"Victory is self-contained, Jiao Shuai is really very human! Yuan Yin can persist until Jiao Shuai comes, and he feels that he has spared no effort and has a clear conscience! Now that Jiao Shuai is here, Yuan Yin can also unload the burden on his shoulders, and he is willing to wave the flag and shout under Jiao Shuai, and follow the work of dogs and horses. Li Yuanyin praised from the bottom of his heart.

Jiao Lian grinned, his beard was unshaven, and he said a little tiredly: "It is my wish to fight against the Tartar with one heart!" The team rushed day and night on a hot day, and yesterday they fought fiercely all night, they were all exhausted and in urgent need of rest. ”

"Of course, it was the Admiral who was negligent." Li Yuanyin sneered, waved his hand to summon a few generals, and immediately instructed the matter: "Come on, quickly arrange accommodation and rest for Jiao Shuai's men." ”

"Vice Liu Rong, you take the army into the pass to rest, and Li Vice Rong and I will go to the pass first to inspect the defense." Jiao Lian commanded casually.

Liu Muzhi agreed, and commanded the team to follow Li Yuanyin's subordinates into the pass to camp and rest.

Jiao Lian went to the front of the pass accompanied by Li Yuanyin. However, seeing the crowd of fleeing people crowded on the ancient road in front of the pass, dozens of soldiers with dark faces were seriously checking the refugees and fulfilling their duties.

After the fierce fighting, there was an endless stream of refugees fleeing from Fujian and Jiangsu and Zhejiang to Guangdong along the way. Surrounded by guards and servants, dozens of people walked slowly on horses, although they were fleeing, they still had leisure to enjoy the scenery along the way; Ordinary people were in groups of three or five, carrying baskets, their faces covered with dust, and they were in a hurry, and the scene was very miserable.

Jiao Lian is a poor and destitute military family, the status of the Ming Dynasty military household is very low, even lower than the civilian household, he is very sympathetic to the hardships of ordinary people, looking at the refugees who are walking hurriedly on the road to help the old and the young, and sighed: "Alas, the war is in chaos, these people abandon their homes and fields to escape, how to make a living in the future!" No wonder the ancients said: It is better to be a peaceful dog than a troubled world. Hate the Tartars, occupy my rivers and mountains, kill my Han people, and this revenge will not be avenged by her husband! ”

When Li Yuanyin heard Jiao Lian say this, his heart felt something, his eyes suddenly became a little wet, and he said: "With Jiao Shuai's words, the bitterness of the last general is not in vain." As long as there is sufficient food, armament and manpower, with the natural danger of the water distribution pass, even if the Tartars come with thousands of troops, Yuan Yin will not take half a step back, and the people are in the lockdown, and they will never let the Tartars pass through a single soldier! ”

Jiao Lian nodded with satisfaction, returned to the barracks after inspecting the customs defense with Li Yuanyin, and ordered his soldiers to find Liu Muzhi, and the three of them met, Jiao Lian said: "Yesterday's battle, a few of us have died together. ”

Liu Muzhi and Li Yuanyin glanced at each other, their eyes were happy, and they bowed to Jiao Lian and said, "Jiao Shuai is above, please accept the little brothers!" ”

"Okay, okay, I don't have such a vulgar ritual here." Jiao Lianle smiled and said: "These days, the army has galloped all the way, I haven't been stained with meat for a long time, and I am about to fade out of the bird, and now the main force of 30,000 Tartars has been closed to two, most of them have been annihilated or captured by us, and some of the remaining stragglers have escaped from the border of Chaozhou, and the military spirit is lost, and there is no need to worry, this is the credit of all the soldiers, and it should be celebrated and rewarded, I think, why don't you go to the mountain roads on both sides of Guanling, survey the terrain, and find some wild things to come back to accompany the wine?" ”

"Jiao Shuai has worked hard all the way, and besides, he is not familiar with the situation on the ridge, so he will send his men to try his luck on the ridge and hunt some wild fowl to come back to Jiao Shuai to drink and wash the dust."

