The military market on the west bank of the Ying River was crowded with people, and there were bargaining and crying everywhere. This was the scene of the Taishan Army trading prisoners with the Yellow Turban Taoist disciples from Runan and Yingchuan.
Unlike the Taishan Army where all captured items were returned to the public, the Yellow Turban Army in Runan and Yingchuan was essentially an alliance of small army leaders. Originally, Peng Tuo, Bo Cai and other prestigious commanders Qu were there, and the minds of all parties could be somewhat unified, but after the Second
After the death of Shuai Yi, although I don’t say it fell apart, but basically everyone is working in different places.
For example, in this meeting, one side of the transaction was the Holy Treasurer of the Taishan Army, and the other side was a diverse group of people. In addition to Runan, various commanders from Yingchuan, and even some nearby wilderness hunting groups who hunted single deserters also came.
At the back, it was not just about trading prisoners, but basically salt, millet, military supplies, horses, everything.
This time, Yan Zhuang, the chief clerk of the Taishan Army, also came. He came to the military market to check and never let the Taishan Army be deceived by others in the military market.
Yan Zhuang was chatting with a young handsome man from Runan, discussing a deal for forty men and women. The other person asked him for ten bolts of cloth. He dared to ask for it, so Yan Zhuang was bargaining with that man. A Taishan soldier was standing beside him.
The official came over and whispered a few solemn words.
Yanzhuang can distinguish the important and the important, and directly buy the price:
"Six pieces of cloth, go and get my bamboo chips to change them. If you don't want to change them, forget it."
A few Runan Yellow Turbans across the street discussed it with each other and realized that they might not be able to sell it, so they agreed.
Yan Zhuang dismissed this group of people, and then led by his subordinates, walked in a zigzag manner to a corner of the military market.
At this time, several shabby warriors who smelled dirty and held various weapons were squatting on the ground, whispering this.
Yan Zhuang took one look and knew that these people were a group of hunters from nearby.
It is different from many people's stereotyped understanding of war. They always think that the army is the actor on the battlefield, but in fact, these hunter groups also play a pivotal role on the battlefield. In every war, there will always be these hunter groups wandering around the periphery of the battlefield.
As long as the outcome of the war comes out, they will pursue the losers fiercely and take another bite out of them.
The warriors in the army generally have a lot of money. As long as these hunting teams hunt for a serious military official, not to mention the armor and weapons on him are very valuable, and even his head can be exchanged with the military officials of the victorious side.
But precisely because of this, these people are the most hated by the warriors in the army. After all, no one wants to die at the hands of these hyenas.
But Yan Zhuang was different. He was the chief clerk in the army. He used to deal with these bandit gangs a lot. When he came, he smiled and said to the hunters:
"You want to sell armor?"
The hunters who were still squatting on the ground knew he was in charge as soon as they saw the solemn ribbon. They hurriedly bowed and stood up. One of them, a swarthy man with rotten yellow teeth, said with a humble smile:
"The nobles are us. This is a good armor. How can we untouchables be so lucky to enjoy such treasures? We come here to sell them to the nobles."
Yan Zhuang still enjoyed the flattery of others. Hearing that this group of people really wanted to sell their armor, he asked:
"Where is A?"
Dahuangya sighed quickly and then called to his subordinates.
Then, two skinny savages brought over a shelf, and a tall basin collar armor was hung on the wooden shelf.
Yan Zhuang touched a few knife cuts on the basin collar armor and secretly thought that although it was a little broken, it was still a good armor. He nodded with satisfaction. He also praised the big yellow teeth:
"You know how to do business, and you also know how to put on some airs for your armor. Not bad!"
Dahuang Ya bowed and said to himself:
"To be honest, noble man, I have seen the world before in our three hometowns. I know that this armor needs to be hung to be called a rarity."
Yan Zhuang nodded and asked casually:
"How do you plan to sell it?"
Dahuang Ya struggled for a while, then stretched out a palm and shook it.
Yan Zhuang knew at a glance that this man didn't understand prices, so why did he want to yell at him? When he, Yan Zhuang, was doing smuggling work for the Gongsun family, this big yellow tooth was lying in the mud somewhere.
Yan Zhuang frowned falsely and whispered:
"Five thousand dollars? That's expensive."
