A ray of sunlight shone through the cracks in the pine roof, and the disgusting smell of plaster filled the room. The dark eyes, the pale face, and the huge arrow scar on his cheek made Tong Yunjie look like a ghost, and so did his mood. The wound on his right leg had been festering since he was brought back from the pile of dead men, and now the foul smell emanated from time to time from the felt blanket.

Tong Yunjie used to be a man of the Liao Kingdom, and his room was also the cleanest in the cottage, and there were a few scriptures, but now he was lying in bed and didn't even bother to read the books. "What can I do in the future?" He thought to himself, "Ride a wooden cart and shake a fan like Kong Ming, or teach the children in the village to read and write?" "There were bursts of cheers outside the door, probably the new General Zhao was practicing arrows with his brother again." I'm a wasted person, so I might as well die under the Khitan Village. He slammed his fist on the bed.

The sound was quite loud, the wooden door creaked open, and the little girl who was waiting for him looked at him like a frightened kitten, and asked timidly, "What do the four masters command?" More than a dozen women in the village followed Ai Langzhong of the Chengying Camp to practice the care of the injured number, this little girl Sinan was less than fourteen years old, but she was the most attentive and diligent, so Wang Hengzhi specially transferred her to take care of the four masters.

Tong Yunjie waved his hand and said in a deep voice: "It's nothing, you go out." He didn't want others to see his dejected appearance, so he turned his head to the window. In fact, in order to keep out the cold, this window is closed all day, and there is no scene to be seen. After a long time, he still didn't hear the sound of the door closing, but it seemed that someone was watching him from behind, Tong Yunjie said in a deep voice again: "I told you to go out." ”

"Fourth." There was the voice of the eldest brother Wang Hengzhi from behind, Tong Yunjie turned around, his eyes were still empty, and he said in a low voice: "Big brother, don't call it that, I'm a waste person who is struggling to survive, and I can't be the fourth master anymore." Wang Heng saw that his expression was sluggish, his heart ached, and he looked at Xingde beside him, they came over this time, but there was a difficult thing.

Looking at Tong Yunjie's collapsed cheeks, the four leaders of the Han Army, who were originally handsome and handsome, both civil and military, became such a person, not a ghost, nor a ghost, Zhao Xingde asked in a low voice: "Brother Tong, is he feeling better?" ”

Tong Yunjie saw that it was an outsider from the cottage who came to see him, but he reluctantly squeezed out a smile, patted his right leg, and sighed: "It's been dragging like this, it's not alive." "Every day Ai Langzhong of the Chengying Camp has to come to treat him, the gauze soaked in medicinal juice every time he cleans his wound, it hurts so much, Tong Yunjie endured it at first, and then the wound has not improved, he is also dead, just treat this leg as if it is not his own, he tosses it casually.

Zhao Xingde was also sad in his heart, and said in a deep voice: "I came here today to discuss things with Brother Tong. ”

"Oh?" Tong Yunjie was slightly surprised and asked, "What's the matter?" ”

Zhao Xingde hesitated for a moment, and said slowly: "This wound has been festering for a long time, I am afraid that my life is in danger, Ai Langzhong has discussed with me, to completely cure the injury, the only way is to amputate the right leg, so, let me discuss with Brother Tong, is it to save the right leg, or to save my life?" ”

"Protect your right leg, or save your life?" Tong Yunjie was angry in his heart, and said with a wry smile, "A waste person, but he just consumes the food in the village in vain." Then don't bother Mr. Ai, and ask General Zhao to thank him for me. ”

"Fourth, what kind of bastard are you talking about?" Wang Hengzhi said angrily, "Even if you become a waste, but you have to endure to live, when your ancestor was taken captive from Hebei to this Liaodong, I don't know how much suffering I suffered, but I didn't look for death and life, leaving a life, if there is a chance, I have to fight for the lives of the Khitan people."

