In the evening, Chu Tianya had dinner with He Bo, Meng De and others, as well as Ma Kuo, Xiao Fei and Xiao Ai, a table full of people, like a big family.

In the past two days, many scattered Xishanzhai people have come to Mengde, and the Kaiyang Palace has been overcrowded with a full five or six hundred people, and the cavalry of Qixingzhai who were originally stationed here have moved to the Qixingtang in order to vacate the room. Qixingzhai is generous and enthusiastic, and all the guests who come are carefully stored and entertained. Whenever there is a meal, there must be ten ox carts to pull the food and bring it to Kaiyang Palace.

Now, those men are squatting in the big courtyard of Kaiyang Palace to eat, and the sound of cups and plates jingling is quite spectacular.

After the meal, Meng De called Chu Tianya to the secluded platform on the second floor of Kaiyang Palace and said to him: "Brother, there is something I still have to discuss with you again. ”

Hearing him say the word "again", Chu Tianya understood, so he said, "Does Seventh Brother want to leave Qixing Mountain?" ”

"Hmm." Meng De nodded, "There is some turmoil in the Seven Star Village right now, and it is not suitable for hospitality. Ma Kuo and I and a few hundred brothers are lying here, and they can hardly serve them who eat and drink all day long. Although the host did not issue an eviction order, we must have a sense of proportion when we come to visit! ”

"That's right." Chu Tianya smiled and said, "But Seventh Brother wants to leave, there is more than one reason, right?" ”

"Of course." Meng De smiled, "You can hide it from anyone, but you can't keep your brother in the dark." There are several reasons, and the one mentioned above is only used to deal with the people of Qixingzhai. The real reason...... Our brothers can't hang themselves on a tree, in case something happens to Qixingzhai, at least there is a way out. Therefore, I want to leave first and return to Xishan to rebuild Qingyun Castle. At that time, the Jurchens aimed to cut off the threat to them from the Xishan forces, so they sent heavy troops to exterminate Qingyun Castle, and a thief and a king were captured. As soon as Qingyun Fort was destroyed, the other dozen or so small village groups were leaderless, and they all dispersed for fear of suffering the same fate. According to the brothers who have fled in recent days, the people and horses of the 18 villages in Xishan have been scattered in the area east of the river in the past. After the battle of Huanglong Valley, the prestige of Qixingzhai was greatly enhanced, and they all wanted to come to take refuge. Later, I found out that my Meng was still alive and happened to be in Qixing Village, so more and more people came to Qixing Mountain...... The hundreds of people in front of him are actually only a small part of the people who have recently taken refuge in the cottage. Brother, do you see what I mean? ”

"Understood." Chu Tianya replied softly and nodded.

In the past, the strength of the eighteen villages in Xishan was not weak, and in the era of Zhang Duyan, he was already eager to try to compete with the Taihang Mountains. Due to the geographical distribution of the eighteen villages, when the Jurchens attacked Xishan, they only focused on Qingyun Fort. As soon as Qingyun Fort was destroyed, the other seventeen villages were all scattered......

But Seon lost his horse, and the men and horses of the seventeen villages were saved after that catastrophe. According to conservative estimates, the number is no less than 20,000. Recently, many people from the original seventeen villages have come to Qixingzhai, in fact, most of them are coming to the old master Meng De.

But now that Meng De himself is sending people under the fence, how can he be cheeky to borrow chickens and lay eggs, and uncover the pole in the Seven Star Village to pull the team? Whether it was out of courtesy or to avoid suspicion, Meng De had no choice but to let many of his brothers defect to the other major leaders of Qixingzhai and become the people of Qixingzhai.

"If I stay here for one more day, I will lose one more strength." Meng De said from the bottom of his heart, he said, "So I want to hear my brother's opinion. If you agree, I will go to Guan Shan and Jiao Wentong tomorrow to say goodbye. I've thought of the reason - after the disaster of Qingyun Castle, our relatives who died have not yet settled in the ground. Now, it's time for me to collect their bodies. ”

"Then the seventh brother raised the banner in Qingyun Castle and re-assembled the team?" Chu Tianya said.

"Hmm......" Meng De nodded, looking at Chu Tianya with a stern expression, "According to the brothers who came back from outside, the battle of Taiyuan destroyed all the places in Hedong, and in addition to the two states of Shuo that were destroyed by the Jurchens, countless people were displaced. Now, there are no less than 100,000 displaced people in the entire Hedong! Xu Han, the official sent by the imperial court to take over Taiyuan, knew that he was busy with liquidation and infighting, where would he have time to take care of these people in distress - if I returned to Xishan, I would recruit the displaced people with a banner of righteousness, and my strength would inevitably rise in a short period of time! Troubled times have come, and there is nothing more tangible and confident than having an army in your own hands. In the future, it will be our brothers' own family business, which is better than wagging their tails and begging for mercy under the fence. Brother, if you want to achieve a career, you can also use it as your first capital! I, the elder brother, don't have your extraordinary talent and ability to do big things, but I have a stupid strength to lead a horse for you! ”

Chu Tianya listened carefully to every word and sentence of Meng De, and his heart was both shocked and moved.

