There was a faint human voice in his ears, Xu Ping had regained consciousness for a long time, but he still didn't open his eyes, kept his current posture still, closed his eyes and listened carefully with his ears pricked up, moved his fingers slightly, and groped to investigate the situation around him. Soon he was sure that his hands were not tied and his body was still covered with a quilt, so he moved his legs and feet slightly, ready to do further investigation, and after making sure that his legs were also free, Xu Ping bowed his waist slightly, trying to probe the pain and physical strength, but he didn't want to make the bed squeak.

The whispering of the person next to him immediately stopped, and Xu Ping, who was not moving, felt that a person walked up to him and seemed to be leaning down to observe him.

Xu Ping still lay motionless. The man paused for a long time and let out a voice: "Childe, your subordinates seem to be awake." ”

There was another burst of conversation, and with a few simple commands, Xu Ping heard a noisy movement, as if someone was leaving the room. When Xu Ping was hesitating whether he should open his eyes, he felt someone walk to his side lightly and whisper in his ear: "This ...... Sir, are you awake? ”

Seeing that he couldn't pretend anymore, Xu Ping opened his eyes, and the white light suddenly poured into his eyes, making him can't help but squint his eyes. Xu Ping turned his head along with the voice, and saw a figure vaguely, his eyes seemed to be completely unable to adapt to the brightness of the room, and even the people who were close at hand couldn't see their faces clearly.

The figure shook in front of Xu Ping's eyes, and he heard the words from the other party's lowered voice again: "Sir, let's rest in peace." Well, so that Mr. knows that the contemptible people have a small caravan, and they only say to the people outside that the contemptible man's surname is Zhang, and he is a dart master of the contemptible people. Abruptly, I asked Mr. for forgiveness. ”

When he had said that, the man crept out of the room and closed the door gently. Xu Ping, who couldn't help the bright light, closed his eyes again, and lay quietly on the bed to figure out his situation.

After a while, when Xu Ping opened his eyes for the second time and tried to sit up, a man walked into the room and came to Xu Ping's bedside, and held the bowl in his hand in front of him: "Sir, drink some porridge." ”

Xu Ping could hear that it was the voice of the person just now. After smelling the porridge, his nostrils twitched involuntarily a few times, and he suddenly felt hungry. He sat up, feeling that although there was not much pain left, his whole body was soft and weak, Xu Ping thanked the man, and then took the bowl and asked softly: "Who is the strong man, and where is he now?" ”

The man did not answer Xu Ping's question, but asked rhetorically, "Sir, but his surname is Xu?" ”

"It's Xu Ping down there." Almost without any hesitation, Xu Ping calmly admitted his identity, and continued to drink porridge in small sips after speaking.

"General Xu." The man's tone suddenly became more respectful, but his voice was still as low as ever: "The general is in danger now, and the grass people are rude and offensive, and I hope the general will forgive him." ”

The man introduced to Xu Ping that the village they were in now was the same village that Xu Ping had seen a few days ago, three days ago to be exact, before he fell asleep. Xu Ping remained unconscious for several days, while the victorious rebels searched for his whereabouts. At present, Xu Ping's identity is an entourage of this businessman, and this businessman hid Ji Huisi's eyes and ears for him, and even covered Xu Ping in front of the villagers, so that he could recuperate in this place.

Xu Ping was not very surprised by the businessman's words, and not long after he came to his senses, he realized that he was still in the area controlled by the rebels, otherwise there would be no need for others to make him incognito. When the merchant said this, Xu Ping kept bowing his head to eat the bowl of porridge, and he had also heard of this kind of merchant Xu Ping - they were the most daring kind of people. Ever since the Central Plains was in full swing, these shadowy men had been walking between the imperial court and the rebels' war zones, selling the rebels their much-needed grain, cloth, and even steel and gunpowder, and buying salt, people, and gold and silver treasures from the rebels.

These caravans were phantoms wandering on the battlefield, suppliers of supplies to the rebels that were strictly forbidden by the imperial court, and therefore good friends of the rebels and sinners in the eyes of the imperial court. Xu Ping saw more than once from the Di newspaper that the imperial court would punish this kind of wealthy businessman. As the war worsened, so did the punishment for them over the years, and last year the court had raised the punishment for such crimes to the point of being the first to behead, coercing and coercing, and exile from the family—even higher than the punishment for the rebel leaders who participated in the rebellion.

