Three Kingdoms Eschatology

Chapter 293 Wine

On a towering giant tree outside the village, a head protruded from the dense canopy, and kept looking into the village.Then he started to imitate a kind of bird call.

Later, rustling sounds came from deep in the dense forest.Nearly a hundred shirtless and dark-chested short men approached the stockade from every corner of the forest.They carried either a spear or a blowpipe in their hands.

When the Pygmies got close enough to the stockade, they all stopped in unison.They still need to do one last reconnaissance.

There were a few more imitative bird calls, and a dozen black shadows flew around among the towering trees.It was a dozen or so Pygmies clutching vines and swinging from tree to tree like a swing.

After a while, they all gathered around a leader and reported to the leader the situation in and around the village.

The Pygmies have sentries who keep watch over the stockade for a long time.How many people came in, how many people came out, and what were some people doing in the open space in the stockade.Is there any boat docked at the wharf outside the village?The sentries could see clearly.So they can make sure that the people in the stockade are not setting traps.

Just now, the dozen or so people checked the surrounding area of ​​the village clearly.After the leader confirmed that there was no ambush around the village, he waved his hand, and the Pegmies quietly walked into the village, knowing their way around.

The village is built on a higher ground for waterproofing, while the rice fields in the village are located on a lower ground for irrigation.Therefore, the stockade is far away from the cultivated rice fields.By the time the reclamation soldiers who were doing farm work realized that something was wrong and came back to help, the Pygmies had already sneaked into the jungle with the looted supplies.They have done this twice.

The Pegmies quickly set up "human towers" in front of the wall, layer by layer, and the bottom one was a "strong man" who looked like a stump. Although they each carried five or six people on their shoulders, He didn't change his expression.

In the end, a dozen or so lean Pygmies carrying blowpipes climbed up the tower in a few strokes and jumped directly from the top of the wall.They fell down from the two battle-high wall like cotton bales one by one.

Seven people were still drinking and eating meat under a ventilated bamboo shed.The sound of puffing on the ground finally woke them up.Tang Long quickly stood up from his seat and shouted to the outside of the shed: "Who!"

Puff puff puffs of thin needles came towards them like rain. A dozen short black men were standing around the shed, puffing their cheeks and blowing wildly.Seven people fell to the ground with a thump, thump, and fell unconscious.

Soon, the gate of the village was opened, and nearly a hundred Pegmies rushed in.The leader first rushed into the shed and kicked the seven "corpses".

After confirming that the other party did not respond, he gave an order, and everyone searched around like wolves and tigers.As long as they saw useful, edible and drinkable things, they put them in the back baskets they carried with them, and they didn't even let go of the leftovers on the table.

After an incense stick, the leader blew his whistle, and all the Pegmies quickly withdrew to the outside of the village.Just as they arrived, they quickly disappeared into the jungle like ghosts.

When they were all gone, Tang Hu stood up straight with a carp.He hurriedly took off the short-sleeved shirt on his body, revealing the cowhide vest that was close to the flesh, and quickly took off the leather vest, and shouted: "Mother, I'm going to get prickly heat all over my body!".

Behind him, four soldiers also stood up one after another, and the first thing they did was to take off their vests.But Liao Hua and another soldier did not get up.

Tang Hu poked his head to look, and exclaimed: "Oops! Get the medicine quickly!".It turned out that Liao Hua's head was swollen like a pig's head, and a poisonous needle was piercing his face.Another soldier who was still lying down also had a needle in his arm.

When the two soldiers were about to run out of the shed to get medicine for them, they were stopped by Tang Hu again: "Wait, there may be some Pegmi students watching us from the tree now. We have to wait and see." Get out, or you will be exposed! Then all previous efforts will be wasted."

Then, everyone stripped off the clothes and leather armor of the two wounded to relieve the heat, and Tang Hu used half a bowl of residual wine on the table to clean the wounds of the two.After a while, Tang Hu asked the soldiers to fetch the medicine, and when he got out of the shed, he pretended to be staggering and unsteady.

