Shopkeeper Qian glanced at Su Tao and said, "What do you want, Miss Su?"

Su Tao raised his head and said: "There is only one way out now, avoiding the stream and the leeches."

Shopkeeper Qian took out the marching map from his pocket and unfolded it in front of Su Tao.

The map is made of sheepskin tanned and painted with special dyes that will not get wet when exposed to water.

On the map, a red trace is the marching route of the army.

The deputy general rubbed his brows and said: "As soon as we finish resting, we will change lanes immediately."

Su Tao frowned slightly, with a worried look on his face, but did not object anymore and asked: "Shopkeeper Qian, where should we turn from here?"

Shopkeeper Qian stretched out his hand and pointed on the map: Huishan.

Su Tao followed what Shopkeeper Qian pointed and saw a small black hill on the map, Huishan.

Although it was on the map, the black mark named Huishan seemed to exude a faint pressure, which made Su Tao feel a little short of breath.

Shopkeeper Qian drew another red line on the map, connecting the current location with Huishan.

From the map, you have to cross three mountains and follow the valley to reach Huishan.

Turning back from Huishan to the east, the terrain is gentle and you can quickly reach Eagle Gorge.

Eagle Gorge is the end point of walking along the river on the march map.

When you arrive at Eagle Gorge, you can look for medicine.

Su Tao stretched out his finger and moved it slowly along the route marked by Shopkeeper Qian on the map, and asked: "How long will it take us from Huishan to Eagle Gorge?"

The deputy general frowned, calculated carefully, and said in a deep voice: "It will take at least three days.

From here to Huishan, we have to cross three mountains, and I'm afraid there is no way to go. If something unexpected happens, the time will be lengthened."

Su Tao said helplessly: "If we can't find the medicine in three days, I'm afraid..."

If we can't find the Qingyan Flower and return within ten days, what will happen to King Yun's injury?

"Miss Su, don't be anxious." The deputy general said in a low voice, "I will do my best to find medicine for King Yun."

Su Tao sighed softly and said: "Now, we can only change our route. If we don't do this, we are afraid that our army will be wiped out, and we will not be able to get the medicinal herbs."

Su Tao let out a long sigh and looked towards the border town.

In the border town.

General Ye was in the tent, looking at the letter in his hand, he couldn't help but feel happy.

Ma Teng saw it and asked, "What happy event does General have?"

Seeing General Ye's happy face, it must be a good thing!

"Mr. Ma, good news came from the imperial city. The letter said that a lot of troops have been recruited in the city." General Ye's joy was beyond words.

"Oh? How can we recruit so many troops in just a few days?" Ma Teng was a little confused.

People are not very willing to serve as soldiers.

If there is a famine, it will be easy to fight, and people will be willing to eat this meal.

People in the Imperial City live and work in peace and contentment, so no one would want to be a soldier.

Furthermore, this military pay still requires a large sum of money.

Now there are disasters in several cities, and the court can no longer take care of them.

The prince had just been in the border town to provide money. How could there be so much military pay to recruit troops in such a short period of time?

"Mr. Ma, Ye is only responsible for making requests. As for how subordinates complete the tasks, Ye will not interfere."

General Ye knew in his heart that not many people were willing to serve as soldiers.

If you just make a request yourself, if your subordinates don't fulfill it, they will label it as incompetent.

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The crime of strength.

If you don’t want to be held accountable, you will find ways to get it done. It’s said to be conscription, but in fact, it’s just forced recruitment.

However, this is not a problem.

"If new recruits join the army with dissatisfaction, the morale of the army will inevitably weaken. If they go into battle to kill the enemy, no one will be willing to fight bravely.

What's more, the new recruits' emotions will spread to the veterans. If things continue like this, I'm afraid..."

Ma Teng was a little worried.

The most taboo thing in war is that the morale of the soldiers is unstable, and the soldiers have no courage to fight the enemy.

