On the one hand, he sent two border soldiers with a small bag of green salt to the herdsmen to exchange dried beef and lamb, and invited Shang Cheng and several captains into the command post.

It is said to be a command post, but in fact it is a thatched house made of adobe wooden piles, which is simple and dilapidated, like a small temple without incense for many years. Probably in order to shelter from the wind and snow and the severe cold, the huge room did not even have a window except for a thick wooden door, and it was so dark and deep that it was almost as dark as night. Fortunately, there was still a slight red glow in the fire pit in the middle of the room, which barely allowed people to see the general outline of the surroundings. Even so, a lieutenant stumbled over a large rock underground, stumbling several steps in a row, and if it hadn't been for Suza's quick tugging of him, maybe this unlucky guy would have been able to hit Shang Cheng's back head-on.

There are no inkstones of pen and ink that are commonly seen in other command posts, and there are no documents on the table, only an old table, a broken wooden bench, and a few large stones piled up around the fire, which is all the furnishings in the command post. I couldn't die and dragged the lame wooden stool over, stretched my sleeves and dusted the dust on the stool several times, and pressed the stool to see if I could sit firmly, just listen to a few gurgling sounds, the fine hemp rope tied to the legs of a stool broke in response, and the three-legged stool fell to the edge of the fire as soon as it was crooked.

I couldn't die for a while, and suddenly I had a toothache and grinned.

Shang Cheng didn't care, he casually sat down on a big rock, and waved to a few lieutenants: "This stone bench is good, warm one by one!" Come, uninhibited, all sit down. Captain Shi, don't stand still. If you, the host, don't sit, we, the guests, will have to stand with you. ”

I couldn't die and said with a bitter face: "My lord, look at this, this ......"

Shang Cheng waved his hand indifferently and asked him: "The two soldiers you sent to the herdsmen just now, I don't seem to be from our Central Plains, and they are all mixed-blood...... Is it a Hu person? Although the two border soldiers were also black-haired and black-eyed, their faces were much rougher than ordinary people's, with wide foreheads, deep eyes, square chins, and thin and high noses, which made them look like they were not Orientals.

I can't laugh when I die. Whoever came to Gutai would ask the first thing about the two brothers. He threw a few pieces of dried cow dung into the fire, poked the fire with a stick, and said, "They are not Hu people, they are serious Zhao people, and they were sent from Xilong more than ten years ago......

"Xilong? Is it Xilongwei? ”

"Xilongwei of the original state capital." He nodded and said, "The surname is Mo, and he is an uncle and brother of a family." Listen to their own words, their ancestors are not from the Central Plains. It seems to be a high-ranking general in the Tang Dynasty, somewhere in the extreme west......" He wrinkled his brow and thought hard about the name of the place. A lieutenant interjected, "Isn't it Gao Xianzhi?" The battle fought in the Northern Court? ”

"That's right! It seems to be this tall general! It was he who led his troops to fight two battles with people in the extreme west, and then he became a king. The ancestor of the Mo family brothers was on the enemy's side at that time, that what Yang, relying on the Celestial Dynasty to focus on Han, heard that he was going to fight with the Central Plains court, he immediately led his troops to surrender to General Gao, and also pointed out the enemy's flaws to General Gao, so he made a great contribution, and finally became a big officer called Yue Cai. Later, after the war, he settled in Wonju. ”

I don't know if it's because he can't die and his mouth is clumsy, or because he doesn't have good skills in telling books, anyway, a story that should have been twisted and bizarre was told by him indistinctly, and half of the audience sitting by the fire pit was still confused. Fortunately, Shang Cheng has a better understanding of the history of the Tang Dynasty, and he also knows that the battles fought by the general Gao Xianzhi in Central Asia during the Tianbao period of the Tang Dynasty can barely be understood by comparing the two with his memory. However, he remembered that Gao Xianzhi's opponent at that time was the Great Food Army, and the two Mo brothers looked more like Greeks or Italians on the Mediterranean coast of Europe; This seems a bit of a mismatch. But he immediately thought that the story told by dying might not be the true nature of the matter, but that the Mo family was deliberately boasting, hoping that their ancestors did not defect before the battle, but were coerced by the Arabs on the battlefield and then became a captive again.

He stretched out his hand to bake the fire, and asked, "What crime did the two of them commit and were sent to our Yanshan?" ”

"Those two fools, two fools...... It's a good gamble, and if you lose in a hurry, you go to someone else's house to steal things, and as a result, the result is ...... "I couldn't die and grinned for a long time before I was out of breath and said: "The result was noticed by others." When it was dark and they couldn't see the road, the two brothers were so bent on escaping for their lives that they didn't choose the way to go, so they planted themselves in the dung pit and were guarded by the pit and ate a lot of dung all night......"

