Chapter 3: Morning Dew (5 times)

Zhang Jin said that he was brutal and easy to kill, and although he has reined in in the past two years, he usually does not let go of those who have offended him, even his subordinates and their families. Thinking of the possible tragedy in the three places of Ping'en, the sharp soldiers of the Jinzi Battalion immediately became resentful of the same enemy. rushed out of the valley as fast as possible, picked up the scouts who were captured by Han Shiwang and then released, and rushed to his lair in the starry night.

This time it was much faster than it had been, and it took only two and a half days for the striker to reach the banks of the river. Cheng Mingzhen ordered the army to find a remote place to camp and rest, and at the same time dispatched scouts to cross the river at night to explore the situation on the other side of the river.

At this juncture, his heart calmed down, and he no longer thought about the origin of the matter, but focused all his energy on how to protect himself and his brothers' families.

He only has more than 4,000 sharp soldiers under his command, and Zhang Jin said that his subordinates are at least more than 20,000, and in order to take down Pingen and other places without fail, he may also hide more minions in the shadows. But the disparity in numbers does not worry the generals too much. Although the number of sharp soldiers in the Jinzi battalion is small, all of them have more than three major battles. In the past few months, Cheng Mingzhen has focused on strengthening the allocation of low-level officers and the training of the team's battle formation. It can be said that they are the most elite force in Juluze at the moment, although this elite does not look so bright on the surface.

To start a war with Zhang Jin, what is more difficult to deal with than the number of people is the problem of morality and feelings. First of all, after all, the other party is the big boss of Juluze, and his reputation is still there. A few words spoken in the face of war could shake the brothers. It can be said that if he hadn't been forced to retreat, none of the generals in the Jinzi Battalion would be willing to be his enemy. Secondly, the two sides used to be the Pao Ze brothers, and some people even had a good relationship with each other. Before the war, I hated it so much, and when I really faced it, it was difficult for everyone to do it. And when the two armies fight, the most taboo thing is to be soft-hearted. "Don't give in to your face, raise your hand without mercy" is a classic saying summed up by the ancients. The slightest hesitation when wielding a knife can cost one's own life or even lose the entire war. Third, most of Juluze's flags, horns, and military orders are from Cheng Mingzhen. In other words, the command signals taken by both sides on the battlefield are almost identical. In the event of confusion, it will inevitably cause local confusion. And if the side with fewer people wants to win, every move must be almost accurate. Zhang Da has the capital of chaos, and once chaos occurs in the Jinzi camp, it will be a catastrophe.

"Let's change the flag overnight!" Duan Qing was impatient under Zhang Jincheng early in the morning, and now that he got the opportunity, he immediately proposed to the main general, "Otherwise, it will be difficult to distinguish between you and me in a fight, and the brothers don't know who to follow!" ”

"If you can't fight, you still don't fight." Cheng Mingzhen lowered his voice and said what he thought. "If you fight, it will only make the government see a joke. It is best to force the big boss to change his mind, but it is really not good, and try to force peace with war to minimize the losses of both sides! ”

This proposal was a decision he made after much consideration. But the crowd was obviously reluctant to accept it, and they expressed their dissatisfaction. In the eyes of everyone, Zhang Jin said that this move was purely jealousy and hatred, and secretly blackmailed. He saw that the three counties of Ping'en were getting better, so he wanted to take the harvest of the three counties as his own. And it is clear that the name is not right, so first come to the tiger to leave the mountain, and then take advantage of the man's absence to find trouble with the woman.

The most hateful thing is that he didn't want to leave a way for everyone to live. It seems that he knew that after everyone arrived in Hedong, they would be defeated like Wang Mazi, so they simply sent people to block the road from Hedong to Hebei and completely destroyed the Jinzi camp by the hands of the enemy.

How many times have you offended him? Who has such a great enmity with him? This person is simply a madman, he can't tell right from wrong at all, and only stare at the little "benefit" that can be seen in front of him! Such a big boss can not follow or not, break up one day earlier, and get out of risk one day earlier. Really shook hands and made peace, if one day he stabbed him in the back again, how could everyone still have luck this time?

