Four hundred and thirty-two defeated soldiers, forty-three men in the headquarters, just one-tenth. In addition to Deng San and Deng She and Wen Huaguo, the largest official is three hundred households, and the ten masters are less than more than 100 households, only one. The defeated soldiers came from twelve thousand-man teams, which was very chaotic, but Deng San was very happy.

The more chaotic it is, the easier it is to control.

It took half an hour to form a team of five hundreds. Deng She and Wen Huaguo each commanded a hundred people, Deng San left fifty people to act as guards by his side, and each of the three hundred households commanded sixty people. The reason for giving command to these three hundred households is very simple: when they are not very familiar with each other, they cannot rashly strip away those who hold official positions, and this will do all kinds of harm but no benefit, and will only cause suspicion and distrust of others.

The positions of the ten captains were all temporarily held by the old brothers, so that the control was actually still in the hands of Deng San.

The defeated soldiers were all at a loss for what to do, and a few of them were unconvinced, because they were not familiar with each other and could not come up with a better way, so they all temporarily acquiesced to Deng San's assignment and command.

Among the three hundred households, one is called Li Zijian, a Shaolin monk, and Zijian is his legal name. His fame was very great in the Northern Expeditionary Army, and even the Deng San, who was not a system, had heard of his nickname ,——Monk Li. He is famous not because of his merits, but because his subordinates are very distinctive, all of them are monks, so his hundred-man team is called the monk team. He brought out the most brothers, more than twenty, and the ten-master was his subordinate, and he was also his junior brother.

The other two centurions, one named Luo Guoqi, escaped with a bare pole, and his subordinates were all wiped out; One is called Guan Shirong, nicknamed Second Brother Guan, who is a very righteous person, and he brought five or six people.

Deng San incorporated all of their subordinates into their team. In the face of Deng San, who had a higher official position than all of them and more people than them, they didn't say anything and accepted this arrangement. But from their eyes and small movements, Deng She could easily tell that Second Brother Guan was indispensable, Luo Guoqi was the happiest, and Monk Li was very unconvinced.

"Lord Qianhu, just fleeing for your life, the brothers have been hungry for a day and a night. Where do you get something to eat? After the reorganization was completed, Guan Shirong's first sentence was this. As he asked, everyone's eyes followed, and those few who were not convinced were still whispering in the team, saying something to the people around them.

It is not so easy to be an official and have command. If you don't take good care of your brothers, they won't have enough food or clothing, no money or equipment, and no one will continue to work for you. When he was a horse thief, Deng San knew this truth deeply.

The question is, this place does not connect the village in front of it, and there is no store in the back, where can you get food in the wilderness?

"Brothers, first get acquainted with each other, bandage the wounded, and inspect the horses and weapons. I don't know if I will meet the Tartars on the road ahead, but if we get acquainted with each other and get ready, we will cooperate better in the battle, and everyone will have more chances to live. ”

Deng She saw Deng San's embarrassment, he reluctantly helped Wen Huaguo to stand up, and said to the soldiers who were still in line: "As for food, it's not a problem. There are so many of us, can we still starve to death? At dawn, let's set off, I know that there is a village not far ahead, even if the villagers are deserted, there is still some food left. ”

Listening to his words, the soldiers fell silent. According to his order, the old brothers, who had become the captain of the ten, gathered the novice subordinates and introduced each other, and the atmosphere quickly became lively.

After getting acquainted, some old brothers deliberately scolded their mothers, bragged, and told pornographic jokes, and people in the army were all good at this tune. I don't like to say it, but I like to hear it. Sure enough, soon there were more braggadocio and pornographic jokes who took over. In the early hours of the morning, under the hills, it was lively.

