Nanming Engineer

Chapter 19 The Horse Thief is Coming
A team of tens of thousands of people poured into the hinterland of the mountain from the entrance of the valley. After more than a dozen zhang, the eyes suddenly opened up again, the mountain walls split into two sides, and a clearing appeared in the valley.

The trees at the bottom of the valley are deep, and the night wind blows through the valley, setting off gusts of sinister wind, and the cries of night owls are everywhere, making people feel goosebumps all over their bodies.If someone walks alone at night, walking on this road, Hun'er will be scared away.

Wang Huan took advantage of the stars and moonlight in the sky to roughly see the topography of the valley. This valley is a typical spindle-shaped valley with closed ends and a bulge in the middle. There are gentle slopes between the high hills, and the whole valley looks like a huge bathtub.There are dense forests up and down the mountain, wild beasts can be seen everywhere, and there is no sign of human habitation. It is indeed a barren wilderness as Xu Goudan said.

Lighting torches, the cavalry of the Qing army passed by the side of the team again, and loudly conveyed the general order: "Each battalion finds an open space to set up camp, light a fire and cook, and don't make noise!"

After this order, the crowd immediately stopped, and the commanders of each battalion led their captains and corps commanders to choose a place to camp in the open space next to the road.There are many trees in the valley, and there are not many open spaces. In the darkness, it is impossible to cut down trees and split the ground. Of course, tents cannot be set up. Most people have no choice but to wrap themselves in raincoats and oilcloths, huddle together, and spend the night by the campfire.

So on both sides of the official road, dots of fire ignited, dotted at the bottom of the valley, like stars in the night sky, scattered everywhere, the fire-headed army buried pots to make food, and distributed it. Gather together and fall asleep slowly in the light of the fire.

Wang Huan brought more than a dozen young monks with him, but he didn't eat, and Li Tingyu's meal messengers also made an exception and didn't show up. They seemed to be abandoned children that no one cared about, and they hid alone outside the brigade.

Chen Ergou, sweating profusely, bent over his waist and rolled down the hillside at the bottom of the valley. He moved quickly and ran to Wang Huan without being noticed by anyone.

"We found out that Mr. Li and his car were indeed surrounded by Qing soldiers on the hillside. There were 200 Qing soldiers camping outside them. Mr. Li is afraid that he won't be able to get out." Chen Ergou wiped his face. Sweating, he hurriedly reported to Wang Huan.

Wang Huan raised his eyes and looked in the direction where Chen Ergou stretched his finger. He saw a gentle slope on the side of the mountain. The terrain there was relatively high, but the slope could barely pull a cart up. Li Tingyu's 500 people and more than 100 carts and carts were all pulled up.A large flag was fluttering on the top of the slope. Wang Huan recognized that it was the flag of the general of the Qing army, and the troops led by Zuoling Tuhai were also on that hillside.

"You haven't been discovered, have you?" Wang Huan asked Chen Ergou.

Chen Ergou raised his eyebrows, and his face showed color: "How could it be? I have been climbing the courtyard walls of wealthy people since I was a child to steal, and I have never been caught once. Such a trivial matter, I will not miss it."

Wang Huan nodded, then turned around and asked Xu Goudan who had just come back from a distance: "Where are you?"

Xu Goudan was drinking water. Hearing the sound, he quickly put down the water bottle, wiped his mouth and said, "The Qing soldiers in every battalion are gone. Now there are no Qing soldiers anywhere in the entire supply camp except Mr. Li. How many times have I asked?" Such a talkative corporal, they don't know what happened, they only know that after dark, the Qing soldiers who were originally scattered in the battalions were all withdrawn, and none remained."

Wang Huan looked at Hu Dahai again, the big man didn't wait for Wang Huan to speak, saw Wang Huan's face turned around, and hurriedly said: "I have seen the valley entrances at both ends, there are Qing cavalry guards, no one is allowed to enter or leave. .”

