Toulon paused, was silent for a long time, and suddenly pulled out a wooden arrow from the arrow bag behind the back of the Karen people beside him, broke it in two and threw it on the ground: "I Toulon do not believe in the Han people, today I believe you, I Toulon hereby swear, if you repel the cottage wild elephants, from now on, Toulon life is Zhu brothers, Toulon blood is also shed for Zhu brothers, if this oath is violated, Toulon will no longer be blessed by the mountain god." ”

Called a brother by an old man in his sixties, Zhu Jun didn't know whether to cry or laugh, but obviously Toulon's oath was made out of sincerity, and it was no wonder that they had fallen for others in the past.

What Zhu Jun didn't know was that for these Karen people who lived in the mountains all year round, the power of wild elephants was like the torrent of steel in World War II in later generations, unstoppable, and the last expulsion of wild elephants left the lives of more than a dozen tribesmen. If Zhu Jun can drive away the wild elephants, he will be the savior of the cottage, not to mention digging out his heart, even if he is worshiped as a mountain god.

The group walked for a while, and a high-arched mountain stream appeared in front of them, and Toulon pointed to it and said, "After here, we will reach the opposite side of the mountain, and if we walk a little longer, we will go down the mountain, and at the foot of the mountain is our stockade." ”

When he walked to the mountain stream, it was already halfway up the mountainside, Zhu Jun looked at it from afar, there were endless mountains in front of him, and the peaks on the opposite side could reach the clouds, and between the two peaks, a bamboo building was hidden in the trees.

"Is that your village?" Zhu Jun pointed to the foot of the mountain.

"Exactly, Brother Zhu, please come with us, when you get there, my people will treat you well." With a smile on his face, Toulon shook his spirits, straightened the black turban on his head, and grabbed the hem of Zhu Jun's clothes with a withered hand to speed up.

The road down the mountain is much faster than the upper mountain, in an instant, the team of dozens of people went down the mountain, it turns out that this cottage is really built according to the mountain, there are two doors before and after, the back door leads to the mountain peak, and the front door is a plain of several miles, there are huge stones accumulated at the front door, so the wild elephant is coming, but the hundreds of acres of crops outside the front door are trampled by the wild elephants, the whole cottage is only about 200 households, each household lives in the stilted building, and the customs of some ethnic minorities in Yunnan are also similar.

Toulon led Zhu Jun and others into the village from the back door of the cottage, first invited Zhu Jun to his stilted building to drink tea, the tea of the Karen people is mainly sweet, and I don't know what licorice is put in, and I can feel the heavy sweetness when I drink it.

Soon, some of the elders in the village gathered in the stilted building of Toulon in twos and threes, Toulon kept patting Zhu Jun's shoulder and said something to the elders, and then some of the elders nodded to Zhu Jun to show goodwill, and more elders retorted with gloomy faces, and finally sat on the ground in the corner of the building without looking at Zhu Jun.

Zhu Jun guessed that these people had a dispute over how to treat him, so he simply remained silent, holding a bamboo tube for tea and watching coldly.

Toulon's face gradually became gloomy, and he argued with a few elders, and then said to Zhu Jun in Chinese with a little guilt: "Brother Zhu, most of the elders in the village think that you are a liar, so let me not fall for the tricks of the Han people......

Zhu Jun didn't wait for Toulon to finish speaking, he calmly put down the bamboo tube and stood up: "Since this is the case, then Zhu has nothing to say, so he will leave." As for those iron filings, Zhu Mou can trust the elders, so there is no need to check them, you will let people carry a few baskets to the village every day in the future, and I will naturally give you a fair price. If you don't have any food in the village, you can also let them carry a few baskets of food back to help the emergency first, and you can buy some of the rest when you have the silver. ”

"Brother Zhu, please listen to me." The shame on Toulon's face turned into indignation: "Brother Zhu is willing to help us, Toulon is not a person who doesn't know what to do, these elders don't believe in you, but I, Toulon, believe in you, as long as I'm still an elder in the cottage, no one can drive you away, you sit down and wait for the time being." ”

Toulon turned to the side and began to argue with the elders again, apparently this time his voice was much louder, and just when Zhu Jun was a little impatient, the quarrel finally ended, and most of the elders remained silent with their faces still dark.

