Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

"Ouch!"

When he got up in the morning, Bai Sheng screamed in pain, but the pain in his waist spread throughout his body.

It’s really tiring to reclaim wasteland!

Moreover, the work was exhausting. The late sorghum harvested in the first year was not even enough for the pioneers to feed the land. It would take several years of tilling to mature the land.

Bai Sheng lived in a shack, not even as good as a thatched house in the countryside. The official building of a house had to wait until the land was cleared.

He went out with a hoe and happened to meet the five Byford brothers.

Neither of them was very energetic. They only nodded to each other when they met, which was regarded as a greeting.

Yesterday I was carrying water all the time to water the burned hillsides. Today I had to turn over the soil again and clean up stones and other debris. This was several times more tiring than farming. Bai Sheng was out of breath after a short while.

Damn it, why would you go into the mountains and become a bandit if you don't act like a rogue?

The women and children came to deliver the meal in the middle of the morning. While the men were devouring their food, the little leader took the opportunity to draw a pie next to him: "Don't feel tired. The land cultivated here belongs to you. The land tax collected by the village master, Although it is much heavier than the government, there are no such exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, and life is better than outside..."

No one paid any attention to him, they were all busy cooking.

The little boss took Bai Sheng as an example: "For people like Bai Er, who didn't have a mother-in-law in his early twenties, once he settles down in the wasteland, he can find a wife in the mountains. Wouldn't it be great to have a few more children? As long as you can farm the land with peace of mind, Just pay the land tax to the village leader with peace of mind, and don’t worry about the rest. Compared with the outside, there are many things better in the mountains..."

Those few words came back and forth, and they were repeated every day, and Bai Sheng's ears were almost numb.

After finally making it to the afternoon, the little boss suddenly announced the end of work early: "I made money selling tea. My brothers are happy. I killed two big fat pigs. I have a good time to celebrate. We have worked hard here to open up wasteland, and we have also received some pig skins." , pig blood and pig water, and my brothers also rewarded me with a few taels of fat. Quickly pack it back, this meal is enough for you, you can eat it with open belly!"

The middle and high-level members of the bandits and their families ate large chunks of meat in the village and drank from large bowls.

As for Bai Sheng, a low-level person, he is considered to have benefited from it.

Pig skin, pig blood, offal, fat, vegetables...are poured into a large clay pot and stewed. It tastes good and makes your belly full.

Bai Sheng held his job and looked in the direction of the village, wondering when to run away.

I finished work early today, not as tired as usual, and still had a full meal. It was a good opportunity to escape from the village.

He is not here to open up wasteland for farming!

…

There are not many bandit leaders. After all, the entire Xixiang County has a relatively sparse population.

Counting all the middle and high-level leaders, there are only three and a half tables.

These are all the backbone of Heifeng Village, and they also rely on them to go down the mountain to rob. The rest of the bandits are all farmers, usually responsible for farming, and only use weapons when officers and soldiers are encircling and suppressing them.

There were several tables of old, weak, women and children next to them, all the family members of the bandit leaders.

The leader of the village, Yang Jun, raised a bowl of wine and said, "It's so refreshing today. I'll do it first. I wish our Black Wind Village will become more prosperous!"

"Done!" The thieves raised their bowls.

The wine is sorghum sweet rice wine, with an alcohol content similar to that of beer.

"Eat meat, eat meat!"

After Yang Jun gave the order, the bandits let go of their hands and feet, punched, drank, and ate meat to brag.

After drinking bowls of rice wine and about six or seven bottles of beer, some people began to go to the latrine to urinate and release water.

Yang Jun stood up with a slightly red face and walked to Yao Fang: "Second brother, I will give you a bowl!"

"It's my turn to respect my brother." Yao Fang stood up with a drink.

Yang Jun said: "The second brother did the most to rob the gang horses last year and earned a lot of gold and silver. If it weren't for the might of the second brother and the instigation of those tea horses, it would be really difficult to deal with them."

Instructors, that is, low-level officers who work on errands, a group of unlucky people who work thanklessly.

