weaving

Chapter 37
The sky was a little dark, pieces of silvery white snowflakes were falling with the wind, and the earth was silvery white.

Mafang Village, facing southwest, 870 meters away, there is an abandoned stable, and there is an open field outside, where dozens of bonfires were set off, and more than [-] refugees scattered, using these bonfires to resist the wind and snow.

Zhang Cheng was chatting with the old man Shi Tiegen. Sitting around the fire was the strong man Shi Zhuzi. He was beside the old man Shi Tiegen, and on his right was a thin young man who secretly took his eyes from time to time. Aim at Zhang Cheng.

"Old man, have you been nailing horseshoes in this horse workshop?" Zhang Cheng said in a calm tone.

"General, the old man was originally a craftsman in Jinmen. The year before last, in order to avoid the Tartars, he was exiled to the Mafang, and he did the horseshoe work here."

"Old man, don't see outsiders. From now on, you will be one of our own. You will be like them when you are old. Just call me the master."

Zhang Cheng heard that the old man was a craftsman in Jinmen, so he couldn't help but pay special attention to him, and his words were much more polite.

"The old man dare not obey."

Just as Shi Tiegen was about to stand up and salute, he was pulled back by Zhang Cheng, so he had to sit down again and speak carefully.

"Report to the master, this child is the old man's only son, Zhu Zi, quickly kowtow to the master."

The old man Shi Tiegen got excited as he spoke, and insisted on Shi Zhuzi get up and kowtow, but Zhang Cheng didn't stop him, and sat there looking at Shi Zhuzi with a smile on his face.

Shi Zhuzi stood up, knelt down at Zhang Cheng's feet with his tall and strong body, and said in a low voice, "Master, my life belongs to the master. Before the saddle and behind the horse, there will be mountains of swords and seas of fire. It all depends on the master's words."

After saying "咚咚咚", there were three ringing heads, and Zhang Cheng felt that the ground he was sitting on seemed to be shaking slightly.

When he got up, Zhang Cheng said to him with satisfaction: "Good man, follow me from now on and work hard."

Shi Zhuzi happily agreed loudly, and after Zhang Cheng sat down, he asked the old man again: "Since the old man is a craftsman, I don't know what kind of utensils he was good at before?"

The old man Shi sighed, and said with a little sadness: "The old man's family of craftsmen has been familiar with weapons and battles for generations. It's a pity that in this world, it is difficult to even support a family."

The old man wiped away the old tears from the corners of his eyes, and then continued: "The daughter-in-law my son just married was given to... oh..."

Speaking of this, I was a little choked up, and the stone pillar next to me slammed my fist on the ground, making a "boom", and the thin man beside the stone pillar seemed to be stimulated, burst into tears, and jumped up. Standing up, the stone pillar next to him stretched out his big hand to grab him, and then dragged him to sit down again.

Without waiting for Zhang Cheng to ask, Old Man Shi turned the corner of his mouth to the right again and said, "You are also a hard-fated child. Brother Wang Gezhuang is a scholar. We only got married in the first month. You shouldn't suffer like this..."

Zhang Cheng was a little surprised. He didn't expect that there was a scholar among the group of exiles. He couldn't help but turned his head and looked at the emaciated scholar brother a few more times. He felt uncomfortable. His eyes just met Zhang Cheng's. He hurriedly dodged away.

"Old man, do you know anything about firecrackers?" Zhang Cheng withdrew his gaze and asked Old Man Shi with some concern.

The old man Shi Tiegen hesitated for a while, before he said hesitantly: "In the early years, I made matchlock guns. Those things are really fine, not to mention labor-intensive and time-consuming. They also cost iron materials, and they are refined iron."

Zhang Cheng nodded in satisfaction when he heard the words, and just as he was about to speak, the outpost Chen Zheng ran over quickly and interjected, "I'm telling the boss, everything has been done properly, please show me."

Zhang Cheng stretched out his left hand and put it on Chen Zhong's shoulder. With a push, he stood up and said to Chen Zheng with a smile, "It's getting late, give orders and get ready to go."

