Zhang Gou wore a half-cut jacket and squatted in the yard to brush chicken feathers with boiling water......

The house is not big, it is a four-bay wing building facing the south of the street, and the door is the atrium. Behind the wing building is a small garden of one-third of the size of the acre, the whole piece of land is compacted, some stone locks and other things for training are piled up, a small piece of vegetable furrow is enclosed by the bamboo fence in the corner, and there is a stone well.

The two servants in the house took leave and went back to the countryside for the New Year; There is no need to go to the east to be on duty today, Zhang Gou is idle, but he gives the envoy to do the work of killing chickens and slaughtering geese, squatting on the edge of the well to kill chickens and burn chicken feathers, making the chickens on the well platform bloody and chicken feathers.

Outside the courtyard wall, the sound of people and gongs and drums, regardless of the chaos of war in Waifu County and the destruction of people's livelihood, although there is not much luxury in Chongzhou City, it is a rare peaceful atmosphere.

Zhang Gou joined the army as a commander, and there were eight taels of silver per month.

There are four children in the family, two wives and concubines, plus the father, the old lady and the four brothers and sisters who came to take refuge, the old lady and the younger brother of the concubine, plus the two servant women who invited the helpers, and they have to support eighteen people with eight taels of silver per month, which is also a little embarrassing.

Fortunately, the military secretary's office has provided the families of officials and military attaches with rice, grain, oil, salt, cloth, fruits, vegetables, fish, meat and other materials at a fixed price per capita every month, and they will be able to cope with the past. Otherwise, if you go to the market to eat rice noodles for 12 yuan a catty, I am afraid that it will be difficult for your family to pull a new dress by the end of the year.

"Ouch, how can I let my brother-in-law do this lowly work, where did Mrs. Azhu die?"

Zhang Gou looked up and saw his brother-in-law coming in from the door, standing there and talking coolly, but he didn't come to help, ignored him, picked up the boning knife, sharpened it twice on the well stone, and then cut open the chicken's belly, and did it by removing the intestines.

"It is said that my brother-in-law is a general, but this dilapidated building is too shabby to be a general's mansion, in the end, Huaidong doesn't pay attention to you, brother-in-law. I think that when I was working in Jiangning City, not to mention the general, I was the gatekeeper in front of the general's mansion, and the house at home was bigger than this! ”

"What such nonsense!" Zhang Gou raised his head and stared at his brother-in-law, and said in a cold voice, "Which general in Huaidong dares to drink the blood of soldiers, first think about whether his head can be saved!" You have been eating and drinking in the house for three months, and I treat you well in the face of your sister. After the New Year's Festival, get out of here, my house will be spacious enough! ”

Knowing that Zhang Gou was a bloody figure, the brother-in-law's face froze there, and he didn't dare to fight back.

Zhang Gou, Chen Yan and others had similar experiences with other generals of the Huaidong Army, and most of them fought and fought hard from the lowest level of society. There is a kind of arrogance in the body, and they can't get used to people who have no ability, can only slap their whiskers and horses, and gossip behind their backs, which is why people like them often can't fight villains. They knew exactly where the drawbacks of the traditional town government army were, not to mention that Zhang Gou still had no military power, and not to mention that the logistics management of the Huaidong Army was much stricter than that of the traditional town government army.

Besides, Zhang Gou is used to living a hard life, and he only wishes for a bowl of braised pork on the table every day, and he changes to other delicacies from the mountains and seas, but he still thinks the taste is as light as withered grass; I can't wait to wear armor on my body all day long, where can I wear silk brocade?

Zhang Gou only felt that his brother-in-law was in the way in front of him, and waved him away - at this time, the vestibule door was slammed, Zhang Gou only called him over when there was something in the yamen, took a cloth towel and wiped it, and walked to the vestibule, but saw Chen Zhen walking in.

Since the beginning of September, they have taken turns to harass the coastal areas of southern Zhejiang and eastern Fujian. Frequent battles, whether it is the water camp or the infantry camp, there will be casualties - Chen Zhen led the troops to fight in southern Zhejiang for more than two months, and this time he withdrew to Chongzhou for rest, and Zhang Gou wanted Chen Zhen to go home for Chinese New Year's Eve dinner.

"It's still early, why are you back in the city so early?" Zhang Gou asked.

"Master Pole is going to be sent to Chongcheng," Chen Yan said with a gloomy face, "I'm afraid it's hard to protect my head this time!" ”

Zhang Gou was shocked and full of doubts, but he couldn't bear to ask first, and drove all the family members in the courtyard back to the house with a calm face, and then asked Chen Yan: "Master Gong is good as a commander in Suining, how can he be escorted to Chongcheng?" ”

"Master Pole lost Sui Ning...... Chen Yan said.

"What!" Zhang Gou didn't expect Chen Yan to come and open his mouth to say this news, which made him stunned, and he couldn't say a word, and said hatefully, "Sui Ning lost it, what did he do when he came to Chongcheng to die?" ”

"Do you know that the eldest lady took the city?" Chen Yan asked, "Not only Sui Ning, but even Su Yu was also lost!" ”

Zhang Gou was so anxious that he stomped his feet and said: "What's so hard to guess about this, it's not that the eldest lady captures the city, how easy is it to lose Suining and Suyu, and Chongzhou can't notice it at all?" It's not the first day to lead the troops! Zhang Gou said, "Since Master Pole easily gave the two cities to the eldest lady, ruining the situation in Huaidong in Huaibei, he went to Chongzhou to take the blame, what kind of thing is it?" ”

"Master Pole was afraid of affecting us, so he went to Siyang to join the prison by himself. Xu Daozi came to me and begged me to protect my life, what can I do? I can only come to you to discuss," Chen Yan said anxiously, "Master Pole is on his way to Chongcheng, I'm afraid that he will enter the city tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, what do you say now?" ”

Zhang Gou touched the scumbag on his chin, he didn't care why Xu Daozi went to find Chen Yan, but didn't come to him, thinking in his heart: An Shuai killed Chen Hansan in Xuzhou, in the final analysis, it was still a trap set by Huaidong and Yue Lengqiu, and the eldest lady has always held a grudge against Huaidong - Suining and Suyu are the two cities of Suining and Suyu, and the significance of the northern line to Huaidong is as important as Shengsi on the southern line, and they are the two wings of Huaidong that are spread out, Sun Zhuang patted his ass and cut off one of Huaidong's wings, how could Huaidong take him lightly?

