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Before dawn, Cui Teng and his group came back in the middle of the night, knocking on the city gate, shouting, and going into the city to rest, Cui Teng didn't feel that he had violated military law at all, and publicly shouted to his companions: "Go next time, bring a few more horses, as well as dry food and water, you useless guys, don't remind me." ”

The city gate was closed, and when the people outside were a little quieter, the military official on the gatehouse said loudly: "No one is allowed to enter or leave the city gate without the order of General Zhenbei." ”

"My brother-in-law is angry." Cui Teng smiled disapprovingly, and shouted upward: "Then go and inform General Zhenbei and tell him that I am back!" ”

The military officer on the gatehouse replied: "The general rested, and said that as long as it is not the Huns attacking, no one is allowed to disturb him, are you Huns?" ”

Cui Teng was furious, scolding in his mouth, then threatening and persuading, the military officer on the gatehouse replied at first, and finally even disappeared.

Not long after, Cui Teng was so tired that he couldn't speak, everyone outside the city looked at each other, and the cold wind howled at night outside the city...... Tired, thirsty, hungry, and afraid, Cui Teng's temper became stubborn again, and he said loudly: "Come with me, even if you die, you can't die here." ”

Cui Teng turned his horse's head and galloped south, except for his two retinues, everyone else hesitated, looked at each other, and did not follow.

A quarter of an hour later, the sound of horses' hooves, Cui Teng came back, furious, holding the horsewhip and throwing it away with his head and face, "Traitor! All traitors! You are the same virtue as the King of the East Sea. ”

The crowd did not dare to hide, so they could only protect their faces with their hands, and when his anger subsided slightly, one of his companions said, "When the city gate is opened at dawn, we will still ...... Wait a minute. ”

Cui Teng scolded for a while, but he had no other way, and if he ran down, the people could stand it, and the horses couldn't stand it, so he had to get off the horse and stand against the city gate.

"Han Ruzi......" Cui Teng trembled while cursing his brother-in-law for not dying well.

After suffering for an hour, the sky finally brightened, but the city gate did not open, Cui Teng really had no strength, let others shout loudly, and a military official probed out on the gatehouse, and replied: "Without the general's order, the city gate will not be opened during the day." ”

Stimulated by anger, Cui Teng regained a little strength, ran more than a dozen steps, turned around and pointed at the gatehouse and scolded, but the military officials above had already hidden, and only a few flags fluttered listlessly.

Cui Teng was quickly defeated, looking south, only to see the mountains and mountains stretching endlessly, looking in other directions, only the wind blows the sand, as far as the eye can see, the broken iron city close at hand is the only human building, there seems to be a small city in the west, but he can't run anymore.

Tired and aggrieved, Cui Teng suddenly burst into tears, not only the companions around him were startled, but there were also people on the gatehouse who came out to watch.

A noble disciple cautiously stepped forward and persuaded: "Second son, let's ...... Please. ”

"Will it be useful?" Cui Teng sobbed, he just wanted to enter the city now, and he could accept any means.

"It must be useful, General Zhenbei didn't send someone to arrest us into the city, that's waiting for us to admit our mistakes."

"I—I just want to go home, what's, what's wrong?"

The noble disciple's lips were blown by the wind, and he forcibly squeezed out a smile, "It doesn't matter if you are wrong, admit it first." ”

Other noble children also came up to persuade him, Cui Teng had a little more face, wiped away his tears, and asked, "I won't be laughed at, right?" ”

"Who dares to laugh at the second son?" Everyone said babblingly, and at the same time reached out and pressed Cui Teng to the ground, and then they also knelt down.

Cui Teng half-pushed, and after kneeling, he felt more comfortable than standing, and said loudly: "Please tell General Zhenbei, just say that I admit my mistake, look, I have knelt down and begged for mercy." ”

The human head on the gatehouse quickly disappeared.

Cui Teng leaned on one of his entourages and snorted to one of his closest companions: "If I die here, you must send my bones back to the capital, surely, understand?" ”

The companion couldn't laugh or cry, so he had to nod his head and vaguely agree.

After another quarter of an hour, the city gate finally opened, and a group of soldiers came out, Cui Teng was overjoyed, and was about to stand up, but was pulled left and right, and finally he could enter the city, and he must not offend General Zhenbei again.

A general read out the order of the general Zhenbei: all the deserters should go to repair the city wall, a total of thirty-six people, and carry a number of earth and stones.

Cui Teng and the others just wanted to enter the city, so they didn't care what the punishment was, so they immediately kowtowed and thanked them, and then entered the city under the escort of the soldiers, and did not go to the Xungui camp, but turned directly to the Nancheng warehouse.

After resting for half a day and eating a meal of corn porridge, from the afternoon onwards, thirty-six deserters began to work with the slaves in the city, carrying earth and stones, and reinforcing the broken walls.

Looking at the wicker basket full of mud, Cui Teng was dumbfounded, "Brother-in-law is really here." ”

An attendant whispered: "Second son, bear with me, we have already taken care of it, you can hold the basket and give it a look, and we will hire someone to complete the ration for you." ”

There were more than 200 slaves in the broken iron city, basically all of them were prisoners who were sent to the outside of the city, the female prisoners washed the laundry and cooked rice, and the male prisoners did rough work, Cui Teng and others were organized into a battalion with more than 140 male prisoners to repair a corner of the southern city, where a crack was made, and it was impossible to rebuild, so they had to pile up earth and stones in the city to prevent the wall from breaking.

