There is still a day before Shen Leng gets married, and this morning, nothing major happened.

In the morning, a middle-aged man pulling a cart passed by Xuefu Street, the car he pulled was full of goods, it should be pulled from the Grand Canal Wharf outside Chang'an City to here, from the wharf to at least 20 miles, calculating the time, the city gate just opened and he came in, it seems that people are already very tired, even if a horse pulls such a heavy cargo will be tired, let alone a person?

The man saw that the long street was red, and the people who came and went on the street were soldiers, so he couldn't help but pause for a moment, bent over and stopped the car, wiped his sweat with a yellowed towel, and pulled a passing sailor soldier and asked: "Little brother, what kind of happy event is this, why are all soldiers here?" ”

The sailor soldier said proudly: "The general's wedding." ”

"The General's Wedding?"

The man was silent for a moment, took out a very old money bag from his arms, poured the scattered silver and copper coins in the palm of his hand, about the amount of one or two taels of silver, he picked up a few large silver beans and handed them to the sailor soldier: "Help me give the general a congratulatory gift." ”

"Do you know the general?"

The soldier looked puzzled.

"I don't know."

The man smiled a little shyly, looking at his face, he was about forty years old, but his temples were gray, one arm was a little difficult to use, and his clothes were torn.

"I'm a veteran, too."

The man looked down at the clothes on his body: "I won't go in myself, this dress doesn't fit." ”

The sailor soldier said that he would not accept the money, not because it was too little, but because everyone could see that it was the hard-earned money that this middle-aged man had earned so hard that he couldn't accept it.

"Dude."

The soldier said movingly: "If the general knows, he will definitely not accept it, don't embarrass me, if you have any difficulties, tell us, although I don't know where you were a soldier, but the soldiers in the world are a family, we can help you with anything." ”

"I don't need anything to help with, I'm fine."

The veteran straightened up, as if his waist hurt a little: "If you don't help me, then I'll go in with a congratulatory gift by myself, but this shabby dress doesn't affect the mood of the guests...... I don't know your general, it turns out that I also have a general, treat me well, treat me well...... Later, the general was gone, and that year, he seemed to be in his twenties, and he had not yet married a wife. ”

At this moment, Meng Changan came out of the restaurant, glanced at the man, and then his face became solemn: "Northern Xinjiang veteran? ”

The man was wearing a military uniform, but it was too worn, sewn and mended, and dirty, and the sailor soldiers didn't see it before, and after listening to General Meng Changan's question, everyone noticed that there was an almost unrecognizable emblem on the cuffs of the old soldier near the shoulders, and there should have been a badge on the chest, which may have been dismantled by himself.

"The general is the general of the Northern Frontier Army?"

When the veteran heard Meng Chang'an ask, his face immediately became excited, he stood up straight with a breath, and gave a solemn military salute with a snap.

"Yes, I'm a veteran of Northern Xinjiang!"

"You're ...... now"

Meng Changan walked over quickly and helped the veteran on the shoulder: "What difficulties have you encountered?" The imperial court has placed veterans, what is wrong with your family? ”

"No, I'll live alone."

The veteran smiled, I don't know why, tears flowed from the corners of his eyes when he smiled.

"The court has done a good job of accommodating veterans, and the silver issued every month is enough to live, but I can't be idle, and people will be wasted if they are idle...... General, but you're getting married? ”

The veteran stuffed those silver beans to Meng Changan: "I wish the general a happy marriage and a good marriage for a hundred years." ”

"Leng Zi!"

Meng Changan turned around and shouted, and Shen Leng, who was discussing things with Ye Liuyun and them in the house, immediately ran out of the house: "What's wrong?" ”

Shen Leng saw Meng Changan supporting a middle-aged man, noticed the style of the man's clothes, and then saw the wooden cart full of goods, his face was moved, and he walked over quickly: "What's wrong?" ”

Meng Changan said that the boss was going to give a congratulatory gift, Shen Leng only felt a little suffocated in his chest, and nodded: "Brother, what's your name?" ”

He took the silver beans from the veteran's hand: "It's me who got married, brother, I took your share of the money, thank you, brother!" ”

Everyone was stunned.

The veteran laughed: "It's good to collect it, it's okay to collect it, it doesn't matter what my name is, I still want the goods to be sent over in a hurry, so I'm leaving, I'm leaving." ”

"Wait a minute."

Shen Leng said: "I'll take some candy for you." ”

Shen Leng ran back, found a gift box full of candy, took a silver ticket and put it in the candy, and came out with the gift box: "Candy is always to be eaten." ”

The veteran took the gift box, his hands trembling: "Thank you, general, thank you." ”

After finishing speaking, he turned around and pulled the car to leave, and Shen Leng shouted: "Chen Ran!" ”

"In!"

"Bring a few brothers to help my brother deliver the goods."

"Yes!"

Chen Ran brought a few personal soldiers over to help the veteran push the cart, the veteran was stunned for a moment, as if he didn't dare to look at Shen Leng and Meng Changan anymore, pulled up the car and walked forward, when he walked forward, tears flowed down big and big, the last time he cried like this was more than 20 years ago, and he was only nineteen years old that year.

More than an hour later, Chen Ran came back with a few personal soldiers, and his face was a little pale.

