The sun and the moon rotate, and time passes.

In the blink of an eye, the time came to Beiding for eight years.

After a warm and cold spring rain, the Taihang Mountains gradually warmed, the dead grass turned green, and everything recovered.

A dozen fast horses galloped across the wide dirt road, kicking up a puff of dust.

The old farmer, who was working in the fields more than ten zhang away on the side of the road, heard the sound of horses stepping by, quickly raised his head and straightened up, staring at a dozen fast horses not far away, until the other party turned a corner and disappeared from view.

It was rare for them to see horses in this small place, let alone the tall horses that had just passed, which had not been seen in many years.

The old peasant stared at the place where the man on the tall horse had disappeared, and fell into deep thought.

"Dad, what do you see?" The young man next to him saw that the old farmer was still distracted, and couldn't help but ask out loud.

The old farmer did not reply.

After a while, he suddenly said: "It's going to be a war, prepare and prepare, and immediately go into the mountains to take refuge." ”

The son was puzzled, and his face was puzzled: "War? We can't even see the soldiers here, will we fight here? ”

The old peasant explained: "Although we don't fight here, the army doesn't go from us when there is a war in the north and south. Which time did the army go from here, and it could be better than ours? That's how your mother was gone......"

The old farmer was silent, and his son lowered his head.

After a while, the old farmer said, "Let's go, this year this year this land is also a white seed, let's go into the mountain early." ”

After the old farmer finished speaking, he put away his hoe and walked to the edge of the field.

Behind him, his son's voice suddenly came, and the voice made him tremble.

"Dad, I want to join the army."

The son who said this looked at the green seedlings on the ground and did not look up.

"You go into the mountains with the second child, he is younger than me, save some money and food, and in a few years you can marry him a mother-in-law."

After the son finished speaking, he caught up with the old farmer with his hoe and walked to the front.

The old peasant looked up at the mountain in the distance and did not speak for a long time.

After a long time, he silently picked up his hoe and walked along the path under his feet, and his son in front of him had long since disappeared.

A few days later, at the entrance of the village, where the ancient trees stood upright, two people stood opposite each other.

"Brother, can you not go?" The shorter boy asked.

"There's no hope for our family to stay here, someone should get out of the mountains and break in. Dad is old, and it is estimated that he will not be able to plant the land in a few years, you take good care of your father at home, marry a mother-in-law in the future, and leave a queen for our family. If I make a name for myself, I'll come back to you and my father, and if I can't, I'll die. The taller young man replied calmly.

"Can't you not go? We can't starve to death in the mountains! The younger brother continued to persuade, tears in his eyes.

"It's not a question of whether you'll starve to death, you're still young, and when you're older, you'll understand. Take good care of Dad, I'm leaving. The young man raised his hand and patted his brother on the shoulder, then shook his hand and hung the small package on his shoulder.

"I don't understand, you can tell me, how can you understand if you don't say it?" The younger brother shouted loudly, tears streaming down his eyes.

"Remember, it's not easy to be a dad, take care of dad."

After the young man finished speaking, he turned around and walked out of the village with a sturdy wooden stick, leaving his brother crying behind him, never looking back.

Life and death are unknown, and it may never be possible to return to the place where he was born and raised for more than 20 years.

But even after he died, his soul couldn't find his way back, and he had to go out and join the army without hesitation, because this was what he had to do, and it was the only chance to change his fate and the current situation of their family.

Along the way, I ate dry food, wild vegetables and weeds when I was hungry, drank stream water when I was thirsty, passed through small villages and towns, walked all the way and asked all the way, and finally entered a big city with walls after more than a month, Heshun City.

After entering the city, the young man asked people everywhere where he could go to join the army.

However, no one in the city knew where to recruit soldiers, but someone gave him a suggestion to go to the yamen and ask.

For ordinary people, the yamen is not a good place, and if there is no necessity and last resort, no one will easily step on the steps in front of the yamen, because in the eyes of the people, as long as an ordinary person walks into the yamen, he is either a bad person or is ready to harm others, and a good person will not come to the yamen.

After asking for directions several times, the young man came to the Heshun County Ya and stopped in front of the Heshun County Ya with a wooden stick and a package on his back.

The two officials in front of the door were idle, and suddenly saw a man carrying a strong wooden stick to the front of the yamen, and he couldn't help but raise his hand and hold the handle of the knife in his hand.

"What the hell, don't look at it if it's okay!" One of the officials immediately reprimanded him with a knife in his hand.

The young man hurriedly asked: "Two big brothers, I want to join the army, and I have asked many people in the city, but no one knows." The two eldest brothers have a lot of news, do you know where to go to join the army? ”

"Join the army?"

"You're late. The recruiting troops have been gone for more than half a year, and they have long stopped recruiting. ”

When the young man heard the news, he couldn't hide the disappointment on his face.

After walking so far and for so long, can't you just go back?

Because I was unwilling, because I wanted to change the status quo and fate, I came here with great difficulty, and if I went back like this, even if I was not kicked out of the village, the family might not have the face to stay in the village again.

