I have long known that the current situation in Shandong is not good, and I have long been mentally prepared for this, but when I crossed Jishui and really entered Shandong, Chen Yingliang really understood what it meant to expose white bones in the wilderness and have no rooster crow for thousands of miles.

As far as the eye can see, the north of Jishui is all deserted, there is no crop in the fields on both sides of the official road, it is overgrown with all kinds of weeds and thorns, and occasionally there are human bones born in vain, large groups of crows and finches gather together, and when they see people screaming and scattering, the sound makes people feel panicked when they listen to it.

Almost all the villages along the way have turned into ruins, and occasionally there are some traces in the village, and there are also some hungry people with yellow faces and thin clothes and ragged people, most of them are so hungry that they can't walk, and they don't hide when they see the army, and they only silently watch Chen Yingliang and his party pass by with a numb expression. Among them, there are also some strong men who don't know what to eat to maintain nutrition, unkempt, disheveled, holding simple wooden knives and bamboo guns in their hands, looking at the dry food bags carried by Chen Yingliang and his party, their eyes are shining green, but they are afraid of the Xueliang knives and guns in the hands of Chen Yingliang's entourage, and they don't dare to rush up to stop the robbery.

Occasionally, a few skinny people knelt on the side of the road, begging for food from Chen Yingliang's team with tears in their eyes and hoarseness, but this time, including the kind-hearted Mulan, they all chose to turn a blind eye, as if they didn't see it, and rode straight past these people, only Chen Yingliang restrained the war horse in front of a woman holding a child, and threw two pieces of flour and a handful of copper coins to the ground. However, after patting the horse and walking away, Qin Qiong next to him said: "Deputy envoy, the last general knows that you are a poor woman and child, but you only hurt her by doing this." ”

"What do you mean?" Chen Yingliang asked.

Qin Qiong twisted her face away, not daring to make eye contact with Chen Yingliang, and said in a low voice, "You'll know right away." ”

Before Qin Qiong's words were finished, there was already a woman's cry and scream behind him, Chen Yingliang hurriedly looked back, but saw that there were already many hungry people surrounded the woman and child, and they were snatching the bread and copper coins they gave alms, and the woman tried her best to stop it, but she was beaten and beaten. Chen Yingliang was furious, drew his sword and rushed back to save the woman, Qin Qiong and Zhang Xutuo arranged for the accompanying 100 cavalry to be afraid that Chen Yingliang would lose, so they hurriedly turned back to help, and helped Chen Yingliang easily disperse the group of hungry people and rescue the woman.

The woman who was already hungry was rescued, but the two pieces of bread that Chen Yingliang gave her were missing, and at the same time, the woman quickly held her child and cried loudly, it turned out that in the chaos just now, her infant child had been trampled to death by the chaotic crowd, and even the brains were stepped out, and the blood and brains were sprinkled all over the rags that wrapped the child, and the appearance was miserable.

"Kid! My baby! The thin woman's heart-rending cry echoed in Chen Yingliang's ears, and directly drilled into Chen Yingliang's heart, stabbing Chen Yingliang's little remaining conscience to the point of bleeding and stabbing pain, and also made Chen Yingliang understand what Qin Qiong said just now, in this land full of hungry people, sympathy for a hungry person will only harm her.

After standing in front of the woman who was crying to death for a long time, Chen Yingliang suddenly pulled out his horse and walked north, shouting loudly as he walked, "One day, I want the world to return to peace and return to the peaceful and prosperous world!" ”

Hearing Chen Yingliang's immeasurable shout, the accompanying Qi County soldiers looked very numb, and their feelings did not fluctuate at all, because since March of the sixth year of the great cause, the Sui army of Qi County has always been the main force of counterinsurgency on the land of Shandong. It is already a luxury to be able to return to your hometown and reunite with your family, let alone in a peaceful and prosperous world.

