"Daddy, just two meals of clear soup with some rice every day, who can eat enough?" A handsome-looking young man slammed the bowl in his hand on the table, and said in nonsense with a resentful expression. The large porcelain bowl dribbled around the table, and the cloudy rice soup in the bowl spilled all over the table, occasionally mixed with a few grains of corn cooked until it was broken.

The old man sitting behind the broken table sighed, then stretched out his trembling hands and pulled the corn poured out of the bowl together, and the withered fingers of his right hand had pinched the corn and fed it to his mouth. I felt that it had turned into powder without chewing. Although there was not much corn in his mouth, the old man still showed a look of satisfaction.

He carefully experienced the sweet aftertaste of the corn, then straightened up, looked at his son, who was still angry and angry, and sighed in Hu language: "Nian'er." Nowadays, in this world, it is not easy to drink a bowl of porridge and rice with a little corn and live a good life. Don't have any more distracting thoughts and give rise to other incidents. The long history surnamed Li in the county is by no means a good type. Daddy has lived for fifty years, and this kind of person has only met three times......"

"Daddy!" The young man pointed to the bowl and shouted, "It's not for me to wait for this life." Since last winter, it has been May. Only when the city was repaired, the supply of grain and rice was still sufficient. Now that the city has been repaired, after a long winter's work, we have replaced it with this clear water where we can't see a few grains of rice! ”

As he spoke, the young man got up angrily and was about to go out. When the old man saw this, he was anxious, and hurriedly got up and asked, "Nian'er, where are you going?" ”

The young man turned his head: "Those officials in the county government, those soldiers in the military camp, they are full of food all day long, and they have no worries about food and clothing, why?" They don't give, and we can't starve to death! Huzi contacted many people in the tribe, and I went to smash open his county government treasury and robbed the grain to distribute to everyone! ”

After the young man finished speaking, he turned his head and walked out of the door in a negative spirit. Seeing this, the old man did not regain his sluggishness, and rushed forward with an arrow, and his right hand, which was as dry as a dead branch, suddenly reached out, and clamped the young man's wrist, and the young man struggled a few times, but could not break free.

"Nian'er, I can't go, I can't go!" The old man struggled to drag the young man back, and said, "That Li Changshi looks at the wolf and looks at the wolf, he is definitely not a human being!" Why did he set up a battalion on each side of the outer city, garrisoned it, and built watchtowers and arrow towers at all four corners of the inner city? Don't you know? ”

The young man struggled a few times, but he could not break free from the old man's grip. He simply stopped struggling, and let the old man drag him all the way back to the couch and press him to sit down.

"Daddy! If others don't give us food, we can't rob it. Nowadays, many families are old and weak and starve to death, do we also have to starve to death? Think about it, when you were in Longxi, you were still the leader of the tribe, when did you ever worry about this bowl of full rice? Now that Daddy doesn't agree to rob it, how will we live in the future? ”

The old man moved a stool and sat down opposite the young man: "This year's drought in Longxi, Liu Yin didn't care about me waiting for life or death, not only did he scavenge and loot a single grain left, but all the cattle and sheep in the tribe that were originally intended to be used for wintering were handed over to them, and you don't know this!" If we stay in Longxi, we will either become vassals of a big tribe like Baimayi, or we will starve to death in the winter that has passed! ”

When the young man heard the old man's rebuke, he couldn't help but be silent for a while, and then he raised his head again: "But what is the difference between starving to death now and starving to death last winter?" ”

The old man was in a hurry, pointing to the bowl of porridge flowing on the table: "Now there are still two bowls of porridge every day to maintain, you don't care, if you can't come back, me, your aunt, and your sister, how should we spend our days?" Your eldest brother is still in the army, will you implicate him if you make such a fuss? Have you ever thought about whether we will be implicated? ”

The more the old man spoke, the more excited he became: "Don't think about going anywhere today!" Just stay in the house and keep me there! If you have to go out, I'll kill your daddy! ”

When the young man heard the old man's words, he was stunned. After a moment's hesitation, he finally bowed his head and showed his own obedience.

The old man breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the young man had finally shown some obedience. He sat down on the couch, then patted the young man on the shoulder, and said earnestly: "Nian'er, Daddy will not let the family starve to death." Daddy also has jewels and jade from the previous leader. Originally, I was going to tell you about the family affairs in the future and give it to the woman's family as a bride price. If it is really a last resort, Daddy sells these things, and the whole family can tide over this difficult time......"

