Zhang Anlin has lived in the Gravel Fort for more than ten years, if Jiang Jie hadn't sent away all the military households who had a good relationship with Ximen Gale and wanted to use the scimitar of the Tartar to extinguish them, his family would still be living in the fort city guarding the land on the banks of the Xilong River.

Of course, most of the land there belonged to Jiang Qianhu, and he only rented 100 acres as a tenant, and his family couldn't eat enough for his 10 acres of low-grade land, and he had to pay land tax.

The sergeant guarding the city gate saw Zhang Anlin, everyone was an acquaintance, and they entered the fort city after saying hello, and the youngest son Zhang Cheng smiled reluctantly, chatted with the sergeant who was familiar with him before, felt that there was nothing to say, and followed his father's footsteps and then left.

The mules and horses led by Zhang Anlin quickly attracted the attention of the military households, and under the slightly unfamiliar eyes, the two went to the shantytown in the northeast corner along the dusty road.

The original courtyard was still so dilapidated, under the scorching sun, there was no trace of life, looking at his own grass house from outside the toppled fence, Zhang Anlin sighed in his heart, and went directly to the next door, which was the home of his own uncle and brother Zhang Ziqiang.

Zhang Ziqiang is a craftsman, and his skills in striking iron are equal to Wang Dali in the fort city, but after many years of illness, even if there is a repair work in the thousand households, he can't do much, and the family road has been very broken.

His son, Zhang Tieding, is also a blacksmith, and is now busy repairing farm tools with other craftsmen, and these sickles, forks, hoes, etc., must be repaired before the summer harvest; Her daughter Zhang Huiniang got married early, and she was in a craftsman family not far from Shuitun to the west.

"Ziqiang, is Ziqiang at home," Zhang Anlin shouted in a high voice, his steps involuntarily accelerated, he hadn't seen each other for nearly a year, and he didn't know what happened to this stubborn blacksmith.

In the small courtyard behind the earthen wall, a somewhat rickety figure appeared at the door, Zhang Ziqiang's mother-in-law looked out with a dustpan, and was surprised to see Zhang Anlin, "Oh, his uncle is here, come and come in quickly,"

Turning her head, the mother-in-law shouted happily, "The master, Uncle Anlin is here," and then, looking at the dustpan in her hand, the mother-in-law's disgraced face was a little more worried. Today, their family's ration is some black beans in this dustpan.

In the adobe and straw-roofed house, there were a few coughs, and a deep voice snarled, "It's my brother Anlin,"

"Yes, it's me," Zhang Anlin, whose eyes were red, trembled and released the reins in his hand, ignoring his son behind him, walked into the courtyard in a few steps, lifted the tattered curtain and walked in.

Zhang Cheng hurriedly grabbed the reins, stepped forward to the gate of the courtyard, bowed to the eldest lady and said, "Auntie, the boy Zhang Cheng has given you a salute,"

I haven't seen him for a year, Zhang Cheng has risen a lot, his face is ruddy, his hair is oily, and he can't see it at all, this is the kid with yellow hair who didn't pull a few thin last year; The gray-haired lady looked at Zhang Cheng several times in a daze, and then called out to her nephew.

stepped forward to support the eldest mother's sleeves full of pudding, Zhang Cheng's uncomfortable nose was sour, the eldest lady was less than thirty-five years old, how could she look like an old woman; The big hands that are used to holding fire/guns can already feel that under the thin sleeves, the thin arms are fluttering.

"Auntie, let's go in, don't eat black beans today," holding the aunt with one hand, Zhang Cheng pulled the mule and horse into the yard, tied the reins to the stake in the corner of the yard, and raised his hand to untie the grain.

"Cheng, what are you?" The eldest lady pointed to the two bags of grain tremblingly, she had never seen so much food at home all year round, blinking her cloudy eyes, not believing what she saw at all.

"Auntie, two bags of grain, one bag for your family, and one bag for uncle's family," Zhang Cheng said with a smile, unloading the grain to the ground, untying a bag, grabbing out a handful of yellow wheat, and sending it to the aunt.

