In the small courtyard of the mud embryo house where Dai Wang lived, Captain Tian and Zhang Lushuai sat in front of him, and patiently reminded him again: "Dai Liulang, you have to think about it, can I find you the errand of the treasury manager, or the back door that Deputy Military Envoy Zhao specially asked General Li to go through." 1,200 yuan a month, two buckets of wheat and a bucket of barley, the same as your salary as a team leader. Every day is not very busy, just watch the rice in the warehouse and don't let the rats steal their mouths. You can drink two taels of wine in your spare time, even if you want to marry a lady to live, just by virtue of the income conditions of your cangxu official, not to mention the nearby Hu women, even if they are Han women, they have to rush to the door. ”

Dai Liulang rubbed his hands on his knees and said with a dry smile: "I know you are thinking about me, but don't we Han people all talk about falling leaves and returning to their roots, no matter how comfortable and good the outside life is, we will eventually return to our hometown." I just live a comfortable life in Shule, and I am afraid that I will not be at peace, and I always think about my brothers and sisters-in-law at home, and I go back to reunite with them. ”

Seeing that Dai Wang's mind had been decided, Captain Tian couldn't persuade him again, so he took a heavy blanket from Yan Lao'an's hand, handed it to Dai Wang, and said: "Although you can't be promoted to a medal, but this expedition is beheaded two levels, and the reward you get is also a sum of money, which is exchanged for yaks, sheep and property, a total of forty yuan." You have been recruiting for nine years, and your family is afraid that you will have no land for a long time, so you will help you buy some fertile land after returning to your hometown. ”

Dai Wang took it with both hands, and said very gratefully: "Thank you Captain Tian, Lvshuai Zhang, these are enough, even after returning to my hometown, these brothers in the army, I will not forget." ”

"That's nature, we won't forget Ridai Rokuro, if you take care of it, we won't bother."

He was just about to stand up to send him off, but he was pressed by the lieutenant on the shoulder: "If you have inconvenient legs and feet, don't send it, go into the house and have a good rest." ”

Soon after Captain Tian and Captain Li left, Dai Wang's robes from the same team came to the door. They held the wine jar in their hands, and after entering the door, they placed wine cups around the earthen platform, and each of them raised a glass to drink, and feasted for their former comrades-in-arms. Tell each other about the interesting things in the Japanese army, and the feelings between the robes.

"When we are waiting for him, we will also be repatriated from the army to return to the peasants, passing by your Wuwei Changsong County, but if we want to disturb your house, you must take out the chickens, millet and wine at home, and we will drink it again."

"That's nature."

"You don't have to be too sad, in fact, we all envy you, you can go home to reunite with your brother and sister-in-law, marry a lady to farm and plant mulberry, and come back to peace for the rest of your life, you don't have to fight anymore, you can earn scars all over your body, and you can't save a few dollars."

"That's right!" He wiped his face and said with anticipation: "I hope that my brothers will be repatriated to the farmers in the future, and we will become withered old people, and we can also toast together." ”

In fact, this is just a luxury, or a vision, and the military horse leather shroud is already an outcome that most people can see.

Dai Wang sat on the edge of the couch with his legs bent, tasting slowly with a wine cup, watching his brothers begin to get drunk and germinate, and he smiled at the corner of his mouth. The hoarse and loud "Great Array Music" sounded in this mud house, and the dissonant music of these people also had a bit of majestic and desolate meaning.

Three days later, Dai Wang finally went on the road alone, leading his thin yellow horse, his armor and horizontal sword all returned to the Shule army, and now he was alone except for money. On horseback were the money and groceries he had accumulated over the years, as well as compressed biscuits and cured meats in bags of dry food.

He lowered his head and walked along the post road in the direction of the city, and the grasslands on both sides of the road were already bare and cold, just like his lonely traveler. The winter cold eroded his body, but fortunately, the padded jackets that were captured and supplied from the Green Ridge covered most of the cold, and this thing was unique only to the Anxi army.

Six or seven horses were running fast behind him, and Dai Wang subconsciously gave way to the side so that they could hurry quickly. After they had run, he looked up, and it seemed that it was the people of their Shule army - they were all wearing yellow-gray robes lacking crotch, and the general in the crimson robe led by them should be the envoy of Li Zhen of Shule Town.

It's just that he didn't expect that General Li, who was the leader, would turn back, hold the reins of the horse with both hands, look at him and ask: "Undress and unload your armor, all the way to the dust, but you are sick and return home." ”

Dai Wang hurriedly crossed his hands and said: "The left team of the right brigade of the third regiment of the original cavalry battalion under his command is ......."