Dahuang Ya first heard that there were five thousand yuan, and he was happy. Then he heard that Yan Zhuang said it was expensive, so he quickly grabbed Yan Zhuang and said anxiously:
"My lord, look at this armor and this stature. It belongs to a warrior of the Han army. Look at this shoulder armor and skirt armor. A set is worth five thousand coins."
Big Huangya really doesn't understand this. If he asks about the price of selling a penis or an animal, he knows all about it. But he has never heard of the collar armor, a military weapon, let alone seen it.
He also knew that the basin collar armor was too eye-catching for his small group to keep, otherwise he would have found a place to bury it and plan to pass it down to his family.
Seeing that Yan Zhuang was unmoved, Da Huang Ya began to rack his brains again and began to search for words to praise this armor. However, his hand continued to pull Yan Zhuang's sleeve, and everything he saw was black.
Yan Zhuang didn't care. Dealing with these people was just that. But what he was more interested in was the owner of the armor. The big yellow teeth were right. The owner of the armor was a great man at first glance. The armor was just hanging there.
They are both half a head taller than Yan Zhuang.
So Yan Zhuang didn't beat around the bush. After all, he was really busy and told Da Huangya directly:
"If you can give me the owner of this A plus this A, I will give you 10,000 yuan directly."
Ten thousand dollars!
Dahuang Ya and his companions behind him took a breath. They never thought that one day they would have such a large sum of money.
But what is surprising is that Yan Zhuang clearly noticed Da Huangya's intention. In the end, he insisted that there was only A and no one else. In the end, he did not want 5,000 yuan, so he sold the basin collar armor to Yan for 4,000 yuan.
village.
Looking at Dahuang Ya and others who took the money and left in a hurry, Yan Zhuang obviously felt that something was wrong with this group of people, but he didn't care. After all, Yan Zhuang was really busy.
Afterwards, Yan Zhuang asked people to put away the basin collar armor and led the people towards the next round of business.
There is no way, he Yan Zhuang is really busy!
Over there, Dahuangya hurried out of the military market with money on his back and five or six companions.
The road was very silent, except for the muffled sound of bare feet on the dirt. They walked west for a while, then circled north, and finally got into a forest and hid there.
After a while, seeing that no one was following, Dahuang Ya and others sat on the ground to rest.
At this time, a companion should speak:
"Kui, I should have promised that noble man just now. How much millet can I buy back with ten thousand dollars? I dare not even think about it."
There was a companion next to me and I was scolded:
"Gouzi, what do you know? Kui has his own ideas, we just listen."
The savage named Gouzi nodded and said nothing.
Dahuangya glanced at the person who had just spoken out, not knowing that he was trying to make someone angry. He still had to tell the truth, otherwise these savages might do something for the sake of these ten thousand dollars.
This is the real world. Ten thousand dollars can be converted into gold, which is just one gold. It is just a meal for powerful people. But for these wandering savages, this is a huge amount of money that they will never see in their lifetime.
Sighing, Dahuang Ya said half in fear and half in pride:
"We, we were almost blinded by that money just now. We didn't know that we almost got killed."
Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Dahuang Ya in confusion, wondering why he suddenly said such a thing.
Dahuangya said:
"Do you think the military officer we hunted was of low status? We gave him away for five thousand dollars. Then what will we do if that man comes back with others to kill us and take revenge on us?"
The companion named Gouzi said uncertainly:
"Probably not. Isn't it the Yellow Turban Army who is doing business with us? Can you help that Han official? Even if we let people go, they will behead them to repay their merits. I have heard that this wave of people came from Kyoto
The Han soldiers were very ruthless, they killed thousands of them on the Yingshui River in Taiping Road some time ago, and the blood feud was over!"
Dahuangya didn't expect Gouzi to have this news, but his face still had the admonishing expression of a young and ignorant person:
"Gouzi, you are really stupid. If you kill me today, we can be brothers tomorrow. This is the usual behavior of people outside. People are willing to spend an extra five thousand dollars to get that person, just to kill him?
You have also seen that man's appearance, is he a good man? If this man is sent over, those Taiping Roads will definitely accept him. When the time comes, aren't we the unlucky ones?"
Gouzi understood and praised that he was still cool.
But there was still someone on the other side who didn't know what was going on. It was the one who was helping. He pretended to be confused and said:
"Kui, since that person is so dangerous, we might as well kill him. Why leave him a disaster!"
