On April 26, the second year of Chongzhen, Ma Maocai, who inspected Shaanxi, finally wrote the famous "Preparation for Chen's Great Hunger" in history after seeing a series of tragic situations in his hometown, which recorded the most common scene in Yan'an Mansion now in very simple words.

Anyone who reads this article will shudder at the tragedy described in it. How will the princes in the court react to this upcoming recital? The people of northern Shaanxi naturally don't know, and even they don't know that there is such a thing. For now, all they care about is where they can find something to eat and survive their increasingly difficult lives.

Zhang Mengcheng also didn't know anything about this matter, but the slight difference was that Zhang Mengcheng was lying on the mountain beam on this day, looking at several grain trucks transported to Jinding Mountain in the distance.

Except for a few horseback riders, the rest of the thirty or so foot guards looked a little lazy.

The grain escorted by these people, except for the top bags of wheat, was genuine, and the bags pressed down were filled with sand and soil that can be found everywhere in northern Shaanxi.

In these days when grain was more valuable than gold, the bags of genuine goods on the grain cart as decoration of the façade made Cai Xiaozi, the top leader of Artemisia on the side, feel distressed.

The cooperation between Jindingshan and Artemisia Peak is already the seventh day of the plan. In the first six days, both families have set up some sets one after another. For example, the plan of sending horses to the sand to roll the ground for grazing, going to the sand to roll the ground to harass, and releasing the news where there is food has been carried out.

But I don't know if Shari Roll saw something, or if he didn't notice it at all. He has been nesting in his lair and not moving, and the hundreds of people in the two villages have been busy in vain these days.

The grain team in the distance walked out of everyone's field of vision after turning a corner along the mountain road. After another period of time, Cai Xiaozi still strictly ordered his subordinates not to make loud noises and continued to hide in the mountains.

Zhang Mengcheng didn't have any hope for ambushing Shali Roll in this ravine, but Sha Li Roll had been mixed on the road for so many years, under this terrain, how could he, as an old bandit, rush in.

In fact, Cai Xiaozi also knows this, but this location is conducive to hiding troops, and it is also convenient to dispatch people and horses around for strategy. And a few miles ahead, there were a group of brothers from Jinding Mountain who were ambushing in another place. As long as they can hold back the sand and roll for a while, at least the Bailai cavalry under the command of Cai Da will be able to arrive soon.

After inspecting his subordinates, Cai Xiaozi returned to the mountain beam and smiled at Zhang Mengcheng: "The third child of the Zhang family has always heard that he is a seed of reading, and I remember that when I first saw you a year ago, you still had a lot of gentleness. I can't imagine that the appearance of lying on the ground waiting for business to come to the door today looks no different from us rough guys. ”

"Don't laugh at me, my old Zhang family has been in charge for several generations, which generation is not the master of digging in the soil. When I was a child, I followed my father and two brothers to do a lot of farm work, even if I read a few broken books in the past few years and knew a few more broken words, I Zhang Mengcheng did not dare to forget the book. ”

"At the age of fifteen, you can be a showman, it's rare to see a lump in our earth, don't be too humble about it. Back then, you won the fame of showing talent, and your eldest brother knocked a lot of congratulatory gifts from me. Xiucai, you don't seem to be looking for your mother-in-law yet, you have also seen my seventh uncle's daughter, she looks pretty good. Listen to your eldest brother, you just like the big-footed aunt, how about our two families do this. ”

Seeing that Cai Xiaozi mentioned his seventh uncle's daughter again, Zhang Mengcheng couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. Restricted by the aesthetics of later generations, he has not been able to break his aesthetic standards to the same level as the Ming Dynasty, so Zhang Mengcheng has never been married. And in the ancient era when most people were malnourished, a yellow-haired girl who had just passed her thirteenth birthday a few days ago, Zhang Mengcheng couldn't do anything.

