stubborn thief

Chapter 325 The Curtain
In the twelfth lunar month of the fifth year of Chongzhen, on the outskirts of Xincheng, dozens of female riders in fresh clothes and angry horses were galloping on the snow.

The women put on their best outfits, rode their horses, whipped and laughed, and ran around until the horses were tired, and then they stopped slowly with a refreshing whistle, and got off their horses to take care of their mounts.

The common people stayed away and looked at this strange scene, but they didn't look at it too much, because this kind of scene was very common, and the female family members of the Qiulin Society of the Marshal's Mansion were out on a trip.

In the northwest of Juerwan, there is a mountain forest called Qiulin by the local people. The scenery is very beautiful. After the Lion Army moved westward, they built several Zhuangzi not far away. It was first built by Cao Yao, the general of the Marshal’s Mansion, and waited for the Southern Expedition. At the same time, Yang Yao and Wang Wenxiu will fund and complete the follow-up project.

Before the construction of the new city, it was the residence of the senior generals of the Marshal's Mansion.

However, this Qiulin Club is not an association of generals and officers of the Lion Army, but an association led by Sister-in-law Cao.

The reason for the establishment of the Qiulin Club is because Cao Yao told his sister-in-law that the Lion Army is not afraid of the officers and soldiers, but the unmarried second son is the boss.

Cao Yao is the king of the mountain, he can convince people with his loyalty, and his sister-in-law Cao who was raised by Cao Yao is also very loyal and can convince people.

Her life in Xining Mansion was basically the process of reuniting the female relatives of civil and military officials at all levels who had stayed in Xining and Juerwan with Mrs. Cai.

Qiulin will have many courses, such as archery and fighting, horse riding and hunting, reading and literacy, playing the piano, calligraphy and painting, military law regulations, weaving strategies, embroidery and cooking skills, and does not invite teachers from outside. They teach themselves and learn by themselves. Every member has something he is good at.

Most of the skills are not required to be learned. It is not a bad thing to gain some knowledge and add some new ideas when your man returns from the expedition.

Only horse riding, their lessons are extremely strict, and everyone learns with great care... This is related to whether they will hold back their men when they transfer.

After some riding, the wife of Yang Dingrui's family was extremely tired. She was always delicate and well protected. She couldn't keep up with the progress of many women in riding, so that every time she rode, she seemed to lose half of her legs. Fate, attracting jokes from others.

The Mongolian aunt of Wailiangzi's family is different. Riding a horse is like walking on flat ground.

Sister-in-law Cao is even more powerful. Not only is she good at riding, but she is also courageous. She rides straight up steep hills, and swims in shallow rivers and deep waters, with her horse's back or her mane and tail in her arms. There is no river near Xining that can stop her.

When everyone stopped, Mrs. Cao smiled and encouraged a few women who were not good at riding, and sat down beside Fan Sanlang with a smile and said: "Sanlang, your riding skills are much better than Bainiang and Yunniang. Take care of you well."

Bai Liuxi and Yun Jiaoyue who were sitting next to Fan Sanlang snickered when they heard the words, Fan Sanlang wasn't very shy, but he didn't say anything, and saw Cao's sister-in-law laughing: "There's nothing to be shy about."

Sister-in-law Cao untied the food box from her horse, sat down and counted with her hands: "You were only sixteen when you came from Shanxi, and you are almost nineteen now, but you were raised by a handsome man, and my sister-in-law also called me Cao Liu'er raised him to ride horses and shoot arrows, that's not what he taught him."

Fan Sanlang was taken aback for a moment, then he couldn't help nodding his head in agreement, saying: "It's been several years in the blink of an eye... how did my sister-in-law learn to ride a horse?"

