Return of the Swallow

Pang Xiao nodded and said with a smile, "The two gentlemen still understand me."

Seeing Pang Xiao's confidence, Xie Yue and Xu Weizhi felt relieved.

All kinds of rumors and gossips in the military camp were fermented under Pang Xiao's deliberate indulgence. Overnight, half of the people in the military camp were talking about this time. There are even some people who are instructed by another group of people besides Pang Xiao behind their backs, and they spread everywhere that they may not have military pay for the next year.

Under the panic, the barracks was full of impetuosity.

Especially when it came to the day of food payment, there was no movement from Pang Xiao here.

These worried people finally couldn't hold back anymore.

Early this morning, there was light snow in the sky.

Just as Pang Xiao finished washing, Hu Zi strode into the tent.

"My lord, those bastards outside are making a fuss!"

Pang Xiao snorted, threw the handkerchief in his hand into the tub, put on his cloak and said, "Go, go out and have a look."

The big stride came to the outside of the account, and the distant noise penetrated into the ears. Pang Xiao and Hu Zi searched for the sound, and the closer they got, the louder the noise became. When they came to the school grounds, they took a look and saw that there were two or three thousand people gathered in one place, and the noise was not as loud as in the Pingnan Army The school grounds, it seems to have arrived at the market.

Pang Xiao walked forward slowly with his hands folded.

In the crowd, someone yelled, "Stop talking, the prince is here!"

The crowd was silent for a moment, but after a while they became noisy again.

Someone asked loudly: "My lord, we have owed our salary for a month, and the wife and children at home are waiting to eat! When will we be able to pay the salary!"

"Yes, my lord, what is the purpose of being a soldier? Isn't it just to earn money! When will the lord pay us!"

"We want to be paid! We want to eat!"

...

One person in the team raised his fist and yelled, and immediately someone around him followed suit.

The roars of the men were one after another, as if the mountains were shaking and the ground was shaking, and those who were targeted by the crowd could feel the resentment that was almost condensed into reality.

Pang Xiao let these people yell for a while, and waited until his voice faded before he said: "I understand the feelings of brothers. I have also been a soldier for ten years. I eat and live with the soldiers in the barracks. Don’t you know the mood of the big guy? When it comes to money, I’m really nervous now. Where is the magistrate Yang busy paying back the money that Lu Zhang borrowed? We can't let everyone do it for nothing!"

Pang Xiao raised his voice and said, "Just listen to me and follow me, and you will be guaranteed money!"

"well!"

After all, there are a small number of people who are instructed by others to pick things up. Most of them really gather together for food and pay. Besides, there are still a large number of people in the Pingnan Army who fought with Pang Xiao and Huben Army. Those who have lived in Dayan still have a fresh memory of Pang Xiao's use of soldiers like a god, and the impression of the first soldiers of the two armies.

Therefore, as soon as Pang Xiao called, this group of people agreed.

What are they for? Not for silver. Since the prince has a way to lead them to get money, then just follow the prince, that's right!

The rioters in the crowd couldn't help looking at each other.

Dare they be busy jumping up and down, but they were ruined by Prince Zhongshun with a single word?

Someone in the crowd shouted again: "We don't believe it! The lord doesn't just want to keep us safe now, and just renege on it later!"

"Yes! We won't believe it unless the lord takes out the money now!"

Pang Xiao looked at the person who yelled with a half-smile, and Hu Zi also looked along, silently writing down all these people.

Pang Xiao said: "Brothers don't believe it now,

This king can also understand. In the end it is red mouth and white teeth without evidence, and it is not enough to be trusted. But the kind of person I am, the brothers who have fought with me must know what kind of person I am. Tu Tumo surnamed Pang is a nail! Said to bring everyone to get money, is to lead everyone to get money! "

Pang Xiao took a few steps into the crowd, and said: "The north is at war, everyone knows it? Not long after the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, after years of war, the treasury is so clean! To put it bluntly, the rats go in and take a look around. My son will come out crying!"

"Haha!" There was a burst of laughter from the crowd, and the tense atmosphere immediately eased a lot.

Pang Xiao said: "So we big guys want to count on the money in the treasury. The mountains are high and the road is far away. I'm afraid it's not easy. Lu Zhang borrowed a large amount of money from Sitong, and now he can't pay it back. Yang Zhifu is in a hurry. We are in a state of desperation, and Stone No. will not lend us money for payment, so this king thought about it, and thought of a large sum of money."

"If the prince has any brilliant ideas, you can just say it."

Pang Xiao smiled, "It's not a good move. Just like everyone else, I'm a big bastard, and I only have hard fists. I went out for a few days and found that there are many hills nearby. There are many bandits and road tyrants living there, and I don't know how many common people have been harmed on weekdays.

"There is a lot of money in their stronghold. This king intends to take people out to fight against him, so as to teach those ungrateful grandsons who are not sons of men. They have a lot of strength, and they don't come to serve as soldiers to defend the country, but they are shy. Going to bully the weak will really embarrass the men!"