The two were talking in a whisper, and there was a sudden noise outside the door, and then the two heard a strong knock on the door, and at the same time, a male voice asked, "Ah Nian, is Ah Nian here?" ”

As soon as the old man heard this call, he glared at his son, who was about to answer, and the young man had to stop his mouth under the old father's gaze. The old man motioned with his eyes for the young man to go into the inner room. The young man got up and walked into the house depressedly, the old man just smiled and went to open the door, outside the door a burly young man held a wooden stick, saw the old man, and asked, "Uncle, is Ah Nian here?" ”

"Oh, Ah Nian has just been out for a short time, and this will not be at home." The old man laughed and snorted.

"Then do you know where Ah Nian went?" The burly young man continued to ask.

"Ah Hu, Uncle really doesn't know where Ah Nian went. He drank a bowl of gruel at home just now, and then after a few words with his uncle, he threw the bowl on the table and went out......" The old man said as he opened the door a little more, and pointed to the table full of gruel in the room: "Tell me about this child, it's just ...... Now there is nothing to eat, and he wasted most of the bowl of porridge at once......"

"By the way, Ah Hu, if you see Ah Nian outside, tell him and let him hurry home, Uncle won't beat him this time."

After Ah Hu was gone, the old man was relieved. He closed the door, turned around and glared at his son, who was probing his brain in the inner room, silently picked up a rag, walked to the table, picked up the large porcelain bowl, and then roughly wiped the table.

*********************

"Do you know clearly?" Li Yanzhi picked up a glass of water on the table, drank it all, and then looked at the person in front of him, and asked with a solemn expression.

"Back to the long history, the subordinates have detected that these Qiang tribesmen planned to gather people to rush into the inner city, to the treasury, and then smashed open the gate of the treasury and robbed the money and grain in the treasury. It is used to feed the people of the outer city. ”

"It's probably not that simple." Li Yanzhi put down the bowl and wiped his mouth without any image: "I suspect that there are enemy spies who are instigating these Qiang Hu Liuren to make trouble, so they can take the opportunity to go." As for what was done, it is not known whether it was to steal information and disrupt the deployment of our army, or to take advantage of the chaos to assassinate the county government or military officials. ”

"The subordinates have detected the enemy spies, although they may not be complete, but they arrest people according to this, even if there are fish that slip through the net, they must have weighed and weighed, and they did not dare to act rashly, please take a long time."

Li Yanzhi took the list presented by the man and opened the rough list. Then he pressed a paperweight on several cases.

"What happened to the thieves when you came?" Li Yanzhi raised his head and stared at the person in front of him.

"In the name of a businessman, his subordinates have gone to Longxi and Nan'an several times. From the mouths of the people and government officials, it was learned that Liu Yao seemed to have sent an envoy to Yecheng, intending to negotiate peace with Shi Zhao. However, in the counties, there is still no sign of loosening. Although the Longxi area is sparsely populated, the county officials still send soldiers and officials all day long, scraping the ground to exploit the households and collect money and grain. ”

"What about the troop movements in the counties?" Li Yanzhi continued to ask.

"Di Dao now has no less than 8,000 troops, and Longxi and Nan'an are slightly less, but there are still five or six thousand in scale." The reporter coughed lightly, and said: "The people in various places are unbearable to exploit, and there were several small tribes of Qiang and Qiang in the past, united with the households of the counties near the left, and rebelled against Zhao. However, Liu Yin led his troops to quickly suppress the chaos. Nearly 10,000 captives were taken and distributed to the counties and counties to become slaves or serve as soldiers. The leaders of those small tribes are said to have been executed by Liu Yin. ”

"In this way, it makes sense......" Li Yanzhi pondered for a moment and said slowly: "Thank you for your hard work, Cui Yang." Later, I will order Tao Heng to disguise you as a prisoner and send you out of the north gate, and then give you a fast horse, and you will continue to Longxi as a sentry. ”

Li Yanzhi got up and walked in front of Cui Yang and patted him on the shoulder: "Now, you are Li's eyes." Remember to exercise caution when you are out on your own. If you are uncertain about everything, you would rather lie dormant and wait for the right time. ”

"Subordinates remember!" Cui Yang hugged his fists.

Li Yanzhi went out and said to the soldiers outside the door: "And the cavalry will be called to Tao Bairen." ”

After a while, Tao Heng had already walked into the house. After entering the door, he looked at the person in the room who had taken off his felt hat, and was so surprised that he couldn't close his mouth: "Cui Yang? ”

Cui Yang got up with a smile, hugged his fists and said, "Tao Bairenjiang, don't come unharmed." ”

The two exchanged pleasantries for a while. Cui Yang looked a little embarrassed in this situation. Tao Heng looked at Cui Yang, his eyes were full of curiosity and inquiry.

