stubborn thief

Chapter 204
Zhou Qiang's legs were shaking.

No one frightened him, but he was a little scared.

There are only more than 900 people in Ningzhou City, but there are more than a dozen camps criss-crossed on the flat plateau, and they are full of people inside and out!
He hasn't seen so many people for a long time, how many people must there be, ten thousand?Or twenty thousand?

Sunday Qiang didn't know it, but only knew that the vehicles transporting grain made ruts in the barren fields, and the footsteps of people walking back and forth stepped out of the way.

What was even more frightening was Bing. Many people had never seen such a senior official as Zhizhou in their entire lives, and they looked at him curiously wherever they went.

On the contrary, the young general who led the way looked very respectful. He said that his name was Wei Qian'er, and he used to be a postman in Yan'an Mansion.

He also smiled and asked him: "Is Master Zhou greedy for the wages of the workers?"

Zhou Qiang thought to himself, in the past in Shandong, he often took the papers issued by the sixth room of the county government home to write poems at home, this seems to be considered greed, right?But in Ningzhou no more.

He shook his head.

Wei Qian'er seemed very happy, raised his chin happily, raised his hand and rubbed his nose with his thumb, and gave him a thumbs up: "My former postman was greedy for our money and told me to kill him."

Swallowing his saliva forcefully on Sunday, what was more terrifying than Wei Qian'er's plain words was his left hand with the thumb raised.

The word "anti-ming" is clearly tattooed on it.

Sunday Qiang didn't dare to speak anymore, and it wasn't until this time that he began to think seriously: What kind of assignment did he get from Yang He?

Wei Qian'er didn't notice Master Zhou's horrified eyes. He remembered the order given to him by the Generalissimo to let Zhizhou take a good look at his troops, so that he could go back and spread fear to Yang He in the future.

He pointed to a camp in the distance and said: "Master Zhou looked at that camp. The military discipline of that camp is not good. It is the camp of local bandits in Qingyang. It is in a mess and there is not even a banner."

That was Han Chaozai's camp, and the camp was very large.

Zhou Riqiang clearly saw a large Korean flag at the gate of the camp. How could it be said that there is no flag?
boom!
There was a cannon shot in the distance, which made Sunday Qiang tremble with fright. Wei Qian'er pointed to a further distance and said, "The bunker is being built over there. Maybe the people sued the gentry in the bunker for being rich and unkind. The commander-in-chief entered Qingyang in Heshui. Hit a hoarding grain merchant."

Sunday Qiang looked at the direction of the gunfire, and closed his eyes helplessly. He knew the place.

Now Ningzhou Plateau has several bunkers on the plateau. He is a retired official who raises sheep and sells donkeys after returning to his hometown. If it is true what Wei Qianer said, he will not be beaten.

But Zhou Riqiang knew the reason. In March of this year, His Majesty implemented the Baojia Law, allowing local gentry to organize people's regiments to practice. The Juren approached him and asked for some weapons to go home.

On Sunday, he reckoned that there was a conflict between the regiment training and the Liu thief department... But he wondered how many regiments there could be in that fortress, and there was not even a few hectares of land when the tax was collected.

In short, it can be foreseen that the limited taxes in Ningzhou will be reduced a little next year.

Cannons rang out among the distant mountains, but soldiers in the nearby camp were doing business. There were stalls, buyers, and sellers, men and women, in order.

"The craftsmen at the Lion Camp work very well, but it's a pity that Mr. Zhou really..." Wei Qian'er glanced at Sunday Qiang up and down, and shook his head: "It really doesn't look like you have brought money, or you should buy one self-defense."

There was an auxiliary soldier who had just finished shopping with his chain mail rolled up on his arms. When he walked out of the camp gate, he ran into Wei Qian'er. After saying hello, he looked curiously at Zhou Riqiang.

Zhou Qiang had a huge psychological effect, which made him dare not look at the soldiers of the Lion Camp.

In fact, the assistant soldiers of the Lion Camp are very kind, people will nod and say hello to each other, they are not barbaric at all.

