The sun sets over the long river.

Broken flags, corpses strewn all over the field, and burned chariots crackled.

The wind swept up the yellow sand and snow, rolling in overwhelmingly.

The wind ripped apart the flames.

The veteran with white hair, exhausted, sat against the hill, full of vicissitudes.

"You go back and report to Da Sima, Xiangzhou is lost."

"General, what about you?"

Qi Dongyang couldn't walk anymore, the old general raised his bloodstained hand, and finally held the halberd again, "I want to stay in this land." ”

In March, Luoyang, the capital of the Great Liang Dynasty, the war reports were frequently spread, and the worries were greater than the joys. After the death of the Shence general Qi Dongyang in battle, there was no famous general in the north, and the male Jia man had 150,000 iron horsemen, and he drove straight in. The land of Hebei is full of corpses, stacked pillow arms, and bloody corpses condensed in the soil.

This winter has been exceptionally cold.

——

Liang Shengde for three years, stunned.

Dengzhou Mansion, Qixia County, Hujiazhuang.

In the remote alley called Mud Alley, before dawn, the lonely boy surnamed Tang had already gotten up and sat on the bench to sharpen his knife. The young man was poor, and his family did not have all the farm tools, but he still had a knife for chopping wood. If you want to send firewood to the three families today, you must set off early. If you can't earn these three pennies, there will be a thin layer of stored grain left in the urn, and you will not be able to cover the bottom of the urn completely.

"Is Tang Yuan at home?"

Suddenly, a man's voice came from outside the door, very familiar, it was the pavilion chief Hu Dagui. Originally, he was a street splasher, but then he somehow came out of the way, mixed into the pavilion chief, and since then he has become a Xu official who eats the country's money, it is said that it is because his third aunt is the county master.

The official Mihu Dagui finally became an official, although he was not a lot of money, he was able to raise his head when he walked, his face was flushed, his waist became thicker and thicker, and he was snorting and panting when he walked.

Seeing that the candlelight in the house was shaking and the door was not locked, Hu Dagui pushed the door in, and said with a smile: "Ma Bufang, the governor of the new soldiers, ordered that at least one hundred young men from each town should join the army. He scratched his head and sat on the edge of the kang, "There are ninety-eight now." ”

"We are a village, not a town."

Tang Yuan raised his eyes and looked at the courtyard, there were a few heads hidden outside the courtyard wall, as if they were still with their feet crossed from time to time, high and low.

The young man knew in his heart that Hu Dagui wanted to upgrade Hujiazhuang to a town, so every time the imperial court issued a decree, he would undertake it according to the specifications of the town.

In fact, Hu Dagui is not a fool's dream, as early as the previous dynasty, Hujiazhuang was originally a small town, but there were more soldiers in Hujiazhuang to defend the previous dynasty, especially a few famous generals, killed a lot of Liang soldiers, so after the Liang overthrew the Tang Dynasty, the town was downgraded, and Xuandao was invited to seal the city gate to suppress the number of gas here.

Now the town is empty, and the residents have moved out of the city.

"The Observer promised me that as long as I gathered enough 100 people, I would break the seal on our town." Hu Dagui said with some embarrassment, and rubbed his hands after speaking.

Now that the Great Liang Dynasty has been closed for more than 200 years, the past of the previous dynasty has long been a little bleak, and the hearts of Hujiazhuang people have been ignited in the hearts of the people to restore the town. - Many people want to go back to the city and look for their ancestral property.

"Even if I agree, there's still one thing missing." Tang Yuan put down the firewood knife: "Who are you going to find?" ”

"Chen Bao and Tang Hu are one of them." When talking about these two names, Hu Dagui had a headache.

"Both of them are the only children in the family, according to the rules of conscription, aren't they not forced to join the army?" Tang Yuan stared at Hu Dagui's eyes and said.

There is a bad custom in the Great Liang Dynasty that daughters are not counted as their own family, and before they get married, they are considered to be fostered at home. Therefore, when you get married, you should ask for a dowry gift. Even if you are a concubine for others, you have to pay for a concubine. Therefore, although Tang Hu has a younger sister, he is also counted as an only son.