"Got it clear?"

Shen Leng asked.

Chen Ran nodded: "Inquire clearly...... That old brother's name is Xu Ying, originally not from Chang'an, but from Shanbei Dao, a soldier in northern Xinjiang more than 20 years ago...... A veteran of the battle that followed His Majesty to fight the Black Martial Arts. ”

Shen Leng was stunned: "A veteran more than twenty years ago? ”

"Yes......"

Chen Ran was such a tough man, and suddenly squatted on the ground and cried, intermittently telling the identity of this veteran.

More than 20 years ago, when His Majesty was young, he led the troops to attack Heiwu in the north, Xu Ying did not follow His Majesty, but he also participated in that battle, and the Northern Frontier Army went to five or six in that battle, and the soldiers of the banner where Xu Ying was located were almost gone, and the general of that banner was called He Hongwu, who was twenty-six years old when he died in battle.

During the war, He Hongwu was ordered to lead the army to Fengyantai overnight.

The guard of the sealing inkstone is Zhuang Yong.

Xu Ying is the youngest soldier in his regiment, one hundred and ten soldiers all regard him as a younger brother, the regiment leader is called Liu Desheng, a native of Chang'an, usually looks very strict to Xu Ying, but he is very good to him in private, at that time, hundreds of thousands of black warriors have invaded Daning, and the Ning army of Feng Yantai is to drag these black warriors, when the general He Hongwu died in battle, there are less than four hundred people left in this banner of more than 1,000 people, the general died, and the captain commanded.

Xu Ying's regiment had sixteen people left when it was dark, and the regiment was blind in one eye.

"Xu Ying."

Liu Desheng, the leader of the group, took out a bloody letter from his arms: "Give you a task." ”

"You say the group rate!"

"We are guarding the outer line of the sealed inkstone, let us guard it for at least two days, we have been guarding it for three days...... Go back, go back to the city, you are the youngest, you have not yet married, you are the only seedling in the family, you can live if you can. ”

"I don't!"

"Listen to Lao Tzu!"

Liu Desheng grabbed Xu Ying's collar: "Send the letter back to Chang'an City for Lao Tzu." ”

Xu Ying shook his head, crying and not leaving.

"Look at it, you show it to Lao Tzu!"

Liu Desheng pointed to the corpses layer by layer on the position: "There are only a dozen people left in our regiment, can't they all die, they are all dead, isn't our regiment just destroyed?" Go back, live well, live for us. ”

"Enemy attack!"

At this moment, the warning of the enemy attack sounded again, and the sound of trumpets and roars resounded in the sky.

"Give Lao Tzu life."

Liu Desheng, who was blind in one eye, kicked Xu Ying to the ground, and rushed up with a black line knife: "Someone has to help Lao Tzu to see, what will the great rivers and mountains that Lao Tzu is guarding desperately look like in the next five years, ten years, and decades from now!" ”

"Kill!"

"Kill!"

More than a dozen wounded soldiers rushed out, and Xu Ying knelt there alone and cried, which was the most heart-rending cry in his nineteen-year-old life.

Xu Ying returned to the Feng Yan Terrace, and guarded in the Feng Yan Platform for another four days, injuring an arm, but fortunately, when the army arrived, he blocked all the black warriors from the back, killing the enemy for hundreds of miles in one go, and the blood was sprinkled on the mountains and rivers of the northern Xinjiang, and the snow was the same color as the blood.

The right arm was scrapped, Xu Ying was discharged from the army, and instead of going home, he went to Chang'an.

He handed over the blood book to Liu Desheng's family, knelt at the door for an hour and refused to get up, and then kowtowed three times, he went to the military department again, and the adult who knelt in the military department told him the family names of the brothers who were in the same group as him, and the adults felt sorry for him, and took the risk to turn out the files of the soldiers in that regiment, and copied a copy of the family register to him.

Since that year, Xu Ying has never left Chang'an City, and the silver issued by the military department every month is enough for him to live, which is not rich, but enough to eat and wear, but he feels that it is too bad, there are more than 100 brothers in his group, and he lives alone, and on that day Xu Ying told himself that he wants to support more than 100 families.

He went to the dock to work as a coolie, he didn't know anything, he would only be a soldier, but fortunately, he had strength, although he had lost his right arm, he didn't waste it, he carried three bags when others carried a bag of goods, and he transported two times a day when others carried one trip.

Chen Ran squatted there and cried: "I went to ask the shopkeeper of the silk shop, for Xu Ying, these shops never hire other laborers, and the salary has always been the highest...... There are two shops that are sold out, but the boss has made it clear to the new owner before leaving, if there is no need for Xu Ying to deliver goods to the store, their store will not sell. ”

"For more than 20 years, he regularly sent silver to more than 100 families every year, and he still refused to say that when the military department gave the families of the soldiers who died in the war every year, he ran to the military department to beg for someone to add his share, only saying that it was issued by the imperial court, and he was afraid that the families of his brothers would not want it."

Chen Ran cried like a child: "Lengzi, I feel uncomfortable, Lengzi." ”

He raised his head and looked at Shen Leng: "Xu Ying said that the year his general He Hongwu died in battle, he was married. ”