The dustpan in her hand fell to the ground, dozens of shriveled black beans were scattered on her feet, the eldest lady took the wheat with both hands, looked at the full wheat, and tears flowed down, "Cheng, is this our family, the eldest mother didn't dream,"

"No, no," Zhang Cheng quickly wiped the water stains from the corners of his eyes, sniffed, and said with a smile, "Auntie, let's go, let's grind wheat, and I'll call Brother Tie Ding later, and I'll eat white noodles at noon,"

"Hey, okay, okay, let's eat white noodles," holding the wheat in her hand, the eldest lady raised her arm to wipe the tears on her face, and her gray face glowed with a luster that she hadn't seen for a long time, this nephew of her own, is now sensible.

There was a small stone mill in the corner of the yard, and Zhang Cheng followed his aunt to work; Besides, in the grass house, Zhang Ziqiang, who was lying on the kang, held Zhang Anlin's hand, and tears were also raining down, and he couldn't speak.

"Ziqiang, brother, I'm not good, I didn't come to see you, I didn't come to see you," Zhang Anlin, who was in tears, looked at Zhang Ziqiang's emaciated face, and sighed guiltily, "You don't want to find someone to go to Shiguantun to bring me a message,"

"Ahem, Brother An Lin, brother, I don't dare, I don't even dare to send it when you go to Shiguantun, I can only take a look from a distance, this is the life of the military household," Zhang Ziqiang, who was hoarse, took a few breaths and leaned on the quilt, "Jiang Qianhu is amazing, I heard from the neighbors, he also has something to do with the death of Lao Ximen Baihu, which one dares to touch the tiger's buttocks,"

"Huh? Neighbors, who said that? Hearing this, Zhang Anlin's eyes widened suddenly, he didn't care about wiping away his tears, held Zhang Ziqiang's hand, and asked in a low voice.

"Oh, hey, look at me, I'm just a mouthy, where do I remember who said it," Zhang Ziqiang's eyes flickered, and he muttered a vague word, and then the topic changed, "Brother An Lin, what are you doing here?" Can't stay there in Shiguantun? ”

"Well, no, I begged a hundred households to come back," Zhang Anlin sat up straight in disappointment, this son has always been soft-tempered, but his temper is stubborn, and he can't ask anything if he asks, "Now I don't accept it, I still have some food at home, and I can use it to help your family and the family of Gaize,"

Zhang Anlin sat on the edge of the kang and talked to Zhang Qiqiang, outside the stove room, Zhang Cheng and the eldest lady had already started to make noodles, today they want to steam steamed steamed buns, white flour steamed buns.

"Kick, kick," the footsteps at the gate of the courtyard came, Zhang Tieding, who was sweating profusely, hurriedly ran into the courtyard in a short coat, carrying a small cloth bag in his hand, and before the person came in, the voice had already shouted into the courtyard.

"Mother, I'm back," Zhang Tieding, who was excited on his face, clutched the cloth bag in his hand tightly, "We have food,"

"Silly boy, what's the food," Tie Ding Niang leaned her head from the stove room and glared at her son dissatisfied, "Look at you, you're covered in stinky sweat, and you don't go to wash it,"

The old lady still had white flour on her hands, and a mule and horse tied in the yard, Zhang Tieding suddenly realized that there were guests at home, otherwise the old lady would not have bowed her head and went to any hundred houses to borrow white noodles.

"Mother," he called out very complainingly, and Tie Ding was about to put down the cloth bag containing three catties of thick noodles, when he saw a heroic face behind the old lady.

"Dingzi, you're back," as soon as Zhang Cheng spoke, Tie Ding immediately recognized him, "Chengzi, it's you,"

The two partners who have been playing since childhood finally hugged each other excitedly again after a year, but Tie Ding obviously felt that Zhang Cheng's body was much stronger than before, and his arms were even as thick as himself.

You must know that in the Thousand Households, the treatment of the blacksmith is much better than that of the carpenter, and in the past, Tie Ding always secretly took the black bran vegetable cake for Zhang Cheng to eat.

At noon, the Zhang family and An Lin, father and son, had a full meal on the kang table, a large plate of white steamed buns, two pickles, and a large bowl of wild vegetable soup.

Looking at Zhang Cheng, who was drinking vegetable soup unhurriedly, Zhang Ziqiang said with emotion, "Brother An Lin, Chengzi has grown up in the blink of an eye, and his body and bones look very good,"

"That is, I don't go home all day, I eat, drink and be full in the military dormitory, can I grow stronger," Zhang Anlin said disapprerovingly, "If I wasn't old and couldn't go to the military house, I would be stronger than him in the mutton soup and beef,"

"Dad, what are you talking about," Zhang Cheng muttered dissatisfiedly, and Zhang Anlin smiled and said no more. Although the secret military order in Shiguantun did not involve food, all the military households consciously obeyed it and abided by the hard-won satisfaction.

