Thirty years ago, on the western border of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Linqiang County, Jincheng County, Liangzhou-!

"Hoo ......"

At the slightly desolate gate of Linqiang County, a guard named Daniel Zhang leaned against the city gate with a spear, yawning boredly, and said lazily, "Those barbarians have been very well-behaved recently......

Linqiang County, as the name suggests, is the border county of the Great Zhou Dynasty bordering the Qiang people in the northwest, although the entire county covers a small area, but it is quite prosperous, because it is the border county of the Great Zhou and the Qiang people to open trade.

Tea, silk, ceramics, corn, and salt, which was the most important for the grassland tribes, were exchanged for the Qiang people's cattle, sheep, horses, and ores by officials and private merchants of the Great Zhou Dynasty. However, those who have not been to Linqiang County do not know the risks involved, because not all Qiang tribes maintained such friendly and peaceful trade relations with the Great Zhou.

The Qiang people are a grassland people composed of more than 100 tribes whose population accounts for the number of the people of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and at that time, there were only about 20 tribes that established trade relations with the Great Zhou, and the vast majority of the Qiang people regarded the people of the Great Zhou as fat sheep who could rob property and grain at any time.

Although there has not been a large-scale battle between the two ethnic groups in the west like in the northern Xinjiang, this does not mean that the border of the Great Zhou near Linqiang County is peaceful and peaceful, even today, there will be hundreds of Qiang bandits who will raid the county towns and villages on the border of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and harm the people living on the border of the Great Zhou.

It is not unreasonable to say that those who are not of my race will have different hearts.

The sins created by the Qiang people in Liangzhou are definitely no less than the scourge of the northern Wairong in Youzhou, but there are many Qiang tribes, some are pro-Zhou, some are hostile to the Great Zhou, and they have not been able to organize tens of thousands of troops to attack Xiliang in the Great Zhou, but it is undeniable that the Qiang people have also done a lot of hurtful things in Liangzhou. In particular, some Qiang people who hate the Great Zhou Dynasty kill, burn and loot, and do all kinds of evil, and a large number of innocent women are taken away by them every year.

It is precisely because of this that Li Ji, the biological father of Li Shou, the son of the Great Zhou Dynasty and the former emperor, sent troops to conquer the Qiang people several times after the destruction of the Southern Tang Dynasty.

But at present, Linqiang County, as the county seat on the border of the Great Zhou Dynasty, is still in dire straits when it is attacked by the Qiang people.

"!" A veteran in his forties pursed his lips when he heard this, and said angrily, "Haven't you heard? In order to retaliate against our county guard, a tribe of the Qiang people sent troops to encircle and suppress the evil Qiang bandits, and destroyed a village in our nearby country, all the men were killed and the women were taken captive・・・・・・ I don't know how the county guard will deal with this time! ――I thought, I'm afraid that the county guard also has a headache, after all, my Jincheng County only has 20,000 city guards and 20,000 soldiers, guarding such a large county...... Alas! ”

Daniel Zhang was stunned and asked curiously, "Didn't you hear that Lord County Shou asked Lord Liangzhou for help?" ”

The veteran shook his head and said with a sigh, "Don't you know that our Lord of the Prefecture is also fighting with a tribe of the Qiang people in Wuwei County, and it is said that more than 4,000 people have died, so if you want to send reinforcements to our Jincheng County...... Difficult! - Unless ......"

"Unless?"

"Unless the Son of Heaven sends an edict to dispatch other troops!"

"Then why didn't ・・・・・・ Son of Heaven issue an edict?" Daniel Zhang asked suspiciously.

"Didn't you see the emperor list a few days ago? It's a change of dynasty! The veteran glanced at Daniel Zhang, and the change of dynasty he was referring to was the fact that Li Shou, Li Xian, and others' biological father, the tyrant Li Ji among the Jiangnan people, had destroyed the opposition forces in Jijing and ascended the throne as emperor.

According to the secret that Liang Qiu Gong once revealed to Xie An, the former emperor Li Ji was also a little unstable after he ascended the throne, and he urgently needed a great feat to shut up the world, after all, Li Ji was not the emperor who ascended to the throne in accordance with his father's edict, in a sense, he was not much different from the crown prince Li Wei and the fifth son Li Cheng who intended to force the palace to seize the throne thirty years later, but Lao Tzu's ability was obviously stronger than his son.

