Chapter 4: Cai Wei (Part I)

The sky was always overcast, and the snow particles drifted down the wind endlessly.

The land was not yet completely frozen, and the cold and the heat accumulated in the ground mixed together, leaving the fields black and white, mottled and mottled. White places, naturally, are not completely melted snow. And in the dark brown of the snow, there is more than just a mud pool. Occasionally, charred houses, occasionally abandoned tents, and most often, frozen corpses.

The corpses were not only from the looted refugees, but also from a large part of the minions who had been left behind and had no one to collect them. Half a month ago, they used to run wild on this land, but now, they have all become lost wild dogs, no matter which force touches them, they can't wait to come forward and beat them.

The county soldiers, the township warriors, and the local heroes are Zhuang Ding. The scripture that was originally called a brother and sister to the heroes of the green forest was killed by the heroes of the green forest and fled, and they all became brave all of a sudden. Hordes of elders, elusive, and trying to kill the retreating minions by all means. But the heroes of the green forest did not dare to stop to fight, and behind the light gray clouds in the north, it always seemed that there was a force of officers and soldiers armed to the teeth. They are highly skilled and well-trained. They slaughtered the nearly 200,000 troops under Zhang Jincheng to the point of fear, and they made the heroes of the rivers and lakes dare not turn back to the north.

In fact, the only minions who followed Zhang Jin that day were defeated were more than 60,000 of his descendants. At that time, the others were either sent by Zhang Jincheng to attack the city and seize the land, or they fled immediately. But no matter which of the above situations, they don't have the courage to join Zhang Jincheng again.

"A fool will be like Cheng Xiaojiu!" Lei Wannian, an old Jianghu who was defeated from Yu County, spit thick phlegm into the mud pit and cursed and scolded. This time, he was said to be miserable by Zhang Jin, and he originally went to defect with more than 20,000 horses, thinking that he could at least get a big general. Unexpectedly, the general didn't succeed, but because the brothers under his command heard the news of Zhang Jincheng's defeat, Hulala fled a little bit overnight. At the time of chaos, Huang Rengong, a county leader in Yuxian County, led his subordinate Xiang Yong and Zhuang Ding from several neighboring forts to take the initiative to attack, and the thunderous master fled from Zhangbei to Zhangnan, and only stopped to catch his breath until he ran to Gaotang.

When he turned around, his brothers were only about 2,000 followers. The rest either sneaked away with their belongings on the way to escape, or were captured alive by the villagers who had organized themselves in various places. At present, the heroes who have the support of Li Xu, the general manager of Boling, are not like half a month ago, rushing to come to the door to shoot the sycophants of the "good men". All the minions that fall into their hands will either have their faces tattooed and become slaves for life. Or hack to death with a knife and send the head to the hands of the chief manager of Boling to ask for credit. It is said that in order to reward General Li for his life-saving work, the bullshit emperor Yang Guang gave a thick stack of people surnamed Li just by saying goodbye to his official position without adding a name. Chop off the heads of a few thieves and hand them over, if you want to be a civil official, you can be a civil official, and if you want to be a general, you can be a general. Anyway, Li Zhongjian is kind-hearted, and he will definitely not give any loss to the people who come to the door!

These rumors in the rivers and lakes cannot be believed, but Lei Wannian does not dare to believe them completely. According to the gossip he heard on the way to the rout, Qiao Xiaogui'er, the second leader of Sileng Mountain in Zaoqiang County, united with several cronies around him, cut off the head of the big boss Wang Jiude, and personally sent it to the Boling army to make a vote. And the surnamed Li not only pardoned several of them for their past crimes very generously, but also promoted Qiao Xiaogui'er to be the captain of Zhiguo. That's a genuine Zhengqi product, half a level higher than the county master of Lei Wannian's hometown! It is said that in addition to the bounty, Qiao Xiaoguier and the others each got sixty acres of employment land. Not only has his identity been completely whitewashed, but he will not have to worry about the expenses of this life and the next life.

Ever since he got the news, Lei Wannian felt that the few cronies around him always looked at him strangely. In terms of status and fame in the rivers and lakes, he Lei Laohu is more than a little bit higher than the king called the donkey, if he puts his head in the hands of Li Zhongjian, I am afraid that he can at least change to a six-grade lieutenant, right? A few more steps up, and you'll be the Ranger General. In these years, if anyone goes home in the clothes of a general, his ancestral grave will have green smoke.

Whenever he thinks of the value of his life, Lei Wannian is both afraid and proud. He didn't want to be someone else's way up, so he clung to the knife when he slept. The cold blade and the same cold mood made him toss and turn night after night, so much so that every morning he wished that he was dead in his sleep and that he would never have to suffer again. But after a long day's journey, in the evening, he began to cherish the preciousness of life again. So, Blade became his only trusted companion again, holding it and continuing to endure the torment of life.

They were all harmed by blaming Zhang Jin for calling this guy who doesn't have long eyes! When he couldn't sleep, Lei Wannian summarized the reasons why he fell into the predicament over and over again. Every time I sum up, my hatred for Zhang Jincheng deepens. On the contrary, he did not hate General Li sent by the imperial court to Hebei to sit in the town. Although it has been rumored for half a month, it has been rumored that there are more than a dozen well-known green forest locks, which have been directly or indirectly destroyed in the hands of this person.

