......

Chengde Town, Jizhou, Wuyi County.

This is the first time that Li Zhen has really set foot on the boundary of Chengde Town, although the last time he turned the entire Hebei Province upside down in Shenzhou, but at least this trip is above board.

Zhang Han had returned to Jizhou to report to Wang Yuankui, and Li Zhen, Yan Heng, Xu Liang and Liu Guan, a total of eight brothers, arrived in Jizhou three days later.

However, Li Zhen did not go directly to Jizhou City to find Wang Yuankui, but stopped in Wuyi County, northeast of Jizhou City.

After all, the purpose of this trip was not Wang Yuankui.

Although the location of Wuyi County is not very important in the whole Jizhou, it has an extremely important weight in the hearts of the people of Jizhou and even the entire three towns of Heshuo.

In the early Tang Dynasty, the ancestral home of Su Dingfang, a famous general, was Wuyi County, in the third year of Zhenguan, Emperor Taizongwen ordered Li Jing to expedition north to the Eastern Turks, in the battle of Yinshan, Su Dingfang led two hundred elite cavalry to the first battle, and broke through the Jieli Khan's tooth tent in one fell swoop, and made miraculous contributions to the destruction of the Eastern Turks.

In the second year of Gaozong's reign, Su Dingfang was promoted to the chief of the marching army, and then conquered the Western Turks, Pyonglingling, Yi Baekje, and conquered Goguryeo, and successively destroyed the Three Kingdoms, all of which captured their masters, and opened up the territory of the Tang Dynasty to the west to reach Persia, and extended to the south of Goguryeo in the east.

Later, he successively served as General Zuo Xiaowei, General Zuo Wuwei, and was named the Duke of Xing. In his later years, he served as the ambassador of Anji, helping Tuyuhun defend against the invasion of Tibet.

Such an immortal feat, since it is to go down in history, and the people of Wuyi County are also proud of Hebei because of Xingguo Gong Su Dingfang, and then it is based on martial arts, proud of military merits, Wuyi County alone, more than half of the young and strong joined the army.

"General, this is it!"

The group walked to a blacksmith shop, Xu Liang stopped and looked at it for a moment, then turned to Li Zhen and said.

"Hmm!" Li Zhen nodded, and then took the lead in stepping in.

The blacksmith shop is not big, only two rooms, as soon as Fang entered the door, he already smelled a sweet smell of molten iron, with a hint of burning, making people a little dizzy, looking up, the surroundings and the walls were full of forged farm tools.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is ......"

Seeing someone coming in, an old man who was over the age of sixteen ran over, and saw that Li Zhen and the others were brightly dressed, and they didn't look like people who used these things at all, so they couldn't help but be a little puzzled.

The old man was naked, with a few ribs pressed against his chest, like a walking skeleton.

"Dare to ask my father-in-law, does there be a son in the family who is in the army?" Without waiting for Li Zhen to speak, Xu Liang asked softly.

The old man looked at Xu Liang, and then grinned, revealing a mouthful of scorched and incomplete teeth, "This Langjun, I have three sons, all of whom are from the army, I don't know which one you are asking?" ”

"Wang Yaner, but the son of the old man?" Xu Liang asked with a smile.

Xu Liang asked, and the old man couldn't help laughing and said: "Hahaha, don't hide this Langjun, it is my Erlang, speaking of my Erlang's reputation, even in the entire Wuyi County, no one can match!" ”

I can hear it, and I can see that the old man's words and expressions are full of undisguised pride, and he seems to be full of words and unhappy.

"Oh? Brother-in-law might as well tell me, how is your Erlang? At this time, Li Zhen was interested.

The old man was full of joy when he heard this, "Everyone, sit down for the time being, and listen to the old man speak slowly!" ”

immediately went through two dusty cases, and then grabbed a tattered shirt and was about to dust it, but was stopped by Li Zhen.

Li Zhen didn't speak, just grinned at the old man, and then sat down regardless of how dilapidated and dirty the cases were.

