Jumping beam clown mixed history
Chapter 191
five days later.
Dayan Village, a medium-sized village composed of nearly [-] households, is only less than [-] miles away from Xinjing, so it can be regarded as a suburb of Xinjing.
On this day, just after dawn, the door of the first house in the east of the village opened, and a little unkempt old lady walked out slowly.
Inside the door, two adults in shabby clothes and a few children who looked small, naked and only wrapped in quilts knelt on the ground and kowtowed to the little old lady.
"Mother, my son is not filial, so I won't send you off." The head of the man who claimed to be his son was knocking on the loess ground.
The child behind the man was crying, and several older children and the woman, who was probably the man's wife, repeated kowtow motions numbly, without speaking.
The little old lady turned her head, tightened the rotten straw mat that was only around her body, and waved to the man, "Close the door, it's cold, don't freeze my little grandson."
"Grandma!" The child behind the man cried loudly, trying to rush forward, but was grabbed by the woman beside him.
"Let grandma go, let grandma go with peace of mind," the woman murmured.
The little old lady also squeezed out a smile, and said to the children in the house: "Don't cry, dear grandson, grandma is looking for your grandpa. You have to be obedient at home. After another month, spring will come, and you will be much better." If you eat, you won’t be hungry anymore.”
"I don't want delicious food, I want grandma, I want grandma!" The child cried loudly, struggling desperately to break free from his mother's hand.
The little old lady wiped her eyes, took a last look at her home and her family, grinned and said to her son, "Close the door." After speaking, she turned and pushed open the fence gate of the yard.
The little old lady wanted to leave quickly, but because she was hungry and weak, she walked crookedly.
Behind her, the wooden door closed, and the heart-piercing cries in the room soon disappeared.
The little old lady walked along the dirt road to the door of the nearest house, and saw that the house opened the door, and someone was peeking at her from the door.
It wasn't until she walked away that the door was slowly closed.
Barefoot, the little old lady staggered towards a low barren hill closest to the village.
The cold wind howled in the mountains at the beginning of February, and the gloomy sky without the slightest sunlight weighed on the top of the head.
The old lady wrapped the rotten straw mat tighter and tighter, but how could this little thing keep out the wind and cold?
The little old lady kept walking. At this time, she had only one thought, that is, she must go to the mountain, and she must not fall down on the side of the road.
As the sky gradually dawned, every household in Dayan Village opened their doors, and figures plowing in twos and threes appeared on the barren fields.
Many people saw the little old lady, but no one spoke to her. Those who saw her, men, women, young and old, all bowed their heads silently.
A young man who was digging the ground with a hoe stopped, looked up at the old lady walking on the village road, then turned his head to look at the silent villagers. After watching for a while, he also lowered his head and continued to wave the hoe in his hand .
It's just that the man's lowered eyes covered the deep sorrow and a few traces of indisputable anger in his eyes.
It's sad that their village has come to this point, and it's angry that everyone has to endure it.What's even more angry is that as Li Zheng, I can't completely influence everyone, and I don't have a good way to solve the current predicament.
at this time.
"Da da, da da" sounded the hooves of the horses, and a large van with mules walked into Dayan Village unhurriedly.
After not seeing outsiders coming here for about a long time, the villagers in Dayan Village raised their heads when they heard the voice.When they saw the spacious mule cart with compartments, many people had strange lights in their eyes.
The man who was hoeing found that many people turned their eyes to him, and he couldn't help but sighed secretly in his heart.Why would you want a car at this time?What should he do?
The little old lady came shuffling down the road.
The dirt road in the country was very narrow, and the big man who drove the cart saw the old woman staggered and bumped into it as if she hadn't seen the mule cart, so he had to give the mule cart to the side of the road.
The little old lady passed by the mule cart.
The big man driving the car stroked the stubble that had just sprouted on his chin, staring at the old lady's back without saying a word.
The door of the carriage opened, and a half-grown boy with a slightly round figure stuck out his head, "It's another place full of resentment, I thought it would be better to be closer to Xinjing."