But the rules are dead, people are alive, and in order to complete the task, the pavilion chief has to let you join the army, and you have no choice. Otherwise, he will resort to all kinds of means. Hu Dagui, this person is full of conspiracy and conspiracy, he sits on the kang head of your house for three days and does not move the nest, and he makes it bad behind his back, he can do anything. It can be said that the Lord will not give up until the goal is achieved.

Tang Yuan thought to himself, he was also an only son, and he couldn't be alone anymore. He is the only one left in the family, and the reason why he can come to him may have considered this problem, let you join the army, as long as you agree alone, you don't have to do the work of a parent.

Hu Dagui didn't answer Tang Yuan's question, but looked around, this family could not be more suitable to describe as "four walls".

"You kid is so poor and virtuous, if you don't join the army, you plan to starve to death?" Hu Dagui knocked the mud on the soles of his feet, raised his eyes and saw that the young man was expressionless, and strengthened his tone: "Last year's drought, you didn't have any farm work, no money in your pocket, no rice in the urn, you plan to eat tree bark this year?" ”

It is also better to eat the bark than to die. The young man didn't want to work for the big beam, and the Tang family didn't want to do it for generations.

"Is there still a quota for recruits?" Tang Yuan lowered his head and asked.

"No, only the conscripts remain." Hu Dagui said.

"Really?"

Hu Dagui shook his head.

"Then I'm not going."

Hu Dagui glared, pointed at Tang Yuan's nose and scolded: "Boy, don't you toast and don't eat..."

With a click, Tang Yuan reached out and grabbed Hu Dagui's neck, pressing Hu Dagui's back tightly against the wall.

The strength in the young man's hand was surprisingly great, and Hu Dagui couldn't shout even if he wanted to.

Hu Dagui felt that it was difficult to breathe, and the joints of his neck could even hear the crunching sound of "rattling", so he was really worried that if the young man tried harder, his neck would be broken.

The young man's expression was indifferent, and his eyes were cold: "Our Tang family is unwilling to be a soldier for the Liang Dynasty." But for the sake of my compatriots being slaughtered by foreigners, I can go to the battlefield and kill the enemy. However, you want to bully me and die this heart as soon as possible. I know you have a lot of means, but what kind of character I Tang Yuan, I think you also know. I'm a single one, and you're a big business, if you don't care, we can give it a try. ”

Actively enlisted in the army is for "soldiers"; Being forcibly conscripted into the army is for "bravery".

Although there is a difference of one word, the nature is different, and the treatment is not the same. It is said that in the army, recruits will be looked down upon, and in the future, they will also have the same military merits, and when they are promoted, they will first consider recruitment.

Hu Dagui was pinched by Tang Yuan and couldn't speak, but just waved his hand softly.

Tang Yuan let go.

Hu Dagui immediately coughed a few times and said, "The quota is indeed gone, I can only consider changing it for you." But this can't be changed explicitly, I will tell Captain Li Du, who recruited troops, that before entering the barracks, don't expose it first, you are still nominally a recruiter, and then announce the true situation when you enter the barracks. I think at this time, the person I changed will definitely hate me to death. But he was already in the barracks and couldn't come out again. ”

"I hope it's not me who gets deceived."

"You're ruthless enough, I don't want to suffer."

The young man picked up the firewood knife and said, "I promised you, you can go." ”

Feeling that the young man agreed lightly, Hu Dagui rubbed his neck, changed his expression, turned his head and smiled: "I have long seen that you are a good person, the old Tang family has been a good man for generations." In the future, the seal of the town gate will be lifted, and I will reserve a large house for you in the city. When you have repelled the male Jia and returned to your hometown, your uncle will be a matchmaker for you to marry the most beautiful daughter-in-law. ”

Hu Dagui has always been like this, and his attitude changes faster than turning a book.

Tang Yuan is also not a fuel-efficient lamp.

"Really?" He almost blurted it out.

“…… It's really ......" Hu Dagui is a little weak-hearted.

"I've been optimistic about your daughter for a long time, can I call you father-in-law in advance?" The boy is colorful.

"This ......" Facing Tang Yuan's expression and tone, Hu Dagui sweated, and suddenly waved his hand and said, "Don't forget, there are prerequisites, I will wait for you to 'return to your hometown'!" ”

Hu Dagui walked away as if he was burning his buttocks, almost trotting.

ran outside the gate and shouted: "When the time comes, gather under the big locust tree at the entrance of the village!" Choose a temporary centurion first. ”

"Got it." The boy replied angrily.

