Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 216 Nobody's Noble Bones (2)

A ray of sunlight shone in through the gap in the pine roof, and the room was filled with a disgusting smell of ointment.The dark eyes, pale face, and the huge arrow scar on his cheek made Tong Yunjie look like a ghost, and so did his mood.The wound on his right leg has been festering since he was picked up from the pile of dead people. Now, the inside of the felt blanket emits a foul smell from time to time.

Tong Yunjie used to be a Juren of the Liao Kingdom, and his room was also the neatest in the cottage, and he had a few scriptures, but now he was lying on the bed, and he didn't even bother to read the books. "What can I do in the future?" He thought mockingly, "Sit in a wooden cart and shake a fan like Kong Ming, or teach the children in the village how to read?" General Zhao and his brother are practicing arrows again. "But I'm a useless person. I might as well die under the Khitan village." He thumped the bed with his fist.

There was a loud noise, and the wooden door opened with a creak, and the little girl who served him looked at him like a frightened kitten, and asked timidly, "What are the orders from the Fourth Master?" A dozen or so women in the village Together with Ai Langzhong from Chengyingying, he practiced nursing care for wounded patients. This little girl, Sinan, is not yet 14 years old, but she is the most diligent and diligent, so Wang Hengzhi specially transferred her to take care of the fourth master.

Tong Yunjie waved his hand, and said in a deep voice, "It's nothing, you can go out." He didn't want others to see his dejected appearance, so he turned his head to the window.In fact, in order to keep out the cold, the windows are closed all day long, and there is no view at all.After a long time, I still didn't hear the sound of closing the door. Instead, it seemed that someone was watching him from behind. Tong Yunjie said again in a deep voice, "I'll tell you to go out."

"Fourth." But the voice of the eldest brother Wang Hengzhi came from behind, Tong Yunjie turned around, his eyes were still blank, and said in a low voice: "Don't call me that, I am a useless person living on my last days, I will not be the fourth in charge anymore." Wang Hengzhi Seeing his sluggish expression, he felt a pain in his heart, and looked at Xingde beside him, it was a embarrassing thing for them to come here this time.

Looking at Tong Yunjie's sunken cheeks, the former four commanders of the Han army, who were handsome in both civil and military skills, turned into such an inhuman appearance, Zhao Xingde asked in a low voice: "Brother Tong, do you feel better?"

Seeing that it was an outsider from the cottage who came to see him, Tong Yunjie managed to squeeze out a smile, patted his right leg, and sighed: "I've been dragging on like this, I'm going to die." To come to treat him, every time the gauze soaked in the 'medicine' juice was used to clean his wound, it was painful. At the beginning, Tong Yunjie still endured it, but the wound didn't improve after that, so he gave up. This leg is not his own, so he can do whatever he wants.

Zhao Xingde was also sad, he said in a deep voice, "I came here today to discuss something with Brother Tong."

"Oh?" Tong Yunjie was slightly surprised and asked, "What is it?"

Zhao Xingde hesitated for a moment, then said slowly: "This wound has been festering all the time, I'm afraid it may be life-threatening, Ai Langzhong and I have discussed it, the only way to completely cure the injury is to amputate the right leg, so let me come and talk to Tong Brother, discuss whether to save the right leg or the 'sex' life?"

"Save your right leg, or save your life?" Tong Yunjie was bitter and said with a sad smile, "A useless person is just consuming the food in the village for nothing. Then don't bother Mr. Ai, and I ask General Zhao to report to him for me." He thanked him."

"Fourth, what nonsense are you talking about?" Wang Heng said angrily, "Even if you become a useless person, you still have to suffer and live. When your ancestors were taken captive from Hebei to Liaodong, I don't know how much they ate. Suffering, but there is no one who seeks death and life, saves a life, and if there is a chance, he will fight for the lives of the Khitan people.

