Winter goes to spring, flowers bloom and fall, and in a blink of an eye it is early summer.

Lu Bu, who was ordered to go south, set out from Bingzhou, led 2,000 horsemen, crossed the Turbidity River to the south, followed the mouth of the Turbidity River, continued to the south through Xihe County, and arrived at the east of the river.

Then pass through Sili, walk east to Hanoi, and then change lanes to the south and enter Yingchuan.

Along the way, almost all of them are walking along the turbid river, if it weren't for the fact that these grassland children don't know how to be watery, otherwise they would have to take advantage of the camping and resting to go down to wave him.

When passing by Xingyang, I met an old friend, Xu Rong.

Xu Rong was awarded the title of General Weikou for assisting Lü Bu in repelling the Xianbei people, and guarded Xingyang.

The land of Xingyang is an important town in the east of the imperial capital, and more than 20 miles behind it is the Xiongguan and Tiger Prison in the world.

The Tiger Prison Pass is connected to Songyue in the south, bordering the Turbid River in the north, and the mountains are staggered, which is a natural danger. There is a trend of 'one husband is the pass, ten thousand people are not open', and it is also a place where soldiers of all dynasties must fight.

When Lu Bu came out of the pass, he rode the red man, stood tall and held the halberd, but he could always hear countless weapons and bloody shouts in his ears.

This place used to be so familiar.

Xu Rong, like Gao Shun, is a non-talkative but highly commanding figure.

When he talked to Lu Bu, his eyes were full of envy.

He envied Lu Bu for having such an opportunity, he could go into battle to kill the enemy, and he could make meritorious contributions.

Like most of the men of the Han family, the marquis and the prime minister are also the dreams that Xu Rong chases.

Lu Bu smiled bitterly at this, if he could, he really wanted to transfer with Xu Rong, and immediately return to his merger, guarding his wife and daughter, as well as the one acre and three points of land in Wuyuan County.

After leaving Xingyang for dozens of miles, Lu Bu found that he had made a big mistake.

The terrain of the south is not like that of the north, and there are wide roads and vast fields everywhere. There are many hills and mountains in the south, and there are countless paths that fork and turn, and when I first come back to Lu Bu in the south, my head is dizzy.

If you turn back to Xingyang now and let Xu Rong send some scouts to guide the way, it will take a lot of effort, and only let one or two ride back, Lu Bu is afraid that they will get lost in these leafy jungles.

Lu Bu turned around and asked, who can go to the front to lead the way.

The two thousand horsemen who followed behind him were all confused, and they couldn't tell the difference between southeast and northwest.

Lu Bu, whose face was full of black lines, had no choice but to make a decision to recruit some local people along the way as guides.

The joke is a native of Yingchuan, but he is not among them.

The main reason is that the body of the drama is not good, thin and thin. And Wuyuan is extremely far away from Yingchuan County, and the bumps on the back of the bare horse can shake off his skeleton.

Lu Buben said that he should stay in Jiuyuan to recuperate with peace of mind, but Xi Ce made a rare mistake, and he had to come back no matter what. Lu Bu couldn't resist him, so he could only let Hu Che'er lead thirty soldiers, protect the drama, and slowly go to Yingchuan.

The further we went, the more people fled from all over the country, and there were few men in the prime of life, and most of them were lonely and weak women and children.

From them, Lu Bu learned that Huangfu Song had retreated from Yangzhai County, the county of Zhixian, to Xinzheng to defend himself.

Among the fleeing people, many of them knew the route to Xinzheng, but when Lu Bu asked them to ride horses, they all shook their heads.

When it comes to horseback herding, the southerners are indeed inferior to the northerners.

Fortunately, when Lu Bu was worried, a relatively burly young man recommended himself and was willing to serve as a guide when he learned that the general was going to Xinzheng.

Lu Bu sat on horseback, looked at the young man condescendingly for a few seconds, and asked his name and nationality.

The young man claimed to be Wenji, a native of Peiguo County, who fled to the north to avoid moths and thieves.

When Lu Bu saw that he did not seem to be lying, he had a horse given to him and told him to go ahead.

After running for two hours, Lu Bu ordered a temporary rest.

"General, can I join you?" The young man who led the way walked in front of Lu Bu, as if he had mustered up a lot of courage, with longing in his eyes, and some apprehension in his heart.

Lu Bu could see that this person had some punches and kicks, but he didn't reply clearly, but asked him: "Why?" ”

The young man didn't think much about it, and replied truthfully: "I see that your people follow you and can eat well, and I want to too." ”

"Why, don't the soldiers in the other armies have enough to eat?" Lu Bu's brows sank, this seemingly absurd reason, but it made him a little shocked.

The young man nodded.

Lu Bu was still a little unconvinced, and asked him again, "How did you know?" ”

When the young man heard this question, his body obviously stiffened for a moment, and a look of embarrassment and panic flashed on his face.

It seemed like a subtle reaction, but it couldn't escape Lu Bu's eyes.

Seeing that the young man didn't want to speak, Lu Bu didn't ask any more, there will always be something hidden in everyone's heart that can't be known to others.

Lu Bu didn't ask, but the young man calmed down a lot. After he took a deep breath, as if he had made up his mind, he whispered to Lu Bu, "Actually, I'm a fugitive. ”

Lu Bu was surprised, there was a clear law written in the barracks, which clearly wrote: Those who escaped from the battle would be sent to the frontier with hard labor at the least, and beheaded and executed.

Therefore, after those fugitives left the battlefield, they either fell into the grass and became bandits, or they took off their armor and weapons, blended into the ranks of the people, and fled for their lives together.

Not to mention the conduct of the young man in front of him, it takes great courage for him to dare to admit that he is a fugitive, especially in front of a general.

Lu Bu looked at him with a playful smile: "Aren't you afraid that I will punish you according to military law?" ”

The young man visibly became nervous, as if he regretted revealing his identity as a deserter.

He stood stiffly in place, his heart pounding.

Lu Bu actually doesn't have too much contempt for deserters, although it is a man's duty to protect his family and defend the country, but not everyone can treat death as home.

"I don't keep idlers." Lu Bu said leisurely.

When the young man heard this, he immediately had his spirits, "General, I can carry the halberd for you." ”

In a later conversation, Lu Bu learned that Wen Jiben had two sons and a daughter. Unfortunately, the eldest son died of an epidemic last summer; Disaster is not a single line, when it comes to winter, the youngest son suffers from cold poison again, and Wen Ji, who is surrounded by four walls, has to sell his daughter in tears, in exchange for a few strings of copper coins, and goes to invite Langzhong.

After the outbreak of the Yellow Turban, he fled the battlefield and returned to his hometown, taking his mother-in-law and youngest son to flee to the north, but encountered a moth thief on the way and was scattered without a trace.

The moth thieves, who originally had only tens of thousands, rolled more and more like a snowball. Many people joined in, and they plundered everywhere. The local officials want to be killed, and the powerful family will not let it go.

A little girl with an unkempt and dirty face looked at the cake in Lu Bu's hand from afar, swallowing the saliva in her mouth over and over again.

Since he was released from the Tiger Prison, Lu Bu had met countless refugees on the way, but he had never given a handout.

In fact, the military rations he brought could only cover daily expenses, and rash relief would only cause competition among refugees, and even rush to rush and breed riots.

Maybe a few years later, Xiao Lingqi will also be so tall.

Thinking of this, Lu Bu showed a relieved smile and beckoned lightly to the little girl over there.

This scene happened to fall in the eyes of a Confucian scribe not far away.