The winter is cold, the sky is gray, the fields in Xiangxiang, Hunan are empty and lonely, the northwest wind is wrapped in floating dust and yellow sand for bursts, and the wisps of cooking smoke from the chimneys in the alleys in the city are wrapped in the cold air, circling on the gray roofs and bare old trees, shrouding the entire Xiangxiang County in a yellow dust and mist.

There are not many pedestrians on the street, some are wearing jackets and earmuffs to wander slowly, some are hurrying with their necks and sleeves, some are leading mule carts and shouting loudly from time to time, and there are even more ragged and unkempt homeless beggars calling out to the crowd to attract the class, and wandering and begging in groups in the east and west.

Xiangxiang County Chu Nan Town, known as Longcheng in ancient times, more than 40 miles from Shaoshan in the north, more than 160 miles away from Changsha in the east, the soldiers and horses of the North King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom fought viciously with the Qing army here, although the Qing army held Xiangxiang, but the villages and towns near Xiangxiang were repeatedly killed by the Qing army and the Taiping army, the people of the township were scattered, and many rich families were killed, and Xiangxiang withered.

Two soldiers with gray cloth in front of the Xiangxiang County Ya stood at the door, one of them, with a thick beard on his face, but with thin clothes on his body, stood in the cold wind and stomped his feet, and kept exhaling hot air into his hands. The bearded soldier turned his eyes to look at his companion, and saw that his face was red from the cold, full of excitement but motionless looking at the sky, not knowing what he was thinking. The bearded soldier bravely went up and slapped him on the back, and shouted in his mouth: "Fanzi, move a little, be careful of freezing, I don't want to carry a frozen stick back." ”

That Fan Zi came back to his senses when he heard this, and he also followed the activity, he was only eighteen or nine years old, but he was not as old as the bearded man for more than 30 years, and his experience was much worse, looking at the bearded man's cheeks were also red, and said, "Brother Meng." Do you say that our ninth master can get food and salary this time? ”

The fierce brother frowned with dry lips and said: "Our handsome is the minister of the Hunan regimental training assistant of the Qin, the minister of the imperial court, this time it is the ninth master of the handsome brother, so he can naturally get money and food." ”

That fan smiled bitterly and said, "But we've been here three times, and we haven't even seen a big man." ”

The fierce brother was silent for a while, and then said: "We are a group drill run by the marshal, and the court does not pay for it, and the front is just our battalion officials who come to ask for it, so naturally we can't ask for it." ”

That Fan Zi smacked his tongue and said disdainfully: "What about the self-organized group exercises?" Aren't we the same as killing long hair? Last year, although we suffered a few defeats. But it was also to protect Xiangxiang City. Da Shuai's own money and food were taken out to hold a group exercise, and the rich households near the left were scattered, and Da Shuai didn't even have a place to raise money, but Lord Futai sent the money and grain to Yiyang, and those green camps and hills didn't treat our local villagers as people. and does not have long hair, but only nests in Yiyang. What's the matter! ”

The fierce brother snorted. He lowered his voice and said: "Your kid's mouth is shattered tightly, don't fucking nonsense, we know some disgusting things in our hearts, that is, those people in the green camp listened to it, and it is a small thing to bewitch the public to cut off your head, and it is a big thing to break the big handsome." ”

That fan tightened the tattered coat on his body. Grunted, "What's so great about those Green Camp Hills? ”

Brother Meng hammered him hard and said, "Don't say a word about it, Dashuai said, as long as we Xiangyong can survive this battle." When Changsha is laid in the spring, we will have money and food, and then our good days will come. ”

That Fan Zi shrank his head and said: "There are a lot of long-haired people in Changsha, I heard that the wife and uncle of the long-haired pseudo-heavenly king are in charge, and it is really difficult to fight, can the handsome man be defeated?" ”

Brother Nameng said firmly: "If the handsome man says yes, then he can." ”

As he spoke, he saw three horses galloping from the East Gate Straight Street, and the knights were all wearing the uniform of the Qing Army's military attaché, the first one was seventeen or eight years old, and he looked quite handsome, but his face was frosty, and his thin cheeks were full of perseverance, but the two behind him were only more than twenty years old, about the same age as Fan Zi, but much more energetic than Fan Zi, and both of them were horizontal meat, and exuded a kind of murderous atmosphere.

