Chapter 2 (Part I)

After an ambush battle, the horse thieves hacked more than 230 people to death with 300 wolf horsemen, and easily grabbed more than 300 war horses. And they themselves only paid the price of seven killed and more than twenty lightly wounded. For a time, everyone's arrogance soared. After receiving Ashina Choyu's order, several nearby tribes were eager to try, but when they heard that thousands of horse thieves were coming to reinforce them, they were all frightened and retreated back into the camp.

Liu Hongji and others saw that the Turks were timid, so they simply stopped hiding and swaggered straight to Yanshan. Along the way, the tribes saw the smoke and dust raised by the horse team, and they did not dare to step forward to stop them, but only dared to send their own young people to follow after the smoke and dust from afar, so as to give an account to the Ashina family. When Ashina heard the news and ordered three thousand wolves to come, the horse thieves had already crossed the Gu River and retreated into Wanliyan Mountain.

Yanshan is already the border between the Great Sui and the Saiwai tribes, and no matter how strong Ashina is Yu, he is unwilling to cross the border with heavy troops at this time at the risk of war with the Great Sui. And sending a small group of men and horses into the mountains to suppress bandits, wolf riders may not be the opponents of horse thieves. Looking at the rolling mountains, he sighed helplessly and returned to the grassland.

The mountainous area has always been the world of horse thieves, and in recent years, the livelihood of the people in the Great Sui has withered, and many people who can't survive have to take risks. Therefore, there are many large and small locks in the mountains. Liu Jizhen waved out the banner of a gust of wind, and someone immediately came to answer it. The group broke up the horse team, and a few days later, they crossed the Great Wall smoothly. Then he gathered the war horses, pretended to be a large caravan that came back from selling horses from outside the Saiwai, and continued to march towards the Central Plains.

I don't know what means the horse dealer Zhang Liang used, the checkpoints and bridges along the way actually didn't take a penny, and they were all released, and let this huge army go smoothly to Miyun. It's only a day's distance from Yuyang, and if you go further south, you'll have to encounter Luo Yi's Tiger Horse. Liu Jizhen didn't have Yaxing, who had a tiger's beard, first chartered an inn to invite everyone to get drunk, and the next morning he handed over the reward to Zhang Liang for this trip, and divided one hundred and fifty horses, and said goodbye to everyone.

"Good brother, come to my village. With your skills, there must be a chair to sit in the hall! Parting, Liu Jizhen patted Li Xu on the shoulder and persuaded loudly.

"Liu, Brother Liu, I, I have to go home and have a look first!" Li Xu smiled wryly and politely refused. After thinking about it for a few days, he still couldn't muster the courage to join the horse thief. Although Liu Jizhen and the others have a very good appetite for him, when he thinks of his parents' disappointed eyes, his heart has to calm down again.

"Grandma's, if you don't come, you won't come, what excuse to make. Isn't it just that Lao Tzu is a horse thief? One day I'll get a khan to show you, and when you beg me to join the gang, I'll have to test if you have ink in your stomach! Liu Jizhen pursed his lips disdainfully and sneered.

"Liu, Brother Liu, I, I do ......" Li Xu's face turned red again, like a leaf on his head that had been beaten by autumn frost.

Liu Jizhen wasn't really annoyed with him, seeing that Li Xu was so embarrassed, he shook his head with a smile and said in a low voice: "Everyone has his grandmother's ambition, I don't force you." In fact, there is no difference between being an official and being a thief, one is to rob openly and the other to rob secretly. Go ahead, and come to me in the mountains when you can't get along. Report the name of a gust of wind, and no one in Wanli Yan Mountain will dare to move a finger from you! ”

"Thank you, Brother Liu!" Li Xu said gratefully. Although they chose different paths, he still regarded each other as his good friends in his heart.

"Thank you, if you don't have the ability, who wants you!" Wu Heimin, who was standing by and watching the excitement, interjected loudly.

"You're smart!" Liu Jizhen glared at him fiercely and scolded. I wanted to say something to fight back, but I held back. Turning the horse's head, he led the minions into the distance like the wind.

"This person can be called a hero, but he has fallen into recklessness!" Seeing Liu Jizhen and the others walk away, Zhang Liang sighed and shook his head. Turned around and looked at Li Xu, and asked with a smile: "Little brother, what did you think about what my brother told you that day?" ”

"Me?" Li Xu scratched the back of his head, not knowing how to answer. Just as he was hesitating, Liu Hongji walked up, patted him on the shoulder and said, "It's a pity that the little brother is a good martial artist, so it's a pity that he is buried." I'm going to take him to meet a Shibo and find a career. What's the matter, Brother Zhang and I went all the way again? ”

Seeing Liu Hongji step forward, Zhang Liang's face immediately became difficult to look at. He took two steps back slightly, and said with a forced smile, "Brother Liu himself is still guilty, if he is recognized by the government on the road......

"Then don't worry about the big shopkeeper, we should give it to our horses, and the annoying shopkeeper will send someone to give it. Early tomorrow morning, the two of us will leave for Huaiyuan Town! Liu Hongji's face changed, and although the words in his words were polite, his tone was very stiff.

