Will Ming

(Please collect red tickets)

Chapter 220 Asking the way

Feng Xiaoci only brought a dozen guards and two powerful generals under his command. Hu Benlang's general Cui Zhi and Ying Yanglang changed Liu Shibao and his party into casual clothes, and after leaving the barracks, they rode their horses towards Juyeze.He intends to check the terrain of Juyeze himself before deciding how to start the battle. After all, the map given to him by Dongping County Magistrate Wu Xingzhi is too simple, and Feng Xiaoci knows that this battle must be extremely dangerous, so not only A large number of scouts were sent out to investigate, and they were going to go and see for themselves, otherwise they would feel really uneasy.

In order to ensure safety, a thousand fine riders followed three or four miles behind. After all, this was to check the situation on the territory of the thieves in Yanyun Village, and no one could guarantee whether the thieves in Yanyun Village would come out to rob money.

Four or five miles away from Liangshan, you can see the steep mountains and green trees in the distance. Feng Xiaoci saw a small village not far in front of him, so he dismounted first and walked slowly towards the village.This small village is not large, with only a hundred households.After arriving outside the village, Feng Xiaoci stopped to watch for a while, then frowned slightly, feeling a little unhappy in his heart for no reason.

Huben Lang general Cui Zhi also sighed when he saw that his face was not good-looking.He and Liu Shibao have been following Feng Xiaoci for so many years, and he has already guessed what the general is thinking.Starting from the station all the way to Dongping County, along the way, I didn't see a single intact village. The fields were barren, and wild dogs and wolves were rampant, but there were not many people in sight.The villages are run-down, the fields are desolate, and often there is no life within a hundred miles.It was the same at first glance after arriving in Dongping County, so Feng Xiaoci took the opportunity to use the brutality and viciousness of the rebels as an excuse to boost the morale of the soldiers, but the closer he was to Juye Ze, the more different the scene he saw, and the farther away Ju Ye Ze was. There is a distance of a hundred miles, and basically in the villages along the way, people can see people going in and out of life normally, and the fields are also very clean.

And what I saw after arriving outside this small village was even more amazing.

It’s mid-October now, so there’s no more farm work in the fields, and you can see a gazebo under the weeping willow tree at the entrance of the village from a distance away, surrounded by many people who don’t know what they are looking at, and they can’t see clearly until they get closer. It turned out that two old men were playing chess in the gazebo, and many villagers who knew a little about chess gathered around to watch.From time to time, some people offer advice, and there will be quarrels, but these villagers do not get angry even though they quarrel, as if they are used to it every day.But seeing the arrival of more than twenty outsiders in fresh clothes and angry horses, the villagers did not respond at all. Those who played chess were still playing chess, those who made moves were still making moves, and those who were arguing were still arguing.

Looking forward, there is a small stream not far away. Four or five village women are sitting by the stream washing clothes. I don't know what they are talking in a low voice. From time to time, there is a burst of laughter, which is pleasant to the ear.

"How long has it been since I saw such a contented scene?"

Feng Xiaoci murmured.

Liu Shibao thought of another reason, and he said with a slightly angry face: "The people here feel at ease with the thieves as neighbors, and there is nothing good to come. It is said that Zhang Jin said that there were no soldiers and horses who conquered Juyeze when he was there. It was the people outside Zewai who tipped off the thieves, which caused the court’s troops to fail repeatedly. If you want me to say, kill all these unscrupulous people first.”

Feng Xiaoci knew that Liu Shibao had a cruel heart, but he was not a cruel person, so those words were mostly angry words, but Feng Xiaoci still said solemnly: "Nowadays, there are bandits in every county north of the Yangtze River. The closer you are to the county, the more people live. It’s miserable, but it’s near the nests of many thieves, and the people’s lives are stable and peaceful, which has to make people think deeply.”

Cui Zhi sighed, "Even thieves understand the principle that rabbits don't eat the grass beside their nests, so as not to harm the people on their territory."

Liu Shibao said: "Rabbits don't eat grass beside the nest? But compared to the imperial court, this nest is too big, and the people all over the world are grass beside the nest!"

His words were actually somewhat disrespectful, as if to say that His Majesty the Emperor was the biggest rabbit.

Feng Xiaoci waved his hand to stop Liu Shibao from continuing. He looked at the undulating mountains in the distance and sighed: "It's better that you don't say these words in the future. We are all soldiers of the Sui Dynasty. Since we are soldiers, then We have the responsibility to eliminate bandits, defend the country, protect the country, expand the territory and expel the barbarians, and the affairs of the imperial court are not our business."

Cui Zhi and Liu Shibao bowed their heads and said, "My subordinates will remember this."

Feng Xiaoci smiled, pointed to the gazebo over there and said, "Come on, let's go and have a look, maybe we can find out some news."

"General, you should be more careful. I have done it in the past. The people here must be vicious people who are neighbors with thieves. If they have any evil intentions, they will disturb you again."

Cui Zhi persuaded.

