From Hanoi and Changping all the way to Shangdang, they did not encounter a single bandit. The journey was frighteningly peaceful, as if the road under your feet was no longer leading to the world. Although a few small villages occasionally appeared along the roadside, the people of the villages disappeared, along with their livestock. Crops that were supposed to be harvested during this season were mixed with weeds and grew like crazy. Their weak but indomitable shadows can be seen everywhere in doorways, roofs, and eaves.

The sowers are not farmers, but the mountain winds that keep going on all year round. It was they who blew the seeds that had been scattered in the fields last year onto the eaves of the houses that had lost their owners, allowing them to take root and sprout there. Half a month later, they will blow new seeds off the eaves and into new corners where they can get sunlight and rain, and start a new cycle when next spring comes.

Half of this vast wilderness is due to the imperial court's relocation order, which drove the people inside the city walls to prevent them from being sacked by bandits. As for what the people ate and where they lived after entering the city, it was not a trivial matter that should be bothered by the ministers of the court. As a result, many people who were not blessed to make a living in the city simply chose to become bandits, although they would inevitably die in a battle with the official army or a war between bandits, but at least they could live a little longer, and they would not stark at their hunger to show the bones under their skin.

Together with the imperial court, there were also "heroes and heroes" from all over the world, who robbed the last bit of belongings of the people who refused to enter the city, and drove each other into the city or turned them into their own minions. When there is nothing to grab around, the heroes will occasionally plant a few plots of land. But those plots are near the cottages, so you can't plant too much, lest the peaceful life ruin everyone's morale.

In order to avoid being caught off guard on the road, Xuzi, Qin Shubao and Luo Shixin jointly specified a lot of emergency plans. They even prepared a batch of money to buy roads, in case they saluted some bandits before they were soldiers. To everyone's disappointment, the bandits along the way disappeared along with the people, and none of these plans worked.

On several occasions, Asahiko intuitively felt eyes watching her from a nearby mountain beam. Whenever he turned back and looked as far as he could on horseback, he could find nothing but a flaming wood. "Don't look at it, the bandits are afraid of our reputation, and they have long fled from the wind!" Luo Shixin followed up and said with a grin. His words often elicited a burst of light-hearted laughter, but everyone knew that was not true. Although Li, Qin, and Luo were powerful in Eastern Xia, their fame could not spread to Hedong here. Moreover, the bandits have the advantage of geography and numbers, and there is no need to take this cavalry too seriously.

"I always feel like there's someone on the mountain!" Asahiko smiled and replied in a low voice. At the same time, he denied his own ideas. "It feels very much like Liaodong here! There are enemies all around, but you can't find them! ”

"Surrounded by wolves, it's useless to worry. Let's swagger forward! Qin Shubao joined the discussion and gave advice based on years of experience in the army. This is the only practical way to do this, and it is better to take one step at a time than to stand still. Asahiko nodded and accepted it humbly. The feeling of uneasiness lingered overhead like a fog.

His instincts told him that the gaze from the depths of the jungle contained more than hostility. It's complicated, and even contains a little bit of appreciation and friendliness. But apart from the few around him, he has almost no friends. Xu Dayan, Wu Heimin and others have become sworn enemies. Liu Hongji and Wu Shi Tong were far away in Taiyuan. There are also a few good brothers, all of whom died in the fierce battle on the east bank of the Liao River, and the weeds have long been grown next to the bones.

Occasionally, the soldiers would pass through some forts inhabited by large families, with walls higher than the Great Wall, and enemy towers filled with various defensive weapons. I heard that the soldiers and horses who passed by were the queen who went to Yanmen to pass the qin, and the fortress expressed cautious enthusiasm within the scope of its ability. The elders in the village stood at the head of the city and ordered a dozen bamboo baskets to be lowered with ropes. It was filled with dry food and meat, and occasionally some cloudy wine. But they never invited the county soldiers to rest in the village, although both sides are now under the banner of the Great Sui.

"The stockade is small, so I don't dare to invite the generals to enter the Neichema!" While making amends, the patriarch signaled the archers on the wall to start preparing, and it was heard from time to time that he was protected by bandits but robbed by the officials and soldiers in these years, and who was the official and who was the bandit could not be seen from the banner alone.

"Grandma, this old thing, actually thinks of us as robbers!" Luo Shixin was very dissatisfied with the performance of the owner of the fort, and said scoldingly.

"Don't blame them, someone killed the good and risked the merit!" Qin Shubao pulled up Luo Shixin and comforted him while following the team to the north. No wonder the other party took strict precautions, the officials and soldiers were unfavorable to the thieves, and it was not new in the Great Sui to take the people's heads to escape the punishment of the boss.

