Nanming Engineer

Chapter 16

Wang Huan did not expect that the march would be so chaotic, with no guarantee of food. This is not a migration of family members with the army, it is a prisoner-of-war camp.

Sure enough, half an hour later, when the sky was completely dark, a group of young monks came back with empty bowls. They were at the end of the queue and didn't even get a single grain of rice. Seniors, they are useless at all, they deserve to have nothing to eat.

Seeing a group of children sitting beside him with dejected expressions, looking tired and hungry, Wang Huan frowned.

While they were thinking about it, a strong man carrying an earthen jar walked over from the middle of the camp lined with tents. He called Wang Huan's name from a distance. The young monks took a closer look and saw that it was Li Yan.The camp of Li Yan and others was not in the same tent as the tent of Wang Huan and others. Because the vehicles carrying wooden boxes had to be guarded nearby, all the white-poled soldiers were circled in the center of the camp and slept beside the vehicles, while Wang Huan and the others were arranged on the edge of the camp, which was a dispensable arrangement.

There was another person following Li Yan, but he was a bit taller than Li Yan, with a disheveled beard, and it was Li Tingyu who followed behind.

"Didn't you grab the meal?" Approaching, the bearded Li Tingyu asked with a smile: "Come, come, it doesn't matter, there is here."

The aroma of rice wafted out from the earthen pot. It was mellow and rich, and the smell of white rice almost made people stretch out their claws from the throat. Wang Huan and others were excited, my benefactor!
"Don't panic, there is enough rice, and there are pickles." Li Yan used a wooden spoon to fill the food for the young monks. There was a small bowl on the earthen pot, and there were some pickles in it.

Ordinary white rice, if there is no meat and vegetables in the later generations, it will be difficult to eat plain white rice, but at this time, let alone pickles, even if it is dry white rice, Wang Huan can make three bowls Without breath.

The earthen jar soon bottomed out, and a dozen or so young monks were eagerly looking at Li Tingyu, their eyes full of hope. The meaning couldn't be more clear: "Benefactor, is there any more?"

Li Tingyu and Li Yan were surprised that these children could eat so much. This was the amount for ten adults. They avoided the surveillance of the Qing soldiers and saved from their own rations. They thought it was enough. But it seemed that the little monks were only half full.

The two looked at each other in embarrassment, Li Yan picked up the earthen pot, and said with a moaning voice: "That, it's gone, it's gone, I'll get some more tomorrow."

Li Tingyu has a bold personality, he laughed and said, "You're really a half-baby, I'm so overwhelmed, to be honest, that's really all I have today, and we picked it out from between our teeth. We'll think of a way to bring you more tomorrow." Just a little."

When Wang Huan heard this, he understood what was going on. Regardless of the pain in his feet, he quickly stood up and said with his hands in his hands: "It turns out that you saved it from your own rations. Thank you very much. You just gave it to us. What should you do?" "

When the children heard this, they knew how the meal came about, and quickly knelt down and kowtowed to thank, Li Tingyu waved his hand, and said: "It's just a meal, as for what, one less bite for each of us is enough to feed you to death. You are still young, don’t go grab food from those refugees, I will send someone to bring you every meal every day from now on, the Qing soldiers dared to embezzle other people’s food, but ours did not dare.”

Chen Ergou asked curiously: "Why?"

Before Li Tingyu could answer, Wang Huan smiled and said, "That's natural, they don't dare to let you starve, otherwise if someone gets hungry, stealing a box and a half to escape would be enough for them."

The monks were puzzled, but Wang Huan and Li Tingyu understood what they meant and laughed out loud.

After laughing, Li Tingyu gave Li Tingyu a wink, and Li Yan took the young monks away to tell them the story of his battle on the battlefield. Such stories are very attractive to fifteen or sixteen-year-old children, and they are just full Fan cheered and went.

After the idlers walked away, Li Tingyu and Wang Huan looked around at the same time, and after confirming that there was no one there, they approached the campfire and sat together.

"There was a small setback today, but it didn't arouse the suspicion of the Qing army. The overall situation is going well." Li Tingyu said slowly in a low voice: "I heard from Li Yan that your reaction is very good, and you are not chaotic in the face of danger. That The Qing soldier who was looking for trouble was called Su Le, but he has some skills, you can fool him, it is very impressive."

Wang Huan smiled and said: "When things are urgent, that's all we can do. As long as he doesn't become suspicious, that's great."

Li Tingyu said: "They regard you as a little monk, which is more convenient. From here to Huai'an, according to today's footsteps, it will take more than three days. You will be a little tired in these three days. Can you hold on?"

This level of marching is not even a warm-up for the white-armed soldiers. Their record is that they can march two hundred miles a day and night with heavy loads. This is unmatched in the army of the Ming Dynasty.But Li Tingyu knew that Wang Huan and others were different. They were all teenagers. Although their brains were very smart, they couldn't replace their bodies. Moreover, people with strong minds generally had poor health, and they continued like this all day long. It's a big challenge.