"Cai Da's good intentions, Meng Cheng still can't be used. Although I haven't studied for a few years, I have finally attended the school book and visited the Temple of Literature. Even if the grass is falling now, some of the rules of the reader still have to be remembered. After my mother died, I had to keep my filial piety for three years. If you don't comply, you will be caught by the gods in the Temple of Literature, and it will be bad luck to send down the decree. After the filial piety period, you have to choose a good day and an auspicious day, and the county will lead you to the temple to make a vow. Right now, my Zhang family is in the grass, where to invite the teachings to teach in the school. My eldest brother is still worried about this, and he doesn't know how to handle these things properly. Don't worry about it, if you delay your sister-in-law, your kindness will be a sin. And in this year, it is much better to find a man who dances with a knife and a stick than my half of the water. ”

Obviously, in ancient times, he was dressed as a scholar. Using the clay sculptures in the Confucian Temple to make up a few superstitious rules to fool these illiterate people who don't know anything about the affairs of the intellectual class is still somewhat effective.

After listening to Zhang Mengcheng's words, Cai Xiaozi had some scruples in his heart, but then the words he said made Zhang Mengcheng's heart hang. "Why do you scholars pay so much attention to it, and you will be unlucky to become a parent. Looks like I'm going to have a good discussion with your brother. When this ticket is finished, I'll go back and flip through the yellow calendar first......"

Zhang Mengjin didn't want to dwell on this topic anymore, so he interjected and diverted the topic and said: "Cai Da competed with my second brother a few years ago, and I have always remembered those rounds of fighting. I don't remember so many fancy moves for you to make the knife technique, and every slash and slash is really used in the battle array. I've always wanted to ask for advice, and when I have free time, can Master Cai teach me both hands. ”

Cai Xiaozi's knife skills are indeed very attractive to Zhang Mengcheng, although Zhang Mengcheng has come into contact with many fugitives and horse bandits in this era, but he found that most of these people's knife skills have no rules, just with a blood and slash at will.

Some people have practiced some martial arts, but there is quite a lot of vanity in their sword skills. These tricks do have some effect under their year-round exercise. But for someone like Zhang Mengcheng with a limited foundation, it is completely useless.

However, Cai Xiaozi is an exception, as far as Zhang Mengcheng knows, he has not practiced many traditional sword techniques. It's just that his own careful research, coupled with years of practice, summed up a set of unpretentious knife techniques.

A few years ago, Cai Xiaozi fought with his second brother for a few rounds, and they were evenly matched. Although the second brother relied on his superb skills that day, he used a trick to defeat Cai Xiaozi. But then the second brother also admitted that unless the other party is willing to fight the second brother alone, most of the tricks on the battle formation will not have a chance to be used.

"I don't have anything with these three axes, if Xiucai wants to learn, I will accompany you to practice the handles. It's just that your second brother is extraordinary, and it's not better to learn his kung fu. Cai Xiaozi was a little surprised by Zhang Mengcheng's words.

"My second brother's ability comes from more than ten years of hard training and his own talent, plus several years of battle formation training, to achieve great success. I can't learn that. I pondered that Cai Da's ability to be in charge was more suitable for me. ”

"Cheng, if there is still no movement today, let's ...... after we go back" Cai Xiaozi suddenly stopped talking, and Zhang Mengcheng also found something.

A horseman appeared in the valley in the distance, driven desperately by horse, and was part of the previous grain team. The blood stains on his body already showed what had happened to the grain team, and Cai Xiaozi quickly gathered a group of subordinates to meet him.

"The big boss, the grain team was ambushed, and Sha Liluo suddenly appeared and killed in front of him to intercept the grain. They did not know how many there were, but the brothers who were escorting them found themselves surrounded, and the cavalry who rolled through the sand were all routed in one charge, and I was the only one who risked my life to kill them. The visitor quickly explained the situation.

"The second and ninth uncle rushed over at full speed with forty brothers as the front team, don't fight hard, try to hold them back. The third and fourth followed me with a team of cavalry and followed behind the second child. The sixth, fifth, and seventh uncles followed with the remaining horsemen and all the foot soldiers. Everyone listened to Cai Xiaozi's order and took their own actions. Zhang Mengcheng rode a horse and followed Cai Xiaozi and marched towards the battlefield together.

