The Collection of The End

——AD 156——

The northwest is bitterly cold, vast and windy, and there are no mountains to block it. By You hour (5 to 7 pm), the sky is already dark, pedestrians are returning home one after another, and shopkeepers are lighting up lights one by one.

When Dong Junya went to the largest "Chengji Restaurant" in Wuwei City along the road, she felt quite frustrated.

Although many old friends were enthusiastic about him, they were quite hesitant about recommending the second son. Some bluntly stated that their quota for recommendation had been used, while others tactfully asked if Dong Zhuo had any achievements worthy of special recommendation.

Achievements? Does it count to be quite familiar with a group of Qiang people? No, not only does it not count, I'm afraid it will be regarded as a bad comment. Border officers are always promoted based on military merit, so what does it mean to be friends with those who have potential military merit?

Among the many friends, the one who provided the most help was willing to recommend Dong Zhuo to be a county captain, and he also said with a smile that this was a son inheriting his father's legacy. Dong Junya was very moved, and then rejected him.

Although they are both county captains and command the troops of the same county, how can the county captains of the rich counties in the Central Plains and the county captains of the border towns in Liangzhou be the same? To put it simply, Dong Junya, who once served as a county captain in Yingchuan, still had enough money for Dong Zhuo to practice martial arts and Dong Min to study after he left his job for several years. However, it is said that some local county captains in Xiliang had to return to their old careers after they retired. I make a living by plowing the fields or blacksmithing, and I don’t know whether it is true or false.

This is not because he was greedy when he was a county captain, but because the local aristocratic family gave him a gift according to custom, and they couldn't refuse it, because they didn't ask for anything at all, and they gave it to the county magistrate, the county magistrate, and even the county magistrate. The county captain had more. , the little county captain refuses to accept money to show his integrity, how do you want your immediate superiors to feel?

As for Xiliang, due to frequent border troubles, each major clan has its own weapons and equipment. If they really faced off, they would not be able to fight better than the official army. Naturally, there was no need to get close to the "weak subordinates" of the county captain.

In any case, Zhongying can't be a county captain. Dong Junya thought, if he can't win a county captain, then he must at least be a county magistrate or a county magistrate. After all, we are on the border between Hu and Han. If the Hu people invade the border, the county captain who will lead the army will probably were the first to die.

According to Dong Junya's original idea, it would be best to be "engaged" under the governor of Liangzhou. These officials have no fixed duties and titles. They can be "engaged" in both military and civilian food and property affairs. They can supervise the military and manage affairs at the top, and copy the affairs at the bottom. When he was in Yingchuan, he had heard about the "encouraging students to engage in learning" who supervises students' studies in official schools, and the "mighty" people who looked scary and accompanied the patrols to arrest those who violated the curfew every day. engage in”.

"I can still drink! The waiter will continue serving wine!"

"Come again! Do it!"

As soon as she approached the restaurant, Dong Junya heard a burst of noise coming from inside. She couldn't help but feel nervous and walked in quickly.

In Longxi County, where he lived, whenever there was a noisy fight, Dong Zhuo could be found nearby nine times out of ten, but only once or twice could he be caught with evidence of his involvement.

But this is Wuwei! Liangzhou Governor's Office! The little cleverness was of no use. Dong Junya also planned to find a good job for his son here, but he couldn't let him cause any trouble and be penalized.

————

Dong Zhuo was looking at the drunk maniac in front of him with a headache.

Yes, a drunkard. If a person keeps pouring an empty bowl into his mouth and keeps shouting "Good wine!" "I did it!" everyone will regard him as a drunkard.

If he had noticed it earlier, Dong Zhuo could have taken the opportunity to sneak away and let this man make noise on his own, but because he was a little slow in thinking due to the drinking fight, he did not have time to notice, so he and this guy who suddenly went crazy were surrounded by restaurant diners.

That's right, after ordering the enhanced weapons, Dong Zhuo didn't have much money anymore, so he considered going to the restaurant to find some relatively simple commissions to replenish his deflated pocket.

If he had known that he would encounter a drunken maniac, he would never have accepted the commission of the "Wine Fighting Competition".

At this time, the style of knight-errant was prevalent. Whether it was a scholar with a sword or a rough guy who didn't know a few characters, they could call themselves "horse-racers".

But where are there so many opportunities for them to "act chivalrously and do justice"?

Although I don’t know when it started, a common practice in major cities today is to collect the “commissions” from the counties under their jurisdiction or from the aristocratic families into restaurants, so that the knights can choose and obtain commissions of different difficulties according to their own abilities. remuneration.

When Dong Zhuo came today, due to lack of time, before meeting up with his father, there were only three optional tasks available: "Help move goods in the market", "Destroy boulders in farmland outside the city" and "Wine party".

The words of the market had just left, and he could not deal with Dashi without weapons. In the end, Dong Zhuo chose to "drink all the people participating in the wine competition, and those who can still stand will be free of charge and receive a reward of 500 yuan." This was published by the restaurant The commission - obviously, the guy who didn't make it to the end had to pay for the drink.

Dong Zhuo himself was fond of wine when he was young, and after getting to know the Qiang people, he got a lot of strong liquor brewed from them to avoid the cold. Therefore, the thin liquor brewed from grain or green millet was no different from plain water to him.

I originally thought I could win easily, but unexpectedly I met a guy who was very good at drinking and showed no signs of getting drunk. The most important thing was that he didn't fall down even though he was drunk, and the owner of the restaurant didn't judge him as a failure. This was very troublesome. What if father...well father is already here.

