The direction of people's hearts is actually a very difficult to grasp the nothingness, Luo Kaixian led the people of the old camp of Silfan to Lingzhou, along the way can be described as doing their best, but there are still a large number of people leaving him, halfway in Polo City to collect the captives in Xiazhou, hundreds of miles away, but willing to be loyal to him.

Is this comparison a mockery or humor?

Li Deming chose to be loyal to his promise because of Luo's "miracle", but Lu Shouren, Wang Nan and Wei Mang chose to follow because of their strength and wisdom.

The two private meetings in Tongwan City are the embodiment of loyalty, but the mentality of some people in the ring state, hundreds of miles to the southwest, is much more complicated.

……

Heading east from Yeongju is a flat area with little undulation, and when it comes to the time when Huiju begins to move further east along the Hakuba River, the road becomes bumpy and difficult.

Helton and Jin Qian took a total of 240 warriors, disguised as a caravan and accompanied a group of people.

Fortunately, whether it was a merchant from Central Asia or a person who came out of the camp in Lingzhou, they were not powerless scholars, and it was an idle matter to carry a knife, a spear and a bow, and the small bandits along the way did not dare to approach at all, which could be regarded as avoiding a lot of things for Heldon.

As he marched, the leader of the whole team was unconsciously divided into three factions, and the merchants led by Nowak were in a unique line, of course, not that Nowak had any authority, but that Luo Kaixian's attention along the way gave him invisible prestige, and their total number was more than eight hundred; The largest number of people is the distant Tang descendants who broke away from Lingzhou, and the huge number of nearly 3,700 people occupies the main body of this team, and among them, the most influential person is not Li Can of the Li family, but Pei Jiong, a distant branch of the Pei family; A group of more than 200 people led by Helton is the most special team, which seems to have contacts with all parties, but it is not far from all departments.

Although the three factions are walking together, the hearts of the people in the entire team are different.

The simplest mentality is the merchants, their purpose is to do business and desire to obtain wealth, and the safe arrival of the Eastern Song Kingdom is the ultimate goal, as for the rest, it is not worth their attention.

The mentality of breaking away from everyone is the most complicated, they are eager to return to Hedong or Shandong (1), but they are a little at a loss for the Song Kingdom in the east - after all, more than a hundred years have passed, and of course, there is also the comfort and ...... of being free from the shackles of Luo's rules Some fear of an unknown fate.

The warriors led by Helton had the simplest minds, their mission was to find out everything that went to Zhao Song, and they would record irrelevant things, but they would not care. It's just that there are some people with emotions, and the hearts of those warriors who are also from the old camp of Sylvan are full of contempt and rejection for the detachment.

Before leaving, Luo Kai held a farewell party for all the soldiers, and once explained that everyone has their own aspirations, but it can't hinder the thoughts of these simple-minded warriors in their hearts.

In this regard, Helton did not have any good way, but fortunately, this mentality did not affect the whole trip, and they were also at peace with each other.

After passing through rugged canyons, gravel beaches, and muddy river valleys hidden under fallen leaves, and bribing the Zhao and Song border troops of the Qingyuan military village (2) with their spare thirty horses and some salt, they finally entered the territory of Zhao and Song.

On the same day that Luo Kaixian feasted the leaders of the small tribe, this complex eastbound team finally arrived at a node in the control of Huanzhou (3), the Yongxing Military Road of the Song Kingdom (4).

There should be too many people and horses, and a small city like Huanzhou, which is actually a military town, cannot accommodate it, so the team still stops outside the city, but this time it is not possible to set up a military wall, but the local garrison of Huanzhou to maintain peace.

In a large tent that could accommodate twenty people to rest, Helton, Jin Qian, Nowak, and Pei Jiong shielded their entourage from preparing to discuss the agenda of the road ahead.

After a few words, Jin Qian spoke first: "Everyone, the weather is getting colder and colder, I should speed up my pace, otherwise the heavy snow will come, and the old and weak may not be able to support it." ”

Jin Qian was originally a hunter who didn't talk much, but after two years of entering the army, he is now experienced, and he speaks like all soldiers, straight to the point. At present, there are not many elderly people in this team, which is much smaller, and the only children are children who have broken away from the congregation.

In the face of Jin Qian's targeting, Pei Jiong's heart is not easy to use, but he is helpless, after all, what people say is right, "I agreed, I saw a boat walking on the southern river, and I don't know if I can take a boat to the east." ”

"Boat?" Nowak shook his head, "The ship here is too small, and if you want to take a boat, you can't get on the ship with horses, camels, and goods."

Helton looked at everyone present, and deliberately changed the topic: "Everyone, I have discussed with the governor here just now, he will provide us with a guide to pass, and will also introduce a team of guides, it seems that as a passing merchant, the administrative officials of the Song State are quite easy to talk to, but those garrisons are too greedy, they actually want to expropriate all our horses!" ”

His words immediately attracted everyone's attention, whether by boat or on horseback east, the mount is the means of transportation for everyone at the moment, without the mount, let people walk to the east? That's simply impossible.

"The gods are above, how is that possible?! They are more savage than robbers! If there were no horses, I would rather lead the team back than go to Bianliang! Nowak shouted, half amazed, half contrived.