The big man driving the car sighed softly: "The war is raging in the north, and the small imperial court in the south is said to have collected taxes for five years in advance in order to resist the invasion of the Lang Kingdom. The common people in China will not be much more relaxed than those in the north. No wonder the old people say that demons come out of troubled times, how could the resentment rising everywhere not attract demons?"
The young man sat down next to the big man, "Hu Yu and his son and the little emperor ran very fast. Before Langguo reached Xinjing, they gave up such a large piece of land in the north and so many people and ran to the south. Listen to the people of Linyao Say, the imperial palace and various yamen in Xinjing in the south were built as early as when the little imperial court arrived?"
"Hu Yu and his son have long planned to rule the country with Lang. Heh, I thought he would stick to the capital and give up the south, but he forgot that the south is rich and prosperous. Of course he would choose to be emperor in the south. That little idiot sleeps caught?"
"Well, I'm asleep. It's a pity that the common people are suffering." The half-grown boy saw that the big man was still looking at the staggering old lady, and asked curiously: "What is she doing?"
"Go up the mountain and wait to die."
"what?"
"I've heard of this custom." The big man glanced around the barren fields and the starving villagers.
"What custom?" the boy asked, looking up.
The big man stroked the young man's head, "I heard this custom from an old man in our camp when I was a soldier. He said that when their hometown was in a famine, some old people who couldn't afford food would eat food in order to reduce the burden on their families. When the shortage is greatest, I walk out of the house wearing only a straw mat.”
"That's it..." The boy scratched his head, "I thought she wasn't afraid of the cold."
"You think it's you?" The big man flicked the boy's forehead with his fingers.
The young man was probably used to being bullied, and he didn't get angry when he touched his forehead, "Then why is she only wearing a straw mat? Why isn't she wearing clothes?"
"I can't even eat, so where can I get money to buy clothes? Such a family, even if they have a little thicker clothes, they will use them for rice grains. The straw mat is for her to hide her shame and use it as a coffin."
The young man, who is not afraid of the cold but afraid of hunger, felt sympathetic, put his hand into his bosom to feel it, and said hesitantly, "...I still have something to eat here."
"I'm afraid we can save it for a while, but not for the rest of our lives." Noticing that some villagers around were secretly looking at them, the big man jumped off the mule cart, grabbed a clod of soil from the field, and said, "Look."
The boy looked over.
"This soil has been compacted, and the top layer has turned yellow and whitish. It is one of the thinnest and most barren lands. This kind of land becomes poorer and poorer, and what is planted will die. If there is enough water around it, it will be fine. Fertilize, maybe you can grow it back, but look, where is the water source here? If you look at the surrounding mountains, there are almost no large mountains here, and even if there are mountains, they are just a few barren hills.”
The big man threw away the clod, "Eat the mountains by relying on the mountains, and eat the water by relying on the water. The people here can't rely on anything. Either leave here or die."
The young man looked at the big man, and then at the surroundings. He could feel that the big man seemed to be looking for something, otherwise he wouldn't have stayed here on purpose.
The boy was about to ask, when he heard—
"Hey, big brother, where are you from?" A thin, dark-skinned man of medium height grabbed a pole and asked in local dialect.
Fortunately, neither the big man nor the half-grown boy had any obstacles in understanding the dialect. When the man spoke, they looked at him together.
I saw that this black and thin man was wearing a torn jacket, and the hay wadding used as stuffing was exposed at the open part of the jacket, and only a straw rope was tied around his waist.He didn't wear any trousers on his lower body, and he only tied hay around his legs to keep out the cold, and he wore a pair of tattered straw sandals, with two black big toes exposed from the toe of the straw sandals.
The man's hair was tied casually with a piece of rag, and his dark and wrinkled skin made it impossible to tell how old he was. The voice of the question was kind, but the big man didn't miss the cunning and calculation hidden in the black and thin man's eyes.
"Our brothers came to Linyao City." The big man replied.
"Linyao City? It must be far away from our Dayan Village, right? I've never even heard of this place name." The black and thin man said.
