In the early morning of June 13, in the second year of Jingping, Wu Dynasty, a brief chaos occurred in the valley of Xiaocang River.

At this time, the sun had not yet risen, the night was slightly cool, and the warm yellow lights were lit up shortly after the sound of discussion, buzzing sounds in the camps and houses in the valley. This is the time for the soldiers of Xiao Cang River to accept every day's mission. Shortly after the buzzing sound subsided, teams of soldiers gathered in the surrounding open space and started every day's running training along the roads of the valley. Then, the crowing chickens that foreshadowed the dawn.

Zuo Duanyou has also gotten up. The old man is old and is used to getting up early every day. Even if he comes to a new place, he will not change it. He put on his clothes and went outside the house to punch. In his mind, he was still thinking about the conversation he had with Ning Yi last night. The mountain wind blew, which was quite cool. On the mountain road not far away, running soldiers shouted horns, lined up in a long row from there, crossing the mountains, without seeing the beginning and end.

This is a very good soldier, with murderous aura and rules. Zuo Duanyou has seen it in the past two days.

Then Qin Shaoqian, dressed in military uniform, came to greet him and have breakfast. After breakfast, the old man thought about things in the room. Xiao Cang River is located remotely, and the hillsides on both sides are not full of vibrant green. Under the sunlight, it is just a yellow-green area, but it looks calm. The training slogans that occasionally sound outside the house can make people quiet.

The Jin Kingdom rose and the Wu Dynasty declined. Since Bianliang was captured by the Jurchens, the north of the Yellow River has been in name only. For Xiao Cang River, this world is a cage, with Jin people in the north, Xixia in the west, and Wu Dynasty in the south. The food was stored and it was difficult to find a way out. But for the Zuo family, it was not the same? This was a change of dynasty, and the Zuo family had a larger stall. The Jurchens were stabilizing the domestic situation and had not really taken over the north of the Yellow River. The time it could be held may be a little longer. But what should happen will inevitably happen one day.

As Ning Liheng said, one day, the Jin people would go south and the Zuo family would face a choice. This is not an exaggeration, but a situation that will inevitably arise. Zuo Duanyou did not like the court and was a little discouraged by the world, but one thing is that he would never consider surrendering to the Jin people without considering it.

In order to resist the Liao people who went south, Wang Qisong died in a family of men, and Qin Siyuan was eventually disgraced to revitalize the Wu Dynasty and died at the hands of villains. The three friends had some different beliefs and had already broken up, but that was just a distinction between the arts, the way of gentlemen and the way of Confucianism. Some things will not change. On this way, the three of them never have any differences.

The old house in Jinzhou is also quiet, but since last year, the old man's life has lost his peace. Although he can die generously, the children of the Zuo family cannot have a way out, and he doesn't like to be the Jurchens. These children really enrolled in the Jin Dynasty and were servile and humble. Living in the yard of the old house, he was anxious every day. In his face of such a thing, he is really... a bit too old.

When he came to Xiaocanghe, he had the intention to put down a line, but now that the talks had broken down, in this strange place, looking at strange things and listening to strange slogans, he could calm down even more. In his spare time, he would even suddenly remember Qin Siyuan's choice back then. When facing many things, the person named Qin was the most sober and rational.

The white clouds were floating outside the window. It was a very good morning. It was just beginning. He wanted to leave Ning Liheng behind. A Zuo family manager who came with him walked quickly outside the house.

"The master's family seems to be moving."

"Hmm? What?"

"You come out and see, the army in the valley is moving."

Left Duanyou raised his crutch and walked out of the house.

In order to show respect for the old man, the house he arranged was also located in the upper part of the mountain, which could overlook the entire valley from the side. At this time, the sun was not long, the temperature was pleasant, white clouds floated by in the sky, and the scene in the valley also seemed full of vitality and vitality, but when you look closely, everything seemed a little different.

The settlement area in the valley extends toward the surroundings with a small square as the center. At this time, buildings are still being built. A large number of wheelbarrows carry supplies pass through the streets every day, filling the inside and outside of the settlement area with lively. On the river beaches, open spaces, hillsides, etc. farther away, the soldiers' training figures are active, and they are absolutely not inferior to their vitality.

However, when I looked down at this time, the entire settlement area seemed to be diluted. Except for the few teams that maintained order, the rest were only ordinary residents who were moving in the valley and some playful children. From the settlement area to the surrounding area, all the river beaches, open spaces, and the river beaches on the side of the river were trained by soldiers at this time.

Zuo Duanyou compared his impressions from the previous two days: "Today they all participated in training?"

"I have inquired about it. The army in the valley trains three days as a training session, and the rest of the work has been carried out for more than half a year." The general manager whispered, "But today... this case has stopped."

The mountain wind blew pleasantly, and the old man frowned and tightened the crutch in his hand...

***************

Time gradually reached noon, and there was an unexpectedly quiet atmosphere in the canteen of Xiao Canghe.

The soldiers coming and going all seemed a little silent, but this silence did not feel a little sluggish. On the dining table, some people whispered to the people around them, people ate and swallowed, and some deliberately grinded their teeth to look around, and there was a strange expression on their faces. Many others also had an average strange expression.

