The sword flashed. Zhao Lili's head rolled to the side, and a mark of blood splattered.

Wei Qing slowly retracted the sword, his hand trembled, and it took several times to return the sword to the scabbard. "Bury him well." He gave a simple order, turned and mounted his horse, and returned to the camp.

Riding on the horse, his joy of victory was completely gone, and Zhao Lili's helpless eyes kept flashing in his mind. He decided that he would ask his father why he was fighting when he had time in the future. If the battle is won, will the people's lives be better? Why are some people born rich and noble, they don't have to fight at a young age, and they are idle every day, while some people are nearly sixty years old and still want to fight as soldiers?

He didn't say a word along the way, just kept thinking.

As soon as he arrived at the camp gate, Lin Chong had already greeted him first, his face was full of excitement, and he said loudly: "Congratulations to the guerrilla master for defeating the enemy in one battle!" ”

Wei Qing's spirits were greatly lifted, he looked at Lin Chong, and said with a smile: "This time Lin Dutong didn't fight, and next time I will definitely give priority to you." ”

Of course, Lin Chong hoped that he would be able to participate in the war, but since our army had won a great victory, his joy was no less than that of those who participated in the war. He replied loudly: "Thank you, Lord Guerrilla!" Participating in the war and defending the camp is always for the country and the army, so why bother with the priority? Someone will come to guard the camp. ”

Wei Qing was happy in his heart, and nodded: "Lin Dutong is really generous!" ”

The two were talking, but they saw Bai Buxin riding into the dust and came to the two of them. He didn't have time to dismount, so he immediately bowed his hand and said to Wei Qing: "Guerrilla, General Liu ordered the guerrillas to immediately pack up the spoils, and then withdraw this big battalion, and the whole army returned." You must return tonight. ”

Wei Qing felt strange in his heart. Since the battle has been won, there is no Jin army here, of course this large battalion will be withdrawn and the whole army will return, but why be in such a hurry?

Bai Buxin saw the expression on Wei Qing's face and knew that he didn't know why, so he took the horse close to Wei Qing and said a word in his ear.

Wei Qing's face changed greatly! He looked at Bai Buxin: "Is this true? ”

Bai Buxin shook his head: "I don't know if it's true or not, it's best for the guerrillas to ask General Liu." ”

"Good!" Wei Qing nodded, "Bai Dutong, please be responsible for organizing the return of the army, I'll ask first, what's going on!" He was anxious, so he only said this, and then he rode away.

Along the way, Wei Qing urged the horse again and again. He was really in a hurry, because Bai Buxin said in his ear: "I heard that the whole army is going to retreat, and most of the soldiers are going to be disbanded!" "Is this possible? At the moment of the great enemy, he actually withdrew his troops and then disbanded his troops? Although the soldiers are soldiers and farmers, and they can be recruited again after they are disbanded, how much time does it take in between? Why the whole army retreated? If it is defeated by the enemy, it is understandable that the whole army will retreat, but since it is said that the soldiers are disbanded, it is not because they were defeated by the enemy, so why should the whole army retreat and disband the soldiers? I haven't heard that the Jin army has retreated, if the Jin army retreats, isn't it a good time to cross the river and recover the rivers and mountains? If it was said by someone else, Wei Qing would also be suspicious, but Bai Buxin has always been thoughtful before speaking, so although he said that he didn't know whether it was true or not, Bai Buxin would not say it without the truth of nine out of nine.

Wei Qing traveled all the way, and when he arrived at the main camp, everyone was sweating. He jumped off his horse and walked briskly all the way to the Chinese military tent.

Liu Anbang was the only one in the tent, and he sat there, his eyebrows tightly locked, as if he was thinking about something.

"General Liu!" Wei Qing spoke.

Liu Anbang looked up and saw that it was Wei Qing, and was a little surprised: "Ah, Wei Qing, brought the army back so quickly?" You've fought a good battle. He praised Wei Qing in his mouth, but there was no smile on his face.

Wei Qing has nothing to be happy about. As soon as he entered the camp, he saw that the camp was in a hurry, everyone was packing their things, and if they were not going to attack the Jin army, they were going to retreat.

"General, I heard that the whole army is going to retreat, and most of the soldiers are going to be disbanded, is it true?" Wei Qing asked directly.

Liu Anbang smiled, his smile was full of helplessness: "It's true." Moreover, the military order is relatively urgent, and it is necessary to retreat as soon as possible. ”

"Why?" Wei Qing was almost roaring. This is not a stratagem, for there is an order to disband the soldiers, and how can such a stratagem be used?

Liu Anbang sighed and beckoned to Wei Qing.

Wei Qing came to Liu Anbang. Liu Anbang lowered his voice and said: "Nephew Wei Xian, your ability to command the battle is absolutely excellent, even your Uncle Liu and I can't compare to you, but you don't know the darkness of the court." If you're going to be a celebrity, you need to know that. ”

"Uncle Liu has won the prize," Wei Qing replied, "The little nephew has always been ignorant of the affairs of the imperial court, so please ask Uncle Liu for advice." Although he said this in his mouth, he still didn't believe it in his heart, no matter how dark it was, could he let the Jin army come in? Whose court is this?