Tong Yunjie closed his eyes slightly, his face was ashen, and he didn't answer.Wang Hengzhi was clumsy with words, he had no words to comfort him, and looked at Xingde beside him as if asking for help.

Zhao Xingde sighed lightly, and said slowly: "Brother Tong, I feel the pain of this physical disability, so I won't act like a child. Ai Langzhong said that even if the right leg is amputated, a prosthetic can still be fitted. You just need to get used to it for a while, and you can walk around normally." He paused, seeing that Tong Yunjie's face remained unchanged, and then said, "Although it is inconvenient to move around, and I can no longer wield swords and swords, but I have to go to the battlefield to kill Tartars. Son, there may not be any other way."

Hearing this, Tong Yunjie opened his eyes and turned his head to look over, as if a dying person grasped a glimmer of hope, and seemed to be afraid that he would deceive him.Zhao Xingde nodded to him, and said in a positive tone: "When the artillery arrives in Liaodong, the Han army needs to cooperate with our gunners to operate it. In the future, if the Han army grows stronger, it will compete with the Jurchen and Khitan people. In the meantime, it may be necessary to expand the artillery battalion. Brother Tong has a high prestige in the Han army, and it is rare to be able to write and count, so I hope that Brother Tong will take on this matter."

There was a gleam of light in Tong Yunjie's eyes, showing that he was constantly changing his mind, Zhao Xingde and Wang Hengzhi waited quietly for him to make a decision, and after a long time, Tong Yunjie sighed: "Brother, you taught me the right thing, parents gave birth to you My life, I still want to stay and kill the Tartars." He looked up at Zhao Xingde again, cupped his hands and said, "Thank you Mr. Zhao for your kindness in exhorting me. I also ask General Zhao to thank Mr. Ai for me." After finishing speaking, He closed his eyes, breathing in different depths, his heart fluttered.

Whoever decides to amputate a leg will probably not be easy, Zhao Xingde also understood that it is useless to talk too much at this time, softly told Sinan Haosheng to take care of Tong Yunjie, praised her a few more words, and then retreated out together with Wang Hengzhi.

Wang Hengzhi forced a smile and said: "General Zhao is a scholar, you still have a way." He seemed very serious. Last time he attacked Khitan village, not only did he not get any benefits, but he also lost nearly half of his brothers. I didn't think much about it, and I had more plans to fight off every Khitan person, but the atmosphere these days is still unusually heavy.

After parting from Wang Hengzhi, Zhao Xingde still felt suffocated in his chest, so he came to the archery range alone, but he saw the soldiers gathered together, and a ten-man named Pan Xiaowu in the middle was talking vividly about how to kill on a moon night. Tartar thing.Seeing Zhao Xingde and Wang Heng approaching, everyone stood up and saluted them. Zhao Xingde smiled slightly and signaled Pan Xiaowu to continue talking and leave him alone.

"Back then, a dozen or so brothers in our village sneaked under the Khitan village with bows and arrows. Taking advantage of the moonlight, the shadow of the Khitan cub was clearly illuminated. There were two guards on the wall, and the five of us aimed at one of them. Everyone At the same time, shoot the arrow. Ashamed to say, I didn't care to see if I hit the target. I yelled and ran away. Before long, there were dogs barking and horseshoes behind me. A dozen brothers They got lost, and there were only three or four of them who ended up in our village."

Pan Xiaowu's tone was filled with sadness and pride. Not many of the millions of Han Chinese in Liaodong dared to shoot arrows at the Khitans. It's a pity that most of the lost brothers were killed by the Khitan cavalry.

"Oh, why didn't you see that the Khitan dog was 'shot' to death?" Someone beside him said in dissatisfaction.

Pan Xiaowu stared and scolded: "If you don't stay any longer, I'm afraid everyone's life will be accounted for there." He paused, with an uncertain tone, and said, "Should' shoot 'It's dead."

