Volume 1 Chushan Bandits Chapter 74: Old Soldiers
Seeing Xu Huai sitting on the rock with his hands on his waist in a pretentious manner, Liu Qiong'er's beautiful eyes rolled up.
"Zhai Mazi, I said that Xu Huai's skills are stronger than his father's. Do you believe it?"
Xu Wuliang stood outside the fence and spoke to the middle-aged man with a crippled leg who looked agitated and had pockmarks all over his face. He then pulled him back inside the fence and spoke to Xu Huai,
"Zhai Mazi is from Beiling Bazi Village. He returned from the Jingsheng Army with us that year, but he lost one leg on the battlefield. He had no land to farm when he returned home, and he couldn't make a living by carrying bags in the market. He used to come here to help me. You saw him when you were a child, so you may not remember him. Later, my shop couldn't support too many people, but I didn't chase him away, but he ran away on his own. I haven't heard from him for several years, but I didn't expect that he had already joined the Xiema Mountain. It's a pity that he didn't make a name for himself with Pan Chenghu. He brought shame to us old soldiers of the Jingsheng Army!"
"Xu Huai 's skills in wielding the Fu Mang Spear are much better than his father's. I think he's as good as General Wang back then!" Zhai Mazi limped over, opened his mouth to reveal a row of yellow teeth, and said with a look of shock and delight on his face.
Xu Huai didn't even have any memory before he was seven or eight years old. It was only when Xu Wuliang mentioned him that he had some impression of Zhai Mazi - Xu Wuliang was a righteous man, and always wanted to help the old soldiers who returned home in poverty when he had the ability. But the blacksmith shop was only able to survive with difficulty. Zhai Mazi didn't want to drag Xu Wuliang down, so he left.
"It's Uncle Zhai. I was wondering why he looked so familiar!" Xu Huai said.
In front of outsiders, Xu Wuliang still regarded Liu Qiong'er as the third village leader and said to her: "This Zhai Mazi is a man of loyalty and righteousness. You can keep him in the village."
In his early years, Zhai Mazi still had some ambition and was unwilling to eat and drink for free at Xu Wuliang's place. But when he joined the gang at Xiema Mountain, even if he still had some work to do, what use would it be with his disabled legs and feet? Who would look up to him?
He had been a low-level thug in Xiema Mountain for the past seven or eight years, and he didn't have much spirit left. At this time, he was afraid of being despised, so he looked at Liu Qiong'er humbly and said, "Third Village Master, don't look at me. My right leg is broken, but I still have some strength in my arms to work, and I don't eat much."
He had not yet understood what Xu Wuliang meant by "can be retained" and just hoped to be able to stay.
When fighting in mountain strongholds, if prisoners are captured from the enemy stronghold, the strong ones will naturally have the opportunity to join the gang. However, mountain strongholds are already difficult to survive in, and it is considered merciful to capture the old, weak, sick and disabled and drive them out. What's worse is that some people directly use them to test their swords against new bandits who have just joined the gang or have been forced to join.
Zhai Mazi was afraid that they would not accept him and would drive him out. It would be difficult for him to make a living by hunting in the deep mountains and forests, but he didn't think he would be able to escape the hunt by the local soldiers and tribesmen if he walked out of the mountains and forests.
"Zhai Mazi, you can see that they are not too weak, but why can't they force Xu Huai to retreat even a step?" Liu Qiong'er put on her posture as the third village leader, stared at Zhai Mazi and asked.
Xu Huai was busy using force to intimidate the young Han Qi and the other soldiers, and did not respond to Zhai Mazi in time, but Liu Qionger had been secretly watching Zhai Mazi brought by Xu Wuliang.
Zhai Mazi's leg tendons were broken and his leg muscles had long since atrophied. Even if his arms had some strength, it was only at the level of an ordinary person. It was no longer possible for him to exert strength by controlling the muscles and bones of his whole body with extreme precision like Xu Huai and Xu Wuliang.
However, Liu Qiong'er could see that Zhai Mazi's eyesight was not bad. At least from the subtle changes in his expression just now, it showed that he should have seen the many shortcomings exposed by Han Qi and the other soldiers in front of Xu Huai.
"There are so many loopholes that I don't even know where to start!" Zhai Mazi said, scratching his unkempt and faintly smelly head.
"Then you come and train him for a few days, Zhai Mazi. If you can make him force Xu Huai to retreat half a step after three to five days, you will have a good meal in your village." Liu Qiong'er pointed at Han Qi and said to Zhai Mazi.
"Thank you, Third Chief, for the meal!" Zhai Mazi was unable to charge into the battlefield, but he thought he had the ability to give advice to young men like Han Qi who had a good foundation. He kowtowed to Liu Qiong'er before standing up.
Liu Qiong'er looked at Han Qi again and asked, "Do you think that Zhai Mazi has a lame leg and is not qualified to give you advice?"
The arrogance in Han Qi's heart had been completely suppressed by Xu Huai. He just stood aside and nodded silently. How could he dare to say no?