Chen Zheng took the order and waved his hand in the direction of the west entrance of the village, and saw a group of soldiers rushing towards this side, each holding a pile of old clothes.

Zhang Cheng called Chen Zhong and ordered in a low voice, "Call He Kuan over here."

……

"Master, you called me." He Kuan trotted over, still breathing.

Zhang Cheng said to him directly: "That stone pillar, you arrange some smart soldiers to follow him."

He Kuan was a little dazed, and asked hesitantly, "Follow...follow him?"

Zhang Cheng ignored him, and called Chen Zhong to tell him, "Go, call Old Master Shi, Shi Zhuzi, oh, and that scholar came here."

Just as Chen Zhong walked away, Zhang Cheng called him back and said, "Remember, it's not calling, but please come here."

"Yes, Master." Chen Zhong turned around and left suspiciously, but he also made a plan in his heart, what's the matter with Master today?
"I will arrange for Shi Zhuzi, that scholar, and that old man Shi to screen these people and record the skilled ones. You will cooperate with them according to their needs." Zhang Cheng instructed He Kuan.

At this moment, Chen Zhong brought old man Shi and the other three to the front, Zhang Cheng clasped his fists and said: "Please come now, old man and the three of you, please come if I have something to do."

The old man Shi Tiegen hurriedly bowed deeply, then clasped his fists together and said: "I beg you, sir, please don't say that, it's a shame to the old man, but if there is something to do, just do as you are told, the little people dare not refuse."

Zhang Cheng smiled and asked: "I want to ask my husband to help me identify these people in front of me and record those who are skilled."

Old man Shi was a little suspicious, and said with a smile: "The master told me, I should try my best, it's just a matter of recording."

After he finished speaking, he stood there and rubbed his hands anxiously.

Zhang Cheng said with a smile: "I have already considered this matter, so I specially invited Brother Xiucai to come over."

After Zhang Cheng finished speaking, he looked at the thin man with a smile. The scholar understood it, and hurriedly stepped forward to salute and said, "Student Wang Yuanjing, pay homage to the Master. writing."

This scholar Wang Yuanjing was originally from Gezhuang, the northwestern king of Mafang. Because of the invasion by the Tartars, his newly married wife couldn't bear to be humiliated. They were all killed by the Tartars.

Only this scholar Wang Yuanjing, although he wanted to resist madly in his heart, but he was powerless, rushed to the Tartars several times, but was caught like a chicken. Because he was a scholar, he was saved from death , I can only cry and cry every day.

To this day, I have seen Zhang Cheng's majesty. The army he led not only dared to fight against the Tartars, but also defeated the Tartars. revenge.

At this moment, upon hearing that Zhang Cheng clearly mentioned himself, he took the initiative to salute in order to show his heart.

"Okay, very good. In this way, there are three Laos!"

Zhang Cheng is very satisfied with this scholar, he is knowledgeable and courteous, and he is not pedantic, which is really good.

When he was happy, he couldn't help raising his fist and hammering hard on Shi Zhuzi's chest, but he just took a small step back with his right foot to dissipate the force of Zhang Cheng's punch, his upper body was still standing there straight, even more so. No wheezing or gasping.

"It's not bad, I'll wait for you at the Changping camp."

After Zhang Cheng finished speaking, he greeted Chen Zhong and others, turned and left.

……

In the 11th year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty, on the fourth day of October, during Shenshizhong, the cold wind in late autumn was filled with silver and white snowflakes, flying all over the sky.

A group of knights rode their horses galloping in the wind and snow, surrounded by silver and white, except for the red cloaks of this group of knights flying in the wind, which were particularly conspicuous as if wrapped in red.

It was Zhang Cheng who was leading his personal troops on the way to the Changping military camp. Although the horse galloped along the way, Zhang Cheng's thoughts did not stop for a moment.