After more than an hour, Liao Hua woke up leisurely.He shook his head, finally came to his senses, and cursed: "Damn, I still got an injection." He didn't care about the burning pain on his face, and asked hastily, "Old Tang, those Pegmi got tricked!" Yet?"

Tang Hu replied: "Just as the general expected, these raw people brought back all the drinks."

Regarding this matter, Liao Hua's more than a hundred elite scouts also rushed back.Liao Hua said to everyone in the hall: "Don't hesitate, pack your equipment and hounds, and set off immediately!"

Liao Hua and others intentionally walked around the forest near the stockade twice.Then, Liao Hua took out a small bottle of wine from his arms and put it in front of the mountain dog's nose, letting the dog sniff it.

……

Deep in the dense forest, there is a camp beside a small river.In the camp, there are small muddy shacks with bamboo as the support.That shack is bigger than a chicken coop.There was a hole not much bigger than a dog hole in the mud wall of the shack, let alone the door.

At night, the middle reaches of the Nujiang River in the mountainous area is also a bit cool.Several bonfires were lit in the camp, and the Pegmi people gathered around the bonfires, singing and dancing to celebrate today's harvest.

A Pygmy woman, the eldest wife of the chief of the tribe, is holding a baby and breastfeeding it.The patriarch's name was Bam. He came to the woman, glanced at the baby, and snorted coldly: "I advise you to throw this child away as soon as possible. He is a white man. He will become a disaster for our tribe when he grows up."

The woman didn't say a word, but hugged the child even tighter, and Bam said again: "If you don't want him to die, then I will send someone to send him back another day. Anyway, he can't stay in our tribe. It's all Ba Tan's fault." Looking for something to do on a whim."

Batan is the son of Bam and the leader of the Pegmies who plundered the village.

In the camp, the sound of the wooden drum rumbled. The wooden drum was made by hollowing out the center part of solid wood. It was actually a wooden barrel.The drums sounded, and the celebration ceremony representing the Pygmies was about to begin.

Everyone in the tribe is given a small bamboo tube of fine wine, the men's portion is larger, and the women's portion is only half of the man's portion.Under the auspices of Bam, everyone carefully tasted the plundered wine after a ceremony.

This is not the first time they drink alcohol. I think they have been in contact with the wine of the Zhuluo people for a long time, and they have a special fascination with alcohol. Unfortunately, they don't know how to make alcohol at all.So they took the risk of looting Liang Jun's camp again.

At this time, Liao Hua was gradually approaching their camp with people and dogs.In the wine they looted, there were cracks in the bottom of several wine jars, and the wine kept seeping out along the way.

Half an hour later, the Pegmies were all lying on the ground.It wasn't that the alcohol was strong, or that they couldn't drink enough, but that there were drugs in the wine.

Chapter 294

The morning sun shines on the fan leaves of the banana tree.Liao Hua led his soldiers back from the depths of the dense forest. Without those mountain dogs, even such an elite army would have difficulty getting out of this vast rainforest.

Those Pegmies were firmly tied to bamboo poles with ropes, one pole for every seven or eight people, and two Liang soldiers guarded each pole.A total of more than [-] Pygmies were captured. Except for two or three of Bam's tribe who escaped, the rest of men, women and children were all caught.

The soldiers of the Liang army shouted and gestured, making the Pegmi prisoners squat on the open space at the gate of the village.Tang Hu came out of the stockade upon hearing the news, and seeing that Liang Jun had captured so many prisoners, he knew that Liao Hua had succeeded.

He was concerned about his son's whereabouts, he looked around, but he didn't find any crying babies in the army, he couldn't help feeling cold in his heart.At this time, Liao Hua had already walked towards him, and said with a smile: "Old Tang, you are looking for your son. Where is it with me?"

Hearing this, Tang Hu was both happy and suspicious, because Liao Hua was empty-handed and did not hold his son.

