Chapter 3: Morning Dew

The team had just arrived on the bank of the Zhangshui River, and had already been spotted by the Zhaozhou army patrolling the opposite bank. The minion who specializes in providing mobile phone e-books/e-book download names and mounts immediately took out the horn from his arms, sounded the warning while "woo-woo-woo-———", and rode his horse to Qingzhang City to report the news. More than a dozen minions patrolling on foot, led by a strong man, brandished horizontal knives and rushed to the rope bridge by the river.

Between Qingzhang and Wuyang County, the most convenient passage is this rope bridge over the river. In recent years, the fighting between the officers and the bandits has stopped, and they have tacitly not destroyed the stone piers that tie the ropes on both sides of the river. Thus, in wartime, if one side cut the rope hanging from the bridge and let the planks on the bridge fall into the water, the other side would have to have to cross the river with great difficulty. In the "peace" period, the rope bridge was "secretly" pulled up by people with a heart for traveling merchants to come and go, and people to walk.

If the rope is cut by the Zhaozhou army, everyone will have to stay on the ground in Wuyang County for at least a whole day. Seeing this, Wang Ermao hurriedly rode his horse and rushed out of the team, waving his arms and shouting: "Don't cut, don't cut, it's me, it's me." Wang Ermao, the master of the Jinzi Camp Hall, didn't know Lao Tzu so soon! ”

"Hall Master?" The strong man of the Zhaozhou army who led the team had obviously heard of Wang Ermao's name, and he forcibly stopped the horizontal knife above the rope of the hanging bridge. Despite this, he refused to relax his vigilance at all, and with a quick wave of his hand, a dozen brothers around him raised a shield in one hand and a knife in the other, blocking the bridge deck tightly.

After making emergency arrangements, this person slowly stepped forward with a horizontal knife upside down. He stopped in the middle of the bridge and smiled and saluted: "When did the hall master come back?" Why didn't you send someone to notify you in advance? Who's behind you? You are old and strange, your subordinates have a poor memory, and you look at these people very much! ”

Baldy! I haven't seen Lao Tzu for a year, but I have become five and six! Among the minions behind Wang Ermao, there were sharp-eyed brothers, who recognized the identity of blocking the road, and shouted and scolded at the top of their throats.

"Zou Bald, you kid has the guts, even the way of the hall master dares to block it!"

"***, when you become an official, isn't it, is this score bigger than the head of the sect?"

Suddenly, the minions who recognized the identity of the person who came laughed and cursed. The little leader surnamed Zou was scolded so red-faced, but he refused to get out of the way, and he stiffened his neck and said: "What do you know? This is a death order from the head of the sect. If you let people go there without going through the ceremony, Lao Tzu's head will have to be hung on the city wall tomorrow! ”

"Little Brother Jiu is in Qingzhang?" Hearing this, Wang Ermao was surprised and delighted, and he didn't care about the other party's rudeness. "Great, I'm afraid I'll go wrong with him. What did he do in Qingzhang? What about Pingen, who guards Pingen for him? ”

"It was Captain Han and the old man who guarded for him. Sister Juan Zi and he are both in Qingzhang at the moment, as well as Duan Duwei, Zhang Duwei, almost all the brothers in our Jinzi Camp have arrived! Regarding the situation nearby, the little leader surnamed Zou did not hide it from Wang Ermao. In addition, at this moment, he basically saw clearly that most of the more than 200 riders who accompanied Wang Ermao back were familiar faces. At this moment, although everyone was scolded and scolded by themselves, there was no hostility in their eyes.

"Something lately?" Wang Ermao didn't expect that the big and small leaders of the Jinzi Battalion would gather in Qingzhang City, and instinctively guessed that there might be a tough battle to be fought recently.

"This, the head of the sect hasn't said it yet? There may be something, but the subordinates didn't inquire! Zou Bald glanced at Xie Yingdeng and Fang Yanzao, who were not far behind Wang Ermao, and replied vaguely.

The two of them have not participated in the dialogue between Wang Ermao and the old man, but just quietly looked not far away. It's just that the expressions of the two are very different. Xie Yingdeng has always been unhurried and nodded with a smile. Fang Yanzao's eyebrows were wrinkled, as if he was owed tens of thousands of dollars.

"Send someone to pay your respects, and say I'm back." Xie Yingdeng, the head of the Wagang Army's sentry, and Fang Yanzao, the captain of the guard, came with me to visit the house of Julu Zejiu! Wang Ermao knew what Zou Bald was worried about, and took the initiative to report to the house for Xie and Fang.

"Please take care of the lord of the hall, if you neglect it, your subordinates will definitely come to apologize in the future!" Zou Bald solemnly saluted Wang Ermao, and then turned around and walked towards his brothers. "Zhang Jie, Huang Laogen, the two of you run back to the city and report what Hall Master Wang just said to the Nine Masters. The rest of the brothers, untie the water bag, and let the hall master and the distinguished guests from afar moisten their throats first! ”

If you want to drink water, there is a lot of water under the bridge! Wang Ermao scolded with a smile. didn't pick up the other party's water bag, stood on the bridge and waited quietly for the response in Qingzhang City.

