Yanqing County is the county to the west of the 22 counties under the jurisdiction of Shuntianfu, and it is more than 50 miles away from the capital. The Xiangjiao has mobilized from all over the West Road of Zhili, and there are really a lot of hedgehogs gathered in Yanqing. Zhili has already left messages, saying that the imperial court is about to open the ban, let all the boxing circles enter Beijing, and train the new army. Although the defense camp is still guarding around the Beijing Division now, and no altar is allowed to exist within fifty miles, but the edict of the new army has come down, and this ban can be banned for a few days? One step further away from Yanjing City, one step earlier in the future to enter Yanjing City, rumors have said, the senior brother who arrived first may be the Admiral Military Gate, one step late, maybe he can only catch the garrison capital, how much worse is this!

The senior brothers who came from the west road are gathering more and more in Yanqing, and there are altars in the villages, which can no longer summarize the grand occasion of Yanqing County. There are seven or eight altars in a village! When the local elder brother and the outer elder brother get together, it is called a black smoke miasma. Even in Yanqing County, on a street, maybe you can see more than a dozen incense altars, you invite Sun Wukong, I will invite Bodhi Ancestor, anyway, I have to press you!

In Chengguan Township, there are men with braids and red belts everywhere swaggering around, and the three classes in the county don't dare to let go of a fart. The county magistrate is still guarded, at least there is no altar in the yamen, you must know that as soon as the edict is issued, the fifty miles around Yanjing City are quite quiet, and other places have simply become the world of boxers, and there are not a few people in the yamen who have no mothers! In the county seat, what is there now, are the most face-saving senior brothers will have a referendum, and then the trouble is not half of the county master, to say that those parishioners who seem to be superior to others are now completely imposing, many of them have moved to the church, and there are always many boxers around the church every day, eyeing each other, although there is nothing for the time being, but no one knows, in case of collapse, what kind of situation it is!

The people of Zhili, whether in the city or in the township, this period is a little crazy. Needless to say, most of the men are senior brothers and younger brothers, even the women who don't go out much, they all change into red clothes, tie red heads, carry baskets and hold fans, and they are walking together in large groups at every turn, chanting some mantra in a screaming voice. Fortunately, it's the New Year's Day, not the agricultural season, otherwise I don't know how much land I have to abandon!

All the big households, as long as they don't have much contact with foreign religions, at this time, they have to hurry up to show their loyalty to their childless mothers, and pull carts of things to those powerful senior brothers, from the usual food to clothes and money, as long as they dare to send it, the senior brothers will not dare to accept it. Many characters with heads and faces in ordinary life have pulled down their faces, changed their short clothes with a big belly, and mixed with their brothers and sisters all day long, just begging that white lanterns would not be hung on the door.

There are already rumors that one day you will find all kinds of hairy people to settle accounts, and those who hang red lanterns will have a safe house, and the silent old mother who hangs white lanterns will rain down a divine fire, and people will die clean, and their belongings will be burned clean!

What kind of world is this! I just ask Lord Tan to start selecting these boxers and train the new army as soon as possible. The rest of the people, it is better to be dismissed as soon as possible, and if it drags on like this, who knows what will happen!

Outside Xiaogezhuang in Yanqing County, a few outsiders came on this day, pulling camels, looking like they had been a layman for a long time. At first, it was a short and fat man, his face was full of cuts blown out by the cold wind, and his expression was sleepy, but his eyes were still bright. A few men behind him all seemed quite tough, but they followed him closely.

Xiaogezhuang was originally a large village with more than 400 households, and now it is not a cold scene in the township in winter. In the south and north of the village, there is a large incense altar, and the smoke is swirling. It was full of idlers wearing red belts. In the winter, many people are open-minded, thumbs up, and put out a teapot shelf. No matter what you say, you will first wrinkle your eyebrows and stare at you. These two big incense altars block the road between the north and south of the village tightly, no matter who comes and goes, they can't get around this incense altar.

A large flag hangs on the incense altar at the south end. "Monkey King is here, the gods abdicate!" There is a high flagpole erected behind the incense altar, and a young posterity is shirtless and coiled on the pole, and his whole body is blown green by the cold wind like a knife, but he is still coiled there with a solemn face, making his hands on a pergola, and the flagpole is already a place of incense ash, and from time to time there are people who come over and kowtow respectfully to burn incense.