But even so, Li Ji's throne was not stable, after all, at that time, the thirty-one Li royal families in the Great Zhou Dynasty were divided, and there were many people who were not satisfied with the new son of heaven, so Li Ji came up with a plan to lead the water to the east and officially start a war with the Southern Tang Dynasty to divert the attention of domestic hostile forces.

In fact, during this period, Duke Yin suggested that Li Ji rectify the western border, to put it simply, to teach the Qiang people in the west who did not know the height of the sky, lest they recklessly brutalize the people of the Great Zhou Dynasty and treat the Great Zhou as nothing.

However, the war against the Qiang people obviously could not satisfy Li Ji's appetite, and he desperately wanted a greater credit, a great credit to silence those who were dissatisfied with his accession to the throne, so the year-long national scale between the Great Zhou and Southern Tang began.

In the end, Li Ji, with the support of famous generals of the Great Zhou Dynasty such as Duke Yin and Duke Lü, destroyed the Southern Tang Dynasty in one fell swoop, and killed the Southern Tang Emperor Liu Sheng in the Tiger Forest in the south of the Yangtze River, changed the name of the country to Hongwu, and officially began his brilliant career as Emperor Rongma in the first half of his ascension to the throne, but also because of his tyranny, he fell into the infamy of a tyrant.

However, these things are still extremely far away for Linqiang County at this time, after all, it will be two or three years before the Son of Heaven Li Ji leads his troops to fight against the Xiliang Qiang tribe.

But it is undeniable that Yin Gong's suggestion is not wrong, at this time in Xiliang, the public security situation is indeed quite poor, almost every day there are conflicts between the Great Zhou army and the Qiang people, so the war is launched.

In the long run, one day if the Qiang people did not come to cause trouble, the city guards guarding the city would be a little uncomfortable, just like the soldier named Daniel Zhang.

Leaning against the city gate, Daniel Zhang yawned leisurely, and suddenly, he frowned, because he saw that on the street not far from the city, a group of children in the county were beating a child of the same age, beating the latter to the ground with a blue nose and swollen face.

Daniel Zhang couldn't stand it anymore, walked forward with a spear, and shouted in a deep voice, "Hey! ――What are you waiting for?! ”

The dozen or so children were startled when they saw the adults drinking, and when they looked back at Daniel Zhang, their faces were even more panicked and at a loss.

You must know that in these years, especially on the borders of the Great Zhou Dynasty such as Linqiang County, because of the relationship between the frequent wars with the Qiang people, the status and prestige of the city guards are extremely high, just like Yanmen in the north, Yuyang in the north and other places, which are fundamentally different from some vassal armies that even have to borrow the hands of outsiders to suppress bandits in the territory.

"City ...... Here comes the guards......"

"Quick...... Run away......"

A group of seven or eight-year-old, **-year-old children scattered and fled with shouts, after all, they were just the children of the local people, and they still respected and feared the local city guards.

"A bunch of dead imps!" Daniel Zhang shook his head helplessly, glancing at the child who was knocked to the ground and covered in bruises, leaning down and pulling him! He got up, patted the dirt off his body, and asked with a smile, "Are you alright, boy?" ”

What made Daniel Zhang a little puzzled was that the kid actually grinned and said indifferently, "Well, I'm fine!" ”

Daniel Zhang was stunned, until the child in front of him stood up, he realized that this little ghost was far stronger and stronger than ordinary children of the same age.

Frowning, Daniel Zhang asked suspiciously, "Boy, they beat you, why didn't you fight back?" ― How many people are there? ”

The kid thought for a moment, shook his head and said, "No! Uncle, I know what you said, if I just beat one or two of them, the rest of them may not dare to touch me! But so what? -- In case I don't act in a measured way and hurt them, I don't have the money to treat them, not to mention that they have parents and elders in the family, and although I can beat them, I can't beat their father and uncle...... Rather than that, it's better to give them a beating. ”

“… ・・・" Daniel Zhang was surprised when he heard this, because he found that the child in front of him was not only physically strong compared to his peers, but also had an excellent mind, and knew how to analyze the benefits and losses at a young age.