"It's not so particular, it's comfortable to sit like this!" Li Zhen smiled at the old man.

Yan Heng and Xu Liang on the side also sat down like Li Zhen when they saw this, while Liu Guan and the five people were still standing outside the door, although it was an ordinary blacksmith shop, they still didn't dare to relax in the slightest as if they were facing a great enemy.

Seeing this, the old man was also stunned, and secretly slandered himself in his heart, and couldn't help but feel a little sorry for the robe on Li Zhen and the three of them.

But in addition to regret, it is more of an inexplicable sense of closeness, although the difference in value between the two sides is huge, but the old man did not feel the slightest discomfort.

"Hehe, a few young Langjun, I won't tell you, if it was in the past, originally we would not have been able to get on a horse at all, just buying that outfit would have sold my old bones and couldn't get back a stirrup, not to mention that iron armor and that horizontal knife, tsk, I can't buy these guys without a few hundred yuan!"

The old man said, his expression gradually darkened.

Cavalry, no matter which dynasty it is, is the privilege of the rich and noble, after all, before that, everything after joining the army had to be brought by themselves, even including armor, weapons, and horses, for ordinary people, these things could not be obtained even if they were poor in their lifetime.

"Since the eleventh year of Kaiyuan, Emperor Xuanzong changed the government soldiers to recruit soldiers, although there are still very few people who are poor and do cavalry, but at least there is one more way for us!" The old man grinned as he spoke, and then continued: "My Erlang is also angry, first as a foot soldier under the command of Wang Yuanjun, and then as a tooth soldier, and finally he was transferred to be a cavalryman, and he didn't have to pay a penny himself!" Even the sons of the gentry in the city don't have such skills! ”

Speaking of this, the wrinkles on the old man's face have gathered together, and the joy that cannot be concealed is beyond words.

"That old man has given birth to a good son! Where is Erlang now? Li Zhen asked with a smile.

When the old man heard this, he smiled without thinking: "A while ago, there was a rebellion in Shenzhou, so I went to Shenzhou, and then there were thieves from Youzhou, so I followed a man named Li Zheng in Lulong Town to go to Guanwai to ask for a domain, and he hasn't come back yet, but a few days ago, someone sent a message, saying that he was temporarily resting at General Li Zheng's place!" ”

Li ...... Correct? Yan Heng looked at Li Zhen's face in surprise, and then looked at the old man, and couldn't help laughing.

"It's Li Zhen, Youzhou Marching Sima, General Li!" Xu Liang corrected with a smile.

"Yes, yes, it's Li Zhen!" The old man reached out and wiped the sweat from his forehead and grinned.

As soon as he finished speaking, the old man realized something, and immediately asked with a vigilant face: "Three Lang Jun, what are you doing?" What do you do with this? ”

"Hehe, don't panic, we don't have any malicious intent, but what does my husband think of this Li Zhen?" Li Zhen asked with a warm smile.

"The old man has never seen this General Li Zheng, but this time he has made a great contribution to the customs and the domain, and he will not be far behind!"

The old man seemed to feel that something was wrong, and immediately said: "How can we talk about such a character as small people!" ”

"It's Li Zhen!" Li Zhen corrected again.

"That's right, it's Li Zhen!"

Obviously, the old man corrected it very positively.

"Then if Erlang is allowed to follow Li Zhen in the future, is the old man willing?" Li Zhen asked again.

When the old man heard this, he immediately slapped his thigh and said with a smile: "That feeling is good, a few days ago, Erlang went out of the customs to fight against the feudal domain, and became tens of thousands of German troops, but only transferred a thousand fine horsemen out of the customs, my Erlang is one of them, tsk, not everyone can have such a ability!" ”

"Tsk, this skill is amazing!" Li Zhen couldn't help but stretch out his thumb and exclaimed.

"Cow ...... What? The old man looked at Li Zhen, who was self-absorbed, with a puzzled expression.

"Brother Yan Heng, what do you mean?" Xu Liang leaned over to Yan Heng's ear and asked in a low voice.

