Chapter 16 a king

At that time, a fellow villager named Manchu in the General Staff Office asked me: The army is going to Sichuan and needs a document sender, will you go? He also told me that if I want to go, I can get nine yuan a month. When I agreed to go, He can discuss it with the chief of staff as a transfer, and he will come back when he wants to return to Hunan in the future, without any trouble. Hearing that I can go to Sichuan, I am naturally very happy. I thought to myself that if I went with their army last time, it would be rotten by now. Last time I happened to survive, and my life seemed to be picked. This time it should be killed by bullets. Death is not a problem. The commander who led the army across eastern Sichuan at that time was surnamed Zhang, and he was the commander I wanted to join as a soldier with him when I was in Taoyuan two years ago. He Long became the head of our army's security team. Battalion Commander, Zeng Battalion Commander, and Battalion Commander Yang. Some people who went with them might have thought that entering Sichuan could make a few windfalls and get a daughter-in-law. What I was thinking about was not money or a woman. I was naturally very poor at that time. A salary of 1 yuan, deducting 2 yuan for food, I only have 4 yuan in my hand every month, but if I have more money, I still won’t use it. The money I got is not only for the uncle to invite friends to go to the street to eat noodles As for women, the situation of writing pornographic poems imitating "Suspected Rain Collection" has passed, and I don't think women have any meaning. At that time, all I needed was for my superiors to recognize my strengths , I always thought that I had some strengths, waiting to be cultivated, developed, and matured. Another secret reason was that I really wanted to see Wuxia. I had two friends who wanted to learn Wuxia’s name from a book. , I personally walked from Yichang to Chongqing along the river once. I heard them talk about the greatness of Wu Gorge, its heights, dangers, and interesting places, and I was really fascinated. Put your life on a very dangerous bet, and have fun! Our defense line at that time had an appointment with Tang Zimo and Shi Qingyang, the commanders of the Sichuan Army, and it was Youyang, Longtan, Pengshui, and Gongtan. Then it will stop at Fuzhou. I thought it would be very convenient to pass through Wu Gorge after arriving there.

I agreed to the fellow countryman, no matter how much money, no matter where I am, I am willing to go. Three days later, I followed a group of people and set off immediately. My job is to send and receive confidential documents. Before leaving, everyone went as usual. I can receive my salary from the Quartermaster Office for one month. After I got nine yuan, I did nothing but bought a pair of silk socks worth one yuan and twenty cents, bought half a catty of rock sugar, and put the remaining money in the belt. The weather was very hot at that time, and there was no need for a quilt at night. For the sake of freedom, I gave my only two old cotton waddings to others, and I took a small burden on my back and set out on the road. The property in my burden Including an old cotton-padded jacket, an old jacket, a hand towel, a pair of trousers, a pair of silk socks worth one yuan and twenty cents, a pair of green woolen leather-soled shoes, and a set of white cloth singlets. There is also a book The "Yunhui Monument" worth six yuan, Chu Suiliang's "Sacred Teaching Preface" worth five yuan, the "Orchid Pavilion Preface" worth two yuan, and the "Yu Shinan Confucius Temple Stele" worth five yuan. Li Yishan's Anthology of Poems. A pair of free Tianzhu chopsticks, a toothbrush, and a bowl hung on the outside of the bag, with small round holes drilled in the bottom, and an enamel bowl fastened with a thin wire chain. This is all my property. Speaking of this industry now, it is still very moving.

This trip is the same as any trip, of course I have to walk with my partner. We first traveled from Chadong on the Hunan border to Songtao on the Guizhou border, and then to Xiushan on the Sichuan border. Within six days, we After walking through the borders of the three provinces, on the seventh day, we stationed in Longtan. This trip has brought me a lot of fresh experience. I have passed some rafts made of wood. The impression of those rafts is still in my memory ten years later. .When we left the store at night, because there were too many people, the front station couldn’t allocate the dormitories for everyone, so everyone looked for their own dormitories, but I occupied a narrow bench three times to sleep. Sleeping on the bench is almost everyone’s job. Soldiers have to get used to one thing, no one will fall off the ground in the middle of the night. We not only slept on the stool, but also slept on the square table. On the third day, we lived in a country gentleman's house, and we shared it with a colleague. I took a square table painted aurora, and slept very comfortably for the night. Twice when I couldn’t even find a bench, four of us and I slept on the straw outside the house, watching meteors in the middle of the night. Fly in the air! All life did not seem embarrassing at the time, and it does not embarrass me now. What I hate most is to sleep in the same bed every day. This ordinaryness is not easy to bear. Until now, I cannot help sleeping in the same bed, but in my dreams I often sleep in various novel places, or return to places where I used to live many years ago.

