"The 100 households under the command of the Thousand Households in Gravel Town will meet the Lord of the Thousand Households." Three days later, on the north school field outside the fort, Ximen Xiao bowed down at night, and behind him, a big cart, hundreds of military households, dozens of artisan households, black pressure and crows silent; In front of him, it was Jiang Jie, a thousand households who made him have nightmares.

Dressed in the costume of a military attache of Xiong Zhen, the bronze medal of the unicorn of General Pei Wude, and the master of Qianhu with a sharp sword at his waist, he was in charge of the transfer, supplement, selection and defense of the sergeants of the whole institute.

Behind him, the secretary in charge of the affairs of the secretary, who was in charge of the affairs of the secretary, and was in charge of the tuntian, camp exercises, army inspection, patrol and arrest, etc., that is, Li Ansheng, the deputy Qianhu, and the two members of the town in charge of military discipline, Sun Dezhang and Jiang Cheng, accompanied the side.

Seven hundred households, dressed in the costumes of a military attache and wearing the lion-shaped bronze medal of Captain Zhaoxin, followed from avoidance of suspicion.

It is better to say that it is to see him off, but it is better to say that it is a demonstration and intimidation.

It stands to reason that Ximen Xiaoye's subordinates should have two general banners, one secretary, two general banners in charge of five small banners, and then there are ordinary sergeants, said to be one hundred households, and in addition to the official establishment of one hundred and twenty people, they can also hire some miscellaneous men.

But now, he didn't get the waist card of the general flag, the secretary or even the small flag to tell himself, but the flag army is all together, and it is not counted as a hundred households.

Among the supplies rationed in the Thousand Households, there were a bunch of rusty iron knives, more than a dozen wooden rods and iron-tipped spears, and Ximen Xiao Ye couldn't see a single iron-roded spear, an iron shield, let alone a firearm such as a three-eyed gun. The mandarin duck jacket was dirty and torn, and even had blood stains, he pinched his nose and picked out some.

Ximen Xiao Ye, who understood the problem, faced the scrivener, what to give, what to take, and what not to give, and not to ask much, farm tools and grain, more than a dozen dilapidated ox carts that were about to fall apart, were also full, half of them were pots and pans and other luggage and bedding.

"Well, Ximen Xiao has a hundred households in the night, the major event of the reconstruction of Shiguantun, I hope you can stick to it with the military households, the guard will send someone to send food and salary, and you can reclaim the wasteland there at will, and the routine tax will not be collected for three years," In the eyes of the hundreds of households looking at the dead, Jiang Jie of the thousand households still did a very gentle encouragement, as for what he thought in his heart, it is unknown.

"Yes, Xia Guan Bidang did his best to garrison Shiguan, rebuild Shiguantun, and guard the northern checkpoint for the guard," Ximen Xiaoye, whose eyes were as calm as water, was wearing a brand-new Baihu battle jacket, a lion-shaped bronze medal shining, and a pair of combat boots wrapped around a wire jacket, and hanging from his waist was a standard waist knife left by his father.

Facing the enemy who tried to destroy Simon's family, Simon Xiaoye understood that the death of his parents was directly related to this guy who hid a knife in his smile; But the younger siblings on the ox cart made him forcibly suppress the anger in his heart, and his face turned slightly red.

After bidding farewell to Qianhu, he got up and took two steps back, Xiao Ye bowed his hand to everyone, turned around and strode away. Kowtowed to his enemy, Xiao Ye swore not to do it after that.

Looking at the slowly departing convoy of people, as well as the back of the young man, Jiang Jie stroked a few beards on his chin, thinking thoughtfully, Luo Yufei next to him stepped forward and gave a vague look, "My lord, everything is over, let's go back,"

"Oh, hehe, yes, I'm busy with official business, and I still have chores to do in the office, go back," Jiang Jie, who received Luo Yufei's hint, was in a good mood for a while, and returned to the mansion with a group of officers.

For Ximen Xiaoye, who was reluctant to throw away even the stone mill, Jiang Jie didn't care about it anymore, a small family has no future, and the climate outside the river is difficult to live.

Less than five miles to the north of the gravel fort, there are large pieces of gravel ruins, which seemed to be the boundary of the ruins of the town many years ago, the grass and trees are sparse, but it is also a good place for the military households in the fort to pick up stones, and most of the military families on the gravel fort have courtyard walls and houses, and the stones come from here.

After the long gravel beach, there is a large area of medium and medium fertile land, with the gentle Xilong River on the side, and the clear river water from the Qilian Mountains continuously irrigates thousands of acres of paddy fields here, and there are nearly 10,000 acres of fields nearby, which also benefit.