At this time, it was not far from the camp, and it was really hard work with the wind and snow all the way, but Zhang Cheng and the others didn't dare to stay. Today he took the risk to lead the team out, and to be honest, he didn't have much confidence in his heart.

After all, he has only just come to this world. Although he is very confident in the Xuanzhen Jingqi under his command, if he faces the legendary "over ten thousand invincible" devil-like Tartars, what will happen? It's also "fifteen buckets to fetch water-up and down"!
But the final result not only satisfied him, but also surprised him.

This battle allowed him to truly see the strength of the elite frontier army of the Ming Dynasty, which was definitely not inferior to the fine cavalry of the Tartars. The only difference was the fighting spirit, which in the final analysis was morale.

There are many things that affect morale, such as training, equipment, salary guarantees, etc. These are all things to do later, and we can only find a way to solve them after Julu.

You must have your own territory, and you must be able to guarantee your most basic logistical supplies. The gangsters in the officialdom in the late Ming Dynasty cannot be counted on.

Thinking of this, I can't help but think of the more than 800 refugees, the old man Shi Tiegen, Shi Zhuzi, and the scholar Wang Yuanjing. I really didn't expect there to be a scholar, and he was not pedantic, maybe he would be a good seed.

Thinking of this, how to arrange these people became a problem.

……

On the eastern outskirts of Changping, outside the camp of King Qin's army in Xuanzhen Town, there were a few more sergeants outside the camp of General Zhang Yan, and even the captain of Zhang Cheng's personal army was constantly patrolling outside the camp.

"Cheng'er, is what you said just now true?"

Zhang Yan looked at this nephew with a surprised expression on his face, feeling deeply astonished. Before that, he was cynical and often caused trouble.

Why is it that now that he has been beaten with a military stick, he seems to have a clear mind, especially after entering the capital this time, how could he be so bold that he dared to lead troops out on patrol without obeying the military order.

However, this kid is lucky to have achieved such a great achievement.

He had a faint feeling that something seemed wrong, but he couldn't tell why.

"Uncle, Cheng'er lost his father in his early years, and has always respected and loved you as his father, how could he lie to his uncle?"

Zhang Cheng spoke sincerely, revealing the family affection in his words, which moved Zhang Yan quite a bit.

He asked gently: "Don't go into too much detail about the specific process, you can elaborate on what you have achieved."

Zhang Cheng replied according to his words: "In this battle, our department was ordered by the general of Xuanzhen to go out to the Changping East sentry, and met a group of elite cavalry who were going out to plunder. And win.

A total of 140 three heads of the Tartars were captured, and [-] Tartars were captured alive. The captured Tartars were rewarded with one flag on the back of Shiku, and five flags on the back of the strong man.

Rescue the 870 people in Gyeonggi who were captured by the Tartars, with less than a thousand taels of money, some mules and horses, and a little grain..."

"Did you share the Shiku carrying the flag?"

Although Zhang Yan had heard Zhang Cheng mention it for the second time, he still had doubts in his heart. He himself knew that what this nephew said was the truth, and he would never dare to deceive him about this matter, but he still couldn't believe it. .

　Special thanks today, my book friend "Hunter Lao Meng" gave a great reward, and directly typed the first "Dharma Guardian" in this book. With the blessing of the Dharma Guardian, this book also made the book rank No. 20 on the Rising Star List. , and entered No.2 in the historical sub-list.

　　However, since I am writing a book for the first time, my writing ability and writing skills are really lacking, so it is really reluctant to keep the current daily update of [-] words. I would like to express my apologies to the "Hunter Lao Meng" book friend!
　　Thanks to Xiao Buqi, Nulong Gunner, Intuit Kuku, Underpants Emperor, Qi Xiansen, Youyun 16 States, Zizaiqiu Xiaoyao, Da Xiaozi, Xue Shao, Gentlemener, Boss Deng for their recommendation tickets.

　　Thanks to the hunters Lao Meng, Suidehou, Zifangmu, and Tekuku for their support.

　　Thanks to Hunter Laomeng and Wenjun Henenger for their monthly support.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)