"It's quite far away, about a thousand miles away from here."
"You can really run, you must be a big place, right? Why did you come here? We don't have anything here. Your mule looks really strong."
The black and thin man walked up to the big black mule, stretched out his hand to touch it, and swallowed while stroking, "Is this a mare mule? Its mother must be a good horse. Look at this frame, you can touch it." It's also thick."
"You are the mother, and your whole family is a mother!" The big black mule sneezed loudly angrily, wanting to kick the black and thin man who was mopping up on him.
The black and thin man couldn't understand the language of the big black mule, but he was startled and let go of his hand embarrassingly.
"Second father, that wretched man molested me!" The big black mule complained aggrievedly.
The half-grown boy reached out and touched the mule's buttocks, and the big black mule let out a sigh of relief, feeling comfortable.
"Brother, you have a good eye. This is indeed a mule born from the mating of a male donkey and a female horse. It is the most durable for long-distance trekking and carrying heavy loads, but it is not a female." The big man praised the other party.
Mules and horses are valuable livestock, and most people have never even seen them before, and there are no mules and horses in this village, but this black and thin man can not only recognize that it is a mule and not a horse, but also judge that it is a female mule ──Although the judgment was wrong, it was because his Dahei was different from ordinary mules.It can be seen from this that this man either sold mules and horses before, or he had been running outside for a long time.
"It's not the mother who is so majestic? And so obedient? Your family has raised this mule so well that I can't believe it."
The black and thin man bent down to look at the lower body of the big black mule.
The big black mule raised its heels angrily.
The black and thin man backed up three steps in fright, then wiped his face, leaned forward and smiled awkwardly: "Hehe, I have worked in the city's mule and horse shop for five years, I dare not say anything else, an animal Okay, you can basically see it. The two of you are driving this fine mule cart, are you running a business or traveling?”
The big man showed his trademark loyal smile, and said nonsense, "Hurry up. We can't get through the north, so we can only run to the south. Our brothers planned to visit relatives in Xinjing, and we happened to pass by Guibao."
"It turns out that the two senior officials are visiting relatives in Beijing. Our place is indeed the shortest way. Go forward along the official road, and you will see the gate of Xinjing in two days." The thin black man said He is polite, but his slender eyes are dishonest, looking at the mule for a while, and slipping into the carriage for a while.
"This mule cart is really nice. It looks strong and spacious. It looks even better than Mr. Liu's. The family of the two high officials must be very rich... Hehe, look at me, what are you talking about. By the way, you two Do you want the officials to go to my house to rest? Have a drink before leaving?" The thin black man swallowed, and there was a sound in his stomach.
"Thank you, no need, we still have to hurry." The big man looked at the black and thin man pitifully, and he didn't get angry because of his small thoughts. People can't live anymore, and their moral conscience will naturally be reduced to the lowest level.
"I know you're on your way."
Seeing that the two of them had no intention of staying, the black and thin man quickly added: "But you probably don't know that the official road ahead was closed yesterday because Prince Hu is going to get married. Even if you want to leave today, you can't leave. You have to wait for the prince to get married." You can only pass after bringing the bride back today. Even if the two officials want to detour, there is no way for you to go, and none of those small roads can allow mule carts as big as yours to pass."
"Oh?" the big man asked: "This Lord Hu is the son of the prime minister and the regent, Hu Jixiao Hu, the marshal of our dynasty and the king of Zhongyi?"
"Yes, that's the one."
The big man sneered when he heard the words, "The Hu family is terrible. Not only is it a family with two kings, but now they marry a concubine and dare to become an official. It's really..."
"This, this... the high officials don't talk nonsense, the little one didn't hear anything." The black and thin man slapped his ears, and said with fear and sincerity: "I heard that Prince Hu did not marry a concubine this time, but a concubine. Ping wife. I heard that the bride is the daughter of Jingzhou prefect Pang Daren! Prince Hu sealed the way to welcome the bride, which is also the value of Pang Daren."