Deng San arranged the next sentry, and after sending out a few rangers, he came to Deng She's side: "How far is the village in front of you from here?" How I don't know. ”

Dunsher tugged at his arm and lowered his voice, "I lied to them." ”

Wen Huaguo, who was on the side, heard it, clapped his hands, and looked at Deng She with admiration: "Confucius said: When you hear plums, you won't be thirsty." Dunshe, you still have a set. Then he said worriedly, "But after crossing the river, it is all barren and wilderness, and there is no village in front of it, so what will I do with this food?" There are more than 400 people, but it is not easy to feed. ”

"It's quite far away from Fengzhou and Yunnei, and when we turn to the post road, we can always see a standing red." Dunshe said.

Zhanchi is a Mongolian word that means post house, that is, a post station, which is used to deliver letters and has the function of living people. Each post station has a rice barn, and the large post station often has hundreds of horses and hundreds of cattle for riding and pulling stagecoaches. Although there is war now, there is definitely no one in the station, and there is no need to think about cattle and horses, but they can always get food after searching and searching.

Deng San didn't care about this, he wasn't in a hurry, he had experience. He said: "Forgot where the battle was fought yesterday? It was in a field. Although I didn't see the fields when I crossed the river, it was probably because I was afraid that the water would flood and cover the fields. Wen Laosi, you take a few old brothers, go around separately, and come back to report when you see the village. ”

After Wen Huaguo left, he stretched out his hand to summon the hundreds of households who were familiar with his subordinates, and unceremoniously sent an envoy: "Monk Li, thank you for your hard trip." Take a few people, you go to the river and see if there are any Tartars chasing after you. When you get back, we'll go. ”

It took at least two hours to go back and forth to the river, and he was buying time for Wen Huaguo and others.

Monk Li Zijian was reluctant and had to take the order. As soon as he got on the horse, Deng San shouted again: "Don't come back empty-handed!" There must be fish in the river, catch a few, let the brothers drink some fish soup to warm up, and then have the strength to hurry to the village in front. ”

Monk Li almost scolded, how to catch grandma! There was nothing but jumping into the river to catch it, not to mention the rapid depth of the black river, and there were still floating ice in some places. In this kind of weather alone, jumping off the river is not a bad guy for ice! When they were defeated and crossed the river, they did not go into the water, but they crossed the bridge!

But Deng San shouted in front of everyone, as soon as the big hat of "warm up my brother" was put down, he gritted his teeth and had to admit it: "No problem, Lord Qianhu, you just wait." ”

"What a nice man." Deng San praised Monk Li's cheerfulness, and pulled Luo Guoqi and Second Brother Guan to sit down, "It's okay, let's talk." This is my righteous son Deng She, look at this injury, all the way out of Fengzhou to break through, not very old, but a man. ”

Luo Guoqi was in his forties, with a supple, shiny black beard, and tattered armor, but it was clean, probably washed when he was by the river. He nodded again and again: "What Lord Qianhu said, what Lord Qianhu said." At my age in Deng Baihu, not to mention seven in and seven out of a million army, I don't even have the power to bind chickens. ”

Listening to his words with a bit of civility, Deng She asked, "What did Luo Baihu do before joining the army?" ”

"It's insulting to say." Luo Guoqi sighed, without the slightest intention of giving a perfunctory answer because of Deng She's age, and replied very seriously, "The villain is from Qufu County, when he was a teenager, his family had some money, and he studied in Nishan Academy for a few years. Later, he participated in the township examination, but after repeated attempts, he ran out of money and was destitute. Before joining the army, he made a living as a storyteller. He smiled, "I learned this horseback riding skill when I was a child. Unexpectedly, now I make a living from it. ”

Deng She couldn't help but be in awe, he had never heard of Nishan Academy. But he knew that Qufu County was the hometown of Confucius, and he also knew that Nishan and Confucius seemed to have some origins. Enduring the pain of the wound, he helped Wen Huaguo to stand up again, and arched his hand: "It turned out to be the sage Sangzi, who was disrespectful." ”

"Don't dare, don't dare." Luo Guoqi hurriedly stood up, returned the salute, and stretched out his hand to ask Deng She to sit down, "Deng Baihu is injured, and the villain can't deserve this gift." Sit down, sit down. ”

There was a Yuan generation, and the imperial examination was abolished in the first fifty years. Emperor Renzong celebrated the second year, and it has been 46 years since the resumption of the imperial examination. A course was held 12 times in three years, and each subject was attended by more than 100 people and less than 20 or 30 people. Half of them are Mongols and Semu, and the other half are Han Chinese and Nanan. In other words, up to now, there are only three or four hundred Han people on the imperial examination list.