Liao Hua approached, and just took out a package from his back, inside was Tang Hu's son, sleeping soundly.The woman following Tang Hu stepped up to pick up the baby, wept with joy, and together with Tang Hu bowed down to Liao Huaxing to thank him.

Liao Hua quickly asked them to stand up and said, "There is no need to give such a big gift, this is just the effort of the general."

At this time, shouts and curses came from outside the village. It turned out that some reclamation soldiers were about to beat and insult these Pegmies.Liao Hua said anxiously: "These raw people are going to live, don't beat them up, lest they die on the way."

When Tang Hu heard the words, he immediately stepped forward with Liao Hua to stop the reclamation soldiers from beating and scolding these prisoners of war.

Although it is winter now, the daytime sun here is still venomous. Tang Hu was afraid that these people would suffer from heat stroke, so he ordered them to be escorted to the bamboo shed in the village, and ordered them to give them some water and food.He did this not only because of Liao Hua's confession, but also because he was grateful that these Pegmies did not harm his children.

After giving these instructions, Tang Hu asked Liao Hua a little curiously: "Why do the higher-ups want these living creatures? Could it be that they were transported to Sawady Port and sold to traffickers?"

Liao Hua was gnawing a piece of sugarcane produced in Tenglong City. Hearing Tang Hu's question, he spat out the bagasse and said, "Our government-run firms in Liang State have never engaged in slave trade. According to the king, they will be dispatched to serve in the army." .”

Tang Hu smirked and said, "The general is just kidding around again. What can these little creatures do after they join the army? Apart from being good at hiding and wandering in the jungle, they don't have any other specialties. If they really want to go into battle, their physique and strength are the only things they can do. That’s not free. If they are scouts in the jungle, it is difficult to obey discipline based on their habits, and most importantly, after they are cleared, there is no need for scouts in the jungle.”

Liao Hua said indifferently: "We don't have the time to amuse you, it's the truth. After we fly the pigeon to send the message, the governor Zhuge will send a boat to pick up these prisoners in a few days. How does the king use him? I don't know... Hey, this is a secret, and I can't tell you."

A few days later, a fleet of ships came from the lower reaches of the Nu River.This fleet is made up of all kinds of miscellaneous ships.They include captured warships of the Chula Navy, foreign civilian ships, Viking ships and inland traditional civilian ships.They sailed from Shawadi Port, first sailed by sea to the mouth of the Nu River, and then went up the river to reach this place.

The Pygmies captives were taken onto the ships one after another.They didn't cry when they were detained in the village, but now they are crying.Probably they thought they were going to be separated from each other.

A little old man with a gray beard and beard said to Bam, "Patriarch, look at this, these white people are going to sell us to be slaves!".Bam was looking left and right, looking for his son Batan. Hearing this, he sighed and said, "This is all arranged by the snake god. Everyone must live well. As long as we are still alive, there is hope for reunion."

When the Chola people occupied Hongshawadi, they often captured the Mon people and Pegmi people and sold them, and some of them were able to sneak back.Therefore, these Pygmies thought that they would be sold to foreign lands as slaves for generations.

Seeing the fleet leave, Liao Hua said to Tang Hu: "Old Tang, this is where the Pegmies stronghold should be located nearby. I have to go to the next place. You prepare some dry food and boiled water for us. Tomorrow, we will Just wait and go."

Tang Hu bowed and said: "It's natural, there is no need for General Liao to order, a certain one has already been prepared."

The fleet escorting the Pygmies went down the river and soon entered the Western Ocean.The weather is beautiful, and the western seas are also calm.A day later, they were sent to the port of Sawady.

To the surprise of the Pygmies, they were not taken to the slave market.Instead, he was sent to a place that looked like a military camp for custody.And it seems that not only their group of Pygmies were imprisoned here.

Just when the tribal leader Bam was wondering, several Liang soldiers came near his cage.These "white" soldiers were more than twice his height, and they also brought a Mon interpreter.

"Are you the patriarch of the tribe?" the Meng translator asked coldly.Bam snorted coldly as an admission.The chain on the gate of the prison rattled, and the soldiers of the Liang Army lifted him out like a chicken.

