On this day, Zhang Tianhe was reading at home, and suddenly heard chickens flying and dogs jumping outside, dogs barking constantly, a burst of noise, followed by a few gunshots, he didn't know what happened, and hurriedly went out to watch, but saw that the neighbors were so frightened that they closed the doors and windows, thinking that bandits had entered the village to rob.

"Brother, my good brother, my brother has come to see you." After a while, a familiar voice came from afar.

When I got closer, it turned out that Tang Dalong was pulling a carriage of good things, and a few entourages were carrying a few chickens and a few dogs.

Zhang Tianhe didn't expect him to come today, and he was very happy to see him so affectionate.

"Brother, I'm naturally very happy that you can come to see me, but why are you putting guns indiscriminately? scared the neighbors so much that they didn't dare to go out," Zhang Tianhe frowned, and then said, "Are you afraid that the government won't know that I have a relationship with you, and want to kill my brother?" ”

"Oh, brother, I'm so sorry I forgot about this stubble, I'm damned. I heard that my sister was getting married, so I sent me some gifts to show my heart. When I first entered the village, the brothers saw a few dogs and a few chickens, and wanted to eat dog meat and chickens, so they put two shots, not an example," Tang Dalong took Zhang Tianhe's hand while playing haha, and praised him, "Recently, I heard that your kung fu has made great progress, you not only kicked the Zhongwu Sect, but also defeated Du Lisi, you are now famous and famous, brother and I am not your opponent now." ”

"Big brother, who did you listen to, how can you say so exaggerated?" Zhang Tianhe said.

"Okay, let's not talk about it, come on, I brought a distinguished guest today to introduce you."

"Guest?"

"Brother, you see, it's him."

Zhang Tianhe followed the direction of his finger, slowly walked over from behind, came to the front, bowed to Zhang Tianhe, and said: "I have heard the name of Brother Tianhe for a long time, and when I see it today, I am fortunate to have three lives." ”

Zhang Tianhe saw that a young man came, about 1.8 meters tall, slightly thin, wearing a set of relatively foreign white suits, with a top hat on his head, and a pair of black leather shoes on his feet. Looking at his face, his eyes are not big, but they are bright, with a high nose bridge, thin lips, and although his complexion is a little dark, it is difficult to hide his handsomeness, and he looks wise and eloquent.

Zhang Tianhe hurriedly returned the salute.

"This is Li Sizhe, his father is the God of Wealth in Chengde City, is responsible for the government's finances, named Li Xuewen, his mother is the Qing Dynasty Aixin Jueluo inlaid with the Yellow Flag, called Aixin Jueluo Xuanlana, and also stained with the imperial family, he also has a sister named Li Sijie, currently studying in Russia, he has just returned from studying abroad, graduated from the Mikhailovsky Military Artillery Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia, at present, as the artillery captain of our Qingfeng Village, and is also in charge of prison. He is also one of our top ten gunners, ranking ninth, so he is called the ninth brother. Tang Dalong said, "Their family has money, and he joined our team not for money." ”

Zhang Tianhe was a little surprised, and at the same time, he also felt a little strange, and couldn't understand why such a high-achieving student with such a good family background wanted to be a beard.

"Do you still have an artillery team in Qingfeng Village?" Zhang Tianhe couldn't help asking.

"Yes, we now have 20 German-style Krupp 75-mm guns and 20 100-mm mountain guns, and we have set up an artillery team," Tang Dalong said. ”

"Brother Tianhe, I often hear Brother Tang mention you in front of me, my ears are grinding out cocoons, today I finally met you, we can be said to be familiar at first sight. To tell you the truth, since the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War in 1894 and the signing of the "Sino-Japanese Treaty of Shimonoseki" with Japan, I have always been indignant, and I have never understood why our great country was invaded by foreign powers. For this reason, I asked my father to go to study at the Mikhailovsky Military Artillery Academy in Russia, and I wanted to return to serve the country after completing my studies," Li Sizhe said. ”

When Zhang Tianhe heard him say this, he thought that he was so young, but he was worried about the country and the people, and he couldn't help but appreciate it very much.

"However, after the new army was built, I found that the situation was far from what I imagined," Li Sizhe sighed and said disappointedly, "These officials, what they are thinking about is not about any major national affairs, how to defend the country and drive away the great powers, but they are all playing their own small calculations, thinking about how to get promoted and how to get rich all day long, and then they are smoking big cigarettes and playing with women, and they don't treat us soldiers as human beings, as soon as they hear that there is going to be a war, they immediately take the lead and run, running faster than rabbits." Not to mention the rest, let's take Ye Zhichao, the president of the Qing army stationed in Korea, as soon as he heard that the Japanese army was coming, he ran all the way back to the Yalu River without backbone, which eventually led to the defeat of the whole army and the defeat of Pyongyang, so that the Japanese army smoothly entered Korea, and since then relying on North Korea as a springboard to enter the land of China. Those who take the lead are like this, what can those of us who are soldiers do? I was full of enthusiasm, but I had no way to serve the country, so I quit and came back as a beard. ”

After Zhang Tianhe heard this, he also sighed, and then welcomed them into the house, set up a banquet with wine, and warmly entertained them.

"Tianhe, you heard, this is the way of the world today, the Qing government is corrupt and incompetent, the corruption and degeneration of officials, aspiring young people want to save the country and save the people, they have no way to serve the country, and the people have no way to live, you say, what else can you do except be a beard?" Tang Dalong paused, his face worried, "However, our Qingfeng Village seems to be a large number of people on the surface, and the soldiers are strong and strong, and now there are internal problems. ”

"What do you mean by that?" Zhang Tianhe asked.