The big flag hanging on the incense altar at the north end is a talisman, twisted and twisted, if you look closely, it is probably a rain on the top, and a call on the bottom. If you have a little knowledge of the tricks of Taoist ghost drawing talismans, you should know that this is the secret talisman of the Jade Emperor Zhou Zhengheng. But no one dared to go to the flagpole to fight on this incense altar, but under the flagpole, there was a man wearing a heavenly official uniform sitting cross-legged on the stage, and this momentum was so bad that he didn't know where it went.

The short and fat man pulling the camel smiled coldly, pointed to the two incense altars in Xiaogezhuang and said, "Pretending to be a ghost to this point!" Here the Jade Emperor was invited to go down to earth, and a signboard of the Monkey King Sun Monkey was erected here............ Hey hey ............"

This Humpty Dumpty is Yuan Shikai, who parted ways with Yijun and infiltrated the territory of Zhili. In such a cold winter, he was running for Xu Yifan's career, which can be described as loyal and diligent. The few entourages who followed him were all selected by the elite of the Praetorian Guard to the intelligence department, and they really admired the decisiveness and vigorous energy of this boss. It's really a shame that Xu Dashuai has a good eye for people and accepts him!

An entourage behind Yuan Shikai smiled and said, "These guys want to become an army? Don't jump on the weighing pan and weigh the scales yourself! Boss Xiang, is it cost-effective to spend so much effort with these guys? ”

Yuan Shikai glanced at him, his cold and lightning-like gaze made the entourage's neck shrink, and he said in a low voice: "I am not afraid of its success, but I am afraid of its failure............ If you know more about the opponent's internal situation, the more likely the handsome person will be more likely to succeed! We are the eyes and ears of the handsome, to these guys, do not have a little contempt, our trip, is to all the Northland inside, without a sense of personal ** color of the faithful return to the handsome! If you have this kind of thought again, go back to Jiangning by yourself. ”

The entourage nodded silently, but Yuan Shikai suddenly restrained the cold look on his face, and put on a sophisticated smile: "They're here............ Put away the edge of the body! ”

Several of the attendants bowed their heads, their necks shrinking into the collar of their leather jackets as best they could. They were Xiaogezhuang who entered from the south, and the incense altar of the Monkey King in the south had already more than a dozen idlers with their chests and bellies bulging towards them. At the beginning, a man with a full beard, a dense-breasted coat, and big pants lost gear, and the posture that came over was really unstoppable. From afar, he shouted at Yuan Shikai and them: "Who is so short-sighted? The Great Sage Incense Altar is here, just such a straight offense? Taken! ”

Yuan Shikai hurriedly dropped the reins and saluted: "Senior brothers, how dare we have this guts?" We are also here to find someone and prepare to enter the altar............ We haven't entered the altar yet, we don't know the rules, and we collide with the gods, so we will admit the punishment! Although the senior brother speaks, there are as many furnaces as there should be, and the brother has no words! ”

As he spoke, more than a dozen men had already walked in, and someone laughed and scolded: "Who the fuck are you calling brothers and sisters?" We don't have that friendship with you! ”

The man approached Yuan Shikai and glanced at him, Yuan Shikai and then retreated in fear, only Yuan Shikai looked at the man with a smile while retreating.

“………… It's a good thing to enter the altar............ But there is no reason to collide with the Great Sage Master in vain...... How much incense is fined, it depends on whether you are sensible or not, and whether you are sincere or not............ What's on top of a camel? Leather goods outside the mouth, or foreign goods from the south? If you sell Kulun's tea bricks and iron pots, the Great Sage won't recognize these things! ”

The man said, not looking at Yuan Shikai, just looking at the things on the camels.

Yuan Shikai smiled bitterly: "Senior brother, let's come all the way, and all the southern goods we carry will be fined." Who doesn't know that there are many senior brothers in Zhili now? Now the donkey is still there, and there is no scraping for a small amount of money in it, and the brother still has a few meals in his waist, whether he is sincere or not, that's all............"