After riding for more than two miles, the front team of Jinding Mountain and Artemisia Peak on the battlefield had already fought with the team of Shali Roll, and due to the prior communication, the people of the two stockades had strips of black cloth wrapped around their necks, so it was easy to divide the enemy and us on the battlefield.

It's just that the cavalry on the Shali Roll side is extremely brave, and they have successively cut down several cavalry on Cai Xiaozi's side. There have been deserters on the side of the setup, and the situation looks rather bad.

"The third rushed to the left and joined Zhang Da's family, and the fourth led people to block the few who had no eggs, and summoned people to kill them from the right. Xiucai and I went on it together. Without further ado, Cai Xiaozi led a large group of horsemen to rush towards the unscrupulous horsemen in the sand.

Zhang Mengcheng was naturally not verbose, he rushed forward with his saber held high.

The cavalry of Sha Lilu reacted quickly, and as soon as they found that there were reinforcements, they rushed towards Cai Xiaozi as a whole team. As soon as the horsemen of both sides clashed, more than a dozen corpses lay on the ground.

Cai Xiaozi, who didn't have time to adjust the formation, was stopped by the enemy infantry team that followed, and some of the foot soldiers and cavalry who rolled in the sand fell into a melee with more than 70 mugwort cavalry who came to support.

Zhang Mengcheng rode the war horse in a circular step, narrowly dodging the two spears that were stabbing at him. Then, seizing a coordinated opportunity from the enemy, he rushed over and stabbed his opponent in the unprotected neck, stabbing a sand roller to death on the spot.

After that, Zhang Mengcheng brandished his saber left and right, and after forcing back several enemy foot soldiers in a row, he quickly ran back to Cai Xiaozi's side.

Cai Xiaozi was quite brave on the side, and he first hacked to death a foot soldier rolling in the sand. Then he grabbed the line gun of the enemy cavalry with one hand and pulled the enemy closer.

After that, Cai Xiaozi stood up on the stirrups, and he seemed to have absolute confidence in the sharpness of his saber, and slashed directly at the enemy's head with all his might. A spliced iron arm of the Shali Rolling Cavalry, along with the other party's skull, was actually cut through by Cai Xiaozi together.

Cai Xiaozi drew his saber from the enemy's chin and shook off the enemy's corpse. He struck a swift backhand blow and killed another sand roll pawn who tried to attack his men. Then he, his subordinates and Zhang Mengcheng, who rushed over, cut down three enemy foot soldiers one after another.

Zhang Mengcheng followed Cai Xiaozi and five other cavalry pawns to clear an area, so that more of his own cavalry gathered.

Without the effort of the whole team, Cai Xiaozi and the others continued to rush towards the enemy, and in this impact, Zhang Mengcheng accidentally lost his balance and fell off his horse in order to avoid the enemy's attack.

Two foot soldiers rolling in the sand attacked with weapons, Zhang Mengcheng first used his waist knife to open a big stick, and then relied on the armor on his body to block a machete. Immediately afterwards, Zhang Mengcheng began to fight back, slashing the armorless foot soldier holding the big stick with a backhand.

However, he couldn't let Zhang Mengcheng chase the results, he was held by another foot soldier and knocked down, and the two scuffled together on the ground.

The foot soldier discarded the machete, pinned Zhang Mengcheng to the ground and punched him a few times, then pulled out a dagger from his waist and stabbed Zhang Mengcheng in the neck.

Of course, Zhang Mengcheng couldn't let the other party get his wish, he grabbed the opponent's hand with all his strength and competed with the enemy. The fear of death made the two exert all their strength, and for a while, the two sides were at a stalemate.

Cai Xiaozi found Zhang Mengcheng who was knocked off the horse, and immediately took his subordinates to turn the horse's head to support. However, they were stopped by a group of cavalry rolling in the sand, and they could not get out of the rescue for a while.

Out of the corner of Zhang Mengcheng's eyes, he found that several more enemy soldiers appeared around him, but Zhang Mengcheng, who had no choice, could only shout at the top of his voice, trying to use this way to force more strength to push away the dagger that was getting closer and closer to him. For the first time, Zhang Mengcheng felt that he was so close to death.