"Wife Ping just has a good name. To put it bluntly, isn't she a child? Could it be that Hu Xiaoji's house will have two concubines? Or is he ready to seal the East Palace and the West Palace?" the big man laughed.
The black and thin man was a little suspicious of the identity of the big man, and this man was too disrespectful to those high officials and princes.
The black and thin man wanted to think about it, but he didn't ask any more questions. He just pretended not to hear what the big man said, and said with a smile on his face: "We don't understand the things above, haha. The officials should come to my house." Rest your feet, there is no good food, but there is always a sip of clean water, it is better than being driven aside at the front and waiting in the car until night. And..."
"Big Gazi, go to your field and don't block people's way here." A loud shout sounded from the field.
The black and thin man named Da Gazi turned his head and looked at Tian Ye with reluctance.
Seeing that the big scorpion still refused to come back, the young man who was drinking violently put a hoe in his hand on his shoulder and strode over.
In another field, a middle-aged man in the same ragged clothes put down his hoe and looked towards this side.
"Big Gazi, come back with me." The young man shouted to the black and thin man.
"Lizheng..."
The big man and the boy turned to look at this young Lizheng who seemed to be in his early twenties.
The young man didn't understand, but the big man was a little surprised. Generally, as an upright person in a village, most of them are local people with high morals. This person is so young, and he can be the head of a village. its extraordinary.
Didn't you see that the black and thin man with sly eyes had a reluctance in his tone, but the expression on his face showed great respect for this young Lizheng?
"Who is this?" the big man asked.
The black and thin man hurriedly said: "This is our Lizheng."
The young man looked at the two big men, "My name is Wang Gang. Thanks to the love of the villagers, after my father passed away, I was elected as the Li Zheng of this Dayan Village."
Although Wang Gang is the head of a village, his clothes are similar to those of the black and thin man, but he looks more energetic.
"I don't know where the two officials came from? Did you come to Dayan Village just passing by or something happened?" Wang Gang asked.
"At Xia Geng University, this is my brother Geng Er. We brothers are about to enter Xinjing, and we happen to be passing through Guibao Land. Excuse me." The big man saluted Wang Gang with his fists cupped, repeating what he had just said to the black and thin man.
Wang Gang nodded, and said to the two: "We have nothing in the poor mountains and poor land here. If you two officials have nothing to do, please leave here quickly. Although the official road ahead has been closed, there is a fork in the road one mile ahead. , go right along the side road, you can avoid that part of the official road. Although it is a bit difficult to walk, but the carriages and horses can barely pass, and you can go back to the official road after walking more than 20 miles."
The big man glanced at Wang Gang inadvertently, the smile on his face increased by three points, and he clasped his fists again and said, "Thank you Wang Lizheng for your guidance, our brothers will leave now."
The big man looked at the young man, and the young man understood, and got into the carriage.
After a while, the boy crawled out of the carriage with a bulging package in his arms.
"Here you are." The chubby young man stuffed the package into Wang Gang's hand, and then quickly retreated to the big man's side.
"This is...?" Wang Gang looked at the rather large package in his arms, puzzled.
"A little bit of dim sum, not much, for the sweet mouths of the children in the village." The big man said with a smile.
Without the big man explaining, Wang Gang and Da Gazi also knew that the package contained food, and they had already smelled the sweet smell coming from the package.But what they didn't understand was, how could the brothers be willing to give them such a big bag of food?
Da Gazi salivated when he smelled the fragrance, Wang Gang could still hold on, but the sound coming from his stomach made the seven-foot man blush with embarrassment.
"This, how is this worth it? There is not much food on the way, and the nearby villages can't provide you with supplies. You should take these snacks to eat on the way." Wang Gang gritted his teeth and forced the package back to him. two people.
The black and thin man jumped anxiously, "Li Zheng!" Then he called out to a middle-aged man who came over: "Uncle Bo Yu, look at Li Zheng..."
The man named Uncle Boyu was the middle-aged man who had been observing the situation here.
