Cutting over the end of the Ming Dynasty: a dog-leg knife at the beginning

Chapter 162

The old man held the two ingots of silver, his hands trembling like autumn leaves, even his beard was trembling, and he might faint at any time.Fortunately, as he got older and had seen more storms, he still had some self-control. He tried hard to restrain himself and prevent himself from fainting. He stammered: "Mr... Young Master, this money... is too much." There are too many, and the old man can’t find them!”

Yang Menglong said dissatisfiedly: "It's so troublesome!" To pass one of the silver coins, he pulled out the horizontal knife and chopped off a piece of silver with one stroke, and then threw the big piece to the old man.

Everyone's eyes widened again, this knife is really sharp!Hey, where did these guys come from?Even if you have money, you still wear a treasured sword that cuts iron like mud?

Holding the silver in his hands, the old man weighed it and said, "It's still too much...a few taels too much..."

Yang Menglong has to lament the simplicity of people in this era, who refuse to take advantage of it, which is really precious.He waved his hand and said, "The extra taels will be given to you! By the way, what about arrows? Don't tell me you only sell crossbows, not arrows."

The old man smiled stupidly: "How can it be, how can it be?" He took out several cowhide bags and opened them, which were filled with finely crafted crossbow arrows. The arrowheads were made of iron and were very sharp. The strong bow is shot out, and the person who gets hit by the arrow will never forget the painful feeling in his life.This arrow was given as a gift, and Yang Menglong was not too polite. He divided ten arrows per person, and the number was not very large. However, the more than 20 soldiers who followed him were all sharpshooters with precise archery skills. vague.Yang Menglong is quite satisfied with this unexpected harvest. Of course, he would be even more satisfied if he could recruit this old man to his command. The god drew back and asked, "Old man, did you make this crossbow yourself?"

The old man still grinned from ear to ear: "It was made by the old man and a few disciples, and it took several years to make it!"

Yang Menglong said: "I really like the crossbows you helped! I wonder if you can come to my place and help me make crossbows? Not one or two, but hundreds, thousands, or even Tens of thousands!"

The old man was a little dazed: "My lord, do you dare to ask your name?"

Yang Menglong said: "My surname is Yang, and my name is Menglong... Don't talk nonsense, just tell me, do you want to?" Considering that he is so old, it is really unreasonable to leave his hometown and follow him to Henan , He decided to lure: "If you are willing to come to my place, I can offer you a very high salary, ten taels per month, overtime pay is not included, and there are benefits on holidays, how about it?"

The people next to him had already pricked up their ears and grinned upon hearing this.My mother, ten taels a month, even the landlords are not that rich!

The old man remained silent.

Xue Siming threatened: "It's okay if you don't want to come with us, but we won't be responsible for what happens... We won't touch you, but other people can't tell, it's not like you haven't seen how poor they are What the hell, you have so much money in your hand... I doubt if you can survive a cup of tea after we turn around and walk away!"

The old man looked around timidly, and all he saw were pairs of green, wolf-like eyes, and the hairs stood on end!What Xue Siming said is right, the people in this place are poor and crazy, and they don’t see any broken silver the size of soybeans all year round, but he holds dozens of taels of silver in his hand, and everyone’s eyes are red. Yang Menglong and his party left, and everyone flocked to him. With his old bones, it's really hard to say whether he can survive a cup of tea.He asked Yang Menglong uncertainly: "My lord is the commander of Wuyang Guard. He once led a city of lone army in Dingxing to destroy the slaves and was rewarded by the Holy Lord, General Yang?"

Yang Menglong was a little surprised: "How do you know me?"

The old man said excitedly: "My lord doesn't know something. The old man's son was living near the capital. When the slaves built the city and besieged the city, he happened to be in Dingxing. He joined the team of Min Zhuang and Xiangyong, fought side by side with the lord, and killed him A Jian slave! Later, he signed up to join the army and went to Wuyang to defend with his lord. A few days ago, he wrote back to say that he fought against the bandits there again, and made a small contribution. Mu Liangtian, let the old man go there to enjoy the blessings! The old man took the risk of beheading and sold all the crossbows, just to raise money to go to Henan!"

Yang Menglong was more and more surprised, isn't this too coincidental?But that's okay, with this layer of coincidence, it's easy.He said happily: "Hearing what you said, I really remembered that there was indeed such a Minyong during the Battle of Dingxing. He was tall, dark and thin, and he didn't talk much, but he fought When the Jiannu attacked the city wall, all the peasants backed away in fright. Only he picked up a bad knife and went up without thinking. He chopped off the head of a Jiannu and his own leg. He was also stabbed and almost died!"

The old man nodded repeatedly: "That's right, that's my son! That baby is a dull gourd, he can't get a fart with three sticks, but his eyes turn red when he fights, and he even dies! He said he was in Wuyangwei The food is good, the food and clothing are better than the landlords on our side, and a lot of military fields have been allocated to them. Those fields are very fat. As long as our family moves there and takes care of them diligently, we will definitely be able to live a good life. !"

Yang Menglong said: "Then why is there any hesitation? Come with us, I'll cover the travel expenses...By the way, what's your name?"

The old man said: "The old man's surname is Cao, and his name is Lei!"

Yang Menglong said: "Cao Lei? With such a name, it seems that you have been exhausted all your life. Okay, where is your home? Take us to see it."