After a "bang", blood spurted into Zhang Mengcheng's eyes. Zhang Mengcheng couldn't see anything, only knew that his opponent suddenly stopped exerting his strength and was lying on top of him.

After pushing away his opponent's corpse with the only strength he had left, Zhang Mengcheng wiped his eyes and forced himself to open them.

In his red vision, Zhang Mengcheng saw a feathered arrow pierce his opponent's neck. The opponent's eyes were prominent, and he looked very unwilling, and this person almost killed Zhang Mengcheng.

Zhang Mengcheng, who knew that he had been saved, breathed a sigh of relief, but he immediately reacted that he was still in the enemy formation. He hurriedly got up, but found that he was already in a state of detachment. Zhang Mengcheng, who was helpless, could only twist his neck and carefully observe the enemy situation around him.

It turned out that Ma Xiangzhong didn't know when he killed him and saved Zhang Mengcheng's life. In the distance, a wailing horse with a broken leg was a mount that Ma Xiang Zhong had been carefully cared for.

At this time, Ma Xiangzhong held a spear in his hand and confronted several enemy foot soldiers, and there were two corpses lying at his feet, which should be his results. The confrontation did not last long, and several horsemen from Jinding Mountain in the distance rushed over at this time, and several foot soldiers on the side of Shali Rolling were confused, and they were stabbed to death by Ma Xiangzhong one after another. The rest of the men were frightened and turned and fled backwards.

After that, Ma Xiangzhong and several other cavalrymen escorted Zhang Mengcheng and rushed to the location where Cai Xiaozi's men and horses were.

On the way closer, Ma Xiangzhong, who insisted on fighting alone, actually picked off a cavalryman who was rolling in the sand with a spear. Cai Xiaozi's side also fought hard, and finally forced Sha Liluan and his gang back slightly.

"Meng Cheng is fine, where is he injured." Cai Xiaozi asked at Zhang Mengcheng.

If Zhang Mengcheng has something, I really don't know how to explain it to Zhang Mengjin. Cai Xiaozi suddenly felt that he was too stupid, why didn't he simply leave Zhang Mengcheng in the cottage at the top of the mugwort.

"It's not my blood, it's mostly Brother Ma who saved my life this time. If it hadn't been for Second Brother Ma's first arrow that killed the dog riding on me, I would have been stabbed to death with a dagger. After that, he also relied on the second brother Ma to hold a spear and show his might. The gang did not dare to step forward. Zhang Mengcheng, who escaped death, was very happy, and as soon as he finished explaining to Cai Xiaozi, he thanked Ma Xiangzhong again and again.

At this time, Ma Xiangzhong's subordinates brought over the horses of the enemy cavalry they had killed before, and Ma Xiangzhong rode on his war horse and waved his hand to Zhang Mengcheng, indicating that now was not the time to talk about this.

After that, he turned his head to Cai Xiaozi and said: "Master Cai, our brothers from Jinding Mountain on the left have already gathered some of the men and horses in your village, and they are fighting with Shali Rolling and they are inseparable, please gather the remaining men and horses of Cai Da Boss as soon as possible to join forces with us." ”

Cai Shorty nodded, and at this time, Cai Shorty had already joined his second and fourth children. He sorted out the morale of his subordinates a little, and then led the team to rush to the place where the sand was rolling. In this battle just now, more than 100 people on the Shari Roll side have been killed. Although the results of the battle are not small, but now the side of Artemisia Peak has also paid a great price.

Cai Xiaozi's ninth uncle has disappeared, and there are only about fifty cavalry left by Cai Xiaozi's side. Even so, they must now gather their men and horses as soon as possible to join the Jinding Mountain side. After that, the two sides must work together to defeat the saliroll, otherwise the consequences they face will be unimaginable.

Therefore, Cai Xiaozi hurriedly called out to his subordinates around him, and immediately patted his horse to follow and go to support his allies. At this time, Zhang Mengcheng finally regained some strength. He mounted his horse and followed the procession.