When we passed through the border between Guizhou and Hunan, we climbed up a high slope called Mianmian Ridge. According to people, it was thirty-two miles up and thirty-five miles down. That hill tortured us all day. But after climbing up such a high slope, Looking down from the abandoned fortress at Lingtou, a group of hills, a cloud and mist, the magnificent and natural picture is really a moving spectacle. The shape of the mountain peaks is the same as that of the fortress, and I have been fascinated by it for more than ten years. When I was on the border of Sichuan , I remember that I had to pass through a big market. It is said that 5,000 cattle and horses were traded in each market. I also passed an ancient temple with a pine tree that could not be embraced by six people. There was a bone tower in the south of the temple. It is made of stones full of Buddha statues, about four feet in diameter. In the round pit like a pot well, there are scattered human bones, and some of the wrist bones are covered with silver bracelets with twisted patterns, and no one picks and moves them. According to the monks, it was last year. In the battle of the gods, all the people in a city died. After half a year, the bones were collected and burned every three years.

When our troops arrived in eastern Sichuan, although they were still marching forward, the headquarters had to temporarily stay at Longtan on the eastern edge of Sichuan. We camped in a temple in the center of the city. The office is still a theater building. It is better because there are not many plasters on the walls of the new place. The market situation is not as bad as it was in Qingxiang, Huaihua a few years ago. The chamber of commerce welcomes customers Army, we have prepared everything for us. Each of us has a plank bed with a mat on it. A large pergola has been set up in the courtyard in advance, which can provide shade and ventilation, so it is not too hot to live upstairs. A rough look at the market Come on, everything is still looking good. Although the place is not very big, it is just the channel for Sichuan salt to enter Hunan, and it is where tung oil is concentrated. There is also a small river. Boats from Dongting Lake can also go up the Northwest River in Hunan to reach the town. The export of tung oil and the import of flower yarn sundries are very good. Therefore, there is a post office, a clean and comfortable accommodation for merchants, and a private door for passing merchants and local small civil servants to have fun.

There are large oil workshops and dyeing workshops, distiller's lees workshops, official pharmacies, and pawnshops. There is also a famous dragon cave hundreds of miles away. The cold current was as cold as ice water. It was June, and the water was so cold that no soldier dared to wash his hands and feet. As soon as his hands entered the water, his joints ached and numb, and he lost consciousness. The water irrigated thousands of hectares of flat fields, and the local seedlings were nowhere to be seen. Drought. From the commander down to the groom, I am probably the one who has visited the cave the most times. I will come back almost every day. I will sit on the big stone slab in the cave for half a day, listening to the water and blowing enough. A big gourd was filled with cold water and returned to entertain those colleagues and friends.

Since there is a small river in that place, of course I also like to go to the river, sit alone on the high cliff on the river bank, and watch the boats come to the beach. Those boatmen have ropes on their backs, and their bodies are pressed against the rocks on the river beach. The color, the sound, That air always makes my heart beat. The scene is so beautiful, it will always make people happy and sad at the same time. When the boatmen pulled the boat ashore, each of them leaned down to the river to drink a long stream of water, stood up and went back to the river. As usual, when I sit on a rock and wipe the sweat off my shoulders and back with my hands, it always touches me very much.

I don't have many duties, but when the documents from outside are handed over, I will write in the book according to the format as usual that I received a letter from a certain place on a certain day, a certain day in a certain year, said something, and sent it. The same is recorded. Last one. Since there are three types of documents: ordinary, minor, and urgent, I should keep seven booklets, one as a general ledger, and six as separate records. These booklets must be sent to the office at nine o'clock in the evening. Send it to the chief of staff's room, submit it to the commander for inspection once it's better, and return it after drawing a reading. Although my position is slightly higher than that of secretary, my salary is not higher than that of a first order. But I also have some benefits. When I get here, I don’t need to pay for food anymore. Although it is called self-catering, all the expenses are reported to the adjutant. I can get nine yuan a month, which is not a small amount at that time! When I got the money, I didn’t know how to spend it. Inviting friends to the street to eat noodles at a noodle shop cost two yuan each time. At that time, the ones who could be counted as my good friends were the commander, a few adjutants, and a young orderly.