The three rode to the gate of the government and strangled the horses together, and the white-faced military attache turned over and dismounted, and his skills were clean and neat, showing that his riding skills were very good. I saw him get off the horse, walked to the door, saw Brother Meng and Fan Zi, and asked: "This official is ordered to co-organize the Xiangdi League Training Minister and the new Hunan Township Chief Soldier Rong Lu, come to visit Lord Hai Tingchenhai, the magistrate of Xiangxiang Township." ”

Don't look at the fragments on that Fanzi's mouth, but seeing that the three of them are all military attaché uniforms, and their bearing is extraordinary, where have they seen this jiashi, they shrank back and didn't dare to speak, that Meng brother has seen some of the world, and recognized that this person's uniform color is the color of the second-grade military attache uniform, and he heard that it was the general soldier of Zhenxiao Town, so he was immediately startled, pulled Fan Zi to kneel down and kowtow and said: "If you go back to the military gate, we are not from the government, we are waiting for someone here." ”

The chief soldier Rong Lu sighed, the etiquette was thoughtful, and the two military attachés behind him turned over and dismounted, and the movements were also clean and neat, and tied the three horses to a poplar tree outside the government that had lost its leaves, and went to knock on the door of the government office. Suddenly, the door opened, and Rong Lu and the porter explained their intentions, and the little guy rushed to report. After a while, the porter returned to the door and led the three Cui Jin inside.

After seeing the three of them enter, Fan Zi smacked his lips and said, "It's really strange, a general soldier of the second rank only brings two guards." ”

The fierce brother got up and beat the dust on his body and said: "You don't know, this military gate is in charge of the town, that place is in our Xiangxi, and many foreign businessmen and Miao people live together, and they are in charge of the town and seedlings." ”

That Fan Ziqi said: "So what? Isn't he also a general soldier? ”

The fierce brother smiled and said: "You are still a Hunan baby, you haven't heard that the town and Miao soldiers have been famous for their fierceness since the previous dynasty, and they are also a place where Han and Miao live together. Most of those Miao soldiers are recruited in various Miao villages, and they are experts in private fights, group fights, and nosy. A whistle, several Miao villages immediately formed a confrontation between the two armies, the fight was red, the white knife entered, the red knife came out, and they didn't care, and the general soldiers were afraid to be transferred to Zhenxiao Town. If the soldiers of Zhenxiao Town quarrel with the soldiers of other towns, the Zhenxiao soldiers will automatically unite and unite with the outside world, use swords and sticks, and never give up until they defeat each other. ”

That fan stuck out his tongue when he heard this, and said, "That military gate looks white and pure." Can you cure those Miao soldiers? ”

The fierce brother shook his head and said: "I don't know, it's strange to see that the military gate Jiashi seems to be a Manchurian, and it has never been a Manchu general soldier in this town, and most of them are Han people." ”

That Fan Zi squatted down and muttered: "Whatever, let's that idleness, Brother Meng, the little brother is so hungry that he can't stand up." ”

Brother Nameng swallowed his saliva and said, "That's also breakfast, it's a meal of rice bran porridge, as thin as water." As soon as the pee goes out, there is nothing left in the stomach. ”

In a blink of an eye, he saw that Fan Zi said in surprise: "Brother Meng, you see that there seems to be a horse material bag on the saddle of the three horses." ”

Brother Nameng looked over at Fan Zi's words, and sure enough, he saw three horses bolted at the entrance of the mansion with a gray cloth bag on each saddle. Na Fan Zi said: "This horse is fed strongly, maybe there are beans in the horse feed bag." ”

Brother Meng hesitated: "That's the horse of Lord Junmen." You're not afraid of being discovered. ”

That fan stood up and said, "Fuck it." Just three beasts, let's take some to satisfy the hunger, and the three beasts can still sue them? With that, he approached and opened the bag of horse feed, and saw that it was indeed a bag of soybeans.

