"Thank you, sir!" He Renlong kowtowed again, got up and stood aside, his eyebrows lowered. Hong Chengchou casually asked a few words about the current situation of the army under He Renlong, and because he was first reminded by his colleagues, He Renlong told the truth in most things, and Hong Chengchou seemed quite satisfied with He Renlong's courtesy and honesty. He coughed twice and said, "Come on, give He Guerrilla a seat!" “

"Thank you, sir!" He Renlong was happy in his heart, knowing that he had passed the test, and sure enough, Hong Chengchou's attitude was much kinder, he asked He Renlong about the past of Congrong, and praised He Renlong's martial arts, and suddenly changed his words, and asked in a deep voice: "Lord He, you are an ambitious person, the current situation in Shaanxi is dangerous, and the imperial court needs talents like you!" “

"Adults raise love, and the last general will not dare to be ashamed!" He Ren Long Xun thanked him, then came back to his senses, and asked with some doubts: "It's just that this danger is like eggs, I don't know where to start, hasn't Yang Zhijun already pacified the chaos in Shaanxi?" “

"Smoothed?" Hong Chengchou sneered, picked up a letter from the several cases in front of him and handed it over: "General He, let's take a look at this first!" “

He Renlong took the letter from the servant's hand with some doubts, and couldn't help but be shocked when he saw it, it turned out that the title, the inscription, and the part that could be traced back to the letter writer were blacked out with an ink pen, obviously Hong Chengchou didn't want others to know the source of the news.

"My lord, where did this letter come from, and whether it is true or false?" Just halfway through it, a thin layer of sweat was already oozing from He Renlong's forehead, no wonder he was like this, the content of this letter was really amazing.

"Humph!" Hong Chengchou sneered: "Lord He, there are some things you still don't want to know?" “

He Renlong lowered his head and tried his best to hide the horror in his chest, the content of this letter was too shocking, he was only a guerrilla involved in this whirlpool, and the slightest carelessness would be a disaster.

Hong Chengchou seemed to see He Renlong's thoughts. stood up and walked to He Renlong's side, patted the other party's shoulder gently, and said softly: "He Guerrilla, this official also knows that this matter is very difficult for you, after all, Yang He is the governor of the three sides, and he is the first official of the imperial court in the northwest." If you are embarrassed, then it is good that I haven't said anything about it today, and you don't say anything after you go out. “

Listening to Hong Chengchou's words, He Renlong was overjoyed, and the sentence "Thank you for your understanding" was almost uttered. But the words stopped again. If such a confidential and important matter is accidentally leaked out, don't look at Hong Chengchou's current spirit, if the letter writer speaks, Hong Chengchou's best fate is just the ruin of his career, and even death in prison is not impossible. With such a person's delicacy and suspicion, how could he let a person like him who knows so much stay out of the matter? Wouldn't he be afraid that he would run to Yang He's side to take the lead? Thinking of this, He Renlong was already sweating like rain on his forehead, and said in a low voice: "My lord is so lifted." It is the blessing of the last general, and the villain must do his best to die! “

"Well, this official didn't look at the wrong person. General He, you are a knowledgeable person. Hong Chengchou patted He Renlong's shoulder with a smile, and said in a very affectionate tone: "After you finish this errand, don't talk about me, the adult inside will also remember General He." can be hung in the heart of this adult, not to mention the general and general soldiers, it is a marquis. It's just a matter of time."

"The one inside?" He Renlong raised his head, only to see Hong Chengchou looking at him with a smile, but a pair of eyes revealed a fierce light unique to carnivores, he couldn't help but shudder, lowered his head again, and said in a low voice: "Thank you for cultivating!" ”

"It's not me who cultivates you, it's you who cultivates yourself!" Hong Chengchou said with a smile, he returned to the case, and he had regained his usual reserve and majesty: "General He, your task is to wipe out the gods and the rebels. ”

Yan'an Ansai, Hutou Village.

Just a few days ago, Shen Yikui led an army of about 3,000 men to sweep away several groups of "bandits" in the vicinity, that is, desperate peasants who were suffering from hunger. However, this was not a good fortune for the local squire, who had defeated the local bandits, and took the more than 3,000 people to "eat" in this area, and he divided his army into several parts according to a group of hundreds of people, and then sent them to the nearby towns, and the small leader of each group extorted grain and grass and "rewards" from the nearby squires. Undoubtedly, Shen Yikui's practice caused extreme dissatisfaction among the local squires, and many people filed complaints with the government through various connections such as the same year and the township party, but none of these accusations took effect, and the reason was very simple, Shen Yikui's subordinates had not received food and salary for nearly three months, and Yang He had to turn a blind eye to his practice of "making a living for himself". He told the officials in Shaanxi very bluntly that if anyone dared to undermine the overall situation of his appeasement, he would immediately write to the imperial court and impeach the other party by name, as a military and political officer in the northwest, which could almost announce that the other party's career had come to an end.