Dong Zhuo couldn't help but shrink his neck when he saw his father talking to the restaurant owner behind the crowd.

The owner of this restaurant is named "Zhi", and he seems to be the cousin of "Cheng Cheng", the governor of Liangzhou. If not, his restaurant may not be able to open as high as Wuwei. And because of this relationship, sometimes he can even receive guests at the restaurant. "Training city defense soldiers" or "capturing horses for the cavalry" and other side commissions.

Dong Zhuo looked at the results of the elegant middle-aged man and chatted with his father for a few words, then called on the waiters to disperse the crowd, and said loudly: "At the end of this 'wine competition', Longxi Dong Zhuo and Jincheng Han Sui tied for first place. One, each person will receive two hundred and fifty dollars while the bill is waived!"

How dare this old guy be more stingy!

Although Dong Zhuo was slandering, his father had already walked up to him and started scolding him, so he had no choice but to listen with his hands down. He took the time to glare at the guy who was still shouting "do it", Han Sui from Jincheng, right? We will have many opportunities to "get close" in the future.

————

"Master! Trouble is happening!"

As the "drinking party" was over, a group of idle people gradually dispersed. Suddenly, they saw a fast horse galloping towards them. The rider rolled down before reining in the horse, staggered into the restaurant and shouted.

"Don't panic!" The boss's boss stopped him and said, "When, where, and what happened, let me tell you in turn!"

"Today at noon, in the mountains more than a hundred miles south of Wuwei, Qiang horse thieves robbed the caravan! When the guard leader saw the horse thieves appearing, he ordered me to return to report the news, and he defended the mountain. The group of horse thieves exceeded a thousand people! At this time, the merchant The team has probably been dispersed!" The messenger was restless, but his words were still clear.

"Impossible!" "Impossible!"

Dong Zhuo and the people around him exclaimed at the same time, but the reasons were different. Compared with those who were worried about the caravan and thought that it was impossible for there to be more than a thousand horse thieves, the "impossible" in his mouth meant that it was absolutely impossible for these horse thieves to exist. They were Qiang people. When he was traveling among many Qiang tribes, he heard them saying that they had gained a lot this year and they did not plan to rob the Han people again. In contrast, the Huns had suffered many losses and were likely to take risks.

"Brother Dong, I have to leave this matter to you." After thinking about it for a moment, he turned his attention to Dong Junya: "It's almost night at this time, and we can't send troops to rescue even if we tell my brother. I have three hundred cavalry, which I can leave to your command. Rushing for help at starry night, I wonder what Brother Dong wants?"

"I will live up to my command." Dong Junya cupped his hands and responded: "However, those who lead the troops on this trip, please remember the name of my son Zhong Ying."

"This..." Zhang Zhi looked at Dong Zhuo and hesitated to speak.

Sure enough, for such a thing, even if a son takes his father's merit, he may be reprimanded by his brother who is the governor. Upon seeing this, Dong Zhuo immediately said: "Uncle Cheng Shi! Please immediately issue a commission to rescue the attacked caravan. , and my nephew took over."

"...This is a very good idea!" Qiu Zhi praised it and said no more. While dispatching three hundred cavalry, he also issued a "rescue caravan" mission, with a bounty of two thousand dollars for all participants.

"Only two thousand?" one of the onlookers asked: "That's a thousand horse thieves. Does the boss want to kill one person with two dollars?"

"If you save the caravan, many merchants will naturally pay you, but these two thousand were paid by me for the twenty stewards and clerks accompanying the 'Chengji Restaurant'." said the score.

Although he knew that the big boss was taking the opportunity to win people's hearts, Dong Zhuo, who took over the task, was too lazy to expose it. However, he could no longer let the talkative people around him exaggerate the strength of the horse thieves and point out that they were not Qiang people. It was meaningless. What he had to do at this time was But it was to increase his apparent winning rate, so he raised his voice and said, "Do you know about 'bird blindness'?"

Although he was young, he was huge and had just defeated the others in the drinking competition. Therefore, when he spoke loudly, most of the drinkers calmed down and listened.

"The so-called bird blindness is a disease caused by people who eat meat all day long without eating vegetables, fish or shrimps. Whenever the sun sets, they will be blind like birds." Dong Zhuo said: "This is the case with those barbarians and horse thieves. If the team is scattered, it will be impossible to attack and rob overnight."

"Indeed..." A knowledgeable person nodded.

"Uncle Cheng Shi's cavalry naturally does not have this disease. However, even if there are a thousand pigs, if three hundred people are allowed to kill them, some of them may slip through the net..." Dong Zhuoyang raised the commission letter in his hand: "This battle still requires two hundred pigs." If you are a person with bird blindness and can use swords and guns, if you don't want to go, you can spread the word that my father and three hundred cavalry will set off outside the south gate in half an hour, and we will not wait if it is late."

The people around him were interested in making a move, but they were still hesitant.

Seeing this, Dong Zhuo added again: "It should be noted that what we have to deal with is not a thousand bandits or bandits, but 'horse thieves', and this trip is not an official military operation, and everything is confiscated, so, what about a thousand horses?" "

"I'm willing to go!" "Is that the south gate? Wait until I go back to get the robes!" "I still have a few brothers, go and call them now!" Although Xiliang produces horses, not all of them are war horses. Those who can be ridden by horse thieves will not be any worse.

Amid the commotion, Dong Zhuo showed a slightly sinister smile.

When Dong Junya saw it, he was both happy and a little uneasy. He could only comfort himself and said: "It doesn't matter if the border troops are cruel and use money to induce them to act. Anyway, my son cannot become a high official in the court."