As it turns out, it's always right to be careful in everything. Zhao Dangshi and others left the mountain temple, went to the bamboo forest to pick some bamboo leaves and vines, made them up indiscriminately to cover their heads, and continued to hurry in the rain.

This army consisted of only about 100 people, and the horse army was sparse, coming from the northwest. Because they were drenched in heavy rain, although they were all wearing hats and robes, they still carried weapons one by one, their heads were shaky, and they were weak, looking at their movements, the destination should be Hanzhong.

Hou Dagui jumped in front of him, first saw the enemy, pulled out the horse and turned back to warn. At the same time, the officers and soldiers also noticed the movement ahead. The leader of the leader hurriedly shouted to his subordinates to prepare for battle.

It stands to reason that this group of officers and troops is in the way they must pass, and if they want to cross the aisle, they will inevitably have a bloody battle this time. But Zhao Dangshi is unwilling to waste his energy and manpower here. As soon as he came to his own task, it seemed that such an uninvited enemy could be avoided, if he saw a fight, he was afraid that before he reached Fengxiang, the family of the fifty horsemen under his command would have to be defeated; Second, his own people were drenched in rain all night, and it was because of the lack of sleepiness and malaise, the narrow trails in this canyon, and the inability to give full play to the advantages of his own army's horsepower, and in the face of officers and troops twice his own and unknown combat effectiveness, he was not sure of victory.

The rain was still falling, and the men and horses on both sides were facing each other in the narrow passage at a distance of one hundred and ten steps, and the leaders of both sides were carefully weighing each other's catties, and no one dared to make the first move.

After a while, there were sharp-eyed people in the officers and soldiers, and they reminded the general manager: "Someone is coming over there." ”

The general wiped the rain from his eyes, frowned, and saw a gallop, but he didn't know what kind of medicine was sold in the gourd when this person came alone.

"The military master is hard." The person who came was Zhao Dangshi, who stopped his horse at about twenty paces and waved to the general manager.

"Bow up." The chief commanded left and right in a low voice, and several archers on his side drew their bows and arrows according to their words, aiming at Zhao Dangshi.

"The military master lives together, and the villains and others are all good citizens, and they go to the north to beg for a living." Zhao Dangshi saw that the other party did not relax at all, and explained with a smile on his face.

"Fuck your shit. The north side is beaten into a pot of porridge, begging for life, I think it's begging for death, right? The boss sneered and said, "Such a fool, when grandpa still wears open crotch pants, he can't do it!" ”

Zhao Dangshi and the others all have horses and weapons, and those who dare to go on the road like this in this world are either officials and soldiers or rogues, and in the eyes of the general manager, they obviously belong to the latter.

Zhao Dangshi also knew that he couldn't act, so he laughed and said: "The military master has good eyesight, and the villain admires it." But I don't know if the military master and his subordinates are all Feng Xiang coming to Hanzhong? ”

The one who always didn't answer, but swept his two eyes back and forth towards Zhao Dangshi, just afraid that he would deliberately distract himself from what kind of moth he was, but he couldn't see the name when he looked around, so he scolded: "You thief, muttering and farting, beating and not fighting, but what to do?" ”

He looked strong and inward-looking, Zhao Dangshi had a full view, and knew that the hundred households in front of him were very weak, although he had few people, but after all, he was more than fifty cavalrymen, and his momentum was still superior. The hundred households hesitated and did not dare to fight, so there was an opportunity.

"Master Jun, there is no one here, so the villain opened the skylight and said something bright. For officials and thieves, not all of them are begging for a living on the edge of a knife. Usually there are Shangguan staring, and they want to sell their own strength, but now why are they embarrassed by each other? "Zhao Dangshi is serious. He didn't say it right. Nowadays, there are many guest soldiers in the provincial official army, and most of them are not much better than the rogues compared to military discipline. It is often a thief who robs one place, and the officials and soldiers come with it, and the poison is even worse, so that there is a saying that "thieves comb soldiers".

The officers and soldiers are accustomed to following the rogue to pick up leaks, and sometimes the rogue can't escape, so they will leave behind some of their assets to attract the officers and soldiers, and the officers and soldiers will tacitly indulge in their own way. In the early years, there was even a deputy general soldier named Zhao Dayun who killed women in Hancheng, although he was tried for failure, but it also reflected the corruption of the Ming court officials and soldiers.

The one who always listened to Zhao Dangshi's words thought it was true, and subconsciously helped the hat he was wearing on his head. There are not many people in this branch in front of him, but they are all in hand, and they seem to be elite, and if they really compete, they may not be able to bargain on their side. Not to mention that there are more than two dozen bird gunners in the back team who can't play a role because of the heavy rain.

