There was a saying, "Poverty limits my imagination." Similarly, a wealthy life would also limit one's imagination. People would not be able to imagine how poor the poor were back then, and what incredible things they did because of poverty.
For example, getting up in the wee hours of the morning to pick up chicken dung under someone else's tree was a scene that people in the affluent era could not imagine. However, in that special era, such behavior was a common phenomenon. Even two children picking up chicken dung would fight because of an inconspicuous piece of chicken dung. If it was more serious, the adults of the two families would be involved. If it was more serious, it would be a confrontation between two ethnic groups. In the end, it would be a common thing for the county government to take it to court.
Picking up a piece of chicken dung was such a big thing, but it caused such serious consequences. This showed the poverty of the people. The poor people often did not have enough to eat, so it was good to harvest one or two more grains. The harvest of grain was closely related to the fertility of the land. If the land was not fertile, the crops would not grow well, and the harvest would not be high. Therefore, in order to let their own land produce more grains, every family would try their best to collect fertilizer. Their own feces and urine would be piled in a fixed place. For the huge demand of the land, such a small amount of feces and urine was definitely not enough. Therefore, going out to pick up feces became a good idea. Whether it was chicken dung, cow dung, or bird dung that fell from the sky, as long as it could be used as fertilizer, they would not miss it.
In the process of picking up feces, naturally, people would find that the efficiency of picking up feces was highest in the early morning. They could pick up the most feces in a unit time. After all, every family had to sleep at night. As a result, the feces excreted by animals could be left unpicked for several hours. The amount would naturally be much more than during the day. Therefore, getting up in the early morning to pick up feces was the best choice for many hardworking people.
Adults had to work in the field early in the morning. It was obviously not worthwhile to take the time to pick up feces. Compared to picking up feces, it was more efficient to plow the field and weed. The job of picking up feces naturally fell to the children. These children were physically weak and could not do any farm work, but they were fully capable of picking up chicken dung. Moreover, adults were more or less prideful. It was very embarrassing to pick up feces early in the morning, but it did not matter to the children. When others saw it, they would praise the children for being sensible and waking up early. The more feces they picked up, the more sensible the children would be.
Some children would inevitably be lazy. They would wake up late and not work hard to pick up feces. If the harvest was not enough, they would be spanked by the adults at home. Such children were insensible and disobedient in the eyes of the adults. Some disobedient children would choose to snatch the feces picked up by other children in order to avoid being spanked. This was the lowest level of bullying and was also the fuse that led to major conflicts.
When people in the prosperous era looked back on this matter, they would feel it was quite interesting. But when they were in such an era of scarcity, their feelings would be completely different. Perhaps they would also do such things!
The Horse Gang mainly focused on robbing. Farming was only an auxiliary. Moreover, there were no children in the nest. Therefore, the Horse Gang would not pick up bird dung for nothing. Horse dung was relatively large and piled up in each stable. Naturally, it would be necessary to pick it up. It was the main source of fertilizer for the Horse Gang. The amount of horse dung was huge, much more than human feces and urine.
"We have the land and fertilizer. The soldiers planted some vegetables and fruits here, which were all provided by the provincial Xia State City. Plus the grain in the cave, we don't need to provide any extra food. But the seized silver is too little, so the army's pay must be provided by the imperial court."
Lao Guo said.
Ang Lee nodded and said, "Yes! The Horse Gang took away all the valuable gold and silver in advance, leaving only grain and horse dung. But when our army completely annihilates the Horse Gang, the gold and silver will be ours sooner or later. "
The gentle slope in front of them was a ruined sweet potato field. The sweet potatoes had long been dug out by the bandits and placed in the cave. However, the sweet potatoes in the field were definitely not completely dug out. As long as they dug a little more, they would definitely be able to dig out a lot more.
Ang Lee and Lao Guo squatted down and gently dug with the twigs in their hands. Soon they dug out several sweet potatoes. But these sweet potatoes were relatively small and buried deep, so they were missed by the Horse Gang.
