Under the sky

Chapter 174
"We have money!" Fourth Brother Xue shouted, "Redemption! All the money will be given to you! If we are caught and sent to the sect, none of us will survive!"

Ming unknownly said: "They are horse bandits, you have to catch the sect, and the stolen money must be confiscated."

Village Chief Niu hesitated for a while and said to Brother Xue: "We can't trust you."

Fourth Brother Xue said: "You tie us up, and I will take you there! No, no need, I will draw a map, it's on this mountain, right here!"

How dare these bandits actually live in this mountain?No wonder they come here to buy grain and oil less than half a year.

Someone shouted: "That's stolen property from a thief. If you take it, something will happen!" Someone else said: "Instead of destroying the grain and oil in our village, it's only fair to ask him to pay for it!" Another person said: "Ill-gotten gains, just take it. Let’s go!” There were different opinions at the moment.

Someone came to persuade Chief Niu. Village Chief Niu pondered for a long time and said: "First tell us the place, and then we will discuss it."

Fourth Brother Xue immediately told the location. Everyone was familiar with this hilltop and it was not too far away. He woke up a horse bandit to lead the way and escorted him to get the money.

Fourth brother Xue told the location where the money was hidden and begged for mercy: "We are just asking for a way to survive. If we don't have a livelihood, who would want to bring trouble to the village, and who doesn't want to live a peaceful life? He is also a poor person who hides and hides from the sun. Please ask the villagers for mercy." Please give me a way to survive and let us go." After saying this, he turned over and kept kowtowing.

Seeing how pitiful he said, the villagers couldn't bear it.Not long after, several more gangsters woke up and kowtowed to beg for mercy.Someone said: "If we were sent to the sect, even though we were not killed by your own hands, we were still killed by you." Someone else said: "We have been here several times, but we haven't hurt anyone, right? If that man hadn't been so irritable, he would have done it first , we won’t hurt anyone.”

Widow Zhao had always been a vegetarian and was the most merciful person. She couldn't see these people pleading, so she said, "Village chief, let's let them go." Bao Erfu refused.Several people were talking about it and all had opinions. Village Chief Niu had no idea and looked at Mingming for unknown reasons.

Ming said vaguely: "I'm an outsider, so I can't make any suggestions. Let's lock them up first and let the villagers discuss how to deal with them."

Village Chief Niu thought it was reasonable and said: "Lock him up first!"

Niushan Village was not very populated, and many young people went to make a living in the mountains, leaving many houses empty. So they dragged a group of horse bandits to a broken house in the corner of the village and let a dozen people squeeze in, fearing that they would escape, leaving them alone. A few young and strong people looked at it and asked Mingshi to help take care of it.

Ming Ming only said, "This village is not big. Just shout and I will be able to help you."

Village Chief Niu said: "It's getting late. Let's go have dinner separately. We'll have a meeting later to see how we're going to deal with this group of horse bandits."

Now everyone dispersed and started making fire and making rice.

■

"You're here to beg for food!" Ying Chenghu yelled, "Tens of thousands of refugees have come here to beg for food. Are you going to starve to death like us fighting soldiers? Drive us all out!"

The disciple was obedient: "But if we don't provide food, tens of thousands of people surrounding the camp will be troublesome. This..."

"Put out grain." Lan Shengqing walked in from outside the tent. Ying Chenghu stood up and saluted: "Deputy Master." He handed over his hands and gave up the chief position to Lan Shengqing.

"Put out food, two meals a day, a bowl of porridge for each person." Lan Shengqing said.

"We won't be able to eat enough if we put more food in." Ying Chenghu said, "Even if we have two meals a day, one bowl of porridge for each meal, we will run out of military rations in less than three days."

Lan Shengqing said: "Seventy percent of our soldiers here are Yongzhou disciples. How many disciples' family members are there? If these tens of thousands of people are making trouble, something will happen."

"What about food?" Ying Chenghu asked.

"I have informed Hengshan that Vice-President Mao will buy it and it will be delivered soon." Lan Shengqing said, "First look around and see if anyone is hoarding rice and buying it with a lot of money."

Ying Chenghu said: "After the fall of Lingling, the price of rice in Yongzhou has increased five times."

"You have to buy it too," Lan Shengqing said.