"How can I learn how to ride a horse? Cao Liu'er was too lazy, so he grabbed a large army horse, tied a craftsman to make a big saddle, and brought me from my hometown by the Yellow River in Beizhili to Shanxi and Shaanxi. He sat in the back and I sat in the front. "

Sister-in-law Cao said with a smile: "Sometimes I lose a battle and throw me on a horse and run away. I don't even know when I will."

"General Cao didn't train you as a soldier." Fan Sanlang smiled as he listened, and then said, "He is lazy. He set up military laws for me, and patrolled on mules day and night. Then I can sleep sitting or standing up. They can eat while sleeping, patrol while sleeping, and know how to make mules turn when they are asleep.”

There was laughter all around, and Mrs. Cao said happily: "You were not good at that time. You were just catching up with the commander-in-chief. I could have taught you in Heilong Mountain as early as when they had just returned home... What about the two of you? Learn to ride a horse?"

Saying that, she and Fan Sanlang both looked at Bai Liuxi and Yun Jiaoyue, and seeing Bai Liuxi said embarrassedly: "Sister-in-law, we have never learned how to ride a horse."

Bai Liuxi and Yun Jiaoyue had an excellent relationship with Mrs. Cao, even closer than they were with Fan Sanlang.

On the way to the west with the army, as the little leaders who followed, Bai Liuxi and Yun Jiaoyue have never been subordinate, their team is not enough to merge into the lion camp, and the thousand generals of the Yuzi camp did not dare to merge, so they just followed. The road is very hard.

The two battalions have a complete supply system. The soldiers don't need to take care of the supply, and the supply doesn't need to take care of defense. However, their teams are different. They are all supported by the food and grass rewards from the siege.

Most of the miserable women and children encountered along the way joined their ranks.

But when they entered Xining, their life became even more difficult. The soldiers formed three training battalions, and the Yuzi battalion, which was slightly lacking in combat power, was also reorganized to join the Xining Guards. Xining Wei asks for life.

The rest of the women had no choice but to rely on Mrs. Cao's introduction, and many of them joined the weaving bureau.

The team of hundreds of female soldiers disbanded abruptly, leaving only Bai Liuxi, Yun Jiaoyue and a few others...they could only wield knives and guns, but they couldn't weave.

In the end, Sister-in-Law Cao arranged for the two of them to live with Mrs. Cai, which could not only provide protection for the old lady, but also chat with each other to relieve boredom.

And because he did not go south with the army, he and his sister-in-law Cao took care of various courses of the Qiulin Club every day. The two were both students and teachers of fighting weapons.

Sister-in-law Cao and Fan Sanlang stared wide-eyed: "Haven't you learned?"

Bai Liuxi and Yun Jiaoyue looked at each other, turned their heads and said with a smile: "My two sisters were born as actors, how can there be horses to practice riding, all rely on waist horses to practice, and later I have horses, but I can barely ride .”

Sister-in-law Cao understood as soon as she heard it. The two of them practiced their waist and leg strength in horse steps. When they suddenly thought of something, they secretly laughed.

Bai Liuxi was dazzled by her laughter, and asked: "What are you laughing at?"

"I laughed at you." Sister-in-law Cao pointed at the three of them and said, "The old madam likes you so much, and the commander-in-chief also likes you. When the wedding is done, we will be three sisters from now on, and we must be as close as we are now."

Bailiuxi Yunjiaoyue was so ashamed that she screamed out, the calmest one was Fan Sanlang who was in the army, she was not so confident in the past, but she was used to seeing the roar of guns and cannons during the Southern Expedition, life and death, and the compassion for all beings suffering , It's hard to be influenced by emotions.

Not only was she not shy, but she also said with a smile: "In the past, the commander-in-chief was too busy to touch the ground, but now we finally have a place to live, we can get close, and we didn't think about it before, but there will be more sisters in the future... Sister-in-law, if What do you think about General Cao bringing back the woman in the south?"

"Oh, I can't ask for more."

The joy on Mrs. Cao's face suddenly darkened, she shook her head and said, "Both of us are helpless, my parents are long gone, and we don't know if his parents in Henan are still alive."