They were ruddy, well-nourished, and full of energy, and they picked out a sad-faced Zhizhou who looked better than Sunday and lived comfortably.

Kind people will be more aggressive on Sunday, but kind and proud people will be less aggressive on Sunday.

Wei Qian'er continued walking.

A village ruin is a camp. To be precise, as long as there is a well, there is a camp.

And on the road connecting the villages, you can see all kinds of people on Sunday, soldiers patrolling in line, riders galloping to deliver messages, and warriors galloping past carrying flags.

In the field, someone with disheveled hair and shirtless arms was writing on the leveled ground with a stick in his hand, teaching a group of well-dressed soldiers how to read with a loud voice.

Wei Qian'er didn't stop Zhou Qiang from going to see it, but he only took a look, and then hurried forward with Wei Qian'er.

The shirtless young man also had anti-Ming tattooed on his left hand, and the words "Why are the people hungry and the army hungry?" were written impressively.

The problems these thieves are researching are deeper than his knowledge.

There are also hundreds of people forming a circle at the entrance of the village. Some of them wear the khaki military uniforms of the Lion Camp, and more people are dressed in messy colors. They look like bandits and bandits, and they don't fit in with the Lion Camp.

In the middle of the circle was a thin Mongolian man with a heavy Yulin accent, standing tall on a millstone, holding his bones and shouting: "The emperor is ruthless, the court is immoral, the vassal king is incompetent, and the gentry is useless!"

"The commander-in-chief said that this battle will continue for a long time, one will ebb and the other will grow, and we will be invincible!"

The crowd was furious, and everyone clenched their fists and shouted invincible.

This journey made him walk tremblingly, full of impact everywhere.

On the contrary, they passed through a camp. The team was less than 800 people. Under the leadership of the officer, they conducted camp drills in which the soldiers were divided into five sentries. They were very familiar with the coordination of infantry and cavalry, but Sunday Qiang breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

Finally saw a scene within the scope of his imagination.

On the way full of apprehensions before coming here, Sunday forced me to think about many possible scenarios.

The general fantasy scene is that groups of thieves and bandits are wrestling on the plateau to practice in formation. Hundreds of guards in the camp set up their knives. , drink heavily, and put some bloody human heads on the side.

Among them, there are some things like the White Lotus Sect and the division of land and land.

As for military discipline and elite level, it is nothing more than a matter of upper and lower limits, Sunday Qiang believes that all changes remain the same.

I have seen a rebel who practiced blocks, but I have never seen a rebel who teaches people to read!
Finally, when he reached the center of the company camp with a radius of ten miles, Wei Qian'er pointed to the only camp with a wooden fence and said, "The Chinese army camp has arrived."

The scale of this camp is not large, but the horses come and go most frequently, and the defense of the camp is also the strictest. Many soldiers on the periphery drive the horses for a walk.

Today's Ningzhou is good at this. Although this piece of land can't support many people, you can raise as many war horses, donkeys and mules as you want.

The camp was very quiet, without the hustle and bustle and prestige that Riqiang had imagined, and no one even came to greet him. Wei Qian'er just checked the password very calmly and led him into the camp.

Soldiers in the camp were in groups of three or four, some were cleaning their armor, some were sharpening their weapons, and some were carrying guns and cleaning the barrels over and over again.

Suddenly there was a loud shout: "Wine bag rice bag!"

Sunday Qiang was startled, and when he glanced over, there was an open space in the camp. A dozen or so armored soldiers were sitting around the edge, and a few people in the middle were rehearsing something with paper in their hands.

A young general said to several people: "Those who want to be scolded are imposing, angry, and have nothing to eat! Put Zhang Honggong in prison, and that Geng Ruqi, all of them will be sent to prison for me!"

Zhou Riqiang thought it was interesting at first, and Thieves Ying was still acting. When he heard this line, he didn't dare to move his legs forward. Damn, this is playing the emperor!