Our residences were separated by wooden boards. Although my duties were very common at the time, the documents I kept seemed to be unknown to everyone. Therefore, my residence was at the last corner of the theater building, next door to the twelve servants of the commander, and then In the past, it was the chief of staff and the secretary-general, then it was the commander, and then it was the military law. The upstairs opposite was divided into three parts: the military law department, the military supplies department, and the ordnance department. A living room and a living and office room were woven with bamboo mats and curtains. When meeting local gentlemen and regimental leaders, they lived in this large living room. It belongs to a certain department, and it is clearly written in Yu Shinan style, and the note is written by me. The walls in the office are covered with big guns and small guns, but my room is full of self-written words. In a corner as far as I can see, I also posted some small notes, which said that it was better than Zhong Wang, and overwhelmed Zeng Li. Because at that time, I knew that there were famous writers, and there were two dead Zhong Wang, and there were still alive. Zeng Nongran and Li Mei'an. I thought that as long as I overtook them, I would be able to dominate for the rest of my life.

When I go out to play, if there is only one person, I often go to Longdong or the river, and if there are more than two people, I often cross the opposite river. Because at that time, although the defense line was given up by the Sichuan Army, the Sichuan Army had a brigade headquarters and a small number of troops stationed there. There is a temple across the river. Although the superiors are friendly with each other, the soldiers will often quarrel and fight. I am afraid of being hurt by others when I go there alone. If there are two people, I don’t have to worry about going anywhere. Although I can get nine yuan a month here, I either spend it all on food or are used by other friends, but I never sew any clothes and only wear one piece of clothing. I washed and washed one piece of sweaty clothes, but it rained after a while. The clothes were not dry, and the other one was worn by a friend, and all the servants had already gone downstairs to eat, and I couldn't walk by the commander's room naked, so I was always tired. Honestly hungry, didn’t I tell you that I knew those errands? There were twelve of them, and most of them were younger than me. I thought the most interesting one was that errand, a bandit and a king. , a real man. This man himself used two guns to kill about 200 enemies, but he once had seventeen wives in charge of the village. This king is small in stature, with a black face, except for a pair of Outside of Guang's eyes, no matter how you look at his appearance, you can't estimate how much energy and courage he has. Years ago, when he was by the Chenzhou River, someone said in the winter: Whoever dares to enter the water now will not die! He didn't say anything , took off his body, and immediately splashed into the water for others to see. Then he swam in a river about a mile wide for nearly one hour, and when he came ashore, he walked up to the man. A man's life would cost his life for this small amount of water. Go? Or someone told a story about someone who gambled on poker and was cheated out of his purse. He didn’t say a word at the time, but walked over there after a while, asked for the money back for the cheated, and threw the money to his side with one sentence. Without saying a word, he walked away again. The king was rescued once by the commander, so he stopped being the king on the mountain, and became a confidant next to the commander who was born in the army, and was paid in the name of a captain. As faithful as a slave.