"Now the whole cottage is divided into two factions, Feng Delin, the big boss, is very righteous, and the person is not bad, but he doesn't know anyone, and the deputy owner of the village, Wang Xiong, who he pulled up, is an insatiable and ungrateful guy, this person secretly gradually cultivates his cronies and henchmen, and has a tendency to fight against the lord of the village, and now he is bullied to the head of Lao Tzu."

"Oh? Is there such a thing? Zhang Tianhe was also a little surprised when he heard Tang Dalong say this, "Do you dare to bully him even brother?" ”

"Yes, there have been three times, and he sent me to lead two hundred of my brothers in my headquarters to carry out a mission, and promised to give each brother a reward of twenty taels of silver after each mission, and the brothers risked their lives, and finally made a deal and took back their possessions, and he promised to give each of them twenty taels of silver, three times that is, sixty taels each, and two hundred brothers were twelve thousand taels of silver, but he gave not a penny, and he did not hand over all the goods he had obtained, but kept them all for himself, and you said, I have promised my brothers a long time, but I have not been able to keep it, so how can I explain it to my brothers? The more Tang Dalong spoke, the more angry he became, "This Wang Ba calf has committed Lao Tzu's temper, and Lao Tzu will fight with him." ”

"Big brother, don't be impulsive, dissipate your anger, it's all your own family, and peace is precious." Zhang Tianhe was next to persuade him.

"My Tang Dalong is a person with a temperament, the most righteous, doing things in the cottage, taking less money, the most important thing is that the brothers are happy and happy together, but like him, he doesn't take me seriously, he treats me as two hundred and five, crossing the river and demolishing the bridge, how can I stand this kind of?" Tang Dalong said, "If it weren't for the face of the big boss, I would have quit a long time ago, I don't keep my master here, I have my own place to keep my master, what am I working so hard for, what's the point?" ”

"Big brother is right, I originally wanted to be a soldier and serve the country, but later, I found out that I was wrong, and then, I went to Qingfeng Village, hoping to make a career here, but what I didn't expect was that these people were also fighting in the nest, doing some shady things all day long," Li Sizhe sighed, "I think now, am I wrong again?" ”

"Tianhe, you have become famous in the rivers and lakes recently, it is better for you to pull up a team, and our brothers can do it with you." Tang Dalong said.

"How's that going to work? You guys are doing a good job in Qingfeng Village now, and I can say that I have nothing now, how can this be done? Zhang Tianhe said, "Besides, I have an old lady to support, so don't mention this matter again." ”

As soon as Tang Dalong heard that Zhang Tianhe made sense, he said: "Okay, let's not talk about this matter for the time being, and we will discuss it later." In addition, we came this time to send some dowry to our sister, and second, we were ordered by the lord of the village to visit a master, hoping to ask him to go out of the mountain to help, but they politely declined. ”

"Superior?" When Zhang Tianhe heard this, he was a little puzzled, "Where is the master?" ”

"Yes, you know what? In ancient times, all the monarchs who made a difference would invite some wise and resourceful people to give him advice, I didn't read much, but I also heard about some, for example, Jiang Ziya, who assisted King Wen of Zhou to establish the Great Zhou Dynasty, Zhang Zifang, who helped Liu Bang to rule the world, and Zhuge Liang, who enabled Liu Bei to divide the world, and so on, these people have the talent to govern the country and the country," Tang Dalong paused when he said this, and then said, "And near you, not too far from you, there is such a great sage, a master in the world." ”

"Oh?" When Zhang Tianhe heard this, his eyes lit up, "Big brother, who is this master you are talking about?" How did I not know? ”

"As the saying goes, tigers and leopards are hidden in the mountains, and unicorns are buried in the fields, you are so busy all day long, how can you pay attention to these things? If it weren't for what our big village master said, I wouldn't have thought of it. Tang Dalong said.

"Big brother, don't sell it, tell me quickly, who is he?"

"About fifty miles northeast of yours, there is a village called Liujiazhuang, and there is a private school gentleman named Liu Bodu, who is a great master who was not born."

"Did you visit him, then?" Zhang Tianhe asked.

"Go, we brought a lot of gifts to invite him out of the mountain, but he didn't accept anything, and rejected us, he said, our big village owner Feng Delin knows no people, it is difficult to achieve great things, and he is unwilling to go out of the mountain to assist him." Tang Dalong said, "You see that people don't leave home, but they know the temperament of our big village owner well, which can be described as a word." If one day, you want to set up your own door, you must invite him out and help you. ”

"Me?" Zhang Tianhe smiled bitterly, "Your big village master Feng Delin has thousands of men and horses, and no one is willing to go out of the mountains to help, what do I have?" How can I please others? If I am fortunate enough to get to know and listen to what other people say, then I will be satisfied. ”

"Tianhe, you don't have to be too humble, thirty years in Hedong, thirty years in Hexi, feng shui in turns, as for what can happen in the future, then there are two talks," Tang Dalong said, "In the future, if you encounter any difficulties, or if you want to find me for something, you can come to me at the Yuelai Tavern at the foot of our Qingfeng Zhai Mountain, where there is our informant." ”

"I see, big brother."

Within two days, Judge Du of Heiyunzhai sent someone to send another cart of gold, silver and satin.

Zhang Tianhe took out a part and scattered it to the neighbors, and the neighbors got the benefits, and they were all happy, and no one went to report to the official. After all, the government will not give them any benefits except to exploit them.