Mengshan Army

Leave the study and go to the restaurant in the east wing for dinner.There are two rooms in the east wing, the north one serves as a dining room, the south one serves as a kitchen, and a door connects the two rooms.The restaurant is small, with a square table and four chairs in the middle, covered with a white cloth, a few cold dishes and jugs and wine glasses have been placed properly.

Long Qian saw two half-grown children standing at the door with gray curtains, they were Super Chen's children, "Come, let's have dinner together." The little Chen Zhi leaned against the door with the shaved forehead She was naked, and looked at Long Qian and Jiang Yun who walked in with dark eyes.

Long Qian felt that little Chen Zhi's appearance with shaved hair and braids was ridiculous, so he made a face at the child.

For the convenience of scouting, Jiang Yun never shaved his hair, but he wore a wig this time. There was no shortage of materials for the wig. As for the craftsmanship, he could only rely on the seven female soldiers.

Chen Zhi was teased by Long Qian and laughed.But Super Chen didn't see Long Qian winking at his son, "It's the little girl and the dog. How can there be room for them here? Mr. Long, please take a seat."

Long Qian resumed his seriousness, "Mr. Chen didn't know something. When I traveled overseas, what impressed me the most was not the prosperity of science and technology of the Western powers, but the respect for women and children. The more gentry, the more respect for women and kindness to children. I think This is what a gentleman does. Mr. Chen, just listen to me and let the children have dinner together."

Chen Chao doted on his children, and when he was at home on weekdays, the five of them would eat together. Since Long Qian asked so, "Well, Xiao Zhi should be more sensible, and don't let uncle laugh at you for being impolite."

"What is polite and impolite? The child is at a naughty age. His true nature is innocence and unrestraint. When educating children, you must not lose your true nature." Long Qian said, beckoning to Xiao Chen Zhi, "Come to Uncle Come and sit on the side."

Children are the same, whoever praises and pampers him, he thinks whoever is good, seeing Long Qian call him over, he doesn't admit it, he goes straight to sit on the stool next to Long Qian.

"Oh, Xiaozhi is destined to be with you, haha, this kid is usually very shy at first." Super Chen poured wine for Long Qian himself, "Mr. Long, this is homemade sorghum. It is strong enough, I don't know how to drink Not used to it. Please!"

"Please," Long Qian wasn't sure whether he should invite Chao Chen's wife to the table, raised his wine glass to meet Chao Chen, and drank it down in one gulp.

Sure enough, the taste is extremely spicy, estimated to be no less than [-] degrees, "It's so powerful, so powerful." Long Qian praised temporarily.

"Haha, eat the vegetables, eat the vegetables." Super Chen said, ordering the dishes with his chopsticks.

"I'm very happy. I didn't expect to meet a good friend here." Long Qian took a chopstick of scrambled eggs and put them in his mouth. He hadn't eaten scrambled eggs for a long time. The familiar and friendly taste almost made him bite his tongue, "Sister-in-law Good workmanship."

"Haha, they are all home-cooked dishes, so there is no such thing as craftsmanship. Mr. Long has seen the world, and I hope he can eat it."

"Haha, there is nothing more delicious in the world than everyday meals. Master Chen, you are older than me. If you regard Long as a friend, you should stop calling him Mr. Long Qian." Long Qian said seriously, "It's not I am lying, I have a hunch that we will become good friends in the future, and I would like to offer a toast to the owner."

"Very good, I think so too." Chen Chaoxi said, "I'll call you Biaozi, Tuisi, don't call me the owner of the village, just call me by my name. My humble house, we can talk at night by candlelight, isn't it too fast?"

"This is difficult. My younger brother has made an appointment with someone, and will rush to Yizhou in the next day. The mountain road is rugged, so I dare not delay any longer. When things are over, I will definitely come back to visit Brother Chen."

"Why is it so urgent? It's okay to stay for one night. I'll give you two horses tomorrow, and you can go to Yizhou in one day." Chen Chao was reluctant to let Long Qian leave.

"Brother Chen's kindness, my younger brother appreciates it. My late father had a family friend in Yizhou, and he had already sent a letter to him, but he didn't want to break his promise. Since my younger brother promised Brother Chen, my elder brother, this Chenjiaya, must come back."