Wheat and cotton are the foundation of the military households in the Gravel Fort.

This is also the gravel fort, which has always been set up in the state capital of the thousand households, why it will be configured nearby, the huge income of grain and cotton, in the northwest region, Suzhou Wei is second to none.

From the first few people, to the later families leaving in groups, Ximen Xiaoye, who walked in front of the team, just cared about the younger brothers and sisters on the ox cart, and did not pay attention to the military households and craftsmen who pulled the ox carts.

"I said Brother Xiao, ah no, it's Xiao Baihu, why don't you look at it, if you run again, you will run out," Wang Dali, who hurried to the front of the team, grabbed the reins of the old cow and asked anxiously and loudly.

The stout blacksmith of the king, with dark skin, and a loud voice that could be heard from afar.

This time, there were 60 military households and quite a few artisan households, a full 40 households; Anyone who had a close relationship with Simon Gale in the past and had a good relationship, Jiang Jie simply came to a one-size-fits-all approach and completely erased the shadow of Simon's family in the Gravel Fort.

"Uncle Wang, don't worry, you can't persuade you," leaning on the bed roll on the ox cart, Ximen Xiao Ye held his sleeping younger brother in his arms, and sat on his lap with his sister looking around, and said lightly.

The little sister was wearing his red-capped felt military hat, and her smiling appearance made him a lot more cheerful.

"Two hundred stone of coarse grain, three hundred yuan of money, and five head of ploughing cattle, which is our family base from this year to next summer, Uncle Wang, there are many people and little food, everyone understands it very well," squinting at the Xilong River with a black line in the distance, Ximen Xiaoye sighed softly.

"Let's go if you can, the military households can still find food in the fields, but it's a pity that you craftsmen don't even have a chance to steal back to the fort," the flat tone made Wang Dali, who was originally anxious and sweaty, let go of the reins in amazement.

The status of military households in the Ming Dynasty was very low, even lower than that of civilian households, but military households were one of the important sources of military resources of the country, so the Ming Dynasty had strict control over military households, and ordinary military households must serve for life, and only a handful of people could remove military membership for civilian officials.

The salaries of military households are also very low. In addition to sending more than one ding to the guard to fill the army, each military household also paid one more ding to serve with the army.

When a soldier goes to serve in the guard, his uniform and the cost of the journey are all borne by his family. During the period of service in the guards, the soldiers were provided with their own clothing, and their food and salary did not increase due to the birth of children or the increase in population. Military households are also not exempt from some conscription because of the provision of military personnel, and their living conditions are inferior to those of civilian households.

Not only the family, but the soldiers who went to the guard station were not much better than their families. Soldiers were exploited by the officers, and their rations were often withheld or in arrears.

During the service, the soldiers were still the objects of enslavement and hard labor by the government, officials and magnates. Some major projects are often completed by military officers, such as the construction of palaces, imperial tombs, dredging of rivers, etc.

In some guard posts, the sergeants' tun fields were encroached upon by Haoyou and the generals, and the generals asked the sergeants to farm and plough the land for them, and even let the sergeants fish and collect wood for them, and sell/sell smuggled goods. Sergeants have gradually become tools and drudgery in their hands.

The Guard stipulated that sergeants must have a wife and were not allowed to be celibate. Because the sergeant not only has the obligation to serve, but also has the responsibility of giving birth to the next generation of soldiers for the guard. For this reason, the children of military households are not allowed to marry outside civilian households, so as to avoid the outflow of personnel. Once the children of a civilian household marry a military household, they will not be included in the military household for life.

The strict control and restraint of military law and the lack of food and salary to survive have led to the flight of soldiers in large numbers, and the phenomenon of military households evading military service has become more and more serious.

"Woo," Uncle Kun, who was driving the car, snorted twice at the blacksmith, waved the straw rope, and continued to drive the old cow on the road.

"People can go, but the food must stay, Uncle Wang, you can take care of these things, and the position of the secretary will be left to you in the future," on the ox cart, Ximen Xiaoye's casual command made Wang Dali overjoyed.

As he spoke, Xiao Ye took out the roster from his arms and threw it to Wang Dali, "People go to the name, you can do it." ”

With the authorization of Ximen Xiao Yebaihu, the temporary priest Wang vigorously used the hammer he carried with him, shouted at a few good craftsmen, and began to maintain order in a serious manner, but made those military households who were ready to slip away hesitate and shrank their necks.

The hearts of the craftsmen are very clear, since they have been pawned under the account of the hundred households of Ximen Xiaoye, unless this young hundred households dies, it is not good to starve and freeze, and they can't complain about others; Stealing back to the Gravel Fort? Don't think about it, the military households can farm the land, and no one can look at the craftsmanship in their hands.

