Datang New Order

As Liu Jinhou said, the mountain road with many miles is really not easy to walk.Under the cliffs on both sides, a zigzag mountain road winds up, wading through a turbulent stream, climbing two sections of steep hillsides, and until the daylight is bright, Li Chengzhong sees the road blocked between the two mountains. That stone wall.

This stone wall is not too high, it is only over one foot long, about fifty steps long, it is stuck between the two mountains, strictly blocking the only way to enter the mountain.The position on one side of the stone wall has been broken, and some wooden frames and railings are propped on it, which can vaguely distinguish the appearance of the village gate and the village building back then.Li Chengzhong looked at the mountain walls on both sides, almost vertically upwards, more than ten feet high, and there seemed to be some remnants of wooden houses on the top of the mountain.He nodded secretly, and he didn't know who built this military stronghold back then. On this terrain, as long as a team of soldiers is placed, the passage into the mountain can be firmly blocked, and no matter how many enemies come from outside, it will not hurt at all. fear.It can be described as a dangerous place where one man is in charge of the gate and ten thousand men cannot open it.

Looking at the cliffs on both sides with lingering fear, Li Chengzhong stopped and raised his hand to signal the team to be alert.The soldiers of the two capitals immediately pulled out the guy under the shout of the officer, rushed out with swords and guns, and shot arrows with bowstrings.

Li Chengzhong carefully looked at the tops of the mountains on both sides, but found no movement, then turned his head to stare at the stone wall in front of him, and listened attentively, but he didn't see a figure, but heard a sound.He called Liu Jinhou out of the team and asked, "This is the military stronghold you mentioned?"

Liu Jinhou nodded, with some eagerness in his eyes.Li Chengzhong said: "Take someone in to have a look, I feel that there seems to be no one inside. Be careful and report back immediately if there is a situation."

Liu Jinhou answered "Yes", turned around and shouted to the team, the group of soldiers under him immediately came out of the team, followed Liu Jinhou, and filed in through the broken gate of the village on the stone wall.After a while, Liu Jinhou's figure appeared at the stone wall and said loudly: "Dutou, there is no one inside, everything is safe."

Li Chengzhong beckoned, and the soldiers from the two capitals lined up to pass through the stone wall and enter the village.

This is a simple military village, except for the stone walls, there are no noticeable houses, and some are just large and small caves carved out along the mountain wall.In addition to being simple, this village also smells of dilapidation, the kind of dilapidation soaked by the years.Li Chengzhong found some remains of wooden railings on the side of a recessed mountain wall. Judging from the arrangement of these moss-covered wooden bars, this place should have been a stable. The scale is not large, and it may be able to keep a dozen horses. look.In another corner, several stone hearths were found.

Cave dwellings on the mountain wall, broken stables, several stone stoves, a village wall, and a small school yard surrounded by hundreds of people for training constitute the overall picture of this military village.Behind the military village is a lower stone wall, and a mountain road outside the stone wall is getting higher and higher, leading to the back of the mountain.

Feng Dao came to Li Chengzhong's side, and said in a low voice: "Li Yuheng, the charcoal in the stove has not been burned out, there must be someone in the village, and he just left not long ago."

Li Chengzhong nodded. He also saw those charcoals, some of which were still glowing red.Jiang Miao also came over to report the results of the search of those cave dwellings on the mountain wall. Many of the cave dwellings had been lived in, and it seemed that the people who lived there had just left.Just as he was about to ask Liu Jinhou to come over and ask, he saw Liu Jinhou yelling loudly towards the mountain road behind the village: "Pillar! It's a certain, it's a certain!" A dark-skinned man slowly protruded from behind. The man was lean and thin. He opened his mouth wide and stared at Liu Jinhou who ran past, without saying a word for a long time.

When Li Chengzhong rushed over, Liu Jinhou also dragged the man over.

"Dutou! This is the cousin of a certain family...Cousin, this is the Dutou of a certain family!" Liu Jinhou introduced each other here, but the man didn't understand, and asked suspiciously: "Dutou?" Liu Jinhou scratched his head , explained: "It's a Shangguan from a certain family!" The man understood it this time, and hurriedly bowed to salute: "Hello, Shangguan!"...,

Li Chengzhong has been in this era for more than half a year. In this era, there are no entertainment such as TV, computer, movie, etc., and there is no variety of delicacies that can be eaten by people in later generations. He feels very regretful about this, and also Often complain a word or two.But there is one thing that he is very satisfied with, that is, there is no kneeling in the etiquette.He was deeply influenced by the TV dramas of later generations, thinking that in ancient times, subordinates must kowtow when they met their superiors, especially those in the Qing Dynasty who kowtowed to the floor tiles and called themselves slaves, he often felt disgusted and ashamed of them.

At the end of the Tang Dynasty, although human life was like grass and life was difficult in troubled times, subordinates did not need to kneel and kowtow when they saw their superiors, and they did not need to call themselves "villains" or "slaves" all the time. For a senior official like the governor, he only needs to bow slightly, and the governor will also nod in return. He can stand and talk, calling himself "some" or "I", and the governor will also call himself like him, instead of saying "this Your Excellency", "My Officer".