Toulon bowed to Zhu Jun: "Brother Zhu, the elders have promised to let you try it once, they still have a problem with the Han people, so this is why it will be like this, please don't take it to heart." I'm sure it won't be long before you'll be able to impress them. ”

Zhu Jun nodded and said, "Since this is the case, then I will go and ask my attendants to take my people into the mountain, but this mountain road is really rugged, can the elder let dozens of clansmen go with my attendants." ”

Toulon naturally agreed, and the two instructed their tribesmen and attendants respectively, one to let them follow the way, and the other to let them go back to deliver the letter, and then returned to the stilted building.

There are caves in the mountains, and there are natives who can cross the mountains and mountains with bare feet, today, Zhu Jun has really seen it, and now the acquisition of iron filings has become secondary to Zhu Jun, Myanmar is originally mountainous, if you can make good use of it, not to mention Wang Mangbai after usurping the throne, even if it is the Manchu Qing Dynasty, what can you do?

Zhu Jun knew very little about the mountains, and the Karen people in front of him were indeed like ghosts walking through the mountains, coming and going like the wind. If you want to train an army that can adapt to fighting in the mountains and forests, you have to help the people of the Karen tribe, and if you can help them solve the wild elephants this time, and then envelop them a little, you are not afraid that they will not help you.

"Brother Zhu, I see that you seem to have something difficult with your frowning brows and preoccupied appearance." Toulon had already come over and filled the bamboo tube in front of Zhu Jun with a large bamboo tube full of tea.

Zhu Jun sighed and said: "Brother Toulon, I can't hide it, although I have a high status, there are many people who are looking forward to killing me and then quickly, even this Burmese country may not be able to tolerate it, hey, let's not talk about it......"

Zhu Jun stopped talking appropriately, but he didn't know how the ministers in the village would react if they knew that they called a native to be the eldest brother, and they were about to hit the pillar and cry.

"Actually, it's not just you, aren't we Karen people in the same situation as you? You Han people say well, every family has a scripture that is difficult to read, hey! Look at us, either we were surrounded and suppressed by the king of Burma, or we were destroyed by wild elephants, and now we have run off rice and grain, and the world is so big that there is no hiding place for our Karen people. Toulon sighed as well, and continued, "In any case, if you have any difficulties, tell your brother, and you are welcome." ”

Well, then you're welcome. Zhu Jun said this in his heart, although this method is suspected of playing with the feelings of ethnic minorities, but surrounded by strong enemies, in order to improve his strength as soon as possible, Zhu Jun can't care so much.

"Brother Toulon, Zhu wants to establish a mountain battalion to defend against the threat of outsiders, but there are powerful warriors, but no one has the experience of shuttling through the mountains and forests, if it is convenient for Brother Toulon, he may as well allocate a few good hands to guide and guide, Zhu is grateful."

"That's not a problem." Toulon replied very simply: "It is very rare that you can take the initiative to help us expel the wild elephants, whether you succeed or not, it is enough to see that you are a good friend of our Karen people, this little favor is wrapped up in me, the elders in the cottage have some misunderstandings about you, I will try to explain to them, and then they will treat you like me, like the most honored guests." ”

Zhu Jun put his mind at ease, picked up the bamboo tube and took a sip of tea, and said with a smile: "This sweet tea is very good, it quenches thirst, and it is not much better than the famous tea in the Central Plains." ”

"If Brother Zhu likes it, drink more, we don't have anything else in the cottage, and the sweet tea is still sufficient." Toulon took the big bamboo tube and filled Zhu Jun's bamboo tube with sweet tea.

The two chatted with each other again, they were on the road in the morning, and they arrived at the cottage at noon, Zhu Jun estimated that Mu Jianming's Shenji camp would arrive in the middle of the night, and he was also tired, so Toulon took him to the neighboring house to rest in clothes.

Until the middle of the night, there was a noise outside the cottage, Zhu Jun sat up leisurely in a half-dream, and a personal guard supported him, brought a glass of water and said: "Tell the emperor, Commander Mu has arrived with the brothers of the Shenji Battalion." ”

Zhu Jun was slightly energetic, pulled his wrinkled coat and said, "Let's go, follow me and take a look." ”

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Wrote for half a month, two more per day, 3,000 words per more, rain or shine without interruption, the brothers who did not collect the collection, the brothers who have tickets voted, thank you very much!