Yan Heng shook his head in confusion and said, "I can't hide it, this word ...... It's the first time I've heard of it! ”

"Hahaha, then dare to ask the old man, how much is Erlang's year?" Li Zhen laughed.

The old man thought for a while and said: "In the past, Erlang's annual salary was ten, in addition to his application, I can give my old man five times left, Erlang is filial, and he looks at the military merits, but this military life is all a deadly job of licking blood on the tip of the knife, others spend eight or nine times, but my Erlang only spends five times, I know that he is not easy, I save this money for him, and come back to buy some things in the future, so as to please a good mother-in-law!" ”

"Oh, then the old man thinks that if he is thirty times a year, it is enough?" Li Zhen asked.

"Multi-...... How much? The old man obviously felt that he had misheard.

"Thirty times a Chinese New Year's Eve!" Li Zhen stretched out three fingers and smiled.

"Thirty ...... Pass through?! The old man almost collapsed on the ground when he heard this.

"Yes, thirty times, and exempt those miscellaneous taxes, and the conscription naturally does not need to go, in addition, if the old man is willing to go to Lulong, there are still a few acres of land, although it is not much, but ......"

Before Li Zhen finished speaking, the old man's eyes lit up when he heard it, for fear that he would not be able to withstand this "blow", so he had to lean his back against the wall, and his body was already soaked with sweat.

"Old man......" Li Zhen asked worriedly when he saw this.

"It's okay, it's okay!" The old man trembled and walked to a water tank, scooped a scoop of cold water and poured it down.

Then he wiped his mouth and turned to Li Zhen and asked softly: "Maybe the old man shouldn't ask more, but the words have come to this, the old man still wants to ask clearly, who are the young Langjun?" ”

Li Zhen smiled slightly when he heard this, and Xu Liang on the side interjected: "Old man, this is Li Zhen, General Li!" ”

"Who?" The old man rubbed his eyes, plucked his ears again, and looked at Li Zhen in disbelief.

"Li Zhen, General Li!" Xu Liang laughed.

"You...... You're that Li ...... Li Zheng, General Li?! The old man's eyes widened in shock, and his face was full of horror.

Li Zhen nodded and said with a smile: "Li Zhen, it's Li Zhen!" ”

"Huh?!" The old man suddenly exclaimed, only then did he react, and hurriedly fell to his knees with a thud, and said incoherently: "The grass people have eyes and don't know Mount Tai, and they still look at General Li Zheng......"

Without waiting for the old man to finish speaking, Li Zhen stepped forward and picked up the old man, and said with a smile: "Erlang is loyal to the country, this is what he deserves!" I just don't know if my husband is willing to let Erlang follow me? ”

"May ...... Willing, meet the general, this is the blessing of Erlang in his previous life, how dare my old man say two words! The old man nodded again and again as if flattered.

"In this case, if the old man is willing to go to Lulong, there will be someone in Yingzhou to pick him up in seven days, if he doesn't want to go, it doesn't matter, I will send someone to send some silver money every month, not only the old man, but all the thousand sons who went out with me before!"

Li Zhen paused slightly, helped the old man to stand still, took three steps back, and then bowed slowly to the old man.

"This ...... How does this work? The old man was about to help, but he saw Li Zhen smile and said: "The old man deserves it, his son-in-law killed the enemy for the country, how can the Tang Dynasty snub their dear family!" ”

When the words fell, Li Zhen glanced at Yan Heng, only to see Yan Heng step forward and take out a piece of silver cake from his arms and put it on the case.

"This silver cake is collected by the old man, and he can go to the Yingzhou official office to exchange for copper coins in the future!"

After saying that, Li Zhen turned around and walked out, but he didn't see the two lines of muddy old tears on the old man's face.

"General, how can we all see this Chengde's thousand elite horsemen?" After Xu Liang went out, he couldn't help but stabilize with some worry.

"Who said we had to watch them all?" Li Zhen said with a smile.