"What's your name, boy?" Daniel Zhang asked curiously.

A hint of loss flashed in the child's eyes when he heard this, and he shook his head and smiled reluctantly, "I don't have a name......

"No name? ――Don't you even have a nickname? ”

The child shook his head.

丨I don't even have a nickname...... 丨

After thinking for a while, Daniel Zhang suddenly realized.

It is true that not every household in the ordinary people has a surname, but at least there is a name that can be called, even if it is a milk name or a nickname, if there is no latter, only ......

A little ghost, a child raised by the Qiang people! 丨

Thinking of this, Daniel Zhang let out a long sigh, he knew that every year in Xiliang, many women were taken away by the Qiang people as slaves, and distributed like goods to the young people in their Qiang tribe to vent their animal desires, and their status was lower than that of cattle and sheep animals, and the children they gave birth to, if they were boys, also became slaves, and if they were girls, they continued the tragic fate of their mothers, which was a common thing on the border of the Great Zhou.

Some time ago, Lu Kang, the county guard of Jincheng County, attacked a thousand-person Qiang tribe that plagued the local people of the Great Zhou, and brought back more than 100 suffering women, as well as some young boys and girls, and the little ghost in front of him was obviously one of them.

Because half of the body is made up of Qiang blood, is it because he looks taller than his peers? 丨

Daniel Zhang nodded in relief, and at this time, the little guy grinned at him and staggered away.

Is it time to distribute relief food? 丨

Glancing at the smell of porridge and rice coming from the street in the distance, Daniel Zhang sighed slightly.

"Is there anyone else in the house?"

At the second meeting, Daniel Zhang asked the little ghost with ordinary Qiang blood, but in fact, it was only half an hour later.

Probably thinking that Daniel Zhang came forward to help his relationship, the little guy came to the city gate after getting the distributed relief food.

According to him, he was near the city gates, and the street boys who scolded him for being bastards did not dare to bully him again.

"No," the little guy shook his head and said very calmly, "Three years ago, my mother wanted to let me go, but I was killed by those people......"

Listening to the little guy's impersonal tone, Daniel Zhang frowned, because he didn't hear the sadness in the little guy's words at all.

Is it a lack of human affection? Or is it ...... Because it's too calm, it's clear that even sadness won't help? 丨

Looking at the little guy's wise and clever eyes, Daniel Zhang chose the latter as an explanation.

"Na!" Daniel Zhang handed his remaining half bowl of meat to the little guy, as a soldier of the Linqiang County Guard who was born and died, Daniel Zhang's food was still good, at least more hearty than the two crumpled buns of the little guy. But it's half a bowl, but it's actually only two pieces, because there are only four or five pieces.

The little guy looked at Daniel Zhang with a blank eye, muttered a word of thanks, and silently took the bowl that was missing, after all, a meal of two steamed buns with no oil and water at all really could not relieve his hunger.

“… ・・・" Taking a sip of the liquor in the water bladder, Daniel Zhang secretly looked at this kid.

Smart and urban, frank and not hypocritical, I have to say that Daniel Zhang likes this little guy a little.

And the little guy also seemed to feel Daniel Zhang's frank closeness, and in the following year, he was quite close to Daniel Zhang.

Finally, one day, after sharing the delicious meat of the Daniel Zhang meal, the little guy and the Daniel Zhang licked their lips and said enviously, "It's so good, ・・・・・・ city guard."

Daniel Zhang, who was pouring spirits, said with a smile when he heard this, "What? Want to join my city guards? At that time, he was promoted to an uncle.

The little one shook his head and said in a rare bitter tone, "Yes, but it can't be!" ”

Daniel Zhang was silent when he heard this, in fact, he also knew that the children born to those women who were forced to have sex with the Qiang people after being taken away were not trusted by others, although the county was responsible for the relief. Not a joke, there are many women who kill themselves after being rescued.

As if noticing the little guy's loss, Daniel Zhang patted him on the shoulder and said in a deep voice, "Haojie doesn't ask about his origin!" - You can also become a famous hero in the world! ”

"Big hero?"