The green-faced beast Yang Zhi in real history was the instigator responsible for escorting Hua Shigang. If something went wrong, he would have to face a lawsuit. It is not the envoy written in "Water Margin", because the envoy is subordinate to the Dianqiansi, but the envoy is subordinate to military generals or state and county officials.

Yao Fang said: "Those instigators are also bitter, they are not willing to risk their lives."

"That's when I met my second brother. I went up and killed one of them, and the rest were so scared that they ran for their lives!" Yang Jun laughed.

The first boss and the second boss had sex while talking and laughing.

Yang Jun held the wine bowl in his left hand and reached into his arms with his right hand. When Yao Fang turned around and sat down, he pulled out his dagger and stabbed him.

Don't talk about sweat medicine. That stuff is too high-end. Even poison is hard to find in the countryside.

Yao Fang did not sit down immediately, but made up his mind and said: "Brother, I can't thank you enough for taking care of me in the past few years. I don't want to make it difficult for you. After a while, I will take the people away and go to work." Find a place to set up a stronghold downstream. When the time comes, our two strongholds will support each other and fight against those bird officials together!"

Yang Jun was startled when he heard this, stretched out his hand in his arms, and then slowly retracted it.

He really regarded Yao Fang as a friend. As long as Yao Fang left voluntarily, all conflicts would be resolved. There was no need to kill people and break the rules.

Yang Jun was even willing to give more money and food to send the person away as soon as possible, but he still said symbolically: "What are you talking about, second brother? You can stay in this Black Wind Village as long as you want. Who dares to chew it?" Tongue, I will cut off his tongue and drink it!"

Before Yao Fang could say anything else, Yang Ying, the third boss, suddenly stood up, brought a bowl over and said, "I'm going to see my second brother off, so I drank this!"

Yang Jun quietly glared at his younger brother and complained that he was too anxious. Wasn't it obvious that he wanted to drive people away?

Zhang Guangdao sat next to him and breathed a sigh of relief.

He was really afraid that if he delayed it any longer, the copycat brothers would get into trouble.

The more anxious Yang Ying appeared, the more reassured Zhang Guangdao was. In a few days, he would be able to leave this place and find a better place to fly.

In a happy mood, Zhang Guangdao picked up the wine bowl and drank.

"Done!"

Yao Fang clinked the bowls with Yang Ying happily, then raised his neck and drank.

Seeing that the conflict had been resolved, Yang Jun, the leader of the village, laughed loudly: "I will do another bowl too!"

"Done!"

Other bandit leaders also raised their bowls to touch each other.

At this moment, while the wine bowl blocked Yao Fang's view, Yang Ying suddenly took out a spear. It doesn't have a wooden handle, it's just longer than a palm, and it's inconspicuous when hidden in your arms.

"Um!?"

Just as Yao Fang put the wine bowl down to his neck, he suddenly felt a pain in his abdomen and looked at Yang Ying in disbelief.

He couldn't understand why Yang Ying, the third boss, would do such a cruel thing when he was about to leave and no longer have anything to do with him.

Yang Ying's expression became ferocious, and she twisted the spear violently, trying to rupture Yao Fang's intestines, and at the same time shouted: "Do it!"

"You birdie!"

Yao Fang was furious, grabbed the opponent's wrist with his left hand, and smashed out the empty wine bowl with his right hand.

This man was really powerful. He was stabbed in the lower abdomen by a spear and was deliberately stirred, but he still managed to bear the pain and hit Yang Ying with a wine bowl until his forehead bled.

Yang Ying wanted to take out the spear and stab her again, but her wrist was already grabbed and she couldn't break free for a while.

Yao Fang threw away the smashed wine bowl and punched out another fist, beating Yang Ying until stars appeared in his eyes.

None of the other bandits reacted.

Even the confidants of the Yang brothers thought that Huobing's plan was temporarily canceled and they could have a good time drinking today.

Zhang Guangdao, who was immersed in drinking, immediately turned his head when he heard the noise, then pushed aside the fourth master next to him, picked up the bench and hit Yang Ying on the back of the head.

There was chaos at the main table.

Among the nine top leaders in the cottage, six are from the local faction, while only the second, fifth and ninth leaders are from the outsiders.