Wei Qian'er took a few steps forward, noticed that he had stopped where he was, turned his head forward and pouted: "Aren't you looking for the commander? That's it."

I saw a thin soldier in front of me. When I opened my mouth, I heard it was a girl. He moved to the side of the general and said, "Marshal, why don't you learn how to write scripts, the words arranged for the emperor are too blunt."

"In the previous scene, he was grateful to King Qin's reinforcements. He kissed him like a son. Turning around, he wanted to put him in prison. He hated him like killing his son. It's too fake."

Zhou Riqiang saw the young general stunned for a moment, then smiled and said: "Sanlang, don't you pay attention to the actual facts? Let you study hard, Geng Ruqi is really in prison, you don't even know about your governor of Shanxi, you dare not do that Write, the emperor really dares to do this."

Fan Sanlang covered his mouth and looked around, wanting to laugh but embarrassed to do so, slowly lowered his body, and finally sat on the ground obediently.

Liu Chengzong smiled and said to several actors: "Just act according to this, rehearse a few more plays, and perform more performances in the camp. You are either marching or fighting all day long. You must make the soldiers happy."

He patted Song Shouzhen's shoulders with both hands: "It depends on you to be happy."

After all, Liu Chengzong saw Wei Qian'er standing not far away from the corner of his eye, and Sunday Qiang behind him, and he beckoned.

Wei Qian'er stepped forward and said, "Marshal, Master Zhou from Ningzhou."

After finishing speaking, he said forcefully to Sunday: "Master Zhou, you are still not polite when you see our commander-in-chief?"

Liu Chengzong laughed when he heard this, and waved his hand to his tent of the Chinese army: "What are you doing, Zhou Zhizhou, come and talk in my tent? Ningzhou produces cherries, let's eat some together."

Anyway, everything along this road is different from what I imagined, and it is not unexpected that it will be different. Zhou Riqiang could only cup his fists and said: "Being respectful is worse than obeying orders, General Liu please."

After entering the tent of the Chinese army, he suddenly felt very happy because he saw the tiger skin on the ground.

He finally found another scene that was similar to what he had imagined.

However, this Chinese military tent is really simple and rudimentary. It looks bright on the outside and is still made of oilcloth, but it is quite spacious inside but it is empty because of the scattered furnishings.

There was no gold or silver, but two old wooden boxes, the upper box was open, and the inside was full of books.

A set of armor, a cat kennel and a dog kennel, the rest is just a small kang table, a pair of felt beds, a map, a few stacks of pens and paper, and a few oil lamps.

"Please sit down."

Liu Chengzong took the kindling outside, entered the tent and lit the oil lamp, sat on the ground on the tiger skin beside the kang table, and forced a smile to Sunday: "I heard people say that Zhou Zhizhou came here because he was sent by Governor Yang to recruit me."

Zhou Qiang sat down, nodded and said, "Yes."

"Let's hear it, what conditions does Governor Yang want to offer?"

Zhou Riqiang couldn't stand Liu Chengzong's relaxed and smiling expression, he shook his head and said, "General Liu, what I have seen and heard along the way, I don't think it is necessary to talk about it."

His eyes fell on Liu Chengzong's left hand, implying that you guys have never thought about recruiting security at all, and what you are doing is not a business of falling into trouble.

Negotiating conditions with you is nothing more than letting you have fun, it is completely unnecessary.

"Zhou Zhizhou, you can't judge people by their appearance."

Liu Chengzong really wanted to have fun, wanted to know how much he was in the heart of the governors of the three sides, shook his head and said: "If the court makes me the king of Ningxia, can't I have the word "no" tattooed on my hand?"

Liu Shizixin said that if he wanted to be crowned king of Guanzhong, he could even vacate the back of his hand and stab the oath.

Sunday Qiang was amused, this is really a lion's mouth, he laughed and said: "The general has lofty ambitions, you might as well think a little further, and just make him the king of Shaanxi."

"No, no, no, you can't talk about this matter if you make him king of Shaanxi."

