The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 95: Bacon Rice Bowl
The rebel army arrived at Mengjiazhuang after only one day's journey.

Although the villagers had heard of King Gong's "reputation for benevolence and righteousness", they were still very worried that the "rebel army" would attack them. Fortunately, Yue Wenxuan was well prepared and sent scouts to Mengjiazhuang in advance to assure the villagers that the rebel army would not act recklessly. This prevented the villagers of Mengjiazhuang from being scared and hiding in the mountains.

But when they saw the rebels, they couldn't help but show fear.

Madam Gong Er did not disturb the villagers and let the rebels set up a simple camp outside the village. The scouts were scattered to keep watch, while the ordinary soldiers quickly rested.

This is the time for the team members in the Mandarin Duck Team to perform...

Pots were set up everywhere in the camp, and the soldiers worked very hard to cook food for their team members.

When the Mandarin Duck Team was fighting, the soldiers were only responsible for cutting off heads or ears, and sharing the team members' military exploits for free.

So you have to work really hard when cooking!
Their cooking skills determine whether they can stay in the Mandarin Duck Team. If they are kicked out of the team, they will not even have the chance to share in the merits of the battle.

Although Zhang Wazi is still young, he is very good at cooking.

He lit a fire as quickly as possible, set up a large iron pot, drew water from the stream, and then opened the bag of grain...

Wu Jialiang is now also a member of the Zhangjia Village Yuanyang Team, so he sat aside and watched. He saw that the food Zhang Waer took out of the grain bag was all snow-white rice, and each grain of rice was very plump. This kind of high-quality refined rice was probably only qualified to be eaten by the emperor.

I didn't expect that any random team in the rebel army would eat at such a high standard.

Wu Jialiang was shocked: "Is this what you usually eat?"

Zhang Wazi tilted his head and said, "How can this be? Just rice, without oil and water, can't withstand General Qi Tian's training."

Wu Jialiang: “?”

Zhang Wazi took out another piece of bacon from the bag, cut it into slices, and said with a smile, "When the rice is cooked, cover each bowl of rice with eight slices of thick-cut bacon. It will become a bowl of bacon rice."

Wu Jialiang was horrified: What kind of food is this? I'm afraid even the imperial guards can't afford it.

Zhang Wazi suddenly looked embarrassed. "Oh no! When we went to war, Second Brother Qian only gave us enough rations for 12 people. You joined later, and they didn't give us any more rations after you joined. If I had known to add an extra musketeer, I would have begged for more meat."

Wu Jialiang was at a loss for words: "So, there's no place for me?"

Captain Zhang Dalang spoke up: "It must be! The Yuanyang team is united as one. On the battlefield, more than a dozen of us are equal in life. If one person retreats, he will be beheaded. If the entire team retreats, the captain will be beheaded. If the captain dies and the entire team retreats, the entire team will be beheaded. If the bird gunner dies in battle, the melee soldier will be beheaded; if the captain dies in battle, the entire team will be beheaded; if the entire team dies in battle, the captain will be beheaded..."

He finished reciting the rules, waved his hand and said, "Since you've temporarily joined our team, your food must be the same as ours. Otherwise, how can we unite when we fight the enemy?"

He spoke, and Zhang Wazi said, "Then I'll cut the bacon a little thinner, so I can take care of the extra person."

Zhang Dalang smiled and said, "Yes."

Zhang Dashu also grinned. "We've been fighting for a few days and have been short of food for one person. After we return to the village, we should ask Brother Qian for a replacement, right? Then, we can use the replacement food to have an extra meal. That meal will definitely be enough to fill us up."

Everyone was delighted: "Oh, that's the truth. What you save is yours. Eat one bite less at each meal these days and save until the last one to eat a big meal. It's a good idea."

When Wu Jialiang heard this, he couldn't help but find it interesting, and a slight smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. This group of people reminded him of when he was still following Song Jiang, and the thirty-six comrades around him. They all traveled around the world together, eating and drinking delicious food, and occasionally laughed and made noises because of meals.