Li Chengzhong smiled and gave the man a hand, and then began to ask questions.The man was too simple, he seemed to be in awe of the officials, he couldn't say anything in front of Li Chengzhong, so Li Chengzhong had to step back temporarily and let Liu Jinhou talk to the man, and the man spoke more sharply.

The man's name is Liu Jinzhu, and he is Liu Jinhou's cousin. He has been hiding in Bailang Mountain with his fellow countrymen for nearly two months. inside the mountain.Because of Liu Jinzhu's sharp legs and feet, he was arranged to take a peek on the mountain road leading to Houshan. Once this group of soldiers made any moves, they could report to Houshan early.He was discovered by Liu Jinhou because he saw that Liu Jinhou was also in the army and forgot to hide his body when he was surprised.

The number of people hiding in Bailang Mountain was much more than Li Chengzhong expected. According to Liu Jinzhu, there were 800 to [-] people. In addition to Liu Jinhou's neighbors, there were also people from other village households.The common people usually live in the cave dwellings in the army village, digging wild vegetables and hunting in the mountains for a living, but because there are more people fleeing here, the wild vegetables have basically been dug up in this month, and it is becoming more and more difficult to hunt animals in the mountains. Everyone's life is getting more and more difficult.According to what Liu Jinhou said, this man named Liu Jinzhu was originally quite strong, but the reason why he was so thin was because he was hungry.

Under the call of Liu Jinhou and Liu Jinzhu, the people who hid in the back mountain gradually returned to the army camp. Most of these people were old and weak, women and children, and there were less than 200 young and strong people like Liu Jincun.Li Chengzhong was surprised to see that when these ordinary people came back, every household was dragging a wooden board. When the ordinary people reset the wooden boards on the cave dwellings, they suddenly realized that when they fled the military village, they didn't even have a door. Unloaded.Li Chengzhong ordered General Zhao to take out the grain from the cart, and then started cooking porridge on the fire stove. Seeing this, the common people gathered around the fire stove one after another, stretching their necks to squeeze in, and managed to hold on under the support of the soldiers. His eyes were fixed on the big iron pot on the stove, and he couldn't help swallowing.

The people who fled here mainly came from the three villages at the foot of Bailang Mountain, mainly with the three surnames of Liu, Guo and Cheng.Since Lu Longjun gradually withdrew from outside the pass, the land had long since lost the management of serious officials, so the elders in the village were the ones who made the decisions. Li Chengzhong invited the three most influential elders among the three surnames to come before him.The three elders can't tell how old they are from their appearance. In short, they look very old. Although they haven't had enough to eat in the mountains for two months, the three elders seem to be very healthy and energetic. good.

Li Chengzhong told the three elders the intention of this trip with gestures and words. After he finished speaking, he breathed a sigh of relief and said emotionally: "Don't worry, the three elders, come back to Yuguan with us, and enter Guancheng. The world belongs to our Han people. No matter how ruthless the Khitan people are, they will not be able to seize Guanli, and then everyone will be able to live in peace again!”…,

These emotional words did not achieve the desired effect. In Li Chengzhong's imagination, when he finished speaking, the old men would be moved to tears, and then they would hold Li Chengzhong's hand and express all kinds of gratitude loudly. After the elders announce the news of returning to Yuguan, the people in the whole village will cheer, and everyone will definitely rejoice that they can leave Bailang Mountain alive... Unfortunately, all these imaginary scenes Nothing happened. After the three elders finished listening, they just stared at each other, you look at me, I look at you...

Li Chengzhong thought that they didn't understand, so he explained it in plainer words a little discouraged. Then, he saw the three elders frowning, and each of them looked embarrassed.He didn't understand.Now that the porridge was ready, Liu Jinhou brought some bowls over and handed them to the three elders.Seeing the three elders drinking porridge while blowing air along the wooden bowl without saying a word, he pulled Liu Jinhou helplessly and asked, "What's going on? Why don't the three elders speak?"

Liu Jinhou was stunned for a moment, and said: "Don't be in a hurry, someone will ask." Li Chengzhong nodded, and left the three elders annoyed.He took the risk to lead the troops to rescue the people. He had good intentions, but in return he was indifferent. Suddenly, he felt a bruised sense of loss, so depressed that he kicked a piece of gravel, and kicked the stone far away. .

Watching from afar the three old men finished their porridge, talked together for a long time, then followed Liu Jinhou to Li Chengzhong, one of the old men with yellow and black skin bowed and hesitated for a while, then said: "This General, listening to Jin Hou's younger generation, General Master seems a little angry. In fact, it's not that the old men don't know what to do, and General Master brought soldiers to rescue us. We are all grateful, but everyone still wants to stay here, after all, The land that has grown up for decades, I really can't bear to leave..."

This time it was Li Chengzhong's turn to stare. He opened his mouth in puzzlement, and after a while he said, "You don't want to leave? ... But ... what if the Khitans came? Where else can you escape? The Khitans have Swordsman, I will take you captive when the time comes, and let you be cows and horses if you are happy, but if you are not happy, how can you survive? Elderly, you should think clearly!"