That Fan Zi hurriedly grabbed a handful and stuffed it into his mouth and chewed it, and said vaguely: "What kind of world is it, this beast eats better than us." ”

The fierce brother stepped forward and grabbed a handful and said, "Be quiet, alas." You leave me some. ”

The two of them had only eaten a few bites, and as soon as the door of the palace creaked open, two porters came out and saw the two eating beside the horses. Then he shouted: "You two thieves are so bold that you dare to steal the horse material of the military lord!" Come on, catch thieves! ”

Brother Meng and Fan Zi were startled, hurriedly took a few steps back and wanted to slip away, a team of green camp patrols came up on Zhenghe Street to block, that Meng brother and Fan Zi struggled, and also sent ruthless strength, moving their fists and feet, but after all, two fists were invincible with four hands, and more than ten green camp patrols beat the two of them, and followed the porter of the government into the mansion to report, and the patrolmen tied up the two and sent them into the mansion to ask for rewards.

Brother Meng and Fan Zi were beaten with blue noses and swollen faces, and took them to the back hall of the mansion, only to see a scholar in his thirties walking out quickly, after seeing the two of them, the scholar's face was flushed, his sword eyebrows were raised, and he snatched the whip in the hands of the green battalion patrol and whipped it towards the two of them, and scolded in his mouth: "I will smoke the two of you useless things!" ”

When Brother Meng and Fan Zi saw the scholar, they were so frightened that they knelt on the ground, and they didn't dare to move, and they only shouted: "The ninth master spared the little one." ”

Then a few more people came out of the back hall, all of them were wearing official uniforms, but the first one was Hai Tingchen, the magistrate of Xiangxiang, who only heard him say: "Zeng Jiuye, move slowly, there is a Wing Jun Gate here, and listen to his orders." ”

The fierce brother knelt on the ground and peeked over, only to see the white-faced invalids he had seen step forward, and said with a slight smile: "Why should Brother Yuanfu be angry? The two brothers must have been hungry enough to steal food. ”

Brother Yuanfu's face turned from red to black, and he said sullenly: "Rongjunmen, I will enforce the military rules by myself, and the two of them will be severely punished if they violate my military regulations." Then he took up the whip again.

The Rongjun Menqiang took a step forward and stretched out his hand to pull the tail of the whip, and said with a slight smile: "Brother Yuanfu first dissipates his anger, Zeng Shuai is not easy to train the troops, and it took several hardships to get these battalions of Xiangyong, it is precisely to break one less one." Seeing that the two of them have also been beaten and kicked, there is no need to fight anymore, wouldn't it be better to keep the two of them to kill the thief, and make meritorious contributions? ”

Brother Yuan Fu looked at the back of the Invalids Gate, glanced at Brother Nameng and Fan Zi viciously, and shouted: "Don't get out yet, lose my old face of Zeng Guoquan, if it weren't for the Invalids Gate to intercede for the two of you today, Lao Tzu would have killed you!" Don't thank you for the Invalids? ”

The two hurriedly knelt in front of the Invalids Gate and kowtowed to thank him, the Invalids Gate had a surprisingly good temper, helped the two of them up with a smile, and then said: "As the saying goes, the court is not short of hungry soldiers, and the two brothers seem to be hungry. Lord Hai, for my sake, I also asked a bruiser doctor to take care of the injuries of the two of them, and then arrange a full meal for the two of them. ”

Nahai Tingchen smiled slightly and said, "The lower official obeys the order." Then he turned around and ordered the steward beside him to say a few words, and the steward of his own government stepped forward and took the two of them down. Brother Nameng and Fan Zi were very grateful in their hearts, and bowed to the Rongjun Gate a few times, and their mouths were naturally grateful to Dai De, and then they followed the government steward and left.

followed the Invalids Gate and rewarded the patrol with a few taels of silver, and the leader who led the patrol was naturally overjoyed, and went after thanking him.

Then Rong Junmen smiled and pulled Hai Tingchen with one hand and Zeng Guoquan with the other and said: "Let's go into the house, and then talk about our affairs, it's just a little thing, and everyone can't take it to heart." ”

Zeng Guoquan glanced at Hai Tingchen hatefully, Hai Tingchen just smiled, and the two followed the Rongjun Gate into the inner hall again. (To be continued......)