Although General Ye respected Ma Teng, he just felt that the conscription would not have such serious consequences.

There are many soldiers in the army who have been forcibly recruited. Ma Teng is afraid that he is overthinking.

General Ye waved his hand and said: "Mr. Ma is overly worried. Ye has his own opinion on this matter."

Seeing this, Ma Teng knew that talking more would be useless, so he stopped talking.

At this time, inside the imperial city.

In a small village with black bricks and blue tiles everywhere, a group of people broke the tranquility of the small village.

The villagers and children on the street stopped and looked at the officers in armor, wondering what they were going to do.

Huh! A tall man with a beard suddenly reined in his horse, then slowly opened a roll of parchment in his hand and read loudly:

"According to the order of the imperial court, due to the huge losses caused by the war in the border city, I hereby order that all the subjects of this dynasty are obliged to contribute to the life and death of this dynasty.

We hereby send down the favor of Heaven. From now on, all the able-bodied men of this dynasty will be forcibly recruited into the army to contribute to our dynasty’s war effort. Anyone who violates the law and disobeys it will be killed on the spot as a warning to others.”

After finishing speaking, he waved his hand and said, "Generals, obey the order!"

"Everyone is here!"

"Pass my military order to capture all the able-bodied men in the village here. Those who resist will be killed!"

yes!

Immediately, the villagers who had stopped to watch fled in all directions, and the village was in chaos for a while.

These officers and soldiers who have been fighting on the battlefield all year round are still very efficient. After a while, several soldiers arrested several young men about twenty-seven years old.

Two of the teenagers were still cursing each other, as if they had some deep hatred.

The bearded man on the horse roared in this direction, and the two teenagers were stunned by the sudden roar.

"What are you doing! Why are you making such a fuss! Just calm down in front of me!"

After speaking, he raised the riding whip in his hand:

"Those two disobedient ones, give each of them twenty lashes!"

At this time, many soldiers had come over holding strong men.

Those strong men, big and small, were so frightened that their legs became weak and their hands trembled when they saw this scene.

Especially the young man at the front, his legs went weak and he knelt on the ground, begging for mercy.

But the whip still hit his back mercilessly.

The rough voice of the bearded man was a burst of laughter: "Haha, a yellow-haired boy who hasn't even grown all his hair yet dares to imitate others and scold their mother, haha!"

The soldiers below burst into laughter, but none of the strong men could laugh.

After this incident, all the strong men were honest and did not dare to make any mistakes. They stood there quietly waiting for the fate of the plague god.

At this moment, soldiers came over with ropes and tied these strong men to a line one by one, just like skewering candied haws.

Tying rope is also a technical job.

I saw the soldier moving back and forth on the two wrists of the strong man

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The movements, picking around, are very skillful.

Finally, he pulled back hard, and the pain made the strong man grimace his teeth, but he didn't dare to complain at all, he just called these people bastards in his heart.

Speaking of that kind of binding method, it is actually a kind of life-and-death buckle. The more you struggle, the tighter it becomes. If you want to free it, you can only use a sharp object such as a sword to cut it open.

Moreover, after being tied up, the soldiers will search his body carefully. If any silver coins are found, they will be handed over. It is not that he does not want to keep his money, but after all, so many people are watching, and there are many eyes.

If it is verified, it will usually be dealt with by military law.

Military orders are strict, and although the soldiers show off their violence in front of the unarmed civilians, they still dare not make mistakes in the army.

Therefore, the soldiers who tied the rope also brought a sack, and the strong men guarding it took turns to hold it.

After such a troublesome search, you still have to find out whether there are sharp weapons hidden on your body, so it is difficult for these people to cut the rope and escape.

After everything was arranged, the bearded man said to an officer next to him: "You divide them into two teams and take turns guarding these new arrivals.

Also, take a few soldiers to the village to search for some food and grass and cook some food for the brothers."
To be continued...