Nanming Engineer

Chapter 64 Beggar
One day later, three boys with bald heads and dirty faces emerged from the valley of the Dabie Mountains. Their clothes were ragged and their faces were emaciated. At first glance, they looked like orphans whose parents had died in the war. The official road of Xiangyang.

Wuchang Road is adjacent to Dabie Mountain and Tongbai Mountain in the north, and Dahong Mountain in the south. It has been an important east-west road since ancient times. The road is spacious and flat. , Ten miles to a station, fifty miles to an episode, in terms of the number of pedestrians, vehicles and horses passing by, it is not much less than the official roads around the capital city.

Even in today's war-torn era, there are still people coming and going on this road, but there are fewer merchant mule teams, more marching soldiers, and many ordinary people with families and tired faces, staggering from the direction of Wuchang come.

Wang Huan and the other three were in the Dabie Mountains, carefully avoiding Su Lesou's soldiers, and made a long circle in the mountains before they got out of the mountains and came to Wuchang Road. The three of them looked like beggars, but of course no one After paying attention, he naturally mixed into the group of refugees coming from Wuchang, wrapped up and headed towards Xiangyang.

The three of them were tired and hungry, and all their money fell into the rock and fled.

Relying on his smallness and boldness, Xu Goudan pretended to be pitiful, and when he was passing by a market, he begged for a bowl of heat-relieving tea from the owner of a tea shed. Shared the drink with Chen Ergou.

In the tea shed, passers-by were taking a break, and a middle-aged man with the appearance of a businessman was sitting at the table talking about the current situation to his companions, and he said: "After finishing this business, let's take a rest, the situation is too serious. Chaos, it is too dangerous for us Xiangyang businessmen to walk on the road, and the concubine in my family has just passed through the door, so I can't let him be a widow."

Another person said: "Shopkeeper, you are so lucky. You have a big family and a big business. We can get some benefits by following you. But I heard that Li Zicheng has fled to Guangdong and Guangxi. Wuchang Road is about to become peaceful. Why does the shopkeeper have to go out of business?"

The middle-aged shopkeeper waved his hand and said, "Who did you listen to? Li Zicheng's Dashun Army was the one who conquered the capital. They are all fierce soldiers. Look at the refugees from Wuchang on the official road. Ask them, and you will know." gone."

He took a sip of water and continued: "A skinny camel is bigger than a horse, and a rotten ship has three pounds of nails. How could Li Zicheng lose Wuchang so easily? They were fighting fiercely over there. Bai Wang, the general of the Dashun Army, was defending Wuchang and Dashun. Prince Ying of the Qing Dynasty was busy going back and forth every day. I heard that the dead people on the river had blocked the water, and the water all over the river turned red. I saw that the Tongguan War in the previous few months was not so tragic. This It's a business trip, we'll turn around when we get to the front, don't be cannon fodder."

The people in the tea shed sighed for a while, and Wang Huan and others outside also understood it. It seems that this Huguang province will fall into the hands of Manqing, and it will sooner or later.

The three of them huddled in the corner together, holding tea bowls and drinking water. Chen Ergou licked his chapped lips and said worriedly: "Wang Huan, if we are in this situation, even if we reach Xiangyang, how can we get to Yichang? The road is full of chaos and chaos. Yes, the three of us are alone and weak, I’m afraid it will be extremely difficult.”

Xu Goudan also said: "Yes, we have been searching under that stone mountain for so long, but we have not found Mr. Li's body. There is no news about Li Yan, Zubian and others. We don't even have a token on us. Even if we get to Kuimen, will the adults in Sichuan treat me well?"

Wrapped in rags, Wang Huan watched the pedestrians hurrying along the official road, but said calmly: "Of course there are difficulties, but we have no other way out except to go to the central Sichuan. Qin Zongbing seeks a background under Mr. Li's tent, and there are eight teams under Mr. Li, there will always be someone who can return to Sichuan alive, and then he will be able to testify for me in front of Qin Zongbing, that is our way of survival."

Xu Goudan looked at Wang Huan, hesitated to speak, hesitated for a long time, and then whispered: "It's just going from here to the middle of Sichuan, thousands of miles away, and countless obstacles. Can the three of us make it there alive?"

Chen Ergou said angrily: "What? Goofy, do you have no confidence in Wang Huan? If you don't have confidence, get out, I can't stand your shrinking look!"

Xu Goudan hurriedly argued: "What are you talking about! I'm just talking about the current situation. I don't have confidence in Wang Huan anymore."

Chen Ergou said loudly: "When Wang Huan rescued us from the dangerous place in Yangzhou, we swore that we would obey him in everything. We are a manly man, so we must keep our promises, and we must not be those treacherous people. When we come out to walk the rivers and lakes, our loyalty is great." the most important."

Xu Goudan replied: "Of course, I am the most loyal."

Wang Huan waited for the two of them to talk for a long time, closed his eyes and thought for a while, and said slowly: "Now that we have nothing, we should be united as one. You two should stop arguing. Master Li risked his life to bring us back to Sichuan." No more, we still have nothing to let go of, even if the road ahead is full of swords and flames, we have to make it through."

The two hurriedly said: "Of course, of course, we will go together, and we will share weal and woe."

The death of Li Tingyu was very exciting to Wang Huan. The smooth sailing at first made him a little careless, thinking that the ancients were nothing more than that. Only after a trap did he come to his senses. In this era, it is not so easy to be called a king. To achieve a career and turn the world around, blood and sacrifice are the necessary price.

He asked himself, as a scholar, if he wanted to control the army and carry out civil affairs in this era, he might not even be able to figure out the door. If some book experience of later generations needs to be translated into practical operations, without a down-to-earth style, it will not work here at all.

There is still a long way to go, and I have to be more cautious and work harder, otherwise the shadow of death will continue to hang over my head.Wang Huan sighed inwardly.

The maturity of a man comes from learning experience from this failure and growing continuously.

"Let's go to Xiangyang first, and then we will argue." Wang Huan said decisively. He had already made a decision in his heart. No matter what, even if he begged all the way, he had to go to Shizhu. Only there would be the only person in this era who could compete with the Manchurian soldiers. The army that the horse contends with can only look at the world if you master that army.

After drinking the tea in the bowl, Xu Goudan returned the tea bowl with a smile on his face. He also wanted to ask for two steamed buns, but he was kicked out impatiently and scolded: "Little beggar, get out of here!"

The three of them endured hunger and set foot on the official road to Xiangyang again. Fortunately, there were many prefecture and county fairs along the way, and there were always some kind-hearted people. Occasionally, they could get some leftovers. Although the wild fruits on the roadside were bitter, they were always delicious. It can satisfy their hunger, Wang Huan and the three of them will have a good meal. They can meet some temples on the way, and they can use the hair on their heads to pretend to be novice monks with a embarrassment to get a vegetarian meal.

After walking for nearly ten days, the three of them almost regarded themselves as beggars. Following countless refugees, they walked a long road of hundreds of miles. With their faces full of exhaustion and dust, they saw the huge city.

　PS: Code words are bitter. Readers who like this book, please collect it more and recommend it more. The rising data is my motivation.

　　


(End of this chapter)