But then, he found that the eyes of Ziqiang's family were eagerly looking at him, and he couldn't help but feel hot on his old face, and the broken pride in his heart arose.

"Brother Anling, what kind of military house, isn't it?" Zhang Ziqiang fell to the ground is an old craftsman, and when he heard this sensitive word, he immediately understood, and asked in surprise.

"Well, that's right, Zhang Cheng is now a sergeant, and he has to perform drills every day in Shiguantun to guard against Tartars, so he lives in the military house, where he is full of food," Zhang Anlin thought about it, and Wang Ziliang's explanation when he left made him realize that he seemed to be doing two major things.

So, talking about the treatment of the sergeant in Tunli in private, it shouldn't be a violation of military orders.

"Zhang Cheng and his brother Xingshan are now both sergeants under Ximen Baihu, with a monthly salary of one or two or eight yuan, and Xingshan has been stationed outside for a long time, five hundred yuan more," Zhang Anlin's slightly ostentatious remarks immediately stunned the family of three.

One or two or eight dollars, and you can still eat, isn't that more than 20 cars of silver a year, or 20,000 yuan, and in the gravel fort, it is those hundreds of households to see so much money.

Zhang Tieding chewed steamed buns in his mouth, his eyes floated under the kang beside Zhang Cheng from time to time, and the pair of soft cowhide boots looked hot for him; Compared with his own coarse cloth shoes with his thumb exposed, Tie Ding felt that his father's choice last year may have been wrong.

When Zhang Anlin slowly said the purpose of his trip, the three members of the Zhang family were sluggish for a while, and the sergeants who died in the battle each gave their families a pension of 50 taels of silver, and they could also let their families go to Shiguantun to live, what was that feeling.

"Hey," Zhang Ziqiang, who was leaning on the kang cabinet, put down his chopsticks and sighed in a low voice, "The Ximen family has not fallen, and there are successors from hundreds of households,"

"Dad," Tie Ding couldn't help but scream, and then he was frightened by Zhang Ziqiang's unkind eyes, lowered his head and picked up a large bowl with two stubbles, and drank the vegetable soup slowly.

"Brother An Lin, younger brother, all I want is a stable family, although Shiguantun is good, but it is also a bad place, and I don't want the whole family to change to the military, your family should be careful there, it's really not good, we still have a broken house when we come back," Zhang Ziqiang's soft words made Zhang Anlin temporarily extinguish the idea of persuasion.

After the meal, Zhang Anlin took out the usual money and asked Zhang Tieding to go with Zhang Cheng to send the food to his cousin's house, and invited the doctor to come by the way to take a good look at Ziqiang.

The doctor was invited, and Zhang Gaize followed in a patched shirt.

Zhang Ziqiang's body is an old problem, not to mention that he has to take medicine on time, but the doctor told him that he needs to rest for a year and a half in order to take care of his body, and he will not be able to do heavy work in the future.

Under the guidance of Tie Ding, Zhang Cheng went to the Wang family's shop on the street, bought pig's head meat and ale wine, and added a piece of dried sausage, and Tie Ding Niang quickly put out a few appetizers on the kang table; The three old brothers ate and talked until the evening.

Compared with Zhang Ziqiang's family, the mason Zhang Gaize's house can no longer open the pot, and there are many people at home who open their mouths to chew, and they are worried about going to the city to pick up some wild vegetables and come back, so they meet Zhang Cheng to send grain; After listening to Brother Anlin's chatter at night, Zhang Gaize, who was flushed, went home without saying a word.

The next day, he stuffed some broken silver privately to Tie Ding's mother, Zhang Anlin said goodbye to Zhang Ziqiang, and Zhang Cheng led the mule and horse out of the city.

Out of the castle gate, Zhang Anlin waved his hand to let Zhang Tieding, who was seeing him off, go back, "Tieding, you have to be filial to your father and mother at home, and your stubborn temper still has to be restrained," staring at the castle behind him, the old blacksmith lowered his voice, "If you can't get by, come to your uncle and bring your father and mother with you,"

"Oh, I know," Zhang Tieding reluctantly looked at his distant relatives, and turned back to the city in amazement, today, he had to go to fetch water for the field.

