Chapter 416 Fighting
Lian Xuan made tea and was waiting on Jiang Shu and Yu Zheng in the main room. When he heard someone shouting, he turned around and saw Ren Dong coming happily.
Jiang Shu and Yu Zheng, who were facing the door, looked up and saw Ren Dong. Leng Xing, who was in the ear room, also came out after hearing the noise.
Ren Dong was wearing the flowered cotton jacket Lian Xuan made for her. Her slightly messy hair was stained with a lot of snow-white goose feathers. She smiled like a silly girl at the village head.
"How did you get into this state?" Lian Xuan was surprised and amused.
Having spent the whole morning among the geese, Ren Dong was covered in dust and smelled like geese. So she did not go into the house but stood outside the porch and saluted Jiang Shu and Yu Zheng. At the end, she said excitedly, "The geese recognized me."
"So fast, what method did you use?" Lian Xu was surprised.
It was not easy for the geese that had been raised for many years to change their owners. Lian Xu was still worried that Ren Dong could not do it and would delay Yu Zheng's important work.
Jiang Shu, Yu Zheng and Leng Xing were also a little curious and waited for Ren Dong's answer.
Ren Dong smiled and said proudly, "I had a fight with them."
"Ah?" Jiang Shu and Lian Xu were surprised at the same time, looking confused.
Ren Dong swallowed her saliva, stared at the teapot on the table and said, "Can I have a drink?"
She was thirsty after working all morning.
The tea in the pot was boiling hot, and Jiang Shu asked Lian Xu to give hers to Ren Dong.
Ren Dong was so thirsty that she took the teacup and didn't care that her mouth was still a little hot, and drank it all in one gulp.
Seeing that Jiang Shu and others were staring at her, Rendong handed the teacup to Lian Xuan and said, "Those geese are disobedient, with bad tempers and fierceness. Dabai has been nagging them for several days. Although they are afraid of Dabai, they still don't listen to my commands."
"Especially when Dabai leaves, they become even more ferocious. They peck at me when I get close."
"How can we go on like this? They won't listen when Dabai is not around. How can we tame them and send them to the battlefield?"
"So you fought with them?" Lian Xuan widened his eyes in disbelief.
Honeysuckle nodded: "Anyway, I'm wearing thick clothes in winter, so their pecks can't hurt me. I used the wooden spoon to hit them, and they pecked around me, so I used my hands and feet, kicking and slapping them, and fought with them for a long time."
"I hit them too hard and didn't control my strength. I stepped on a goose's foot and it was broken. But it's not a big problem, it will be fine in a few days."
Jiang Shu and others were surprised and admired, and even Leng Xing couldn't help but twitching his mouth.
"It's a pity that the new shirt that Sister Lian Xuan made for me was pecked in several places." Honeysuckle pulled the pecked cotton shirt, feeling very distressed and regretful.
Lian Xuan smiled helplessly: "Take it off and I'll mend it for you."
The new shirt that was just made can't be thrown away like this. It can be worn again after sewing and mending.
Ren Dong agreed and reported to Yu Zheng: "The geese are tired. Let them rest for a while. I will start taming them in the afternoon."
It's not that they are tired, but that they are hurt...
Yu Zheng coughed and said, "You can do it."
Ren Dong is more experienced and better at taming geese than them.
Ren Dong agreed and went back to the house to change clothes.
Lian Xuan said something to Jiang Shu and went to help Ren Dong pick the goose feathers on her head.
Looking at Ren Dong's back, Jiang Shu smiled happily and said, "Ren Dong is such a lovely and interesting girl."
Yu Zheng nodded lightly.
After lunch, Yu Zheng went to Zhou Boxu's courtyard to discuss military affairs with him. Jiang Shu was free, so he went with Leng Xing and Lian Xuan to watch Ren Dong taming geese.
Although geese cannot understand human language, they have been raised for several years and have become familiar with human nature. They can understand simple instructions. With the help of Dabai, they can do it.
In winter, snakes are trapped and sleeping underground, and they cannot be caught to train geese. Honeysuckle asked people to buy dozens of large yellow eels, which look similar to snakes.
"Peck it, quickly, peck hard, and bite it fiercely..." Honeysuckle commanded with both hands and mouth.
Led by Dabai, the geese chased the yellow eels crawling on the ground
and pecked them fiercely. The yellow eels were forced to counterattack.
But the geese were covered with thick feathers and their beaks were extremely hard, so the yellow eels could not bite them at all.
As for the goose's feet, because they have grown for many years, their skin is thick and tough, so they can't be bitten, and the goose will dodge and fight back.
In the words of Honeysuckle, for such old geese, it takes a strong person to chop them with a sharp machete, and it takes several hours to stew them before they can be bitten.
Therefore, although these eels are fierce, they are unable to rage and can't hurt the geese at all.
The goose's webbed claws and beaks are sharp, whether it is grabbing or pecking, it is easy to attack the eels to injure or kill them. Some geese are too fierce and even bite the eels in two.
After a battle, the eels found that they were no match for the geese and began to flee everywhere.
"Hurry, catch up with them, don't let them run away." Honeysuckle jumped anxiously.
"Goose--goose--"
Dabai and his group of geese chased after the eels while calling, not letting go of any yellow eel, until they saw the yellow eel lying motionless on the ground, and the geese pecked at it twice, and only walked away after confirming that it was dead.
"Good job, we have eels to eat tonight, eel slices braised in sauce, eel shreds fried with green onions, eel stew..." The more Jindong talked, the more greedy he became, and he couldn't help swallowing his saliva.
Jiang Shu found it funny and rewarded him, "Since you like it so much, these eels are all yours, and I'll ask someone to buy more tomorrow."
Since it was necessary to train, once or twice would definitely not be enough, and he had to train more times, and the amount had to be gradually increased.
Jiang Shu estimated that in the days to come, Jindong would be able to eat eels three times a day.
After scanning the eel carcasses on the ground, Ren Dong said modestly, "I can't finish them all by myself, let's eat together."
Thinking of the injured Zhou Boxu and others, Ren Dong added, "Eels help wounds heal, Lord Zhou and others should eat more."
Jiang Shu heard this and said, "Really? Then send them some every day in the future."
Ren Dong nodded, brought a bunch of vegetable leaves to feed the geese, and finally took the wooden barrel that had previously contained the eels, picked up all the eels and put them back into the barrel, and sent it to the kitchen.
At dinner, Zhou Boxu and others really ate eels.
After learning the origin of the eel, Zhou Boxu stared at the eel stew for a long time, and finally ate it clean.
During the war, food is precious and cannot be wasted.
Moreover, Zhou Boxu also wanted to recover as soon as possible and share the burden with Yu Zheng.
After two days of fierce fighting, Dazhao and Nanyan both suffered heavy casualties and needed to rest. In addition, the weather had not yet warmed up, so Nanyan did not move for the time being.
Yu Zheng and Zhou Boxu seized this critical opportunity and discussed strategies to deal with the enemy day and night.
After Rendong tamed the geese and made them proficient in following orders to attack, she began to train their courage.
Out of instinct, animals are afraid of humans, especially when they are holding sticks, knives, and guns, and there are many people.
In order to overcome this fear, Rendong first took the geese out to the streets, specifically to crowded places, to train the geese not to be afraid of people.
To prevent accidents, Jin Dong used a long rope to tie one foot of each goose, strung them together, and led them to the street.
When the people of Yicheng saw it, they gathered around to watch the strangeness. Some children even chased them for several streets, scaring the geese so much that they flew around in panic.
Fortunately, Jin Dong had the foresight to tie them up with ropes so that they would not fly away and be lost.