Since I live next to such a great king, if the two of them do not go out, he will come to my room and talk to me. Whenever I ask him, he will answer everything to my satisfaction. I have learned a lot from him. From his mouth, I know the records of burning houses, killing...all kinds of crimes, and from his frank explanation, I understand the life consciousness hidden behind those actions. I understand the so-called crimes from him, and I know these How evil is not tolerated by the society, but how it cultivates this solid and strong soul. From his frank statement, I understand how bizarre and dazzling the scenes that happen in the various events that use life as the theme. Before he became a bandit, this man was originally a good citizen, and he was afraid of things and officials. He was shot and shot once by foreign soldiers as if he were a bandit. Then he escaped, and later he became a king! He can sing some old operas, write and write, and draw a few orchids. Whenever he comes to my room and is tired of talking, he will sing while singing while jumping on my table, singing "Seizing Three Passes" and "Killing Four Gates". One day, seven people were eating at the adjutant's place. I don't know who spoke up and said that in some temple in this city, the Sichuan army kept a strange prisoner, a well-known beauty. When he was eighteen years old, he became a bandit leader. After the arrest, all the young officers went crazy for her, and killed two junior officers each other. After arriving at the brigade headquarters, all the officers in the department wanted to get her, but no one could take advantage of her. After hearing the news, I wanted to go to Look at this female bandit. Out of curiosity, I seem to feed my soul with these fresh scenery every moment, so I joke, thinking that whoever can take me to see, I will invite someone to drink. Naturally, I forgot about it. One evening, after dinner, I was cleaning the lampshade by myself, when the king suddenly came up and called me: Brother, brother, come with me to a good place, and you can see what you want to see. Before I had time to ask where and what to see, he dragged me down the stairs and out of the camp gate. We crossed the river and went to a temple where there was a row of Sichuan troops stationed there. He seemed to be very familiar with them, and greeted them with a military salute. After entering the temple, we walked straight to the apse and turned into another courtyard after a while. , saw a young woman by the fence. The woman was sitting on a vermilion blanket in the corner of the room, she was turning her face to the other side of the wall, and behind her back we were doing needlework with the light in the wall. When the king approached the fence, he said: "Sister Yao, sister Yao, I brought a The little brother came to see you! The woman turned around, and because the light was dim, she saw only a white face and a pair of big eyes. When she saw me, she stood up and walked towards us. Approaching When I was walking, looking through the fence, I was really surprised by the woman's figure! The woman is not a rare beauty, but the facial features, the figure, so well-proportioned, are really not common ones! She was still wearing shackles, but they seemed to be wrapped in cloth, and there was no sound when she walked. After we talked a few words through the fence, she asked the head: Brother Liu, brother Liu, what's the matter with you? ? Didn't you say that way? Sixteen today. The king said in a low voice: I know, today is sixteen. It’s good to know. I was in a hurry. I dismissed a class and said that the month was unfavorable and I couldn’t move. At this time, although I turned my face to one side to appreciate everything under the light, I noticed the behavior of that stalker. I saw him licking his mouth at the woman. I understand that staying in this place for too long is not a problem. So I said I wanted to go back first. The woman asked me to come play again tomorrow, and after I agreed, the head sent me out of the temple gate and squeezed my hand at the gate of the temple. I understood, so I went in again. At that time, I was only surprised that this woman didn't look like a bandit, and I thought she was wronged and captured here. I didn't forget all the things I went through in Huaihua to suppress bandits at that time, and how many stupid things were done in the army as usual. One night After passing by, at breakfast the next day, everyone at the table asked me to buy them a drink. Because the female bandit Wang Yaomei had been killed, if I wanted to see it, I could see it when I went to the bridge. Someone saw it with their own eyes. , and said that when the woman was killed, she sat on her scarlet blanket without saying a word, and her body did not fall when her head fell to the ground. I was shocked by the news. Seeing her, she still invited me to play today. How could I be killed this morning? After eating, I ran to the bridge, but the dead body had already been buried in a white wooden coffin, and it was parked by the roadside. The puddle of blood and the pile of paper money turned into ashes. I looked at the clot of blood congealed on the ground, I still couldn't believe it, my heart was in a mess, and I hurried back to the yamen to look for the head. I saw him lying on the bed, I didn't say a word. I didn't dare to ask him anything, so I went back to my room to handle some errands. But after a while, I learned the whole story from another messenger. It turned out that this female bandit should have been beheaded a long time ago. Although she was decent and beautiful, she was famous for being vicious. Although there were many officers who admired her, no one dared to approach her, and no one dared to release her on bail. It was only because she was still seventy years old. The guns were buried in the ground, and no one knew where the ordnance was buried. According to the market price at that time, this batch of weapons was worth nearly 10,000 yuan, which was not a small sum. Detain her, and treat her differently from any other prisoner. When the leader found out about this and got acquainted with the platoon commander of the Sichuan Army, he often went there. After getting acquainted with the woman, he told the woman that he still had six Ten guns were buried on the border of Hunan. If we try to keep her out, we can dig out the guns together and go up the mountain to fall into the grass. Then we can live the rest of our lives as a king on the mountain without fear. I got close once. After the officer found out about it, he reported it to his superiors, so the woman was taken out by the Sichuan army early the next morning and killed. When what the two of them did in prison at night was discovered by the soldiers stationed in the temple, they violated the biggest taboo of being a soldier, and they were very unfair. They thought that other officers could not get it, but in the end, an outsider took advantage of it. As the