Although the words were said easily, as soon as the army passed Yangxin, the governing place of Bohai County, Erya's face was as white as the remnants of snow that had been blown by the cold wind for half a month. Xu Zi saw it in his eyes, and couldn't bear to let her continue to suffer, so he called Da Niu and asked the other party to arrange a few personal soldiers to send his wife to the wounded camp to think about it, and then slowly rush from behind when his body is almost recovered. Shi Erya shook his head and said stubbornly: "It's just that I haven't ridden a horse for a long time, and I can't stretch my muscles and bones for a while." There are only unbearable blessings in this world, how can there be unbearable tiredness! ”

Li Xu saw that her eyes were dark and her face was very haggard, but in order not to worry herself, she barely pretended to smile on her face, and she was very moved in her heart, so she brought the two of them closer to her and persuaded in a low voice: "The wounded barracks are just walking slower, and they won't really leave you." Why are you so stubborn? ”

"Your brothers are watching, I can't be laughed at!" Erya gritted her teeth and shook her head.

"There are only a few people who know your identity, and besides, you are a woman's family, who is full of food and chews your tongue!"

"Even if no one knows, no one laughs, I will follow you step by step!" Erya frowned slightly, endured the pain like a knife cut on her lower back, and responded. "At least, in your eyes, don't fall behind Ying'er!" Deep down, she added a meticulous note to her words.

She knows that she does not have the support of the family of three generations of Guogong behind her, and she does not have thousands of makeup funds as a dowry, so she usually works hard in managing family affairs, so that she can always occupy a corner in her husband's heart. Although she didn't have to suffer from forced marching, it also meant that she was inferior to her in some aspects. This kind of acquired ability, which has nothing to do with his background and family background, Er Ya is absolutely unwilling to admit defeat, and he also feels that he can't lose.

Li Xu listened to Shi Lan's resolute words, so he had no choice but to let her. After walking for a while, he finally couldn't rest assured, raised his head and looked at the four fields, and said in a low voice: "When you get to the next village, I will send someone to buy you a softer saddle." This thing, made for marching and fighting, is not as generous as it is for everyday use! ”

The harness used for marching and fighting was a narrow saddle that focused on saving horsepower rather than on whether the rider felt comfortable. However, the carved saddle used by the rich and noble people for daily play is characterized by being gorgeous and comfortable, and even an adult man with a thick skeleton like Li Xu can sit his butt completely in the carved saddle. In this way, the rider's whole body weight is concentrated on the horse's back, and the waist and thighs do not exert any effort. But it is cruel to the mounts, and usually people have a good laugh, but they are tired and sweaty.

The farmer in the ordinary village felt sorry for the cattle like soldiers, so they would rather suffer more sins themselves than use the carved saddle. Therefore, Li Xu wants Erya to go less hard, and he must go to a large village or fortress. But Bohai County is not a prosperous place in the first place, how to find the idea of buying carved saddles on both sides of the official road?

"This is actually very good, it's because I've been so used to it by you in the past two years that I forgot about it!" Erya knew that her husband really cared about herself, so she stuck out her tongue mischievously, "If you want to buy the kind of carved saddle that the rich and noble people go out to play in the mountains and rivers, I'm afraid you have to go to Daji." I was escorted by Luo Shixin from this official road in the spring, and I remember that from Yangxin to Yici, there was not even a decent village, let alone a market! ”

"How could it be. When I also walked this official road a few years ago, I clearly saw many villages with more than 1,000 households! Li Xu frowned, skeptical of Erya's statement.

"Look at the scenery around here, how can you still have half of what it was back then!" Erya shook her head and responded in a low voice.

After being reminded by her, Li Xu did find that the scenery on both sides of the official road was very different from what he saw when he went to Qi County alone. At that time, he only felt that the scene he saw along the way was bleak, full of hunger, and crops overgrown with weeds. Now, the starving and abandoned fields of crops are gone, and the sides of the official road paved with three-fold earth have completely become a world of weeds and shrubs. The farther away from the official road, the higher the various wild sunflowers grew, some of which were taller than the horse's legs, and if a young man walked in, he could completely hide under the blades of grass.

"Big bull, bring me the map!" Li Xu's first reaction was that the scout might be leading the wrong way, and ordered loudly.

Zhou Daniu, the commander of the pro-soldiers, agreed, quickly took out the map from the back of a pack horse, and held it in both hands and sent it to Li Xu's horse. On the delicate parchment map, the lines representing the official road are drawn very clearly. From the analysis of the nearby mountains and rivers markings, the official road under your feet is indeed the one that leads directly to the Yaji Ferry. It's just that the places that were once marked with villages on the map are now inaccessible.

"It's almost like Outside the Plug!" An extremely ridiculous idea suddenly surged into Li Xu's heart. "The wind blows the grass and sees the cattle and sheep, but unfortunately the grass roots are buried with dry bones!" As if to confirm his thoughts, a sharp autumn wind swept through the withered yellow weeds, bending the grass stalks neatly, and several charred walls and decaying doors and windows were immediately revealed, reminding passers-by that this place was once prosperous.

