Chapter 53: Should I accept the overwhelming wealth?

Military books and battle formations have always been the favorites of generals.

Xie Yuchuan was no exception. He started learning martial arts at the age of three, and followed his father and brothers into battle to kill the enemy in his teens. He studied and practiced military tactics diligently for many years and did not dare to slack off for the slightest.

The Xie family has always been strict in managing their army. They have many military formations passed down from generations of generals, which are very effective in defending against enemies on the battlefield. However, the so-called Mandarin Duck Formation in his dream really made him excited.

When Xie Yuchuan woke up, he was no longer sleepy.

He sat cross-legged with his knees, wearing a thin shirt and meditating to regulate his breathing.

When I closed my eyes, everything I saw and heard in my dream appeared before my eyes one by one like a reflection.

The more he thought about it, the more amazed he became.

This formation combines soldiers and weapons into one, fully integrating their strengths and weaknesses. The formation can be flexibly changed according to the actual environment, and it has both offensive and defensive capabilities. If properly coordinated, it can defeat the enemy with fewer troops, take the enemy by surprise, and be extremely effective.

I have searched through all the Xie family's military books and formations, but have never seen this formation!

Xie Yuchuan was overjoyed.

The immortal told him a peerless formation in his dream, which was like a gift of rebirth.

He concentrated his attention to express his gratitude to his family god. Although he did not know where the god lived in the nine heavens, Xie Yuchuan still bowed deeply towards Xuantian.

A new message from Xie Yuchuan popped up on the screen of Tu Huan's phone, which was placed next to her pillow.

"Xie Yuchuan: Yuheng thanks the Immortal Master for his teachings and for teaching me the formation in my dream. I cannot express my gratitude enough. May the gods be blessed with longevity and health."

Tu Huan was sleeping soundly on her side, curled up in the quilt, and having a sweet dream.

The morning light begins to appear, and the fog rises and the smoke dissipates.

The escorts were all awake, and the prisoners were also woken up one after another. After breakfast, the bailiffs led people to count the number of people. Not a single one was missing. The bailiffs went back to report with satisfaction, and the team packed up their bags and started a new day's journey.

If you continue walking from the Songjiang River for a few days, you will reach Panlong Ridge.

Xiong Jiushan had been to that place before on official business. As the caravan manager Min Zhong said, the land was high and densely forested, with herds of wild beasts, making it indeed difficult to pass through.

In recent years, enemy countries have frequently invaded the border, there have been wars outside the Great Wall, disasters have occurred inside the Great Wall, people's livelihood has been devastated, and it is not uncommon for people to become bandits.

Only in the capital city was there peace and prosperity, with the rich unaware of the hunger of the poor. The desolation of Daliang was hidden under the greed and decadent music.

Outside the jurisdiction of the Jingwei Mansion, there is a post station between Songjiang Town and Panlongling, which is responsible for the transfer of urgent military affairs between the capital and the border areas, and for entertaining officials coming and going on official business in its spare time.

Xiong Jiushan thought that if the team moved quickly, they would get to the official post station to rest as soon as possible. Even if the bandits on Panlong Ridge had eight hundred guts, they would not dare to cause trouble in such an important military area.

If the marching speed is slow, they will follow the suggestions of other yamen runners and rest for one night in Panlongling and Gaojia Village in front of the post station.

The Beijing Guard House was slow to organize personnel to suppress the bandits, and Xiong Jiushan was unwilling to delve into the reasons.

He had observed the Min family's caravan, which consisted of both servants and thugs, including a few powerful men who looked like they had been escorting goods before.

This kind of personnel composition all suffered losses at Panlong Ridge.

Xiong Jiushan naturally would not underestimate that group of bandits.

An adjutant came and asked, "Sir, will the prisoner still be wearing the shackles today?"

Xiong Jiushan pondered for a moment and said, "Let's put it off for today. Let's leave early and rest in Gaojia Village."