He was led by soldiers with ropes, turned around and came to a hall. Bam saw a familiar figure, and his son Ba Tan was brought here.At the head of the hall stood a "white man" with the appearance of a literati, waving a goose feather fan in his hand.

"Do you know why the officers and soldiers want to arrest you?" Zhuge Liang asked coldly.He naturally knew in his heart that these strangers had no concept of government, law, country, and court at all.But he started the conversation in this way.

"You don't eat people, so what else can you do besides selling us into slaves?" Bam asked suspiciously.

"Wrong, you are arrested because you have committed a crime. According to the laws of the Han Dynasty and the laws of the Liang Kingdom, you need to serve as an army to atone for your sins!"

These two people don't understand what crime means, but they can understand the translation of the word "exorcism".Ba Tan muttered, "Exorcism? Just to fight for you, isn't that still a slave, soldier slave."

"Of course it's different. After you are exiled, you are soldiers, not slaves. You have personal protection, and others are not allowed to kill without reason. Of course, you must be bound by the military camp and military laws. You can continue to live in the military camp with your family members. Give you food, grass, wine and meat." What Zhuge Liang meant was to turn them into military households.

Bam and Ba Tan looked at each other, and asked again: "Then what do we usually do, do we have to work hard?"

Zhuge Liang laughed and said: "There is no coolie to do, but the men of your clan have to train their skills every day. It is much easier than your daily hunting in the forest. There are also jungles around the barracks, and you women can live as usual."

Chapter 295 The Xianbei Strikes

Time flies, and the seventh year of Jian'an passed away in the blink of an eye with the sound of firecrackers welcoming the spring.Feng Yu watched with interest his children and some Liang Guo officials and eunuchs burning firecrackers.

These are firecrackers made of real bamboo, not the firecrackers made of gunpowder in the original world.The closed bamboo joints are burned in the fire, and the air in the bamboo joints is heated and expanded, which expands the bamboo and makes a crackling sound.

Seeing this, Feng Yu remembered something that he had been thinking about for a long time.He had long thought about the epoch-making product of gunpowder.But in this world, there seems to be no nitrate mine.

Not to mention finding the nitrate ore, Feng Yu just wanted to describe the substance of nitrate to others, and he couldn't do it even if he ordered people to find it.Because the Chinese in this world doesn't even have the word "nitrate".He had to give up his plan to produce gunpowder.

Therefore, under the current technical conditions of the world's hot weapons, the application of naphtha is already at the highest level.Today, the only place where stone resin can be mined is the mine in Beidi County.

"Report! Urgent report from the northern border! It's urgent!" Before the figure of the commander of the Military Council could be seen, there was an urgent announcement from outside the gate of King Liang's palace.

According to Liang Guoding's regulations, the military shuyuan's [-]-level emergency military situation can be directly reported to the palace by the soldiers.Not even the guards at the palace gates could stop them.But the soldiers will be stopped outside the main hall, and the soldiers will be transferred to Feng Yu by Feng Yu's personal guards.

But at this time Feng Yu heard the urgent report and had already walked outside the palace gate.I saw a commanding soldier in red leather armor running over like the wind while shouting. Seeing Feng Yu standing outside the door, he knelt down on one knee and presented the letter.

Feng Yu unwrapped the wax-sealed letter paper, opened it, and couldn't help but gasp when he opened it.He muttered in his mouth: "I really know how to choose a day, and this big Chinese New Year will not let you worry about it."

The military situation marked as urgent was sent by Zhang Liao.When the Spring Festival was approaching, the Xianbei people who had wandered in the east of the desert suddenly appeared in the south of the desert and entered the territory controlled by Liang State.

They plundered in Yunzhong County, but after gaining nothing, they continued westward and broke into Wuyuan County and Shuofang County outside Hetao.