Occasionally, there was a loud voice suddenly making a sound: "It must be a hit." Looking at the eyes of the people around me, and hummed twice, with a proud look. The squad leader on the dining table not far away shouted in a low voice: "Don't talk nonsense!"

Some people also picked up chopsticks and picked up a piece of meat: "The meat is bigger than usual." The person opposite the dining table smiled and ate a big mouthful.

There was no too loud discussion, because the question that everyone was puzzled and interested in was suddenly changed by the closure order in the morning, as if everyone was shocked, so that when each class was gathering, there were a few whispers and talks endlessly. This made all the senior officers almost lose their temper and made them run a lot more. Without daring to talk on a large scale, the whole scene became what they are now.

Hou Wu came over with the food and sat down in the seat next to Mao Yishan. Mao Yishan leaned towards this side with interest: "Fifth Brother, have you gone to see Brother Qu?"

Hou Wu nodded.

"What did Brother Qu say?"

Hou Wu had a smile on his lips: "He wants to come out."

"Ah, Brother Qu is still injured..."

"Hey." Hou Wu lowered his voice. "He said just now that the time has come, and he can't miss such a big event."

"Brother Qu really said that? What else did he say?"

"I didn't say it thoroughly. But he mentioned..." Hou Wu pressed his voice lowered a little, but at this time, the people on the dining table were sneaking down their heads and eavesdropping, "He said... the northwest should have started harvesting wheat..."

A soldier across the street leaned over and reminded: "The wheat is not ripe yet. In two days..."

"The Xixia people occupied the place. Of course, it must be early..."

Before the other person could finish his speech, Pang Luan, the battalion commander of their battalion, came over and said, "What are you saying sneakily! I didn't run enough in the morning!"

Pang Liu'an is a good person on weekdays, but everyone is not afraid of him. A young soldier stood up and said, "Report to the battalion commander! You can run ten miles more!"

Another man stood up: "Report to the boss, we have finished eating, and we are planning to go to training!"

"We've finished eating too." Several people around and Mao Yishan also stood up. They did finish eating.

"What training is it! Just after eating, I washed the dishes and went back to rest!"

The guy who said he was going to train was stunned: "Uh...yes! Let's go to rest."

The group of people at the dining table quickly left, and they couldn't talk here, so they could always talk when they ran to the dormitory. Hou Wu, who had just delayed the meal because of delivering food to Qu Qing, looked at the dining table suddenly empty and pulled the corners of his mouth: "Wait for me, you bastards!" Then he quickly buried his head in the rice.

******************

Leaving this mountainous area, the northwest, it is indeed beginning to harvest wheat.

The Xixia army forced the people in the land to harvest, and since the previous few days, the people in the northwest were brave. When these wheats were really harvested and taken away, and only limited food was obtained, some of the resistance began to appear one after another.

Near Yanzhou, an entire village was massacred because of resistance. Outside Qingjian City, various rumors of the old man appearing gradually emerged. In the villages outside the city, some people took advantage of the night to burn the wheat fields that originally belonged to them. As a result, the massacre and revenge of Xixia soldiers. The bandits began to appear more actively. Some bandits in the mountains tried to grab grain from the Xixia people, but the counterattacks of Xixia people were also fierce. In just a few days, many of the villages were found, captured and massacred by Xixia Buba.

In the Huanzhou area, Zhong Lie led the last thousands of family troops to try to attack. He also wanted to use this opportunity to gather more followers. However, he encountered the main force of the Xixia people's Iron Harrier on the bank of the Huanjiang River and was defeated and retreated again.

Spotted blood and large pieces of golden yellow are blooming on this land as the Xixia people harvested.

******************

The army's training continued until the dark night that came again swallowed the gorgeous sunset. Fires lit up in the Xiaocang River. In the small square in the center of the settlement area, the message that Xixia people from outside began to collect grain had spread.

With the arrival of night, various discussions spread everywhere in the barracks in this settlement. The soldiers who had been training for a day also had uncontrollable excitement on their faces. Someone ran to ask whether Luo Ye would fight out. However, at this moment, the upper level of the army still took a tight-lipped attitude towards the whole matter, and everyone's calculations were just private fantasies.

The entire Xiaocanghe camp rarely seemed to be boiled in a low heat at this time.

When the night came deep, the tension and excitement had not stopped. On the hillside, Ning Yi walked out of the courtyard, just like every day before, overlooking a light from afar.

On the side of the foothills, a figure moved slowly and silently. He escaped slowly and silently in the darkness, and soon afterwards, he climbed over the top of the mountain.

The figure walked along the rugged mountain road, and then went downhill carefully. The moon was as bright as water. Suddenly, he stopped in such a light.

Some steps rushed over from afar with the sound of the wind. In front of his vision, a figure was walking slowly, and the sharpness of the spear was appearing.

"Li Laoliu, where are you going?"

The young man's face appeared in the moonlight. The figure named Li Laoliu slowly straightened up and pulled out the two knives beside him: "Zhu Biao... and Yuwen Feidu."

