Liu Cheng was faintly worried by Wan Jianfeng's words, and since he had promised to listen to his arrangements in everything, he had no choice but to order: "Brothers, follow the general into the village!" Remember to be kind to the local people, do not burn, kill and loot, and violators will be dealt with by military law! ”

"Yes!" The soldiers responded in unison, and their voices shook the sky. Tens of thousands of troops lined up in a neat line and soon marched to the entrance of the village.

Liu Cheng cautiously raised his hand and motioned for the army to stop for the time being, and then he listened attentively. But I heard the occasional shouting of the merchant in the village, the sonorous sound of striking iron in the blacksmith shop, and the chatter of the villagers and neighbors when they met. Not far away, there were a few men in undershirts, bare-chested, carrying hoes, and humming country tunes, leisurely walking through the village. The heart he was carrying was slowly lowered, and with a wave of his hand, he motioned for the army to continue into the village.

Under the big tree at the entrance of the village, there is a merchant carrying a burden, shaking the rattle vigorously and shouting loudly. Suddenly, tens of thousands of Song soldiers entered the village, and they were so frightened that they exclaimed, threw down the goods and ran away.

When the villagers heard the merchant screaming, most of them curiously pushed open the courtyard door and looked out. When they saw the Song army in the dark at the head of the village, they all screamed in fright, and closed the doors and windows one after another, as if they were afraid that the Song army would break in, and all kinds of collisions sounded for a while. Some of them had the courage to escape from their homes and ran towards the end of the village, really panicking like a lost dog, anxious like a fish that slipped through the net.

Seeing this, Liu Cheng couldn't help but smile bitterly, and just wanted to order the soldiers to disperse into each house to rest for a day or two, and then set off in the afternoon, when he suddenly saw an old man in front of him, holding an iron cane in his hand, slowly coming surrounded by a group of young men.

Song Jun subconsciously drew their blades one after another, but Liu Cheng waved his hand, signaling them to put away their weapons and just wait patiently for the old man to come closer.

After a while, the old man finally walked up to Liu Cheng and said, "This general, the old man's name is Ruan Jie, he is Qiu Nan of this village, and in the words of your Song Kingdom, he is called Baozheng. I wonder if the general is coming this time, is he going to stay for a long time, or to rest temporarily? ”

Liu Cheng arched his hand and said: "I am Liu Cheng, the chief general of the East Road Army, and I am going to send troops to Wu'an Prefecture today, so I am passing by your village." If your village is willing to submit, we will never use our swords, but if you dare to try to resist, we will not blame the general for being ruthless! ”

Ruan Jie nodded and said sincerely: "General Liu, when I was old and young, Qu Yue had just left the Central Plains, so although I am from Qu Yue, I have always been interested in the Central Plains. In addition, General Liu was reasonable, and in order to protect the whole village, I also had no reason to resist. ”

"Old man, it's rare that you are so knowledgeable about current affairs, and I will never treat you badly." Liu Cheng smiled and took out fifty taels of silver from his arms and handed it to the old man, "This is fifty taels of silver, and it is counted as the use of the army to rest, so I will accept it first, and when the army leaves, I will thank you again." ”

Ruan Jie looked at the silver, frowned and said, "General Liu, the army is fed by horses in the village, but I'm afraid that fifty taels of silver is a little stretched." ”

Liu Cheng smiled, "Haha, old man, we all have dry food with us, we don't have to bother you to prepare food, just vacate dozens of houses and let the army rest for a while." ”

Ruan Jie's brows immediately stretched when he heard this, and said with a smile: "Haha, what kind of silver is used in this case?" I will arrange for the villagers to vacate their houses, and as long as the army does not damage the furnishings and utensils when they leave, we will not take a penny. ”

Wan Jianfeng glanced the old man up and down a few times, shook the wine gourd and said, "Old man, you take the silver, don't be in vain." In addition, Ben Shaoxia's wine gourd is empty, please get me some good wine, otherwise Ben Shaoxia will stay in the village and not leave. ”

Ruan Jie accepted the silver and pointed to the slightly larger grass hut in the southeast, "Young man, please see, this is the old house, which is the best in the village." If Shaoxia and General Liu don't dislike it, please come in and sit down with the old man. ”

Wan Jianfeng smiled: "Haha, don't dislike it, don't dislike it!" As long as there is good wine, even the young man of the pigsty and the pit will not be disgusted! ”

Liu Cheng turned his head sideways and said to the deputy general Zhang Li: "General Zhang, the general, Wan Shaoxia, and Murong girl will go to the grass hut with the old man to sit, and the rest of the people will be arranged by you." Remember, don't do anything wrong, otherwise the general will not be spared! ”

Zhang Li hurriedly said: "Don't worry, general, just go and rest, and the brothers will be handed over to me." Ruan Jie saw that Liu Cheng had made a good arrangement, made a gesture of please, and led the three of them to his thatched hut.

The four of them entered the grass hut and sat down around a somewhat shabby wooden table, Liu Cheng took out a small bag of dry food from his arms and divided it between Wan Jianfeng and Murong Yanyun. Seeing this, Ruan Jie also walked under the kitchen to get a jar of rice wine and gently put it on the table, "Three, this is the old man's home-brewed rice wine, it is a little muddy, and the taste is not bad." ”

When Wan Jianfeng saw the wine, he threw away the dry food in his hand, picked up the wine jar and poured it into his mouth. The rice wine leaned down from the altar, and his Adam's apple kept squirming, making a series of "cooing" sounds, as if a thirsty ghost was reincarnated.

Ruan Jie looked at Wan Jianfeng in surprise, gave a thumbs up and said, "Eh, this young man is too powerful!" I've lived for so many years, and I've never seen such a large number of people! ”

In the blink of an eye, Wan Jianfeng drank a jar of wine to the point that there was not a drop left, and put the jar on the table, "Old man, your rice wine tastes really good, how is it made?" How much glutinous rice was used, how much fermentation was put in, how many hours were steamed in a pot, and how many days were stored in the cellar? When Ben Shaoxia is free, I will also brew a few jars according to your recipe, so that I can beg for wine everywhere every day. ”

Ruan Jie was slightly stunned, then patted his head and said, "Alas, when people are old, their memory is poor." The wine just brewed a few days ago was forgotten in a blink of an eye, you let me think about it, and I'll tell you when I think about it. ”

Murong Yunyao took a bite of the miscellaneous cakes that Liu Cheng handed her, and suddenly frowned, "General Liu, what are you bringing here, it's hard and dry and tasteless, how can you let this girl eat this!" ”

Liu Cheng was slightly embarrassed, "Miss Murong, it's inconvenient for us to carry too much food when we march and fight, we just want to fill our stomachs, and I hope you will be wronged." ”

Murong Yunyao frowned, reluctantly bit a little more, and then put the cake back in the bag, not wanting to eat any more. Ruan Jie looked back at the kitchen, and saw that there were still some vegetables under the kitchen, so he hurriedly said: "This girl, if you are not used to eating food in the army, the old man will cook two side dishes for you?" ”

(End of chapter)