The leading man suddenly turned his face: "What are you talking big about making small money!" ”

As soon as he had a seizure, the idlers behind him also coaxed: "Even if the emperor comes, nine of these ten camels will have to be lost, and there is no money, these animals will be thrown down!" ”

"It's not the end of throwing the animals, beat them! Pass their fire and see if it's Ermaozi! ”

The people behind him were gearing up, but the leading man just looked at Yuan Shikai coldly. Yuan Shikai gritted his teeth, took off his coat and fell to the ground, and fell three whole pieces, one hundred and ten copper coins, and seven or eight foreign coins. He spread his hands: "Senior brother, you have turned your waist, and there is another eldest son, and the ancestral tomb of my surname Xiang is emitting black smoke!" ”

Someone was already cheering: "White money! Enough is enough! Two pieces of pigs of about 400 catties in the town are enough, and this incense penalty is enough! ”

The leading man just glanced at it and waved his hand: "The camel is also thrown down, go to the altar and kowtow three times, you go over." ”

The men behind him took a breath, the camels held by these people were only a few years old, the hooves were thick, the hair pieces were neat, each head was worth at least ten yuan, the big households in Xiaogezhuang, the forty-eight furnaces of incense were fined to the sky, but it was only ten to hang the Beijing money, and the Beijing money used by the Zhili was only one hundred pieces as ten dollars, and when the two hundred Wen on the outside road, it was folded into two cents. Today, I will fine people with dozens of foreign incense, and this senior brother is big enough!

Yuan Shikai was very single, smiled bitterly, and motioned to his subordinates to hand over the camels. Several boxers took the reins triumphantly, and they all smiled from ear to ear. The leading senior brother smiled with satisfaction: "Kowtow and go!" If you want to enter the altar, one person pays ten yuan of incense money, if you don't have it now, you can live first, eat and keep accounts, and send a letter to someone to send money. Old guest, I see that you also have a few articles at home, and this sincerity can be expressed! ”

Yuan Shikai smiled bitterly and looked at the copper plates and oceans on the ground that those men grabbed: "This senior brother, aren't we here to enter the altar?" If you don't enter the altar now, how can business go on this road? We are sincere, and we have to make up the ten yuan of sesame oil............ Just asked, is the senior brother of your altar surnamed Liu? ”

"Liu?" The men who grabbed the copper plates of foreign coins glanced at each other, and the leader gave a thumbs up: "Our senior brother is a disciple of Uncle Yan, and his official surname is Ge!" This is Xiao Gezhuang, where did the surname Liu come from? ”

Yuan Shikai was stunned for a moment, and asked cautiously: "This senior brother, if the brother says something to talk about, don't be surprised, is it the senior brother of the Beitou Xiangtan surnamed Liu?" ”

The man had already cooled his face: "The surname over there is also Ge!" He suddenly patted his forehead: "The surname Liu, the surname Liu, is not such a master!" ............ from outside the road," he said, and the men around him burst into laughter, squeezing each other's eyebrows. The leading man couldn't help laughing, and patted Yuan Shikai on the shoulder: "You still know that Xiaogezhuang has such a senior brother!" Kowtow first, go and take a look, it's in the Zhuangzi, near a courtyard next to the big well with a stone fence, the altar that the master is erecting there, I'll wait for you to come back and kowtow to the altar! ”

The more he talked, the louder the laughter of the people around him became, and Yuan Shikai didn't say much, he made a circle respectfully, and walked through them with his entourage and went straight to Zhuangzi. Behind me, I heard the laughing and scolding voice of the leading man: "It must be a foreigner from Kangzhuang, who came here to find a fellow countryman, and I don't want to think about what scene is at the feet of the Son of Heaven, these countrymen think that their Kangzhuang is fucking bigger than the Forbidden City!" ”

The people behind Yuan Shikai had quietly tensed their muscles, but Yuan Shikai remained silent, just walking towards Xiao Gezhuang.

He searched all the way, just to find the senior brother of Kangzhuang Liu who went to Suiyuan to meet him in Daozuo's shop. In the boxing arena around Yanjing City, he had no interest in entering. A local boxing scene, he can't squeeze in when an outsider goes in. But he was wronged. And these boxing circles around Yanjing City are afraid that they will pay more attention to those who join. He only knows such a person surnamed Liu, so he might as well look for him.