Asking himself, Chu Tianya remembered that the motive when he married Meng De was purely an expedient measure, just to unite him to deal with Zhang Duyan. But from that day on, Meng De regarded Chu Tianya as his own brother, and dedicated everything he owned to Chu Tianya without reservation, including his relatives, family business, and the woman he loved!

Now, Meng De, who has nothing left without dying in the catastrophe, is still putting himself in Chu Tianya's shoes, operating for him, planning for him, and dedicating himself unreservedly!

This righteousness or kindness is like a father and a brother, without reservation.

Too many words were blocked in his mouth, and Chu Tianya didn't know how to speak for a while, so he was silent.

Meng De saw Chu Tianya's solemn expression and a hint of sadness, and couldn't help but be surprised: "Brother, what's wrong with you?" If you think it's inappropriate, say it, and let's discuss it carefully. ”

"Nope. The seventh brother is far-sighted and thoughtful. Chu Tianya took a deep breath to hold back the throbbing and moving in his heart, and said with a smile, "Now Xu Han and Qixingzhai are having a good time, but they have made each other miss the great opportunity to buy the hearts of the people and expand their strength. At this time, Brother Qi returned to Xishan to rebuild the cottage and pull the pole to raise people, which is indeed a great time. However, if a high-rise building is to rise from the ground, it will definitely be very difficult and arduous. If you want to recruit troops, you have to use money, food, and materials, where are you going to get these things? ”

"There is no other way but to plunder the state and county." Meng De's face tightened, "If you want to achieve great things, you can't be too rigid about small things, especially in troubled times." Since our court and government have abandoned the territory and the Li people, they are not qualified to continue to occupy the taxes and grain paid by the people of the Great Song Dynasty. Instead of letting the grain piled up in the warehouse become moldy, the copper coins rust, or just fatten a group of corrupt officials or even leave it to the Jurchens as military funds, we should reach out and take it for our own use. After the Battle of Taiyuan, most of the prefectures and counties in the east of the river were barren, but there were still many wealthy prefectures and counties that had not been affected by the war from the west mountain to the east and west, or went to Hexi to plunder the Western Xia; If you provoke me, even if you take out a few pieces of fat from Xu Han's mouth! ”

Chu Tianya took another deep breath, and then nodded, "It seems that the seventh brother has thought it through, and the junior brother has nothing to worry about." I just want to remind you that since it is a banner of righteousness to win the hearts of the people, you must not hurt too many civilians when plundering the prefectures and counties. ”

"You can rest assured of this. Although Meng De was born recklessly and was not a good person, he never did the kind of thing that bullied the weak and feared the hard, and preyed on the common people. Meng De said, "I only can't get used to those corrupt officials and corrupt officials who eat vegetarian food, and the squire bullies who are unkind to the rich!" Even if I go to the state and county to borrow grain, I will also have my own measure. As a last resort, we don't fight with our own people. ”

"Brother Seven is right. Although our court and government are very inactive, when facing the Jurchen foreign enemy, they can be regarded as their own people. Chu Tianya nodded and smiled, "Hearing Brother Seventh talk about this, the little brother is full of pride in his heart, and he really wants to work with you to rebuild Qingyun Castle." It's a pity that the younger brother is now in a special situation and is in an embarrassing situation, and it is not convenient to leave Qixingzhai for the time being. If the time is ripe, the little brother will come to the seventh brother as soon as possible! ”

"It's not a defection. As I said earlier, if Meng De can make achievements in this trip, the newly built Qingyun Castle will be our brother's own family business. Meng Laoqi can have a little bit of real talent in his chest, and he knows it in his heart. At best, I could have been a ringing leader, but I didn't have the strength to protect my people. Only you, brother, can lead us hard-working people to find a way. Meng De was full of emotion, shook his head and sighed and smiled, looking at Chu Tianya with a firm expression, "The feeling of being ruined is really bad, I don't want to try it a second time, and I don't want my brothers and relatives to try it again." Listen, brother, now I'm just going to set up an outpost and do some foreshadowing. The fate of our people in the future depends on you! ”

Chu Tianya nodded with deep eyebrows, not knowing what kind of words could express his mood at the moment. So he stretched out a hand and put it in front of Meng De.

Meng De smiled, slapped Chu Tianya's hand, and the two clasped their hands!

It turns out that between brothers, there is really no need for hypocrisy and politeness, and there is no need for grandiose words.

Chu Tianya wet his eyes very uncompetitively, Meng De patted his back and laughed, and the two brothers stood side by side on the platform of Kaiyang Palace, bathing in the sunset with pride.

Raise your eyes and look at the thousands of miles of rivers and mountains!