The old man Cao Lei responded repeatedly and led the way.After walking a few steps, a few young men who were as sunburned as black charcoal blocked the way, shouting loudly: "My lord, my lord, Yulin's powerful crossbow swords are the best in the world. We happen to have a few precious swords in our hands, please Let's buy it together!"

Yang Menglong squinted and asked, "Do you have a precious sword? Pull it out and show me."

Without further ado, the young man in the lead pulled out a scimitar, the kind used by the Mongols, with a narrow blade, a thick back and a thin blade, shaped like a full moon, and quite cool in shape.But, in Yang Menglong's eyes, this knife is so rotten that it should be scrapped after being slashed several times. It can't be compared with a horizontal knife made of manganese steel. It's just that he noticed that there are stars on the blade and handle of this knife. The dots of brown spots are stains of solidified blood.He was noncommittal, and asked the others: "Where are your knives?"

The others also drew their knives, all Mongolian scimitars or sabers, all of which were stained with blood without exception.

Yang Menglong asked: "What's the matter with this blood stain?"

A young man said: "The tartar splashed it before he died."

Yang Menglong became interested: "You mean, this knife was snatched from the Tartars?"

The young man in the lead said: "Of course! Tartars often crossed the side wall and came to our territory to make trouble, so we kept their knives and their heads!"

Xue Siming called: "Cao Jun, Zhong Ning, what the hell are you doing?"

The stupid young men replied in unison: "We are selling knives!"

Yang Menglong turned his head and asked Xue Siming: "Why, do you know each other?"

Xue Siming nodded: "Yes, my subordinates have been friends with them for many years, and they have played together since childhood!"

Yang Menglong smiled brightly, and said to those stunned youths: "This knife is too rotten, I don't care for it!" With a choke, he drew out the horizontal knife, swung it, slammed it a few times, and the four monkeys offered treasures by the stunned youths. It seemed that the scimitar that was held high was cut off in unison. This time, everyone was dumbfounded. This knife is too sharp, right?The four stunned young men were also dumbfounded, Yang Menglong was quite satisfied with the effect of the knife, put the knife back into its sheath, and said, "I don't want the knife, I want the person!"

The four stunned youths were overjoyed, threw away the broken knife and bowed to the ground: "Thank you, General, for your appreciation, General, thank you for your appreciation!"

Yang Menglong frowned and didn't speak.Xue Siming stepped forward and said, "What are you doing? My lord doesn't like people bowing down to him, get up quickly!"

The four stunned people froze for a moment, then quickly got up, and then one of them punched Xue Siming: "Well, you Xue Sanlang, you have been away for several years, and you didn't come back to see us. It's a shame that we had nothing to do when you committed a crime. Money will pay for money, strength will contribute to help you escape the Yellow River!"

Xue Siming sighed: "Don't mention it. After fleeing to Henan, I became a hundred households in a hundred households. I thought I was an official, but I didn't expect to manage a group of military households worse than beggars. How can I come back to see you?" ? Fortunately, I met Mr. Yang and let me serve as a soldier under his command. After the first battle, it can be regarded as a small contribution. I finally have something to do, otherwise I would be ashamed to write to you!"

It turned out that these guys were his buddies.They are all descendants of the frontier army. They have practiced martial arts since childhood, and they are skilled in bow and horse. Although they are not very young, they already have several lives in their hands.The men here in Yulin are like this. They don’t do much farming, but look forward to war, and cut off a few heads to exchange for money. In the past, the Mongols made a lot of trouble, and the border borders were constantly fighting. However, since the incredible rise of Nurhachi, the defense center of the Ming Dynasty was transferred to Liaodong, and the whole country was devoted to maintaining the Guanning line of defense. As for Shaanxi, Ningxia, Gansu, and Qinghai, they could no longer take care of it. The frontier army defaulted for one year Several months of military pay, or even ten months without military pay has become the norm. The rewards for the heads of the Tatars have dropped again and again, and even if the heads are captured, no rewards will be given. This is equivalent to breaking the main force of the frontier army The source of income, the life of frontier soldiers who rely on fighting for food is naturally difficult.In their generation, the family situation has become very bad, the last bit of ancestral property has been squandered, and they disdain to deal with crops, and the days are getting worse day by day.Fortunately, they have their own way of life. Some old frontier soldiers often encourage their children to go to the Mongolian border to steal lambs and bring them back for tooth sacrifices. The older children even dare to steal horses. People like Xue Siming's age have already started selling private salt and tea. , and even attacked the small tribes in Mongolia to snatch cattle, sheep and horses. As long as they get a vote, they can live a good life for a month or two.In their eyes, life like murder and robbery is the same as farming for ordinary people. It is a job to support their families. It is too normal to do it without feeling guilty.

Xue Siming was their leader back then, and he often led them over the side wall to the Mongols' territory and robbed them. The head of the tribal chief was cut off, and the incident was too big. The Mongols wanted to kill him for revenge, and the government also wanted to arrest him. They took refuge in the Central Plains and never saw each other again.After joining Wuyang Guard, Xue Siming got along like a fish in water. Only then did he think of those brothers in need. He asked someone to write several letters back, boasting about the benefits of Wuyang Guard, and inviting them to come over. Lengtouqing was moved by the sight, and wanted to act. Unexpectedly, before they could raise the travel expenses, Yang Menglong came to Yulin first, and even pretended to be a local tyrant on the street. These guys no longer hesitated...

(End of this chapter)