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Volume Three: The Wind Rises in the South, Chapter 29, Chapter 29: Encountering Bandits

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    After listening to the translation, the leader sneered and said: "You asked me my name, so you must be reporting to the official in the future, right? It doesn't matter, I am Songcan from Asong Village, you just go to report to the official, anyway, these days  You can't live even if you are a good person!" When the other bandits heard this, they gathered around and yelled in unison, waving their swords and guns, which frightened the translator half to death. They hurriedly translated and complained: "Master, you are so stupid.  Why bother? It's not business, it's important to get away. Why do you want to meet him again?" Kong Zhang suppressed the fear in his heart and said, "I just said it casually, you go and talk to him?  He explained that it was just a matter of greeting each other by name when we first met, and there was no other intention. Besides, there are two kings in Myanmar now. I want to report to the official, but I don¡¯t know which one to report to? "  After hearing the interpreter's answer, Shen's face softened slightly. He waved his hand to stop his companions from shouting, and said: "You are right. Now the government has arrested all the men to serve as soldiers. Only the food in the village is left."  They were left rotting in the ground. If the village elders asked for some time off before they could join the army after harvesting the crops, they were treated as traitors and hanged from a tree by the roadside. The family members were not even allowed to pick up the bodies. This was simply outrageous.  This is the end of the world mentioned in the Buddhist scriptures! You Shunguo businessmen are so greedy. You even risk your precious lives to make money and come to such a dangerous place so far away from your hometown. The Buddha must have borrowed my hand to come here this time.  Punish you." Kong Zhang listened and replied carefully: "The strong man is right. But I am just a clerk. What can I do if the boss wants me to come here?  My children, please, for their sake, please spare my life and let me go back to support my parents and raise my children. I am willing to pay some money to worship the Buddha to forgive my sins.¡± Hearing this, Songshen nodded!  , said: "Everyone should honor their parents, otherwise they will be worse than animals. You are a good person, I can let you go, but how much are you willing to pay?" "Being able to save one's life is the favor of a strong man.  How can I dare to fight for more and less? Please tell me the number, as long as I can get it, I will not shirk it!" When Song Shen heard this, he had a troubled look on his face. It was obvious that he had nothing to do with bargaining.  Experience, he hesitated for a while, then pointed to all his companions and said: "There are eighteen of us, but we only have five guns. Now we are still short of thirteen guns. Also, the weather is getting colder. We  Everyone also needs clothes and shoes. If you give each of us a piece of clothes, a pair of leather shoes, and fifteen guns, I will let you go!" Kong Zhang couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this.  The Lion Hui opened his mouth, and now he could only nod his head to admit his fault, but he did not expect that the other party was an honest person. It seemed that these people were not habitual bandits, but bankrupt farmers who had avoided military service.  He asked the middleman a few questions and then said with a smile: "I just asked, the thunder gun is commonly used here in Myanmar, and the bullets are easier to match. The market price is about 25 taels of silver each, and fifteen guns are three  One hundred and seventy-five taels, about twenty taels for clothes and shoes is enough. The villain will give the Buddha fifty taels of incense oil, which makes it four hundred and fifty taels. I wonder if the strong man is satisfied after hearing the translation?  After passing the message, Song Shen showed a look of satisfaction on his face, and the other bandits next to him cheered happily. He turned around and scolded him, then turned around and said with a smile: "Okay, that's the price. As long as you pay, you and your  Your companions can leave immediately, and you can take those two elephants with you!" Anyway, the biggest use of these two elephants is to kill them for meat. The reason is very simple - they are too big a target for a group of thieves!  , it would be better to use it to be generous.  "But I don't have that much money on me now!" Kong Zhang replied: "Even if I have it, it is your spoils. I have to go to Mandalay to get the money for you. I have a proposal. You can send me to Mandalay."  Come on! How about you get more money, like twice as much? Not only can it give you guns, clothes, and shoes, it's even enough to rebuild your village!" "Then how do we know this is not the case?  