Chapter 40 gossip

"If the bowl just now was poison, it would be just right. I have closed my eyes at this moment, I can't see anything, and I don't need to worry about anything! It's a pity that it's just moldy corn paste that tastes worse than poison! It doesn't count if I die , I have to continue to rely on it to stuff my stomach! Hey, this kind of ghost life is really unbearable! I really can’t bear it!" Mao Xiang wiped the acid water from his stomach. Forced himself to swallow back, while thinking silently.At this moment, he had already left the apartment and was on his way to Zhang Weichi's house.As he felt more and more that going on like this was not an option, he finally made up his mind to go to his old friend to see if he could help.

Due to the delay just now, it was already noon.Although the sun was shining warmly overhead, it was still a bit chilly when the north wind blew on me in the early winter of October.Mao Xiang bowed his body slightly, shrunk his head, and hurried through Yaqian Street, which had become dilapidated due to the war, and turned into a long and narrow alley.This is an alley he frequents.The first time was when Zhang Weichi led him past when he first came to Haining.I remember that at that time, the alley was so quiet and clean, the houses were so neat and elegant, and the residents were so leisurely and self-sufficient that he was amazed and fascinated by it.But only half a year later, everything changed.The whole alley became full of rubble, piles of rubbish, stray dogs wandering around, flies flying around, it became a ruin.Because a large number of residents fled or died during the war, only a small part has moved back. As a result, many houses were abandoned and looted more than once.As a result, not only is the house empty, but many doors and window lattices have been dismantled and taken away, leaving only large holes without cover, which look like dead monsters, opening their ugly mouths to passers-by side by side. .Of course, there are a few houses that are inhabited by people, and the front of the door is tidied up, but they still can't escape the lingering stench that floats in the air all day... Won't call here again.Even so, he couldn't stop himself from speeding up his pace while covering his nose with his sleeve.

However, before he could walk out of the alley, he suddenly heard a strange sound coming from the direction of the side street in front of him - like a raging tide, and also like the beating of a drum, and it was coming fast, and it came to him in the blink of an eye!Just as Mao Xiang raised his head in time, a tawny war horse without bridle and saddle "suddenly" brushed his body and went straight towards him, followed by the second and third horses!At last Maoxiang hid quickly and was not knocked down.In a hurry, he looked up, and found that there were more horses behind, with various coat colors, driven by several sergeants dressed as Qing soldiers, huddled next to each other, snorting, and swarming.The horseshoes were everywhere, and the debris and garbage in the alley were kicked all over the ground.Seeing the ferocious approach, Mao Xiang quickly pressed his whole body against the wall, not daring to move.Even so, he was still barely able to open his eyes from the splashing mud and garbage.

"Hey, it will take half a day for this horse team to pass. You guest officer, come and hide for a while!" Amidst the deafening sound of horseshoes, someone suddenly called out loudly. Mao Xiang looked back, and found that he was standing by the door of a family, an old man with white beard and hair, was waving to him from the half-closed door.Behind the old man sat a woman breastfeeding her child with her breasts bare.Mao Xiang was stunned for a moment, and was about to stand still, but the smell of stench coming from his nostrils made him a little breathless, and with those fierce horses rampaging, the situation was indeed quite dangerous.After a little hesitation, he finally took a step towards the side and retracted his body into the door.Then, he discovered that there was also a long and thin man inside, who was holding a wooden bucket with bamboo strips.Mao Xiang apologized, saluted the master, then stood close to the door and did not move anymore.

The family just now was out of good intentions, seeing that the door was closed, they ignored them and continued to talk about what they had said. "Well, listen, there are so many horses! Your father and I have lived in Haining all our lives, and we have never seen so many horses!" said the old man. The man snorted: "That's not too much! A few days ago I went to the city of Hangzhou, hey, it's too much to put up all over the mountains and fields! I even set up big round tents one after another. At first glance, who would recognize them?" It's the ground in the south of the Yangtze River, it looks like you've reached the frontier!"

The old man nodded: "That's reasonable. Let's talk about the city. Since the soldiers returned to the camp at the end of August, there have been no horses for two months. I don't know what happened today, and suddenly many horses came. From morning till now, it's already counted to the third dial!" The man didn't answer immediately.He tried his best to put the bamboo ring in from one side of the bottom of the bucket, and hit it with the back of the ax a few times to tighten it. Then he raised his head and said, "What's wrong with it? It's probably going to start another war! Yesterday I heard people say , Prince Lu sent ten soldiers and horses in Shaoxing to beat drums and shout battles on the Qiantang River every day, and they are going to fight across the river!"

"What, going to war again? Is this serious?" "Hmph, look at this Tartar's cavalry passing by without a break, I'm afraid it can't be fake!" The old man squinted his eyes, but before he could speak, the nursing woman became nervous.She picked up the child, covered her chest with her front skirt, stood up and asked, "W-Will that come here?" The man stopped his hands, glanced at her, then turned his head to look at Maoxiang, let out a long breath, and said, "Who knows! But, this war is like eating meat. If you want to eat, you have to pick the fat ones. Hangcheng It's a big place, and the Tartar army is there. It's no different than ours. Since the battle in August, people in the city have died and fled, and now we are the only ones left. ', squeezed together can't squeeze out a few drops of oil. In my opinion, if Prince Lu wants to fight, he will fight Hangzhou first. Here, hey, it's not our turn for a while! What do you think, old man?"

The old man nodded: "Well, that makes sense! A few days ago, there were no soldiers stationed here. If Prince Lu wants to fight, he should have come here a long time ago, and there is no need to wait until today." The family was talking worriedly, but Mao Xiang, who was standing by the door, jumped up in his heart.To be honest, even though he had to shave off his hair for the survival of his family, deep down in his heart, he never planned to devote himself to the Qing Dynasty and become obedient citizens who turned from barbarians.He knew that the eastern Zhejiang area was still insisting on resisting the Qing Dynasty, and he was always looking forward to finding opportunities to escape there.It's just because there is a big river across the river, and because we don't know what the situation of the rebel army is like, we have been hesitating all the time.Unexpectedly, King Lu's army decided to fight across the river, and sent ten troops in one fell swoop!That is to say, the rebel army has made great progress in the past six months, and has become so strong that it dares to attack across the board.So what is their intention?It seems likely that they intend to regain Hangzhou in one fell swoop.If so, Haining will definitely become the focus of offense.Because this place is not as insignificant as the man said, on the contrary, it is not far from Hangzhou, and it is only separated from Xiaoshan County occupied by the rebel army by a very narrow river. The land... Thinking of this, Mao Xiang couldn't help sweating all over his body. For a moment, he just stood there blankly, feeling both excited and confused.

"Hey, guest officer, the horses are over, what are you doing here?" A call sounded in his ears, Mao Xiang was taken aback and came back to his senses.Sure enough, the deafening sound of horseshoes outside the door could no longer be heard, and the alley became silent again.He looked back at his master, intending to inquire about more information about the start of the war, but then felt that the other party's knowledge was shallow and he might not be able to get the point, so he might as well ask Zhang Weichi as soon as possible; the street, hurried forward...