saying goes, fat water does not fall into the fields of outsiders, so a group of people put their rifles on bayonets and stood guard by the door, ready to make trouble for this bianmu. But when someone called his name, this bianmu understood his position and did not panic. Busy, finished his belt, took out two small nine-guns in his hands, and said: brother, brother, don't be half-hearted, pheasants fly everywhere in the sky, whoever catches is lucky. Today A small offense, I hope it will be a blessing. If you must catch lice on the cow, the nail point picks the eyes, and you don’t raise your arms high, then don’t take it seriously, the lantern recognizes people but the guns don’t recognize people! The soldiers in the row know that this is not a fool , if you don’t let him go, you will have to die. And I understand that the Sichuan army only has one company stationed here, but the army has four battalions. It will not be good if something happens. He walked away with a gun in his hand. As soon as he left, this sister Wang Yao was cut down early the next morning. Now that the woman was dead, this bianmu lay on the bed for about a week, not uttering a word, not eating anything, everyone was afraid of him and dared not tease him. Then he got up suddenly, and was as lively and unrestrained as usual He came to my room to see me, and when he saw me, he said, "Brother, I'm so unlucky! Sister Yao died for me. I cried for seven days, and now I'm fine. It was funny and pitiful to see him at that time. I couldn't say anything, I just shook hands with him and smiled for a while, expressing sympathy and regret. I lived in Longtan for nearly half a year. At that time, the army couldn’t pass through Fuzhou for some reason, so I didn’t have a chance to see Wu Gorge for a while. Although I came here to make many acquaintances, I didn’t get any growth other than writing a few words. My daily life was still eating and drinking, and I was still watching people kill people. This life doesn’t seem to be enough for me. Soon there will be an opportunity to go to Hunan, and I will get my passport and go back on a small cargo ship. Looking at the waterway, I can pass several famous rapids and see several A new place. At that time, the head was on good terms with a washerwoman, and wanted to make the washerwoman his concubine. When the commander went out, someone stopped him to hand over the pleadings, and he knew that there were some disputes. Tell him this is not okay, and say: We are here as guests, and this kind of thing is very bad for the military reputation. Then the head said to the others: This is a matter of civilization and freedom. The commander does not allow me to do this, so I will ask for a long vacation to go home and drag the team to fuck me The old trick. He couldn't marry the washerwoman, so he really asked for leave. The commander immediately granted his leave. The king wanted to go on board with me, so he filled in the same passport for me and him. Name. Watch out for the boat and prepare to leave that afternoon. After breakfast, he was talking about various things before the murder of Wang Yaomei in my room. Go upstairs. In less than a minute, the assembly whistle was blown downstairs, and the adjutant on duty shouted to prepare horses. I was wondering in my heart, thinking that according to the situation, it seemed like killing people. But who should be killed? Could it be that the deserters were shot? Do you want to set up another stick? Immediately, people shouted loudly. I opened the window and looked. It turned out that the top of the head had already been taken off, tied up, and was standing in the yard. The guards had assembled, Counting in a row, ready to go. The officer on duty is asking for orders. Depending on the situation, the king will be pushed out in a while. The king who was tied up, with his hands behind his back, raised his thin shoulders, and shouted to the people upstairs on both sides: Chief of Staff, Deputy Chief, Secretary-General, Chief of Military Law, please speak a word of justice, please Commander Please don't kill me. I've been with him for many years and I haven't done a single thing wrong. My wife is still serving the Commander's wife in the mansion. Let's all do something good and say something nice. Everyone looks at each other without saying a word Holding an ivory pipe in his hand, the commander calmly walked out of the living room in the lobby, stood in front of the dripping eaves in a gentle and elegant manner, and greeted the senior officers on the second floor with a smile. Commander, give me some grace and don't kill me. The commander said very seriously: Liu Yunting, don't say anything to make you ugly. When a man does something wrong, he should die in a dignified manner. This is the rule in our army. We are here as locals, and we must be very cautious in everything to be worthy of it. Local people. You go to prison in the dark to rape female criminals. I think of you and me for the past few years, and I will write down a bill for you. Let’s not mention it for now. Go home and drag the team. Let me think about it, let you go back to your hometown to do bad things, commit crimes all your life, and let everyone hate you. It is better to kill you and eliminate all evils for the place. Now stop talking empty words, I will take care of your women and children , Be brave and be a man yourself. After hearing what the commander said, the king stopped calling for justice, and sent a smile to the people on the second floor, suddenly appearing calm, okay, commander , Thank you for taking care of me for the past few years. Goodbye, brothers. Goodbye, brothers. After a while, he said: Commander, you are dreaming. Others spend 6,000 yuan to move and I will stab you. I will not do it! To the side, asked the adjutant to buy a better coffin. So the great king was surrounded out of the gate, never to be seen again. I got on the boat that afternoon. There were two names on my passport, and the king's one was temporarily erased with a Chinese ink brush. This passport has been with me through countless vicious beaches, and I arrived at Baojing five days later before being sent to the adjutant. Forfeited. As for Commander Zhang, who was born in a gang, gentle, refined and talented, and several others, three years later in Chenzhou, western Hunan, he was politely invited to have a drink by a subordinate surnamed Tian, ​​and entered Chenzhou for an examination. At the second gate of the shed, together with the four bearers, they were shot to death by machine gun before the welcome trumpet had finished blowing. All the corpses were soaked in the gutter immediately, and the corpses were cleared out for burial after two months. It was also a coincidence that Brigadier Tian, ​​a subordinate of his, was still there a year later, and was stabbed to death by Ye Kaixin, the Chairman of Hunan Province, who sent another troop commander to kill him in the lane in front of the Confucian Temple.