Feng Xiaoci stroked the gray beard on his chin and said with a smile: "Since I have been in the army, big and small, I have fought hundreds of times? Even if the people here are tough, can they still scare me? If I am really frightened by a group of people, I will There is no shame in leading tens of thousands of elite guards on the right."

Although he was joking, he exuded a sense of confidence.

……

……

"Old man, what is the name of your village?"

Feng Xiaoci handed over the reins of the war horse to his entourage, went outside the gazebo and asked an old man who was watching chess.

The man looked to be about 50 years old, wearing loose and big homemade clothes, watching chess with his hands behind his back, when he heard someone talking and looked back, his eyebrows were quite impatient.Either he was disturbed by someone, or he didn't want to talk to strangers, so he just gave Feng Xiaoci a cold look and said casually: "There is no name."

"The village is nameless, what is the old man's last name?"

Feng Xiaoci asked with a smile.

The old man frowned, and said rather annoyedly: "Are you annoying, can you not disturb me watching chess?"

Feng Xiaoci was stunned, he stretched out his hand to stop Liu Shibao who was angry, clasped his fists at the old man and smiled and said: "We have come from a long way, and all we see along the way is a piece of scorched earth, only the people in this mountain village are happy and happy, so they are curious. , how offending."

The old man listened to him politely, but he couldn't pretend not to hear: "That's natural, there are heroes from Yanyun Village in Juyeze, who dares to act wild within a hundred miles around here? Anyone who dares to ruin the people will be chopped up by the heroes." If you become meat, who would dare to cause trouble? By the way, you are from other places. If you are traveling, it is better to stay away from here. If the heroes of Yanyunzhai find you, they think you are the espionage sent by the imperial court. , then you will suffer a lot.”

Hearing his kind reminder, Feng Xiaoci continued to chat and said: "You don't know something, old man. I am born with courage, and I have loved to make friends with heroes since I was young. , so I came here specially to have a look. It’s just that no matter how brave I am, I don’t dare to enter the mountain rashly, so I had to ask the old man about Yanyun Village first.”

The old man squinted his eyes and looked at Feng Xiaoci and said: "Are you really a spy sent by the imperial court?"

Liu Shibao said angrily: "Talking to you well, why are you so ignorant? If you say we are spies, I think the people in your village must have colluded with the people in Yanyun Village, and the people outside will not be able to survive. Going down, you are living happily and freely, I am afraid that you did not give the people in Yanyunzhai a little bit of information to change your asylum?"

Feng Xiaoci glared at her and said angrily: "I'll talk to this old man well, what are you interrupting, back off!"

He smiled apologetically at the old man and said, "The guards at home don't understand the rules, don't take offense at the old man."

The old man glanced at him, not afraid of Liu Shibao's ferocious face, walked up to Liu Shibao and said: "You young man is really unreasonable for what you say. According to what you mean, the good guys in Yanyunzhai protect us, so we still have sins?"

Liu Shibao said: "Although I also look down on the court's actions, I also disdain to collude with bandits."

The old man said angrily: "You idiot!"

He pointed at Liu Shibao's nose and scolded: "The world is in chaos, why is it in chaos? Isn't it because the imperial court has been recruiting troops to arrest Lao Ding and increasing taxes? Zhang Jin said before that when Zhang Jin was in Juyeze, the imperial court sent troops to suppress it. That's right. , we tipped off to Zhang Jin, that’s because we just want to live! Leading the way for the imperial army, no matter whether we win or lose, we won’t care about us, the people in Juyeze will kill us Didn't we suffer when we came back? And to inform the people in Juyeze, no matter whether they win or lose, it will never be difficult for us to give you a generous gift. You said, what if it were you. You are an idiot, a fool, a fool!"

Liu Shilong was startled, but Feng Xiaoci stopped him when he was very angry.

……

……

"This is the way of the world. In the past, the common people's heart towards the court was because the court had done practical things for the common people. During the Kaihuang period, during the Great Sui Dynasty, there were people who rebelled, but one of those rebels ended well. Don’t say that the imperial court doesn’t allow it, even us ordinary people hate those guys and want to bite them to death. Now that the founding emperor has been changed into a great cause, look again, is there any place in this world where there is no rebellion?”

The old man sat on the big rock by the roadside and sighed.

Feng Xiaoci nodded and said: "Perhaps His Majesty the Emperor has only been concentrating on conquering Goguryeo for the past two years. It is indeed a waste of money and people, but after Goguryeo is destroyed, it will not take a year or two. I think the life of the people will still be better. .”

"Still fighting?!"

The old man frowned and cursed angrily: "If the fight continues, before Goguryeo is destroyed, the Sui Dynasty will destroy the country!"

Feng Xiaoci choked, but he couldn't reprimand him.

"The imperial court also had to fight. Think about it, if you don't scare the powerful enemy at the door of your house, if you don't fight them, wouldn't it be a big problem. The Goguryeo people encroach on my territory in the Sui Dynasty every year, and they will occupy some today and tomorrow. , the emperor will definitely fight, because the national prestige of the Great Sui cannot be violated."

"Looking at your speech, you really seem to be a member of the government."

The old man looked at Feng warily.