Zhao Xingde sighed slightly in his heart, whether it is the Khitan people or the Jurchens, the Han people under the rule are very strict, and they are especially not allowed to practice martial arts and archery, and the Han people have been under the pressure of foreign races all year round, so they just accept it , the result was powerless to resist, and now there are millions of them, but in Liaodong, they are still the fate of mermaids. Thinking of this, my heart feels heavy again.The situation in Liaodong weighed heavily on his heart like a big rock.

"Since it is difficult to compete with riding and shooting bows and arrows, maybe we should train an army of firecrackers?" He secretly thought, "But the whole army uses firecrackers as their main weapon, and the cost of ordnance is not small. Where does the firecrackers come from? Fire' Where did the medicine come from? With the poor supplies of the Han army, how could it support such a huge cost? The strength of the Liaodong Han army is too weak, not only far from the power of Khitan and Jurchen, but also different from The number of millions of Han people in Liaodong is greatly disproportionate, where is the problem?"

These questions lingered in his mind. While thinking, he unconsciously practiced archery until dusk, when he dragged his tired body and had dinner with Sergeant Chengying. He had taken the initiative to reduce his meal ration to normal The level of the Han army, other Chengying sergeants have also followed suit. Although they are hungry every night, they feel at ease when they think of those Han soldiers who have been sleeping under the Khitan stockade.

The winter in Liaodong was dark early, and the night was extremely cold. Zhao Xingde just went to bed after thinking and writing some countermeasures for the situation, but the problems during the day were still circling in his mind, and he fell asleep unconsciously.In the middle of the night, when the people were silent, a slim body crawled into the bed with a chill, and stuck to Zhao Xingde's side like a swimming fish. He woke up suddenly, holding the unsheathed dagger in his right hand, resting it on the man's neck, coldly He shouted, "Do you want to die?"

The man's skin was covered with goose bumps, he was silent for a moment, and then he said with a sob: "General Zhao, it's me, the head of the family asked the servants to serve you, General Zhao, please don't kill me." Hearing the sound of sobbing It turned out to be that little girl Sinan, Zhao Xingde felt dumbfounded.

It turned out that ten days ago he took the food to the back kitchen to distribute to the little girl, and today he praised her in front of Wang Hengzhi, which caused a misunderstanding.Sinan is the orphan of an old brother in the village, Wang Hengzhi thought to himself, since Zhao De is good to her, even if she is a concubine for him, it is better than wasting in the deep mountains and dense forests, and there is no good home, so he asked the woman in the back kitchen to teach her She comes to serve Xingde at night.The little girl is just beginning to fall in love, and she seems to understand and half understand the affairs of men and women. Although she is seven parts shy and three parts fearful, she still follows the orders of her aunt step by step, but now she is shy and afraid, shivering like a kitten.

After Zhao Xingde figured out the cause and effect, his heart felt a little heavy again, he put the dagger back, and said in a deep voice, "Put on your clothes first." Sinan gave a low "Yes", obediently got out of bed, Hearing a rustling sound, he said "Okay" like a gnat just now.Zhao Xingde just lit up the oil lamp, and saw that the little girl was skinny and not beautiful, her thin cheeks were ashamed as red cloth, the thin skirt was newly changed, but she looked so thin when she hung it on her body. Empty 'swing' 'swing'.She looked at Zhao Xingde pitifully, and couldn't help but tighten her legs and tremble.Zhao Xingde couldn't help but felt a sense of sadness, and sighed in a low voice: "I'm still a child."

It was dark outside, Zhao Xingde put on a cloak and sent her back to the house where women and children live together.After experiencing this incident, he didn't feel sleepy anymore, so he patrolled the Han army's guard post all the way, secretly thinking about it, sneaking into the house like this is the most dangerous situation.Although Chengying Camp lives in the camp of the Han army, its own precautions are too negligent. Starting from tomorrow night, the camp must arrange several sentry posts by itself, so that the sergeants must cheer up.