weaving

Chapter 216

The sun is shining on the earth, although it is not very hot, but it is very dazzling, and the mountains in the northwest of Huailai are already green under the sun.

Accompanied by Liu Quan, Zhang Cheng and others inspected the interior and exterior of La Bayu. After several months of care by Liu Quan, it has become a new scene.

Relying on the hills at the entrance of the valley, two watchtowers were built, and a new archery tower was built on the gate of the valley. On the left side of the gate in the valley are rows of barracks and stables, and on the right side is a small school yard.

There is a breast wall separating the inside, and the inside is the residential area. The houses have been repaired, and a new batch has been built. The inside is full of various workshops and warehouses.

Even so, there is still a large area of ​​open space in Laba Valley. I only heard Liu Quan introduce: "General, these barracks can accommodate [-] soldiers, and those stables are enough to house hundreds of war horses.

The houses inside are for each family. Now we have lived in Labayu and Tietouyu, and there are still more than 300 vacant houses. There are still many vacant yards behind. can be placed,

We have built two watchtowers here and on the opposite side in this valley. Standing in these two places, you can see everything in the valley. "

At this time, they were on a hill on the right side of the waist in Laba Valley, which was relatively flat and easy to climb, so Liu Quan built this watchtower here to observe the situation in various places in the valley.

"Well, that's right. Liu Quan, you have a reasonable plan in this valley. How about the fields outside?" Zhang Cheng is very satisfied with the situation here.

"Everyone has not been idle this winter, digging ditches and repairing canals, leveling fields, and reclaiming wasteland. Now there are less than five thousand acres of fields outside Labayu, and most of them are newly opened fields. The harvest will not be very good. , the output should not be too high, and it is still possible to feed more than a thousand people now." Liu Quan introduced.

Zhang Cheng thought to himself, the cottage here occupies a good location, but there is not enough cultivated land, but it cannot accommodate too many soldiers and horses. At this time, Liu Quan seemed to think of something.

He slapped his thigh, "Oh..." and then said: "General, I almost forgot to report, that Zhao Shihu with the sharp tree hawthorn has already sent people three times."

Zhang Cheng was slightly taken aback, then turned to look at Liu Quan and asked, "What does he mean?"

"That guy wanted to join the general, so he sent people three times in a row. We didn't ask the general for instructions, and we didn't dare to agree to him, so we sent him back. He was on his way. He sent a total of one hundred stones of grain three times. 500 taels of silver, we will keep it." Liu Quan replied cautiously.

After Zhang Cheng heard it, he was a little surprised. He didn't expect that Zhao Shihu would have a heart of surrender.

Wei Zhice next to him interjected at this time: "General, since this person took the initiative to defect, if he is not a bandit in ordinary times and his misdeeds are not serious, he can attract his subordinates and set an example for future generations."

Hearing this, Zhang Cheng couldn't help thinking for a moment, and then asked Liu Quandao: "How about your investigation? Is this Zhao Shihu occupying the mountains and becoming a bandit, and the people from ten miles and eight villages are doing a lot of evil?"

"In the second half of the year, we will send out the two brothers from Yuli in turn to check the terrain within a hundred miles around here, and also inquire about the situation in various villages. This Zhao Shihu does not do much evil on weekdays.

He was originally a fleeing army from the Longmen Office, and he usually sells some private salt and the like, but was later reported by another group of salt dealers, he killed the informant, and brought a few brothers in the army to settle here feet,

He has managed that cottage for four or five years, and now there are more than 200 fleeing households living in his village. Thousands of acres of fields have been opened up in front of and behind the mountain, and they are barely self-sufficient.
He is very clever, he still conducts illegal salt business a few times a year, and he commits crimes from far away, and his notoriety is not obvious in the vicinity.

This Zhao Shihu is very good at being a man, he usually helps some poor households in the surrounding area, and also has many contacts with various fortresses. There are more than [-] soldiers in the village.

The last time he followed us to attack us, he only sent out more than 100 bandits, and the rest were farmers and peasants. Now there are more than 200 horses in his village, and there are more than [-] horse bandits, which are quite powerful. "

"Oh, by the way, the one we captured on the official road last time was his bandit leader, Zhao Liang, an old bandit who has been with him for more than three years, but he is a nice guy, and he has followed our rules during this time, Now I am a team officer, leading more than 30 young men, practicing every day."

Zhang Cheng walked to the edge of the watchtower, looked at the Labayu downstairs, and fell into deep thought. Chen Zhong, who had been silent by the side, said at this moment: "Hmph, it's not so easy to join the group. You have to ask him to get a certificate of approval." come out!"

"Haha" Zhang Cheng laughed and turned around when he heard the words, patted Chen Zhong on the shoulder, and said to Liu Quan: "Liu Quan, do you think this Zhao Shihu is really loyal to him?"

Liu Quan thought for a while before saying: "I think [-]% out of [-] is true. Then Zhao Shihu fled back to the village at the beginning, and he didn't show his face anymore. It was the news that the general was promoted to guerrilla and was crowned the leader of the three armies by the emperor himself. After hearing the news, that fellow only then had the heart to take refuge,

Some time ago, the general broke into the slave camp, and after the news that the ten thousand troops beheaded the slave chief Yuetuo, Zhao Shihu even came to our Laba Valley in person to show his sincerity of attachment. "

"Is there that guy's ear in La Ba Valley?" Wei Zhice said.

Zhang Cheng pointed at Liu Quan and said, "Ask him, that's it."

Liu Quan took two steps forward, came to Zhang Cheng's side, and said cautiously: "Last time, when the news of the general's promotion to guerrilla came, the brothers were very happy, and Zhao Shihu got the news, and he felt a heart of refuge, and sent A confidant came to find Zhao Bing,
This Zhao Bing is also honest, he led that person to me at that time, I arranged for Zhao Bing to keep in touch with that Zhao Shihu, and make a decision when the general arrives. "

Zhang Cheng walked down the watchtower and said, "Liu Quan, what's the situation with Hu Sihai at Beiliangtou?"

Liu Quan followed behind and reported: "That guy is very rampant and has the most notoriety. He usually counts on his large number of people and is a villain. He was defeated by us on the official road last time. He only waited for Liuqi to escape. There are less than a hundred of the more than five hundred bandits on the scene."

"You tell Zhao Liang to go find Zhao Shihu. If you can pick up the head of Hu Sihai tomorrow night, you will be my subordinate Zhang Cheng from now on!"

…………

In the evening of that day, in Tietou Valley, less than twenty miles east of Laba Valley, the old man Shi Tiegen and Sun Dashan were by his side, introducing the situation here.

The houses in the valley here have been repaired, and two valley gates were opened in the east and west. They were rebuilt according to the mountain situation, and watchtowers were built on the hills on both sides of the valley gate.

In the original cottage, there were more than seventy people who mined iron ore all the year round, and they were squeezed like slaves by the dead Qi Lianzuo. Since the old man Dashi came, he redistributed clothes and fed them , their enthusiasm is actually stronger than before.

Now everything from mining to ironmaking is smoother than before, but there is only one old master who knows how to make iron in this village, but he was injured and died when the village was broken down.

(End of this chapter)