The group crossed the mountain and saw a village sitting in the col from a distance, with smoke curling and chickens and dogs smelling each other. Gao Jun only felt more and more hungry in his stomach, and just wanted to have a meal immediately, even if it was a tortilla.

He remembered something, and suddenly said to one of the leaders, "I don't think it's over......

The man asked, "Engong, I am their captain, you can tell me if you have something." ”

"I see this tiger, the abdomen is deflated, and it must have come out to forage for food. I've been beaten to death right now, and I don't know if it has cubs. ”

Someone said, "Whatever, it's going to eat us, and we care about its cubs?" ”

Another person said, "This is really a tigress, and I also heard my grandfather tell me that the tigress is the most ferocious when she takes care of her cubs, and she really can't find food, and she will break into the village and drag away the cattle and sheep, and if people stop it, even people will be injured." ”

Gao Jun turned his head and walked back, the gang leader knew what he meant, and left two people to follow Gao Jun and Liu Yuru with him, and the rest of the people carried the tiger back, cleaned up the wine and food and waited for them to come back.

Several people returned along the same road and arrived at the place where the tiger was killed. Gao Jun knew that if the tiger had cubs, its nest would not be too far away. After looking around, he walked to a steeper rocky slope, where low trees and thorns grew and there was no decent road. Later, no man or horse could go.

Someone saw a hole behind a boulder on a slope three or four people high, and pointed it out loudly to Gao Jun. The slope is almost upright, and only adult tigers can leap up. Gao Jun flew up and dived into the cave. Liu Yuru held her breath and waited quietly.

After a while, I saw Gao Jun jumping down with two tiger cubs in his arms, and his expression was a little gloomy.

Several people gathered around to see the two tiger cubs, only a little older than a domestic cat, just born, as if they were not yet a full moon, their eyes did not open, they trembled in Gao Jun's arms, stretched out their pink tongues and licked his hands.

Gao Jun's heart sank from the moment he saw the tiger cubs, and he couldn't imagine that he was eager to help people and kill their mothers, if he didn't insist on coming back, they were destined not to live for two days. I feel like I've done something not very honorable.

Several people returned to the village, the gang leader took Gao Jun, to the injured person's house, it happened that the family had already made the meal, the dishes were ready, Gao Jun saw that the family was kind, there was a seventy-year-old grandmother, an old couple in their fifties, the injured was their only son, seventeen years old this year, at the moment looking for a doctor to show their son injured.

By this time, the wounded young sergeant had already been stitched up by the doctor and bandaged with gold medicine. He was still crying out in pain in the house just now, and when he saw the gang leader and a few people welcoming Gao Jun and Liu Yuru into the courtyard, he came out a little embarrassed, and was about to kneel in front of Gao Jun, but Gao Jun hurriedly stopped him.

The grandmother and his parents thanked Gao Jun for their kindness, while the gang leader asked everyone to sit at the dinner table, and Liu Yuru sat beside Gao Jun. A large table was full. There were no decent dishes on the table, except for a stewed chicken, a plate of scrambled eggs, and more just some common vegetables in the farm. However, Gao Jun could see that this was already purchased by this family, and he secretly felt the simplicity of the villagers, which made people find fault with it.

Several people exchanged names and surnames. The gang leader himself introduced that his name was Sun Ganglin and he was the gang leader of these people. After entering the winter farming, they have to go into the mountains to practice almost every day. Today's practice is a hidden subject, and a group of people have also practiced seriously under the supervision of no superior officials, especially this Wang Duoding, who was scratched by a tiger, he hid for a long time, and everyone didn't find it, but he was injured by a tiger.

"Without the command of the officials above, you can also consciously practice every day like this?" Gao Jun asked.

Gang Sun saw that the hot water on the big stove outside had been boiled, and sent two people to peel the dead tiger and take the meat, and wait for the pot to cook. Then he raised the wine bowl and saluted Gao Jun, and said:

"Engong, do you know that we people in the Tang Dynasty can have today's peaceful days, thanks to the country's strong martial arts and the army's diligent training? Although life is still a little harder, it is better than having people put a knife on their necks and hold a gun against their backs every day. After all, there is nothing to do, and everyone's enthusiasm for training is still very good, and it is the same whether there is an official or not. ”

Gao Jun couldn't help but be in awe when he heard this, and said, "I really should respect you." ”

Gang Sun persuaded Gao Jun to drink slowly, intending to wait for the tiger meat, so he knew everything when he chatted, and he was not too long-winded. But Gao Jun listened very carefully. From the words of Gang Chang Sun, Gao Jun knew that this village was called Good Governance Village, and there were more than 100 households at the moment. The village of good governance has existed since the Three Kingdoms period, and it is said to commemorate a thorn who served here in the Wei state.

