Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Zhen Wuchen was a Han Chinese from Liaodong. He had been educated for several years and his family had some savings.

Nine years ago, Gao Yongchang rebelled, killed Xiao Baoxian, who was left in Liao Dynasty in Tokyo, established the Great Bohai State and claimed to be emperor, occupying more than fifty states and counties in Liaodong.

Zhen Wuchen's family was ruined at that time, and together with other hungry people, he was recruited by the Liao Kingdom as the "Resentful Army". There are eight battalions of the Resentment Army, and Guo Yaoshi is the leader of one of them.

Emperor Tianzuo fled, the Northern Liao Dynasty was established, and the Resentful Army was renamed the Changsheng Army.

Guo Yaoshi led 8,000 infantry and 500 cavalry, and led one state and four counties to surrender to the Song Dynasty. Zhen Wuchen was the cavalry officer who surrendered to the Song Dynasty. He even participated in the surprise attack on Yanjing, and disguised himself into the city in advance, and was responsible for leading Xizuo to open the city gate.

It was also at that time that Zhen Wuchen saw for the first time how mentally retarded the Song generals and soldiers were.

At that time, the inner city of Yanjing was still in the hands of the Northern Liao Dynasty, and the Song army did not even occupy the outer city. It would be fine if a large army besieged the city, but the Song army was a small force that made a surprise attack, and the main force of the Northern Liao army might come back at any time.

Under this situation, the Song army did not organize to attack the inner city. Instead, they led by officers to plunder the people and drink and have fun until they were drunk. As a result, the people of Yanjing were forced to rise up to resist. The Song army started fighting with the people for no apparent reason, and was then blocked in the city by the Liao army who returned for rescue. They were killed and almost completely annihilated.

From then on, Zhen Wuchen looked down on Song Jun, thinking that they were all a bunch of idiots and cowards.

As Song Huizong continued to ship supplies, Guo Yaoshi's horses and armor increased, and the structure of his army also changed. The cavalry force gradually reached 2,000 people.

When he surrendered to Jin and headed south, Zhen Wuchen was already a general commanding a thousand cavalry.

Whether it is Jin Guo or Ju Ming, Zhen Wuchen has no idea. He only recognizes his own handsome Guo Yaoshi.

But in the past two months, Pharmacist Guo has been too cowardly, as if he had turned into a dog raised by a golden man. And they, the old men who came from the resentful army, are just a bunch of pups.

Zhen Wuchen doesn't like to be treated like a dog!

"Change the dressing!"

A woman wearing a Taoist robe came over carrying a medicine box and was changing the dressing for the wounded soldier in the bed next to him.

Zhen Wuchen found it very interesting. If there were women in the military camp of the Ever Victorious Army, they would definitely be camp prostitutes. The Sichuan Gorge Rebels asked women to take care of the wounded, so they weren't afraid of causing any chaos?

Not long after, the female Taoist came to Zhen Wuchen.

Seeing her beautiful face, Zhen Wuchen couldn't help teasing him: "What kind of religion do you believe in, young lady? Can you find a lover if you get married?"

The female nun had no expression on her face and turned around to shout to a female nun: "Team leader, bed number 24 is teasing me."

"I know." The nun responded.

The other wounded soldiers turned their heads to look over, some angry, some gloating.

The female Taoist spoke with a Spanish accent, which is very common in Shuzhong, Hanzhong, Shaanxi, Hedong, Jinzhou, and Fujian. Zhen Wuchen could barely understand it, but he had to guess.

Zhen Wuchen was just a habitual talker. He had an injury on his chest. How could he really molest a doctor?

The female Taoist opened the gauze, wiped it with strong alcohol, and then said: "It's nothing serious. It will heal in a few days."

As he spoke, he took out the clay pot, scraped out the ointment with a bamboo slice, and gently applied it on the wound.

The movement was very gentle, reminding Zhen Wuchen of his dead mother, and he regretted his rude words just now.