Zhang Gou was so anxious that he stomped his feet, he couldn't guess how Lin Jian would react to this matter, so he asked his family to quickly bring his military attache uniform, and asked Chen Yan to leave the saber at home, and go to Dongya with him first to plead guilty.

****************

When I entered the front yard, I heard someone in the middle complaining loudly: "Troublesome ministers and thieves, chaotic ministers and thieves!" In vain, the adults trusted him so much, and ordered him to guard Suining and Suyu! What is the difference between his actions and the opening of the city to welcome thieves? Overnight, the situation in Huaisi suddenly collapsed, and I don't know how many villagers will leave their homes and die in the war! Sui Ningcheng was thrown away from the old man twice, and the old man had no face to see the county chief again, he only hoped to see this thief punished and die......"

Seeing Chen Enze guarding outside the official hall, Zhang Gou asked, "Who is inside?" ”

Before Chen Enze could answer, he heard the voice of Lin Jian inside: "Lord Li, don't be impatient, it's not your fault that you lost the city twice." Governor Yue and the county secretary will understand. Thieves and bandits, traitors come and go, there is no faith, it is normal, Lord Li should not be angry about this - when Sun Zhuang comes, of course the official will give you an explanation. ”

Zhang Gou remembered that the old voice before was Li Wei of Suining Zhixian County, it turned out that Sun Zhuang was still on the way to detention, Li Wei also rushed over first, thinking that Sun Zhuang would throw Suining and Suyu to the eldest lady, for fear of angering Huaidong, so he did not leave the officials of Suining and Suyu in trouble.

Thinking that as long as there was room for things, Zhang Gou pulled the sleeve of his shirt and asked him to stay outside first.

Chen Zhen was puzzled, he was eager to excuse Sun Zhuang, and he rushed to the official hall.

Lin Jian saw that Chen Yan walked in without reporting, his face sank, and he shouted, "Go out!" No notice, no permission, who let you in? ”

Chen Yan is also a person with a violent temperament, but he gave Lin Jian a drink, and suddenly he panicked, and when he saw Lin Lian's eyes staring at him, his heart was weak, and he forcibly withdrew his foot that stepped into the threshold.

Zhang Gou said outside the threshold: "The commander of the Military Intelligence Staff Department joined the army, Zhang Gou and the commander of the first battalion of the Chongcheng Infantry Battalion, Chen Yante, came over to ask the adults for their guilt!" ”

"Come in!" Lin Jian said.

Zhang Gou and Chen Yan walked into the official hall, and Lin Mengde, Qin Chengzu and others were there; Li Wei sat at the bottom of Lin Tie, looking at them as if he were looking at an enemy......

Zhang Gou didn't know what to say, he wanted to ask for a crime, he didn't know what to ask for, he wanted to plead, and he didn't know how to intercede for Sun Zhuang.

Zhang Gou and Chen Yan knelt down in front of the hall, kowtowed, and said: "Sun Zhuang is foolish to the old loyalty, and he really has no bad intentions......

"That's a nice thing to say," Lin Jian said coldly, "four or five hundred thousand hungry people, like a swarm of locusts, marching eastward and crossing the border, and there is no grass left. His grandson has no bad intentions, and he is still loyal to the old master, which is really good, and he patted his ass and threw the two cities out, but the people of Suining, Suyu, Muyang, Haizhou, Shandong and other prefectures and counties are guilty again, and they want to be affected by him and suffer another catastrophe? ”

Zhang Gou's face was depressed, he came from the Wandering People's Army, and he knew what people would do when they starved to death, and when they were desperate. The four or five hundred thousand hungry people who have been trapped in Huaiyang City for several months and drowned for Chen Zhihu will not be able to control it at all once they enter the east, it will be the flood that opens the gate and the hungry tiger that goes down the mountain.

If the Red Jacket Army trampled on Suining, Suyu and the counties east of Surabaya again, what reason did Lin Jian have to spare the life of Sun Zhuang, who let the troubles go eastward?

At this moment, Zhou Pu, who was fully armored, pressed the saber on his waist, walked in, and saw Zhang Gou and Chen Yan kneeling on the ground, and scolded: "You two turtle grandsons know the news quickly, do you think it's not lively enough here?" ”

Zhang Gou and Chen Yan didn't dare to reply.

Lin Jian asked Zhou Pu: "It's all ready to be ......."

"The first and second battalions are on duty and can leave at any time, and the other two battalions will have to wait until tomorrow morning at the earliest!" Zhou Pu said, "If you celebrate the New Year, you won't be able to live in peace!" Chop up the turtle son of Sun Pole, and relieve everyone's anger first! ”

Lin Lian said weakly: "You can lead two battalions to the north with me," he looked at Zhang Gou and Chen Yan who were kneeling on the ground, and said, "Prepare two horses for them, and also prepare a carriage for Master Li...... I don't know what kind of temper Liu Tingzhou and Jiang Ning will have! ”