Zhu Li's thanks made the two old monks breathe a sigh of relief.

To be honest, they really didn't see any difference in Zhu Li, but Guo Qizuo, whom they valued, was willing to run to others as subordinates, which made them have to treat this young man carefully.

The matter of borrowing grain, although the result is very satisfying, but after all, the two sides have had dirty, Zhenru Temple will not leave them to drink tea, Wu Mourning took everyone, in Fangzheng, Fangyuan loaded the cart, and went down the mountain with the cart.

Guo Qizuo followed Zhu Li, mixed in with the crowd, and left Zhenru Temple together.

Zhu Li was very polite to Guo Qizuo, lest he take care of him, so he whispered to him cordially, and he had the concepts and knowledge of the 21st century, but he could also talk with Guo Qizuo very happily.

Even the ideas he occasionally put forward would surprise Guo Qizuo, and even Wu Mourning on his side would frequently turn his head and look at him with a look of re-acquaintance with him, for which he could only scratch his head in a wry manner and not explain, because he couldn't explain it.

Everyone escorted the grain and grass back to the camp, and when they saw Pang Xun's old department and the remnants of the grass army personally trained by Wu Mourning in the past two months, Guo Qizuo's spirit became more and more strong.

He could see that these guards were definitely veterans for the rest of their lives, not only in uniform queues, but also in an orderly manner in training and gathering, with sonorous steps and high morale, everyone trained desperately, not even a lazy person, only those who have experienced life and death will understand that they work hard in peacetime and have life in wartime.

"Mr. Guo, these guards are still in sight." Wu Mian saw Guo Qizuo's praise for the guard, and asked with some pride.

Now there are only the two of them on the edge of the camp playground, and after Zhu Li, Zhang Guiba and others came back, they settled down with food and grass and threw themselves into the drill, and there was nothing special about it.

When Guo Qizuo heard this, he nodded silently, and said in admiration: "I thought that the grass army was a group of chaotic people with no discipline, no faith, and no morale, but these guards at the moment are impressive, even if they are the regular guards of the Tang Dynasty, they are just like that." ”

"Hahaha, Mr. has an overreputation, the original Mr. cognition is not correct, these guards are trained in the next two months, to have this result, if Mr. came a few months earlier, I am afraid it will be a big disappointment." Wu Mian looked proud, because these were his handiwork.

It is a very happy thing to be recognized by others, but Wu Mourning is not an idle person, knowing this kind of self-satisfaction, it is okay to do it occasionally, but he can't immerse himself in it, so he changed his words and said: "Mr. once said, with Mr.'s grass army, solving the grain and grass is not a problem at all, I don't know if this statement should be true?" ”

Guo Qizuo glanced at Wu Mourning in surprise, although they only got along for a long time, Guo Qizuo still felt that the relationship between Wu Mourning and Zhu Li was a little strange, he could see that Zhu Li seemed to be a little afraid of this seven-foot man, or it was more appropriate to describe it with awe, admiration, or even admiration.

And this high-spirited man, like an old cow guarding a calf, loves Zhu Li as if he is nothing, this situation is like a father and son, but in fact they are not father and son, which is incomprehensible.

Zhu Li is under the command of this one, this Guo Qizuo knows that he clearly said in public that he is taking refuge in Zhu Li, but Wu Mourning ignores it, from Guo Qizuo's secret observation, it can be seen that this person seems to be happy to see this, and there is no mustard at all, which makes him even more puzzled.

Now that he is putting the problem of military rations out again, do you want to test yourself, Guo Qizuo thought for a while, and said indifferently: "At present, the grass army is raging, and the most important thing in the land of Datang is refugees, and there is a kind of people among the refugees, this kind of people are not only very hateful, but also cruel to kill, they are not only quite powerful, but also have soldiers and food, why does Captain Wu turn a blind eye?" ”

"Could it be that Wu Duwei's words of 'caring for the family and the country and serving the people with courage' are just a gimmick?" After thinking about it, Guo Qizuo added another sentence.

Guo Qizuo's words made Wu Mourning's eyes light up, and he was overjoyed: "As a big man, Wu Mourning said everything from the bottom of his heart, how dare he say it; However, what Mr. said, born as a refugee, with soldiers and food, except for the grass army itself, it is a bandit, does Mr. mean to let him go down to suppress bandits? ”

"Yes, yes."

"The bandits are bloodthirsty and brutal, wolves are unkind, exterminate the bandits, purge one party, and benefit the country and the people, this is one of them; Suppressing its momentum and collecting its troops can increase the source of soldiers, which is the second; But where there are bandits of some forces, they will inevitably occupy one side, and in the territory, more or less, there will always be surplus grain, and they will get their grain and grass for their own use, and thirdly; The bandits also have families, and the old and weak women and children can be accepted as subjects. Guo Qizuo talked eloquently and freely.

However, when Wu Mian heard his last reason, he frowned, and said helplessly: "What Mr. said is good, but we don't have a fixed territory, how can we support the people?" ”

The reason why Guo Qizuo added the last one is because he saw the biggest drawback of the grass army, there is no stable territory, and in the long run, the grass army will be defeated.