The recruitment is over, where should he go?

"Go back, don't stand here." A servant waved his hand at the young man.

The young man stood in distraction, as if he had not heard the other man's command.

"Let's go, don't let me be an eyesore in front of the yamen, otherwise we can do it!" Seeing that the young man was unmoved and ignored them, the other official was immediately a little annoyed.

As soon as the officer's voice was raised, the young man was immediately awakened from his trance, but he did not seem to hear what they said, but he immediately asked, "Two elder brothers, do you know where to find the army?" ”

"I don't know. Hurry up, go wherever you want, don't stand here! A servant reminded again.

"Big brother, I've walked for more than a month to get here, please show me the way!" The young man raised his hand and saluted, with no intention of leaving immediately.

"Didn't I tell you that the recruiting army has been gone for half a year, and you are still grinding here! Where did it come from, where did it go, where did it go! Let's go! The other officer raised his saber in his hand and reprimanded him loudly.

"Big brother, it's not easy for the little one to come here from his hometown, please help me!" The young man raised his hand again and saluted.

"I told you that I don't know, we are still grinding here, and then staying innocently in front of the yamen, we are going to do it!" After speaking, the official raised his hand, but his feet did not move at all.

"What nonsense, get out of the way!" The other officer scolded angrily as he raised his half-drawn saber and threatened.

"Two big brothers, please, the little one is really desperate!" The young man continued to plead with the two men.

"Shame on your face, get out!" The official rebuked.

"Big brother, please!" The young man saw that he was still begging, and he almost knelt on the ground with a pop.

"Since you want to make trouble in the Yamen, don't blame us for being rude!"

After speaking, the two officials involuntarily glanced at each other, and then looked at the six-foot-long stick that looked very strong in the young man's hand, and tightened the saber in his hand, but he didn't dare to move lightly.

The young man in front of him is not thin, he can walk alone for more than a month to come to Heshun City to join the army, he must have some ability, and then look at the wooden stick in his hand, although it is only the thickness of an egg, but it seems that the weight is not light, if he is hit by a stick, he will either break his arm or leg.

The two officials had all the swords in their hands, but no one dared to take a step forward easily.

Although they didn't dare to step forward, they didn't work as well as they spoke, and they only heard them reprimand loudly: "Yamen is not the place for you to join the army, hurry up!" Don't make trouble, if you collide with an adult, you will be arrested and punished! ”

The young man was unmoved, standing in front of the yaya and not leaving, but still begged the two: "Big brother, please, the younger one doesn't want to cause trouble, so he wants to join the army, please!" ”

"Let's go, hurry up, or I'll put you in prison, and you won't want to go anywhere!" Seeing that the young man was not afraid of intimidation, the officer's tone softened a lot.

"What's the noise? What are you arguing about in front of the yamen? ”

An official suddenly came out of the yamen, glanced at the three of them, and then asked the official.

When the two officials heard the voice, they hurriedly turned around and saluted, and one of them replied: "My lord, this person ran to the gate of the yamen for no reason, and he didn't leave after saying it a few times." ”

"Did you make it clear? Is there a grievance? A grievance came to the hall and said, "My lord is idle." The officials asked and trained, obviously not very satisfied with them.

These old oilmen in the yamen are not used, they are not used, and if they make mistakes every day, they will have to be replaced sooner or later.

But the officials didn't have the intention of asking about their problems at the moment, and they would slowly clean them up when they were free in the future.

The official hurriedly replied: "I asked, he said that he wanted to join the army." We are a yamen here, what kind of army do we vote for, and besides, the recruiting troops have long stopped recruiting soldiers. We told him to go back, but he stayed at the gate of the yamen and didn't leave at all. ”

After hearing this, the official looked at the young man in front of the door carefully, and then asked him, "What's your name?" ”

When the young man saw the official, he was a little nervous for a while, so he stood quietly and didn't dare to make a sound, and when he heard the other party's question, he hurriedly hugged his fists and replied: "Hui adult, the villain's surname is Sun, the eldest in the family, and everyone in the village is called the villain Sun Dalang." ”

"Sun Dalang, what skills do you have to want to join the army?" The official looked at the young man and asked.

Sun Dalang replied: "The villain has no ability, he can hunt, he has a lot of strength, and he can resist two hundred catties of things and walk two miles without resting." ”

"You can't join the army with only one strength, you have to fight in the army, and you can't fight with strength." After the official finished speaking, he paused slightly.

Then he immediately said: "But if you want to join the army, it's not without a chance, this officer is just going to lead the team to send military rations to the defenders of a pass, you can go with this officer, if you work the road and deliver the military rations on time, this officer will help you talk about it, let you join the army." ”

"The villain willing! Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir! ”

As soon as Sun Dalang heard that he was going to send food to the defenders and had the opportunity to join the army, he suddenly turned his sadness into joy, how could he disagree.

Five days later, a convoy of grain about half a mile long set out from Heshun and headed north.