"Yes!" Rubbing the little guy's head heavily, Daniel Zhang said with an excited and wistful expression, "Do you know the Tiger of Hanoi?" I am the famous No. 1 general in Dazhou! Because at that time, Liang Qiu Gong assisted Li Ji to destroy the Southern Tang Dynasty, and recorded a great battle feat of winning more than 70 large and small cities in three months, Li Ji Chrysostom praised Liang Qiu Gong as the first fierce general of the Great Zhou, and his reputation was resounding all over the world.

"And the eldest son of Liang Qiugong, the Marquis of Dongzhen, Liang Qiu Gong......" Daniel Zhang's face became more and more excited, and he couldn't stop praising Liang Qiu Gong, who was subsequently transferred to Northern Xinjiang by Li Ji, the Son of Heaven, and served as a border general because he shined in this war.

"Big Hero・・・・・・ you?" The little guy had a complicated look of yearning and hesitation on his face, and whispered, "Haojie doesn't ask where he comes from...... Can I do it too? Uncle Zhang? ”

"Ahh Daniel Zhang smiled and patted the little guy's head and said, "You must be able to, you will become a famous hero!" ”

And at this moment, a rolling thunder suddenly sounded in the sky, seeing this, Daniel Zhang looked up at the sky, and said, "Just like the thunder in the sky!" ”

The little fellow was full of joy when he heard this, and was about to speak, when he suddenly heard an alarm bell ring from the castle tower.

"The Qiang people have attacked the city, the Qiang people have attacked the city!"

Daniel Zhang's face changed suddenly, and he subconsciously looked outside the city, and suddenly saw some black spots appearing one after another at the end of the sky, and then slowly enlarged.

"Damn it! - Covered by thunder! Is there the sound of horses' hooves when they rush? Scolding, Daniel Zhang carefully counted the number of Qiang cavalry, and his face turned pale, because he knew that Linqiang County, which only had more than a thousand defenders, could not stop the Qiang cavalry that seemed to be as many as more than 3,000.

Pushing the little guy, Daniel Zhang said urgently, "Little ghost, go quickly!" - I can't stay here! ”

"Uncle ・・・・・・" The little guy is obviously also a person who knows what is good, and when he saw this, he hurriedly said, "I can't stop it, the number of people is too different, it's better for us to ......"

"What do you say?" A big hand slapped on the little guy's head, and Daniel Zhang said with a smile, "Uncle, I'm a city guard!" It's the soldiers of the Great Zhou! It's Uncle! As he spoke, he gently pushed the little guy and said with a smile, "Escape from the East Gate, you shouldn't die here, little ghost!" ”

Seeing that Daniel Zhang was still walking towards the city wall, which was only two feet high, the little guy subconsciously stretched out his right hand, but he couldn't catch anything.

He lowered his head in disappointment, and just then, a voice came in his ear.

"Become a world-famous hero, little ghost! -- It's like the thunder in the sky! ”

The little guy subconsciously raised his head, and in his eyes, he turned his back to the Daniel Zhang of the city wall, raised his spear in his left hand, and pointed his right index finger to the sky......

"Ah・・・・・・ I will, one day, I will become a famous hero all over the world! -- Just like that rolling thunder! ”

An hour later, in the wilderness about three miles away from Linqiang County, the little guy looked at the county seat that was shrouded in gunsmoke and obviously had fallen, and clenched his fist.

"From this day forward, I will be called ...... Array-Thunder-! ”

"Found it! General of the White Water Army, Thunder! ”

In the deep woods of the swamp, about seven or eight miles northeast of Xiangyang, the joyful cries of the Zhou soldiers rang out, and they probably didn't expect that a ferocious beast was waking up and slowly opening its fangs.

"Shhhh ――Are you running out here and causing trouble? I'm not dead yet! Under the siege of Zhou Bing, the thunder who closed his eyes pursed his lips and smiled faintly, with a bit of self-deprecation in his words.

It seems that Zhou Bing is actually not, but refers to the memories that flashed in his mind. Because he also knows that only before death can people recall the memories sealed in the depths of their hearts.

