Zhao Ying's "recovery of stolen goods" in Yankou Town was fruitful, and the harvest greatly exceeded Zhao Dangshi's expectations. By the early morning of the third day, more than 5,000 stone of grain had been plundered, and the rest of the gold, silver, money, and other goods were incalculable. With these supplements, there was enough support for the entire Zhao battalion, including Xu Hui and the Tsing Yi army, which had not yet met up, for more than a month, and the situation of the shortage of money and food in the battalion a few days ago was alleviated.

"Dogs eat people without knowing how to check them, and they don't know how to do it when they are smeared with hunger." After getting the preliminary account book statistics, Qin Qigong said this. Although it is known as the "country of abundance", but all the way to the march, the withering and dilapidated in the river is still vivid, and in stark contrast to the courtyard of the rich merchant eunuch is the endless road frozen to death and starved to death. Zhumen smells of wine and meat, there are frozen bones on the road, and even in the rich Yankou Town, there are also a large number of displaced people who are dying in the harsh winter. Separated by a wall, the warblers sing and dance inside, but the outside is hungry and cold, and the two extremes of human life are only a stone's throw away.

If we add these hungry and faltering homeless people, the population of Yankou Town is by no means only two or three thousand people as the captured officials claimed. It can be seen that the merchants and gentry here did not treat these displaced compatriots as human beings at all. There is a tragic situation of the displaced people as a comparison, the soldiers of Zhao Ying who participated in the raid hated the officials and businessmen of Yankou Town even more, if it were not for Zhao Ying's military discipline as the most basic rule, I am afraid that the current situation of Yankou Town will be ten times more miserable.

The Kong family, who disguised themselves as victims, also killed a few people, lost some money, and even a corner of the main hall was burned down, but those who knew the inside story knew that as long as Zhao Yingyi withdrew from the mouth, then compared to other merchants who had been greatly injured and even perished, the Kong family, who had only lost a dime, would definitely become the absolute leader after Yankou Town.

Zhao Dangshi attached great importance to the Kong family, and in the name of "copying the Kong family", he personally entered the Confucian mansion before dawn. Of course, he didn't go to do any "copying" of Lao Shizi, and even Zhou Wenhe, who had always been inseparable from him, was finally blocked out of the inner courtyard of the Kong family. Zhou Wenhe could only guess that Zhao Dangshi was talking secretly with Kong Qingnian, but as for what he talked about, there was no way to know. He only saw that when Zhao Dangshi came out of the inner courtyard of the Confucian family, his face was full of spring breeze.

"After I'm gone, you go to the inner courtyard and bring someone out." When passing by Zhou Wenhe, Zhao Dangshi paused for a moment and commanded in a low voice. Zhou Wenhe responded with his fists clenched, and Zhao Dangshi walked away after speaking.

Zhou Wenhe instructed several people to continue to follow Zhao Dangshi and walked into the inner courtyard alone. Before stepping into the hospital, under a Xiangmei plant, two figures, one tall and one short, came into view.

The tall one Zhou Wenhe knew, it was Kong Qingnian, he looked at the short one, but it was a little girl with pigtails.

The little girl was about eleven or twelve years old, her little face was pink, her innocent appearance was very cute, she saw Zhou Wenhe with a black face, and grabbed the hem of Kong Qingnian's clothes in fear, and hid behind him.

Zhou Wenhe noticed that the little girl's eyebrows were somewhat similar to Kong Qingnian, and he was calculating, so he arched his hand and said: "Shopkeeper Kong, is this Ling Ai?" "There are many members of the Kong family, and Kong Qingnian can't be in the front. But because of the introduction of Zhao Ying, Kong Qingnian's status in the family has risen sharply, and Zhou Wenhe has also heard of Zhao Dangshi's side, and the original little-known Kong Qingnian is now one of the three major treasurers of the Kong family.

Kong Qingnian's expression was a little complicated, his lips moved, but he didn't answer. The little girl buried her face in his waist, and he gently straightened her thin body and faced Zhou Wenhe.

"Daddy, who is he?" Kong Qingnian didn't answer, and the little girl herself explained the relationship thoroughly. Zhou Wenhe observed that Kong Qingnian looked quite lonely the moment he heard her say "Daddy".

Kong Qingnian sighed, clasped his fists and said to Zhou Wenhe: "This general, the little girl will follow your camp in the future." In the future, I will have to rely on the general to take care of it! Anyway, regardless of Zhou Wenhe's stunned face, he took out a heavy bag from his arms and stuffed it into Zhou Wenhe's hand, "It's not enough to worry about a small gift, please smile at the general." As he spoke, a little tear appeared in the corner of his eyes.

"Oh, good, good ......" Zhou Wenhe took the bag, and Mu Ran looked at the little girl who was still wrapped around his father's leg. She is Kong Qingnian's daughter, but today, she has to give up the brocade clothes and jade food in Yankou Town, and follow Zhao Ying to travel thousands of miles, drink wind and rain.