Liu Chengzong restrained his cynical expression, shook his head seriously, and said, "If someone becomes the king of Shanxi, the emperor, as long as his mind is normal, he can wake up from his dreams with a smile."

Zhou Riqiang discovered that this Liu Chengzong had no respect for the imperial power, which made him very uncomfortable, because as far as he knew, the emperor must have nothing wrong with his mind, but he was definitely unwilling to seal the king.

He said with a stern face: "Since the general wants to know, the governor will give the post of garrison, the soldiers will be dispersed to a thousand, and the sergeants will be placed between Yanqing."

garrison?

Liu Shizi asked in surprise, "Governor Yang talked to you about this in the morning?"

On Sunday, he froze for a moment, and said seriously, "Night."

"I mean he's not awake."

Liu Chengzong was very puzzled, why do you look down on people so much?
"You have seen my people, what kind of official position do you think the court wants to recruit me for?"

Zhou Qiangxin said that Yang He's range of high and low is between the defense and the generals, and said: "A general in the government."

Originally, he thought that Liu Chengzong would be unhappy when he heard the answer, but he didn't expect him to smile very happily: "General, my troops are all good soldiers. One general, the rest will be placed, and the placement will make them full." meal?"

Liu Chengzong waved his hand: "Hey, let's not talk about this, where is Cao Wenzhao?"

"Cao... General Cao?"

Sunday Qiang was choked, and several questions flashed through his mind.

What does Liu Chengzong's smile mean?Why did you jump to Cao Wenzhao all of a sudden?How did he know that the general of Guanning Army was Cao Wenzhao?
Zhou Riqiang only found out that the main general is called Cao Wenzhao two days ago, that is a little-known young general, how did Liu Chengzong know?
Then his garrison and here are... waiting for Cao Wenzhao?
There was so much information in an instant that he didn't answer for a long time: "You, how do you know?"

Liu Shizi didn't answer, but continued: "I didn't come here to fight Ningzhou, but Yang He moved to Ningzhou, the officers and soldiers rescued him, and the reinforcements came from Xi'an Prefecture?"

Zhou Riqiang didn't want to answer, so he simply asked: "General Liu is not satisfied with the general, so what do you want and what conditions do you have, you can tell this officer, and someone will go to Ningzhou to tell the army."

"Conditions, there is a vacancy in Lintao's general army, can you afford it? I didn't raise the army for my own glory, wealth, princes and generals."

Liu Chengzong raised his hand and pointed at the table, with both ridicule and sadness on his face: "Shaanxi, the soldiers and rations of the three borders and five towns, the people are scattered, who can solve it? Can't solve it, this year's rebels are recruited, next year or should they rebel?" .”

Sunday said forcefully: "The general's meaning is that he doesn't want to recruit security."

"Who will rebel if he can live well, but Zhao'an can't live well. I didn't see you giving me a way to survive, let alone the court giving a way to the hungry people and the army. The court only wanted to give some false names, and even the false names were reluctant to give it to the big ones."

Liu Chengzong asked with a smile: "Separate my people and let them continue to rebel or starve to death, how do you ask me to recruit?"

"Let me give you an idea. You send someone to talk to Yang He. I have soldiers and enough food. Who is not to be robbed?"

Liu Chengzong raised his hand and drew a line on the kang table: "I want a real official, but I also want a false name. I don't think this matter can be discussed once, but it's okay, if it doesn't work out, I will continue to fight."

In fact, Sunday Qiang is generally quite relaxed, at least until now, he has not felt that his life is in danger.

As long as he doesn't separate himself from his wife and children, it doesn't matter to him to negotiate conditions with Liu Chengzong, anyway, he is just a messenger, so he asked, "What real official, what false name?"

"The commander of the Xining Guard will give it to my brother, and I will buy the food and supplies along the way. I will guarantee that the soldiers and horses will not be looted everywhere, and Governor Yang will not stop them from everywhere."

Liu Chengzong's face was more serious than ever: "I want Qinghai to be a consolation envoy, and I will live in Situ forever."

　good morning!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)