Menghaicheng is about more than 240 miles away from Dong'e, the distance is not too far, and the entourage guards arranged by Zhang Xutuo for Chen Yingliang are all cavalry, and they move quickly, so even if the road is not smooth enough, Chen Yingliang and his entourage only took more than two days to arrive in Dong'e County, Jibei County, and then under the guidance of Qin Qiong, who knew the way of the old horse, they came directly to the turtledove shop at the foot of Yushan. During this period, Qin Qiong also proudly told Chen Yingliang, saying that this Yushan in Dong'e was originally a natural lair of bandits and thieves, but it was because the township brave team organized by Cheng Yanjin fought bravely and cooperated closely with the officials and soldiers that they nippled the Yushan bandits in the bud several times, and they never became big, and they never threatened Cheng Yanjin's hometown turtledove shop.

knew that Cheng Biting Jin was a general, and then hearing Qin Qiong boast like this, Chen Yingliang of course couldn't wait to put on his wings and fly directly to the turtledove shop to invite Cheng Biting Jin out of the mountain, and be an accomplice to himself as a cow and a horse, and he was so anxious that he was in full swing, but it was okay, the turtledove shop was located in the southwest of Dong'e, and Chen Yingliang and his entourage didn't even have to go to Dong'e County, they came directly to the turtledove shop, and finally came to the hometown of the legendary demon king Cheng Biting Jin.

What shocked Chen Yingliang was that in order to protect the villagers' clan relatives more effectively, Cheng Yanjin actually built a small dock fort in his hometown, and at the same time, Chen Yingliang and his entourage had just seen the tower of the dock fort, and a small group of township soldiers stopped Chen Yingliang and others, and cautiously inquired about the intentions of Chen Yingliang and others. Qin Qiong directly told the head of the township soldiers led by Sù, and said: "Go and sue Cheng Augly, tell him to get out and kneel to welcome Lao Tzu Qin Shubao!" It's late, Lao Tzu can not care, Lao Tzu's knife does not recognize people! ”

"General, do you know our big brother Cheng?" The fire chief of the township was shocked by Qin Qiong's tone, and asked very carefully and respectfully.

"Nonsense!" Qin Qiong smiled: "When I met Cheng Augly, you guys should still be running noses with bare butts!" Don't be verbose, go report it. ”

"General, it's not that we don't report, it's that Brother Cheng isn't here." The township soldier was very embarrassed and said, "Brother Cheng went to Yuancheng and hasn't come back yet, so we can't report it for you." ”

"Ugly went to Yuancheng? What did he do in Yuancheng? Qin Qiong was stunned and hurriedly asked, "Who is in charge of the turtledove shop now?" ”

"What is Brother Cheng doing in Yuancheng, the little one doesn't know." The chief of the township soldiers replied truthfully: "Now the second brother Niu is in charge of the dock fort. ”

"Second Brother Niu?" Chen Yingliang's eyes lit up next to him, and he hurriedly asked, "What is your second brother Niu's name?" ”

"Niu Jinda." The township soldier replied truthfully.

"Niu Jinda?" Qin Qiong, who had never heard of this name, was a little puzzled, and didn't know how Cheng Yanjin could reuse such a newcomer as his deputy, but Chen Yingliang next to him was already bright-eyed, and hurriedly ordered: "Quick, go to Tongyu Niu Jinda, just say that Chen Yingliang, the deputy envoy of the twelve counties of the Great Sui River South Province and the general guard of the county, came to visit him and asked him to meet him!" ”

The township soldier fire chief was taken aback by Chen Yingliang's long awkward official name, and hurriedly re-asked Chen Yingliang's official name with trepidation, until Chen Yingliang repeated it again, the township soldier fire chief hurriedly ran back to the dock fort to report the news, Chen Yingliang and the others went directly forward, and waited in front of the dock fort, during which Qin Qiong naturally had to ask why Chen Yingliang was so polite to Cheng Biting Jin's deputy Niu Jinda, Chen Yingliang said that he was trying to show his attention to Cheng Biting Jin, and he was secretly happy in his heart, knowing that if he got it right this time, It is likely to buy a chicken with a cage, and by the way, get another general's talent.