Li Siye interrupted him and said, "You are Dai Wang, you were shot in the right hamstring tendon by a stray arrow during this year's expedition to Turgy?" ”

Dai Wang was quite surprised, but he didn't expect Li Siye to know his name, so he hurriedly poked out of the cane with one hand and said with his crossed hands: "That's right, it's Dai Wang."

Li Siye asked again: "Where is your hometown?"

"General Yu, my family lives in Changsong County, Wuwei, Hexi."

"That's just right," Li Siye looked up at the sky, then looked down at him and said, "If you don't want to go alone, you can choose to follow us on the road, but you can take care of it." If you feel constrained by us, you can travel alone. ”

"I, I'm just worried that my legs and feet are inconvenient, and it will delay the general's trip."

"Where will the trip be delayed, I have already been on the road a few days in advance, even if I travel all the way, I can catch up with Fu Mengzhongcheng's team, let's go."

Li Siye ordered the luggage and dry food on his horse to be untied and placed on the camels of the rest of the people, so that Dai Wang could also ride to keep up with them. He was a veteran with a lame right leg, and he relied on a cane to travel thousands of miles alone, and the hardships can be imagined.

Dai Wang was very grateful, and thanked everyone with his hands crossed, dragged the reins of the horse and turned over, and everyone marched forward along the road where the merchant traveler stepped out.

He first followed at the end of the group, and the concept of hierarchy made him think that he could not integrate into General Li's personal soldiers, and the high-pitched talk between the crowd could only cause him to laugh implicitly. However, General Li did not have the frame of a general during his journey, and he still looked back from time to time and pointed out the mistakes in someone's words with gags, which caused everyone to laugh, and the atmosphere of the whole team was very relaxed.

Soon Dai Wang also fully integrated into the team, Li Siye slowed down his horse, slightly ahead of him, and turned back to ask idly, "What is Dai Liulang going to do when he goes back?"

"Let's go home and take a look first, when I came out to serve as a soldier in the twenty-first year of the old calendar, I only had twenty acres of Yongye field under my name, and the desertification was very serious, so I could only plant Yumulberry. The master of the family sold the field, bought me some coils and camels, and then reported to the county to recruit soldiers, and came to the Western Regions alone. In the past two years, I received letters from my family one after another, and learned that there was no land in the county, so I thought that I had accumulated some money from being a soldier over the years, and I also had the reward money earned from military achievements, so I went back to buy some private land from big households, and bought back some of the fields lost by my brother and sister-in-law. ”

Li Siye raised his head and thought about it, and then asked him again: "You have made many meritorious contributions before, but do you have a medalist?"

Dai Wang scratched his head and smiled: "It's not a secret, in the twenty-seventh year of the old calendar, when the expedition to the cavalry surnamed Shi Huang, I followed General Zang Xiye's cavalry team to charge the personal protector of the Tuhuo Immortal Khan, collected three heads, and shot three personal guards of the Tuhuo Immortal Khan on the way to pursuit. But not long after, when he was drinking in the wine shop in Yandu Prefecture, he rescued a woman and slashed and killed Zhou Sima's subordinates, although it was a righteous act, but he was still taken away from him. It's just that I was young and vigorous at the time, but now I regret it. ”

"That's it," Yan Xiaosi said regretfully beside him: "Captain Yun Cavalry will return to his hometown, and the Ministry of War will issue a document ordering the state and county to give you a hundred acres of Yongye fertile land, exempt from military service, and save a sum of expenses." By virtue of his resignation, he can also serve as an official position in the state and county, and if there are people above, it is also possible to get a county lieutenant in the lower county. ”

Someone among the pro-soldiers refuted Yan Xiaosi and said: "Yan team, what you said was the market in the early years of the old calendar, at that time, whether it was the military department or the state and county, it was still more important for ordinary soldiers to be honored." But now the atmosphere is not as good as before, and many third-turn flying cavalry captains can only receive a few acres of thin fields to cultivate after returning to their hometowns. Many donors lined up in front, but those of us who received the medal could only gnaw on the loess. ”

Dai Wang was taken aback, how dare a soldier vent his dissatisfaction with the court in front of the general? He secretly glanced at Li Siye, and found that this General Li seemed to be unconscious, and he didn't take it seriously at all, and sighed in his heart that the atmosphere was surprisingly good.

Li Siye was thinking that Zhang Xiaojing was also awarded the third rank of flying cavalry captain for meritorious service, and he had to be appointed as the head of the Jiupin of the Ministry of War, but only because he offended his superiors was he dismissed from the official and became a bad marshal.