However, two of the six local factions had a very good relationship with Yao Fang, and they had no idea about Huobing's plan.

In other words, now four people are fighting three people, and two people still don't know who to help.

The ninth leader, Yao Chang, was Yao Fang's nephew. The amount of sorghum rice wine he drank was at least six bottles of beer. My mind was a little confused at this time, and almost subconsciously, I picked up my chopsticks and stabbed them towards Ba Dang's house. Master Ba stretched out his left hand to block the chopsticks, took out a spear with his right hand, and stabbed Yao Chang in the chest.

"Stop fighting, they are all brothers!" The Sixth Master panicked and tried to dissuade him.

Yang Ying roared: "Brother, don't move yet..."

Before he finished speaking, a bench came over and Zhang Guangdao was knocked unconscious.

Only then did Yang Jun, the leader of the village, stop being in a daze. Since his brother had done everything he could, he had no choice but to take out his dagger and stab Yao Fang in the lower back.

"Dog thief!"

Yao Fang snatched Yang Ying's spear, turned around and stabbed Yang Jun angrily.

Seriously injured, his speed slowed down. Yang Jun narrowly avoided it again and again, but there was still a wound on the back of his hand.

He led two or three tables nearby and started doing it. Because Yao Fang's prestige was too high, Yang Jun was afraid that someone would report the news secretly, so he only told a few confidants. Most of the bandit leaders didn't know anything about it in advance, and they didn't know who to help during the fight.

However, the prestige of two generations of the Yang family running a cottage cannot be overshadowed by Yao Fang's few years. In a very short time, the neutrals make a choice - they must help the village leader.

Maybe give Yao Fang a few more years, and when his prestige continues to increase, Yang Jun won't even dare to take action!

At this moment, the Ninth Master Yao Chang had been stabbed to death. Zhang Guangdao swept across with a bench, standing back to back with the seriously injured Yao Fang. The winner was quickly determined at the next table, and more than a dozen bandit leaders came over to surround them.

As for the family members of the bandits, they were completely confused about the situation and hurriedly ran away with their children in their arms.

The two wounds were bleeding, and what was worse was that a section of his intestines was torn. Yao Fang gasped and said, "I can't survive anymore, take Brother Huan away!"

Zhang Guangdao said: "Let's go together."

"Then you can't escape," Yao Fang said, "I'll stop them, and you can go pick up Brother Huan and leave."

Zhang Guangdao gritted his teeth: "Okay!"

After saying that, Zhang Guangdao waved the bench and chased in the direction where his family members were escaping.

Yao Fang's original rebellion failed, and all his family members were gone. Only his nephew Yao Chang was left, and he was brought to the village to become the ninth master.

The leader of the village, Yang Jun, personally acted as a matchmaker to find a wife for Yao Fangxuxian, who gave birth to a son, Yao Huan, who was one and a half years old.

But it is said that Zhang Guangdao danced in anger, no one could stop him wherever he passed, and he actually caught up with Yao Fang's wife and children.

"Sister-in-law, give me the child!" Zhang Guangdao shouted.

Although the woman was Yao Fang's wife, she was also a relative of the village leader Yang Jun. She hesitated slightly and turned around to send the child away.

The child burst into tears immediately after leaving his mother. Zhang Guangdao hugged the child with his left arm and rushed down the mountain holding the bench with one hand.

"Block the village gate!" Yang Jun yelled and ordered.

Zhang Guangdao ran quickly to the entrance of the village. He couldn't help but look back and saw more than ten people besieging him. Yao Fang could no longer hold on.

The unarmed bandit leaders picked up their rice bowls and threw them around, waving benches and smashing them.

In order to hold these people back and create an escape opportunity for Zhang Guangdao, Yao Fang endured and fought on the spot. He was continuously hit all over his body, and more and more blood flowed from the two wounds.

He was extremely angry and gradually lost his mind. He suddenly grabbed someone's belt and wanted to lift it up and throw it out. But due to the injury, he didn't have enough strength. He raised it to chest height and was exhausted. He turned around and threw it out.

Several benches were thrown at him, but Yao Fang didn't care. He rushed to the side and stabbed the person to death with a spear. However, he killed the Eighth Leader to avenge his nephew.