This said that the three women are all deeply concerned, they are all helpless people, who would not feel lonely in this troubled world?
Seeing that everyone was getting depressed, Mrs. Cao changed the subject again, and said with a light smile: "He wants to find some beautiful and well-behaved sisters like you to come back and chat with me to relieve boredom. It's a good thing for the whole family to be harmonious and beautiful... Of course, if he dares to find some ugly and ignorant people back, then I can't."

As Sister-in-law Cao said, she raised her hand and laughed loudly at the three of them: "When the time comes, you can wait at home and see how I cry and beg the commander-in-chief to uphold justice!"

They laughed from ear to ear, and just after eating, they saw a horse galloping from the direction of Xincheng. Mrs. Cao stood up holding her bow, and saw the cavalry stop far away, and said loudly: "Mrs. Cao, Commander!" Summon the Fan Guan team and the two leaders Bai and Yun to return to the city."

Fan Sanlang got up immediately when he heard the words, quickly arranged the equipment on the horse's back, and realized that he got on the horse. He smiled to himself, and saluted Cao's sister-in-law: "Sister-in-law, the commander-in-chief has something to do, then we will go back first."

After all, she still didn't forget to softly urge Bai Liuxi, who had just got up, to say to Yun Jiaoyue, "Quick!"

Sister-in-law Cao said goodbye to the three of them with a smile, watching the three cavalry follow the messenger and run towards the new city, she still stood there and raised her face slightly, thinking about Fan Sanlang's instinctive reaction when he heard the messenger just now.

That appearance is more professional than when Cao Yao was in charge of the border troops.

Thinking of this, she couldn't help smiling, they were also raised, Cao Yao raised her mother-in-law, Liu Chengzong raised Fan Sanlang as an officer, and Fan Sanlang would obviously teach Bai Liuxi and Yun Jiaoyue these habits.

In the future, the Marshal's Mansion will rule the family by law, what will it be like?
When Fan Sanlang and others galloped back to the city, they saw soldiers in the outskirts all around with young children entering the city, so he said to the two of them, "The commander told us to go back, it should be that the children's camp has been repaired."

Walking into the city, sure enough.

Haierying is a camp in the northwest corner of the new city. There is a barracks on the outside and a neighborhood academy inside. In winter, it is difficult to do large-scale construction except for reclaiming the fields. Therefore, only the academy and the porridge room are built, and the houses are all made of felt tents.

This is the camp specially built by Liu Chengzong for orphans. Seeing the three girls coming hand in hand from a distance, Liu Chengzong greeted them with a smile on his face and said: "From now on, displaced orphans no longer have to compete with adults for food from the porridge factory, and They don’t have to work and beg for work, they can study and practice martial arts here, and they have a home.”

Just at this time, the guard Tianbao stepped forward and said: "Commander, the children have all received their license plates. There are 340 nine people in total. The [-] felt tents prepared are enough to live in, and they are still empty."

Liu Chengzong said with a smile: "It's almost enough. Five people live in one felt tent, and they are all divided according to their ages?"

"Well, boys and girls are divided into two ten-year-old tents and three five-year-old tents. If there are more crowded tents in the future, they can live in them." Tianbao compared his notebook and said: "A year's grain consumption is about Between four thousand and six thousand stones."

Liu Chengzong nodded in satisfaction, like a child at this age is when he can eat, it is difficult to give a definite number on how much food to use.

He is very generous to the children, even more generous than the cost of the craft system that I have given to Shi Cheng, and he nodded directly: "Okay, then do it."

After finishing speaking, Liu Chengzong turned his head and said to the three of them: "Sanlang, you will take care of this children's camp in the future. You two will help Sanlang, take good care of these children, and teach them to read and practice martial arts every day."

Fan Sanlang had a problem: "Commander, at most we can help the children to get started, but we can't teach much more."