After the few people finished speaking, they all looked at Wang Huan fixedly. The information was combined together, and they had already faintly noticed that tonight, the Qing army might not be going out to rob some surrounding villages. Not even a ghost, so what to grab?They looked at Wang Huan and knew that this little junior must know something.

Wang Huan stared at the hillside coldly for a quarter of an hour, sneered at the corner of his mouth, snorted, and said to the monks surrounding him: "Brothers, I'm afraid everyone will not be clean tonight. Get closer when you sleep, and when there is any trouble, remember, follow me and run up the hillside, but don’t get close to the Qing army camp, just hide in the woods, if you get lost, hide in the woods, and wait until Everything is calm, come out again, understand?"

The monks looked at each other with terrified faces. They didn't know what was going to happen, but they didn't dare to ask. Since Wang Huan said that, he must have his reasons, so more than a dozen people responded in succession: "Understood, I understand." .”

But Hu Dahai was impatient and courageous, and couldn't suppress the doubts in his heart, so he couldn't help asking: "Wang Huan, what's the matter?"

The eyes of the young monks focused on Wang Huan again, and their ears were all pricked up.Wang Huan scanned around calmly, and said word by word: "Tonight, there are Qing soldiers pretending to be bandits, and they are going to enter the valley to plunder. There will be a massacre for the family team of the baggage camp."

These words were shocking and shocked all the children to their feet. They had always thought that after leaving Yangzhou City, they would be out of the war-torn place. As long as they arrived in Xuzhou, they would be more stable. However, they did not expect that just after they came out of the tiger's mouth, another Entering the wolf's den, after just a few days of peaceful life, he has to face the test of life and death again.

"Don't be afraid, everyone, just follow what I say, don't panic, and nothing will happen." Wang Huan said again. "Besides, we are not the target of looting by the Qing soldiers. As long as we hide, we will be safe."

Chen Ergou and Hu Dahai glanced at each other, raised their heads for a while, and said angrily: "Wang Huan, we are not afraid, at worst, we will follow the dead brothers to the West Paradise, but there are many old and weak women in this valley. This will be taken away by those Qing soldiers at will, we majestic men, just look at it like this?"

Wang Huan felt a pain in his heart. In the modern world, China was invaded by foreigners, and the history of oppression and plunder seemed to emerge before his eyes again. Those dark years and blood stains flashed in his mind.

Wang Huan shook his head, gritted his teeth and said, "Now we have no ability to help them. We have to save our lives and our bodies so that we will have the chance to take revenge in the future. I am as unwilling as you are, but it is not too late for a gentleman to take revenge. Remember, in less than ten years, I will let you kill the enemy with your hands! Tonight, you must obey my order and temporarily avoid the enemy's edge."

The group of people suddenly fell silent, no one spoke, a pair of eyes were full of grief and anger, pain, or helplessness, and all kinds of emotions flickered in them. Complex emotions collided fiercely in the heart, with fists clenched, and more than a dozen figures standing in the darkness, standing a long time.

At this moment, in the military camp on the hillside, it was a different scene.

The lights in the Chinese military tent were brightly lit, and the Qing army isolated the place and no outsiders were allowed to approach.Inside the camp, Suler was fully clothed, wearing tattered leather armor that was obviously not the standard equipment of the Qing army. He was wearing a nondescript felt hat with the braid on the back of his head coiled in the hat. He was wearing cowhide boots and a long knife hanging high. He stood in Tuhai's tent with an excited face, surrounded by a circle of Qing generals dressed in the same uniform as him, facing Tuhai, listening to his words.

"Everyone, tonight's good opportunity is when we get rich. The outside arrangements have been made. The money, gold and silver of the Han people are already waiting for you to snatch them. Tomorrow morning, I will add hundreds of rich people to Baiqi!" Haiha laughed loudly, and shouted in an undisguised rough voice.

"Hahaha, Mr. Xie Zuo led you to support us, and we will live up to your trust!" Su Le and the others also laughed and responded in unison.