Several lieutenants laughed when they heard this.

Shang Cheng is also a guaner. He casually asked, "What are they going to steal?" ”

The expression that couldn't die suddenly became strange, and it took a long time to squirm and say, "They, they're going...... Cattle stealing. ”

A captain from Gan Zhizhai laughed and teased him: "You can't die, why don't you tell your story to adults?" ”

I can't die and glance at the captain. He is an old frontier soldier with almost 20 years of military experience, although the rank is low, he is just a non-mainstream Congjiupin, but there are basically no people with deeper qualifications than him in the two armies of the border guards in Liuzhen, so he doesn't care about these eight-grade captains at all, touched a piece of cow dung on the ground and threw it at the officer, and scolded a foul sentence in his mouth: "I have a fart story worth saying!" The officer tilted his head slightly, and the cow dung smashed on the cheeks of the other officer, causing everyone to laugh again.

Shang Cheng remembered that on the way here, others had mentioned to him that the crime of not being able to die and being assigned to Yanshan was also for stealing cattle, but at that time, these officers did not dare to speak too presumptuous in front of him, and he didn't have the heart to ask in detail, so he only knew in generalities. Seeing that he couldn't die, his expression didn't seem to be really annoyed, so he smiled and said, "I have to wait for half a day to eat lunch, so it's better to listen to the story." Captain Shi, tell me, how did you steal this cow? I've heard that you always say you've been wronged. ”

"It's wronged!" I couldn't die and sighed before I spoke, "I'm really wronged......"

Can't die is a native of Pingyuan Fuqi County, and there is no big name, because he ranks seventeen in the household, so the nickname seventeen is also his big name. His family is also a medium-sized family in the local area, although there are many brothers, but there is also a lot of land, when he was 16 years old to ask his wife to split the family, he also divided three rooms and a few acres of land from the family. has a house and land, although his situation is not solid, but there is money in the granary cabinet in the tun, and he can still ask for a few pennies from his father and mother for emergencies, and he will never go hungry again, so the life of the young couple is also harmonious and beautiful. He is good at everything, but there is one thing that is not good, and he is too greedy for alcohol. Other people's good wine is something to drink two sips, but he can't see that thing, and his eyes can't walk when he sees Huang Tang's feet. The little two fought ten times for nine times just for his good wine. In the spring of the second year of the Eastern Common Era, one of his younger brothers went to a neighboring village, and he went to a banquet, drinking from noon to evening, until the sun went down, and then he fell on the road home. When I entered the village, I ran to a secluded place on the side of the road to relieve my hands, who knew that I could not find my trouser belt when I was relaxed......

Until now, Shi Qiqi sighed when he mentioned this: "I was drunk at the time, where can I clearly see a cow tied to the other end of the rope?" When I entered the house with my front foot, the owner of the cow on the back foot led a group of men to catch the thief. Let's give a comment, am I stealing cattle? If you are an understanding person, you should know that this is not the kind of unsightly thing I have the intention to do, even the county magistrate of the Yamen of Qixian County understands that I am wronged......"

Shang Cheng was silent for a long time, sighed and asked him: "Stealing cattle is not a big crime, it is finished after beating a few sticks and flail for a few days, why is it sentenced to be confiscated to the army?" Moreover, since the government knows about your grievances, why did they still make you a distribution? ”

Shi Qiqi smiled bitterly and said, "My luck is poor." It would not have been a great sin if it had been a year earlier, or a few years later. But the imperial court only promulgated a law in the spring of that year, and anyone who slaughtered cattle without permission would be severely punished......" He stabbed the fire with a stick, and said again after a long time, "Even if the officials know that I have been wronged, what can I do?" The plaintiff denied this reason, and the yamen could not do anything about it. Don't you know that the owner of the cow and our family have been celebrating for several generations, and I sent them to the door to relieve their hatred, so they didn't bite me to death as a thief who stole the cow? ”

"Then why don't you go back when you finish your sentence?" Shang Cheng asked suspiciously. No matter how serious it is a felony, it is impossible to sentence a lifetime to the army, right?

Shi Qiqi stared at the red fire in the fire pit for a long time, and only after a long time did he breathe and say: "Our Shi family has not had a lawsuit for six generations, and it is ...... Where do I have the face to go back? ”

Shang Yuan also wanted to ask about the situation in Shi Qi's family, but after thinking about it, he still didn't ask these hurtful words.

At this time, the escort who had previously followed two Xilong border soldiers to the herdsmen to exchange for beef and mutton returned. They brought back the news that the leader of the herdsmen was waiting outside the beacon tower, and they wanted to be received by Shang Cheng......