The laborers in Xinxiang had already packed their packages and were waiting on the field at dawn.
Inside, Zhao Sanlao was giving Deng Dang his final instructions.
At this time, Deng Dang was wearing a bunt and wearing straw sandals while listening to Zhao Sanlao talking:
"You shouldn't be allowed to go this time. You are about to get married to Lu Shibi. Why do you want to do this?"
Deng Dang carefully tied the rope on the linen clothes and said with a smile:
"Doesn't this make you feel at ease? It's not like Brother Qian and Lao Gao don't know how bad-tempered they are, and they might cause some trouble on the road. I'll go, so you can rest assured."
Zhao Sanlao sighed, knowing that Deng Dang was thinking about the villagers, so he stopped persuading him.
He asked:
"Why don't you want a big car this time? With a big car on the road, you can save some energy on your back."
Deng Dang said indifferently:
"There is only one big car in the village, and there is usually a lot of work to do. This time we go out with 82 people at a time. The manpower in the village is not enough. If we take the big car away, what will we do with the spring plowing?"
When Zhao Sanlao wanted to say something, Deng Dang stopped him with a smile:
"Third elder, don't worry. This labor trip is to Pingyu. I'll be back in two months at most. Then I will ask you to officiate my wedding."
Zhao Sanlao also laughed when he heard this.
The two talked about their arrangements for the trip again.
After they set off in a while, they will be able to arrive in Fupi County by noon. They will then set off after handing over the military rations.
Fupi is remote and there is no official road directly to Pingyu, so you must first go west along the Huai River, pass through Yuanlu County and then Qisi County. There is a Qishui River there, and then you only need to follow the official road to the Qishui River.
Arrived in Pingyu.
It can also be seen from here that the roads in this world are almost always laid out along the direction of the river. The reason for this is that water is convenient on the road.
But since Deng Dang and the others were along the Huai River and the Pei River, why not just take a boat? Isn't taking a boat more comfortable than walking?
But unfortunately, Fupi did not have a "rich" ship for Deng to use. The rulers and documents given to them meant that they could walk there.
Seeing that it was getting dark, Deng Dang didn't say anything more to Zhao Sanlao, and went out of the hall to prepare to set off with the laborers outside.
At this time, the laborers outside were dressed differently from Deng Dang.
Most of the people were naked and had a pair of poles and bundles of hemp ropes in their hands, as well as some dry food prepared for them at home.
Deng Dang was their laborer. Because he had to deal with the government officials along the way, he wore a short coat, otherwise he would be ridiculed.
Then, with the worried eyes of the family members, everyone walked towards the county seat in the north under the first ray of sunshine.
The eighty-two men present were all from the military, and they may have different martial arts, but they all had a pair of iron feet. The weather was good today, neither hot nor cold, so everyone arrived at Fupei City earlier than expected.
At this time, the south gate of Fupei City has been opened, and business travelers are constantly passing through the city.
Although Fupi is a small place, it is located on the Huai River. Goods from the Central Plains to Xuzhou, especially Guangling, all pass through here.
So just looking at the bustling crowd, it is not inferior to other major counties in the county.
Many of the people in Xinxiang entered Fupi City for the first time, and they all looked a little cautious.
Deng Dang was also worried about something unexpected happening, so even though he had arrived early, he still took everyone to the county warehouse in the southeast of the city.
When we arrived here, there were already a lot of people, and from time to time we could see people dressed in luxurious clothes who looked like servants walking around. They kept instructing people to put bags of rice and rice on the cart outside the warehouse. .
Judging from the deep ruts, the cargo on these vehicles is not light.
Deng Dang also watched these people busy with curiosity, while others were squatting at the base of the wall drinking water.
But the appearance of such a group of people here naturally attracted the attention of the county officials.
On a small high-rise building, a wealthy slave was chatting with a black-headed clerk, and from time to time gestured to Deng Dang and others who were waiting below.
The clerk nodded and bowed, and after sending the slave away, he hurriedly went downstairs and walked to Deng Dang.
Seeing Deng Dang dressed as a leader, the clerk said:
"Are you the service members of Xinxiang?"
When Deng Dang saw that it was a warehouse official coming, he hurriedly led everyone to get up.
He bent down, nodded to the clerk and said:
"Yes, Chen Shuzuo from the county asked us to come to this warehouse."
The clerk didn't say much to Deng Dang and just asked them to follow him in.
When Deng Dang and several leaders came in, they saw more than a hundred rice figurines already dropped into the warehouse, and twenty large carts parked outside, each with a driver.
Just when Deng Dang was confused, the little official said:
"You are also lucky. There happens to be a noble person in the county who has a car to go to the county this time. You can transport more by then."