Although the punishment of the imperial court became more severe, the more and more land that the imperial court lost control of, and the number of these caravans tended to increase - the war and high taxes caused countless merchants to face bankruptcy, and they saw that those who took risks made money from the rebels to return large bags of gold and silver, and won back ten or a hundred times the profits of a single venture into the rebel-controlled area. The generals turned a deaf ear to the imperial court's prohibitions, not to mention that the caravans could give them bribes, and that even the iron and gunpowder sold to the rebels flowed from the warehouses of these officers and soldiers. What's more, these armies also had to turn to caravans, and the officers and soldiers also had to buy supplies and sell the stolen goods they had obtained after "suppressing bandits", and these caravans were engaged in both black and white business.

If it was before, once Xu Ping found out about the caravan doing this kind of business, even if he didn't immediately order the guards to take them down, he definitely wouldn't talk to them. Because he always felt that it was the existence of this kind of person that made his subordinates risk more lives. Today, Xu Ping still can't suppress his long-standing disgust for this kind of person, but he won't show it at all, after all, the person in front of him is his savior. Moreover, his life is still in the hands of the seemingly humble businessman opposite.

"The grace of saving lives is not forgotten." Xu Ping pondered the words and said to the person in front of him: "I don't know your Excellency's name, if you can use it in the future, just open your mouth." ”

The person on the other side didn't dare to say anything, but there was still a little unbearable joy between his eyebrows: "Back to the general's words, the villain's surname is Zhong, and his cheap name is Turtle Year." ”

Zhong Gui is old and beautiful, looks less than thirty years old, and talks politely, like a good son of a turbid world, which is quite incompatible with the dedication on his face. Xu Ping noticed that his fingers were well maintained, and although the fabric of the clothes on his body was not very expensive, it was by no means affordable for ordinary people, and he was obviously from a wealthy family. From this, Xu Ping concluded that the other party was not forced to embark on this road because of food and clothing. He estimated that the other party's family was originally a big merchant family, and it was likely that they were usually engaged in a large military business, and such merchants were the most convenient to communicate with the rebels, and the risk was much smaller.

Although he is most disgusted with this kind of big businessman who colludes with the rebels, Xu Ping also knows that this is the current trend, not only everyone in the army, but also the ministers in the temple know this. If the northern captives could not buy supplies from the Jin merchants, then what was the use of plundering a large amount of gold and silver in the past raids? And if no one secretly sold large quantities of saltpeter powder and iron tools to the northern captives, then where did the cannons, armor and swords they used to fight the Ming army come from? It's just that without Jin merchants and these caravans, the Ming army's own materials would not be able to maintain, and a large number of rich merchants had a large number of children studying and becoming officials, and Li Jiantai, the old man of the Central Cabinet, was even more wealthy Jin merchants...... Xu Ping couldn't help but think that Huangshi strongly advocated that the army should establish its own perfect logistics system and get rid of its dependence on caravans, perhaps this was Huangshi's original intention.

In any case, the person in front of him is Xu Ping's life-saving benefactor, so the promise he made to this person is not an expedient measure, and Xu Ping does not intend to betray him with revenge after escaping. Although there is a saying that the righteousness of the court is more important than Mount Tai, Xu Ping has secretly made up his mind that he will try to persuade this person not to make deals with the rebels in the future, so that he is worthy of his conscience in both public and private affairs, of course, these will be said after he escapes.

"There is one more thing...... Zhong Guinian said hesitantly: "General Xu, the people in this village are all foolish people and foolish women, and they are often bewitched by thieves......

"Brother Zhong, please have something to say."

"Well, that's the case, the villain said that the general is one of my subordinates, is this injured......" Zhong Guinian looked at Xu Ping's face and said cautiously: "The villain told the people in this village that the caravan was sacked by the rebels, and the general was seriously injured to protect the villain, which means ......"