Li Yanzhi clapped his hands: "Tao Heng, I will change Cui Yang's clothes later, disguise him as a prisoner, cover his head with a cloth bag, and put him in the prisoner car." Take a horseman and escort him out of the north gate, find a secluded place, and free him, and then give him a fast horse, and let him go on his own. ”

"The subordinates obeyed, so they put them in sacks and put them in prisoner carts and sent them out of the city." Tao Heng bowed down and clenched his fists to show his obedience.

"No, no." Li Yanzhi waved his hand again and again: "There is a big scene tonight, will Tao Bairen not finish watching it before leaving?" ”

Hearing Li Yanzhi's words, Tao Heng's heart also rose with endless doubts and curiosity. He hesitated for a moment, then clenched his fists and said, "My subordinates will obey Changshi's orders." ”

"Before the hour is right, you will assemble the cavalry in the camp, and then go out of the city, and scatter to all places, and the city will be on fire when you see the light of the fire, and you must not panic when you lead the cavalry of your ranks. When the mob of the city flees outside the city, you can lead your cavalry and capture them alive as much as possible. If the fleeing mob still resists, kill them on the spot! ”

Looking at Tao Heng's back as he turned away, Li Yanzhi went out again and called the guards: "And General Liu Du, Cao Du, Zhou Bairen, and Wei Bairen will be summoned to come." After finishing the order, Li Yanzhi looked back at Cui Yang in the house, and said lightly: "You go to the inner room to take shelter for a while, and when you have to go out of the city later, I will call you out." ”

A moment later, Liu Jiwu and Cao Jian came together. After waiting for a while, Zhou Xing and Wei Xu also arrived one after another. The four of them each looked for a few cases and sat down, looking at Li Yanzhi's solemn expression, they were all puzzled.

Li Yanzhi took out a map, put it on the table, and called the four of them to come closer: "I have heard that some of the people of Diqiang were bewitched by the enemy's spies, and under the pretext of lack of food, they planned to storm the county government treasury and seize money and grain at night today, before the city gate was closed. However, it is likely that the enemy spies will take advantage of this opportunity to carry out what they are trying to do. Zhou 100 generals, you will lead a team of soldiers to guard the county government, the treasury is very close to the county government, be sure to protect the Xinming Mansion! ”

"The last general commanded. If the Ming Mansion fails, the end will be willing to surrender to the law! ”

"Wei Bairen will be. and thou shalt lead the battalion of the sound of the guns to defend the head of the city. As soon as the mob entered the city, the drawbridge was pulled up and the four gates were closed. The soldiers of the shooting battalion guarding the city shot themselves into the city and killed the mob that entered the city. ”

"Subordinates take orders!" Wei Xu got up and clenched his fists to receive his life, but his expression revealed a little puzzlement.

"Governor Cao led a hundred soldiers of the Battle Blade Battalion to patrol the city. When patrolling the city, it should be the same as usual, and the mob should not be allowed to see the clues. ”

"Subordinate, take the order!" Although Cao Jian's expression was as puzzled as Wei Xu's, he still quickly clenched his fists and signaled that he would take his life.

"Liu Du, you will lead the rest of the Zhanfeng battalion to stay in the camp, but you can order the soldiers to move in the camp, and at the beginning of the unitary time, they will take a knife in the armor, and after hearing the county government's trumpet, they will immediately gather out of the camp. Where there is a mob of trouble, go there! ”

"Whoa!" Liu Jiwu clenched his fists and knocked on the ground, concise and to the point.

"The responsibilities of each person have been assigned. If something goes wrong tonight, then Li will recognize you, but the military law will not recognize you! I hope you will not slack off, and be sure to suppress the enemy spies and mobs this time! ”

"Today, Wang Cheng and Lei Rong led the Jianrui Battalion to Xishan for training. Wang Cheng, I have already explained it. If Lei Rong has two hearts, Wang Cheng can capture him on the spot! The Lei Rong mentioned by Li Yanzhi is the eldest son of the leader of the largest tribe among the several Qiang tribes who came to take refuge this time. After Li Yanzhi recruited the Qiang disciples into the army, he asked the leaders of each tribe to elect one person to temporarily lead these Qiang soldiers, and Lei Rong was appointed as the general under the public recommendation.

Almost at the same time, in a small empty hut in the southwest corner of the outer city, a dozen young men were gathered, and in the dim room, an oil lamp flashed dimly. The young man called Ah Hu before was looking at his companion excitedly: "The main force of more than 1,000 people in each battalion left the city early in the morning, and even the cavalry has left the city. Tonight! ”