Wang Gang seemed to respect the middle-aged man very much, and he also called "Uncle Bo Yu", and then insisted on putting the package back on the car seat, forcibly resisting the desire to snatch the package back and rob the two of them, and stepped back. One step said: "Let's go quickly. If you don't want to take a detour, don't stay near the official road. When Prince Hu got married, not only did the nearby official road be closed to prevent people from passing through, but their servants also took the opportunity to collect wedding money from passers-by. , If you don’t give it, you won’t let it go.”
The black and thin man grabbed Uncle Boyu and stomped his feet anxiously.
Uncle Boyu stared at him, and the black and thin man put down his hands and dared not speak.
Wang Gang was still saying to the two big men: "Grand officials Geng, you are driving such a good cart, and they are bound to ask for a lot of happy money. Those people are greedy and give less. They will detain your mule carts and luggage. So... if you see Hujia Ding in Tsing Yi, you'd better avoid them if you can, and don't fight them if you can't. .”
The big black mule raised its front hooves slightly, and said arrogantly: "If they dare to come, I will trample them to death!"
"Thank you for your advice." The big man's tone was more sincere this time, and he slapped the wordy big black mule by the way, "Brother Wang, if you think highly of the next brothers, you can take this cake, we still have some in the car." Some food, enough for us to walk to the next town."
Wang Gang also declined.
The big man raised his hand and said, "Don't refuse any more, this is also a little reward for us to ask the way. Without your guidance, maybe we will suffer a big loss when we reach the official road, and the loss will definitely be more than that. Pastry, don't you think?"
Wang Gang looked at the big man, took a deep breath, put down his hoe and clasped his fists, "Mr. Geng probably doesn't understand how important food is in this land, but since you say so, then I'd rather be respectful than obedient. Thank you, sir. people."
"To each other." The big man smiled heartily and put the package back into Wang Gang's hands.
Wang Gang held the package in one hand, and pulled the black and thin man away with the other, making way for the two to move forward.
Uncle Boyu stood behind the two of them without any expression, but looked at the big man driving the car as if he was thinking about something.
The big man glanced at Uncle Bo Yu out of the corner of his eye, shouted, and the big black mule slowly walked back to the middle of the road with the mule cart.
"Brother Wang, farewell."
"Official Geng, walk slowly, I wish you two a safe journey."
The big man drove the mule cart away slowly, and the fat boy stuck his head out from the seat of the cart, and waved to Wang Gang and the three with a silly smile.
Wang Gang grinned, and waved his hand.
"Lizheng, just let them go like this?" The black and thin man was anxious and angry.
Wang Gang and Uncle Boyu looked at each other.
The black and thin man complained in a low voice: "What is a bag of dim sum? You are too easy to talk to, aren't you? How did the village discuss it before? How many days have we seen such a good-for-nothing outsider? I don't know how to wait until next time." When. Did you forget what Liu Dawangba said the day before yesterday? If we can’t get together the happy money today…”
Wang Gang suddenly took two steps forward and shouted at the mule cart, "Wait!"
The thin black man looked up in surprise.
The big man stopped his carriage and exchanged glances with the boy.
"Did you hear what the big guy said?"
"Yeah." The boy nodded.
"Guess what they're calling us to do?"
The boy scratched his face and thought for a while, "Robbery?"
The big man smiled and tapped the boy on the head.
The teenager slapped away the big hands that harassed him, "If they really rob us, what are you going to do?"
The big man sighed, "What else can I do? Run."
The young man laughed happily.
"What are you running for? Why are you running? If they dare to rob, I will trample them flat with my hooves. Daddy and Daddy, don't be afraid, I will protect you!"
The big man and the young man stretched out their feet and kicked the big black mule's ass, and the big man complained to the young man: "What do you think you taught him?"
"I didn't teach it! It learned it outside." The young man felt wronged.
The big man and the young man were arguing about the education of the mule son. Wang Gang ran forward, calmed down, and said to the two: "From here to Xinjing, except for big towns, don't stay in any small villages, even if the other party tells you to." Don’t stay no matter how nice it sounds, don’t even drink a bowl of water from them.”