When he was treated for the first time, he had a fever and was confused and had no intuitive feelings. Now that I have woken up, I finally realize the benefits of female doctors, who are not as rough-and-tumble as male doctors.

Before the medicine was replaced, the nun led an officer over, and the person in charge of the wounded barracks also followed.

After comparing the bed information, the officer asked: "Zhen Wuchen, right?"

"I am Zhen Wuchen." Zhen Wuchen said.

The officer said: "Verbally molesting a doctor or nurse is a first offense, and will be recorded as a major offense. If you dared to touch a doctor just now, you will be beaten with a military stick even if it is a first offense! Remember, if you dare to do it again, you will be demoted or kicked. Get out the army!”

Zhen Wuchen opened his mouth to speak but stopped, turning his head to look at the bed next door. The guy was gloating about his misfortune.

Judging from the reactions of the wounded soldiers around him, it was not that he was deliberately suppressing himself, but that this was the rule here.

After a while, the officers, female Taoists and nuns all walked away, and Zhen Wuchen began to look at the situation here.

He had been suffering from a fever and was in a semi-conscious state. After waking up, he only took a few casual glances.

This should be the main hall of the temple. The statues of Buddha and Bodhisattva are still there, and everything is clean.

The environment is very comfortable, a hundred times better than the wounded barracks of the Victory Army.

"Second brother, if you have made a great contribution this time, I am afraid you will be rewarded with twenty acres of land, right?"

"I don't know, it's probably not far off. You're not bad either, at least five or eight acres."

"Oh, it's a pity that Brother Yuan is gone. If his wife hears the news, she will cry for a long time. The youngest son is not even one year old yet."

"What can I do? The marshal treats us well. We work hard for the marshal, and if we die, we will die. At least if we serve as soldiers under the marshal, we won't have to worry about our family being left behind. The pension and land rewards will be enough for Brother Yuan and his family to have food and drink. .”

"My brother hasn't asked for a wife yet, and he's almost old. He said he also wanted to join the army, but my father stopped him."

"But my brother is married to a homeless widow, and he also has a young man. Don't dislike him for being a widow, he really loves men, and he manages the family very well. He is much more agile than my mother-in-law."

"I'm afraid I won't raise my brother as my son."

"Hahahaha, it looks like it. My brother marrying a widow is like having an extra wife."

"Well, I don't know when this battle will be over. The land in my family will probably be plowed next year, and we can harvest a lot of food in the future. When I get older and don't serve in the army, I will go home and farm. It's hard to think about those days. happy."

"Isn't that true? I went back a few years and couldn't even think about it. I fled from Shaanxi. My family only had a few acres of thin farmland. I had to work as a tenant farmer to avoid starving to death. I had no choice but to flee when there was a disaster. .”

"When the marshal conquers the world, the strategist will be the emperor first, and then the marshal will be the emperor. Then there will be two good emperors. The common people in the world will be able to live a good life for decades."

"..."

Zhen Wuchen listened silently to the wounded soldiers' chat. Although his accent was a bit thick, he could roughly guess what was being said.

This made him feel a little dazed.

The life described by the wounded soldiers was what Zhen Wuchen once dreamed of, and it was also the dream of countless resentful soldiers.

This dream has been shattered long ago. Youzhou is caught between various forces. Not many people are willing to farm safely anymore, so they can only recruit refugees to cultivate those ownerless lands. As for the soldiers, they were in danger all day long. Even if they were given land, they would not take it seriously.

All I can think about is fooling around and living one day at a time, who knows when I will die?

Zhen Wuchen couldn't help but think of his own family. He had married a wife before he became a refugee. She was the daughter of a small landlord in the village. Although he was not rich, his life was still decent, but the taxes in the Liao Kingdom were getting heavier and heavier, and the bastard Gao Yongchang rebelled.

Parents, wives and children are all gone.

Later, he surrendered to the Song Dynasty and was stationed in Yanjing. Zhen Wuchen also became a cavalry commander. He stole a woman to be his wife and even kept two concubines. But the three wives and concubines Zhen Wuchen didn't have a deep relationship with each other. What he missed in his heart was still his first wife.