"Hmph, hahahaha!" In Zhou Bing's surprised and stunned eyes, the thunder that had sunk into the quagmire with his knees in the quagmire laughed loudly, and praised repeatedly, "Beautiful!" Pretty! - Well done, Zhou Army Coach Xie An, Zhou Army Commander Liu Qing! But・・・・・・" slowly opened his eyes and said in a deep voice, "not enough to take my life!" ”

After speaking, under the dumbfounded gaze of Xie An, who was watching from a distance, he took a deep breath, floated on the mud with his palms and arms, pulled out his legs from the quagmire, and walked to a rare piece of ground in the swamp on the soft silt.

丨How come?! How would people of this age understand the way to escape the swampy quagmire? And...... How did he know that the soil was relatively strong? Could it be ・・・・・・丨?

Holding the muscles in the corners of his eyes, Xie An had a vague bad premonition, because he felt that the thunder in the distance seemed to have regained that incrediblely powerful intuition, but his eyes were still so hot and full of warlike intent......

"Deal with the White Water Army first!" Xie An immediately gave the order.

In all fairness, Xie An naturally wanted to be the first to snipe the array mine, but for some reason, the array mine, which had regained his amazing intuition, had already found a piece of the field and took a spear from the White Water sergeant. In this case, it is very difficult to shoot and kill the array of mines, since this is the case, Xie An changed the first target to be eliminated to those White Water soldiers.

After all, in Xie An's eyes, even if the thunder was brave, it would not be able to defeat five thousand with one enemy.

Hearing that the target of Ling Zhou's shooting was changed from the thunderstorm to those of the White Water soldiers who had not yet escaped from the quagmire, after all, some of them had begun to learn the method of thunder to get out of their predicament, and the Zhou soldiers planned to watch them escape from the quagmire.

"Tuk-tuk-!"

"Tuk tuk tuk-tuk-!!"

Round after round of intensive shooting, the poor thousands of Baishui soldiers were submerged in the quagmire with their feet, and they had no power to fight back, and were shot alive by the Zhou army's crossbowmen as targets, and were finally swallowed up by the swamp, so that in front of the Zhou soldiers, there was finally only one person left.

"Suffer death, the chief general of the White Water Army!" A Zhou soldier and a thousand generals cursed viciously, after all, the thunder had killed a lot of Zhou soldiers on the battlefield before, and the thunder was the guarantee of the strength of the Baishui Army to win the Zhou army, so no matter who the Zhou soldiers were, they all gritted their teeth hatefully against the thunder.

As if sensing Xie An and Liu Qing, who were paying close attention to this side, Array Lei turned his head and glanced in the direction where the two were and licked his lips.

At this moment, the thunder looked obviously different from before, and his expressionless expression seemed to be in an extremely calm state, but the seemingly fiery eyes in his tiger eyes seemed to be able to burn people's eyes.

Don't be angry!

"Humph!" With a cold snort, the thunder turned a blind eye to the dense Zhou soldiers on the edge of the swamp, as if talking to himself, and said lightly, "Because you want to concentrate on sniping and killing my generation, did you take the lead in shooting the soldiers under my command?" - Don't worry, my generation will inherit, my Whitewater Army soldiers are unwilling to die......"

“… As if sensing something, Liu Qing glanced at the corpses of the thousands of whitewater soldiers who had been killed by crossbow arrows, but their bodies had not yet completely sunk in the swamp.

Oh no・・・・・・ this swamp is sinking ・・・・・・ slower than expected ・・・・・・

Just when Liu Qing secretly screamed that it was not good, the Zhou soldiers gasped, because they saw that the thunder was stepping on the corpse of the Baishui soldier and walked towards the Zhou soldiers, that is, the edge of the swamp. With each step, the courage on the thunder increased by a point, as if as he said, he carried the unwillingness of the sacrificed Baishui soldiers before death and the resentment towards the Zhou soldiers.

"Suffer ・・・・・・ death, thunder!" Seeing that monster getting closer and closer to him, the thousand-person general in the Zhou army screamed in horror.

"Death? Hey! Easily brushing aside the crossbow bolts that were fired at him, Thunder took a deep breath and shouted in a deep voice, "How can you die here?" ―My generation, but I haven't become a famous hero all over the world! ”

That roar, which was infused with all the strength of the whole body, was like a thunder in the nine heavens, bluffing the faces of the Zhou soldiers on the edge of the swamp.

Following the great hero Liang Qiuhao, Zhou Jun may be able to appreciate again today, what is called a peerless general who is the best in the world!