Amidst the flames soaring into the sky, a horse rushed out of Xue's Wubao and ran wildly towards the north.
Immediately came a middle-aged man with a red headband, who was holding a child tightly on his chest.
Behind him are the firelight and the cry, and in front of him is the twilight forest mist.
He didn't look back, he just lowered his head and said to the child with tears on his face:
"Ti'er, remember today, the person who killed your father, aunt, and uncle.
These people are going to die. When you grow up, these people are going to die.
Do you remember? Do you remember?"
The tone became more and more serious, and the child was pinched and hurt.
But the child didn't scream, he just asked the uncle in front of him:
"Then who are they? Who should I seek revenge from?"
At this time, the middle-aged man looked back at his past home and uttered a few words from between his teeth:
"Thieves, all Guizhou leaders and poor men who are thieves are our enemies. Do you understand?"
The child nodded heavily.
Seeing how sensible the child was, the middle-aged man hugged the child distressedly and cried:
"Ti'er, we don't want to take revenge anymore. Let's go to your uncle's place. Let's start over and start over. We don't want to take revenge anymore."
With that said, he grabbed the horse's belly and headed towards Dong'a County in Dong County to the north.
They disappeared into the deep dusk, but what happened today may never disappear from their memories.
While the survivors of Xue's Wubao were fleeing into the rivers and lakes, Zhang Chong and the others were laughing happily.
The one who laughed the loudest was Ding Sheng.
At this time, they were in Xue's granary, looking at the warehouse full of corn in front of them, everyone could not hide their smiles.
Ding Sheng kicked away a handful of corn, grabbed a handful with his hands, smelled the fragrance of the corn, took a lick, and smiled at Zhang Chong behind him:
"Chongtou, this is all new grain. It smells so damn good."
With that said, he handed the corn in his hand to Zhang Chong.
Zhang Chong was also happy that their team was finally stable.
He found Duman and asked him to first count the amount of corn and then make a record.
He also wanted to look at the prisoner's entrance outside.
Seeing the warehouse full of grain, he had some ideas.
On the way, he asked Yang Mao next to him:
"How is the discipline of the team?"
Yang Maogang was promoted to military judge by Zhang Chong, specializing in military discipline. It would be more appropriate for him to handle some matters.
Yang Mao was also very competent. As soon as he entered the stronghold, he took two swordsmen with him and began patrolling to correct lawlessness.
But fortunately, everyone was still an honest farmer two days ago.
Now that we know there is no shortage of food, and with Zhang Chong’s repeated warnings from the beginning, no one is violating the rules.
At this moment, everyone was escorting groups of prisoners to the wheat field in the village.
Zhang Chong wanted to count the prisoners there to see which ones could be absorbed, which ones could be released, and which ones needed to remain imprisoned.
On the stage of the wheat field, Zhang Chong was reading the bamboo slips and letters from the Xue family, which recorded the Xue family's assets and social relations, while chatting with a five-inch "child":
"Do you really want to follow us? To be honest, we are all on the run. We are full after one meal, but we don't know where we will be next."
Otherwise, you should go home.
I will distribute food to your settlement later. In addition to leaving enough food for you, I will also have a share of millet seeds.
When the time comes, you can still survive if you manage well."
That five-inch "child" was Tian Dayong who was originally hung on the flagpole by Xue Yu.
When he was rescued by Hei Fu, he was crying there, which made Hei Fu upset and almost stabbed him.
It was Zhang Dan who saw how pitiful he was that he stopped him.
Tian Dayong told Zhang Dan that he was the son of the old man who was killed downstairs.
Zhang Dan and Hei Fu looked at each other, a little ashamed, after all, the old man died because of them.
With this idea, they couldn't tie up Tian Dayong anymore, but they didn't know how to deal with it, so they left it to Zhang Chong.
Who would have thought that Tian Da would use Zhang Chong's skills, and he would join him before he even said a few words.
This made Zhang Chong very happy, because he knew that in the eyes of others, this person was a five-inch boy, but in his eyes, the pop-up window above the person's head clearly said:
"Riding, Mastery"
This man is a good rider, and there is a shortage of such good riders in the team.
But after a closer conversation, I found out that Tian Dayong was actually the old man's son.
Zhang Chong suddenly realized why the old man kept trying to persuade him not to do anything.
It turned out that his son was working as a disciple at this dock wall.
But this put Zhang Chong in a difficult position. The old man's smile before his death has always troubled him.
He also felt guilty about the old man's death. He didn't want his son to follow him into danger again, so he had the above conversation.
Unexpectedly, this person named Tian Dayong knelt down with a plop. He choked and said:
"General, thank you for saving all of our lives, but what happens next?"
"Then? Then what?"
Zhang Chong was a little disgusted. This was a bit greedy. Do you want me to support them for the rest of their lives?
Tian Dayong lowered his head and did not see Zhang Chong's expression. He continued:
"General, this world is already the end of the world where the strong survive.
Even if we Qiu people have food, they will be robbed by other powerful people.
Rather than being happy in vain in the end, why do it?"
Zhang Chong became angry. He stood up, kicked the man away, and asked:
“It won’t change the result anyway, so why don’t you just do it?
What kind of nonsense is this!
How long has it been since you last visited your settlement?
When we saw your parents there, they were as hungry and cold as wild animals.
The whole family had no food at all, and the only thing they had to cover their bodies was a tattered single garment, which the whole family shared.
