In April of the seventh year of Chongzhen, Huguang Yunyang Mansion, a military camp stood in the mountains here, about 2,000 people, the first and part of the cavalry of the fifth battalion had just defeated Geli Yanhe Yilong here, and was investigating the movements of Zhang Xianzhong's department.

Since the third year of Chongzhen, Henan has been plagued by drought and locusts for four consecutive years, and the Central Plains region has been bare for thousands of miles, and the production has been abandoned for ten rooms and nine empty, and it has already been full of displaced people and bandits, like a pile of dry firewood sprinkled with gunpowder.

After Shanxi Liukou broke through the Yellow River, it grew rapidly in the Central Plains like a snowball, after a flow in Henan, the rampant wolf, a bucket valley, sweeping the king, the sky full of stars and other Liukou entered the Wuguan in the west, the Shaanxi border army rushed back to rescue Shaanxi under the leadership of Hong Chengchou, and it happened that at this time Houjin entered the pass, the strongest Cao Zhao and Ai Wannian's department was transferred back to Shanxi to rescue Xuanda, and the West Road continued Shanyang, Zhen'an, Shangnan, after the flow in Shaanxi, Hong Chengchou hurriedly mobilized the garrisons in Haoyang and other places to intercept, Cao Zao and Ai Wannian's troops crossed the Yellow River from Hejin, Shanxi Province to aid Xi'an.

Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng, and Zhang Xianzhong swam in the Lushi Mountains, and finally dispersed under the pursuit of Dengzhou Town, Gao Yingxiang moved in the direction of Xiangyang, and Zhang Xianzhong came to the mountains of Yunyang with several groups of people. Dengzhou Town and Zuo Liangyu pursued separately, Zhu Daichun followed Gao Yingxiang straight to Xiangyang, and Liu Pojun led the 1,000th headquarters and part of the cavalry to pursue Zhang Xianzhong, who had just defeated He Yilong yesterday.

In the Chinese military account, Liu Pojun's adjutant was reporting to Liu Pojun: "The news I got yesterday, Zhang Xianzhong and the King of Chaotian joined forces and went to Junzhou. ”

Liu Pojun patted the map and said: "Tomorrow, let's move along the Han River to Xiangyang, and then meet with Zhu Daichun." ”

In addition, I received a secret letter from the military order department from the trading company, and the dragoons originally planned to be transferred in the spring no longer belonged to the Central Plains Brigade, and their establishment was changed to the Linxian Independent Dragoon Thousand Headquarters. Mr. Qian was the former deputy commander of the dragoon, and Zhong Caisheng, the former deputy commander of the fifth battalion, was transferred back to the Dengzhou Martial Arts Cavalry Section. Only the fourth company of the dragoons of the fifth battalion was retained, and on the way to Henan, it was expanded into a thousand headquarters in Huguang by the branch of the Military Affairs Department. ”

"Stay in Linn County?" Liu Pojun frowned, this dragoon had actually been waiting for him all along, as the elite of the thousand-mile attack on Mang Gurtai, it had extremely high mobility and striking power, but now there was only one company left.

He looked at the map and suddenly smiled and said, "It seems that Lord Chen needs dragoons to deter the canal." A company is just a company, anyway, we have captured a lot of horses, and we will expand a cavalry in Huguang. What else? ”

"There is also the matter of the propaganda team, and the Department of Discipline and Guidance has determined that all the propaganda teams will be transferred to the Propaganda Department and will not belong to the military in the future. The official document was signed by the Department of Discipline and Guidance and the Department of Military Affairs, and it has already arrived at the distribution agency of the Department of Discipline and Guidance, and some members of the propaganda team will return to Qingzhou Mansion to form a new detachment. ”

"Huang Side has a sick head, right, transfer people from Huguang to Qingzhou Mansion?" Liu Pojun took the book from the adjutant's hand, and sure enough, it was clearly written, and fifty percent of the personnel were transferred back to Qingzhou Mansion, and three of them were named and wanted to be transferred.