And their group of people were selected by lottery according to the decree of "one person out of every ten households" of the military system of the Tang Dynasty. "Gang" is the lowest level of organization in the Tang Army, with ten people in each gang and a gang leader; The five gangs are a "team", and the chief is the team leader; The two teams are a "brigade" with a brigade commander; The two brigades were "regiments" and were commanded by the lieutenants. Gang Sun said, "I don't know how to control it further up. ”

Liu Yuru answered, "Then there is the Zhechong Mansion, when Zhenguan was ten years old, His Majesty Taizong changed the military mansion to the Zhechong Mansion, which means that the military palace is between the bottles, preparing troops and using troops carefully. The governors of Ochichong Prefecture are all called Orichong Governors. Zhechong Prefecture is also divided into upper, middle and lower levels, I remember that it should be four regiments in Xiafu, five regiments in Zhongfu, and six regiments in Shangfu. ”

Gao Jun knew that Liu Yuru would not be much worse than what he said, so he secretly calculated in his heart that the number of people in the Zhichong Mansion at all levels ranged from eight hundred, one thousand to one thousand two. Sun Ganglin praised, "I can't imagine that this lady knows more than us soldiers, she must be a person who has seen the world." ”

Gang Commander Sun said that whenever the farming was busy and there was no war, his group had to go to the responsible guard for 10 days every month, and at other times, a group of people from other villages would take turns to be on duty.

Gao Jun looked at Liu Yuru, in front of these people, Liu Yuru was not good at speaking loudly, put his hand in Gao Jun's ear and whispered, "Shou Capture is the smallest military camp or the smallest town guard point in the Tang Army." ”

But her words were still heard by Captain Sun, he said, "Although the guard is small, we never think it is small, most of us do not delay every time we are on duty, and we can always arrive on time, and except for the long weapon, which is sent by Xizhou, other rations, horses, armor and daggers for self-protection are all purchased by ourselves", there was a sense of pride between the words.

Someone else chimed in, "This is as it should be, those of us who have been selected to serve as soldiers, from the age of twenty to sixty, the court has also given us a share of the land, but no taxes are collected, and it is also appropriate to bring our own armor." ”

At this time, the tiger meat in the pot outside was cooked, and the fragrance wafted in. After a while, a large pot full of meat was served, and the gang leader beckoned Gao Jun and the two to eat meat, "I haven't eaten tiger meat since I'm so big, this is the first time!" ”

A few people said, "Who isn't the first time?" Gao Jun listened to his heart and said, I am also the first time. But when I thought of the two tiger cubs, I only ate one piece and stopped eating it. When Liu Yuru saw it, he knew what he was thinking, so he only picked some vegetarian food to eat, and said to those people, "Don't throw away tiger bones, they are a good medicine for bruises and rheumatism." With a piece on the body, it can also prevent dogs from jackals."

Gang Elder Sun asked Gao Jun, "When you were on the mountain, Engong's skills were by no means ordinary, I don't know who to learn from?" ”

"I studied in Zhongnan Mountain for four or five years when I was a teenager, but my master had something to say, and I was not allowed to reveal any information about him...... Please also pass by after hearing it, and don't talk about it to others......" Speaking of this, I was surprised to find that Liu Yuru was sitting next to her, didn't she say this without admitting yourself? peeking at her, I saw that Liu Yuru was eating with her head down, and she didn't seem to pay attention to what he said just now.

The old grandmother and Wang Duoding's mother did not serve the table, and served the food under the table. The two observed Liu Yuru from time to time, their eyes showed love and envy from time to time, and occasionally interjected to say a word or two to Liu Yuru, and praised her for her good looks from time to time.

The old grandmother seemed to think of the danger of her grandson Wang Duoding on the mountain, and counted Wang Duoding again, "You are the only seedling in our family...... I'm only seventeen years old, and I haven't married a granddaughter-in-law yet...... So reckless, how can you reassure your mother......"

Gao Jun asked, "Didn't Brother Sun say that you are only qualified to be a soldier at the age of twenty, why did this little brother Wang ...... at the age of seventeen?"