Seeing that the two were about to fall out, Li Xu hurriedly rushed to the middle to play a round: "The two old brothers are not angry, it's the younger brother that I didn't do things properly, and I didn't make my words clear to everyone." Looking at Liu Hongji, and then at Zhang Liang, he added with a smiling face: "Brother Liu proposed first, and Brother Zhang proposed later, all for the good of the younger brother." Anyway, I don't have anything serious to do, so I will follow Brother Liu to Huaiyuan first, and then go south to find Brother Zhang, is it feasible? ”

Liu Hongji and Zhang Liang looked at each other and took two steps back. Everyone lived and died together on the grassland a few days ago, and it was really not worth it if they turned their faces over a trivial matter. It's better to get together and disperse, and leave room for each other to see each other.

Thinking of this, Zhang Liang sighed, shook his head and said, "I have also heard of Brother Liu's uncle, and he is indeed a responsible person. But Jinshang is very suspicious of him, once he is unlucky, I am afraid that everyone around him will be implicated. In the future, if Brother Liu has difficulties, just come to me. Even if you only have one bowl of rice left, you will share it with the two of you! ”

As soon as these words came out, Liu Hongji also softened, shook his head, and replied in a low voice: "A manly man, if you take fame right away, why bother with people." I looked for him just to clear the charge of Asahiko and me as a deserter, and it doesn't have to be because of people. But your proprietor has a great plan, and he is not a man of great courage and belly, and he is afraid that he will harm others and himself in the future. If you are downcast one day, just come to Lao Liu. In a word, our brothers are rich and noble. ”

Everyone looked at each other and laughed, and said no more. Li Xu couldn't figure out which one was the Shibo and the owner in the mouths of the two, so he laughed in a daze, and the embarrassment in his heart was hidden.

Zhang Liang immediately took out the account book and gave Liu Hongji fifty good horses according to the agreement of everyone before leaving the fortress. The 300 military horses captured in the ambush on the riverside were not included in the agreement of the group, and according to their respective merits that day, Li Xu received 30 horses and Liu Hongji received 20 horses. Niu Jinda and Wu Heimin also each got dozens of good horses, and the two of them were on the same road as Zhang Liang, so they simply discounted the horses under their names directly to Zhang Liang at the price on the plug, and followed him to the owner to get the money.

Early the next morning, Liu Hongji and Li Xu went east together, and Zhang Liang and others went south. Before parting, Wu Heimin caught up, stretched out his arms and strangled Li Xu's waist, and scolded: "Little rabbit cub, don't always think about getting rich, if you have money, you have to spend your life." Brother, I have to protect Lao Zhang to go south, and I don't have time to care about you. You are careful yourself, you really can't ride on the black wind and run away, just flee to Brother Liu, who eats a leopard and dares to go into the mountains to catch you! ”

Li Xu smashed his fist on his shoulder, and he was very reluctant in his heart. I wanted to invite him to look for myself in the future, but I didn't know what the result of this trip was, so I had to hide my thoughts. That Wu Heimin was clear in his heart, and when he saw that Li Xu wanted to speak and stopped, he shook his head and added: "You can't enter the public gate if you are born, and you can't go to hell if you die." Your brother and I are born with a grudge against the government, instead of going to the nobleman's door to listen to the shouting, it is better to be a horse thief quickly......."

"That's not a long-term solution!" Liu Hongji heard that he was really unspeakable, and interjected in a low voice.

"What is the long-term, when you are small, you are a thief, and when you are big, you are the emperor!" Wu Heimin pursed his lips and replied unconvinced.

"Xuzi, Teller's injury is not healed yet, and he can't ride for a month. You can take these packets of medicine with you, the big packets are applied externally, and the small packets are mixed in the horse feed. Remember to apply twice a day and feed twice! Niu Jinda took out a dirty cloth bag and hung it around Li Xu's neck. It seems that he has a deeper affection for animals than for people, and there is no farewell, only unease about Tellerbiu.

"Thank you, Brother Niu! I must remember," Li Xu said as he bowed on his horse.

"No thanks, no thanks, one day when you don't have anything to eat, you come to me to learn the craft. I still have dozens of secret recipes that haven't been verified......." Niu Jinda looked at Li Xu's thick muscles and bones like an animal, and replied with a smile.

Zhang Liang, a rich landowner, failed to win over Li Xu for the owner, although he had some pimples in his heart, he was very generous. He ordered someone to take out 2,000 yuan, wrapped it in a package, and stuffed it into Li Xu's hand. "Take it and buy two clothes to wear, and when you see a nobleman, you can't let people look shabby. Since ancient times, the dog bites the ugly, no matter how good that master is, he has the ability to recognize people, and he is stopped by his subordinates and can't see him outside, and you also run for nothing! ”

There are still a lot of rare things in Li Xu's package, and there is no shortage of this little money. Seeing that Zhang Liang said eagerly, he didn't dare to brush off his kindness, so he had to accept the money with a smile.