Jin Qian next to him didn't have any expression, but Pei Jiong frowned tightly.

Helton secretly praised Nowak for his good cooperation, but he also pretended to be angry and said: "That's right, Nowak, I also told the governor that he was in charge of the garrison and did not allow the army to be like robbers, but he suggested that we sell some horses, lest those soldiers not say anything to their faces and send people to rob us behind our backs." ”

Nowak stopped pretending, "Well, Helton is good!" But how many horses should we sell, and at what price? ”

Unlike the idea that the merchant could trade anything, Jin Qian asked in a low voice, "He...... Why should that Zhizhou help us, Helton? ”

Helton also lowered his voice, "It is said that the Zhizhou surnamed Wang, I don't know the full name, he said that he was a close minister sent by the emperor, who was specially in charge of these local military ruffians, Jin Qian, how could the emperor's close minister be here?" What does it mean to be a military ruffian? ”

Without waiting for Jin Qian to answer, Pei Jiong, who was listening, spoke, "Helton, it is impossible for the emperor's close ministers to come here, the king's surname Zhizhou is likely to be an official selected by the emperor to control the place, and the close minister is just boasting about himself, as for the military ruffian...... It should be a contempt for military men. ”

Jin Qian was originally an ordinary hunter, so he didn't know this, and after listening to it, he took a formal look at the "traitor" he despised after leaving Lingzhou for the first time.

Helton appreciated Pei Jiong's cooperation, he somewhat understood the previous general's advice, no matter what, at least he had traveled all the way, and the choice might be different, but there was no need to see him as an enemy immediately.

"Thank you, Brother Pei," he thanked by the Han salutation, and he continued: "This journey will be different from the previous time when the Lord led the team, there is no one to control the wasteland, desert and grassland, there seem to be a lot of people here, it is said that there are hundreds of thousands of people in the cities in the East!" And this Song country has a different view of outsiders, we are not invincible generals like the general, everything must be careful. ”

Pei Jiong was a clever person, and immediately understood that most of the words were said to himself, and hurriedly picked up the conversation, "Thanks for reminding me, Helton." ”

"Brother Pei, I said this, but it's not what I want to say." Helton shook his head slightly, "Before leaving Lingzhou, the general told me that although you didn't stay, you are not enemies of each other, after all, we have traveled so far together, and now, we just have our own ambitions." ”

Pei Jiong's face suddenly became a little blank, not far from him, Nowak's eyes were rippling, and Jin Qian turned his face and pretended to turn a blind eye.

Hurton ignored everyone's expressions, and said in his characteristic Chinese dialect with a mostly curly tongue sound: "In addition, the general also asks me to tell you at the right time, when you arrive in the Song Realm, if you encounter someone who is bullying, you can send someone to Lingzhou to report the news, and if you feel that you can't live in the Song Realm, you are welcome to return to Lingzhou again, but almost only once." Well...... These are the words of the Lord! ”

Pei Jiong's eyes suddenly turned red.

If you don't have a home, you don't know that firewood and rice are expensive, and you don't know how difficult the road is if you don't travel far.

After only walking hundreds of miles from Lingzhou, he, the leader of the team, knew the difficulty of the road - the unity of people's hearts is always the biggest trouble, and those who were injured along the way, those who broke their stomachs by the river, those who lost their mounts and belongings (lost by falling into the valley), and even more because of trivial trivial infighting...... It's okay anyway, because the team is large and there are no robbers sitting on the mountain, but if it goes on like this, how long can everyone go all the way?

It's just that there is no turning back from the bow, it has already come out, where is there still a face to return?

At least he didn't have the cheekiness, gritted his back teeth, and Pei Jiong said: "Helton, when you go back, I bother you to tell the general...... Let's just say that Pei is grateful that he is willing to tolerate rebellious people like us, but they really don't have the face to return. Pei believes that Lingzhou is not a place where the lord is trapped, and if the lord goes east in the future, Pei is willing to be a pawn before the horse! ”

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(1) Hedong or Shandong refers to the vast area east of the Yellow River or east of the Kushan Mountains, not to a specific province at present-day time.

(2) Qingyuan Military Village, a military village set up by the Song State on the border, located along the Baima River.

(3) Huanzhou, now Huanxian County, Gansu.

(4) Yongxing Military Road, the Northern Song Dynasty Linjie Dingnan Army control area from south to north is divided into Hedong Road, Yongxing Military Road, Qinfeng Road three large administrative regions, Yongxing Military Road guards Chang'an, Song name Jingzhaofu, governs Shaanxi, Yan, Tong, Hua, Yao, Sui, Yan, Xie, Qing, Yu, Shang, Ning, Fang, Dan, Huan Zhuzhou, and later changed Yanzhou and Qingzhou as the government, and added Yinzhou, Li, and Dingbian, Suide, Qingping, Qingcheng four armies. In total, there are four prefectures, fifteen prefectures, five military units, and ninety counties.

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Attached, thank you to the book friend "Mountain Village Vulgar", "372726389", "DMB", "~~Lazy Sheep Sheep~~", "Xingchen Dawn Purple", "KGB136", "Dark Yuezi", "Juice Stick" and "Potassium Ion" for the eight points of the reward!