The boy didn't have a timekeeping object at home, so he didn't want to delay the hour, so he began to pack his luggage and prepare to go.

The war with the male Jia people lasted for three years, and soldiers were conscripted every year, and the boy already knew the rules of conscription. As a soldier, many items are actually prepared by yourself, such as bedding, dry food, and even weapons.

There is definitely no armor, that thing is not allowed to be hidden, otherwise it will be discovered, and the crime is not small.

He didn't have a decent weapon, so he could only travel with a hatchet and a pole. There is no kitchen knife at home, and the wood knife chops wood and chops vegetables. When these things arrive in the barracks, you can go to the barracks equipment depot to exchange weapons of the same weight. Of course, only the weight of iron is counted, not wood.

The boy had very few things with him, just a set of thin torn cotton bedding, and some grain, and an old hen who wandered around all day long, and the old hen had not laid eggs for half a year, and he was reluctant to kill it, so he gave it to his neighbor before leaving.

"Xiaomi, Da Hong has been given to you. Didn't you say you wanted to eat chicken a long time ago. ”

"Really!" The little girl jumped up and down, grabbed the old hen and ran.

The neighbor's family is also surnamed Tang, but in fact, 200 years ago, they were a family. Although it has already been out of the five volts now, the neighbors have taken care of each other for many years, and it is not good not to say a word before leaving.

As a result, there seemed to be no adults left in the house, and the little girl threw the old hen into the house and ran out again.

"Where's your brother Tang Hu?" Tang Yuan craned his neck and looked at it, but he didn't see Tang Hu's sturdy figure.

That kid is eight feet six inches tall (Qin ruler 23.1 cm), with a leopard's head and eyes, a tiger's back and a bear's waist, and his strength is amazing. Tang Yuan is seven feet nine inches (182.5 cm) tall, which is already considered a big man, but in front of Tang Hu, he is more than half a head shorter.

But the strange thing is that he usually plays wildly, but Tang Hu is always subdued by Tang Yuan. Tang Yuan practiced martial arts with his grandfather when he was a child, and his wrist strength was amazing, and he grabbed a bone crack and twisted it, which made him sweat profusely. It is said that what kind of true qi he cultivates, but the specific content Grandpa didn't say, just let him practice more to strengthen his body.

Although Tang Yuan became an orphan at the age of twelve, in the township, no one dared to bully him, and it was often he who bullied others.

Tang Yuan, Chen Bao, and Tang Hu, the three worshipping brothers, must be the ones who rush to the front.

But Tang Yuan is more scheming than Chen Bao and Tang Hu, he will not rush forward stupidly like the two of them, he always likes to observe the situation first.

In his words, it's called knowing oneself and knowing one's opponent.

Their Tang family has an ancient book, which is said to be the grandfather of the grandfather's grandfather...... Left behind, but unfortunately it was burned by the grandfather I don't know which one, but I just passed on some mantras by mouth.

"My brother hid my mom." Tang Xiaomiren is a big ghost, and said mysteriously.

"Where are you hiding?" Tang Yuan lowered his voice.

The cute little girl with two balls on her head approached, stretched out a finger, and said solemnly: "I won't tell you!" ”

"Don't tell me, why are you so mysterious?" Tang Yuan stretched out his hand and patted the little girl's head, and finally rubbed it caressingly: "Forget it, human nature, human nature." It's just that I pity my brother Tang Hu, who has practiced a good martial arts, and shouts all day long that he wants to be a general, it seems that he would rather than pull his ears. ”

The boy was alone and came to the big locust tree at the entrance of the village.

Many people gathered here, including a hundred young men, who stood in several rows under the guidance of military representatives.

Although everyone has no formal training, and this batch of recruits looks like the worst group in recent years, the faces of the men are extremely serious.

At the sacred moment of serving the country and defending the homeland, people who usually don't look serious are also full of blood.

I have to say that the most mixed Han people, at every critical moment, there are always some backbone people, and they are iron-clad.

But...