Probably frightened by Chen Yingliang's official status, it didn't take long for a tall young man to lead a group of township warriors out of Wubao, and he saluted Chen Yingliang and the others very carefully, and said respectfully: "Niu Jinda, the deputy leader of the Xiangyong of Turtledove Shop, has seen all the generals, dare to ask which one is Deputy Envoy Chen?" ”

Chen Yingliang first carefully observed Niu Jinda, who is also a famous general of the Tang Dynasty in the future, and found that he is only in his twenties now, very tall, at least one meter eighty-five or more, and his thick shoulders and round waist are the materials for being a soldier at a glance. ”

"You are Chen Yingliang? The twelve counties arrested the deputy envoy Chen Yingliang? Niu Jinda was a little dumbfounded, saying that he didn't expect that the seventeen or eighteen-year-old half-grown child in front of him, who didn't look like a good person at first glance, turned out to be Chen Yingliang, a famous counterinsurgency general who is now quite famous.

"Of course, if it's fake." Chen Yingliang smiled, and had to learn Yang Zhiji again, and took out the bronze fish talisman he had just received to prove his identity and official position, but Niu Jinda, who knew a few words, was suddenly shocked, and hurriedly saluted Chen Yingliang and pleaded guilty, and then ordered the villagers to also salute Chen Yingliang, and respectfully invited Chen Yingliang and his party to enter Wubao.

Under Niu Jinda's suction, he entered the Wubao hall and sat down, Chen Yingliang was not polite, and directly explained his intention to Niu Jinda, saying that he was recommended by Qin Qiong, and made a special trip to invite Cheng Yanjin to join the official army and become an official. Qin Qiong also explained his relationship with Cheng Jinjin to Niu Jinda, Niu Jinda was overjoyed when he heard it, and he also made a simple self-introduction, saying that he was a native of Puyang Leize in Dongjun County, and a year ago he came to Dong'e because he brought his family to escape the war, and was recruited by Cheng Yanjin into the Turtledove Dian Township Warrior Team, and because of his bravery, he was meritorious in defending Turtledove Shop and killing the enemy, and was promoted to deputy by Cheng Yanjin.

After secretly praising Cheng Yanjin's insight, Chen Yingliang hurriedly asked why Cheng Yanjin wanted to go to Yuancheng, Niu Jinda replied truthfully: "Brother Cheng is going to Yuancheng, the purpose is to purchase pig iron, there are too many wars in Dongping, the price of pig iron is too expensive, we heard that the price of pig iron in Yuancheng is relatively cheap, Brother Cheng personally took some people to Yuancheng, ready to buy some to come back to build weapons and armor, and also sell some surrounding township soldiers by the way to earn a few foot money." ”

"It's a coincidence." Chen Yingliang was a little annoyed that his military generals were still too bad, and hurriedly asked: "Niu Zhuangshi, when will Cheng Zhuangshi come back?" ”

"I don't know, when Brother Cheng left, he didn't say when he would come back." Niu Jinda replied truthfully.

Chen Yingliang was a little embarrassed, because Zhang Xutuo and the Qianjun army were still waiting in Menghai City, and he couldn't delay here for a long time. But fortunately, Niu Jinda added again, and said: "But it should be back soon, Brother Cheng went to Yuancheng five days ago, Yuancheng is not far from here, it is more than a day away, if you follow it, in this day or two, Brother Cheng will be able to come back." ”

After breathing a sigh of relief, Chen Yingliang thought about it a little more, and then said: "Niu Zhuangshi, can you please send a few people to meet Hou Cheng Zhuangshi on the road, and ask him to come back quickly when you meet him, I have something important to discuss with him." Also, I plan to rest here for a while, can I provide housing and accommodation for my team, as for food, you can rest assured, I will immediately send someone to contact the Dong'e County Order, and ask him to immediately send a batch of grain and grass to be delivered here, and we will bear it ourselves. ”

Looking at Chen Yingliang's prominent official position, Niu Jinda of course agreed to Chen Yingliang's request, and immediately organized the township soldiers to provide housing and shelter for the Sui army team, and generously took out food to cook for the Sui army team first.

Kumon just sent someone out, and Cheng Bitingjin's wife also came to the hall and recognized Qin Qiong, who had not seen each other for many years, which directly proved that Qin Qiong and Cheng Biting Jin were friends of the general horn, and Niu Jinda, who was still working for Cheng Bitingjin, did not dare to slack off, and hurriedly ordered someone to prepare wine and food, and set up a banquet to entertain Chen Yingliang and Qin Qiong.