In a flash, countless scenes flashed through Zhou Wenhe's mind, but in that short moment, he forcibly withdrew all the thoughts that had been dispersed to a point, and his expression returned to seriousness. He is very clear about his position, he is just an executor, he doesn't need to know the cause and effect, all he has to do is do what he is told.

"Daddy, Daddy! What did you say? The little girl also heard Kong Qingnian's words, but she didn't understand it, raised her head, and asked with big eyes.

Kong Qingnian bit his lip, his beard trembled slightly, and said softly: "Xin'er, be good, my father has something to do, you follow this uncle." Daddy will take you later. ”

When the little girl heard this, she was stunned for a moment, glanced at Zhou Wenhe, and then shook her head like a rattle: "Don't, Xin'er is going to stay by Daddy's side and not go anywhere!" ”

"Xin'er, be good, obedient!" The corners of Kong Qingnian's eyes became more and more moist, and even the entire eye socket began to redden. He was gentle and forceful, and as he spoke, he kept gently pushing his daughter to get her out of his side.

"No, Daddy! Daddy! The little girl also seemed to notice a hint of something unusual, screamed, and at the same time hugged Kong Qingnian's waist tightly, "Xin'er won't go!" ”

"Xin'er......" Kong Qingnian wanted to speak and stopped, his daughter hugged him too tightly, if he wanted to push her away again, he would undoubtedly have to exert his strength, but he had never regarded his daughter as a treasure in his palm, and he was reluctant to put down a heavy hand no matter what. The thought that from today on, it might never be possible to see his daughter again, his heart was full of turmoil, and his arms were like paraffin, stretched out diagonally to both sides.

Even though he is accustomed to killing and parting, Zhou Wenhe is not an emotionless and eternally cold stone, and in this situation, he can't help but be a little moved. It's just that when he saw Kong Qingnian's gaze for help from him, mature reason still prevailed, and in order to complete the task assigned by Zhao Dangshi, he could abandon any feelings.

The little girl who was crying suddenly felt that she was being picked up, and the fear and grievance made her break down and cry loudly. Kong Qingnian said with an iron heart: "My good girl, follow this uncle, Daddy will come to you later, and then ......" Later, choked up instead of speaking, and it was difficult to speak.

"Daddy, Daddy!" The little girl struggled with all her strength on Zhou Wenhe's body, but Zhou Wenhe's arms were like an iron wall, without the slightest loosening, she had no choice but to give up, and instead screamed and wailed.

Zhou Wenhe was not talking to Kong Qingnian, he hugged the little girl and turned around and left, the little girl's little hands stretched out, trying to grab her father, but in exchange for being farther and farther away from her father.

"Daddy......" When the bitter cry finally turned into a sob, she called softly. She didn't understand why her father, who had always doted on her, stood in place coldly at this time, letting herself be carried away by strangers, but only crying there.

Zhao Dangshi, who came out of the Kong family, was in a good mood, and after a long talk with Kong Qingnian, he determined a lot of things, which were complicated, and it was not possible to say everything in a few words. And Kong Qingnian's daughter Kong Xin is a hostage handed over by the Kong family to Zhao Ying.

Zhao Dangshi would never have any wrong thoughts about the young Kong Xin, in fact, the proposal to entrust Kong Xin to Zhao Ying was also proposed by Kong Yunian himself. A gentlemanly and seemingly weak businessman was so ruthless that he sent his only daughter into the hands of the "tiger wolf", Zhao Dangshi claimed that he still underestimated the ambition of this Kong Qingnian.

The affairs of the Kong family were almost over, and Zhao Dangshi adjusted his mind to the army. Needless to say, in terms of money and food, Wang Laixing and He Kewei can report that they can count all the points clearly by dusk at the latest, and by noon tomorrow, they can complete the loading. According to the report of the person in charge, Li Yanyi, the boats moored in Yankou Town are enough to carry nearly 10,000 Zhao Ying troops, horses, baggage, etc., but the load on this section of the Jialing River is limited, and the fleet of 10,000 people is afraid that it will not be able to set off at the same time, so I am afraid that it will be divided into three batches to go north along the river one after another. Although this is somewhat troublesome, it is not an unacceptable event for Zhao Dangshi.

Zhao Dangshi thought as he walked, thinking about what else he had forgotten to check, thought for a while, and walked to the riverside, but suddenly remembered that the last group of people delivered to Wu Mingfeng had to be killed before noon, and it was almost noon at this time, since there was nothing else important, it was better to go to the riverside.

It's just that when he arrived at the riverside, the scene in front of him was very different from what he imagined.

On the rocky beach on the shore, the executioner was not beheaded, but one man was grabbing the other and beating him.