The second is that he has always had a question in his heart, what kind of force can organize this scattered outer boxing club and send it directly to the surroundings of Yanjing? He had seen the children of Da Sheng Kui who had joined the Praetorian Guard. Is everything behind this just Da Shengkui messing around? What exactly are they trying to achieve? Since these outside boxing clubs are organized, they may know more about the inside story than the local boxing clubs!

To be Xu Yifan's eyes and ears, to make great achievements, it is not something that can be achieved casually. Xu Yifan's appearance doesn't matter about anything, and the smiling humans and animals are harmless. Only his cronies know how smart this Xu Yifan is! For Yuan Shikai, Xu Yifan also adheres to the principle that it is better to make merit than to make a mistake. Because of this, Yuan Shikai redoubled his caution and struggled upwards, working more than ten times harder than Xu Yifan's cronies!

The world is about to change, and to stand in the center of this stage of fierce change, it is by no means just going with the flow to achieve the goal!

But I'm really suitable for such a time of great change.

On Yuan Shikai's face, only a faint wry smile appeared.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ in Xiaogezhuang, small doors, every house has an open yard, and it is rare to see idlers walking around in the village. The sun is good today, it stands to reason that in this kind of winter leisure, there should be a bunch of idlers crowded together to bask in the sun and fight small cards, and the women should also sit on the sunny steps to do some needlework, but now all the people have gone to the incense altars at the north and south ends, and such a big Zhuangzi only seems deserted. Several large households, but also the door is deeply locked, and the ghost shadow at the door can not see one, these big families don't even dare to bolt the dog at the door. In case the dog bites someone, the bankruptcy is not enough to compensate these senior brothers, and only the red lantern that was bought for a lot of money swayed lonely at the door.

A few people walked all the way, and it was so quiet that even the footsteps echoed. Yuan Shikai looked around, and finally found the big well with a stone fence, next to the well, there was only a crooked and fallen small courtyard, the wall of the earthen rampart collapsed in half, looking from the low part of the wall, there was no one in the small courtyard, only a small incense altar that was originally a land shrine poked there, the first statue of the god in the shrine who didn't know how cheap it was, there were a few pillars of incense stuck outside, all burned to the end, only a thin little incense ash. Compared with the large incense altars at the north and south ends of the village, the cigarette smoke is so lively that it seems to be on fire, it is almost as bad as heaven and earth!

Suddenly, the sound of gongs and drums sounded in the north of the village, and it came from afar, and there was a group of people who opened their throats and didn't know what to shout again. The north side is noisy, the south is not willing to show weakness, in a blink of an eye, the big gongs and drums sounded, and there were a group of women's voices, screaming hoarsely, Zhuangzi at both ends, as if the New Year's Games were as lively, even the smell of incense, are heavier!

But in this small courtyard, there is still no movement at all, if it weren't for the gossip flag at the gate of the courtyard, and a yellow banner floating on the shrine, with the words "Pure Yang Acting and Policeman" on it, Yuan Shikai is really afraid that he has found the wrong place!

A few entourages glanced at each other, and saw Yuan Shikai groaning, walking around the courtyard wall to the door, patting the dilapidated courtyard door and asking, "Senior Brother Liu?" Is Senior Brother Liu here? ”

He shouted seven or eight times in a row, and his voice became higher and higher. At this time, I heard the sound of the door opening inside, and a person dragged the shoe leather out slowly: "What's the matter?" There are five poor people in the altar, and they can't afford to pay for the incense money of honoring Venerable Yan! ”

The door creaked open, and it was indeed Senior Brother Kangzhuang Liu that Yuan Shikai and they saw on the official road in Suiyuan. This senior brother no longer has the same spirit as before, and the ash on his face is only half an inch thick, and his braids are unkempt. Wearing a bare leather jacket, the person also lost a lot of weight, and looked at Yuan Shikai and the others were just stunned.