"In other words, I was injured by officers and soldiers, I know." In the past, maybe Xu Ping would have been a little angry, but judging from what he saw and heard after sending troops to Shandong this time, Zhong Guinian's remarks were not only not slanderous against the officers and soldiers, but the most trustworthy reason. Xu Ping nodded disapprovingly, got out of bed and stood up, hugged his fists at Zhong Guinian and said, "Young owner, Zhang Ping is polite." ”

Xu Ping carefully looked at the house he was in, and found that this house was not as simple as an ordinary farmhouse, and after walking out of this room, there was a front hall with a table of eight immortals and a few wooden chairs, and a few books on the table. The young housewife of the family was neatly dressed and quite polite, and when Xu Ping thanked her, she returned the salute and then hid back in the back hall.

Xu Ping, who was full of suspicion, didn't have time to inquire about Zhong Guinian, when he saw a person striding into the front hall. The person who came was a young man of about twenty-five years old, dressed not like a dart master under Zhong Guinian, but like a scholar. After the young man entered the door, he did not greet Zhong Guinian or Xu Ping, but walked straight to the front of the case, took out three sticks of incense and lit them, inserted them into the incense burner, respectfully bowed to the tablet on the case, and said loudly: "Father, mother, the child is back." ”

When the young man offered incense to his parents, Xu Ping and Zhong Guinian were silent. The housewife, who had already retreated into the back hall, had already come out at this time, and she quietly waited for the young man to finish praying, and then quickly ran over and took off the burden on his back for him: "Xianggong, how is the journey?" ”

"It's good to have Lao Niangzi to worry about." The young master gave his wife the baggage along with his coat. When he saw that his wife did not leave immediately after taking the things, and was still looking at him expectantly, he shook his head and sighed, "It's all gone." ”

The woman's face darkened, and she ran back to the room with her clothes in her arms and her head down. The master looked at Xu Ping: "Master Zhang, is your body good?" ”

Xu Ping naturally thanked him repeatedly, and the host waved his hand to say that he didn't have to be polite. Then he looked at Zhong Guinian again: "Master Zhong, are you going here?" ”

"yes, my brother's body seems to be fine." Zhong Guinian replied: "It's just that I have to bother Mr. tonight, it's really annoying." "Zhong Guinian and Xu Ping are afraid of long nights and dreams, and just now the two of them have decided to leave tomorrow. There was a carriage in the caravan, so Xu Ping could take the carriage and not suffer too much.

"Well said, well said." The young man waved his hand generously, called out his wife and asked her to prepare two dishes, lighter and less greasy, and then boil more boiling water for Xu Ping, while he sat down and talked to Xu Ping and Zhong Guinian, the young man talked quite decently, but it didn't sound like he knew much about things outside Shandong. After a while, the housewife held three tea bowls. Although tea is not of good quality, it is undoubtedly a rare thing in the war-torn countryside.

During the conversation, Xu Ping learned that the owner of this family was a scholarly family, and this village was his ancestral home. After his father was admitted to Xiucai, he opened a private school in the county to teach, but his father stopped there, and he went to the provincial exam many times in his life and failed to pass the exam.

The land left by his grandfather was tax-free because his father was a showman, and his income from teaching in the county was acceptable, and he had accumulated it simply all his life, but he used it to buy land when he had a surplus, and he was a very penalized Ming Dynasty scholar. Over the years, the fields have always been handed over to the villagers to take care of. The master's father is a loyal and honest person, believing that "it is better to keep wealth than to stay virtuous", since food and clothing are not worried, then in addition to leaving rations every year, the rest of the harvest in the field is left as a thank you gift to those villagers. After his father passed away a few years ago, this young man returned to his hometown with his mother to work and study, and escaped the war. The income from the fields is enough to support the family, and I usually teach the children in the village to read and write, and the people in the village respect him very much.

It seems that the master has heard the apocryphal story from Zhong Guinian, and he said to Xu Ping in a light tone: "Today's officers and soldiers are more ruthless than bandits, not only for wealth but also for life, Zhang Ye can be regarded as a great disaster not to die." In the future, we must be more careful, there is no place to reason in Shandong. ”

Xu Ping was most concerned about the current war situation in Shandong, he ignored Zhong Guinian's repeated interruptions, repeatedly asked about the situation outside, the master didn't seem to know much, he told Xu Ping: "Huang Hou's Dongsen battalion, after the commander received the order to retreat, he took his own soldiers to carve away, without notifying other camps, Qian Zonghe also threw down the soldiers and fled after hearing about it, and I heard that more than 1,000 people in this Dongsen battalion were caught by King Ji. ”

Xu Ping was a little strange, it was not strange for the master to know that the new army was a subordinate of Zhendong Hou, but he even knew the specific name of the battalion.