"Since that's the case, let's make a deal. Well, I've neglected this little brother, why don't you drink it? Do you think the wine is too cheap?" Chen Chao looked at Jiang Yun.

"That's not true." Long Qian laughed, "He never drinks, brother Chen, so don't make things difficult for him."

Chen Chao nodded, he didn't care about Jiang Yun, and poured wine for Long Qian, "I always have doubts in my heart, since the United States is so rich and civilized, why did you return to China?"

"Perhaps Mr. Chen doesn't believe it. Although Liang Yuan is good, it is not a place to stay for a long time. Although the United States is rich, the politics is quite new. But the Chinese have been discriminated against in that country for a long time. The Chinese can only work in low labor in that country. It is difficult to go to school and do business, let alone politics. In fact, it is not only the discrimination against the Chinese, but also the oppression of blacks. 50 years ago, blacks were slaves, without freedom in life, and their masters treated them like livestock. Because Regarding the issue of blacks, the other country fought a civil war that lasted four years and caused heavy casualties. They called it the Civil War. Although the North, which advocated the liberation of black slaves, won, it assassinated a wise president in the second year after the end of the war The Chinese in the other country, no matter how good they are, they are still aliens in their eyes. But my yellow skin and black eyes will never change into white skin and blue eyes. So, after I figured it out, I went back to my country. Use the little knowledge I have learned to serve the motherland, but after traveling, I feel that the domestic situation is not what I imagined in the United States. Alas, let’s not talk about it.”

"You and I hit it off right away, what makes you unspeakable?"

"Mr. Chen, I went to Zhengjiazhuang first. Who would have thought that I encountered a scene in front of the village that surprised me. A villager-like man was put on display in front of the gate of the village. It looked like he was already half-lifed. I Going forward to ask a few words, Zhuang Ding almost arrested me too. Zhengjiazhuang is your close neighbor, why do you act like this?"

"It's hard to explain this matter. It's a tenant of the Zheng family. The owner, Zheng Jing, wanted to increase the rent, and the two had a dispute." Super Chen sighed, "For this reason, I specifically went to the owner of the Zheng family to intercede, and he has already been released."

"They're all folks, why is this so? It's only right and proper to repay debts, but the state has state laws, and it's up to sending officials, so how can we set up a private punishment hall?" Long Qian looked into Chen Chao's eyes, "Besides, Shandong University last year It is a fact that the harvest has been reduced due to drought, so how can we increase the rent? Doesn’t Master Zheng miss the friendship with his fellow villagers?”

"Zheng Jing is not my uncle, if the renter says he will be exempted..." The voice came from the kitchen, it was still Chen Shu with big braids, "My uncle once persuaded him, but he was relying on his son to be an official, and he was still away. Raising a soldier, he is very airy, but blames my uncle for breaking the rules."

"Shu'er!" Super Chen seemed to have nothing to do with this niece, "Stop meddling with your lord's affairs, how many times have I told you?"

"Uncle, what I said is true. Look, sooner or later, people will die!"

"Why is this! They are all fellow villagers. As the saying goes, 'If you are close, you are from your hometown'. When I am overseas, I feel very cordial when I see someone from my mother country..." Long Qian sighed.

"Isn't it? Life is difficult, and we need to help those in need. Baiwei and Zhengjiazhuang are two big villages near Changhu Lake. My Chenjiaya is much worse than others, because Baodugu is more than a hundred miles to the south. So everyone unites the village to protect themselves against the strongman, but it will increase the burden on the villagers, and Zheng Jing increased the rent for this reason..."

"Oh, no wonder I saw Zhuang Ding of Zhengjiazhuang, as if he had received formal training... This joint village self-protection must have a good effect?"

"Yes, Zheng Jing has 500 troops and hundreds of guns. He also hired instructors to train. It is also because of Baodu Gu's loss that there is no way out. Back then, Baiwei Town was shot down by Baodu Gu, and the whole town They were ransacked and dozens of people died. Although Zheng Jing was overbearing and tyrannical, the Lianzhuang self-protection he proposed is still right. Speaking of it, Chen Jiaya is still in the light of Lianzhuang self-protection. But in this world..."