Dahuangya finally caught this man's mistake and gave him a lecture:
"You know nothing. Look at the few heights among us. Which one is taller than six feet? Now that such an eight-foot tall man has fallen into our hands, we have to give our settlement a new breed. When the time comes, you can take your sister
, and my wife, all those in the settlement who can still give birth will be sent to the man. When we get back, I will mix the ones who work for the donkeys into his food. This matter is related to the future of our settlement, and it must be done.
!have you understood?"
The savages suddenly understood and beamed with joy, each showing their big yellow teeth and admiring their leader endlessly.
It’s better to change the species!
That's right, the Han official Dahuang Ya and the others hunted was Sima Lang of Wen County, the former Sima guard of the Hedong Army. In the first wave of charge, he was directly hit in the chest by the Taishan Army's sudden cavalry hammer, and finally he just hugged him and sat down.
Only then did he get out. However, he got lost to the edge of the battlefield. Then his eyesight went black, and he was beaten by Dahuang Ya and his gang who were wandering nearby, and they were carried back to the settlement.
The first time he took a look at Sima Lang, Dahuang Ya thought of his daughter. The second time he looked at him, he saw the two of them together. The third time he looked at him, he saw himself holding his grandson. The last time he looked at him, he saw his grandson becoming a child.
A nine-foot-tall warrior.
Okay, he is really a good person, and his big yellow-toothed grandson fell into this person.
Poor the Sima family of Wen County, a family of famous military generals, especially Sima Lang, who was only fourteen years old, had to suffer such tragedy, how pitiful!
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Yan Zhuang was really busy. After making several deals with several military leaders in Runan, a few more sneakily found Yan Zhuang.
After a while of greetings, Yan Zhuang realized that they were selling a group of Han army's baggage camp officials. Yan Zhuang did not dare to neglect and hurried over.
There is no other reason than the rarity of this group of people.
These days, the Yellow Turbans in Runan and Yingchuan have gradually figured out their taste. It turns out that they hate the Han army officials, especially the Yingchuan comrades, and generally slaughter the Han prisoners who surrendered.
The purpose was to avenge the comrades who had been killed before. Later, the Taishan Army came and said that these Han army officials could be exchanged for armor. In this battle, the strength of the Taishan Army was obvious to all, but both sides thought that this was
Most of them came from Taishan Army's multi-edged armor. So when I heard that Taishan Army was willing to exchange armors, they started doing business.
But there are also smart people on Taiping Road in Runan and Yingchuan. They gradually realize the importance of these Han military officials. With these people, they can also use Han military methods to organize and train their own troops. Then wouldn’t they also
Can he be as good at fighting as the Taishan Army?
Therefore, the Yellow Turban Army in Runan and Yingchuan later no longer sold military officers, but only used some captured young men or apprentices in exchange for some military supplies.
In this battle, because the Taishan Army directly captured the Han Army's camp, there was now more food and more money, and there was enough capital to trade between the two parties.
Now, a group of former officials from the Han army's supply camp wanted to sell, and Yan Zhuang was naturally interested. After being guided along the way, he left the military market. It seemed that the people on the other side also felt that there were too many people and wanted to sell in a low-key manner.
All of this raised Yan Zhuang's expectations, but it wasn't until he came to the cage that Yan Zhuang was disappointed.
I saw that the human market outside the military market was full of feces. The officials in the Han army's transport camp were all locked in shacks. Anyone who cried and made noise would be beaten severely by the yellow scarf soldiers in charge.
Like an animal.
What made Yan Zhuang disappointed was not that the Yellow Turban Army treated the Han soldiers like this. He had already known how these Han soldiers had treated Ruying's Yellow Turban Army before. It could be said that they were the same raccoons. Now that they were being mistreated, it was not the Yellow Turban Soldier's fault.
He was disappointed that these people did not look like they were skilled. You must know that the equipment of the Han army's supply camp is basically all-in-one. After all, the army is the home of the soldiers, and the supply camp that takes care of the army's logistics is of course equipped with all kinds of equipment.
.
But looking at these old and young, tell me, do they have skills?
The young commander over there was a subordinate of Liu Pi from Runan. Yan Zhuang looked unhappy and complained when he went up:
"Old Jia, what you're doing is unreasonable. I, Yan, am also very busy. It's not you who fooled these people. To you, do these young and old people look like hundreds of workers?"
