Wang Teng is rich and wealthy, so he naturally doesn't put a few thousand taels of silver in his eyes, but he doesn't know that his actions have fallen into the eyes of Ma Ke, but he has become a cowardly and fearful behavior.

Just coercion was a huge benefit, and Marco was overjoyed, and he began to think about how to maximize the benefits.

There are still a lot of treasury in Shouyang City, do you want to take a few more?

Ma Ke's desire is endless, if it weren't for Wang Teng's 2,000 soldiers and horses, he would have already tried to see the dagger and take it by force.

Now, it's about using your brains.

The grain in the warehouse could not be discounted for the time being, and Ma Ke pondered how to maximize the benefits.

When he arrived at the position of general, Ma Ke had already seen through it, and if he wanted to be promoted, in addition to his military exploits, he also needed a huge amount of silver.

If there is no silver to pave the way, who will take care of you?

In order to better resist the thief army, Wang Teng and Ma Ke discussed, and the two were stationed in the city.

Wang Teng is in charge of the north gate and east gate, and Ma Ke is in charge of the south gate and west gate.

The defense area of the Guangling Army is the area where there is a gap in the city wall.

When attacking the city, Wang Teng wished that the gap could be bigger, in that case, it would be easier to capture the city, but after the capture of the city, Wang Teng hoped that the gap could be smaller, because in this way, the repair of the city wall would be much easier.

Renovating the walls meant removing rubble and debris and moving boulders and dirt, all of which were manual work.

After a night's rest, the Guangling army regained some physical strength, they took off their armor and took turns to work.

This situation fell into the eyes of the people of Shouyang, and immediately attracted a burst of whispers.

Since ancient times, whether it is an official army or a thief army, when they repair the city wall, they will not do it themselves, but will only instruct the people in the city in vain.

It is said that this was the case with Marco in the southern city, and as soon as the day dawned, he recruited young men to repair the city walls.

Why did they get to Beicheng, but the officers and soldiers did it themselves?

It's weird.

When the rogues seized the city, the officials in the city fled and died, and now there is not even a decent civil official in the city, if it were not for this, there would have been officials to negotiate with Wang Teng.

Where they entered the city, the Guangling army pardoned the "rebellion" and severely punished the thieves and thieves, which won the trust of the people.

Many people even got a tael of silver!

This was almost unimaginable in the past.

The ancients paid attention to repaying kindness and revenge, and the Guangling army was kind to the people, and the people naturally wanted to repay the favor.

On this day, Liao Liu finally couldn't bear it anymore and found Tong Yiyi, who was the overseer, "This adult, such dirty work as repairing the city wall is tiring work, how can you use the military master to do it?" ”

Tong always smiled, "What do you mean?" ”

"I have a group of brothers, I have nothing to do these days, I can come over and help"

"I don't know how to calculate wages?"

Liao Liu's face flushed, as if he had been greatly insulted, "My lord, a few days ago, we were coerced by thieves and rebelled, but instead of pursuing it, Wang Shoubei gave us a tael of silver for settling in money, and we have always wanted to repay this kindness."

Tong has always been a little embarrassed, "So that's the case, I underestimated you, but this matter of repairing the city wall was presided over by the king garrison, and I didn't count who was used to do the work."

"Please do it on your behalf"

Tong always felt that this was a good thing, and immediately accepted the jaw head.

Not long after, Wang Teng heard this rather unexpected news, "The people of Shouyang City want to help us repair the city wall?" ”

"Yes, my lord, this is a good thing, this Shouyang City doesn't know how long it will be, if you can have a good relationship with the local people, in the long run, this is a good thing."

The rogue will not be extinguished for a day, and Guangling will not be able to return for a day.

Wang Teng is ready to stay for a long time, "Then I promised them that after the matter is completed, I will give them some wages."

"Order!"

With Wang Teng's orders, Tong Yi quickly brought the news back to the army.

Unexpectedly, Liao Liu had already gathered a group of brothers, and they were outside, quite hesitant, "My lord, what's wrong?" ”

These people really want to help, Tong has always sighed with emotion, "The adult agreed."

Liao Daxi said, "It's done, Wang Shoubei can afford to look down on us, and the men in our Shouyang City can't let the adults look down on us, let's go, hurry up and finish it as soon as possible!" ”

Liao Liu's order, more than 100 young men immediately started to work in full swing.

On the first day a hundred young men came, on the second day five hundred, and on the third day the broken wall was finished.

If it only depends on Guang Lingjun himself, maybe it will take a few more days.