The main drama began, in order to let Cheng Yanjin obediently follow him to Qiaojun to be a cow and a horse, Chen Yingliang naturally had to show Cheng's mother his official status, and tried his best to persuade Cheng's mother to let Cheng Yanjin become an official and listen to it under his command, and also promised to give Cheng Yanjin a formal official position and promised to give him reuse. And Cheng's mother, out of the perspective of loving her son, of course, did not want her son to stay in a small village like Turtledove for a lifetime, and heard that Chen Yingliang had traveled hundreds of miles to recruit his son, and felt that Chen Yingliang was very sincere, so he also agreed to persuade his son to accept Chen Yingliang's solicitation, Chen Yingliang was overjoyed, and hurriedly thanked Cheng's mother again and again, and made it clear that he would take Cheng's mother south and live in the relatively peaceful county.

persuaded Cheng's mother, who wanted her son Jackie Chan, Chen Yingliang immediately turned the spearhead again, and began to recruit Niu Jinda, urging Niu Jinda not to bury his skills in the mountains and forests, but to seize the opportunity to serve the country in the ranks of the official army, serve the country loyally, be promoted to become wealthy, and in the future, Bo will be a marquis and a wife and son. Although Niu Jinda couldn't understand why Chen Yingliang was so optimistic about himself when they first met, he was still very moved by Chen Yingliang's solicitation, and said that he could consider going to Qian County to join the official army with Cheng Biting Jin, and be an accomplice for Chen Yingliang as a thug.

At this point, there is actually no big problem, as long as Cheng Yanjin comes back, and then Cheng Yanjin will take up a post in Qian County, Chen Yingliang can take Cheng Yanjin and Niu Jinda, the two bull fork thugs, back to Qian County to continue to help Emperor Yang of Sui. However, I don't know if Chen Yingliang's generals are extremely bad, or if God really doesn't want Chen Yingliang, who has done a lot of evil, to get his wish, but it just so happens at this time......

"Second Brother Niu, Second Brother Niu, it's not good! Woe to you! Woe to you! ”

When Chen Yingliang was pushing the cup and changing the cup with Niu Jinda, it happened that at this time, several dusty villagers suddenly stumbled into the hall, and shouted from a distance: "Second Brother Niu, woe to you!" Brother Cheng, he was arrested by the Yuancheng government! ”

Chen Yingliang and Niu Jinda stood up almost at the same time, but Cheng's mother's face changed drastically and she almost fell off the chair, but fortunately, Mulan grabbed her in time. Immediately after, Chen Yingliang and Niu Jinda asked almost at the same time: "For what?" ”

"Brother Cheng, he killed the son of Yuancheng County Ling!" The township soldier who came back to report the news said with a crying voice: "He killed the son of the county commander in the city, failed to escape, was stopped in the city by the officers and soldiers of Yuancheng, was arrested by the officials and put on death row, and all the pig iron we bought was also detained!" ”

Hearing this, of course, Cheng's mother fainted directly, but Chen Yingliang couldn't wait to scold the thief God with his middle finger at the sky, but Niu Jinda and Qin Qiong were calmer, and asked about the details of the matter while letting people rescue Cheng's mother. After the introduction of Xiang Yong, who came back to report the news, Chen Yingliang and others knew that Cheng Yanjin and his entourage went to Yuancheng to buy pig iron, which was originally very smooth, but no one expected that two days ago, when Cheng Yanjin was about to leave Yuancheng and return to the turtledove shop, he happened to meet a Huahua evil young man who was flirting with the people's girl, and the chivalrous Cheng Yanjin of course stepped forward to stop it, and had a conflict with the Huahua evil Shao, and knocked over the Huahua evil Shao with three punches and two feet during the fight, who would have thought that Cheng Yanjin was too heavy, and the Huahua evil Shao's body was too weak, After falling to the ground, he stretched his leg and broke his breath on the spot.