Liu Pojun couldn't help scolding: "Where is Lao Tzu going to find someone to escort them." Huang Side said it easily. ”

The adjutant lowered his voice and said, "My lord, you see that among the three people, one is the deputy captain, one is Xu Pingjie, and the other is Guan Xiaomei. Xu Pingjie is Xu Yuanhua's nephew, and the people in Yanggu have now returned to Dengzhou, and Xu Pingjie is estimated to have missed it last time. ”

Liu Pojun nodded, Yang Gufan was in the field. All of them were transferred back to Dengzhou, and the meaning is self-evident. is to monitor nearby, "Then what does this Guan Xiaomei mean?" ”

"I went down and inquired, Guan Xiaomei's younger brother became Zhou Laifu's son-in-law, maybe Zhou Laifu found Huang Side and let this woman return to safe Denglai, you also know the face of the trading company, and you generally have to sell it."

Liu Pojun's mouth crooked twice, "It's nothing to give the business company, but where does Lao Tzu go to find someone to send them, Henan is in chaos, and he is not afraid that these people will be arrested by rogues walking on the road." ”

The adjutant said tentatively: "Otherwise, after arriving in Xiangyang, let them take a boat into the Yangtze River through the Han River, the trading company has already hoarded supplies in Wuchang, and the branch has also been established, and they will go down the Yangtze River to Yangzhou into the canal." ”

Liu Pojun thought for a long time, and finally scolded: "That's it, it's really, let's talk about it when we get to Wuchang, there are other divisions that want to transfer people to leave, and then they will go together, Lao Tzu has long seen that these propaganda soldiers are not pleasing to the eye, and they should have left the military status a long time ago, you make it clear to the quartermaster that the cost of renting a ship can only be calculated to the head of the training department." ”……

"Fatty, fat...... Fatty, shall we rest? Xie Fei bowed, propped his hands on a dry tree on the side of the road, panting heavily.

"You, you want to run when Lao Tzu, you can't pass the level when you run, when can Lao Tzu be a soldier." Tang Wei was sweating profusely and sat under the trunk of the tree with his buttocks.

"Fatty, do you really believe that Guan Xiaomei can marry you with a medal? Their family backgrounds are different now, you know ......."

"Lao Tzu knows, isn't it his younger brother who married Zhou Laifu's little girl, Lao Tzu heard about it."

"What's more, I heard that his younger brother is no longer working in the workshop, and he opened a carpentry factory by himself, which is opened in Qingzhou Mansion, and I heard that he sells textile machinery, and Lord Liu also specially encouraged the people to set up their own factories in the military newspaper. Who is Zhou Laifu, don't you want to think about it, the head of the trading company, Guan Xiaomei is not allowed to marry. ”

Tang Wei gasped and stared blankly at the barracks under the mountain, where they had been stationed for three days. It is a rare opportunity to recuperate, all the way from Henan, after seeing the tragic situation in the world, to Tang Wei

"I'll have to try, I'll ...... I like Guan Xiaomei. The fat man looked at the bottom of the mountain with some distraction.

"Are you stupid, aren't Juanzi beautiful, you are in charge of money, food, clothing, and pollen in the team, how can you earn some silver every year, and most women are willing to look for you."

"What's the use of that, Lao Tzu doesn't like Juanzi." Tang Wei tilted his head up and leaned against the trunk of the tree, "Besides, the propaganda team will be gone in the future, what kind of money, food, clothes, and pollen ......"

"There's nothing left, the captain said it, it's just transferred from the Discipline Department to the Mission Bureau, but it's not a military status, the salary is a lot, and you can arrange some other plays to make your own money in the future, fat man, listen to me, you can make a lot of money by staying here." You're fat. How many years did it take to get a medal when you went in to become a soldier, and Guan Xiaomei got married early at that time. Besides, the medal is so easy to take, you see Guan Xiaomei and his brother, with two scars on his face, he was born and died. ”

Tang Wei was about to speak, when a horse galloped on the official road below, and when he arrived at the door of the propaganda team, he stopped, and an officer jumped off the horse and entered the courtyard.

"It's the cavalry again." Xie Fei looked at it and said. "Come to find Guan Xiaomei. Fatty, can you compare to others, they have participated in the battle of Fuzhou, and they are only twenty-one, and they are not less than you in terms of literacy and accounting. ”

"Phew. He came a few times, but Guan Xiaomei ignored him. ”

As soon as Tang Wei finished speaking, he saw Guan Xiaomei and Juanzi going out with Mr. Bai, carrying baskets and talking and laughing towards the field, looking like they were going to pick wild vegetables.