Suddenly, Zhen Wuchen envied these wounded soldiers. Their luck was much better than that of the Han people in the north.

"dinner time!"

shouted one of the gang leaders.

Wounded soldiers who were able to go to the ground walked outside to eat by themselves.

Zhen Wuchen not only had trauma on his chest, but also had several broken ribs. It hurt when he moved, so he continued to lie on the bed.

I saw that the leading soldiers kept coming over with food, and the wounded soldiers who could sit up sat down and ate by themselves. For those who cannot sit up, female nurses will help feed them.

"Can you move?" The person who asked was the female Taoist who was teased before.

"Yes." Zhen Wuchen tried to sit up, but was so painful that he took a few breaths.

The female Taoist said: "Lie down and I will feed you."

Zhen Wuchen could tell who was the officer and who was the ordinary soldier from the previous chats between the wounded soldiers. He couldn't help but ask: "Officers and soldiers eat the same food?"

The female Taoist said: "There are only wounded soldiers here, no officers or soldiers. The food is divided into several levels. The more serious the injury, the better the food."

"It's fair." Zhen Wuchen couldn't help but comment.

The Ever-Victorious Army is also very fair, treating each other like brothers, but only the elite direct descendants of Medicine Master Guo. Even if it was added later, as long as they join the direct troops, they will all be treated equally, because they know that they must stick together, otherwise they will definitely be eaten in the Northland where the jungle is strong.

Of course, when you are promoted due to meritorious service, you must also consider distance and distance.

"Open your mouth!" the female Taoist said expressionlessly.

Zhen Wuchen opened his mouth and immediately stuffed a spoonful of rice and minced tofu into his mouth.

Although the female path was still angry, her movements were extremely gentle.

Zhen Wuchen chewed and swallowed a mouthful, and couldn't help but say: "You really look like my mother. When I was young, my mother also fed me like this."

The female Taoist finally lost her anger, and she pursed her lips and smiled: "You were talking nonsense just now, and now you recognize your mother again?"

Zhen Wuchen said: "This dish is delicious. What is its name?"

"Mapo tofu was taught by the marshal himself," the female Taoist said. "Your injury is not too serious. The dishes of those seriously injured people have more minced meat than this and are much more delicious."

Zhen Wuchen said in surprise: "Marshal Langjun can also be a cook?"

The female Taoist said: "Mr. Jinglue is still working in the fields himself. I heard that you are a newly arrived northerner and don't know the affairs of the south. Mr. Jinglue and the marshal are both good people. They fight for the common people. We The people over there are living a very good life. Since you voted over, you must fight hard in the future, but you can't tease women anymore, and don't bully the people anymore. When the Prime Minister and the Marshal take over the world, everyone will live a good life. .Did you know?"

"I know." Zhen Wuchen replied subconsciously. Regardless of whether he was sincere or not, he wanted to follow this girl's words.

Zhen Wuchen felt that the meal went by so fast, and the female Taoist left in the blink of an eye, wiping his mouth with linen before leaving.

Zhen Wuchen turned to the bed next to him and asked, "Can a female soldier in the army get married?"

The wounded soldier in the next bed laughed and said: "Have you fallen in love with Nurse Li? Then you have to be interested in Deputy Hao from the Second Brigade and the Fourth Regiment, Wei Zhangshu from the Third Brigade and the First Regiment, and... what else is there? Waiting? Anyway, I know that four officers are interested in Nurse Li. There are rules in the army, and you cannot molest female doctors and nurses, and you are not allowed to force female doctors and nurses. If you want to marry home, it depends on your own ability. "

"Nurse Li is not very beautiful, so why are there so many military officers rushing to marry her?" Zhen Wuchen felt that there was a lot of pressure from competition.

The wounded soldier in the next bed asked back: "If you are not beautiful, why did you fall in love with her?"

Zhen Wuchen was suddenly stunned.