At this level, the position is not high, but it is not something that can be done by doing, and improvisation is a necessary skill. I just took the squad to move to Hanzhong, there is really no need to make extraneous branches, if it is folded here, even if I am lucky enough to pick up a life, I am afraid that this military position will be done.

Besides, after being in the army for a long time, this one is not a dry meal, and he can also see that this gang of rogues is eager to pass through this place, and he is not sure of winning, and the other party is also hesitant.

His eyes flickered, he pretended to be serious, and said with a straight face: "The court raised us just to fight the rogues." Fame and fortune have to be earned from the rogue. Let you go now, and let my brethren drink the northwest wind? ”

Zhao Dangshi understood that as long as he was sincere, today's matter would be considered a complete negotiation. smiled, arched his hand on the horse and said: "Where is the military master, the villain has already said that he is not a rogue." On the contrary, he cleared a small stream of gangsters on the road. No, the head is still with him, and he wanted to take it to Fengxiang to ask for credit. Now I have a speculative chat with the military master, so I simply broke up, and I can make a friendship. ”

The general thought of getting some broken silver and other benefits, but he didn't expect to get someone to give it to the other party. It's okay to say that the money is good, but this head is a real feat. Not to mention the reward, the number is up to standard, the relationship is pointed, and it is not impossible to jump to one level. After many years of crawling and rolling, I thought that being a master would come to an end, but who would have thought that there would be such an opportunity? He was overjoyed, and even his voice trembled: "You say, talking about people, people's heads? ”

More than ten heads bought a way to live, Zhao Dangshi felt that it was worth it, and it always felt that it was worth it. At that moment, only a shout was heard, and the officers and soldiers who were originally blocked on the road slowly dodged a small road, and Baba watched the horse team gallop by. Some of them were stunned and confused, and they still couldn't figure out why the general face had changed.

Throwing off the official army, Zhao Dangshi and others hurried non-stop. Fu Luo Road was prosperous as early as before the Tang Dynasty, "five miles of a post, ten miles of a pavilion, thirty miles of a post", plank road nearly 100 places, is the main official road of northwest traffic. However, after the Tang Dynasty gradually withered, the business travelers gradually thinned, and the broken place of the plank road was rarely repaired, Rao is known as the "most convenient" in the Qinling Mountains, and now it is also steep and tortuous.

A group of people ate and slept in the open, and after a few days of traveling, they finally saw the ruins of the ancient Luokou Station.

Luokou Post was originally a big post, after the Song Dynasty was abandoned, it was at the north end of Fu Luo Road, and when I saw it, it showed that it had been out of the continuous and winding canyon plank road of Fu Luo Road.

The official army took Xi'an as the center and spread out to all sides of the province, and the nearby places such as Xucuo and Fengxiang were by no means places that could be stayed for a long time. Zhao Dangshi caught two natives on the road, and after questioning, he reconfirmed the route and went north along the northern foot of the Qinling Mountains.

After driving this road for a long time, everyone was discouraged by the wind and rain, and they had to vent after being angry for a long time. Hou Dagui proposed to find a nearby village to plunder, first, to replenish supplies, and second, to vent the anger of the brothers. Yang Chengfu agreed, and even Wang Laixing, who has always been introverted, also showed a strong desire.

Zhao Dangshi categorically rejected their proposal, and he was also aggrieved, but reason told him that Guanzhong was by no means a place of long-term love, and if he could not find the Liukou Brigade as soon as possible, once the whereabouts of his army were discovered by the officers and soldiers, he would inevitably fall into a dilemma.

Refusal is refusal, in order to take care of the emotions of most people, Zhao Dangshi promised to stay out of Fengxiang Realm, and he must choose one place to make the brothers happy. Such a promise is completely a transaction between bandits, although Zhao Dangshi is unwilling to make such a promise, but he can only bow to reality. The mentality of the old-style army is by no means something that can be changed overnight, let alone these rogue gangsters who have never received formal education, and their prestige and influence are far from being able to enforce and prohibit them. He can only accept reality.

If you want to change the status quo, you must first be able to adapt to the status quo. Zhao Dangshi comforted himself like this.

Fortunately, along the way, everyone was quite convinced by Zhao Dangshi, and when they heard him say this, no matter how unhappy they were, they all suffocated back to their stomachs.

A group of people went north, except for resting, they did not stay along the way, so they did not attract the attention of the officers and soldiers stationed along the way, and occasionally detected the movement of the officers and troops from a distance, and they also avoided it by horsepower. smuggled into the loosely guarded Golden Tooth Pass, and traveled to Yimen Town, but could not move forward.