Tong Yunjie closed his eyes slightly, his face was as gray as death, and he did not answer. Wang Heng was clumsy in words, speechless and comforting, and looked at Xingde beside him as if asking for help.

Zhao Xingde sighed lightly and said slowly: "Brother Tong, I feel the pain of this physical disability, so I won't be sorry for my children." Ai Langzhong said that even if the right leg is amputated, a prosthetic leg can still be installed, and it only needs to be used for a while, and he can usually walk. He paused, saw that Tong Yunjie's face had not changed, and said, "Although it is inconvenient to move and can no longer dance with swords and swords, if you want to go to the battlefield to kill the Tartars, there may not be no other way." ”

Hearing this, Tong Yunjie opened his eyes and turned his head to look over, as if the dying man had grasped a glimmer of hope, and seemed to be afraid that he had deceived himself. Zhao Xingde nodded at him, and said in an affirmative tone: "When the artillery arrives in Liaodong, we need the cooperation of the Han army with our gunners. In the future, if the Han army grows stronger, it may be necessary to expand the artillery battalion between the Jurchen and Khitan people in the white mountains and black waters. Brother Tong has a good reputation in the Han army, and it is rare to be able to write and calculate, so I hope that Brother Tong will bear this matter without concession. ”

There was a glimmer of light in Tong Yunjie's eyes, revealing that he was constantly changing his thoughts, Zhao Xingde and Wang Hengzhi were quietly waiting for him to make a decision, and only after a long time did they hear Tong Yunjie sigh: "Big brother, you are right, my father and mother gave me this life, and I still have to stay and kill the Tartar." He looked up at Zhao Xingde again, and arched his hand: "Thank you Mr. Zhao for your admonition." I would also like to ask General Zhao to thank Mr. Ai for me. After saying that, he closed his eyes, and his breath was different and shallow, and his heart seemed to fluctuate.

Whoever decides to amputate a leg will probably not be easy, Zhao Xingde also understood that it was useless to say more at this time, so he softly told Sinan Haosheng to take care of Tong Yunjie, praised her twice, and then withdrew with Wang Hengzhi.

Wang Hengzhi smiled reluctantly: "General Zhao is a scholar, or do you have a way." "His mind seems to be very heavy, the last time he attacked the Khitan Village, not only did he not get any benefits, but also lost nearly half of his brothers, although the brothers in the village did not have much thought about winning, and there were many plans to fight out a Khitan person, but these days the atmosphere is still unusually heavy.

After separating from Wang Hengzhi, Zhao Xingde still felt depressed in his chest, so he came to the vicinity of the arrow range alone, but saw the soldiers gathered together, and in the middle, a ten-captain named Pan Xiaowu, was talking about killing Tartars on a moonlit night. Seeing that Zhao Xingde and Wang Heng were coming over, everyone stood up and saluted them, Zhao Xingde smiled slightly, and motioned to Pan Xiaowu to continue, don't worry about him.

"At the beginning, more than a dozen brothers in our village dragged bows and arrows to the Khitan village, and took advantage of the right moon to illuminate the shadows of the Khitan cubs clearly. It's a shame to say, I don't care if I was shot, I shouted, I ran away, and after a while, there was a dog barking and the sound of horses' hooves behind me, and more than a dozen brothers were separated, and finally there were only three or four of them who went up to our village. ”

Pan Xiaowu's tone was gloomy and proud, there are more than one million Han people in Liaodong, and there are not many who dare to shoot arrows at the Khitans, but unfortunately most of the lost brothers have been poisoned by the Khitan cavalry.

"Oh, why didn't you see if you shot the Khitan dog?" Someone next to him said dissatisfiedly.