Don't ask who made the iniquity. Li Xu was clear in his heart. First, there were three conquests of Liao, then the absurd decree of forcibly relocating to live in the city, and then the bandits looted and co-encircled, and the officers and soldiers exterminated and suppressed. For example, the officers and soldiers of the Boling Army under his command who do not kill prisoners are definitely a minority, and most of the officers and soldiers are accustomed to trying to solve the problem once and for all, like the old general Yang Yichen. In this way, he silently calculated in his heart that the years that had passed since he first passed through the Bohai Sea and rushed to Qi County to take up his post, less than four years, less than four years had created a reckless wilderness, and the power displayed by people when they were killing each other was really huge!

In an instant, the autumn wind was like a knife, piercing through the cracks in the leather armor and piercing his bones. Xuzi has always believed that everything he has done is just, and the reasons for the bandits' rebellion are worthy of sympathy, but the bandits' indiscriminate killing and looting are absolutely unforgivable. And the facts in front of him and the facts he had experienced clearly told him that the order he had adhered to for so long was as ridiculous and pathetic as the slogans of the bandits for heaven. It was precisely because of the joint efforts of him, Zhang Xutuo, Yang Yichen and others that the imperial court was able to survive. And it was this lingering imperial court that continued to perversely act and forced more people into bandits. Then the bandits and the imperial court joined forces to completely turn countless once prosperous villages north and south of the Yellow River into wilderness.

"You're not like them, you've protected a lot of people!" A deep and gentle voice suddenly sounded in Li Xu's ears, pulling him back to reality from his confusion. "When I was in Boling, I used to pretend to be an ordinary peasant woman and go out to buy vegetables, and I heard that many people were thinking of your kindness. They said that you not only defeated the bandits, but also scared the corrupt officials into not daring to continue to do bad things......" Erya said softly, her eyebrows full of pride.

"The duty of a military commander is to guard!" The vows of yesteryear almost burst out of their mouths. But Li Xu gritted his teeth and hid this sentence in his stomach. "Big bull, put away the map. Tell the brothers to walk as quietly as possible so as not to disturb the people! ”

If there are still people nearby. He prayed to the Heavenly Gods and Buddhas in his heart, hoping that both Daojun and Buddha could open their eyes and see what was going on in the world. If he doesn't crack down on the bandits, the bandits will loot and burn the cities and villages to the ground. If he continues to suppress bandits, it will be tantamount to maintaining the power of the court to oppress the people. In the end, all the prosperity is the same as the barrenness.

At noon, the army finally saw a fortress. But Xuzi didn't have a chance to ask if there was a carved saddle available in the fortress. All the men and women of the fort climbed behind the fence and watched them, from the gray-haired old woman to the naughty boy who had just learned to go up to the house to pick up birds' eggs. All of them are dressed in ragged clothes, but the posture of holding the bow and holding the knife is very pure. Those weapons are simple and dilapidated, but they are the reason why the fortress in front of them has survived in the troubled times. They do not believe in the righteous thieves who "do the right thing for heaven", nor do they believe in the officers and soldiers who "protect the territory and the people"; in these turbulent years, all they can believe in is the weapons in their own hands.

The leader of the fortress refused to go out to make contact with the officers and soldiers, although he could clearly see the banner of the champion general unfurled by the guards. However, in recent years, the self-proclaimed Duke of the East China Sea and the King of Changle abound, and it is not unusual for another champion general to come out.

"We're just passing by, and by the way, let's confirm whether this road leads to the ferry!" Zhou Daniu was ordered to step forward and shouted to the people in the fortress with open hands.

"Just walk away quickly when you pass by, don't pay attention to this!" A feathered arrow swished down from the wall, almost sticking to the neck of the war horse and burrowing half a foot into the ground. "Don't come closer, there's no food in the stockade for you! Whether you are officials or bandits, there is none"

"His grandmother's!" Wang Junkuo was so angry that he took out the bow from the saddle, and wanted to teach the other party a lesson. Li Xu stretched out his hand to stop him, "You go to the rear army to get twenty good bows, ten horizontal knives, and put them fifty steps away from the gate of the village, and then we continue to hurry!" ”

"Yes, yes, yes!" Wang Junkuo looked at his own commander in surprise, not understanding what caused the other party to make such a ridiculous decision. But he still faithfully carried out this 'chaotic order', and under the bewildered eyes of the people in the village, he placed the weapon in a position that was easily accessible to the other party and would not cause misunderstanding. Then followed Zhou Daniu and returned to the team.

When the brigade walked out of more than a mile, the sound of horns came from the wall. "Woo-woo-woo-woo-woo" is elongated and elongated, as if a wild beast is calling its kind in the woods. Knowing that the other party had given the answer, Asahiko smiled and continued in the right direction.

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