"His grandmother's, why did Zhang Erbiaozi run away?" The military representative was a lieutenant, surnamed Li, who had just been named once, and when he was called again, he found that there was one person missing.

Some people say that Biaozi ran south along the country road, and that road leads directly to the Huai River, and finally leads to the Yangtze River, and after crossing the Yangtze River, it will reach the south.

Nanguo is a country south of the Yangtze River, and northerners like to call it the Southern Jin Dynasty. In the past, the two dynasties of Jin and Liang shared the Central Plains, and later they were beaten to the south of the Yangtze River by the Great Liang.

At that time, King Hui of Liang (later known as Liang Gaozu) was wise and heroic, but he died too early and failed to complete the great cause of unification. And his descendants, though now called emperors, are far inferior to him.

Look at the territory of the Great Liang Dynasty today, it is really a belly and back enemy. When the Founding Fathers were still around, the most foreigners would do was come to grab something and run away, but now their purpose has changed.

Now they want land.

In the last less than 100 years, the Great Liang Dynasty ceded a lot of land, married many princesses, and paid a lot of gold, silver and cloth to foreign tribes.

It's a.

If Liang Hui Wang Quanxia had knowledge, he would not be so angry that he would crawl out of the tomb?

However, the emperor's reluctance did bring some peace in exchange for a nest.

But this situation changed after the previous emperor ascended the throne, he seemed to have some temper of King Liang Hui, did not give up the land, did not marry the princess, and cut off all the previous tribute. It also claimed that it was necessary to recapture the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun and the Hexi Corridor, and open up the connection with the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate.

At this time, the barbarians were in a hurry and frantically attacked the border of Daliang.

The Sangla people sent troops from the Hexi Corridor, and the male Jia people sent troops from Youzhou to flank the beams.

The emperor is not afraid, and he drives the expedition in person.

The soldiers of the Central Plains bravely resisted the enemy.

At the beginning, the Great Liang Dynasty fought very hard with one enemy and two enemies. Tearing down the east wall and making up the west wall, barely fought for eight years. But then the situation suddenly changed.

Because of the fire in the backyard of the male Jia people, the male Jia king returned to his hometown to quell the rebellion and gave up attacking the beam.

At this time, Daliang attacked Sangla with all his might, and it took two years to beat Sangla to a great injury and retreat, but at this time, the emperor who was interested in unifying China unfortunately died.

Perhaps, this is the fate of the Liang Dynasty?

The new emperor ascended the throne at the age of thirteen, and the year name was Shengde.

With the "support" of the three major valves, they wanted to restart the peace talks, but at this time the barbarians did not agree.

After the men's rebellion was over, Sangla was invited to cut down Liang for the second time. Sang La quickly responded, and the two hit it off. But this time, the Sangla people just shouted and did not send troops, but the male Jia people came in with real knives and real guns.

At this time, the contradiction between the gate valve and the imperial power was intensified, and the imperial power led by the Empress Dowager Cao began to regulate the overall situation.

Although Emperor Shengde was young, he had the same temper as the first emperor, and he was furious in the court and took the case.

In this way, the second war, one dozen and three years.

It's a pity that the battle situation is not good, I heard that a while ago, Qi Dongyang, a famous general stationed in Xiangzhou, died in battle, this news made those who heard it cry.

"Huh? Tang Xiaofeng, why are you here? In normal times, don't you always say that good men are not soldiers? Wang Er was stunned and escaped, was not drafted into the army, and stood in the crowd with a face full of unbeaten expressions.

Tang Yuan, the word Xiaofeng.

Under normal circumstances, only rich families and people with status can write, but Tang Yuan is a special case, although the family is very poor, the Tang family always has this rule.

"When I come, I can die for others. That way you and your brother don't have to choose someone to die, right? The young man raised his head, "Your brother is hiding in the haystack of Widow Zhang's house, don't you know about me?" ”

One stone stirred up a thousand waves, and everyone was in an uproar.

The military representative cast a suspicious gaze on Wang Er's stunned face.

In fact, the villagers all knew that his brother was really dead, and he died on the kang of Widow Zhang's house, which was a bloody case caused by jealousy.

But those military representatives didn't know about the situation, especially Lieutenant Li, who was about to inquire about the situation as soon as he glared at him.