Wu Mourning asked this question, which can be regarded as his favor, and said seriously: "Throughout the past and present, the people will be defeated, why is this? ”

"The people rebel but can't survive, they attack the city, take other people, blindly rob and destroy, but don't think about management, in this way, how can it last long, we should have our own territory, have our own rear, Wu Duwei thinks?"

Guo Qizuo can see it, and Wu Mourning can naturally see it, but their power is still in the initial stage, and wanting to have their own territory is tantamount to a fool's dream, Wu Mourning is not unexpected, but the strength is not enough, so he frowned and said: "Don't hide it, Mr. Don't hide it, there are only less than two thousand guards here, and half of them are borrowed, with such a meager strength, occupy a piece of territory, I'm afraid it's not easy." ”

"Hahaha, it's best if Du Wei has this plan, and it doesn't have to be for Du Wei to attack a piece of territory immediately, but this idea must be there, not to mention much, as long as Du Wei exterminates the bandits in Jiangxi, at that time, will there be fewer sons and daughters under his command, Jiangxi has the land of seven states."

The two discussed, and soon made a decision to suppress the bandits, and when the camp rose again, Wu Mian sent several teams of scouts to explore the traces of the surrounding mountain bandits, and at the same time, Zhu Li, Zhang Guiba and other generals also received orders to suppress bandits and train troops.

The army is still marching eastward along Xiushui, and the remaining grain and grass, even if you add the grain and grass supported by Zhenru Temple, will probably only be able to support more than a month.

After six or seven days like this, the big wave of bandits did not encounter much, and the small group of bandits were hanged in dozens of waves, and the number of people increased by hundreds of people, but the grain and grass were not obtained at all, which made Guo Qizuo and Wu Mian very suspicious.

On this day, everyone was marching, and a scout rushed over, and when he saw Wu Mourning, he immediately knelt on one knee and reported: "Captain Wudu, my subordinates have found traces of a large wave of bandits. ”

Since the remnants of the grass army were recruited, Wu Mian has promoted himself to the rank of captain, and he is the biggest here, and he has promoted himself, so no one dares to put a beak.

"Oh, where?" When Wu Mian heard this, his expression was shocked, and he immediately asked.

The scout didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly said: "About two hundred miles away from here, there is a mountain peak called Meiling, and my subordinates saw with their own eyes that the gang of bandits had plundered their property, and they disappeared when they entered Meiling, and there should be their lair there." ”

"Meiling?" Guo Qizuo looked slightly surprised when he heard the scout's words.

"What, Mr. Guo thinks his words are inappropriate?" Wu mourning was puzzled.

"Meiling is a sacred place for Buddhism in Hongzhou, how can there be bandits?" Guo Qizuo questioned, of course, he did not question the scout, but questioned the presence of bandits in Meiling itself. (Hongzhou: now Nanchang)

However, when Wu Mourning heard this, he squinted his eyes slightly, looked at the scout who fell to the ground, and asked, "Are you sure you are not mistaken, after the robbers plundered the property, they entered Meiling?" ”

"Returning to the lieutenant, my subordinates dare to use their heads to vouch, and everything my subordinates say is true." The scout didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly reassured.

"Then let's go check it out." Guo Qizuo looked at Wu Mourning and suggested indifferently.

"Okay, give the order to go down and turn to the southeast." Wu Mian finally chose to believe this scout, after all, it was a soldier he brought out, and he didn't believe that the other party dared to lie to him.

Meiling, located in the southwest of Hongzhou, adjacent to Poyang Lake, this ridge is flowing in the turbulent valley, the strange stones enter the clouds, the scenery is very beautiful, there is a sense of immortal mountain outside the world.

Before the Western Han Dynasty, Meiling was not called Meiling, but Feihong Mountain.

At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, Nanchang County Wei Meifu to resist Wang Mang's invasion of politics, retreated to the western suburbs of Feihong Mountain, descendants in order to commemorate his high wind and bright festival, built Meixian altar on the ridge, built Meixian Temple under the ridge, since then it is called Meiling.

The Tang Dynasty was established, Buddhism prevailed, Meiling, a fairyland-like paradise, was favored by many monks, and they have established temples here, making the sound of Buddha linger here, like a holy place of worship.

The army was stationed in a hidden place under Meiling, Wu Mourning immediately sent a large number of scouts to enter Meiling to find out the whereabouts of the robbers, since it was decided to suppress the bandits to strengthen the army, the first artillery must be bombarded beautifully, if the first cannon stumbled, can the bandits be carried out smoothly, even if Wu Mourning insisted, the soldiers under his command must be apprehensive and demoralized.

At the beginning of April, it is the time when the spring flowers are blooming, butterflies and bees are dancing, the beautiful scenery of Meiling is refreshing, and the soldiers stationed at the foot of the mountain, because they do not need training, thousands of pairs of eyes scan the beautiful scenery, and they are very fascinated.

At noon, another scout rushed over, kneeling down and reporting to Wu Mourning: "Wu Duwei, we did find a big village in the depths of the mountains and forests, and we are eighty percent sure that this big village is the robbers' nest, but it is ......."

"But what?" The scout's hesitation made Wu Mourning look unkind.

"However, this Dazhai seems to be very famous, the name of the Dazhai is Shenmen Village, presided over by a pair of brothers and sisters, and its reputation is so famous that even the nearby government governors salute them for three points." Although the scout hesitated, he was still honest and did not dare to hide it.