Zhang Liao's army was fighting fires everywhere, but Xianbei had a large number of soldiers and horses this time, and they were divided into more than a dozen groups. Zhang Liao and Gu Dong couldn't care about the west and were exhausted.There have been three other tribes of the Xiongnu who belonged to the Liang State in Wuyuan, and they were brutally poisoned. The other tribes of the Xiongnu also defected to Xianbei.

In the end, in order to ensure the safety of the rear, Zhang Liao was also forced to take a defensive position. In addition to emergency to the capital Yibin, he also sent a request for help to the legions near the Northland.

Feng Yu thought for a moment, then ordered to the guards: "Use flying pigeons to pass the military order to Gu, and let Zhang Liao's main force guard the North City of Zhen. It is necessary to ensure the safety of Beidi County and the safety of the Shizhi Mine near the North City of Zhen. .

In addition, he was required to allocate some troops to guard Shuofang according to the situation, and to unite with Liu Qubei to gather all the Huns in the Hetao area and defend Shuofang City as the center.Prevent the various tribes of the Huns from being defeated by the Xianbei people. "

"No!" The guard next to Feng Yu quickly wrote it down in a small notebook with a small pen, and ran away.

Feng Yu then ordered another commanding soldier: "It's still Feige passing on the letter, ordering Chang'an Huaxiong to transfer all the cavalry battalions to the north to support Zhang Liao. There is also the Lu Bu Army in Mei County..."

Speaking of this, Feng Yu paused, and then retracted his words: "Forget it, Lu Bu's army will not inform you first, and Gu has other arrangements. Then let Xu Rong's army in Hanzhong and Zhao Yun's army in Chengdu leave Hanzhong and enter Guanzhong to prevent accidents. .”

Finally, Feng Yu ordered the servants in the palace to say: "Go and summon the ministers to the main hall, and I must discuss the matter of Xianbei with them."

In less than half an hour, the main hall of King Liang's palace was already full of voices.Among the crowd, except for a few ministers of the Military Council, no one knew why King Liang called them into the palace during the Chinese New Year.Even if the ministers are invited to a banquet and the garden is visited to enjoy the lanterns, it should be the fifteenth day of the first lunar month in a few days.

While people were thinking wildly, Feng Yu strolled out from the apse.He didn't sit down either, he stood directly at the head of the hall and said to everyone:

"Everyone, it's not that I want to disturb everyone's enjoyment of the festival. It's that the Xianbei people in Saibei don't want us to enjoy this festival. They were originally fighting with Wei Guo, but for some reason they suddenly came to our land, and they were aggressive. So Gu had no choice but to invite everyone here to discuss how to solve this trouble."

Then Feng Yu glanced at the officials without anger and prestige, and finally landed on a person, saying in his mouth: "Chen Tiao, this should be the thing you know best about Xianbei. Now whether you know it alone or not I know, you should tell everyone first, so that everyone can work together and come up with a good idea.”

Chen Tiaonuo made a noise, and then went out to tell everyone about the situation of Xianbei in the past two years, as well as the situation of the forces closely related to Xianbei.Including Cao Wei, Wuhuan, and Northern Yan Gong Gongsun Du.

This Xianbei was originally a branch of the pre-Qin Donghu, and the other branch of the Donghu was Wuhuan.In the early years, they surrendered to the Xiongnu, and later took advantage of the opportunity of the northern Xiongnu to go west, the population gradually prospered, and they were unified by a tribe leader named Tan Shihuai, and they were extremely powerful for a while.

They even frequently harassed the Han border, trying to fight against the Han Empire, which was still at its peak.But the good times didn't last long. After Tan Shihuai's death, the various ministries of Xianbei appeared in a state of disunity again.

It was only during the Chuping period that Xianbei produced another character named Ke Bineng, who once again unified the various ministries of Xianbei.Successively attacked Goguryeo in the east and Wuhuan in the south.Sometimes Cao Wei fights against each other, and sometimes cooperates with Cao Wei to defeat their common enemy.

In the past one or two years, Wuhuan and Goguryeo were destroyed successively.The grassland people in the eastern part of the desert only have the Xianbei family.