Being called out by Yan Zhuang in person, the young handsome man named Jia was also a little embarrassed. Yes, these people were indeed from the Han army's supply camp, but the ones with real skills among them had long been picked away by their leader Liu Pi. These people
The rest are just some women and children from the back camp. The man named Jia here wanted to fool him and see if he could get a good price.
However, since he was called out, Jia did not hesitate to use his surname and said directly:
"Old Yan, this is what it is. You know the situation, so just decide what the price of this person is. If I think it's appropriate, you can drag them all away."
Now that this person said this, Yan Zhuang began to take a serious look at these prisoners.
After walking around for a few times, Yan Zhuang knew that the group of people were relatively healthy overall. Although they looked hungry, they could still sit and there was no one lying on the ground. What he was most afraid of was bringing with them the disease.
Yes, it won’t be too much trouble to buy it back then.
Most of these people lowered their heads and did not dare to look at Yan Zhuang, but there were a few with cool eyes who looked up at Yan Zhuang and then lowered their heads.
Yan Zhuang turned back and said to Lao Jia:
"You can do this business, I'll pick some, and you can take the rest with you."
Unexpectedly, Lao Jia shook his head:
"Old Yan, you really know how to do business. But do you think I, Old Jia, am stupid? If you take away the good ones, who wants the rest? Besides, I might as well tell you something.
Let's be clear. These people were originally ordered by Liu Kui to kill us. I couldn't bear to do such a thing, so I came to sell them to you to give these people a way to survive. Do I, Mr. Jia, care about your little money? In this battle,
Which of the brothers is not making a lot of money?"
This was a beautiful statement, but when Yan Zhuang looked at the old Jia's empty hakama and bare mud feet, he still felt that it was a bit false.
No matter what Yan Zhuang thought, Lao Jia continued:
"If you only buy a little, I will definitely not be able to send the rest back to the camp. At that time, I will have to let these people go to the dirt for a while."
After hearing these words that were half truth and half threats, Yan Zhuang said nothing. These Runan Yellow Turbans are just like this. Most of them are rough and rough things. There is no need to get angry with them.
Seeing that he couldn't take advantage, Yan Zhuang went up and ordered someone to find out the details. This person was one of the few people who had clear eyes just now. Although he was sloppy, Yan Zhuang's eyes made him feel like this.
People are not ordinary:
"What's your name? What did you do before and what do you know?"
After asking three questions at once, the man leaned against the fence and ignored Yan Zhuang. Yan Zhuang didn't like him either, so he directly clicked on the person next to him and asked the same question three times again.
This man was honest and replied:
"The student's surname is Chen Mingqin, and he is a descendant of the Chen family in Xu County. He used to work as a secretary in the back camp of the Han Army and can read and write."
Yan Zhuang was startled and lowered his voice:
"You are actually a descendant of the Chen family in Xu County. I didn't expect you to be a descendant of the three monarchs. I respect you."
What Yan Zhuang said made Chen Qin feel embarrassed. He shook his head:
"It's just a side branch that's not valued."
These words directly provoked a proud chuckle from the man next to him:
"You know who you are, so why are you still a thief? Shame on you!"
Chen Qin felt dim for a moment after saying this.
That's right, the Chen family started their business from their ancestor Chen Shi. The ancestor was originally just a regular servant in a county government office, and later became the capital Tingzuo. Later, he was rewarded by the county magistrate Deng Shao.
He was educated by the Imperial Academy. Later, he repaid his colleagues with virtue and took the punishment for the eunuch, so he gained the reputation of being admired by the world for his virtues. The ancestor became a famous scholar with academics and morals, and together with his two uncles Chen Ji and Chen Chen, they were known as the Three Lords, and then became
A noble family of scholar-bureaucrats.
Therefore, although Chen Qin was not a direct descendant of the main lineage, after he was captured, he still listened to what the man next to him said and did not forget his identity.
Or, Chen Qin just pretended that she knew nothing, so she was abandoned along with the person next to her.
But when Chen Qin and these people were about to be beheaded, memories of the past suddenly came to Chen Qin. He finally remembered how the main family treated these branches in the past.
Once, when the ancestor was celebrating his birthday, Chen Qin specially caught a pheasant in the wild to give to the ancestor for his birthday. However, not only the main entrance, but also the side entrance, the head of the family did not let Chen Qin enter.