Liu Anbang spoke slowly: "Nephew Wei Xian, do you know why our army is short of food and grass, and it is difficult to pay money? Because Gu Shangshu of the Ministry of War put all the money in the Sifang Money Village and exchanged it for a silver ticket, and under the pretext that the silver ticket was not easy to circulate on the front line, and he wanted to save it instead of the soldiers, but he himself secretly collected interest from the money bank, and the money bank used the money to lend. And the grain and grass are Gu Shangshu's intention, he is in a heavy position in the military department, and what he is afraid of is defeat. Now our army has come to the river, and the Jin army has been confronted for a long time, at this time to collect troops, enough to invite merit, if the fight continues, the victory is nothing, the defeat is reduced, so he intends to withhold the grain and grass from the distribution, and then use the excuse that the front line is not enough food and grass The whole army retreated, and then said that the battle has been won, there is no need to use so many soldiers, the soldiers are disbanded, and the military salary can go into his pocket. Anyway, now that the Jin army is fighting against the French country, it will not attack for a while, and he is not afraid of any danger in the short term. ”

Wei Qing was stunned. No matter how much he imagined, he couldn't imagine such a dark insider! For a moment he was speechless.

Liu Anbang sighed and said: "Nephew Wei Xian, these words come out of my mouth and into your ears, and you must not let others know, otherwise you and I will lose our heads for slandering the generals." ”

Wei Qingmu nodded, but he still didn't come back to his senses in shock.

Seeing Wei Qing's demented appearance, Liu Anbang coughed and said, "There is nothing difficult about the collection of the army, nephew Wei Xian, I will give you ten days off, you go to the house to have a look, and then come back." ”

Wei Qing nodded in thanks, and slowly turned around and walked out of the big tent. He returned to his tent as if in a dream, slowly packed his things, and kept thinking about Liu Anbang's words repeatedly in his heart, he really couldn't understand, how could such a corrupt official be in such a high position? And Gu Shangshu's approach also made it difficult for him to understand, could it be that he got the money himself, collapsed the army, and finally the Jin people only beat the people, will he be fine? Why is he so short-sighted?

He was in a trance, and the things in his hands were a little unstable, and with a bang, the things fell to the ground. He hurriedly lowered his head to pick it up, and a letter written in blood came into view.

He was startled, stretched out his hand to pick it up, and saw that it was written: "Zhao Lili, four taels and five cents of silver, sent to Zhaojia Village, Yongxin County, his wife's name is Zhao Yan, and his daughter Zhao Yueru." Wei Qing suddenly remembered what he had promised in person. He immediately decided that he would not go home for ten days, and that he would first deliver the money by hand.

He hurriedly packed his luggage, wrapped up the four taels and five cents of blood silver, took out twenty taels of silver from his private room and put them in his bag, and hurried out.

Zhaojia Village, Yongxin County, was originally a village with a large population, with a population of thousands of households, almost catching up with a small county town, but after many years of fighting with the Jin Army, almost all the men in Zhaojia Village were conscripted into the army, but few came back, even if they came back, they also came back lying down, which was lucky, and more was a letter that brought bad news, and this family lost their relatives since then, and they have not seen anyone alive or dead. In the past three years, there have been almost no adult men in Zhaojia Village, and the few men who are either seventy or eighty years old, children under the age of 10, or disabled people who cannot join the army. The originally prosperous Zhaojia Village slowly declined.

Zhao Yueru and her mother, Zhao Yan, are working hard in the fields. They must rush to finish turning over this piece of land before dark, and if it is too late, it will delay the time for planting, not only will they not have food, but they will also not be able to hand in the grain when they are requisitioned, and what they have not eaten is still secondary.

Not far away, several children are also working hard to turn the ground under the leadership of a mother, and there is no strong labor in Zhaojia Village, and now women have become the main force of work in the fields.

Zhao Yan's family really couldn't do it anymore, her body shook, and she almost fell. Zhao Yueru hurriedly supported Zhao Yan's: "Mother, you rest, let me come." In fact, she was already tired and about to collapse. How did Zhao Yan not know that his daughter was already tired to death? She shook her head and said, "It's okay, there aren't many left, let's all grit our teeth, and it will be easy to do after we finish flipping." "In fact, there is nothing to do, after ploughing the ground, you have to plant, and after planting, you have to water and weed, but it is a different way of tiredness.

Zhao Yanshi and her daughter gritted their teeth and continued to hoe all the way forward, to see that it was about to reach the ground, Zhao Yanshi could no longer pick up the hoe, she just raised the hoe above her head with both hands, and as soon as her hand slipped, the hoe had already fallen and almost hit her head. Zhao Yueru was taken aback, and hurriedly stepped forward to see if her mother was injured, but when she raised her foot, her feet were weak and she fell to the ground.

The mother and daughter sat on the ground, looking at each other, and couldn't help but cry.

A pleasant male voice suddenly sounded beside them: "The two of them are Zhao Yan and Zhao Yueru?" ”

Zhao Yueru looked up and saw a young man, full of energy, standing on the edge of the field and watching the two. Zhao Yueru's face flushed, and she lowered her head and didn't dare to talk. Zhao Yanshi replied breathlessly: "Exactly, I am Zhao Yanshi, dare to ask Gongzi for any advice?" ”

"My name is Wei Qing, and I am Zhao Lili... Friend. Wei Qing himself didn't know why he told a lie.