The reason why Lei Wannian hates Zhang Jincheng is because he thinks that Zhang Jincheng doesn't have long eyes. You said that you can't provoke anyone in a good way, why do you have to provoke that Li Zhongjian. It is said that the lord once single-handedly killed a few people in and out of the million-strong army of the Goguryeo people, and saved 300,000 soldiers of the Eastern Crusade alone. You Zhang Jin said that you don't pee according to what kind of virtue you have, and you actually dare to tease General Li Hu's beard. This time, it was beautiful, not only did he put all the brothers under his command into it, but also took all the dozens of green forest heroes in Hebei Province.

As for Zhang Jin, did he know in advance that Li Zhongjian had arrived in Xindu? Was it caught off guard? Lei Wannian didn't want to think about it. His reason is very simple, since you Zhang Jin said that you want to be the chief scoop of the green forest in Hebei Province, and you have to face the south and the north, you have to take on the responsibility of pointing the right path for everyone. Since you Zhang Jin said that you took everyone to the ditch this time, then, there is no need to talk nonsense, you Zhang Jin said that it is definitely not the fate of being the emperor, and we will not follow you all the way to the dark. From then on, each of them went their own way, and no one said that they knew anyone.

There are not a few heroes of the green forest who have similar thoughts to Lei Wannian, and there are not a few heroes of the green forest who have encountered similar problems with him. In short, since the defeat of Xindu in the First World War, the fate of the heroes of the green forest in Hebei Province is like the weather above everyone's heads, how miserable and miserable it is. The subordinates fled one after another, and the county soldiers from all over the country took the opportunity to chase and kill, occasionally stopping to catch their breath, and always on guard whether their subordinates would withstand the temptation of promotion and wealth. The only thing everyone can be thankful about is that Zhang Jin said that he didn't go with him at this moment. Otherwise, once Li Zhongjian catches up, who has the ability to block his blow?

Of course, not walking with Zhang Jincheng also means that everyone loses the opportunity to cut off Zhang Jincheng's head, replace it, or sell it to Li Zhongjian. However, what is very surprising is that Cheng Xiaojiu, who is usually not treated by Zhang Jin, has not killed Zhang Jincheng until now. What is even more puzzling is that Li Zhongjian knew that Zhang Jincheng was hiding in Cheng Mingzhen's Zhaozhou army at the moment, but he did not send troops to chase and kill. Let Cheng Mingzhen retreat all the way from Xindu to Jingcheng, and then retreat from Jingcheng to Julu County.

From Julu County to the east, you can enter the range of Juluze. This place is Zhang Jin's old nest, once it returns to the nest, but the tiger returns to the deep mountains, and the dragon enters the sea. Maybe in a few years, you'll be able to pull up another decent team, and then many people will have to pay for what they've done.

But the facts are always unexpected, after staying in Julu County for three days, Zhang Jin said that he did not go back to Zedi directly, but slowly transferred to Ping'en County with Cheng Mingzhen and others. "Cheng Xiaojiu is going to blackmail the Son of Heaven to order the princes?" "Cheng Xiaojiu is not afraid of setting himself on fire?" Hearing the rumors, the heroes of the rivers and lakes talked about it again. No one can guess what the low-key young man has in his heart.

"I heard that Zhang Jin said that he had a life-saving grace for Cheng Xiaojiu!" There are also a few heroes who give a thumbs up to Cheng Mingzhen's actions. But they immediately attracted a bunch of eyes to themselves. How much money is the life-saving grace worth these years? The heroes don't say it on their lips, but everyone understands in their hearts that the so-called righteousness of the rivers and lakes and the so-called oath of living and dying together are all talking about fooling people. The guy who really puts righteousness first will definitely not survive for more than two years in the green forest. Everyone has experienced simplicity, and everyone's eyes and hearts have long been blackened by the bloody rain in the rivers and lakes.

At the end of December, that is, at the end of the year, someone finally inquired about the real reason why Cheng Mingzhen took in Zhang Jincheng. Half a step before Zhang Jincheng returned to Juluze, the henchman sent by the great master of Gao Shida to Juluze, that is, Lu Fangyuan, the eighth master of Juluze, suddenly withdrew the remnants from the battlefield in time, and he expelled the cronies who supported Zhang Jincheng in Zedi and re-erected the banner. And Zhang Jin said that since he lost to Li Zhongjian, he vomited blood every day. When he heard that the nest was occupied, he vomited blood on the spot, and immediately fell unconscious. Cheng Mingzhen, Hao Laodao and others had no choice but to take Zhang Da to return to Pingen to recuperate. Looking forward to waiting for Zhang Jincheng's injury to recover, and then looking for an opportunity to recapture Juluze.

But why didn't Li Zhongjian hunt down Zhang Jincheng? There is still no definite answer on the rivers and lakes. One said that he and Zhang Jin said that he had an old relationship that day, so he specially put Zhang Jin into a horse on the past friendship. One said that after he arrived in Boling, his foundation was unstable, so he couldn't care about continuing to find trouble with the heroes of the green forest for the time being. There is also a very angry, but helpless saying, that is, Li Zhongjian did not take the heroes of the green forest in his eyes at all. The reason why he said to Zhang Jin was because Zhang Jin's strength was big enough and worthy of his attack. As for the other heroes of Hebei Green Forest Road, Li Zhongjian didn't fancy it at all, and if he sent troops to recruit and suppress, he was not afraid that the heroes would run fast, but he was afraid that he would be sorry for his own name.