The knife of the thousand households is not to be watched and played, once the military order and military discipline are mentioned, it is not very difficult to kill the heads of more than a dozen craftsmen to show the public.

Following Ximen Baihu may still be able to eat with a mouthful of food, but once he escapes, he will be caught and will affect the women and children of the family. The helpless craftsmen could only muster up their courage and follow the convoy forward.

However, after staying overnight on the banks of the Xilong River, Wang Dali was frustrated to find that the military households had already run away, and the rest were all disabled old subordinates who had followed Ximen Gale Wind, knowing that there would be no good end if they returned to the gravel fort, so there were more than fifty heads in ten households.

Coupled with the nearly 200 young and old craftsmen, the young and strong people in them are full, and there are less than sixty people; Fortunately, their brothers kept a good watch, otherwise the ox carts pulled by those people would have been dragged away overnight.

Two hundred stone of coarse grain, two hundred and thirty-nine mouths, even Wang Dali's stupid head, can also be calculated, the consumption of three stones a day, in less than three months, is already time to find wild vegetables to eat.

How could those military households who had been farming for a living for many years not see it more clearly, no wonder they were not willing to stay longer this night, and would rather run back to the gravel fort to be punished, rather than follow to Shiguan.

The sky was bright, and Wang Dali dimly saw a guy with a short handcuff in Ximen Baihu, walking into the meadow not far away, and hurriedly woke up the sleepy craftsmen around him, and began to fetch water and cook rice.

To the north of the Xilong River, there are large meadows and sparse low forests. Further north, over the rolling hills and hills, you can see the grasslands of the north.

In the meadow, Ximen Xiaoye touched the heavy steel crossbow in his hand, "click" and pulled the lower lever, and in the crossbow box, a short crossbow/arrow slid out of the arrow box and was firmly stuck in the closed groove of the gun; He hadn't tried this weapon without a crossbow string and firing with a powerful spring, and he had come here just to practice how to use it.

"Bang, Bang, Bang," the continuous trigger, three crossbows/arrows from Wangshan aiming, to the target of the shot, a distance of thirty paces, Ximen Xiaoye quickly mastered the essentials of shooting; You know, with Simon Gale, he is even familiar with gunpowder birds, let alone this cold weapon.

This kind of handcuff-type crossbow/arrow, if it weren't for the name on the grinding plate pattern, Ximen Xiaoye would never have thought that this seemingly handcuff-like object could fire ten short arrows in one breath.

The short arrow with the cold light shining all over the body, four inches long, with a three-edged heavy head and a short pole, the distance of thirty steps is almost an arrow, and the left and right sides are not more than the size of a palm, which is enough to make Ximen Xiaoye ecstatic.

If you practice it diligently, in the near future, it will mean that there will be no missed arrows; Those archers who have been trained for more than two years, although they can reach a range of seventy or eighty paces, their accuracy is still undeniable.

However, thirty paces away, the accuracy of the short arrow was a little floating, and Ximen Xiao Ye reluctantly noted down the effective range.

Retracting the short arrow, removing the arrow box, a small paddle, can actually jam the heavy arrow box steadily, Ximen Xiao Ye is very amazed at the craftsmanship of the design craftsman; Laboriously pressing the short arrows back into the arrow box one by one, the new hundred households looked for prey for a long time, and returned empty-handed helplessly.

With the crossbow hanging on his waist, Ximen Xiao returned to the convoy at night, and after having a simple breakfast with his younger siblings, everyone began to prepare to cross the river. The ox cart is now nearly half idle, and the new hundred households are merciful and let the old and young women and children sit in the cart, and their young and strong people pull them on the road.

In the past two years, the water of the Xilong River has become more and more shallow, and the surging and clear river surface of Ximen Xiaoye's memory has become a small river less than 100 meters wide that people and animals can wade through.

Wang Dali took two craftsmen who were familiar with the river, found a flat and hard place at the bottom of the river, and after walking back and forth twice, he beckoned everyone to start going into the water.

"Uncle Wang, don't worry, I'll go over and take a look," Looking at the lush grass on the opposite bank, the few sparse small trees made Ximen Xiaoye a little uneasy, so he pressed everyone's actions.

After instructing Uncle Kun a few words, Ximen Xiaoye took off his combat boots and threw them on the ox cart, rolled up his trouser legs and crossed the river, and in his hand, the continuous military crossbow had been topped with short arrows.

I have to say that the road across the river that the craftsmen are looking for has a gentle flow and a depth that is greater than Ximen Xiaoye's accident, and the water surface that has just reached his knees makes him no longer worry about the grain on the ox cart.