Yimen Town, a "Yimen City", built by Li Siqi at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, is the only pass in the southwest of Baoji, steep and abnormal, and the nearby Dasanguan is a horn to control the traffic of Shaanxi and Sichuan. The officers and soldiers also attached great importance to this place, and the armament and repair were excellent, far from being something that Zhao Dangshi's fifty people could capture or smuggle into.

After discussing with Hou Dagui and others, Zhao Dangshi decided to retreat in the face of difficulties, turned back to the Wuzhangyuan area and hibernated, and sent Yang Chengfu and others to the south bank of Weishui to search for the ferry after nightfall.

There are many villages on the south bank of Weishui, but the villagers usually cross the river through a few official crossings in the nearby government camps, and there are basically no private crossings, and if there is, it will not be easily revealed to outsiders.

Yang Chengfu showed his ability to speak like a spring at this time. He lied that he was a horse dealer from a foreign country, and received an order from the government to go to Baoji to supply horses, and he was anxious to cross the river.

When the villagers heard that he was going to Baoji to serve the officials, they saw that there were indeed seven or eight yellow horses behind him, and they believed it for five or six points. Yang Chengfu took the opportunity to stuff some water silk and silver over. Under the generous shot, the villagers were not greedy, so they didn't care about 3721, showed him the way, and introduced the private ferry in the township to him.

The rules of private crossing are all night crossings, which is exactly what Zhao Dangshi wants. When Fifty-One Riders appeared in front of the boat boss, he realized that he was doing Hades' business today. Looking left and right, but it was ethereal in the middle of the night, so that the sky should not be called the earth. Helplessly, he obediently drove Zhao Dangshi and his gang across the river.

When he was leaving, Zhao Dangshi wanted Wang Laixing to give the boat boss some copper coins to stuff his mouth. Hou Dagui disagreed, saying that this person made a living in this black business, and he didn't dare to report to the official if he was deflated. Zhao Dangshi felt reasonable, and he didn't want to waste money, so he simply didn't give any black food, and left with fifty horsemen, leaving only the boss of the boat and a few of his men standing by the river and staring dryly.

After Weishui, the danger is reduced by half. The riders rode north around Baoji at night, galloping all the way to the southern foot of Fangshan Yuan at dawn.

I have been scared for the past few days, but now I can finally relax a little. They chose a cave to rest, and everyone slept until noon the next day.

Zhao Dangshi and Hou Dagui slept the least, they were both worried people, and they didn't dare to relax easily. Therefore, while a group of subordinates were asleep, a hundred households and a captain were on duty outside the cave.

Further north of Fang Shanyuan, the power of the official army gradually weakened, and on the contrary, the activities of the rogues became more frequent. Only separated by a mountain, the Xiangquan and Long'an in the south of Fangshan Yuan are still crowded, and when they reach the north, they are really "uninhabited for thousands of miles". Not to mention the scarcity of villages, if there are, they are all ashes, and there are no ghosts.

Hou Dagui and the others were looking forward to finding a place to get a good catch, but after walking for a day, there were no birds, and they were so disappointed that they scolded angrily.

To the west to the boundary of Gongchang Mansion, the scene became more and more desolate, sometimes even more than ten miles, except for the brothers and horses around them, there was really no other living thing, everyone was depressed, and there was no interest in talking and joking, and a lifeless atmosphere shrouded the team.

Zhao Dangshi saw the change in the morale of the team, and he was also anxious, knowing that if he couldn't give these people some benefits, he was afraid that they would mutiniate sooner or later. Originally, he was expecting Hou Dagui and Yang Chengfu to help him, but looking at them again, they both drooped their heads and looked gloomy.

Wang Laixing also felt that something was wrong, but he didn't dare to say it. just subconsciously urged the horse to approach Zhao Dangshi, and asked in a low voice: "Brother Dang'er, where are we going?" ”

Zhao Dangshi said: "From Qingshui to the north, go to the area of Pingliang Mansion." ”

Wang Laixing heard him speak briefly, so he asked, "Is that almost there?" ”

Zhao Dangshi shook his head slightly, and said in a low voice: "I'm afraid I have to drive hundreds of miles." It's still good luck. If the king is transferred, I am afraid that they will have to walk more. ”

Wang Laixing was stunned when he heard this, and he didn't speak, but just sighed softly.

Zhao Dangshi knew what he was thinking. Compared with other rogues, the cohesion of his own army is already extraordinary. He can understand the feelings of his subordinates, he has driven so many roads in the wind and rain, and his life has almost been hit, but the so-called hope is still far away, and whoever he is will be depressed and angry.

After about thirty miles, the team took a routine rest. Everyone sighed, but before their buttocks touched the ground, Zhao Dangshi suddenly jumped up and shouted: "Copy guy!" ”

The long-lost order was on the line, and everyone's spirits were lifted.