Yuan Shikai grabbed his hand: "Senior Brother Liu, we are old customers of the small shop on the edge of Kangzhuang!" Brother's surname is Yuan, do you remember? At the beginning, when you said it, my brother knew that it was now the world of incense, and he didn't have the identity of the incense sect, and he didn't want to do business, so he couldn't stand the punishment of incense all the way! That's why Baba came to you, senior brother, to join the church! Big brother, do you remember how many of us? ”

Senior Brother Liu looked at them fixedly for a long time, and his dull gaze moved: "I remember!" Those old customers who eat pig's head meat! ………… Do you have anything to eat? Plenty of oil and water is the best! ”

Senior Brother Liu's trip to Zhili was simply a nightmare. He was originally in the Kangzhuang Xiangjiao, but he was just an ordinary person. This time, he rushed to take more than a dozen subordinates to prepare to enter Yanjing City as an official. Who knew that as soon as I arrived around Yanjing, I found that there were so many boxing circles from outside! The people who organized them to come are the ones who come and come, but they are in charge of food, housing, and expenses, and they are just those famous incense characters from outside the world. Whether others can come out depends on their own abilities. Anyway, for these people who join in the fun, as long as they have a strong voice.

Senior Brother Liu is a normal person, and he can't settle anywhere. Yanqing Xiaogezhuang has his wife and brother, so he had to bring more than a dozen subordinates to settle down. Who knows that Xiaogezhuang is a big Zhuangzi, and the Xiangjiao boxing scene here has long been lively, where is there room for them to spread! As soon as Senior Brother Liu came, he was punished by the local incense sect more than a dozen times, and he was cleaned up with a little entanglement. There were more than a dozen people under his hands, and those who had money left in their waists slipped back to Kangzhuang, and those who had no money changed to the local incense sect, so they had a good belly. Even if he, Senior Brother Liu, pulls down his face and wants to vote for others, who is willing to accept him except for sneering at him and laughing at him! One mountain can't accommodate two senior brothers. He has neither money nor people, only shallow here, and after eating so much white food, his wife and brother's face has also been pulled down. In the past two days, he said that he was going to visit his relatives, so he left him here, and the kitchen he left was so clean that he could run mice, and Senior Brother Liu, who could eat and drink spicy food in Kangzhuang, was hungry for two days! The well water is so blue that my eyes are blue!

At this time, not to mention that Lu Zu doesn't eat meat anymore, if a live pig runs over on the street, Senior Brother Liu can pounce and gnaw a leg!

Yuan Shikai and the others came to the door, and Senior Brother Liu didn't care about being abrupt or not, so he was about to eat when he opened his mouth. Looking at him like that, Yuan Shikai was also embarrassed, and quickly took out the dry food and dried meat on his body, and Senior Brother Liu grabbed it and chewed it bitterly. While eating, he was vague and tearfully explained the origin of these days.

Yuan Shikai just squatted there and listened, nodding his head.

This can be regarded as a high-level inner circle squeezed into an incense altar, right? It can't be any higher-level, and there is only one senior brother Liu's bare pole left in this incense altar. When Yuan Shikai thought of this, he only felt a little funny in his heart.

But it's exactly what I want............ No matter how down-and-out this Senior Brother Liu is now, he is one of the senior brothers of the Honest Xiangjiao in Kangzhuang after all. There is no longer a positive origin, not a wild road. By covering up, no matter how good it is.

But if this Senior Brother Liu has been so down, how can he find out the inside story of the Xiangjiao?

Yuan Shikai smiled faintly, squatting there and looking at Senior Brother Liu, who was working hard without raising his head: "Senior Brother, what are your plans?" ”

"Plans? What else can you do! Old guests, we are brothers, do we have a coil around our waists? Lend me a little, Lao Tzu will go back to Kangzhuang! You come to me in Kangzhuang, I have a louse, and I can't miss a thigh of yours! ”

Yuan Shikai shook his head slowly: "All the way over, the coiling of one hundred and ten taels of silver has been punished with incense, and I have no money in my waist." ”

Senior Brother Liu stopped his movements and sighed: "We are both unlucky!" These incense sects around Yanjing City are a bunch of fucking live bandits! Brother, take care of yourself, follow me, only bad luck! ”

Yuan Shikai looked at him quietly, and said word for word: "Senior Brother Liu, you are so humiliated by the Xiaoge Zhuang Xiang Sect, don't you want to talk to them?" Could it be that our guys have been shallow here? When is this the end? ”