"Suppressing bandits and reassuring the people is originally the duty of the government, but they have to force the villages to buy guns to train soldiers. When I was in Jinan, I heard the name Baodugu. What's going on there? Since there are bandits, the state government doesn't care? "

"When I was a child, my mother used Baodugu's strongman to scare me. Almost all of Baodugu's victims were in this area. There are high mountains and dense forests, and it has been haunted by thieves for generations. During the Qianlong period, officers and soldiers once laid down Baodu Gu, but as soon as the officers and soldiers left, it became a nest of bandits again. Later, when Hong Yang was in chaos, how could the court care about a few thieves who took over the mountain and became king? The annual bandit suppression donations are quite diligent, saying yes It is used to maintain the expenses of the patrol battalion, but, those opium ghosts in the patrol battalion, how dare they go to Baodugu..."

"Listening to Mr. Chen's tone, after we united the village to protect ourselves, have we ever met with Baodugu?"

"Yes, they came to attack Zhengjiazhuang three years ago. Perhaps the reputation of the old owner of Zheng Jing has spread to the cottage, or it may be that Zhengjiazhuang has newly acquired hundreds of foreign guns. Thousands of thieves surrounded Zhengjiazhuang for a day and died. They killed a lot of people, couldn't open the village, and were ambushed by Bai Wei and our village, and finally lost. From then on, no one dared to covet Zhengjiazhuang, because there was an agreement to protect the village itself, and I, Chenjiaya, could be regarded as lucky... "

"Well, I didn't expect such a mess in the countryside! Besides Baodu Gu, are there any bandits nearby?"

"Mengshan, a hundred miles to the northeast, also had a large group, but it was wiped out by the government army."

"How did Mr. Chen know?" Long Qian asked in surprise.You must know that news spreads very slowly in this era, and often the world a hundred miles away is completely unfamiliar.

"This is also due to Zheng Jing's credit. The second son is an aide in the governor's new army, and he wrote to his father. However, recently, Zheng Jing got the news from nowhere, saying that Mengshan is still entrenched. For this reason, it was suggested that Zhuang Ding of Sanzhuang should be combined for training, but he has other plans." Chao Chen put down his chopsticks, "It's okay not to talk about this matter, you just talked about the world, and the world is really ﹍﹍" He said with a long sigh Take a breath.

Long Qian was expressionless.This time he took Jiang Yun out of the mountain to reconnaissance, and the target was Zhengjiazhuang.This is the direction he decided after repeated discussions with several major military officers in Mengshanzhai.The food in the cottage is about to run out, and more than half of the money has been spent, so we must act.Originally, there were still some subjects, such as blasting training, which had not yet been completed, but the situation was pressing, so we had to act in advance.

He was supposed to bring Cheng Erhu, but he was afraid of being recognized by the villagers, so he only brought Jiang Yun.In the past few days, he and Jiang Yun traveled around Zhengjiazhuang, Baiwei Town and Chenjiaya. Chenjiaya was the last to come, and he did not expect to meet the hospitable Chao Chen.He had hoped to get the inside story of the military power of the three villages, but he did the mental calculations and did not care, and after a deep discussion during the banquet, he got out all sorts of things about the military preparations of Zhengjiazhuang, Baiweizhen and Chenjiaya.

"Brother Long Xian, tell me, can we in China be as prosperous and healthy as the United States?" Chen Chaoliangqian, a pot of wine bottomed out, was already slightly drunk.

"Of course. Since China has written records, it has gone through catastrophes and can always be reborn from the ashes, because thousands of years of civilization are left there. The world is dripping, and there must be someone to change it. Brother Chen, please rest assured that the future will be fine. It will be better than those imposing big powers." Long Qian held up his wine glass, "I am honored to meet you today, and I hope to see you again someday."

After the meal, Long Qian and Jiang Yun declined Chao Chen's repeated attempts to stay, bid farewell to Chao Chen, and returned to Mount Meng.Chen Chao insisted on borrowing two horses from Longqian. The saddles were all ready, and the horses were a rarity, which showed that the owner of Chen Zhuang had an ancient style. He rode away from Chenjiaya for a long time. become extremely small.