"It's okay, I can persevere." Wang Huanliang lit his stinky feet, exposing the blisters on the soles of his feet. "There are blisters today. If they are broken, they will scab tomorrow. When calluses grow, then there will be no problem."

In Li Tingyu's eyes, a few small blisters were as normal as growing a beard, so Wang Huan said it was all right, and he didn't ask any further questions, and changed the subject.

"I have been paying attention to observation today, and secretly pried open a box with a knife to see what's inside." Li Tingyu said: "It's really full of gold and silver things inside, it hasn't even been melted, what a mess it looks like There are all of them, it seems that the Qing army is in a hurry."

Wang Huan cheered up and said happily, "They are in a hurry to go south, so of course they don't have time to deal with it, but it is confirmed that it is the gold and silver that was shipped, so it is exactly as we expected."

Li Tingyu nodded and asked: "Shouldn't we send someone to go first and stand in front of the fight now?"

He is an upright person, and he admires Wang Huan from the bottom of his heart. He will obey Wang Huan's plans no matter what. He never pretends to be a big-tailed wolf or a general because of Wang Huan's young age, so he must first seek Wang Huan's opinion before doing anything.

Wang Huan thought about it for a while, and agreed: "Okay, we should send someone there. This person must be trustworthy, capable, and able to handle things well. It can greatly facilitate our actions."

Li Tingyu nodded and said: "I'll arrange people right now. I'll leave tonight while it's dark. I'll be ahead of the team. I can arrive in Huai'an two days earlier."

The two discussed it, and the plan was finalized, Li Tingyu left without further delay, carrying the empty earthen jar, Wang Huan continued picking up the scalding blisters on his own, wailing strangely from time to time to relieve the pain.

After a while, Chen Ergou and Xu Goudan came back with a group of monks, discussing while walking, talking excitedly about the battlefield.

"Wang Huan, do you think that if we go to the battlefield, can we be as powerful as General Li?" Chen Ergou sat down next to Wang Huan, and said with unsatisfactory meaning.

Before Wang Huan could answer, Xu Goudan smiled and said, "Come on, with us like this, we can't even hold a heavy knife steadily, how can we fight?"

Chen Ergou said angrily: "Why can't you hold it steady? Didn't General Li say that heroes don't ask where they come from, young men have their own heroes, as long as they are courageous and skilled, we can compare real swords and guns on the battlefield. State Tartars are bad."

Xu Goudan curled his lips: "A reckless man, you only know how to fight and kill, and you need to use your brain to fight. You only know how to rush and run around. What's the use? You can learn from Wang Huan, and use your brain to find a way is king."

Chen Ergou retorted: "Brain? Do you have it? Wang Huan dared not blink his eyes when the sword was on his body, that is courageous and skillful. You seemed to be so scared that your pants fell off, right?"

The two of you talked to each other, and the more they talked, the more energetic they were, but every sentence brought Wang Huan into it. It seemed that without Wang Huan, there was no reference for their words, which made Wang Huan dumbfounded. With good words of persuasion, the quarrel between the two stopped.

"You two, don't argue, okay? We have to continue marching at dawn tomorrow. It's completely dark today, and we've heard stories after dinner. Shouldn't we go to bed and rest? We're monks anyway, can we calm down?"

Chen Ergou took the opportunity to post it, leaned close to his ear and whispered: "Wang Huan, you brought our brothers and sisters out alive, and you are our savior. My life, Chen Ergou, is yours. Brother also means the same thing, tell us, when we arrive in Xuzhou, we all follow you, are you really going to Luocao to become the king of the mountain?"

Wang Huan looked at the two excited faces helplessly, and said in his heart: Yes, I have such a little ambition in your hearts, to be the king of the mountain?Is that the way out?
So he sighed, and said to the two of them: "What kind of king of the mountain? Even if we have nowhere to go, don't you not do those things that are harmful to the sky, killing people and robbing the Tao, are you really doing justice for the sky? You have heard too much storytelling." .”

The two were forced together: "Then... what are we going to do?"

Wang Huan kicked him alone: ​​"Go to bed!"

After all, I ignored them, got into a tent by myself, lay on the ground with all my clothes on, closed my eyes, and fell into a deep sleep, I was so tired this day, my body was sore all over, as soon as my head stuck to the ground, I fell asleep caught.

Before dawn the next day, a low sound of horns began to float over the camp. Along with the horns, horse whips and shouts of curses sounded at the same time. The Qing soldiers began to check the camps one by one, and they saw that even the horns sounded and they were still not out of the tents. Yes, just broke in and smoked randomly.

Soon, the smoke rose, and the breakfast was still gruel. The foremen were busy and sweating profusely, mixing the brown rice and water together, stirring it with a large spoon, and distributing it as soon as the fire started.

With the lessons learned from last night, especially after the appearance of the bloody corpse, people became more self-aware, tremblingly lined up to receive a pitiful little porridge, and brought it back to their family's residence to eat hastily.

When the sun rose, the team had already packed up, and people helped the old and the young, walking numbly, carrying the burden on their backs, and walking forward mechanically, and a new day began again.

(End of this chapter)