Senior Brother Liu glanced up at Yuan Shikai, and finally couldn't help but scold: "Fuck, the two jars here are the second disciples of Venerable Yan who doesn't know which apprentice, when Venerable Yan accepted apprentices in Kangzhuang, there were more than forty of us, but it was his old man's personal inheritance!" Lao Tzu is a whole generation taller than them, these guys deceive their teachers and destroy their ancestors! Lu Zu descended, and the secret talismans were all handed down by Venerable Yan himself, how could they be like their gangs, any immortal ancestor would dare to invite him! ”

After scolding twice, he lowered his head and sighed again: "............ But what's the solution? They are the head snakes of the land, Venerable, they are now also looking at who can afford to look at whoever pulls up the momentum, I am shallow here, I can't mix my mouth for three meals, in the incense sect, where is there a future! When I came, I wanted to get ahead, but now, I can't think of anything............"

Yuan Shikai's voice was soft: "............ Since His Holiness wants to make a big noise, let's pull it up............"

"How? It's easy to say! ”

Yuan Shikai slowly stood up: "The two incense altars in Xiaogezhuang, as long as Senior Brother Liu can be trusted, I will come to talk to them." ”

Senior Brother Liu stayed there for a while, looking at Yuan Shikai with a raised face, and his voice became slurred: "Old ...... Old guest, ............ you guys?"

The entourage behind Yuan Shikai also straightened their waists, sitting or standing, in the eyes of Senior Brother Liu, the fierce spirit of these people couldn't be hidden!

Yuan Shikai smiled: "Senior brother, don't worry, we businessmen outside the mouth, you also know that if you have a mouth, it will not be your own." When you meet a horse bandit and want to fight, if you go with smuggled goods, you will also fight when you see the patrol team, and you will splash your surname for the sake of wealth and nobility. Buying and selling outside the mouth will seek profit, but now the great wealth is incense! With a few percent of the profits, we can give up a few surnames. Not to mention that now it's a big deal! Others, we can't squeeze in, Senior Brother Liu is the personal inheritance of Venerable Yan, why do we have to side with your banner............ Life is a life, grass and trees are autumn, Senior Brother Liu entered Beijing just for wealth, now that it is like this, it is better to fuck a shop! Brothers can pull up a team of hundreds of people at any time, just ensure that Senior Brother Liu makes this scene! ”

Senior Brother Liu's face was pale, he was from Kangzhuang, and he was on the side of the road outside the entrance, how could he not know that these businessmen outside the entrance were outlaws. Not only fighting horse bandits, but also fighting patrol teams, seeing other caravans alone, these guys may also turn into horse bandits and rob. With such a group of people by his side, he is still afraid of the incense altar of Xiaogezhuang! They clearly fancied that they were disciples of Venerable Yan, and he was not worried about these guys crossing the river and demolishing the bridge. As long as the banner of the Xiangjiao Sect does not fall, and Venerable Yan is still there, his position as a senior brother will be secure—as for who is in charge behind the scenes, who cares so much, what kind of mess has he become by himself! It's not bad to be a senior brother in the bright side, at least the fragrant and spicy ones are indispensable even for female believers............ Look at the bare leather jacket on your body, and think about the hardships of these days. Senior Brother Liu slapped his thigh, how bad can it be? Can you endure this bird anger like this? At least follow these old customers to fill their stomachs first, what's wrong, just raise your legs, it's great to go back to Kangzhuang if you want to eat.

"Old guest, I listen to you!"

Yuan Shikai also smiled and patted Senior Brother Liu's shoulder vigorously.

This down-and-out senior brother turned out to be a suitable candidate to enter the Xiang Sect with the help of strength. The origin is right, and there is no way out. I didn't expect to bump into the right person!

When heaven and earth are all working together, is Xu Dashuai's luck really strong to such a point?

"Senior Brother Liu, don't worry, in just these two days, I will negotiate with them!"

What to talk about? Senior Brother Liu lowered his eyebrows and glanced at the few capable men behind Yuan Shikai, and shuddered, not daring to say a word.

Hey, I knew that I would rather eat in the soil than enter this incense teaching!

(To be continued)