As Pang Xiao said, he spat in righteous indignation.

Many men were inspired by Pang Xiao's words. They were originally soldiers, and soldiers would naturally fight. There has been no war to fight. They also have to practice in the barracks. Afterwards, the content of their exercises became more diverse, and they were equally tired at the end of the day.

Tiredness is equally tiring, but you have to face no pay, why not go out and follow the prince to suppress the bandits and rob him fiercely.

Thinking of this, everyone cheered, "Okay, vote for his mother!"

There were less than 3,000 people present, but more than 1,000 people agreed with Pang Xiao's decision.

However, there are still a large number of people who hesitated and did not speak.

They feel that it is only natural for soldiers to eat food, so why should they do extra work. Among them, the envoy was determined to embarrass Pang Xiao.

Therefore, these people made different voices and protested one after another, resolutely not wanting to go out to suppress the bandits.

Pang Xiao folded his arms and looked at it for a while, then said with a smile, "Is there anyone who doesn't want to go, big guy?"

Someone shouted: "Why should we take the risk of paying the fee!"

"Why?" Pang Xiao stared at the words, and said angrily, "You are soldiers! You must obey military orders!" Could it be that foreign enemies are invading at this moment, and you have to shrink your necks and stay still out of greed for life and fear of death? "

Pang Xiao's sudden roar startled everyone, and they all fell silent.

Pang Xiao said: "Our Pingnan Army claims to have one hundred thousand brothers and is stationed here. Can we just watch those bastards who call themselves heroes bully the people around us? Is it true that the big guys are only serving as soldiers for food, so they don't have the blood of men?"

Speaking of this, Pang Xiao didn't wait for everyone's reaction, and said: "Today, the happiest people are all present. If you want to go with the king, you can gather here tomorrow morning. If you don't want to go, you don't have to." Go! But let’s talk about it first. After getting the money, first solve the food and wages of these brothers who went with the king, and then deal with those brothers who are honest and can’t afford to be tricked. Difficult but shrank his neck and hid. Whether there is any left, you will see for yourself."

After finishing speaking, Pang Xiao waved his hands and said, "It's all gone, go back and think about it by yourself."

Pang Xiao strode towards the camp. Hu Zi followed immediately, and said in a low voice, "Master, will they all refuse to go with you?"

Pang Xiao laughed and said, "No. People die for money, and birds die for food. At least half of these troublemakers will go with them today," and then joked, "If there are more people going, there won't be enough to share the spoils." .”

Huzi thought for a while, and it seemed to be the same reason, so he also laughed out loud.

On the next day, as Pang Xiao expected, about a thousand people gathered on the school grounds.

Pang Xiao smiled and said: "Okay. Yesterday I made a list of troublemakers, but in fact, I have already made a list, with a total of 2,633 people. There are more than 1,000 people who quit today. Forget it, whoever goes will not." Go, the king knows it in his heart, anyway, more than a thousand of our brothers are enough."

Then he ordered the departure.

Just after Pang Xiao led the crowd to set off, those Pingnan soldiers who were making noise yesterday but didn't want to go out together to suppress the bandits today became a little nervous.

They knew about Pang Xiao's violent temper. They were really afraid that Pang Xiao would liquidate them when he turned around.

But this bandit suppression team, which was less than a thousand people, was quite fortunate to follow behind Pang Xiao.

A group of people left the camp of the Pingnan Army, traveled westward for twenty miles, and arrived at a dense forest near the official road. Pang Xiao stopped the team with a wave of his hand.

"Everyone is in ambush here."

With Pang Xiao's order, nearly a thousand people lay in ambush in the woods on both sides of the road in an orderly manner.

Today's weather is fine, and there is no rain or snow, so it is not difficult for everyone to lie in ambush.

However, it took an hour to wait.

At this time, some people became impatient, saying that they were suppressing bandits, but they didn't take them to attack any cottage. What's the matter with ambushing by the roadside?

Everyone was slandering, but no one dared to ask Pang Xiao face to face. Everyone knows how powerful Prince Zhongshun is, who would dare to touch Ni Lin face to face?

Pang Xiao was not in a hurry at all, he carefully observed the movement on the official road with a straw stick in his mouth, and after a while, Hu Zi galloped over and whispered something in his ear, Pang Xiao spat out the straw stick, and told his side to people.

"The Bandit pretends to be a businessman and wants to transport the treasure back to the cottage. I tell everyone to pay attention, only grab the goods, and don't hurt people's lives. All the bandits will be captured alive."

"Yes!" Everyone around responded in a low voice, and scattered to deliver the news.

After a while, everyone knew about Pang Xiao's strange order.

Suppress bandits, but only force goods, not kill people.

At this moment, a convoy coming from the direction of the old capital to the outside of the city on the official road came from far to near. In front of the convoy was a big flag waving, and the logo of "Sitong" was particularly eye-catching in the sun.

Pang Xiao waved his hand, and everyone took their positions. When the team reached their ambush range, Pang Xiao led a group of men and rushed down like a tiger descending a mountain.