Where are these friends now? Brother Song Jiang is dead, and several of his brothers joined him in the rebellion, all of whom were killed. But many of his brothers are scattered across the country, serving as inspectors or county magistrates, minor officials in charge of public security. I wonder how they are doing now? Are they, like me, fighting tooth and nail to maintain public order in the county?

The only person whose whereabouts he knew was Guan Sheng, the Great Sword Master. He heard that he was assigned to Jinan City as a military general... Jimo is not too far from Jinan, and he will definitely go to Jinan to meet brother Guan Sheng if he has the chance.

A head suddenly popped up from behind. It was my old brother Luo Tuimao. He said with a bitter face, "There's definitely no bacon rice for us, right?"

Wu Jialiang laughed and scolded, "I almost didn't get a share, how could yours come from? You didn't join the Mandarin Duck Formation."

Luo Tuimao could only groan miserably, and took out a dry biscuit from his arms and started chewing it.

The rebel camp was peaceful, and the aroma of rice and bacon filled the air...

The villagers of Mengjiazhuang watched the rebel camp from afar. Seeing the rebels up close for the first time, they saw how disciplined Gong Dawang's soldiers were, much better than the government troops. They all made up their minds: once the rebels had wiped out the bandits and returned, the entire village of Mengjiazhuang would join their ranks.

Early the next morning, the rebel army passed through Mengjiazhuang...

After walking a short distance to the northeast, you will enter the territory of Laiyang County.

The landmark dividing the two counties is a river called Wulong River, a very narrow river that can be easily waded across.

Jimo is on the southwest bank of the Wuluo River, and Laiyang is on the northeast bank.

Just as the rebels reached the river, before they began to cross, they saw a man on the other side of the river. He was wearing a green robe and a small hat, dressed like a servant, and was accompanied by a little boy of five or six years old. Although the boy was young, he was very brave. When he saw the hundreds of rebels, he did not run away. Instead, he clasped his fists on the other side of the river and shouted, "Laiyang Ma, we have been waiting for Your Majesty for a long time."

Wu Jialiang was overjoyed: "It's Mr. Ma's nephew Ma Congyi!"

Yue Wenxuan was also secretly surprised: Taoist Ma Yu, you are so powerful. You are so old, but you come to represent the Ma family to meet the bandits.

Little Ma Congyi actually shouted, "Your Majesty, the envoys you sent have agreed with my fourth uncle that your army will only cross the river to suppress bandits and not to harass the county residents. The Ma family responded with good intentions. If Your Majesty goes against this agreement and harasses the innocent people, then the entire Ma family in Laiyang, Huangxian, Muping, and Wendeng West County will become enemies of Your Majesty."

Madam Gong Er's face straightened, and she clasped her fists and said, "If one of my men touches a hair on an innocent person's head, I will chop off his head before Ma can even react."

Ma Congyi said, "That's great. Then please ask the king to cross the river and I will lead you to the thieves' lair."

There are clearly Ma's men lying in ambush in the woods across the way...

It's impossible that there is just a little boy and a servant.

Crossing the river under such circumstances would be very dangerous if you were attacked halfway across the river.

Madam Gong Er hesitated a little, but then she heard Qi Jiguang beside her say, "Let's cross. Although there are ambushes in the woods opposite, there are only eighty of them. Their weapons and armor are very simple, and they have no intention of attacking. They are just hiding there as a precaution."

　PS: Guan Sheng of Jinan is likely the prototype of Guan Sheng, the Great Swordsman in "Water Margin," but theoretically, he never joined Song Jiang's group. Jinan's prefect, Liu Yu, had to kill Guan Sheng in order to surrender to the Jin. This means Guan Sheng held military power throughout Jinan at the time, a high position for sure.

　　But after Song Jiang and his gang were recruited, their official positions were usually ninth-rank inspectors or ninth-rank county lieutenants, which were very low-ranking positions.

　　Therefore, theoretically it is unlikely that it was Guan Sheng, the general of Jinan Prefecture.

　　But when my father-in-law writes books, he never talks about theory. He writes whatever he wants. I hope history will respect him.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)