The next day, Meng De went to Guan Shan to bid farewell to Jiao Wentong. The people of Qixingzhai are not stupid, of course they know what Meng De's real intention of leaving Qixingzhai at this time is. But because the reasons given by Meng De are very sufficient, although they have the heart to stay, it is not easy to stop them.

At lunchtime, the people of Qixingzhai saw Meng De off in Kaiyang Palace. The banquet was presented with grain and rice, and he was very enthusiastic. Almost everyone, including Xiao Linglong, thought that Chu Tianya would definitely go with Meng De. No matter what their intentions and intentions were, they were all ready to persuade Chu Tianya to stay.

But Chu Tianya took the initiative to say that he would not leave, which made Guan Shan and the others breathe a sigh of relief, and they also saved some tongues.

Meng De and Ma Kuo left with hundreds of people and horses, and the Kaiyang Palace was suddenly deserted.

After nightfall, a bright moon hangs over the West Building. Chu Tianya took a pot of wine and went up to the second floor alone, sitting on the floor admiring the moon in a daze.

"Actually, why don't I go with Meng De? What else can I do if I stay in Qixingzhai? …… Is it because I can't leave Xiao Linglong behind, or is there another reason? Staring at the white moonlight overhead, Chu Tianya asked himself this question.

Regarding the way out and future, Chu Tianya also felt a little confused. The water in Qixingzhai is getting muddy and hidden, but he has a feeling that it is difficult to ride a tiger and cannot be withdrawn.

Thinking about it carefully, his concern for Xiao Linglong certainly affected some of his decisions; But the most important thing is probably from Xu Han's pressure. Now, Xu Han wants to arrest him regardless of his needs. If he walked with Meng De at this time, it was very likely that he would fall into Xu Han's hands as soon as he left Qixing Mountain. In that case, not only would he lose his life but also harm Meng De, let alone rebuild Qingyun Castle.

In short, although it is not peaceful in Qixingzhai now, it is the only shelter that Chu Tianya can live in. Moreover, it is difficult to say whether Mengde's trip will be successful. In his words, it is not advisable for two brothers to hang themselves on the same tree. This is true for staying together in Qixingzhai, and the same is true for leaving together.

"Meng De has sacrificed and paid so much for me, can't I do something for him a little?" Chu Tianya said to himself, "As long as I'm still here, I'll have the opportunity to seek some help or convenience for Meng De." If he fails, it will also give him a life-saving retreat at that time! ”

Although this idea is very humble and helpless, the reality is so cruel. Born in troubled times and at a time of difficulty, it is always inevitable to be a man with his tail between his legs. In Chu Tianya's view, this kind of cute performance art such as "people with lofty ideals do not drink the water of stolen springs, and those who are incorruptible do not drink from the food that comes from shutting down" is nothing more than a spiritual victory method for dying to save face and suffer crimes, which is used to fool and restrain 99% of the people in the world, so that they become obedient and well-behaved.

Once Chu Tianya was also one of the 99 percent, willing to play the role of a peace dog carefully; But now he can only be pragmatic, pragmatic, and more pragmatic to face and solve many problems related to life and death.

"People, sure enough, they are all forced out." Thinking of this, Chu Tianya grunted and poured wine into his mouth until the bottom of the wine jug was facing the sky, and his clothes were wet.

There was the sound of tuk tuk footsteps between the floors, and Chu Tianya listened to it and said, "Flying fox? ”

"It's me." Xiao Linglong finally stopped objecting to Chu Tianya calling her by this name.

Chu Tianya smiled, "It's a pity that the wine is finished." ”

"I brought it." Xiao Linglong walked up to the platform and came to Chu Tianya's side, sat down on the spot, and placed the two celadon wine pots in front of the two, "Jiannan burns spring." ”

Chu Tianya looked at the wine jug, and then at Xiao Linglong's face, which was slightly crimson.

"It's the first time we've had a meal together."

"That's right." Xiao Linglong's beautiful eyes flashed with a strange look, "What Xu Han gave to Yan Zonghan was robbed by our Seven Star Village, and he didn't drink it for nothing!" ”

"Makes sense!" Chu Tianya laughed, reached out and scooped out a pot of wine and held it in his arms, and looked at Xiao Linglong sideways, "It's suddenly so good today, please let me drink?" ”

"Just celebrate for me." Xiao Linglong smiled mysteriously.

"Celebrate what?"

"It's not easy, I actually lived past the age of eighteen!" Xiao Linglong smiled, "I remember when I was very young, my mother often told me that I must marry before the age of eighteen, otherwise I will ......."

"It's your birthday?" Chu Tianya sat up straight and smiled, "Otherwise, how about it?" ”

"I'll be a husband in the future!" After Xiao Linglong said this, she looked straight at Chu Tianya, her face full of treacherous and provocative smiles.

Chu Tianya blinked and couldn't help grinning.

"What are you laughing at?"

"I'm thinking, what would happen if I married one husband and two more husbands?"

“…… It's going to be the same as Zhang Duyan! ”

"Let's, let's ...... Or drink a bar and celebrate your 18th birthday! ”