Before he could gain a firm foothold, a sharp whistle sounded in Ximen Xiaoye's ears, and more than a dozen sturdy men in black broke out of the tall grass with knives and guns.

"No wonder, you can't even see a bird in the tree," muttered in his mouth, Ximen Xiao Ye held a crossbow in his hand, and looked up coldly at the big man who surrounded him.

"Hey, Wu Na boy, my brother and I don't have enough money to have, leave the money on our bodies, and everyone can do their own convenience," led by a leopard-eyed dwarf, his face was covered with a black cloth, and he held a bright iron knife in his hand, looked Ximen Xiaoye up and down a few times, and shouted loudly.

The other big men with knives and guns, while the dwarf man was speaking, opened up the formation, outflanked in a semicircle, and in the blink of an eye, they came seven or eight steps closer.

There were some broken silver in his arms, and a distorted gold leaf, and the three hundred yuan of money on the ox cart were all future life money, and they could never be handed over.

"Bold, I'm the new Ximen Xiao Ye of the 100 households in Gravel Town, aren't you afraid of Wang Fa when you block the road and rob / rob?" Ximen Xiaoye's eyes narrowed half-narrowed, calculating the timing of the launch of the crossbow in his hand.

However, there are ten short arrows in the crossbow, and there are fourteen people on the other side, even if he shoots one arrow, the remaining four sturdy robbers are not something he can deal with; Thinking of this, Ximen Xiaoye gritted his teeth, spread his feet, and bowed slightly.

Jiang Jie, Jiang Qianhu, are you so ruthless to my Ximen family, do you want to kill them all?

"Oh, hehe, hahahaha," the leopard-eyed dwarf was slightly stunned when he heard Ximen Xiaoye's drink, and couldn't help laughing, not only him, but even the big men on both sides also giggled one by one.

"Little cub, you are Ximen Xiaoye's hundred households, no wonder, no wonder, the outfits of these hundred households still look quite new," shaking his arms, the leopard-eyed dwarf stood and stopped, his eyes fixed on the immature boy in front of him, playfully fiddling with the guy in his hand.

"Wang Fa? The king of law here is Jiang...., hey, boy, you want to take Lao Tzu's words, hum, don't say I won't tell you, just tell you, you won't live this hour," the ruthless mangs flashed in his eyes, and the leopard-eyed dwarf man waved his knife, "Now, Lao Tzu, I want money and people's lives, brothers, three hundred yuan is enough for us to go to Chunxiang Building for a few days,"

The changes that occurred on the other side of the river made Wang Dali and the craftsmen and military households in an uproar, and everyone saw it clearly, but the sticks and hoes in their hands were difficult to sustain even if they were self-preservation, and they crossed the river to save hundreds of households? Is it possible?

"Ladies and gentlemen, there are robbers blocking the road on the other side, come with me to support the Lord of the Hundred Households," Wang vigorously waved the hammer in his hand, and shouted left and right for a while, but found that the people in the convoy were all pale, and even some people slipped out of the team and plunged into the high meadow.

Even the craftsmen who were good with themselves were just guarding their families tightly, trembling like chaff.

Seeing the robbers on the other side of the river rushing towards the hundred households, Wang Dali sighed, turned his head to look at the mother-in-law on the ox cart, and shouted, "Wang Meng, Wang Hu, and Lao Tzu are going to fight hard,"

Wang Meng and Wang Hu are Wang Dali's two sons, the age is similar to Ximen Xiaoye, Wang Dali's mother-in-law was seriously ill back then, if it weren't for the consistent money given by Ximen Gale Baihu, he would not even have a wife, how could he come from two sons.

In order to repay the kindness of the old hundred households, Wang Dali's family is willing to follow Ximen Xiaoye, and now the time has come to repay the kindness.

"Yes," Wang Meng and Wang Hu dropped the burden in their hands, went to the ox cart and turned out an iron knife, and followed Wang Dali to the other side of the river.

"Bang papa," on the other side of the river, Ximen Xiao Ye, who was standing in the muddy water, quickly raised the repeating crossbow in his hand, and steadily detained the machine bracket against the masked robbers who had already pounced in front of him; Sharp short arrows pierced the chests and abdomen of these big men in the blink of an eye.

Ten short arrows, except for the first hand trembling shot away, the other nine lightning into the fresh **, accompanied by a terrible howl, Ximen Xiaoye dropped the crossbow, pulled out the waist knife with his backhand, and rushed forward with a gloomy face.

In order to protect his younger siblings and survive, he had to fight for his life; The stench of blood had already irritated his eyes to be bloody.

Newborn calves are not afraid of tigers, perhaps, it is a teenager like him.