In fact, not only in Yongzhou, but also in Hunan, the price of rice tripled as a result of the war, but there was a price but no market.Hunan is rich and has the reputation of "Hunan is ripe and the world is rich". There is enough food in stock, but many rice merchants are waiting and watching, hoping to hoard it.

However, the defeat was due to the sudden outbreak of war and the capture of Lingling. Lingling was the place where Yongzhou stored grain, and the capture of Lingling was to capitalize on the enemy.

On the other hand, Dian Cang harvested the grain in the south of Lingling and drove the people northward.

Lan Shengqing came to rush for reinforcements, bringing only [-] light cavalry with him. He gathered the defeated troops at Lengshuitan and called on the local sects, Hecheng and Baoqing to come for reinforcements. Now he has over [-] troops.But the people came, but the food did not follow. The more people gathered, the more food came, but the food could not keep up.Lan Shengqing originally wanted to gather all the troops in Yongzhou, Hecheng, and Baoqing, and then attack Lingling. However, before the troops could gather, tens of thousands of refugees were already surrounding the camp and begging for food.

It is difficult to ignore it. Most of the sects under the Nine Families have their own disciples and private soldiers. The people gathered in Lengshuitan are all locals. It is not known how many soldiers and family members are there. If their family members starve to death, the disciples will definitely not agree. You have to mess up first.Driving them north, many refugees actually went north, but most of the refugees still lingered on their homeland, waiting for their families to repel the Dian Cang before returning home. Therefore, there were still [-] refugees lingering around Lengshuitan.

After a while, the rice grains from Hengshan will be available, but we cannot just sit back and support these refugees.

"I'm afraid of one more thing." Ying Chenghu said, "If we really run out of food, and those bastards from Dian Cang take the opportunity to come over and kill us, then..."

This is also what Lan Shengqing is worried about.

"How about we attack the city?" Ying Chenghu said, "There is news that Zhuge Ran returned to Kunming for funeral and is not in Lingling. If we take this opportunity to capture Lingling, we will have food."

Use these 1 people to conquer Lingling?Lan Shengqing hesitated.Zhuge Ran's absence does not mean that there is no chance. Now the leader of Dian Cang is Gu Dongcheng, the head of Lingshan Sect. He is also a general who is good at planning battles. This can be seen from the fact that he easily captured Lingling.But he hoped to be more confident. Baoqing's reinforcements would arrive in just a few days, and he still had food to last him for a few days.

A disciple broke in and shouted: "Report! A group of people came from the other side. Under the banner of Hengshan, they set up camp on the other side. They are our people!"

Lan Shengqing stood up suddenly: "Are they from the Baoqing Tianyun Sect? Why are they setting up camp on the other side? Send someone quickly to inform Head Cui to come over and discuss matters!"

The Tianyun Sect is the largest sect in the Baoqing area, and its leader Cui Liangxiao is in his prime. Lan Shengqing has not had much contact with him, so he doesn't know his character. His only impression is that he is a well-behaved person.

After waiting for a long time, the tent door opened, and it was not Cui Liangxiao who came.I saw that the man was nearly eight feet tall, in his 40s, with sharp eyes and a short beard that made people prick their hands.

It was Yin Molan, the head of the Yin Family Fort in Hecheng, nicknamed "Jinghu".Hecheng was further away than Baoqing, but he arrived at the battlefield earlier than Tianyun Sect.

■

"That's it?" The villagers in Niushan Village couldn't hide their disappointment.

Dozens of taels of broken silver, some seemingly not very valuable jewelry, a few pieces of gold and silverware, a few fox skins, a few boxes of shabby clothes, these were the "treasures" that Fourth Brother Xue said.

"Whether it's worth it or not depends on the amount of more than a hundred taels." Village Chief Niu said, "There is still a lot left over to repay them for the grain and oil they brought."

Almost all the villagers gathered in the large open space at the entrance of the village. It was already dark. Village Chief Niu asked people to light a bonfire. More than a hundred people sat in front of the bonfire to discuss.They were obviously dissatisfied with the money, and it couldn't be said that it was small. It was just far from what they expected. How come the nineteen horse thieves couldn't each collect ten taels of silver?How could this horse thief behave so disgracefully?
"These are stolen goods." Someone said, "If you report to the sect, these will have to be handed over and confiscated."