When Chen Qin said that he had given a pheasant as a gift, he even sarcastically said:
"Not just any chicken can break into the owner's house. People need to be responsible and know their place, so they don't have to think about what they have and what they don't have all day long."
And all these estrangements started from a joke made by the ancestor Chen Shi.
At that time, he, Chen Qun and a group of his peers were playing in the old house. Chen Shi, the ancestor, suddenly pointed to the position of himself and Chen Qun and said:
"This son will definitely establish our sect."
At that time, no one knew who the ancestor was referring to. Of course, because Chen Qun was the main lineage, and Chen Qin was just the grandson of Chen Shi’s younger brother, everyone present deliberately applied this sentence to Chen Qun.
.
But a joke made by the ancestor back then still became a thorn in the side of the family. Especially when Chen Qin and Chen Qun entered the clan school at the same time, the former showed more intelligence than the latter, which made this thorn even more painful.
It's heartbreaking.
After that, Chen Qin was deliberately suppressed. For a long time, no one outside the Chen family knew that there was such a generation in the Chen family. Originally, Chen Qin thought that he could only be a leader within the clan, but the Yellow Turban Uprising broke out, and Huangfu Song also came to Yingchuan.
, Chen Qin wanted to give it a try, so she went to Huangfu Song.
Originally, Huangfu Song was highly valued because of his status as a descendant of the Chen family. But later someone from the Chen family told Huangfu Song, and Chen Qin was taken from the Huangfu Song shogunate to the supply camp and became a secretary.
, until he was captured by Liu Pi and others.
The person next to him, who was captured by Liu Pi together with him, was Guo Tu, Zuo Zhonglang's aide to Huangfu Song. Huangfu Song had previously visited Yangzhai and borrowed people from Yin Xiu, the prefect of Yingchuan, to enrich the shogunate. Yin Xiu recommended them one after another.
The officials from his own county, Zhang Zhong, Zhong Yao, Zhang Li, Du You, Xun You and Guo Tu, entered the shogunate of Huangfu Song.
Originally, he, Chen Qin, was one of them and knew all these people, but later he was demoted to work as a secretary in the supply camp and broke off all relations with these people.
But who knew that the Han army was defeated, and he retreated with a heavy supply battalion. On the way, he met Guo Tu who was running away. As soon as the two sides met, he was captured by Liu Pi just as he was about to break out of the encirclement.
Guo Tu is a descendant of the Guo family in Yangzhai. Starting from their ancestor Guo Gong, the Guo family has been wearing clothes and practicing "Xiao Du Lv" for generations. The descendants include one duke, seven court officials, three marquis, governor, and two thousand stones.
There are more than 20 ministers, ministers, and generals, and there are countless ministers, officials, and supervisors. It can be said that the Guo family is the representative of the legal family of the Han Dynasty, and has been a hairpin for many generations.
Therefore, as soon as Guo Tu was captured, he had to guard the Han Dynasty and also encouraged Chen Qin to join him, so the last two were selected.
At this moment, Chen Qin heard Guo Tu's sarcasm again, lowered her head and stopped talking.
Yan Zhuang saw all this and smiled. Then he said to Lao Jia over there:
"Old Jia, I want these people."
When Lao Jia heard that the deal was done, he drove over with a smile on his face and said uneasy:
"The price hasn't been announced yet."
"Old Jia, we'll take it here at the military officer's price. You'll come back to camp with us later."
When Yan Zhuang said this, he looked around and then said:
"Give me gold so you can wear it without being eye-catching."
Lao Jia smiled so hard that his eyes narrowed, and he kept praising him for being dignified and meticulous in doing things.
But Yan Zhuang suddenly pointed at Guo Tu and said to Lao Jia:
"But take this man away. He is too tough to be used by our Taishan Army."
Lao Jia had already wanted to show off. As soon as he heard this, his thick arms lifted Guo Tu out of the cage. Then he dragged him aside like a chicken.
Lao Jia drew out his knife and said to Yan Zhuang with a smile:
"It's a waste of millet to keep this kind of stuff that can't be sold. Just paste it on my knife edge."
After saying that, he put the short knife on Guo Tu's neck, and just as he was about to wipe it, he heard a sharp and deformed drake cry:
"Don't kill me, I'm useful!"
Afterwards, Guo Tu buried himself on the ground in shame.