After Xiong Jiushan said this, everyone understood what was going on.

The escorting officials were very happy that they could get to the village to rest earlier, at least they would not have to endure the hardship of sleeping in the open air for the past few days.

When the exile team passed through the villages in various prefectures, they would usually be given convenience as long as they did not cause trouble to the prefecture governments.

When passing through a village, you are not allowed to enter and cause trouble, but you can seek out the village head to discuss food and lodging.

Generally speaking, the village would not be too hostile. After all, the passing fugitives were not necessarily poor people. Some of them were powerful and could eat and drink delicious food along the way and rest on the way in their horse-drawn carriages.

They stayed at the edge of the village, with guards watching over them, and the shackles and shackles were very safe. Both the guards and the prisoners had to eat and drink, so the villagers were not at a disadvantage.

Dongzi crossed mountains and rivers and knocked on the door of Gao Shusheng's home in Gaojia Village before the exile team.

"Uncle San! Open the door! It's urgent!"

Dongzi knocked on the door loudly.

After the crops are harvested in late autumn, there is not much to do in the village as winter comes. The men in the village either go into the mountains or into the city, while the women stay at home mending clothes or go to the foot of the mountain to pick some wild vegetables and dry them for the winter.

As the head of Gaojia Village, Gao Shusheng should have gathered the young and middle-aged men in the village to go into the mountains to look for some mountain products.

But a few days ago, some young people from the village came back from the city and said that the city was bustling and they were short of people to do groceries. They took more than a dozen people away at once. Gao Shusheng had no one to use and could only wait for them to come back.

Among them are Gao Shanhe and Dongzi, who are good at going into the mountains.

The person who was supposed to be back in two days suddenly came to see him.

Gao Shusheng came out to open the door, his clothes draped over his shoulders and his pipe still clenched. "What a big deal! Just knock down my front door! He's so stupid! When will he grow up?"

After all, Dongzi was allowed into the house.

As soon as Dongzi entered the house, he warmed himself up and rubbed his hands while saying to Gao Shusheng, "Uncle, there is a group of exiled prisoners ahead. They may pass by our village."

"Are there more exiles?" Gao Shusheng asked.

"Yeah!" Dongzi nodded.

"Come on, they come a few times a year anyway. Don't worry, there are some spare rooms and lots on the east side of the village that you can borrow from them."

Gao Shusheng didn't think it was a big deal and just did it according to the usual practices of previous years.

But Dongzi shook his head violently: "This time is different! Uncle San, there are more of them this time."

Gao Shusheng perked up a bit when he heard there were a lot of people. He hurriedly asked, "A lot of people, how many are there? Do you know?"

"Brother Shanhe asked me to take a detour and come back to tell you the news. I could have returned early in the morning, but the fog was thick in the mountains the previous night and the wolves were howling loudly. I hid in a water cave in the mountains for half the night and got up early to tell you. Shanhe said that there were more than a hundred of them, including officers and prisoners!"

"so much?!"

Gao Lizheng was also frightened.

"There is another caravan following them, with quite a few people, dozens of them." Dongzi said again.

At this moment, Gao Shusheng could no longer sit still.

He stood up and paced back and forth in the room, asking Dongzi in detail why there were so many exiled prisoners this time. In the past, there were only dozens at most, which was not a small number, but this time there were so many people. There were only 150 or 160 households in their Gaojia Village, and many men were not in the village now, as they had gone to the city to work.

With so many people rushing into the village all of a sudden, how can they accommodate them since their temple is so small?

But more people also means more benefits. From what Dongzi said, it can be seen that many of the fugitives still have some money on them, and Gao Shanhe can make a fortune by taking him to sell straw sandals.

Well... once we get to the village, we'll need to exchange some food for the journey, right?

Besides, there are wealthy traveling merchants. They are free men who always choose the food and clothing they eat when they stay in the village, and they are generous.

On one side is wealth, on the other side is danger, Gao Lizheng feels a little conflicted.