Expecting everyone to think like this, Cheng Mingzhen cleared his throat and continued to explain: "Of course, when you prepare, you also have to prepare for the fish to die and the net to break. Otherwise, even if we can cope with the current level, others will see that we are cowardly before we fight, and we will be bullied even worse in the future! ”

"That's pretty much it!" Han Gesheng thought about it and took the lead in expressing his position. "Promote peace with war, and let the big boss know that we can't just pinch it. In the future, he will naturally act more carefully! ”

"If you want me to say, it's better to break up in two, so as not to be remembered in the future!" Duan Qing still insisted on his opinion, and was unwilling to gamble with his net worth and life.

"I'm afraid that I can't be good, and I'm cheaper for nothing!" Others take a slightly longer view, revealing deep concern in their words.

Wang Fei's thinking was relatively active, and he didn't fully agree with Han Gesheng's thoughts, nor did he fully agree with Duan Qing, "There is almost no danger around the three counties of Ping'en, and without Juluze, there will be enemies on all sides." So, either we will take down Julu Ze as well, or let the big boss know that we are not easy to mess with, and no one will recruit anyone in the future! The so-called goodness just makes the outside feel that we are still one. But in the future, each other's brothers will settle accounts with each other, and each will do their own thing, and no one will try to plot against anyone's family background! ”

This mention is actually similar to Cheng Mingzhen's original intention. The most important reason why he repeatedly emphasized that he didn't want to fight too big was that there was no depth in the three places of Ping'en. Once the imperial court sent a large army to conquer and suppress, as long as the Zhangshui defense line was broken, and then it was a horse and a flat river. With Julu Ze here, he can also fake the tiger's might, and even get closer to Zhang Jincheng if necessary, and work together again for their own survival. Without the backing of Juluze, he could only flee in the wilderness and hide farther away in Lin Shu Mountain or even Taihang Mountain to live a savage life.

Secondly, although he is about to be forced to turn his face with Zhang Jincheng. In terms of morality, he had to have some concerns. Test each other first, and then maintain a superficial reputation, neither Lvlindao nor the world will feel that he Cheng Mingzhen has a backbone in the back of his head, and he is against whom. If he does his best to knock Zhang Da to the ground and replace him now, his reputation will be completely rotten in the future. No one wants to be in the company of a snake and scorpion for a long time, and no one wants to cooperate with an ungrateful white-eyed wolf who turns his face and doesn't recognize people.

Thinking of this, he took Wang Fei's words and said with a smile: "Don't fight about this matter anymore." Let's prepare for the worst and work hard for the best. As for what Duan Qing said about changing the flag, in my opinion, this is how to do it! Since the big boss painted the three counties of Ping'en, Weishui, and Qingzhang as Zhaozhou, he appointed me as the governor of Zhaozhou. Let's arrange for someone to remove the word "Zhang" and "Jin" on the banner tonight, and sew the word "Zhaozhou"! ”

"Zhaozhou!" Everyone paused for a moment, and then laughed tacitly.

"It's good, it's good, we're going to have the Zhouzhou Army in the future!"

"Zhaozhou, it's really good, we were originally fighting for ourselves, our home is in Zhaozhou, and the banner is also on Zhaozhou!"

Although these two words are still given by Zhang Jin, it sounds like they have not separated from Juluze and his gang, in fact, after replacing these two words, it is equivalent to the "Jin" word battalion being independent of the Zhang family army from now on, and no one can freely occupy their spoils, and no one can do whatever they want on the land they have worked so hard to open up.

But Duan Qing was still not very satisfied with this, knocked on the low table in front of him, and said in a low voice: "Why don't you just change it to the "Cheng" family army." When I think of that guy who doesn't know what to do, my brain hurts! ”

As soon as these words came out, the atmosphere in the military tent was immediately like cold water poured into hot oil, and the pot exploded with a bang. Now that the rebellion has been exposed, who doesn't want the people he assists to build their own emperor's business. Everyone is the founding father of the country if they get it right, and if they don't get it right, they will lose their heads at most, but after a good time, it is a hundred times better than being regarded as a rogue all the time.

"That's right, let's call Cheng Jiajun, and find a warlock to calculate in the future, so that the head of the sect will also be the prince!"

"Who learns the surname Zhang, let's not play those tricks of pretending to be gods. First beat the surname Zhang, and then snatched Yongnian City down, and directly called the king according to this! I want to be the king! ”

"It should be called King Zhao! The generation of Xiangguo and Ping'en originally belonged to Zhao Guo! ”

"Then take Handan down, take Handan, and even have the capital!"