After you have seen the desolation of the villagers, you won't say stupid things about why you still do it.
If you can have one day of food, you can live one day, and if you can live one more day, there is hope. That is the difference.
Moreover, if I say one more thing today, countless people will also say what I, Zhang Chong, have done in the future.
Why bother?
In the end, it will still fail, and it will remain the same as in the past.
But I want to tell you, we may not be able to save the suffering people in the world, but as long as we see them, we will save them.
If you save one person, one person will survive; if you save someone for a while, someone will survive for a while.
You tell me whether it should be done or not.
And even if we fail and die, we must let those powerful people know that we, the common people, can never be bullied.
Besides, how can you know if you don’t do it, and we can’t do it?”
Tian Dayong understood some of what Zhang Chong said, but some became more confused as he listened.
However, after being kicked down by Zhang Chong, when he tried to kneel down again, Zhang Chong grabbed his arm.
"Your father didn't give birth to you just to make you kneel down.
I also know that you are a good man. Go back and bury your father first, and then see if you want to follow him.
When the time comes, you will go with the grain distribution team. You also know the leader, the guy who sent you here."
After finishing speaking, Zhang Chong waved his hand and asked Tian Dayong to continue without waiting for Tian Dayong to speak.
Tian Dayong was about to get off the platform in a dark voice. Suddenly, he had a flash of inspiration and shouted to Zhang Chong on the platform:
"General, can you give me a name?
I think I am a useful or useless person, so I would like you to give me a name.
Live again, this time for yourself."
Zhang Chong heard it, but he didn't say anything. He just looked at the five-foot-tall man in the audience. He thought of the old man's dying smile and suddenly understood something.
He nodded and said to Tian Dayong:
"I'll give you a unique name, Tian Jun, with the courtesy name Dayong. From now on, you will be both Tian Dayong and Tian Jun.
Don’t underestimate yourself, encourage yourself to live up to the name your father gave you.”
After saying that, Zhang Chong stopped looking at Tian Jun.
Tian Da used his name and saw that Zhang Chong was busy, so he carefully withdrew.
He had to go and bury his old father, and then he and Zhang Dan would take the food back.
He really forgot how long it had been since he went back.
As a relative of Zhang Chong, his younger father, Zhang Bingnan, has become the butler of this team without hesitation.
At this moment, he was leading a few young men from Da Sang Village to quickly count the prisoners on the wheat field.
Check the prisoner's physical condition from time to time. If he is not nodding, he is shaking his head.
Duman also took stock of the materials in the warehouse and handed them over to Zhang Bingnan after completing the register.
Chen Huan also led a group of people to finish counting the supplies in the arsenal and handed them over to his father.
Zhang Bingnan took three brochures, ran to the stage, and said to Zhang Chong with a smile:
"Second son, we have become rich, look at how much we have seized."
After saying that, he handed the booklet to Zhang Chong.
Zhang Chong glanced at him and smiled:
"Millet, 27,000 shi; money, 1,723,000 qian; strings, 600 bolts, coarse salt, 300 shi, and some iron, copper, and lacquerware.
There are two hundred and ten young men, and forty-six young women, as well as young and old.
Finally, there are weapons, including three hundred and sixty knives, ten bows, thirty axes, three hundred sword heads, and two hundred whistle sticks and large stiles.
Then came the large animals, including four horses, six donkeys, seven oxen, thirty fat pigs, and three hundred chickens.”
In short, this time, their team no longer has to worry about food and drink for a short time.
Taking advantage of the high morale, Zhang Chong happened to discuss something with everyone. He asked Li Wu, who was accompanying him, to call several key members to the stage.
In a moment, Du Man, Zhang Dan, Ding Sheng, Hei Fu, Chen Huan, Yang Mao, and Wang Zhang all arrived, plus their younger fathers Zhang Bingnan and Li Wu who were originally there.
The backbone of the team are all here now.
He looked around at the people present, and they looked at him with expressions of relief, awe, admiration, or affirmation.
Zhang Chong was certain that his prestige was stabilized after the battle at Xuejiabi.
He cleared his throat and said to everyone:
"Now we have several important matters to discuss with you.
First of all, the first one is how to go forward;
Then, the second one is how to deal with the current prisoners;
Finally, it’s about how to reorganize our team.
Each of these is very important. I want to discuss it with everyone. You can share your thoughts first.
Come on, Ding Sheng, you go first. Seeing that you are in a hurry, you go first."
With that said, Zhang Chong nodded to Ding Shengming, just because he hesitated to speak several times.
When Ding Sheng was named, he didn't shirk. He started to praise him and said:
"Let's go ahead and do something big indeed. Before, we were at a loss and in a hurry.
What now?
After punching the head like this, you can see that there is nothing left.
As for the three points that Chongtou said, I don’t have much idea, as long as I agree with what Chongtou said.”
After saying that, Ding Sheng smiled shyly and sat down.
Zhang Chong was helpless. He thought this ranger could make some suggestions, but he didn't expect him to be a flatterer.
But it's okay, if he opens up the atmosphere, everyone can relax a bit.
Just as Zhang Chong thought, everyone laughed after Ding Sheng finished speaking.
Only a few honest people, such as Wang Zhang and Li Wu, felt that what Ding Sheng said was reasonable and kept nodding.
Duman had no choice but to stand up and saw that everyone was a little arrogant, and he actually said such words.