"The government will reward you with silver, and a horse bandit is worth a few taels."

"It's hard to say. Normally, one or two hundred horse bandits can be exchanged for hundreds of taels of silver reward. This is only twenty. If you can exchange them for 50 taels, it would be good. I'm afraid it's not there yet."

Village Chief Niu looked at Ming Wuxiang and saw him sitting in a corner far away. He didn't know if anyone was listening or not.Many villagers thought he was a hero and wanted to get close to him, but were afraid of blaspheming him if they got too close, so they all sat around a foot away from him.

Village Chief Niu said: "If you send more than 100 taels, each person will only get one tael of silver, so it won't help. If you don't give it out, it will be of great use."

Everyone was puzzled. Village Chief Niu continued: "In our run-down little village, many places need to be repaired. Not to mention anything else, the old ancestral hall needs to be repaired. Are they not our ancestors in there? Let me talk about one thing. There is only one hundred kilograms in the village." The butcher raises so many piglets, and every time he wants to eat them, the whole village has to work together, so that everyone can kill one bite for the whole village to share. If he could raise more pigs and buy more chickens, When chickens lay eggs and pigs give birth to piglets, don’t you all order more lard every year to moisten your stomach?”

"Besides, the whole village relies on two cows, Lao Lizi and Xiao Lizi, to plow the fields. Even if they want to open up wasteland, Lao Lizi can't survive for a few years. In a few years, he won't be able to buy a cow to mate with Xiao Lizi. Where does the money come from? "

After saying this, everyone had their own ideas. Some said that not only the ancestral hall needed to be repaired, but also the memorial tablets needed to be replaced. Others said that the Tu Tu Temple in the village was badly damaged. The Tu Tu Gong had been exposed to wind and rain for many years, and there was also a need to guard against wild beasts outside the village. The fence also needs to be repaired, and it costs money to add up and add up.

Everyone was talking happily, but they didn't know who ruined their enthusiasm. Suddenly they asked: "What should we do with those horse bandits?"

As soon as these words came out, everyone fell silent again.

Since he wants to steal stolen goods, the horse bandit cannot report it to the sect.

"Let it go, you won't agree to it anymore?" someone said.

"What if we turn around and come to kill you?"

"Master Ming is here."

"Bah, as soon as the Ming heroes leave, people will come to massacre the village."

Bao Erfu shouted angrily: "Kill, these horse bandits should have died long ago!"

No one echoed this.

Village Chief Niu looked at Ming Wuxiang, his eyes seeming to be pleading.

Ming shook his head uncertainly: "I don't kill people."

Bao Erfu said: "You are a hero, you do chivalry and justice, you are a good person and you do it to the end, you can be considered a help... ugh..."

Although he hated these horse bandits, he couldn't help but ask for help.Village Chief Niu said: "Erfuzi, why don't you come over? They crippled your leg, so you should avenge yourself."

This was enough to scare Bao Erfu away. Bao Erfu was dumbfounded and said, "I...this..."

Ming said unclearly: "They are tied up now. If you want to kill them, they can't resist."

Bao Erfu didn't dare to answer anymore and shouted: "Butcher You, you are used to killing pigs, so it's not difficult to kill a lot of people, right?"

You Baijin shuddered: "Can killing a damn pig be the same as killing someone? How...how can I do this?"

Someone else shouted: "Why can't you do it? You usually tie up the pig, poke it with a sharp knife, and the blood flows out, but you still put a big bowl to hold the blood, which is so majestic!"

You Baijin heard people teasing him and cursed: "I'll tie you up and you come and kill him! There are more than a hundred people in the village. If anyone dares to take action, I, You Baijin, will give him a piglet. I guarantee it will be a hundred catties. If you miss one or two, I will have no eggs." Egg!"

The villagers swept away the gloom just now, and many people started laughing.

Village Chief Niu pondered deeply and asked, "What do you think of my benefactor? We listen to our benefactor's orders."

Ming unknownly said: "Inform the sect that there should be a reward of 30 taels of silver. If the silver is less, it is also a subsidy." He paused for a while and said, "What should be purchased with these 30 taels? Let's discuss the priorities first."

When asked, someone was the first to speak up: "Of course we need to build the ancestral hall first and place the ancestral tablets there."