"Enlightenment is enough. After enlightenment, let them go to the academy in the city to study. Over there, there is a teacher who can teach them better things." Liu Chengzong said with a smile: "Now the oldest child is only fifteen, and he is raised in the camp. When they reach the eighteenth, the Marshal’s Mansion will hold the imperial examination in the spring, so there must be a place for them to use their talents.”

Fan Sanlang glanced at Bai Liuxi and Yun Jiaoyue, nodded and said: "Of order."

Standing at the gate of the children's camp, Liu Chengzong looked at the children running in and out of the felt tents to carry the bedding, took a deep breath and nodded heavily.

The adults outside the city are now organized into 180 teams, and 720 battalion soldiers are drawn from Wang Wenxiu and Yang Yao to serve as management teams, assistants, and clerks. work.

The management team is responsible for assigning labor tasks to each person. They receive a porridge card according to the amount of work they do every day. When they go to the porridge factory to eat with the card, they can basically eat enough.

There are also more than a hundred other abnormal households who are unable to work due to disabilities, old age, illness, injury, etc. Liu Chengzong did not let them wait to die.

Doctors were sent to see patients, and they were all given wooden signs, so that they could go to the porridge factory to get porridge to drink, but this kind of porridge was life-extending, and they couldn't eat enough.

In addition to more busy work, Liu Chengzong, who is short of food and grass, can't help. Whether he can survive until the beginning of next spring can only depend on their luck.

Before the establishment of the children's camp, these orphans could only drink porridge for life outside, but now it is different.

Seeing that he was full of ambition, Fan Sanlang couldn't help but smile, but when he heard him sigh again, he asked, "Is the commander worried about rations?"

"Ration is only second." Liu Chengzong nodded: "I can save it in other places, and I can always get through it. These children can't save it. Ten years later, this generation will be the main force in the army."

After that, Liu Chengzong smiled, shook his head and said: "As for what I am worried about, it is actually about dividing up the land. I will leave the baby camp to you. I have to go back and think about it."

Finding food is difficult, but the problem faced by land distribution is actually more difficult than finding food, because there is an ultimate solution to finding food, but there is no such thing as land distribution.

Firstly, there are not so many people, secondly, there is not so much land, and thirdly, there is not so much food.

There are not so many people, not so many people who know how to farm. Even if they are Han, not every farmer knows how to farm. What's more, the main population of the refugees this time is Mongolians.

There is not so much land, not so much cultivated land. The marshal's mansion has just reclaimed a lot of raw land. If you sprinkle a few catties of seeds on an acre of land, you can harvest a field of straw in autumn.

The lack of so much food is the biggest difficulty in dividing the land. There is no land to plant in winter, no seeds in spring, and harvest until autumn for sowing, but the refugees do not even have enough rations to survive the winter.

In other words, even if Liu Chengzong gave cows, seeds, and land in the beginning of spring, there is no need to wait until autumn. As long as the cow is eaten up, everyone will become refugees again.

He's going to feed everyone until at least next fall.

Liu Chengzong walked and thought, and went straight into the Marshal's Mansion. It was not until he entered the room that he realized that the footsteps of the guards had not stopped.

Frowning, he threaded his hands into the tail rope to hold the handle of the knife, and took a big step forward naturally before turning around, only to find that it was Fan Sanlang and Bai Liuxi Yunjiaoyue who followed into the house: "Hey you... "

The three of them walked into Ba Bu's bed without saying a word, Bai Liuxi spread out the bed, Yun Jiaoyue arranged the pillows, Fan Sanlang untied the curtain rope beside the bed and looked at him, then the curtain beside the bed slowly fell.

The door behind him has already closed very sensiblely, and the sound of Tianbao's footsteps gradually faded away in the corridor.

Liu Shizi looked down at the hand holding the knife, slowly let go of the handle, and walked into the curtain.

　good afternoon!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)