Therefore, no matter how resentful the local squire was, Shen Yikui had a good time during this time. As a former thief, he knows how to grasp the balance very well, whenever the squire in a place is eaten by him six or seven percent, he will take his direct "horse thief" to change places, sweep away the local thieves, and then ask the squire for food, and he is very careful with the discipline of his subordinates, it is okay to ask for food and cloth, but those who dare to rob women, property and livestock will be executed. Shen Yikui knows very well that this opening cannot be opened, once this opening is opened, the team under his command will soon become bandits, and it will also be confirmed, as a general, this is tantamount to self-destruction. Seeing that the New Year is coming, Shen Yikui saw that the food was still abundant, so he planned to spend fifteen years in this Hutou Village, and then said, according to the customs of Shaanxi, Shen Yikui's personal soldiers got a lot of sorghum stalks and charcoal, and set up Zhuan Jiuqu and Huo Ta Tower in the open space in front of the village (two local customs in Yan'an, Zhuan Jiuqu is to use the sorghum pole circle to make a lamp market, and the twists and turns will be rings, so it is called Zhuan Jiuqu; The so-called fire pagoda is a pagoda of coal piled into a pagoda shape, and then lit to pray for good luck and prosperity in the coming year. More than a dozen skilled soldiers were also wrestling on the side, and even the people in the village gathered around to see the excitement, and there was a bit of New Year's atmosphere for a while.

In the courtyard, Shen Yikui and Bu Mu sat under the jujube tree, drinking wine, while listening to a bookkeeper telling him about the gifts he had received.

"The yellow leader of Goosetail Tun has sent ten sheepskins and ten stones of wheat!"

"Qu Wu of the Bullpen Fort sent a wind (i.e., a war horse) to him. Say it's for you. ”

"Guerrilla Liu from Juzhou sent fifty pieces of cloth and one hundred taels of silver."

"Wait!" Shen Yikui raised his head: "Did the giver go back?" ”

"Not yet, I'm eating in the courtyard."

"Invite him over, be polite!" Shen Yikui commanded, and the muddy smile on the side said: "This Liu Guerrilla is very interesting, everyone else is meaningful, he gave such a heavy Lilly." ”

"People are polite to us, we can't make people laugh without knowing the etiquette!" Shen Yikui smiled: "It's an old acquaintance, and in the future, I will also be a colleague in the army, and many friends will also have many paths." “

"That's right!" Bu Mu laughed: "I heard that Liu Guerrilla has not yet married." It just so happened that I still had a few red goods (black words, referring to jewelry), so I picked two of them for him as a gift, which I could use when I married in the future, and I could also read you and me well. “

"Good!" Shen Yikui laughed: "Since you want to return the gift, I will simply give a generous gift, plus that wind, Qu Wu was a horse thief before he joined the gang, and he took a fancy to the horse." You can't go wrong. “

While the two were talking, the personal soldiers led Liu Cheng's messenger, but he didn't take off the flowers, and he saluted to the gods and the mud. He said in a deep voice: "Yan Sui Zhen will take off the total and not see the two adults. ”

"Hmm!" Shen Yikui smiled slightly: "I've worked hard for you all the way, and I thank your family for me when I go back!" “

"The villain obeys!"

Shen Yikui was about to say a few more words, so he sent off and didn't spend any time, but he heard a commotion outside. I just wanted to let the soldiers go out to have a look, but I saw a small leader running in panting, and when he was still about ten steps away, he shouted: "Leader." Boss, there's something going on outside! “

"What a thing, like this, what a system!" Shen Yikui saw that his subordinates had lost face in front of outsiders, his face became gloomy, and he wanted to scold a few words. The little leader presented a letter of worship with both hands and said, "My lord, there is a team of people, led by a group of people who claim to be some guerrilla lord, and say they want to see you!" ”

"Another guerrilla master?" Shen Yikui was stunned, and the non-muddy on the side took the post, and he and Shen Yikui could also recognize their names, so they had to hand it to the bookkeeper on the side to read it, but when they heard it, it was the Yulin Weidu Division of Yansui Town, and the cavalry left battalion guerrilla He Renlong asked to see. Shen Yikui and Bu Mu had heard of He Renlong's prestige as early as when they were Liukou, but after being appeased, they had nothing to do with him, but they didn't want to come suddenly at this time, but it was a little strange.