After hearing this, Wang Teng sighed with great emotion, this is the power of the army and the people to be single-minded, no wonder they want to take the mass line, it seems that this road will be walked more in the future.

The actions of the people of Shouyang soon reached Ma Ke's ears, and Ma Ke was very angry after hearing it, "It's really fucking cheap, Lao Tzu wants to repair the city wall, and these bastards will push back and refuse to send people, why did they get to Wang Teng's side, but the villagers are like a different person?" ”

The deputy general smiled dryly: "My lord, it's probably because Wang Teng paid the silver, otherwise the villagers are not stupid, will they still be able to contribute in vain?" ”

Ma Ke looked at the lieutenant general with an idiotic look, "I heard that Wang Teng gave silver, but the villagers didn't ask for it."

The deputy general was dumbfounded, "Wang Teng is stupid enough, are these people even more stupid?" ”

Ma Ke didn't answer this question, he had already contacted Fan, and in a few days the merchant would send someone to transport the grain.

Thinking of the silver in vain, Ma Ke's mood instantly improved.

Whatever, as long as there is silver, who is stupid or not has anything to do with him?

Three days ago, Liu Zongmin broke out of the siege, and the rogues in the city either fled or died, and many people fled.

Although Tong has always tried his best to contain it, more than 1,500 rogues still escaped.

If these horses can't be exterminated in time, it will be a disaster for the countryside in the future, and it will also be a big disaster.

When the army was stationed in Shouyang City, the Guangling army and the people in the city worked together to repair the broken city walls and supervise the damaged city gates, but Zhou Yuji led soldiers and horses to surround and suppress the thief army.

Counting Ma Ke's soldiers and horses, there are still more than 4,000 officers and soldiers in the city, which is more than enough to deal with a possible attack on the city.

Liu Zongmin waited on the bank of the Heishui River for three days, and finally gathered a thousand people, and Zhao Bo also escaped smartly, but after the two met, they no longer had the intimate appearance of the past.

Liu Zongmin felt guilty, after all, he didn't take Zhao Bo with him when he fled, and almost buried him in the city, and on the other hand, Zhao Bo also blamed Liu Zongmin a little, if the army held the gap, how could everyone fall into such a field today?

In his heart, Zhao Bo has begun to look down on Liu Zongmin.

Liu Zongmin looked at the surging river and sighed, "Zhao Bo, how many days can the grain in the army be available?" ”

Zhao Bo disdainfully, how can there be any food in the army, the property captured a few days ago was lost in Shouyang City, the food of these three days was all hunting and fishing, scraping the ground three feet to make up, the resentment in the heart could not bear it, and finally burst out: "The villagers within a radius of thirty miles have escaped cleanly, and the brothers have dug up the wild vegetable roots, if you don't want to think of a way, these thousands of people and horses will starve to death." ”

After hearing this, Liu Zongmin's expression became even more haggard, he shook his head, and said, "Zhao Bo, what good can you do?" ”

Zhao Bo made a gesture, gritted his teeth and shouted: "Kill back, kill that Wang Teng and return to the horse pistol, we will lose our troops and generals, and Wang Teng will also be greatly injured, if he is caught off guard at this time, he will have all the property, money and food, and people and horses." ”

Looking at Guo Xiaoliu, who was full of interest, Liu Zongmin sighed again, he pointed to the subordinates around him, and said gloomily: "After several years of hard work, Zhao Bo, look at them, look at these brothers around you, do you think they can still kill Wang Teng again?" ”

There are only one thousand left of the five thousand men and horses, this is indeed a huge blow, Zhao Bo clenched his fists and punched a few hard, that's right, the courage of the troops is exhausted, it is the time when they are like frightened birds, let alone let them fight, even the news that the official army is chasing may make them flee thousands of miles.

Is it just to admit defeat? Zhao Bo was unwilling, "Leader, that Wang Teng spoiled our good deeds, and didn't skin him and cramp, I am really unwilling." ”

Liu Zongmin glanced fiercely in the direction of Shouyang and said, "Why shouldn't I?" But the morale of the officials and thieves is booming, and turning around at this time will not only fail to have the effect of a surprise attack, but may be taken advantage of by the officials and thieves, and if you are not careful, the whole army will be destroyed! ”

Zhao Bo felt that Liu Zongmin was a little alarmist, but when he thought about it carefully, his words were sincere and not without some truth......

On the fourth day, Zhou Yuji visited the horse and reported that Liu Zongmin gathered the people and horses to cross the river, and finally left Shouyang.