It was your trap to lure us to Mandalay, and then kill us without giving us a penny? You know Mandalay is now in the hands of the ** team." "You can catch me in your hands.  Then we arrived near Mandalay and asked my entourage to raise money. After you get the money, then leave Mandalay and wait until you feel safe before letting me go. In this process, I will be at least as dangerous as you!  " "Wait until we are safe before letting you go? What if we take the money and don't let you go, or even kill you? " "That's better than being killed by you now. At least I will live a lot longer.  There is only one way for me to die here. Even if you don't kill me and let me go, who knows if I will be killed by another group of bandits. You should get it if you send me to Mandalay?Remuneration, since you have earned money, why do you need to kill me?  I don¡¯t remember when I have offended you?  " Song Shen nodded. He did not answer immediately. Instead, he turned around and discussed with several companions. Judging from the volume of the voices, there was quite a dispute among them. Those few people did not seem to agree.  Song Shen¡¯s decision. Finally, Song Shen ended the argument with a barrage of words. The other bandits lowered their heads in silence and said, ¡°Okay!  We'll send you to Mandalay for nine hundred taels of silver, but no, you can't continue to sit on the elephant, the target is too big, and there are robbing bandits everywhere along the way.  At this point, Song Shen said with a smile: "No matter what happens in the end, you are really a brave person!"  Kong Zhang smiled bitterly and said: "I would rather never have the opportunity to be such a warrior in my life!"  " Eight days later, Kong Zhang sat on the ground panting. At this time, he was dark and thin. The silk robe that was originally of exquisite texture had become a pile of fragments whose original color could not be seen clearly. In order to  To avoid encountering thieves and the soldiers of the Puppet King who were even more vicious than thieves, Song Shen and his party took a path known only to wild beasts and local natives. As for food, they only had a small amount of grain and various plant tubers.  , wild fruits, wild vegetables; if you can get a fish or some small animal, it will be a festival. Fortunately, Song Shen no longer treats Kong Zhang and the three as prisoners, but treats them as companions. Kong Zhang gritted his teeth.  He persisted. When Kong Zhang learned that he was only 18 kilometers away from Mandalay and could arrive tomorrow, he was so numbed by all this that he almost forgot how to show excitement. ¡°Kong, eat.  !  Song Shen called Kong Zhang awkwardly and handed him a piece of roasted cassava. After getting along with him for a few days, he could already speak some of the simplest Chinese. Kong Zhang quickly took the cassava and squeezed out a smile on his face.  Expressing his gratitude. Kong Zhang took a bite of the cassava. The cassava smelled okay after being roasted, but it was bitter and astringent when eaten. Kong Zhang's mouth immediately became numb, and his face looked like a deformed rag doll.  , immediately huddled together: "Is it bitter?  Song Shen sighed and whispered: "People in our village rely on this to fill their stomachs for most of the year, and even this may not be enough."  " "It's not bad to eat, it's not bad to eat!  After Kong Zhang listened to the interpreter's translation, he quickly laughed out of fear of angering Song Shen and said, "I'm just hungry. Look, it's delicious! It's delicious!"  "Kong Zhang took two bites of cassava and pretended to be very happy, but looking at his weird face, everyone knew he was just pretending. "Alas!  Stop pretending, I know you Shun people will definitely not eat this kind of thing!  Song Shen smiled, his face full of bitterness: "The nobles in the government and the monks in the temple only eat white rice, not this. They call this what the lower class eats."  Kong, I heard that the interpreter said that you are the descendant of a learned ancient saint from the Dashun Kingdom. Let me ask you a question: The Buddhist scriptures say that all living beings are equal, even the ants on the ground are the same, but why do those monks and gentlemen live in this world?  You can eat white rice when you come down, and you can eat as much as you want; but we farmers, who work hard to grow white rice in the fields all year round, can't even eat enough cassava?  " "This -" After listening to the interpreter's stammering translation, Kong Zhang didn't know how to answer Song Shen's question for a while. Such questions appeared almost simultaneously when human beings entered civilization. For thousands of years, they have been in the world.  There are countless people with lofty ideals everywhere who are troubled by it, thinking about it, and answering this or that way, but there is no answer that can perfectly answer Song Can's question. At least Kong Zhang doesn't know how to answer the question in front of him at this time.  