Feng Yu suddenly said: "There is one thing I don't understand. To the east, near the old nest of the Xianbei people, there are two forces, Gongsun Du and Cao Wei of the Northern Yan. Why didn't they attack these two countries first. Why did they want to go to the bitter cold place?" Northwest development, and then turned to attack our country of Liang?"

Huang Quan, who is knowledgeable in history, replied: "Your Majesty, this is not surprising. A nomadic Hu tribe like Xianbei must follow the example of the Xiongnu, and only after unifying all tribes and tribes in the grassland will they go south in a large scale. The reason why they moved westward , the invasion of the border of Liang State is probably just a test, as long as they give them a head-on blow, they will retreat in spite of the difficulty and continue their cause of unifying the grassland."

Jia Xu said disapprovingly, "Boss Huang's words are also reasonable, but it's hard to say whether these Xianbei people were encouraged to come here. Of course, we don't have evidence, so we can only think about it here."

After thinking for a while, Feng Yu said: "No matter what Ke Bineng's plan is. He came here by mistake this time. Gu not only wants to hit him head-on, but also shatters his dream of conquering the entire grassland! We have to ride This opportunity cuts off the whole of Eurasia."

Feng Yu realized that he had slipped his tongue, and the people present probably didn't understand the concept of Eurasia.

Chapter 296 The Lonely City Shuofang

Jian'an eight years, spring.Even in the north, it should be the season when the ice and snow melt and the greenery is abundant.But on the grassland north of Hetao, there is still a white world covered with snow.

Shuofang City stands alone on this snow field, but the people in the city should be thankful for the blizzard a few days ago, if it wasn't for the blizzard brought by the cold spring.The crumbling Shuofang City may have been breached by now.

Li Su stood at the head of Shuofang city, looking at the boundless snow field, the heavy snow temporarily buried hundreds of thousands of corpses under the city without a trace.He couldn't help but recall the scene half a month ago...

Half a month ago, Li Su was still serving in Zhang Liao's army.

Li Su and Zhang Liao had been in the military in Lubu Bingzhou in their early years, and their positions were similar.

Later, during the Li Cui Rebellion, Zhang Liao defended Chang'an after breaking up, and finally voted for Feng Yu.And Li Su voted for Liang Guo with Lu Bu after the Xuzhou Rebellion two years ago.Later, Li Su and Lu Bu separated and were assigned to Zhang Liao's army as battalion commander.

However, Li Su had no complaints about this. Liang Guo provided him and his family with a stable life, and Liang Guo specially allocated a mansion in Chang'an City for him.This is much better than the days of wandering with Lu Bu in those years.

But having no complaints does not mean that he has no enterprising spirit. Li Su also often thinks about when he will have his own legion.If he can be promoted to the post of legion commander in the future, besides the substantial increase in daily salary, Liang Guo's official office will also specially arrange a general's mansion for him.Of course, more importantly, it is an honor.

The opportunity to make meritorious deeds came as soon as it was said, Xianbei invaded Liang territory, and Zhang Liao, the commander of the army, received a letter from Liang Wang's flying pigeon.

That day, Zhang Liao said to ten lieutenant generals of the army in the large tent of the Chinese army: "The king ordered us to focus on defending Beidi County, and focus our troops on Zhenbei City. But the Xiongnu on the other side of Hetao also want us to support them. The king's strategy is to send a small army to guard Shuofang City. Let the Huns in Hetao rely on Shuofang City to make a mobile resistance against the Xianbei. So a certain plan sent [-] elite infantry and [-] cavalry scouts to Shuofang, but this general…"

In the big tent, all the generals fell silent immediately.According to the report from the scouts ahead, it is estimated that at least 230 cavalry came when Xianbei entered Kouliang territory this time.Now Zhang Liao wants to send [-] people to defend Shuofang City, which is obviously a suicidal mission.

Zhang Liao naturally understood this truth, but 230 men was already the maximum force he could allocate from the army.In the plan, the rest of the legion soldiers had various deployment arrangements one by one.