The leader of the thieves left, and Wang Teng could finally distract himself and consider how to exterminate the rebels.

Liu Zongmin's departure does not mean that the rogues have disappeared, and many thieves feel more free and easy, so they worship and do all kinds of evil.

Shouyang mountains are the majority, and the people live in the village, if the thieves gather in groups, taking advantage of the unpreparedness, it is very likely to break the village and capture the village.

Three days ago, although Wang Teng had sent additional men and horses to inform all villages to strengthen their vigilance and strictly prevent thieves from sneaking attacks, in the past few days, villagers have continued to die.

If the thieves are not removed, the people will not be at peace.

The real wealthy families all live in the county towns and counties, and the idle thieves can't do anything at all, but the people who really suffer are the poor people.

Whether it is food, clothing, housing and transportation, which one needs to go out to work, the villagers can not sit and eat all day and night, they always have a fluke mentality, thinking that the thieves may not appear, but the reality is cruel.

Hungry thieves armed with sharp weapons, attacked the villagers in groups.

Shouyang is adjacent to Yuxian and Yuci, and the people of the two places suffer greatly.

Although the officers and soldiers in various localities also participated in the encirclement and suppression, sometimes the same number of officers and soldiers could not get any benefits.

Liujiazhuang outside Shouyang City, seven days have passed since the battle to suppress bandits in the state capital, and these days, the people in the village do not dare to go out of the village, so they can only stay in the village and wait for the officials and soldiers to clarify the news of the bandits.

It is said that there have been three nearby villages attacked, and the scattered and escaped thief army is entangled in one place, and there is even a scale of no less than 100 people.

After all, there are only a limited number of strong men in the village, and it is impossible to send nearly 100 guards every time you go out of the village.

A few days ago, it was okay, after the beginning of winter, the weather is getting colder, there is no farm work in the field, and the villagers can stay at home with peace of mind and do not have to worry about the harvest in the field.

But as the time passed for three or five days, the firewood and food stored by the villagers gradually ran out.

On the eighth day, the salt in Liujiazhuang was consumed, and the firewood that could be burned was distributed cleanly, and the owner Liu Dezhu was worried, and he had to go outside the city to cut some firewood, and then go to the county seat to purchase salt.

Shouyang in winter is extremely cold, and there are already two children in Liujiazhuang who have suffered from typhoid fever because they can't eat hot meals.

There is no medical worker in the village, and if the two children with fever are not treated in time, they are likely to lose their lives.

All the earthworks in the village have been tried, but none of them have worked.

Firewood and salt are daily necessities, and there is no shortage of them, but the child's typhoid fever is an imminent matter.

No matter what the reason, Liujiazhuang has to send someone to the county seat once.

Now there are 300 young men in the village, and for defensive reasons, 200 must be left in case of emergency, after all, no one knows whether the thieves will take advantage of the gap to attack.

After thinking about it, there were only a hundred people who could be sent to the county seat.

If it was placed before Liu Zongmin's invasion, just three or five men could walk safely.

But now there are thieves everywhere, and there is no place to live, and no one is sure that a hundred strong men can deter Xiaoxiao.

Liu Dezhu counted the weapons, only twenty wooden guns with rusty heads, an iron knife that did not know the year of the monkey, and eighty-three short knives for going up the mountain to chop wood.

After some hesitation, Liu Dezhu decided to let the men from the village bring all the iron weapons, and the rest of the people were replaced with bamboo guns.

The people guarding the village had to replace all the bamboo guns, thanks to the bamboo guns handed down by the king to defend against the enemy, otherwise, where would the poor villagers go to find weapons for self-defense?

After making preparations, a hundred villagers escorted five ox carts out of the village.

The villagers had to go to the nearby hillside to chop some firewood and transport it back to the village before they could leave for the county seat.

The more than 100 men selected were all the best men in Liujiazhuang, and it took them an hour to chop down the entire five carts of firewood.

In the process of chopping wood, there were no thieves who came out to disturb them, which made the villagers breathe a sigh of relief and at the same time have a feeling of unsteadiness.

The thief is gone?

After sending Chai He back to the village, the ox cart carried two sick children, and the mighty procession set off again.

In the past, when I went to the county seat to buy, the villagers sang and laughed along the way, and the music continued, but this time when I entered the city, the villagers were bored and hurried, and no one made noise.

The road ahead is bumpy, and no one knows what to expect.

Unknown means danger, the gossip of the past few days has made people frightened, along the way, the young and strong of Liujiazhuang have become frightened birds, and they have to be on guard for a while...... (To be continued.) )