Jiao Lian laughed and said, "Brother Li, what you said is obviously underestimating my old Jiao, is it because you are afraid that I will be dazzled and return empty-handed, and I will not be able to hunt wild animals to give you wine?" ”

Li Yuanyin was straight, and said urgently: "Jiao Shuai shoots, I already know it!" Don't hide it from Jiao Shuai, the wild fowl under the water division pass have long been hunted by the younger brother's subordinates, and now if you want to hunt a little farther away, the younger brother is really afraid of Jiao Shuai's saddle horse fatigue, and he doesn't dare to alarm the big driver, who knows that a good heart is not a ......"

Liu Muzhi on the side didn't want the atmosphere to become embarrassing, so he hurriedly explained with a smile: "General Li, don't worry, how could Jiao Shuai not accept your kindness?" He's joking with you on purpose, don't mind. ”

Everyone laughed and laughed, and the solemn atmosphere dissipated.

"It's not that I Lao Jiao boasted, whether it was birds in the air or beasts on the ground, few escaped the sharp arrows I shot. Brother Li, I know that we have all lived a hard life these days, and I sincerely want to hunt some wild animals for you brothers to serve as snacks and treat our belly. ”

"The little brother is foolish, he failed to receive Jiao Shuai's hospitality, and the adults don't remember the villain's mistakes, so please forgive Jiao Shuai."

"Hehe, this should be punished, what 'adults and villains'? We are like-minded and equal. When drinking at night, Brother Li had to drink three more bowls for this, and he was punished with wine. ”

"Jiao Shuai substitutes wine for punishment, isn't it just the little brother's arms?" Li Yuanyin blushed and whispered.

"Haha!" Jiao Lian smiled and said: "Look, just now he looked like a monk who didn't eat wine and meat, but at this moment, he showed his fox tail in a word, and he was a drunkard." ”

"Jiao Shuai?!" Li Yuanyin couldn't cry or laugh, and his expression was quite embarrassed.

"Get together tonight, arrange good people to defend the pass, let's drink heartily and get drunk!"

When it is nearly dusk, the scorching sun is hidden in the lofty mountains, the sunset is full of sky, colorful, the grass and trees on both sides of the water gate city are swaying with the wind in the afterglow of the sunset, thousands of postures, beautiful.

The sunset quietly hung diagonally in the western sky, dazzling and crystal clear.

At this time, there were no refugees passing through the road, and it was empty.

The bluestone slabs laid on the steps have been trampled by human beings for more than 1,000 years, and have long lost their edges and corners, and have become recognizable.

The erosion of the years has made the stone slab cracked vertically and horizontally, and the potholes are pitted; This thousand-year-old road is like a long scroll carved in stone, winding and winding, faithfully recording the history of human life's hardships, sufferings and cannibalism.

The tall and thick gate has not yet closed, Liu Muzhi and Li Yuanyin stood on the gate wall and looked into the distance, waiting for the team that went out to hunt to return to the pass, as the sky was getting dark, both of them showed anxious looks on their faces.

"General Liu-" Li Yuanyin couldn't bear to be silent, and just wanted to speak, when he suddenly saw the horse team returning in the distance, his voice changed, and he shouted excitedly: "Jiao Shuai is back, it seems that there is still a lot of gain!" ”

Liu Muzhi was also very excited, and hurriedly ran down the gate with Li Yuanyin and came to the gate to greet Jiao Lian.

When the news spread, many soldiers poured out of the barracks and crowded on both sides of the gate, waiting to see the harvest of the hunt. After a while, Jiao Lian hit the head, dozens of horses and fish came over, and in addition to the hundreds of birds and beasts such as golden pheasants, hares, elk, etc., there was also a king of mountains and forests-Tiger!

"Wow! Tiger! The big tiger with a white forehead! ”