Everyone waved goodbye at the fork in the road, and only then turned away when they were gone. Li Xu is still a deserter, he didn't dare to go home, so he drove his horse and followed Liu Hongji along the barren land at the foot of the Great Wall where the officials were too lazy to ask all the way to the east, and then turned north, Xiaoxing stayed overnight, and a few days later, bypassed Lu Longsai and came to Liucheng County.

At this moment, Liucheng is already a place of war readiness, and the young men from all over the country will push the mountains of materials shoulder to shoulder, and successively deliver them to the three counties of Liaodong. [Note 1] Officials from all over the country also rushed to the front line in droops with horses, donkeys, and mules that could be scavenged in the Central Plains. In the chaotic crowd, Liu Hongji and Li Xu, who were carrying more than 100 war horses, looked unsightly. Most of the people looked at the clothes on their bodies and the weapons on their waists, and thought that the two of them were the tolerance of sending war horses to the front line, and took the initiative to get out of the way.

"We're rushing to the front, so we can't be considered deserters. Just to raise supplies for the country, I took an extra detour and delayed the trip for a few days! Liu Hongji pointed to the city gate in front of him with a horsewhip, and said with a smile the reason why he didn't take Li Xu to Huaiyuan Town.

If you follow Zhang Liang to the south, even if Zhang Liang's owner has his hands and eyes in the sky, he has washed the name of deserters for the two. The fact that they were at odds with the great army was also to be dismissed. And driving the war horse to Liaodong can only be regarded as the two of them delaying the gathering period. For the sake of the face of more than a hundred war horses, even if Liu Hongji's uncle didn't speak, no one was embarrassed to delve into the matter.

"Brother Liu is so thoughtful, little brother admires!" Li Xu responded with a smile on horseback. After all, I came to Liaodong, and from last autumn to now, it took a whole year to just go around in a big circle, and I still haven't escaped the fate of being a soldier. Thinking about the distance between this place and the Hazebe, he felt a pain in his heart for no reason. From Liucheng straight west, you can reach Ruoluoshui in three days. Turn north, and not far away is Crescent Lake......

He smiled bitterly, and his chest was suffocated as if he had been punched in the chest. was feeling sorry for himself, when he suddenly heard a mess at the city gate, and several people dressed as officials rushed out with gongs.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the county guard has an order, and the Jiangyang thieves Li Fuli and Xu Dayan are wanted, and those who have seen the two of them should report to the government as soon as possible, and reward five times and ten horses of silk!" With that, he held up several large notices and pasted them high on the walls, trees, and dilapidated buildings near the city gates.

"Li Fuli?" Li Xu felt that this name was familiar, and instigated the war horse to take a few steps towards the nearest notice, and two monster heads with fleshy faces and huge teeth and fangs immediately rushed into his eyes. Under the avatar, there is a well-polished wanted poster. The county keeper convicted the two monsters of colluding with horse thieves and attacking Turkic tribes. More than 300 miles of pastures and thousands of cattle and sheep were set on fire, resulting in the displacement of countless Turkic people......

"These two monsters are capable enough, and they actually set fire to the Turkic tribe!" In the crowd, someone shouted excitedly.

"Look at that look, it's not an ordinary person at first glance!" Someone pointed to the monster head on the notice and commented, his eyes full of admiration.

People laughed and whispered cheers for what had happened thousands of miles away. The Turks were friends of the emperor, and they didn't pay for dinner when they came to the Central Plains, and they grabbed things when they left. Someone taught them a lesson, and it was too late for everyone to be happy, who had the interest to help the government take the thief. Besides, how could someone with such a peculiar appearance appear in broad daylight?

Thousands of miles away, Ashina angrily slapped the table, tearing a stack of account books to pieces, and the papers flew around.

"If you don't catch these two boys lighting the sky lantern, Lao Tzu will not be a man!" He shouted angrily. 200,000 stone military rations, every time he thinks about it, his flesh hurts so much that he shiveres. How could this fire burn so skillfully and burn down the grain depot that he had carefully hidden? It was the military money he bought with a lot of money, and he was waiting to take advantage of the opportunity of the Great Sui army rushing to Liaodong and the country was empty, and he killed the Great Wall in one fell swoop. In order to grasp the fighter plane, the Ashina family specially drove the Suotouxi people away and built this wooden city.......

Everything was in vain, and without enough military rations, the wolf riders could not go south. If the wolf rider can't go south to make contributions, he won't have a chance to take over the Khan's throne.......

"wild boy!" Ashina cursed hatefully. He has already sent out the protest documents to Da Sui, Yang Guang has made friends with the Turks, and he will never offend his 'friends' for the sake of the two hairy children. As for those border officials, they would not use their black gauze hats to intercede for the two deserters.

At the south gate of Liucheng, Liu Hongji patted Li Xu's back and commented with a smile: "These two robbers are really ugly!" ”

"It's ugly, it's ugly!" Li Xu shook his head and drove the horses around the east of the city.

Note 1: The three counties of Liaodong, the first front line of Yang Guang's attack on Goryeo, were divided into Liaodong, Yanjun and Liucheng, corresponding to the area of the present-day western Shenyang, western Liaoxi and Chaoyang Jinzhou respectively.