Less than two miles out of the city, at a fork in the road, the sharp-eyed Zhang Cheng saw a figure squatting on the side of the road in front of him from a distance, touching the fire/gun in his arms, and looked at it carefully, "No, Dad, isn't that Uncle Chang Ze in front, why did he come here?" ”

"Oh, isn't it, let's go over and have a look," Zhang Anlin, who was not very easy to look at under the scorching sun, couldn't see clearly when he squinted, and hurriedly pulled the mule and horse with his youngest son and walked forward.

Zhang Gaize, who had a long cigarette pouch pot on his back belt, squatted in the grass on the side of the road with his head down, and looked up in the direction of the gravel castle from time to time, until he saw the figures of Zhang Anlin and his grandfather appear, and then he stood up with a grin.

As soon as they met, Zhang Gaize said to Zhang Anlin, "Brother Anlin, do you want a mason in Shiguantun?" ”

"Yes, why don't you want it, just rush my brother's face, and Ximen Baihu will also want it," Zhang Anlin, who was smiling, looked at his cousin's ragged short coat and straw sandals that were almost falling apart, and said bitterly at the corner of his mouth.

"That's okay, as long as we can eat enough, we're not afraid of being tired from work," Zhang Gaize breathed a sigh of relief, and the bull head shouted loudly into the grass, "Child, come out,"

Hulala, four human heads of different heights came out of the barley, gray-headed and dirty-faced, obviously hidden for a long time, just like Zhang Gaize, they were all patches of patched clothes.

"Brother and sister, you and the children are all right," Zhang Anlin asked Zhang Cheng to help the mother-in-law who changed the rules out, and then looked at the three boys who were carrying half a bag of grain, and asked in a low voice, "The matter is too urgent, I didn't go to the house to see you and the children, don't remember,"

"It's okay, it's okay," the reluctant mother-in-law meowed at her husband uneasily, holding a coarse cloth bag, and her eyes didn't know where to look.

Five refugee-looking relatives, Zhang Anlin also felt uncomfortable, and after asking Zhang Cheng to take out half of the dry food, he hesitated and didn't know what to do; You know, he still has important things to do, how can he go back with people less than half the way.

Seeing that his father was embarrassed, Zhang Cheng handed over a few flatbreads to his cousin, and took out a projectile from his baggage, a projectile for revolver fire/gun, and made three deep marks with his fingernails on the hard paper shell, and handed it to Zhang Gaize.

"Uncle, take it, there is only one way to Shiguan, you go north along this road, cross Xilong and walk along the rutted mark, be careful of the poisonous weeds on both sides of the road, if you are stabbed, you can wake up after resting for two hours,"

"When I got to Shiguan, my own sergeant came out to check it, take this projectile, you give it to them, tell them my name, they will understand it after seeing the imprints,"

Zhang Cheng belongs to the third squad in the personal guard, and he usually practices fire/gun with his companions, and he is used to marking three traces on the projectile, and the other two squads are the same, so it is convenient to take back the shell and go to Uncle Kun to exchange it for a new projectile.

After bidding farewell to the family, Zhang Anlin rode a mule and horse under the persuasion of his son, but fortunately, the mule and horse were docile and walked slowly and faster.

"Chengzi, you change your uncle to take your projectiles, you won't go the wrong way," Zhang Anlin, who was sitting on the mule horse, asked a little uneasily.

Zhang Cheng, who was walking on the dirt road next to him, didn't look back while holding the reins, "Dad, if they can get lost here, then don't go to Tunli, don't waste there in the hundred households,"

", how dare you kid say that you change your uncle, is your skin itchy," Zhang Anlin immediately scolded with a calm face, and a series of preaching made Zhang Cheng shrink his head and never dare to talk more.

That's right, what Xiao Ye often told the guards this time is that everyone is useful, just to see if they have their intentions, and Shiguan Tunli can't afford to raise waste.

The influence of "On War" on Xiao Ye is getting deeper and deeper.

Walking east along the dirt road, every dozen miles along the way, there was a fire pier on the high hillside, and they were still an hour away from the first fire pier, and tonight, it was estimated that they would spend the night in the third fire pier, which was also under the jurisdiction of the gravel fort.

learned from Zhang Ziqiang's mouth that Zhang Anlin's eldest son, who used to work together in the blacksmith shop of the Thousand Households, was a flag officer there and a promising young man.