With a smile on his face, Tu Hai sat on the soft leather cushion, crossed his legs and warned: "After the matter is over, you don't have to come back, just rush to Huai'an with your belongings, find a farm outside the city to live temporarily, change the color of your clothes, Then we’ll meet up when we arrive tomorrow.”

"Yes!" Su Le responded with cupped fists.

"Of course." Tuhai's eyes flashed murderous intent: "That farm is going to be silenced."

"Yes! Please rest assured, my lord, not even a dog will see the sun tomorrow morning." Su Le said in a deep voice, "It's just, my lord, when we leave, there are only 150 bannermen left in the battalion. Safe, will there be any problems?"

"What's the problem?" Tu Hai slapped his palm on the desk, and said bluntly: "The Ming army is like pigs and dogs. From here to Huai'an, it's only a few tens of miles away, and within a hundred miles is my university. What are you afraid of in the land of the Qing? Even if there are remnants of the Ming army who dare to attack me, one of my Qing soldiers will count as ten, and if I don’t kill every single one of them, then my merit list will only increase my head!"

Su Le and the others were overjoyed, they cupped their fists in compliment and said, "Zuo Ling Shenwei, I'm too worried about waiting."

Tu Hai waved his hand and urged: "No need to say any more, the night is already dark, go quickly, don't miss the time!"

So everyone in the tent filed out, got on their horses outside, and without lighting a torch, quietly walked out of the valley along the other side of the hillside by the starlight.

Tuhai stood at the gate of the battalion commander, watching the backs of Su Le and others disappear into the darkness, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he said to himself: "Your mother, you want us to guard Jinshan and starve, do you think I am Tuhai stupid?" ? I dare not touch this silver car, but if I touch Mr. Liu's private property, it doesn't matter."

After saying that, he turned around and went into the account.

In the tent, a bent Han man has been brought in by the soldiers to wait. On the table in the middle of the tent, a large pot of steaming beef is exuding a fragrant smell. The beef must have been added with cumin Seasoning, people can't help but want to eat after smelling it.

"Hmph, you are quite filial." Tuhai walked over, sat at the table, and squinted at the Han people standing beside him.

"Where is it, sir, this is some meat that the little people collected a few days ago. I don't dare to enjoy it all to myself. I will give it to the adults and the flag soldiers to have a taste and express their feelings." The Han man nodded and bowed.

"Li Tingyu, I heard about you. You are also a person who served as a general. You must have some skills. Follow me and make a contribution. I will report it to Prince Yu. When he is happy, maybe you can Raise the flag." Tu Hai tore off a piece of beef with his hands, threw it into his mouth, chewed until his mouth was full of oil, and said comfortably.

"Thank you for your kindness, sir, thank you for your kindness!" Li Tingyu was overjoyed, bowing down and thanking him endlessly.

He peeked at Tu Hai, who was having a good meal, his eyes shot brightly, and the killing intent flashed away.

The night is getting darker and quieter, the people around the campfire have gradually dispersed, lying or leaning in the woods, gradually falling asleep, tired and tired after a day's journey, Time to rest.

Liu Liangzuo's personal soldiers were withdrawn before departure, but he still left two posing as family members in the carriage queue.Along the way, the two men stayed close to Liu Liangzuo's dozens of private carriages. They hid several waist knives in the mezzanine of the carriages in case they needed to defend themselves in case of an unexpected incident.

However, the two defended, mainly the family members of the soldiers in the team, who were worried about being sneakily stolen. As for the others, they were not particularly worried. After all, this was a heavy camp guarded by the Qing army, so how could they be so intrusive? Come looking for trouble.

The two were careful and vigilant, and even slept in the cages to find a space to lie down. As for Liu Liangzuo's wives, concubines, and family members, they were not so concerned. The main property, as one of the four towns in Nanming Jiangbei, it is modest to say that he has a family of ten thousand. In major cities across the country, he has his family property, and that is the main source of income.

When the moon was in the middle of the sky and the whole valley fell into silence, a faint sound of horseshoes sounded on the official road outside the valley. It gradually got closer and louder, and at the end, it was like thunder.

(End of this chapter)