Even in the township examination, only 300 people from all over the country are selected to participate in the next level of the examination. Therefore, Deng She did not underestimate Luo Guoqi at all because he couldn't pass the township test. can be literate and martial, in the red scarf where there is a shortage of scholars, how can he also be a character, he is a little strange: "Son of a saint, why does Luo Baihu serve as a martial artist?" ”

He didn't say it thoroughly, but everyone could hear what he meant: Why did he still have to go into battle and charge when he came out of the academy, and he was still a small hundred households?

Luo Guoqi's expression became embarrassed, and before he could speak, Second Brother Guan took over the conversation: "The famous Erlenzi Luo." In the army of our marshal king, who does not know. I am good at confronting my boss, I heard that you fell three levels in a row from the headquarters of the big camp, and fell directly to the position of 100 households? ”

"Bookish business. After so many bloody battles, I realized that I really didn't know how to lift before, and I didn't know how to lift. Luo Guoqi said repeatedly, waving his hand again and again, please don't say any more about Second Brother Guan.

No wonder he has become so timid and sleek now, no wonder he is the only one out of the three hundred households. I'm afraid it's not that all his men died in battle, but that he has no prestige at all, and no one cares about him. But it's also rare that in this situation, he can still continue to work.

Deng She's guess was wrong.

Luo Guoqi was not reluctant to go from the red scarf, but was coerced by Wang Shicheng and forced to participate. At first, he looked down on this group of rogues, although he had been reduced to the point of walking the streets and alleys to tell stories and sell his arts, he still felt that he should have the backbone of a scholar.

How can the saint's disciples be in the company of these mud-legged people? Moreover, they are still rebelling and killing people! Several times of confrontation and non-cooperation, Wang Shicheng's patience was wiped out, and he kicked out, telling him to "roll to the battlefield and see how the blood flows and how people die." ”

He could ride a horse, and there happened to be a centurion in the cavalry, so he filled it.

After several bloody battles, he had seen enough of the living soldiers around him and heard the moaning and screaming of the wounded soldiers all night long, he couldn't eat, and he couldn't sleep all night long. In order to survive, his first thought was to escape, and when he was kicked out of the camp, the red scarf had already arrived near Liaodong and Shangdu. Life is sparse, and in the war season, he really has no place to escape.

I also thought about surrendering to the Yuan army, but he came here anyway, and he didn't take the initiative to rebel. Not to mention that the soldiers ate and lived together, he didn't have this opportunity at all. There is a chance, he is a small hundred households, who takes him seriously? Maybe in order to save trouble, the knife in his hand fell, and it became a credit.

After several years in the army, he has seen and heard a lot about this kind of thing.

In this situation, he made the right choice, and he quickly changed his temper. He is not a person who refuses to bend his waist for five buckets of rice, which can be seen from the fact that he did not hesitate to change his career to become a storyteller. He regretted his previous actions very much, and he tried to change himself.

He was doing all kinds of things, Wang Shicheng's method worked, his edges and corners were gone, and he began to be sleek, sleek to the point of even cowardice. He began to try to stop looking at his men with contempt, because he needed them to save his life on the battlefield, although deep down, he still despised them.

Stimulated by blood and death, not to mention anything, he almost forgot his identity as a scholar, but Wang Shicheng also completely forgot him. During this period, he relied on his own knowledge and made several contributions. But Wang Shicheng didn't want to see him, so when his immediate boss reported his credit, he never had his share. That's it, in the position of centurion, he worked for several years.