After saying this, he pulled his sword up! In front of him, the shadow of the gun roared up like a prairie fire, swallowing him up like a prairie fire.

In the darkness further away, a young man named Yuwen Feidu appeared, pulling his bow and taking an arrow...

"Today, don't leave..."

******************

On June 14th, a heavy rain fell. The black rain clouds seemed to cover the sky, and the rain washed everything freely, with lightning and thunder. This caused Xiao Cang Hanoi to no longer continue training. All the soldiers were in the room for a whole day. In the evening, the heavy rain finally stopped. Before the sun had fallen, the sky was clear and bright, as if it was new. On June 15th, the training continued again.

On the evening of that day, Su Tan'er came back in the courtyard halfway up the mountain, and she rarely ate an extra bowl of rice. Her work was about to end. Xiao Ningxi, who was wearing a bandage on her head, was complaining about not being able to attend classes these two days, and she didn't know if Min Chuyi had studied well.

After having supper in the gradually fading heat, Ning Yi went out to enjoy the cool air and spent a while. Jin'er also came over and told him about the fact that the little girl named Min Chuyi came to class today, perhaps because she accompanied Ning Xi out to play, she was injured. The Min family's parents slapped her and might have been slapped in the face.

As he talked about trivial matters in such a long time, and talked about the training and some rumors in the valley these two days, Jin'er recalled Ning Yi's question a month ago and mentioned a few words. Ning Yi looked at the valley below and smiled slowly.

"What does Xiao Canghe look like? The old man from the Zuo family said that it looks like a dangerous egg on a cliff. You said it looks like a bag. It's of course nothing wrong with it. The question was just suddenly remembering, wherever it was exciting, I think...well?"

As he was talking, Tan'er also walked over from the side. At this time, Ning Yi was sitting on a tree stump with a grass next to it. Su Tan'er asked with a smile: "What are you talking about?" She sat down on the grass next to her.

Ning Yi repeated the question he asked Jin'er. Tan'er looked at the valley below. He hugged his knees with his hands, placed his chin on his knees, and replied softly: "It's like a knife."

Yes, it's like a knife...

Ning Yi nodded.

...

In the river valley, the battalion commander Pang Lu'an walked on the street, frowned and asked the young people around him to walk away. He was almost annoyed. He has been asked many times indirectly these days. Now someone is asking if he is going out to fight for some wealthy families.

"Even if you want to fight, it's not that you said it's so unpromising! Think of me a little bigger"

He revealed a little bit of the answer. What he remembered was the meeting that night three days ago.

...

"... Since last autumn, we came to this part of Xiaocang River. The original plan was to rely on Qingmuzhai, give full play to its geographical advantages, open a commercial road and even a commercial network connecting all parties, and solve the current difficulties. At that time, Xixia had no major moves, and the Western Military Branch Division was not dead. We thought this goal was difficult, but there was still a way to do it..."

"...But since December, after the news of Zhong Shidao's death came, we have completely denied this plan..."

"... After Xixia came, the northwest was in chaos. In the expected future, the Jin people will gradually swallow the north of the Yellow River. We will definitely be isolated. In this situation, it is confirmed that it is impossible to open the trade route. So we can only choose another route. If this route is said directly and people think about it for a day or two, it will only lead to the morale of the entire Xiao Cang River and the complete collapse of the existing foundation. For this reason, after making a decision, we carried out all the work so far..."

"......... In the past year, the core of all Xiao Canghe's work is to raise the subjective initiative of the soldiers in the valley, let them feel the pressure, and at the same time, let them think that this pressure does not necessarily need them to solve. A large number of division of labor and cooperation will increase their mutual identity, convey external messages, let them understand what reality is, and let them personally feel everything they need to feel. By this day, they have already developed a sense of identity with themselves. They can identify with their companions and can identify with the collective, and they will no longer be afraid of this pressure, because they all know that this is something they must pass next..."

"And, they can cross..."

...

After nearly a year of polishing, Xiao Canghe is now a knife.

It is hard and rough to the extreme. Due to the huge internal problems, it may be broken if it encounters any chaos. Any society is a complex whole, but this society, because it is too single, the problems and defects it encounters are too single, and has already reached the extreme.

What supports this valley is the belief that has been built this year, but this belief is the only one. This makes it amazingly fragile and broken, but this belief is paranoid and fearless, and has almost reached what it can reach.

It is like a high-carbon steel knife full of flaws inside. With one stroke, it may break.

But the question is, who can catch this full-strength knife next...

On June 16, the 2nd year of Jingping, chaos continued on the northwest land outside. Among the mountains, a group of people were using the small valley as imaginary enemies, staring at Qingmuzhai in the north, and the atmosphere was equally solemn, guarding against the threat of Jin soldiers who could not lose their words. In this valley, the sound of gathering sounded.

Lightning roamed, cutting through the thunder clouds, and heavy rains were gathering under the sky in the northwest. No one knew what kind of thunderstorm was coming.

On this day, the black flag stretched out and jumped out of the Xiaocang River. The army of more than 9,000 people turned westward. Without hesitation, he rushed out of the mountains and rushed directly to the Xixia defense line! (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!