Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 180: Unraveling the Root

Liu Huai's guess has been roughly confirmed.

In fact, when he saw Zhao Ba looking for beans in horse manure, he felt that something seemed wrong, but he couldn't figure it out for a while.

Liu Huai only reacted when he smelled the stench from the cart.

Beans are considered concentrated feed. In this world where people are barely getting enough to eat, how can anyone dare to feed horses beans even if they have them? Just let them eat some grass.

Of course, the powerful would still take every penny and use it like dirt. But the powerful were not an army, and even if there were only a few dozen horses eating beans, it wouldn't be so numerous that Zhao Ba would have to learn from searching for beans in horse manure.

And where did that bag of manure come from? It couldn't be that Zhao Ba was just doing nothing and just following behind some horse, right?
There is only one possibility, that is, there is a place where war horses gather, or a place where they once gathered. In order to fatten them up, the war horses were fed concentrated feed, and then the feces piled up and were discovered by the people who were short of food.

The place where these war horses once gathered must not be in the city!

Zhao Ba doesn't look like someone who can afford to pay the city entry tax!

From the perspective of the Jin army, since they wanted to hide their troops, they would definitely not let ordinary people approach.

Considering the large amount of horse manure just pulled out of the city, the Jin army must have gathered in the surrounding valleys before secretly entering the city!

The city is not easy to enter, but we must find the place where the Jin army first gathered, so as to judge how many Jin troops have come by the number of war horses!
After going through the lingering reasoning in his mind, Liu Huai turned to the middle-aged man, seemingly looking for trouble: "This is indeed horse manure, but how do I know it's from a healthy horse?"

If an ordinary person were to go on and on like this, the middle-aged man would have turned his face and left long ago, and would have even said something harsh: It’s up to you whether you want to buy it or not.

But facing the four tall and strong knights, the middle-aged man decided to swallow his anger and said with a lowered brow, "I have indeed never seen those horses, but sir, think about it, several carts of soybeans are transported in, and several carts of horse manure are transported out. How can a healthy horse eat so much?"

Liu Huai sneered: "You haven't seen it with your own eyes, yet you dare to speak nonsense here and deceive me. It's not like I haven't been to Yishui County before, how could I have so many strong horses?"

As he spoke, Liu Huai turned around and looked at the knights beside him: "These are all thieves, kill them all!"

Zhang Baiyu and others pretended to draw their swords.

The middle-aged man didn't expect Liu Huai to turn against him so easily, so he immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly.

The young man who had been driving the manure cart also got off quickly and shouted, "Sir, we didn't see it with our own eyes, but there are indeed strong horses. I know for sure that they came from Dazhu Village in the north, and even further north.

A few days ago, I went to Dawangzhuang to deliver manure, and I saw Liu Da Laoshi from Dazhuzhuang pulling a cart of horse manure. I thought someone was trying to steal my business, so I went up to scare him, but he said he was pulling it from the north.

At the time, I was busy delivering manure and didn't think about it. Now I think the horses must have rested there and left some manure for Liu Da Laoshi to pick up.

Liu Huai finally waved his hand in satisfaction, signaling Zhang Baiyu and the others to stop. "Alright, that's an explanation. Hey, you, go back and prepare the horse manure. Someone will come find you and ask you to deliver it to where it should be."

As he spoke, Liu Huai threw out a few more strings of copper coins: "This is a deposit. Don't play tricks on me, Nai Gong. We all have connections. How can we escape from the Taoist priests and the Taoist temple?"

The middle-aged man wanted to curry favor and thought of sending them directly to Ling Yue's home, but when he saw that the three knights still had their hands on the hilts of their swords, he didn't dare to say anything and could only nod.

Liu Huai was equally satisfied, and rode away slowly, like a dandy who had accomplished something remarkable.

After the figures of the riders had vanished into the distance, the middle-aged man was helped to his feet by the young man. He sighed, "Adian, thanks to you today, otherwise, others would not be able to say anything, but I, the leader, would have been in for a fight." "Uncle Zhang, what are you talking about?" The young man called Adian sighed, "This is a horrible world. They plunder the land and collect grain every day. Maybe tomorrow the people will have nothing to eat, and we won't even be able to do the manure business. What else can we do if we don't join the group?"

Uncle Zhang nodded repeatedly as he spoke, but A Dian looked in the direction Liu Huaiyuan went and thought for a moment before saying, "Uncle Zhang, with this method of exterminating families and collecting grain, I estimate that something big will happen within three or four days. The people will either flee to the mountains for their lives or start a rebellion. I want to establish a relationship with that group of nobles first. At the critical moment, our Dirty Gang will have a place to go. Even if we become slaves, it is better than dying inexplicably."

Uncle Zhang shook his head: "Adian, don't cause trouble. Those people are not good people..."

A Dian also shook his head: "Uncle Zhang, now is not the time to be picky. Everyone in Yishui County is in the frying pan. We can't just stop catching vines because they have thorns."

Uncle Zhang thought for a moment, then stamped his feet. "Alright then! Go ahead! I'll take care of the gang leader for you, but whether you succeed or not, you must protect yourself. At worst, you can kowtow and apologize. Remember, a good death is worse than a miserable life. Young man, don't take your reputation too seriously."

After a long chatter, Zhang Bo untied the mule pulling the dung cart and pushed A Dian onto it. He then directly tied the lasso from the cart around himself and said, "A Dian, let's go. Go quickly if you have to."

Adian rode on the mule's smooth back, still able to look back and clasp his hands steadily. Just as he shook the reins and was about to leave, he heard Zhang Bofu add, "Adian, remember, if those nobles are not Jurchens, you must never mention your Jurchen identity."

Adian nodded heavily.

The guy then rode his mule straight eastward, following in the footsteps of Liu Huai and others.

However, after only two miles, Adian discovered that the horses were not heading east all the time, but suddenly turned north after passing several forks in the road.

Until this time, Adian didn't think there was anything wrong with these four people.

However, when he followed the horse hoof prints and bypassed Dazhu Village and came to the hilly area northwest of the county, Adian suddenly reacted and pulled the reins.

The sun was setting in the west, and the dim sunlight stretched the shadows of the hills very long. On the small path between the hills, Adian was sweating profusely.

Considering the direction the group of knights were heading, Adian suddenly realized that their original intention was not to buy horse manure, but to find out where the manure came from.

Why did these nobles do this?
"I thought it was a little rat from somewhere, but it turned out to be you? What's the matter? Are you addicted to selling manure and come here to buy it from the source?"

A Dian was still hesitating when he heard a few sneers coming from behind him. His hair stood on end and his teeth chattered.

He looked back and saw that the person blocking his way was the official who had been asking questions just now. At this time, the sound of horse hooves was heard, and the other three knights also appeared from the corner, blocking Adian's way.

Unlike their previous arrogance, the four of them now had gloomy faces, holding their weapons and looking coldly.

Seeing this, Adian naturally didn't dare to force his way in. He could only steel himself, jump off the mule, and kowtow deeply: "My nobles, my name is Adianlun, and I am from the Adian tribe of Linhuang Prefecture. I hope that you will save me for the sake of our common clan."

As he spoke, the Jurchen youth, whose full name was Adienlun, kowtowed repeatedly, and blood suddenly oozed from his forehead.

The one who blocked Adianlun's way was naturally Liu Huai. Although he maintained a calm expression at this time, he felt a little puzzled in his heart.

Could it be that this guy is crying at the wrong grave?

(End of this chapter)