"Maybe they were wearing the same pants as the bandits!" Luo Shi was still unwilling, looking at the fortress that was gradually broken by the dust and smoke, and hated the authentic.

This is not wronged, those big households who have formed a village to protect themselves are indeed involved with local bandits. Some of them are relatives of each other, whether they are in the village to protect themselves, or they go up the mountain to be bandits, all in order to survive in the troubled times. Some forts are protected by nearby bandits, and the government pays a share of the tax, and the bandits also pay a share, and neither party is offended.

"You've got to keep them alive!" Qin Shubao's words contained sighs and helplessness. He is much older than Luo Shixin and Xuzi, has experienced more vicissitudes, and has a little more understanding of the world.

Survival is the only choice in troubled times. So no one can blame them for what they did. To blame, you can only blame those who contributed to the arrival of troubled times. It is they who turn the good world into a den of bandits and hell. Although they can find all kinds of excuses for themselves.

From Shangdang to the north, the terrain has become relatively gentle, and there are gradually people on both sides of the official road. Li Yuan, the ambassador of Hedong, was a good official who knew how to sympathize with the people, and he did not take the people under his rule as heavily as in other places. In addition, the Li family originally had some prestige in the counties of Hedong, so the local security outside the Taihang Mountains was basically peaceful. According to the local officials who were responsible for providing grain and grass to the county soldiers, another reason for the peace in the hinterland of Hedong was that several large dreadlocks active in the plains had suffered fatal blows in the summer and did not dare to approach the plains easily.

"The imperial court does not allow Tang Gong to recruit more soldiers, otherwise there would have been no bandits in Hedong for a long time!" Qi County Ling Zhou Jue is a very talkative person, and when he handed over supplies to the county soldiers, he said in a slightly proud tone.

"You are talking about Tang Gong, but Li Yuan?" Luo Shixin glanced back at Xuzi and asked curiously.

"You general is really rude, can we call Tang Gong's name directly!" Zhou Countyling, who was still pleasant-looking, suddenly turned his face and glared at Luo Shixin in protest. "Not to mention the official position, just by his age, you shouldn't call him by his name! Besides, if it weren't for our Tang Gong who greeted us in advance and asked us to provide convenience for the soldiers and horses of the Qinwang from all walks of life, who would prepare grain and grass for you to eat! ”

"I can't see that your father-in-law's prestige is quite high!" Luo Shixin muttered in his stomach, and then put on a smiling face. "I don't know Tang Gong's words. Besides, I, a foreigner, how can I know how old Tang Gong is! ”

"Forget it, I don't know as much as you like a half-sized kid!" Zhou County Ling glanced at Luo Shixin, clapped his hands, and ordered his subordinates to hold an account book, "Which general is responsible, please sign a pledge on the account book, and I will find Tang Gong to write off the account in the future!" ”

In response to him was the other half-sized son. Xuzi smiled and stepped forward and took the ledger and brush from the household trough. The magistrate behaved in a manner that was very different from what he had seen elsewhere. can also make the behavior of the officials under his rule orderly, Tang Gong Li Yuan is indeed worthy of his name as a cadre.

At the moment when she signed her name, Xuzi hesitated. I haven't told the cheap father-in-law about the news of marrying Ying'er, did the class teacher go to Taiyuan to visit Tang Gong and make up for the rift between Ying'er and his father? He wasn't sure if he would be beaten out by the other party after he went. But thinking about the affectionate gaze in her eyes before the expedition, her heart was hot again.

"Go early and come back early, I'll wait for you at home!" Before leaving the house, the extremely affectionate Ying'er took his arm and said. "You're mine, you can't get hurt casually!" Her face brushed over the scar on his arm from the fight, leaving a trail of wet, warm water.

"The general is also surnamed Li?" Zhou Xianling took the account book signed by Xu Zi and asked hesitantly. The big black man in front of him looked very young, but the mark nailed to the outside of the armor was already a fourth-rank martial general. There are few people who can achieve such a high position at such an age, and there are few in the entire Great Sui Dynasty. He suddenly remembered a rumor in the officialdom, and the expression on his face immediately became respectful. "Is it Tang Gong's nephew, Hou Li Ye of Chou County? You, you're from Henan? ”

"We came from the starry night near Tiger Prison Pass." Asahiko nodded, confirming the other party's guess. Immediately after, countless exclamations were heard from all around. "From Henan, oh my God! Thousands of miles of running, it was only three days later than the other soldiers and horses! ”

"Didn't the thieves in Taihang Mountain stop you?" Zhou Xianling's eyes were round again, but this time it was because of surprise. "Hey, look at what I asked, you are the nephew of our Tang Gong, and naturally he also passed on his old man's bravery. His old man can beat the rogues of several surrounding counties with thousands of remnants of soldiers and flee, which one dares to provoke you! ”

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