A bench hit Yao Fang in the back of the head. His vision turned black and he couldn't stand still. Then several more daggers and spears came at him.

The extraordinarily brave second-in-command died in such a cowardly manner.

There was only one way down the mountain. Zhang Guangdao rushed out of the village gate with his child in his arms, knocking over two bandits.

After running a few hundred steps, a bandit leader was guarding there with more than a dozen minions (peasants).

In order to keep it secret, those minions didn't even know what the mission was. Only then did they receive the order to fight internally. They also held spears in their hands, and they were all equipped with wooden handles, like short spears blocking the front.

The passage down the mountain is very narrow and can only accommodate two or three people standing side by side.

This is a dead end!

Zhang Guangdao was filled with rage at this moment, without stopping at all. He rushed closer and threw the bench directly.

The bandits holding spears in the way subconsciously tried to block the flying benches, and the formation of short spears was instantly in chaos.

Zhang Guangdao protected the child, turned sideways and bumped forward, deflecting a spear in the middle and slamming into the crowd.

The minions suddenly fell on their backs, and one of them even squeezed off the cliff, screaming and falling without knowing whether he was alive or dead. Zhang Guangdao's right rib was also stabbed by a spear in the chaos.

Ignoring the pain, Zhang Guangdao grabbed a spear and thrust it forward, causing the bandits to dodge in fright.

On the one hand, they respected Zhang Guangdao as a person, and on the other hand, they were afraid of Zhang Guangdao's skills. They actually gave up this dangerous passage and watched Zhang Guangdao carrying his child down the mountain.

The bandit leader roared: "Hurry up and chase, don't just stand there!"

Those at the bottom of the mountain, who were actually farmers, had no idea what was going on and watched Zhang Guangdao running further and further away in confusion.

…

This is a valley with a very wide stream, which can be called a small river.

Tea leaves from the mountains were transported to the Hanshui River in small boats through streams and secretly traded with novices. Bandits usually rob, and they also go out in small boats and besiege merchant ships in the Han River.

There are several thatched huts on the shore, and boats are upside down.

Bai Sheng, who had filled his stomach, ran out on the pretext of taking a poop. He planned to steal a boat and escape, and he would not stay in the mountains to open up wasteland even if he was killed.

Bai Sheng used all his strength to finally turn the boat over and push the hull into the water.

Before I could get the oar, I heard a cry of death. He thought something had happened to him, so he hurriedly turned around to get the oar, secretly cursing the bandits that they were mentally ill. He just stole a boat and ran away, so why did he need to go to such great lengths to fight?

Bai Sheng hurriedly put the oars in place, and took out another bamboo pennant. Just as he was about to push the boat away from the shore, he saw a man running towards him with a child in his arms: "Is it Brother Zhang Wu?"

"Help me once and I'll give you money!" Zhang Guangdao shouted.

Bai Sheng finally saw the pursuers further away and immediately understood that the bandits were fighting among themselves. He held the boat to a halt with his bamboo pole and shouted: "Brother Zhang Wu, get on the boat quickly! I don't want money, I want to learn from you." Gun stick!”

The child was still crying loudly, and blood was flowing from the wound on Zhang Guangdao's right rib.

Bai Sheng quickly hoisted his pole and looked back from time to time. Seeing that the bandits were approaching, he was frightened but also extremely excited.

He finally became a hero, accomplished great things, and was no longer a country rogue.

Zhang Guangdao put the child down, ignored the pain of the wound, and used the oar to speed up the boat. His expression became ferocious with rage.

A few years ago, they were betrayed by Zhu Zongdao, and now they were stabbed in the back by Yang Jun.

They had already said they were leaving, so why did they still kill them?

The leader of the village, Yang Jun, didn't understand this question. At this moment, he was slapping his younger brother wildly: "He is about to leave, why do you want to kill him?"

Yang Ying was knocked unconscious by the bench. Now she just woke up and was slapped several times. She said in a daze: "If I don't kill him, I won't be happy!"

Yang Jun was so angry that he wanted to strangle his brother to death with his own hands.