Seeing that the more everyone talked, the more outrageous it became, Cheng Mingzhen hurriedly poured cold water on everyone. "Ladies and gentlemen, can you wait until we keep Ping'en. Just three counties, 4,000 soldiers and horses, if you want to be the king, you should go yourself, I won't fall into that joke! ”

"If it doesn't work out, it's a joke. Once it happens, no one will dare to laugh at us! ”

"Zhang Da can be the king, what do you have to do!"

"The big boss can only kill people and set fires, and you can still govern three counties!"

"I'm willing to die for Cheng Jiaotou!"

Everyone was enthusiastic and encouraged Cheng Ming. seems to have seen the day when Cheng Mingzhen turned his back to the north and sat down and was lonely.

But his enthusiasm was soon interrupted by a shout of rage. "Enough, you're not done!" Cheng Mingzhen slapped the table hard and scolded loudly.

He rarely gets angry, and when he breaks out once, he really startles everyone. "What's wrong with the Nine Masters?" Duan Qing and the others looked at each other, they didn't want to be emperors, and they couldn't slap the table. How can you say that everyone is very kind, and it is not forcing him to ascend the throne tomorrow, why should he ruin everyone's interest at this juncture?

"Your brothers' hearts, Cheng has received them!" Cheng Mingzhen arched his hand and emphasized with a rare seriousness. "The reason why Cheng rebelled back then was to survive. The brothers joined the gang first and later, and the time is different, but the reason is probably similar to Cheng! Just to live! We've been forced to live anymore, and we have to find a way out! However, we are alive, and we are still alive and well for a few days. Drink wine in large bowls, eat meat in large pieces, think of women with women, think of treasures with treasures. But what about our relatives and friends back then, how many survived? Either they will be killed by the government, or they will be killed by us. After death, you can't even get up a grave, and the body is still on the side of the avenue! ”

"We hate the court, we hate those who are officials, they make us unable to live. So we reversed, killed the dog officer, and set fire to the yamen. But what did we do? Kill more people, so that more people can't survive. Then let the people who can't survive kill with us, rob together, and burn together. More people than the dog officer, and even more unreasonable than the dog officer! What are we doing? What have we done other than kill people and set fires? What did the good Ping'en, Zhushui and Guantao look like before the war, and what do they look like now? Everyone has seen it, and they all see it better than I do! Everyone patted their chests and thought about it, did they feel forbearant in their hearts? Beat the good land to waist-deep grass, and beat the good cities into piles of skeletons? Who's buried in it, your neighbors, my relatives and friends! We lived, on their corpses. Live like a ghost, live like a wolf. Therefore, we are like wolves, and no one trusts anyone anymore. When there is a benefit, everyone grabs it together, and when there is no benefit, secretly grind your teeth and be ready to bite each other at any time. ”

"I didn't live a long time, less than three years. But I've had enough of my life! I don't want to live anymore, I want to live well, be happy during the day, and sleep without having to carry a knife at night. I want my kids to have something other than killing. I hope that you are all alive and safe until the end of this troubled world! ”

He found that he was talking very slably, and he didn't know what everyone was thinking. But he felt that his heart was blocked, and these things that had accumulated for a long time were not vomited or unhappy. "By saying that, it's not that we're afraid of death. We are not afraid of death, we can fight to the death. But we'd better fight to the death to protect our wives and children and protect our homes. Instead of dying in someone's dreams, not dying for someone's ambitions. ”

"Thank you for your kindness!" He clenched his fists and slammed them to the ground. "I want you to fight with me, but I don't want you to die for me! I can't afford this kindness, and I don't dare to ask for it. I don't dare to step on the bones of my neighbors to achieve my own fame, because the next one to be trampled on the soles of my feet may be you and me! ”

As soon as the words fell, there was silence in the military tent. As if in a dream, people stared wide-eyed at their own nine masters. Everyone found that they had never known such a Cheng Mingzhen. So strange, yet so intimate. He was younger than almost everyone in the room, but his eyes were deeper than everyone in the room. In fact, everyone only understood a small part of his words, but everyone deeply understood the affection in this very small part. The head of the sect didn't want everyone to die, and he didn't want everyone to die for him. The head of the sect wants to live well, and everyone lives well for themselves.

After that, they had a lot of disagreements on a lot of things. There have been quarrels, there have been complaints, but none of them have chosen to part ways with the group. In the long troubled times, most of them died in battle, but those who survived always remembered their promise to protect their brothers, and protect each other's wives and children. Keep the last bit of goodness that belongs to humanity in your heart.