Although he was blocked by his own family, he did not feel angry at all. This experience in the Wagang Army made him fully realize the importance of discipline to a soldier. The Wagang inner battalion led by Xu Maogong and Cheng Zhijie, who are also Wagang soldiers, and Li Mi, Wang Bodang, Zhou Wenju, Meng Rang and others commanding the Wagang outer battalion, present two completely different styles. Although the number of people in front of him was small, but when he fought with the same number of officers and soldiers, as long as he did not encounter a strong opponent like Zhang Xutuo, although his equipment was far inferior to that of the other party, his combat effectiveness was not inferior to that of the other party. Later, although the number of soldiers was very large, it was claimed that there were more than 200,000 soldiers at its peak. encountered the elite of the official army, but only looked at the wind and left. Even if he occasionally moves back to a game and a half on Li Mi's careful arrangement, there is always a beginning and an end, and when he wins, it is smooth sailing, and he will collapse when he encounters a slight setback.

And the performance of Zou Bald and others when they encountered a sudden situation, in Wang Ermao's view, was no worse than that of Wagang Neiying. This deepened his admiration for his good friend Cheng Mingzhen, and at the same time, he was proud of his experience in the Jinzi Camp.

Just as he was triumphantly admiring the scenery opposite, smoke and dust suddenly rose in the distance, and thousands of soldiers and horses rushed towards the bridge. Like autumn water bursting embankment, like stormy waves. Getting closer and closer, getting more and more grandiose. Gradually, you can see the banner and the shining blade. Gradually, the echo of horses' hooves hitting the ground could be heard, and weapons rubbing against each other clanged against each other. But there is no noisy human language, extremely noisy, and extremely quiet. It is as quiet as a knife, forcing people not to act rashly.

"What a neat team!" Words of praise rushed out of Xie Yingdeng's mouth. If it is said that the performance of Zou Bald and others in the sudden situation just now gave him a preliminary respect for the Zhaozhou Army, at this moment, this respect has been invisibly deepened. There were less than 2,000 soldiers and horses on the other side, but the pressure was like tens of thousands of soldiers. In particular, the drumbeat of the distant command of the marching team, "knock, knock, knock", is majestic and heroic. It almost ignited people's blood, and they couldn't wait to turn into flames in the sky and sweep the empty autumn field in front of them.

"Brother Jiu is here to pick you up in person!" Wang Ermao looked back at Xie Yingdeng and Fang Yanzao, and introduced them with a bit of pride.

There was no need for him to talk too much, Fang Yanzao also saw clearly that it was Cheng Mingzhen himself who came from the other side. The tall figure and demeanor that were neither humble nor arrogant once left an extremely deep impression on him.

While speaking, the soldiers and horses on the other side have already come to the bridgehead. The small leader surnamed Zou stepped forward in accordance with military regulations and loudly handed over the order to Cheng Mingzhen. Cheng Mingzhen praised him with a smile, and then asked the team to line up along the bridge piers on both sides, posing for a long and narrow passage. He jumped off his mount and strode up to the bridgehead with Duan Qing, Zhang Jin, Zhou Fan, Wang Fei and other generals.

"Little Brother Jiu!" Wang Ermao's excited voice trembled, and he walked quickly towards the other party.

"You're back!" Cheng Mingzhen held his hand, as calm as ever. Then he patted the back of his hand lightly, let go, and continued to walk to the other side: "I didn't expect Fang Shaoqing and Manager Xie to be able to send the brothers back in person, Cheng was terrified!" ”

"Nine masters are polite!" Fang Yanzao and Xie Yingdeng saw Cheng Mingzhen clasping his fists and saluting him, so they hurriedly turned half of their bodies sideways, and then returned the favor with the courtesy of their peers, "I took the liberty to come to the door, I didn't have time to say hello in advance, and please don't blame the host!" ”

"The distinguished guest of the Wagang Army, Cheng may not be able to invite him if he has the heart to invite him, so how can he talk about the word presumptuousness! Please, two! ”

"Master Cheng Zhai, please first!" Xie Yingdeng and Fang Yanzao politely stretched out their hands to signal.

"Two guests from afar, please first!" Cheng Mingzhen shook his head with a smile and quickly got out of the way.

The two wanted to say a few more polite words, but now Cheng Mingzhen had already walked past them, clasped his hands into fists, and shouted at the brothers who had already jumped off the horse: "Brothers are back? It's a hard trip! Juan Zi has already prepared the food and drinks in the city, just waiting for everyone to serve it! Hurry up, don't wait for the wine to get cold! ”

"Leader!"

"Nine masters!" After listening to Cheng Mingzhen's words, the brothers who were still a little dissatisfied with being blocked on the other side of the Zhangshui River immediately warmed their hearts, and some people thought of the brothers who died on the bank of the Yellow River, their eyes were red, and their voices had begun to choke.

Seeing that there were only these one hundred and ten left in the elite who followed Wang Ermao's surprise attack on Liyang Cang that day, Cheng Mingzhen was also in a mood, grinned, and added with a miserable smile: "Brothers, you're welcome. This year, we have enough food to eat and enough drink. This is all you waiting for desperately to get back, hurry up and cross the river, the family is waiting! ”

With that, he pulled the brother closest to him and hugged him tightly. Release it, then pull the second one, hold it tightly, and gently pat your palm on the opponent's back. Duan Qing, Zhang Jin, Zhou Fan, Wang Fei and others also followed Cheng Mingzhen's example and embraced the brothers. Brushing there, the strangeness of not seeing each other for more than ten months disappeared. The brothers who had been embraced and waited to be embraced by their own people puffed up their chests as if they had stood with the robes on the other side of the river.

"You weren't there to greet us?" Fang Yanzao shook his head and smiled bitterly. glanced at Xie Yingdeng, and now the other party was also looking at him, with infinite emotion hidden in his eyes.

He suddenly felt that the task of his trip was a bit troublesome, and his heart sank suddenly, and his eyes became dark.