The protagonist of the fight made Zhao Dangshi laugh, who is not the "literal Zhang Fei" Liu Xiaohong? Although this benevolent brother is a scholar, his personality is more violent than that of a general, and it is not the first time in Zhao Ying's camp to fight with others. Sometimes Zhao Dangshi thinks, according to Liu Xiaohong's personality, will martial arts training be more promising than reading?

After smiling bitterly, Zhao Dangshi looked at another person, who was Wu Mingfeng, the person in charge of the execution by the river. At this time, Wu Mingfeng, who was born as a military general, was full of helplessness, constantly dodging Liu Xiaohong's constant punches. Liu Xiaohong was already out of breath and unstable, but it was still difficult to touch Wu Mingfeng's fur, it could be seen that Wu Mingfeng was not unable to beat Liu Xiaohong, but he was still a little jealous in his heart.

"Stop!" If you don't do official business but fight by the river, what kind of system does it become, Zhao Dangshi can't stand it, and he makes a statement.

"What needs to be done so much?" Hearing Zhao Dangshi's voice, Liu Xiaohong and Wu Mingfeng both stopped, Zhao Dangshi walked quickly, approached and asked with a straight face.

"My lord, Liu Jian has epilepsy, and Shicai is sick!" Wu Mingfeng said first.

Liu Xiaohong, who was sweating profusely, glared at him angrily and said, "Even if I get sick, I will kill you, a pig and a dog!" ”

Wu Mingfeng's face turned blue and purple for a while, and he didn't scold back, but respectfully said to Zhao Dangshi: "Liu Inspector obstructed official affairs, so that my execution could not continue, please call the shots!" ”

Zhao Dangshi heard Liu Xiaohong scolding violently, and said with a solemn face: "What is the original situation, I will listen to it." ”

Even though Liu Xiaohong was emotional, his thoughts were still very clear, his breath was fixed, and he told the ins and outs of the matter in three or two clicks. After he finished speaking, he turned to glare at Wu Mingfeng, and Wu Mingfeng "pounced" and knelt down, and said in a mournful voice: "Lord Mingjian." The subordinates acted completely according to the order, seeing that noon was coming, Liu Inspector suddenly obstructed him, and his subordinates did not listen to their good words, but he wanted to beat his subordinates! ”

Liu Xiaohong said: "Women and children are really not guilty, and the lord must not cause tyranny and murder because of a momentary omission!" ”

Zhao Dangshi frowned, thought for a moment, and sighed: "Don't be angry anymore, the fault of this matter is mine." ”

When the beheading list was set that day, Zhao Dangshi didn't think much about it because of the complicated military affairs, but looking at the bank of the river and kneeling in the river breeze, there were indeed many women and children mixed in the rows of prisoners who were shivering. Zhao Dangshi often has compassion, and when he saw it at this time, he listened to Liu Xiaohong's sincere advice, and naturally felt a little regretful.

Liu Xiaohong said well, Zhao Ying's banner is "for the heavens, hoe the strong and help the weak", this is the principle, but also Zhao Ying's self-confidence based on the world, competing among the heroes. It is not difficult to kill a few women and children, even if he does, Zhao Dangshi believes that no one will stand up and accuse him of Zhao Dangshi's inhumanity. However, people's hearts are unpredictable, and this killing seems to kill the women and children in Yankou Town, but in fact, it kills the hearts of the soldiers of Zhao Ying, and kills the prestige of his Zhao Ying.

If you say it, playing the flag is like a fart, how can you convince the public? Don't do it because the evil is small, the seemingly casual and insignificant little things may be infinitely magnified in people's hearts. Even if Zhao Dangshi himself learned that there were so many innocent women and children under his knife, he would feel uncomfortable, let alone others? The more Zhao Dangshi thought about it, the more he felt that something was wrong.

It is a military order to order the beheading of prisoners, and it is military discipline not to kill the elderly, weak, women and children. One is a temporary order, the other is a principle in the battalion, and it is self-evident which is more important and which is more important.

He will not put the blame on Wu Mingfeng for the sake of face, he does not have the habit of throwing the black pot to his subordinates. And what Liu Xiaohong said, Wu Mingfeng used the public to seek personal gain, and he didn't care about it - Hou Dagui, how much oil and water they made by "chasing stolen goods" and helping them to make a sound, he was not the same, and he turned a blind eye. Wu Mingfeng wants to take the opportunity to get some subsidies, which is understandable. Regarding the greed for ink, it is a matter of facts, just looking at the current killing of prisoners, Wu Mingfeng is not at fault.

Therefore, it was he Zhao Dangshi who was wrong, and he was wrong from the moment he gave this military order because of negligence.

"I'll pay for my mistakes." Zhao Dangshi said in a deep voice, in front of everyone, regardless of the panic and astonishment around him, he slowly pulled out the waist knife.