couple who hadn't slept all night, and greeted the couple who hadn't gotten up before getting on the horse and left.

It's not too far from the mine, and this time I rushed to the mine in a hurry.

The mine site was originally an uninhabited wilderness hill, with the mining, the surrounding area naturally gradually has residents who provide various services for the mine, these residents have local landless and landless poor households, there are small businessmen, and there are huge displaced people from other places who have heard the news to make a living, spontaneously forming a simple small village, but also an invisible immigration point, because of the floating population, the immigrants are difficult to be noticed, so far the residents of these villages have changed a few times silently. Only the houses, fields, and vegetable fields remain. Now that the mine is going to be closed, it is known to the outside world to prevent the fierce pirates who are looting along the coast from coming north to attack and loot, and have to temporarily stop production and rectify the prevention. I didn't do it for the surrounding residents. The last inhabitants were gradually removed on the pretext of leaving the area to earn a living elsewhere.

The mine personnel belonging to Cangzhao all live in the mining city, not one but five according to the location of the mine, and the city is not large and inconspicuous, and there were forty or fifty thousand miners.

Now the four mining cities are empty and closed. Only the original main city, which is also the main office and residence of Zou Yuan and Zou Run's uncle and nephew, is left with tail sweepers.

The main city is surrounded by an ancient and huge forest, and although it has been cut down a lot around the city with the construction, it is still deeply surrounded by woods and is very hidden. It is also hidden, the forest beasts are more dangerous, and outsiders are rare, so they built a city here according to exploration and comprehensive analysis.

Zhao Yue didn't hear the sound of fierce fighting, worried that the mining city had fallen, and the people left behind had been killed or arrested and waiting for death, so he became more and more colored, and quickly crossed the forest road to the vicinity of the west gate of the mining city, looking from afar.