Deng Dang was overjoyed and thanked him for being so busy.
But after the clerk said this, he turned around and left.
At this time, a well-dressed slave came over. He was the man who had just been talking to the warehouseman upstairs.
He came over and hugged Deng Dang:
"Zhi next week is the team leader, and we help each other along the way."
Deng Dang was flattered when he heard this, and he didn't dare to say anything.
But don’t look at Deng Dang’s expression now, but he is actually already muttering in his heart:
"Which of these noble people will be kind enough to help us carry goods? We really have an empty car, why don't we bring whatever we want? When the time comes, we can sell it in the county, and it won't be money."
But actually Deng Dang was wrong in his suspicion.
In fact, these twenty carts belonged to the county. The magistrate of Fupi County was also considerate of the people. Knowing that spring plowing was about to recruit people to serve, he was already in trouble, let alone walking to the county.
The county magistrate once traveled to Hanoi when he was young and saw with his own eyes how hard the Hanoi expeditioners worked to transfer military supplies to Taiyuan.
Therefore, the Fupi County magistrate specially dispatched a batch of large carts for this expedition. There were originally fifty carts, and each cart could carry twelve shi of grain. That would mean that 600 shi of grain could be transferred in one trip.
In addition to the hundreds of stones that the conquerors themselves carried, they could transfer seven hundred stones at that time.
But unfortunately, when these large carts arrived, only twenty carts were left, and the rest were taken away by the powerful men in the county and used for other purposes.
But in the end, I didn't dare to look too ugly, so I kept these twenty cars and got a bargain.
Deng Dang was not clear about these things, but this did not prevent him from being alert in his heart.
He felt that this labor trip might not be easy.
Soon, the people in Xinxiang dropped all the rice warriors in the warehouse on the cart. Each rice warrior weighed three stones, and a total of eighty bags of rice warriors were dropped on the cart.
Then the Xinxiang people each carried a stone on their backs, which were tied firmly to their backs with hemp ropes. One stone of brown rice weighed sixty kilograms.
This weight made these Xinxiang people bend down.
It's pitiful. Originally, these people didn't have to carry their own transportation.
Deng Dang had already taken off his short coat and carried a stone. The stone fell on Deng Dang's back, as if it was weightless, and he didn't even bend his waist.
He walked to Zhou Zhi beside the cart and said respectfully:
"We are all ready. I don't know when Brother Zhou can set off."
Zhou Zhi was also a knight-errant, and he was quite famous among Jianghuai people. When he saw Deng Dang carrying a stone of rice on his back, without blushing or out of breath, he couldn't help but admire:
"He is a good man, I don't know what to call him."
Deng Dang felt ashamed and said:
"Rural people have a lot of strength. My name is Deng Dang. If Brother Zhou doesn't mind, just call me A Dang."
Zhou Zhi didn't care much about this matter at first, but now that he saw Deng Dang's bravery, he started to want to make friends with him.
He said cheerfully:
"Okay, now that you are ready, let's go."
So, in the sparkling wheels, Deng Dang and others passed through the west gate of Fupi and went south along a dirt road, preparing to go to the Huai River Road in the south.
At this time, Deng Dang didn't know what was waiting for them.
…
February 12th.
Deng Dang and his party, together with twenty carts, were walking on the official road on the north bank of the Huai River.
Since leaving Fupi County, Deng Dang and others have been traveling all the way. When they are tired, they grit their teeth, and when they are thirsty, they take a sip of water from the bamboo tube hanging around their necks.
The people in Xinxiang were like a group of ants, carrying military rations on their backs and sweating like rain.
But fortunately, they reached the official road on the north bank of Huai River.
Compared with the dirt road we took before, the road now is much easier to walk. In addition, the river breeze blowing on the Huaihe River at this time is refreshing and refreshing, which makes people feel very happy.
At this time, Zhou Zhi was sitting in front of the car, staring at the boats sailing southward on the Huaihe River, in a daze.
Next to the car, Deng Dang was still carrying rice turtles. Now he saw Zhou Zhi in a daze and asked:
"Brother Zhou, what are you thinking?"
In the past two days, the relationship between Deng Dang and Zhou Zhi had become much better. He also learned from Zhou Zhi that there were originally fifty large carts.
Deng Dang did not complain about this, because this was the situation in the army.
He's used to it.
But Deng Dang was very fond of Zhou Zhi who told him the inside story.
At this time, after listening to Deng Dang's words, Zhou Zhi woke up from his trance and said with a smile:
"Actually, I didn't think about anything. I just felt like I was from another world. My family is from a wealthy family, but I was young and poor. My family couldn't support me, so I was asked to follow my second uncle who was wandering around the world. Then for seven or eight years, I lived in Huaihe
Hanging out on the water. As soon as I saw the fleet, I thought of my past."