Although he didn't have to carry the basket himself, he ate poorly and slept less, and after two days, Cui Teng was miserable and wanted to run away again, but this time no one left with him, and even the two entourages persuaded him not to toss anymore.

On the third day, Han Ruzi came to visit Cui Teng.

Cui Teng thought of a hundred ways to take revenge on this person, but as soon as they met, he couldn't help crying, tears flowed more and more, and begged: "Let me go, brother-in-law......"

Han Ruzi came prepared and said coldly: "Desertion is a capital crime, and it is already magnanimous to punish you for one month of labor. ”

"A month?" Cui Teng looked at the dust all over his body, and felt that he couldn't hold on for even a day, "Let's change the punishment, it's really not good...... Kill them, I think there have been cases of substitute deaths in the past. ”

The two entourages were so frightened that their legs were weak, and they knelt down, "Second son, we have always been loyal......"

"I know, it's time for your allegiance again, and I'll remember you both." Cui Teng just wants to get out of the predicament by himself, and he doesn't care about the lives of others.

Han Ruzi didn't want to kill anyone, so he turned his head and asked Jun Zheng who came with him: "Is there any other punishment that can replace labor?" ”

Jun Zheng replied: "There is a knight, and there is no knight who can also redeem the sentence with money." ”

"I'm rich and rich!" Cui Teng's eyes lit up, "It turns out that it can be like this, you said it earlier." ”

The sons and daughters of other nobles also came over, and they were all willing to redeem their sentences with knights and money, and the smarter ones were more willing to pay money, and their titles were not high, but once they were cut, they would have to fight again in the future, which was much more troublesome than paying money.

The amount of money is given by the army, and the fines are counted on the master's head, and the gold and silver brought by the twelve noble sons are not enough, and they are recorded in the account, which is regarded as a debt.

The general of Zhenbei said: "Although you have only worked here for two days, you have received a lot of help, and it is not okay to leave like this, and you should feast everyone to show your gratitude." ”

"It's all hired for money, it's not cheap at all...... Cui Teng also wanted to explain, and the other noble children had already agreed that the money and things needed would still be accounted for.

There are no good things in the broken iron city, you can eat cured meat, bacon, and drink a few bowls of wine, which is a great improvement for the prisoners who work all year round, more than 200 people sit on the ground under the city wall, eat and drink, many people come over with wine to thank the general Zhenbei and the noble children who paid for it, Cui Teng and others smiled bitterly.

Punishing deserters is just one of Han Ruzi's purposes, he is here to meet a person, and Yang Feng specially recommended Fang Daye to him.

Most of the prisoners came to toast, and the more timid ones came with the others, standing behind and drinking wine, and even if the task was completed, only a very few refused to come, either too old or too horizontal, and even if the emperor was there in person, they only ate and drank.

Fang Daye has both, burly and tall, sitting in the crowd quite eye-catching, his hair is hastily tied into a round bun, a handful of black and white beards are not messy, hanging straight to the waist, his face is not very good, as if he is seriously ill and has not recovered, but the amount of food is not small, his movements are not hurried, and the wine and meat in front of him disappear much faster than others.

Han Ruzi had already ordered that this meal should be full and sufficient, so there were soldiers who kept adding wine and meat, and someone kindly reminded Fang Daye that he should thank the general, but he didn't even raise his head.

Han Ruzi was thinking about how to call Fang Daye over for questioning, and the military Zheng around him had already noticed General Zhenbei's gaze and whispered: "Alas, it's a pity that a fierce general has been reduced to being with prisoners. ”

"Fierce general? Are you talking about that old man? What deeds does he have that deserves to be called a fierce general? ”

Jun Zheng's face changed slightly, and he sneered: "Humble position is also listening to other people's nonsense, and it can't be taken seriously." ”

Han Ruzi didn't ask, and when the banquet was almost over, he said: "The wall in the backyard of the General's Mansion is not strong, find five people to repair it." ”

"Yes." Jun Zheng responded and understood what General Zhenbei meant.

Han Ruzi returned home, Cui Teng and others returned to the camp, shameless, hid in the room for two days before coming out to participate in cavalry training, since then much more honest, Cui Teng occasionally has nonsense, but no one responds.

There is a reason why Han Ruzi did not immediately summon Fang Daye, he inquired, Fang Daye has been serving in the frontier in the early years, accumulating merit and promotion, plus he is old, he was sent to Qi to serve as a military officer, the king of Qi wanted to rebel, in order to confuse the imperial court, he specially sent Fang Daye to escort the prince into Beijing.

The prince of Qi was arrested and imprisoned, Fang Daye was not implicated at first, as long as he didn't do anything, he could successfully escape the catastrophe, but no one could have imagined that this veteran in his sixties would lead more than a dozen outlaws to rob the prison and rescue the prince of Qi.

The prison robbery failed, and Fang Daye's relatives and friends worked up and down to exempt him from capital crimes, assign him to the frontier, and never be hired.

Han Ruzi still remembered the prince of Qi, and knew in his heart that Fang Daye probably would not have a good impression of himself, and Yang Feng gave the "student" a problem. (To be continued.) )