Pan Xiaowu's eyes widened, and he scolded: "If you don't stay any longer, I'm afraid that everyone's lives will be explained there." He paused, and in an uncertain tone, added, "I should have shot him." ”

Zhao Xingde sighed slightly in his heart, whether it is the Khitan people or the Jurchens, they are very strict with the Han people under their rule, especially not allowed to practice martial arts and practice arrows, and the Han people are under the pressure of foreign races all the year round, so they are obedient, and the result is powerless to resist. The situation in Liaodong was like a big stone pressing on his heart, heavy.

"Since it's hard to compete with a bow and arrow, maybe you should train a firecracker army, right?" He secretly thought, "But the whole army uses firecrackers as the main weapon, and the cost of ordnance is not a small number, where does the firecrackers come from?" And where does gunpowder come from? With the pitiful materials of the Han army, how could they support such a huge expense? The strength of the Han army in Liaodong is too weak, not only is it very different from the power of the Khitan and Jurchens, but it is also very disproportionate to the number of millions of Han people in Liaodong, what is the problem? ”

These questions lingered in his mind, while thinking, while unconsciously practicing arrows, until it was nearly dusk, he dragged his tired body, and had dinner with Sergeant Chengying, he had taken the initiative to reduce his food ration to the level of ordinary Han soldiers, and other Sergeant Chengying also went up and down, although he was hungry and uncomfortable every night, but thinking of those Han soldiers who had been sleeping under the Khitan village, he was finally more at ease.

The winter in Liaodong was dark early and extremely cold at night, Zhao Xingde thought about it and wrote down some countermeasures to the situation before going to bed, but he still had those problems in the day swirling in his mind, and he fell asleep unconsciously. In the middle of the night, a slippery body with a cold air burrowed into the quilt, like a swimming fish next to Zhao Xingde, he suddenly woke up, held the dagger out of the sheath in his right hand, put it on the man's neck, and shouted coldly: "Do you want to die?" ”

The man's skin had goosebumps, and he was silent for a moment before he said with a crying voice: "General Zhao, it's me, the big boss let the slave maid come to serve you, General Zhao, please don't kill me." Listening to the whimpering voice, it turned out to be the little girl Sinan, Zhao Xingde was dumbfounded.

It turned out that ten days ago, he took the food to the back kitchen to distribute it to this little girl, and today he praised her in front of Wang Hengzhi, which caused a misunderstanding. Sinan is the orphan of the old brother in the village, Wang Hengzhi privately thought, since Zhao De is good to her, even if he is a concubine, it is better than being wasted in the deep mountains and dense forests, and there is no good home, so he asked the woman in the back kitchen to teach her to serve Xingde at night. The little girl is in love at the beginning, and she seems to understand the affairs of men and women, although she is seven points shy and three points afraid, she still acts step by step according to the instructions of the eldest aunt, but now she is ashamed and afraid, trembling like a kitten.

After Zhao Xingde figured out the cause and effect, his heart became a little heavier, he put the dagger back, and said in a deep voice: "You put on your clothes first." Sinan whispered "um", obediently got out of bed, only to hear a sound of Suosuo, and then said "Okay" like a gnat. Zhao Xingde lit the oil lamp at this time, and saw that this little girl was so thin that she was skinny, and she couldn't be called beautiful, her thin cheeks were as shy as red cloth, and her thin skirt was newly changed, but it looked empty when hung on her. She looked at Zhao Xingde pitifully, and her legs trembled involuntarily. Zhao Xingde couldn't help but feel a sour feeling in his heart, and sighed in a low voice: "It's still a child." ”

It was dark outside, and Zhao Xingde put on a big hat and sent her back to the house where the women and children lived. After experiencing this, he didn't feel sleepy, so he patrolled the sentry posts of the Han army all the way, secretly thinking in his heart, like this situation of sneaking into the house silently, it was the most dangerous. Although the Chengying battalion lives in the camp of the Han army, its own precautions are too negligent, and from tomorrow night, the battalion must arrange a few sentry posts by itself, so that the sergeants must cheer up their spirits.

Author: Today's 2 more, the first one is sent.