"yes." The master didn't notice Xu Ping's suspicions at all, and said without thinking: "Last time in Zhili, wasn't this battalion defeated by King Ji?" At that time, I was still sad for a while, thinking that they were Huang Hou's soldiers, and the other officers and soldiers were forgotten, I really didn't want to hear that Huang Hou's soldiers were defeated. Now, huh. ”

After a pause, the master told Xu Ping and Zhong Guinian again: "King Ji said, carefully identify the prisoners, if there is any cruelty to the peasants, they will not be pardoned, this can be regarded as a report and a report." ”

"One report and one report?"

"Hmm." The master nodded: "Zhang Ye is not from Shandong, Chongzhen eight years of Confucian thieves advocated rebellion, the thief is still Huang Hou's righteous brother, where the people do not exist, I was still very young at the time, listen to the old people said: Huang Hou persuaded Denglai Governor Sun to recruit peace, all the remnants of the people will not be forgiven, King Ji is able to live because of this." Since ancient times, officials and officials have protected each other, Huang Hou's move was told to me by his father, at that time he was admired by the old man, and later, King Ji's subordinates often warned each other not to harm the people, if the court recruits peace, so there is still a way to live" said that the master raised his cup and wished in the direction of Beijing: "May Huang Hou live a long and healthy life!" ”

"May Huang Hou be blessed with longevity and good health." Zhong Guinian and Xu Ping responded in unison, just like when they met that woman, every time Xu Ping heard someone praise Zhendonghou in person, he couldn't help but be happy, and he immediately had a good impression of this master.

The other camp owners don't know their names, but they also sound chaotic, except for the Changqing Battalion: "Lord Zhang of the Changqing Camp is from Shandong, and I heard that King Ji originally planned to return his body to the imperial court, but he was taken away by his fellow villagers, saying that he was going to be buried in a grand manner." I also heard that Master Zhang used to be a horse bandit, and after following Huang Hou, he changed his past wrongs, and more than ten years ago, as a military attache of the imperial court, he returned to his hometown in Shandong, and kowtowed to the people he had harmed back then. Now when there was a rumor outside, and when the other generals ran away one after another, Lord Zhang, as the battalion officer of the Evergreen Battalion, personally broke the rear, and then the acting officer of the Evergreen Battalion also followed the example of Lord Zhang and personally broke the rear, and King Ji tried his best to attack the Evergreen Battalion actually did not get anything good; However, in the east, I heard that the soldiers had captured thousands of prisoners without bloodshed, and they were really a raging soldier, and they were all in a nest. In the past, I thought that with the majesty and courage of Huang Hou, even King Yue was slightly inferior, but now it seems that it is really inferior......" The master sighed lightly: "The ancients Yun: I don't know his people and look at his friends; The countrymen say: There are no sages in the bandits' den. This can't be used on Huang Hou, King Yue will not teach a bunch of Li Dao, Guo Yan and others who plague Li Shu, and in the future, Huang Hou's vision will definitely be a big stain. ”

Xu Ping argued: "This is by no means Huang Hou's original intention. ”

"Of course not." The master glanced at Xu Ping and Zhong Guinian: "I have the pox given by Huang Hou on my body, and the two of you must have it." ”

The two nodded in unison, and the master nodded: "That Huang Hou is the benefactor of the three of us, if it weren't for his pox, who knows if we would die of the plague?" Now the village is still planted with overseas crops brought by Huang Hou, if there is no Huang Hou, I don't know how many people have to eat soil in these years of drought...... Huang Hou Yao led Rong Cheng's fief, and he was half of Shandong, the previous Confucian thieves, and the later King Ji, all walked around Rong Cheng, saying that this was Huang Hou's fief that could not be made, and the people here contributed Huang Hou's food and clothing to not be harmed. Rong adults are very proud, and I also feel glorious when I think that Huang Hou's knighthood is the money and grain paid by our Shandong people, but this time Huang Hou's subordinates killed a lot of good people in Shandong. ”

[Remember the URL . 三五Chinese网]