This young Burmese man with an ordinary appearance and bright eyes suddenly heard a dozen Burmese thieves talking about something happy at the side of the campfire. Kong Zhang quickly changed the topic and asked, pointing at the bandits.  What's wrong?  Song Shen looked back and said with a smile: "Oh, my companions are joking. There is a young man who has a sweetheart in the village next door. If he can have that money this time, he can buy a gun."  He can pick up his sweetheart and live together.  His companions were teasing him, asking him to buy a drink to celebrate!  I asked them to keep their voices down so as not to attract others.  "Having said this, Song Shen shouted a few times over there, and the voice there immediately became much quieter. "So that's it, very good, very good!  "Kong Zhang looked at the young thieves who were full of longing for happiness under the firelight opposite. Suddenly he felt that he no longer resented these robbers who had just robbed him not long ago. These poor people who had been tossed by their unfortunate fate were just for  He was happy with his little bit of happiness. Maybe they would die tomorrow morning. Thinking of this, Kong Zhang suddenly said: "In this case, I and the groom are also destined, so I will add fifty taels of silver to them."  Fill in some household items and consider it as a gift from me!  "    "ah?  Song Shen was stunned when he heard this, then smiled and said: "Fifty taels."There are too many. Besides, the war is in chaos now, and you may not be able to buy him enough household items to live by if you give him money. If sir is interested, just give him ten pieces of good cotton, it will be a very good gift!  "    "good!  Song Shen turned around and called the young man over, but he was a shy young man. He pointed at Kong Zhang and smiled at the young man: "This guest wants to give you ten pieces of good cotton as your gift."  I still haven¡¯t thanked him for the wedding gift!  " The young man was stunned and quickly saluted and thanked Kong Zhang. The atmosphere was very harmonious for a while, giving people the illusion that Kong Zhang was not among a group of bandits, but among a group of bodyguards to protect him.  At this moment, a gunshot suddenly sounded from all around, followed by a sharp shout in Burmese: ¡°Everyone kneel down!  Don't move!  " The sudden sound of gunfire immediately broke the situation in the field. Kong Zhang instinctively fell to the ground, trembling all over. Song Shen and most of the bandits vaguely saw several torches rising in the darkness around them, and dark shadows under the firelight  The crowd was full of figures holding firearms, and they all knelt down and raised their hands in accordance with the instructions. Only the shy young man stood out among the crowd, looking around blankly. This was someone making a loud noise under the torch.  He yelled: ¡°Kneel down all of us, or we¡¯ll shoot!  "The young man raised his hand, and just as he was about to say something, he heard two gunshots, his whole body trembled, and he fell to the ground. "We are the sentinels of the Dashun Protector's Office. We dare to move again.  Yes, this is how it ends!  "Following the sound of rustling footsteps, the surrounding ambush soldiers surrounded them. They were all wearing big-brimmed hats and khaki military uniforms, holding "Hanyang-style" rifles with bright bayonets. They were Shunjun.  Dressed as officers and soldiers, the bandits huddled together under the threat of bayonets. Kong Zhang stood up tremblingly, and a corpse came into view. The young man who shyly smiled and thanked him a few minutes ago.  Lying on the ground, half of his head was missing, and blood and brain matter were flowing out from the wound. Kong Zhang suddenly felt an unprecedented nausea, and fell to the ground, vomiting violently next to him.  Upon seeing this, the soldier stepped forward and kicked Kong Zhang until he curled up like a prawn, and shouted sternly: "Get up, get out of here, are you seeking death?  Upon seeing this, Kong Zhang's followers rushed forward, hugged Kong Zhang, and shouted: "Master, please take a closer look!"  We are not bandits!  We are Shunguo merchants!  "The Shun Army soldier was stunned. The familiar accent stopped him from continuing to beat him. He turned his head and shouted twice. After a while, a Shun Army officer came over, illuminated it with a torch, and stood up with the help of his entourage.  Kong Zhang, whose face turned pale, asked: "Are you really a businessman from Shunguo?  The war here is chaotic, what are you doing here?  " Kong Zhang raised the painful spot on his abdomen and saluted the officer. He smiled bitterly and said: "Master Jun, I am the shopkeeper of Dashun Renyi Bank. I came to Myanmar this time to discuss an important matter with your superior. Please  Send us to Mandalay to meet you Mr. Chen Zaixing Chen.  "
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