"When buying cattle, you have to buy a pair. The big cow gives birth to a calf, and the calf grows into a cow. In a few years, there were many cows in Niujia Village. After selling the cows, the ancestral hall was built and the temple was built."

"Have you forgotten Lao Lizi's brother? He gets sick when he is sick and dies when he is told to die. When the rinderpest breaks out, no matter how big or small he is, he will not be able to survive."

"My plowshare is broken, and I want to buy two pounds of iron to replace it. Village chief, please give me some on credit, and I will pay you back in the spring." Some people were afraid that they would not have enough silver, so they wanted to borrow it first.

The villagers all had their own ideas, but they always said one thing - money is not enough.

Village Chief Niu had trouble making a decision, so he had to say: "If you sign up for the sect, you'll sign up for the sect. That's it. Let's go back and think about how to spend the money."

Everyone dispersed, and Village Chief Niu bent down to salute Ming Wuxiang, and said gratefully: "I really have to thank my benefactor this time. If it hadn't been for my benefactor's good skills, the village would have lost much more. Even though my benefactor stayed in Niushan Village, There’s no money for room and board.”

Ming Ming didn't know and just replied: "It's just a little effort." Then he said, "Village chief, I want to see those horse bandits."

Yueji was curious and said, "Dad, I want to take a look too."

After hearing this, many villagers came closer.Although this horse bandit has met several times, it is rare after all. I am curious and want to take a look at it a few more times - maybe I will never have the chance to see it again in this life.

The news spread from ten to ten, and sixty or seventy of the hundreds of villagers gathered together again to "see" the horse bandits.

The horse bandits were locked up in a broken house in the east corner of the village. More than a dozen people were crowded together uncomfortably. As soon as Village Chief Niu approached, he heard sobbing.Ming Ming opened the door and heard Fourth Brother Xue shouting: "Are you going to let us go?"

Ming shook his head uncertainly: "I'll report it to the sect tomorrow and arrest you."

As soon as these words came out, there was a "wow" sound, and several people burst into tears, crying heartbreakingly.

Brother Xue's face turned pale and he begged: "I am the leader of this group of people. Just arrest me. They are just trying to make a living. Can we let them go?"

Ming shook his head uncertainly: "I can't make the decision." After saying that, he sat on the ground. Before he could speak, someone cried again: "We know we were wrong, we really know we were wrong! Give you the silver, weapons, and horses, give them to us Can you please stay alive?"

"Hero, hero, please say a good word! We don't want to die! I swear, if I come to this Niushan Village again, I will die without any children or grandchildren!"

Some people cried bitterly and kept kowtowing.

Yueji is a girl, young and soft-hearted. Seeing them crying sadly, she couldn't bear it. She had long forgotten that they were robbers who robbed homes. She held her father's arm and her eyes turned red.

Ming unknown asked: "You have been horse bandits for several years, why do you only have this little money?"

Fourth brother Xue said: "We are horse bandits and we are forced to go to Liangshan..."

It turns out that this "Juyi Banner" was originally a group of 300 horse bandits, making a living on the nearby hills. It was a small village of 600 people including their families.Niushan Village is remote and isolated from the world, and no one knows its name.

Two years ago, traces of the mountain stronghold were revealed. The Lengshui Sect sent five hundred disciples to attack the mountain. It was a good fight, but in the end they could not hold on. The Lengshui Sect broke up the camp and fled in all directions, leaving their families behind.

"Everyone was panicking and trying to escape. Nineteen of us gathered in the middle of the road. I was the oldest, so they elected me to be the leader. In fact, only eight of us were veterans, and the remaining eleven young ones had never practiced martial arts, even though they had learned martial arts. I have never been in this profession, not to mention killing people, I have only been in a few fights, most of them are empty tricks, and I have no experience."

"In addition to the fines that were taken with us when we fled, some of the silver was obtained from robbing small villages and passers-by. The older ones among us lost a hilltop and settled on another one, but these younger ones have to arrange, in addition to meeting I don’t know how to use swords, guns or sticks, and I don’t have a reputation as a chivalrous person, so I can’t do anything as a bodyguard or guardian, so I’m thinking of getting some money with me and finding a peaceful place to settle down and make a living.”

Ming shook his head in confusion: "You are young and strong, you will starve to death if you want to make a living. It is against the law to rob homes and homes."