"Hey, you said that Guan Xiaomei ignored him, what's going on?"

Tang Wei stood up angrily. "Let's go, let's go down the mountain, let's go with them, we have to stir up yellow for him. Take this path. ”

The two of them ran all the way down the mountain, and the path could be seen as a normal walk, surrounded by dry trees and weeds. Tang Wei has insisted on exercising in the past few months, although his body is still fat. But it has already made a lot stronger, and Ji and Xie Fei's speed is about the same. Ran down after Xie Fei.

There was an exclamation in front, Xie Fei suddenly slowed down, Tang Wei was caught off guard, the two collided together, and fell into the dead grass next to them.

Tang Wei fell to the ground in the dark, and turned over several times before sitting up and scolding: "Xie Fei, why do you stop this dog......

Xie Fei's panicked voice came, "Fatty, look, look." ”

"What are you looking at, there are ...... on this barren mountain" Tang Wei swept half a circle, and several pairs of dangling human feet suddenly appeared in front of him, and his voice stopped abruptly.

On a few dead trees beside him, there were five or six corpses, old and young, most of them stuck out their tongues and opened their eyes, their faces were very terrifying, their skin had turned black, obviously for some time, several corpses shook slightly under the mountain breeze, and there was a creepy feeling in the quiet middle of the mountain.

Tang Wei held his hands in front of his chest, and there were some stories of ghosts and monsters in the army, although the instructor always had to set out those who spread it, but Tang Wei had heard of it, although it was daylight at this time, he was still so frightened that he couldn't speak.

When his whole body was trembling, a hand suddenly stretched out next to him, Tang Wei screamed, climbed a few steps back, and turned his head to see that it was Xie Fei.

"Fatty, fatty, let's go over and have a look. The instructor said that we are soldiers, we have yang energy, that ghost is afraid of us, don't embarrass Dengzhou Town, aren't you a soldier, we can't be too brave. ”

"No, don't be afraid, let's go and see."

The two Tartars held each other up, and walked over to the hanging people, and when they came near, they saw some smaller corpses under the tree, and they curled up beside the trunk.

Tang Wei endured his heartbeat and leaned over to see that it was three children, I am afraid they would starve to death.

At this time, Xie Fei shouted beside him, "Come here, there's a piece of cloth, there are words on it, I don't know it, you can come and see." ”

"I'll take a look."

Tang Wei took it and looked at it, it seemed to be written in blood, it was already blackened, and it read, "Yunyang Wang's family, moved from Jingzhou to Yunyang Liugezhuang during the Chenghua period, a total of one Jinshi, two Xiucai, Wanli family road falls, and Chongzhen year natural disaster, the family has no enough food, there is no tax outside, the old amount is not finished, and the new salary has been urged." There are no barking dogs in the village, and they are still knocking on the door of urging; The tree has a cries, sprinkled with the blood of the whip. To this day, the Liukou has passed everywhere, Huangai Chidi, and the townships have been succulated; White bones and green phosphorus, often hear ghosts crying every night. There is the sound of wind and cranes in the ears, and the eyes are full of desolation. Although it was fortunate to avoid disaster in the mountains and forests, but the money and grain of the house were burned by the thieves, and the whole family had no way to live, the Wang family has been a scholarly family for generations, although they did not do the things of birds and beasts, they had to take the family of ten to hang themselves in the empty forest, and the Wang family's family lineage was cut off here, sad and sad......"

Tang Wei shook his head and said to Xie Fei: "Another hanged family." ”

At this time, the two of them were no longer afraid, and looked around, there were indeed ten people in total, the children were all under the tree, and the adults themselves hanged themselves.

Xie Fei said to Tang Wei: "What the instructor said, only Denglai under the rule of Lord Chen can live and work in peace and contentment, if Jiannu or Liukou comes, we all have to be like this." ”

The two watched silently for a while, and Tang Wei spoke, "Let's go find two hoes and bury them." ”