Deng Dang flattered:
"Brother Zhou was also a heroic man who traveled across the Yangtze River and Huaihe River back then."
Zhou Zhi shook his head:
"Back then, people were just hanging around with no way out. In my circle of rangers, no one was over thirty. My second uncle was already the oldest, but he was also hacked to death within a few years of me following him.
I'm on the Huai River. It's better now. I have a home, a wife, and a backer. Don't you think I'll be thirty this year? Can being a ranger be such a blessing?"
Deng Dang nodded, knowing that what Zhou Zhi said was true.
He knew that Zhou Zhi had done some work for others, and he should be a top-notch general. But it was a pity that Zhou Zhi never said who the master behind him was.
Otherwise, maybe this is an opportunity to protect the restored households in Xinxiang?
While Deng Dang was thinking about it, Zhou Zhi next to him was also thinking about it.
He looked back at the Xinxiang people who were carrying military supplies and kept silent, and sighed in his heart:
"They are really a good group of soldiers."
In the past two days, he also found out the details from these people and knew that they were a group of veterans who had defeated the Yellow Turban Army. It was said that they were soldiers of the king's governor back then.
The reason why it is said is that Zhou Zhi does not believe it. After all, since the imperial court was restructured, the governor's power and status have become more and more like that of a state shepherd. With such a big shot as his backer, will he be conscripted into labor?
But this does not prevent Zhou Zhi from thinking about these people. Each of these people are veterans, and as long as they are armed, they can become a powerful army. And there are a total of 500 such soldiers in Xinxiang.
This can't help but make Zhou Zhi greedy.
Because his master came from a noble family, he often exchanged letters with relatives and friends from all over the country. Zhou Zhi often heard his master lament that troubled times were coming and the country was no longer in a state.
Zhou Zhi didn't know why the world was in chaos. Isn't Runan a good place? Are you talking about those Yellow Turban thieves? These people have been exterminated for two years, and it is said that only a small number of them are farming in Gepi.
But those people can bring chaos to the world.
But there must be a reason why his master said this, and Zhou Zhi must not understand it. But Zhou Zhi understands one thing:
"In troubled times, the knife in your hand is the most important."
Therefore, he wanted to attract this batch of rehabilitated households for his master and see if there was any chance of recruiting them into Buqu.
Just as Zhou Zhi was about to reveal this idea, he suddenly saw three sloops sailing over the Huaihe River.
Seeing this, Zhou Zhi frowned.
…
At this time, we were on the Huai River, in the middle of three sloops.
More than twenty evil young men were surrounding a heroic man wearing leather armor and a red turban, looking fiercely at the official road on the shore.
There, a convoy of twenty large vehicles was moving slowly.
One of the evil young men asked the Yingwu man:
"Li Kui, is this what we want to rob?"
The Yingwu man didn't say anything, but a person next to him scolded him:
"I don't know how to read. Didn't you see the flag hanging on the motorcade? Also, we are not robbing this time, we are going to kill them all. Do you understand?"
The scolded evil boy felt a little aggrieved because he really didn't know how to read.
Even if the flag hanging high on the motorcade had the word "lose" written on it, he couldn't tell the difference between this word and the others.
After the evil boy was scolded, the atmosphere on the deck became a bit low.
One of them wanted to be active and started a topic. He asked Yingwu Hanzi:
"Li Kui, you didn't talk to the brothers before you went to Kyoto? So what's going on in Kyoto? Are women fair?"
At this time, this heroic man began:
"White is not only white for women, but also for men. It also smells good."
These words made all the bad boys feel ashamed. They looked at each other's dark skin, and no matter how warm the smell of fish on the deck was, they still couldn't imagine what it looked like to be white and fragrant.
But the following words of Mr. Yingwu broke the evil young men’s illusions about the distant Kyoto:
"But I, Li Tong, never want to go to Kyoto in my life. It doesn't belong to me. Only the Huai River is our root. Without people to follow, death is not far away."
The evil boys didn't know why their leader said such things. In short, since he came back from Kyoto, he has been training the brothers and always saying some truths that they don't understand.
But these are not important. Anyway, Kui is back and we can have fun on the Huaihe River again.
As a result, the three ships quickly docked.
After that, Li Tong jumped off the deck first and said only one sentence:
"Kill them all for me."
…
In the second month of the third year of the Republic of China, the whole country was in turmoil. Robbers broke out in Huaibei. Each led a strong man and plundered many people. For a time, there was no way to transport tribute from the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers. ——"The Biography of the Heroes of Runan"