The phenomenon of missing fruits was inevitable in any era. After all, the roots of sweet potatoes could be planted very deep. But when digging sweet potatoes, for the sake of efficiency, it was impossible to dig very deep. If one was too busy and tired, there would definitely be some omissions. This was even more serious when harvesting peanuts.
In Li An's childhood memories, he used to dig sweet potatoes in the field. Basically, he did it every year. Whenever it was the season for sweet potatoes to ripen, Li An would follow his family to the slope of the No. 2 aircraft station to dig ripe sweet potatoes.
The main sweet potatoes were naturally dug by the adults in his family, while Ang Lee mainly played. Then, after the adults finished digging a ditch, Ang Lee would pick up the leftovers. As long as he found a sweet potato, he would tell his family loudly to prove his ability. The result never disappointed Ang Lee, because every time he picked up a leftover sweet potato, sometimes even a big one. His family was shocked and even suspected that Ang Lee did not dig the sweet potatoes from the ground, but from the pocket of the landlord.
Even if you picked up the leftovers, if you came back the next day, you would still be able to pick up a lot of large sweet potatoes. Even if you dug up sweet potatoes every day for a week, you couldn't guarantee that you would be able to dig up all the sweet potatoes in the ground. The sweet potatoes in this field were so stubborn that they couldn't be dug up no matter what. In the spring of the second year, these sweet potatoes would grow new buds from the ground, which was very surprising. It turned out that there were still some sweet potatoes left in the ground that hadn't been dug up!
Li An and Lao Guo started a competition. Both of them were picking up the leftovers in the field to see who could pick up more leftovers.
"Lao Guo, I've picked up six, while you've only picked up three. You're too slow!"
Ang Lee said with a smile.
"Alas, I'm old. I have to admit that I'm old. My eyesight is not good. "
Lao Guo said helplessly.
In fact, it had nothing to do with his eyesight. The main reason was that Lao Guo had never planted sweet potatoes before, so he did not know much about their growth habits. Therefore, he could not judge where the sweet potatoes were from the surface of the ground. Therefore, the probability of finding them was naturally lower. But Ang Lee was too familiar with sweet potatoes, including their root system. As long as he saw the cracks on the ground, he could roughly tell whether there were sweet potatoes underneath. Although he could not get it right every time, the success rate was definitely twice as high as searching blindly.
After searching for a while, Ang Lee had picked up more than a dozen sweet potatoes, while Lao Guo had only lost four.
"Let's stop searching. Tell the soldiers to check them out when they have nothing to do."
Lao Guo was tired, so he threw the four sweet potatoes on the ground.
"General, this is the result of the investigation. All the Horse Gang members have confessed."
A soldier came to report the situation.
Lao Guo took over the files and roughly skimmed through them with Li An, taking half each.
"This one is obviously not telling the truth. He's definitely not sincere in surrendering."
"This one won't work either. He's an orphan with no relatives."
A Horse Gang without relatives would have nothing to worry about, so it was hard to control him. He was indeed untrustworthy.
"Lao Guo, this one is good. He's from the Central Plains. His family lives in the countryside outside Summer City. Because of the deterioration of the farmland, his family members went their separate ways. His elder brother and his parents went to Summer City to do manual labor. He was lured into the Horse Gang's camp by the high pay. He was mainly responsible for feeding the horses of the Horse Gang. He has never killed or robbed anyone."
Li An finally found a trustworthy person. It was possible to control such a person. However, he still had to confirm his identity first. If this identity was made up by himself, it would be terrible.
"Well, it should be true. It's very clear. If he made it up, he wouldn't be able to make up so many details. Moreover, he made it up so seamlessly. Moreover, the brother he mentioned isn't a laborer. He's already a soldier under my command."
Lao Guo glanced at the information and suddenly remembered that there was a soldier under his command named Big Colt. According to the description of the Horse Gang, he should be his elder brother, which made Lao Guo overjoyed.
"Is there such a good thing?"
Ang Lee smiled and exchanged a look with Lao Guo. He nodded and said, "Go and call this person here alone. We'll investigate him in person."
