The Beacon of Kyushu

Chapter 181 The Baiteng River is blocked and difficult to travel in Wu'an Prefecture ([-])

Liu Cheng was a little worried by Wan Jianfeng's words just now, and since he had promised to listen to his arrangements for everything, he had no choice but to order: "Brothers, you will enter the village as you want! Remember to treat the local people kindly, and don't burn them to death. Looting, offenders will be punished by military law!"

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

Liu Cheng raised his hand cautiously, signaling the army to stop for a while, and then he listened attentively.But I heard the occasional cries of salesmen in the village, the clang and forceful sound of iron striking in the blacksmith's shop, and the chatter of villagers and neighbors when they met.Not far away, there were a few men wearing undershirts, bare chest, carrying hoes, and humming country tunes, walking leisurely through the village.The heart he was holding was slowly let go, and he waved his hand to signal the army to continue entering the village.

Under the big tree at the entrance of the village, there was a shopkeeper carrying a load, shaking the rattle vigorously and yelling loudly.Suddenly seeing tens of thousands of Song soldiers entering the village, they exclaimed in shock, dropped their loads and ran away.

When the villagers heard the scream of the shopkeeper, most of them opened the courtyard door curiously and looked out.When they saw Song Jun in darkness 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 Song Jun would break in.Some of them bravely escaped from their homes and ran towards the end of the village like a dog in panic, like a fish slipping through the net.

Liu Cheng couldn't help smiling wryly when he saw this, he was about 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, leaning on an iron crutch in his hand, slowing down surrounded by a group of young men. come slowly.

Song Jun drew out their weapons subconsciously, but Liu Cheng waved his hand to signal them to put away their weapons, and waited patiently for the old man to come near.

After a long while, the old man finally walked up to Liu Cheng and said, "This general, this old man's name is Ruan Jie. He is Qiu Nan from this village. In your Song country's language, he is called Baozheng. I don't know why the general came here this time. Permanent stay, or temporary rest?"

Liu Cheng cupped his hands, and said: "I am Liu Cheng, the general of the East Vietnam Army, and I am going to send troops to Wu'an Prefecture, so I passed by Guicun. If Guicun is willing to surrender, we will not use weapons rashly, but if you dare to try to resist , don’t blame this 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 always have my heart for the Central Plains. In addition, General Liu just said it was reasonable. I also have no reason to resist to keep the whole village, old and young."

"Old man, it's rare for you to be so aware of current affairs. I will never treat you badly." Liu Cheng smiled and took out 50 taels of silver from his bosom, and handed it to the old man. You accept it first, and there will be another big thank you when the army leaves."

Ruan Jie looked at the silver, frowned and said: "General Liu, the army is feeding on horses in this village, I'm afraid 50 taels of silver is a bit stretched."

Liu Cheng smiled, "Haha, old man, we have dry food with us, so we don't need to bother you to prepare food. We just need to free up dozens of houses for the army to rest."

Ruan Jie frowned immediately when he heard this, and said with a smile: "Haha, since it's like this, why use any money? I'll arrange for the villagers to vacate their houses. As long as the army leaves without damaging the decorations and utensils, we won't take any money."

Wan Jianfeng looked the old man up and down, shook the wine gourd and said: "Old man, you should collect the money, don't waste it. Besides, my wine gourd is empty, please get me some good wine, otherwise This young hero will just stay in the village and not leave."

Ruan Jie accepted the money according to his words, and pointed to the slightly larger hut in the southeast, "Please look, young man, this is an old house, and it is considered to be a relatively good one in the village. If you don't like it, please come in with the old man and sit down."

Wan Jianfeng smiled and said: "Haha, I don't dislike it, I don't dislike it! As long as there is good wine, even a young man in a pigsty pit will not dislike it!"

Liu Cheng turned his head and said to the deputy general Zhang Li: "General Zhang, I will go with Wan Shaoxia and Miss Murong to sit in the thatched cottage with the old man, and the rest will be left to you to arrange. Remember, don't do anything wrong, otherwise the general will be killed." No mercy!"

Zhang Li hurriedly said: "Don't worry, general, just go and rest, and the brothers will leave it to me." Seeing that Liu Cheng had made arrangements, Ruan Jie made a gesture of invitation and led the three of them to his thatched hut.

The four of them entered the hut and sat down around a worn-out wooden table. Liu Cheng took out a small bag of dry food from his bosom and distributed it to Wan Jianfeng and Murong Yanyun.Seeing this, Ruan Jie also went to the kitchen to fetch a jar of rice wine, and gently put it on the table, "Three, this is the rice wine brewed by the old man himself. It's a bit muddy, but 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 slopped down from the altar, and his Adam's apple kept wriggling, making a series of "cuckoo" sounds, as if a thirsty ghost was reincarnated.

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

In the blink of an eye, Wan Jianfeng drank the wine down to the last drop, and put the wine jar heavily on the table, "Old man, your rice wine tastes really good. How did you make it? How much glutinous rice did you use? How much wine yeast, how many hours was it steamed on the pot, and how many days was it stored in the cellar? When I am free, I will make a few jars according to your recipe, so that I won’t have to beg for wine every day.”

Ruan Jie was slightly taken aback, then patted his forehead and said: "Oh, when people get old, their memory is bad. I forgot the wine just brewed a few days ago, let me think about it, and I will tell you when I remember 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? !"

Liu Cheng was a little 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. I hope you will feel wronged."

Murong Yunyao frowned, reluctantly took another bite, then put the cake back into the bag, unwilling to eat any more.Ruan Jie looked back at the kitchen and saw that there were still some green vegetables under the kitchen, he hurriedly said: "Girl, if you are not used to the food in the army, this old man will cook you two side dishes?"

(End of this chapter)