The two glanced at each other, and Shen Yikui casually sent off the detachment and didn't spend it, and said to the mud: "He Renlong doesn't have any contact with the two of us on weekdays, why did he suddenly come here today?" I'll go to the gate to greet you, and you go to the back to prepare for it, just in case. ”

Shen Yikui changed his official robe and came to the gate of the village, only to see He Renlong standing at the gate of the village, looking at Zhuan Jiuqu and the Fire Tower with great interest, and the soldiers behind him were only more than 100 people, and the heart that was originally hanging in the air suddenly fell into the stomach. Shen Yikui has more than 500 people in this Hutou Village, if He Renlong wants to play any tricks, he is not afraid of such a large number of people.

"Lord He!" Shen Yikui greeted him: "The gatekeeper doesn't know anything, but he actually let you stand here, and he didn't let you come in to rest, forgive your sins!" ”

"It's okay!" He Renlong smiled and waved his hand: "I haven't returned to my hometown for a long time, and I suddenly saw this Jiuqu and the Fire Tower, which is also very kind." ”

"It turns out that Lord He is also a Mizhi person!" Shen Yikui deliberately let his words reveal a few meters of rice fat accent: "Although I am from Wubao, my ancestors also moved over from rice fat, and many of my brothers are rice fat. ”

"It turned out to be the township party!" He Renlong smiled and arched his hand: "On weekdays, there are fewer people who are close, forgive your sins!" ”

The two of them chatted a few words about the folk customs of rice fat, and the atmosphere was a lot more harmonious, this is not muddy from the village, and gave Shen Yikui a look, Shen Yikui knew that the inside was ready, and said with a smile: "It's windy outside, Lord He, please go inside to talk!" “

He Renlong nodded, pointed to the people and horses on the side and said to Shen Yikui: "Lord Wu, let's settle these people outside, which wine and meat to eat, the smell of camels is very strong, if you enter the village, you are afraid of frightening the livestock." ”

Only then did Shen Yikui find that there were more than 20 camels standing at the mouth of the stockade, and these huge animals were meekly regurgitating the food in their stomachs, and there were some boxes and baskets next to them, which should be carrying goods.

"Well said, well said!" Shen Yikui hurriedly ordered a few words to the pro-soldiers on the side, and welcomed He Renlong into the village with no mud, at this time He Renlong was followed by more than 30 pro-soldiers, at this time Shen Yikui was basically unwary of He Renlong, but he was still a little curious about the other party's intentions.

"Lord Wu!" As soon as He Renlong sat down, he said: "Since everyone is a township party, I won't go around the corner, I, He Renlong, came today to borrow two food!" ”

"Borrowed food?" He said with a smile: "Lord He, where did you start, we are not a grain station here, how can you come to us to borrow grain?" ”

"Yes, Lord He, you are Yang Zhijun's favorite general, why do you need to borrow food from us?" God Yikui said.

Listening to Shen Yikui's answer without mud, He Renlong showed a trace of embarrassment on his face, he stretched out his hand and scratched his unkempt hair and scolded: "Love will not love to use the top ball, Yang Zhijun is difficult to protect his own family, he has no food in his hands, can he still conjure flowers?" ”

Hearing He Renlong's answer, Shen Yikui and Bu Mu glanced at each other, and saw surprise in each other's eyes, they all knew that Yang He had been very short of food in recent months, so that they let these soldiers "fend for themselves", but they didn't expect that they were so nervous that even a legitimate official like He Renlong couldn't send food. Shen Yikui said cautiously: "Lord He, this is not a joke, Yang Zhijun is the governor of the three sides, and the important minister of the imperial court, there will always be a way." “

"Ball!" He Renlong spat on the ground contemptuously: "What's wrong with the governor of the three sides, he can't conjure up food." At present, the imperial court is fighting with the Dongyu in Liaodong, and the Daling River has been besieged for two months. Shandong Denglai mutiny again, Kong Youde's son of a dog called himself Marshal Du, occupying more than a dozen county seats, the military rations in western and southern Liaoning all pointed to Denglai, and Caoyun was not far away, and the imperial court was now busy taking care of it, where could we still care about our lumps! (To be continued.) )