Forget it if you accidentally kill someone, what makes people vomit blood is that this flower and evil young man happened to be the only son of Murong Li, the commander of Yuancheng County, as a result, Murong Li was furious, of course, he immediately closed the four gates and searched for the murderer in the whole city, and also invited the garrison outside the city to help, Cheng Yanjin failed to escape out of the city in time, and as a result, the Yuancheng officials and soldiers came to catch turtles in an urn, and were arrested and imprisoned, and all the pig iron that he finally bought was confiscated, and his companions were also arrested a lot. Fortunately, a few villagers escaped by luck and hid in the city all night, and immediately fled back to report the news after the city gate was closed on martial law yesterday morning.

After listening to this incomparably bloody introduction, Cheng's mother, who finally woke up, cried loudly, Qin Qiong and Niu Jinda were anxious, and then it was extremely natural, Niu Jinda immediately discovered Chen Yingliang's deposit, and quickly pleaded with Chen Yingliang, asking Chen Yingliang to come to the rescue. Chen Yingliang smiled bitterly and said: "Niu Zhuangshi, I will stretch out my hand without you saying it, but Yuancheng is under the jurisdiction of Wuyang County, and Wuyang County happens to be not among the twelve counties of Henan, so it is difficult for me to reach out even if I want to." ”

"Deputy Envoy Chen, can you find a way to intercede and let Yuancheng County Order let our Brother Cheng come back?" Niu Jinda hurriedly said.

"Of course I can intercede." Chen Yingliang said with a wry smile: "But it was no one else who killed Cheng Biting Jin, it happened to be the only son of the county order, and I didn't care about him, even if he came forward, he would inevitably give face." ”

Niu Jinda was stunned, and Qin Qiong said quickly: "Deputy Envoy Chen, you can go through the channels of the official government, the court on the table asks the saint to investigate this matter thoroughly, Ah Chou is uneven, and the crime will not lead to death, as long as the court sends someone to find out the facts, Ah Chou will not die." ”

"If I do this, then Cheng Biting Jin will die." Chen Yingliang sneered and said: "Shubao, you are also an official of the imperial court, don't you know how many twists and turns these magistrates have?" Not to mention that the emperor is in Zhuo County, it is difficult for my chapter to be delivered, and the imperial court's investigation of the case is not ten days and half a month to rush to Yuancheng to investigate the case, even if the imperial court is investigating the case, that Murong Li heard the news, in order to avenge his son, a sack can kill Cheng Yanjin. ”

"What then?!"

Cheng's mother cried even more, and hurriedly came to Chen Yingliang's front to salute and make a gesture, crying bitterly and begging Chen Yingliang to rescue his son, Chen Yingliang was busy and politely said: "Old lady, please rest assured, the younger generation is originally here for your son-in-law, since he has something, I am duty-bound, of course I will not stand idly by, you can rest assured, I will go to Yuancheng, no matter what way I think, I will definitely save Cheng Yanjin." ”

Cheng's mother was overjoyed, and hurriedly saluted and thanked Chen Yingliang, Chen Yingliang immediately ordered Qin Qiong to arrange ten soldiers to accompany him on the road, and asked Niu Jinda to accompany him, Mulan led the rest of the soldiers to stay here and wait, Mulan reluctantly agreed. At the same time as the tense arrangement, while Chen Yingliang was thinking hard about the rescue strategy, he suddenly remembered one thing, and hurriedly asked Niu Jinda: "Niu Zhuangshi, the Xiangyong you reported just now said that the Murong County Order used the garrison outside the city to catch Cheng Yanjin, whose subordinate is the garrison of Yuancheng?" ”

"It should be a subordinate of the treasure of Chengyuan in Wuyang County." Niu Jinda replied truthfully: "The governance of Yuan Treasure is also in Yuan City, so it should be his subordinates." ”

"There's hope." Chen Yingliang was immediately overjoyed, and hurriedly said: "Although I haven't seen Yuan Bao, but I know Yuan Wendu, the patriarch of the Yuan clan, during the Eastern Capital War last year, I also helped Yuan Wendu a lot, with this relationship, I should have hope that Yuan Bao will come forward and suppress this Murong Lu to rescue Cheng Yanjin." ”