Soon, the Horse Gang member was taken to the sweet potato field outside the back door. The soldier withdrew to guard him.
"What's his name?"
Ang Lee asked.
"Foal."
Foal answered.
"Why is he called by such a name?"
Ang Lee thought it was more like a nickname than a real name.
"Yessian gave him this name. He has been called by this name since he was a child."
Foal answered.
"Well, Foal, do you like being a Horse Gang member?"
Ang Lee asked.
"No, I don't. They didn't keep their word. They said they would pay me double, but they kept me here for years. Except for good food and drinks, they never let me leave. I haven't seen my family for so many years. I don't know how they are doing."
Foal said.
Lao Guo interrupted, "What a poor boy. You have to ask your elder brother if your family is doing well."
"My elder brother is Big Colt. Is he here?"
Foal was a little excited.
"Don't worry. I've sent someone to inform him. He'll be here soon. First, tell me about these captives. Who are they? Are they willing to risk their lives for the Horse Gang?"
Lao Guo said.
"The others are fine, but the leader, One-eyed, is not a good person. He is the leader's confidant and is usually very arrogant and domineering. He often bullies us. I heard that he has even killed people. General, you must not let him go."
Foal said.
"I have my own strategy. You only need to tell me what you know."
Lao Guo scolded.
The foal continued to tell them more information, which satisfied both Li An and Lao Guo. The more they knew about the Horse Gang, the more advantageous it would be for them to deal with them.
After a while, Big Colt finally came.
"Erlang, you are such a disappointment. Why did you become a Horse Gang?"
Da Ma Ju threw a punch at her, and it was quite a heavy one. This was a sign of deep love, and the heavier the punch, the deeper the feelings.
"You should have learned well. You should have learned well."
Big Colt was a little out of control. He punched him a few more times, as if he wanted to kill his own brother.
"Stop it. Your brother has his own difficulties."
Lao Guo couldn't stand it anymore and tried to persuade him.
"General, I can't become a Horse Gang no matter how difficult it is. It's my fault for not teaching him well. Please punish me."
This was a proper ruse. On the surface, he was asking for forgiveness, but in reality, he was pleading for leniency. This trick was so common that even Li An could hear it.
"Well, don't apologize. There is a chance for you to redeem yourself. As long as you can seize it, you can clear your name. After all, he just fed the horses and cooked for the Horse Gang. It's not a big crime."
Lao Guo said.
"General, please give us the order. We will go through fire and water for you."
The two Colts knelt down and said.
Lao Guo looked at the two brothers and said, "Foal, I want you to go back to the Horse Gang leader and be my informant. If you have a chance, pass the message to him. Big Colt will be in charge of canceling the message. But it's very risky. Any carelessness will cost you your life. You have to think it over. Besides, your relatives are still in Summer State City. If you turn to the Horse Gang, you will face serious consequences."
"General, don't worry. We will never turn to the Horse Gang. Even if there is a mountain of knives and a sea of fire ahead, we will complete the task."
Both the colts expressed their stance.
"Do you have any plan on how to contact each other? I heard that the Horse Gang keeps a strict watch on their subordinates, especially the lowly coachmen, who can hardly leave the nest. Even when they go out to gather firewood, they go in groups of a dozen, with two leaders supervising them. There is no chance for them to be separated. How can we pass the message? "
Ang Lee asked.
"We can learn to sing birds. Many kinds of birds. We can pass the message with the sound of birds, which can completely avoid the surveillance of the Horse Gang."
Foal said.
"Haha! You have such an ability. That's not easy! So, it's much safer. "
Ang Lee said happily.
Lao Guo waved his hand and said, "Foal, you go back! Big Colt, you go back too. "
"Lao Guo! Previously, the scouts who infiltrated the Horse Gang could not pass on any information. Now that we have the Little Colt and Big Colt brothers, perhaps they can complete the task of passing on information. This way, we will be able to take the initiative. "
Ang Lee said.
"That's right! After so many months of confrontation, we can finally get serious. In one month at most, we must wipe out all the Horse Gang and dig out all the vermin in Summer State. "
Lao Guo said confidently.
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