"Heh, Engong, I didn't want to say it, but Engong asked, and it was okay to talk about it. There is a rich man in the village of good governance, named Wang Manjiao, who is also in his fifties this year. He had more than 100 weaving machines in his house, employed many people, and was very rich and powerful. I heard that there is still a relationship in Xizhou, and I know that one of his distant cousins works as a pastoral supervisor in Jiaohe Ranch, which is older than our county magistrate in Liuzhong County. ”

Gao Jun remembered that Jiaohe Mu did have a pastor surnamed Wang, and he had dealt with him two days ago, so he asked, "What does this have to do with Brother Wang?" ”

"It's very related, the rich man made his son a soldier, so he paid less taxes, but this rich boy couldn't bear the hardships of training, so he spent money to hire someone to travel for him, and that's how he did it all year round."

Wang Duoding's father hurriedly stood up, took out a stack of papers from the back room, took out one and handed it to Gao Jun.

Gao Jun took it and took a closer look, only to see that the top of the top was written "Shangfeng Deed", and the bottom was written, "There is now the name of the king of the village of good governance, the name of Wang Long of the same village, and the top guard is arrested for ten days." When it expired, Wang Long paid Wang Duoding thirty dollars. Both parties are voluntary, and there is no compulsion, and if there is any mistake or omission in the current period, it will be investigated by Shangfeng, and Wang Duoding will bear it. "Below are the names of the parties and the guarantor, with red handprints.

This is obviously a private contract, and the government does not approve of it.

Wang Duoding's father said, "Except for Engong, no one else can see this." Because of the large population in my family, I am the only one who farms, and although the government's taxes are not much, they are not small when they are distributed to my family. The substitution is indeed voluntary. ”

Gao Jun also understands that it is difficult for the government to investigate such a consensual matter. And most of those people in the same village who know about it will not publicize it.

However, Gao Jun disagreed with the practice of the rich man's family. He knew that even if there was a war, such people would not be reliable. I had the heart to tell Master Guo about this, and I was worried that it would cut off the livelihood of Wang Duoding's family, so I decided not to say a word about this matter.

However, he said, "The younger brother has some friendship with a head of Liuzhong Ranch, and I heard that from this year, Liuzhong Ranch will be expanded, and it will definitely need a lot of manpower of Wang Xiaoge's age." Even at the age of Daddy Wang, he can also go to work part-time during the slack time. There should be a place to eat and lodging, and there should be no daily travel, and the wages should not be less than the number of the rich king. ”

These people immediately say, "That's for the best!" Each of us has three friends and two friends, and we are worried that we have no work to do, so I wonder if Engong can introduce him to do it when he arrives? ”

"It's better to say that, you might as well count how many of them there are in private. How many can be long, and how many are short. I'll call my friend to pick it up later, I guess...... As long as the body is passable and the person is real, he will be hired...... However, you can't make a statement for the time being, just count them privately. Everyone was overjoyed when they heard this, and they persuaded Gao Jun to drink more self-brewed rice wine, but they didn't realize that the day had turned west.

By the time the men had finished eating, it was already dark. And Gao Jun was also top-heavy by these enthusiastic people, watching the figures spin. And the home-brewed brew has enough energy, and by the time these people dispersed, he was almost drowsy.

Father Wang cares very much about this benevolent father, not to mention that he risked his life to save his only son, just by what he said about recruiting people in Liuzhong Ranch, it is a turning point for his family. Not only is his son expected to go to work for a long time, but he may also go to work for a few days from time to time.

Without waiting to speak, he led the tall horse into the yard and fed it with good water and food. He also asked his daughter-in-law to take out the brand-new bedding at the bottom of the press box that her mother's family had married when she got married, clean a guest room, and invite Gao Jun and the others to rest.

Gao Jun felt in a daze that he was helped into the room by Father Wang, and Liu Yuru helped him take off his clothes, and he fell asleep as soon as his head stuck to the pillow, dreaming that there were many people and horses in the pasture. Rows of brand-new stables, clean and bright villages, and I dreamed that the rich man looked anxious and couldn't find a substitute......

The mountain village is submerged in a silent night, the moon hook is getting sharper, and the lights are extinguished. The wolves that lurked during the day seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, and the long, menacing howls of wolves seemed to be so close outside the window.

Gao Jun felt a warm body pressed against his back, and when he looked back, it was the junior sister Ying he hated deeply. Secretly said that you girl is engaged in a sneak attack again, and you look good in my hands today. borrowed the strength of the wine and reflexively hugged her. He didn't speak, but a pair of hands scratched and pinched up and down on her, and ravaged her happily. When I want to do something further, I don't know how to start. Thinking that this was enough, he threw the person away and fell asleep satisfied.