"Then you will follow Uncle Wu Liang and Zhai Mazi in the future, and run diligently when they tell you to. After a while, you will be able to correct some of the flaws in your punches and kicks under Zhai Mazi's guidance. Then I will let Xu Huai teach you the real Fu Mang Spear!" Liu Qiong'er said, "Of course, if you despise Xu Huai for being a fool and think he is not qualified to teach you the Fu Mang Spear, then that's fine!"
Xu Huai took back the straight-backed long sword, sat on the rock, holding the sword in his arms, and looked at Han Qi with a slightly curved mouth.
“…” Han Qi’s face flushed red.
Liu Qiong'er looked at the young soldiers who came with Xu Xin'an. They all turned their eyes away, but there was shock in their eyes when they looked at each other: Is this really the Xu Huai they were familiar with?
"Xu Huai used to be obsessed with martial arts and didn't care much about how others looked at him. But if you really want to treat him as a fool, first ask yourself how many moves you can withstand from him with swords and guns?" Liu Qiong'er said lightly.
Young men may be brave and useful, but no matter how brave they are, they can never be used by fools.
Even though Xu Huai will have to continue pretending to be stupid in the future, these soldiers are obviously the ones Xu Huai wants to train, and Liu Qiong'er cannot allow them to look down on Xu Huai.
Of course, these soldiers were of low birth, young, and simple natured, and they subconsciously felt that Liu Qiong'er's words truly explained the doubts in their hearts.
Come to think of it, Xu Huai had such powerful skills, but he let them laugh at him in the past. Didn't that mean he didn't take them seriously at all?
The military soldiers would sometimes laugh at some scholars who read too much and became stupid, not knowing the slightest bit about the ways of the world, not being able to take care of themselves, and being clumsy in everything. They secretly felt that Xu Huai must have been in this situation in the past!
However, they never imagined that people's memories could be distorted by the words of others.
Xu Huai smiled slightly and didn't explain further.
He was not worried that Liu Qiong'er's slight revelation in front of the other Wuzu and Han Qi would affect his pretending to be stupid. After all, in the eyes of Xu Wufu and others and those self-righteous people who " can make the people follow it but cannot make them know it", which of the lower-level Wuzu was not a crude and stupid warrior?
…
…
Xu Wukun arranged the things in his hands, walked over and asked, "Why are you all resting here?"
Xu Wuliang told him about Liu Qiong'er's arrangement for Zhai Mazi.
"Zhai Mazi can do this," Xu Wukun promised. "When he was in the left camp of the Jingsheng Army, Zhai Mazi was also very skilled. But he was too fierce and aggressive in charging and killing the enemy, so he was targeted by a master in the Dangxiang Army. He was attacked by a hook-and-sickle spear and his right leg was crippled!"
The hook-and-sickle spear was derived from the halberd. In terms of shape, the horizontal blade of the long halberd was bent inward to form a barb.
According to the "Wujing Zongyao", the hook-and-sickle spear was created by the Emperor Zu of Dayue, and was specifically used to deal with heavily armored cavalry in field battles. There were pecking and hooking methods in horse battles and foot battles. The eagle pecking force of the Fumang spear was derived from this.
In fact, except for a few generals who are good at or like weapons like the hook and sickle spear, ordinary armored soldiers can respond calmly and not flee when facing the heavy cavalry charging in groups. Groups of three or five people with ordinary sharp spears are enough to suppress the heavy cavalry's reckless charge, and there is no need to use complicated weapons like the hook and sickle spear.
Most of the time, when facing a charge by heavily armored cavalry, it was difficult for ordinary people to remain calm and respond, so the hook-and-sickle spear was rarely used on a large scale in actual combat; and in the Dangxiang army, the hook-and-sickle spear was even rarer.
There are some hook-and-sickle spears in use on the battlefield, most of which are long poles and are specifically used to ambush the enemy's armored generals and soldiers who are strong and brave in combat.
Liu Qiong'er was mainly there to help Xu Huai stand in front and support the scene, not to establish her prestige as the third village chief. Seeing Xu Wukun also coming to speak to Zhai Mazi, she took the opportunity to say, "With the two of you as guarantors, then let Zhai Mazi stay and have a good meal, and there will be nothing to say."
Jinshagou Village not only lacks people, but also lacks people who can be trusted and relied upon.
Apart from other things, the news that Xu Wujiang and other Wuzu had become bandits could not be publicized openly, at least there could not be any solid evidence that fell into the hands of the Inspection Office or the prefectures and counties.
Otherwise, with Zheng Hui pushing from behind, even if the prefectures and counties did not want to get involved in this muddy water, it would be difficult for them to find excuses to shirk their responsibilities.
In addition, before they gain a firm foothold in Jinshagou, they must avoid interference from Dazhai and their involvement in the exploitation of the placer gold resources, and the chute method cannot be leaked for the time being.
Therefore, no matter how many people gather in Jinshagou, the first priority is to ensure that all of them are under control.
As for Xu Huai, Xu Wukun, Xu Wuliang and others, it is impossible for them to do nothing and act as supervisors without blinking an eye.
First, select people with connections like Old Man Han, Han Qi and Zhai Mazi and win them over as direct descendants. At least this can help keep an eye on everyone and prevent them from acting rashly. Only then can we proceed to the next step of winning them over and dividing them, ultimately settling everyone's minds and making them stay in Jinshagou.