Fourth Brother Xue said: "I don't want to drag down my brothers. But we didn't kill them all, we just asked for food. No, every time we come back to the village, if it weren't for who made the first move, have we ever hurt anyone?"

Chief Niu said: "That's not true."

Fourth Brother Xue said: "If you have the ability, who wouldn't want to open a cave to do big business? How did you end up in this remote place and rob this small village? If you didn't get up and want to eat some pork today, you wouldn't come to the village to rob."

A young man cried loudly again, and it seemed that this person's idea was undoubtedly his.

"The work has been done, no more words." Ming said vaguely, "If there is an afterlife, be a good person."

He stood up and went out, and all the villagers dispersed in a hurry. Some felt sorry, others lamented that Bao Erfu just scolded them for lying.

The head of Niu Village called Ming Ming for unknown information.

"Benefactor... we are all rough people and don't understand anything." Village Chief Niu hesitated, "I think they are also pitiful people. Is there anything you can do?"

"Is Niushan Village willing to take in these people?" Ming asked unknownly.

"This... is a bit difficult." Niu Village Chief said, "I don't know whether what they said is true or not. If we let them go, they will come to plunder again after our benefactor leaves... But... I see that they didn't do it before. It didn’t hurt anyone, is there some leeway in this?”

Ming unknownly said: "The shackles can prevent them from doing evil. Let them live in the village for a while and help with the work. This will be regarded as making up for the mistakes of the previous robbery. If they have good intentions, let them go or let them live in the village." Next, if you see them harboring evil intentions, report it to the sect."

Village Chief Niu looked at Ming Wuxiang in surprise. Seeing that he was not joking, he also thought that this might be a way to leave a way for these horse bandits to survive without causing future troubles. Then he said: "But where did the shackles come from in the village?" Handcuffs? It’s not easy to buy even if you go shopping.”

Ming Wuxi thought for a while and said, "I'll go get it for you tomorrow."

Village Chief Niu was surprised again: "You can get it for us?"

Ming said uncertainly: "I'll go out tomorrow morning and I'll be back before dusk."

Village Chief Niu said: "How can this be embarrassing? Besides, this matter must be discussed with the villagers."

Ming said with an unknown smile: "I just hope you give them a chance to learn well."

Village Chief Niu looked at Ming Ming with an unknown smile and felt like a living Bodhisattva.

Early the next morning, Village Chief Niu summoned the villagers and made an unknown proposal to give this group of wandering horse bandits a chance to change their ways.Most people thought it was reasonable, except Bao Erfu who firmly opposed it.Someone shouted: "You keep clamoring to kill, why don't you go and kill?" Bao Erfu was speechless.

Village Chief Niu suddenly remembered something: "Oh! It's all passed in one night, they will starve to death."

This group of villagers were really kind-hearted. Village Chief Niu asked people to take food and food to the horse bandits, but he did not dare to loosen their bonds, so he had to feed them dry food one bite at a time, and told the horse bandits an unknown proposal.

"I want to let you go, but I'm afraid you will do evil. Let's tie your hands and feet first, and you stay in the town and help us work." Village Chief Niu said, "There are only a few people in the village, so it would be better to add more people. If you want to stay, you can stay, if you don’t want to stay, you can leave.”

The nineteen horse bandits couldn't stop thanking them for being pardoned. Brother Xue said: "We have good intentions, but we have no place to take them in. If the head of Niu Village is willing to tolerate us, he will show great kindness to us and he will have no second thoughts." If you stay in the village to help, you will have a mouthful of food to eat, and those silver, horses and weapons will be regarded as settlement gifts."

Village Chief Niu said: "It's just a little bit of treatment, don't be surprised."

Brother Xue said: "I'm not surprised at all."

Yueji fed the horse bandits with dry food, and someone beside her shouted: "Girl, give me some too."

Yue Ji turned around and saw that it was the young man who asked her if she was married to someone before.Seeing that his face was pale from hunger, Yueji tore a piece of dry food and put it into his mouth. The man ate in a hurry and swallowed it in a few mouthfuls. Yueji was afraid that he would choke, so she gave him water.

"Thank you, girl." The young man said, "My name is Xu Liang. I was just curious that day. I didn't really want to tease you. I'm sorry."

Yueji blushed but didn't answer and fed him dry food.

(End of this chapter)