The big man and the boy froze together.
"Remember, don't stay anywhere except big towns. If you want to drink water on the road, don't look for villages. Find the water source yourself. Let's go, you leave quickly. The Hu family has a farm here, and their family members are there anytime today You may come to the village to collect wedding money, and it will be troublesome for them to see you. Go away!" Wang Gang turned his head and left after speaking, without giving the big man and the boy a chance to thank and ask questions.
Not far away, the black and thin man looked at Wang Gang and slowly lowered his head.
Uncle Bo Yu patted the black and skinny man on the shoulder, and said, "Being a man must have a bottom line. Anyone will be robbed, so what's the difference between us and those beasts like Old Dog Liu?"
The mule cart gradually moved away and finally disappeared at the end of the village road.
A dozen or so villagers saw that they had found something, and were impatient for a moment, and ran over anxiously one by one.
"Lizheng, what did the people in the mule cart give you? Why didn't you take them to the village as agreed?" A villager who rushed over asked anxiously.
"It's for food! I can smell it." Another villager was so excited that his nose kept sniffing.
"Ah, they gave me a package of snacks." Wang Gang said to the villagers, then picked up the hoe, picked up the package, and kicked the black and thin man lightly with his feet, "Let's go, go back and share the snacks."
Da Gazi raised his head, and said listlessly, "Just a little snack like this is good for farts."
"Anyway, sweet mouth for the babies, how long have they not had enough to eat?"
"You also know?" Da Gazi said angrily, "Lord Lizheng, you have become a good person. If you let the two brothers go, where will the happy money that the village handed over to the Hu family come from?
"Even if we get the wedding money together, it will be the end of February soon. At the end of February, when the Hu family chooses maids, every household has to send girls over ten years old and under to their home. If they don't send their daughters, they have to send their boys to join the army. Then pay money to redeem her. My eldest girl is just ten years old this year, do you think I sent her to be spoiled by those beasts of the Hu family, or..."
"Then what do you want to do?" Wang Gang heard the big scorpion complaining, smiled wryly, and said calmly: "Even if we robbed these two brothers and pooled up the money for this wedding, well, maybe we are lucky, even February The money distributed to everyone to redeem the girls and boys has been collected, but the money for the repair of the river in May, and the payment of the new military service tax and poll tax in October, where are these going to be collected?"
Da Gazi was speechless.The other villagers knew that the words were addressed to them, and they all listened silently.
"In the past, there was a harvest in the fields, so we could live on no matter what, but you can also see that the fields are getting worse every year, and the government taxes are getting more and more every year. Last year, we collected taxes for five years, saying yes There is going to be a war, and this year I will collect it again, and I still say that if I don’t pay it, I will use the males to make up for it.”
Wang Gang smiled wryly, "Pleaded with them, and said that we were lazy and thinned out the farmland, and we wanted to take back all our land. What's even worse is that those dog slaves in the Hu family farm bullied others and made up various names for money. More and more, if this continues, we will have to be like Wuxing Village, where the whole village will be sold to the Hu family as slaves!"
Wang Gang looked around the village and sighed, "If slaves can fill their stomachs and feed their families, that's fine. Look at what kind of life Wuxing Village is living now? Although we can't eat enough, at least We are still free, no one whips us to work every day, and no one comes to sleep with our daughter-in-law and children without any scruples."
Big Gazi squatted on the ground with his head in his arms, and cried out with a crying voice: "I know all this. But what can we do? The thief is going to kill people! If you can't live outside, you still can't live when you come back. This doesn’t work, that doesn’t work, how can we survive?”
A villager in his 20s saw Wang Gang's gaze sweeping across his face, thought for a moment and said, "People in other villages make a living by robbing foreigners and abducting children from other villages, so our village should be able to... "
Wang Gang immediately vetoed: "How long can this kind of life last? Robbery once or twice, people will not leave our village when they hear the news. Kidnapping and selling other people's children? I would rather take the whole family to go out to beg for food than do it." Such a wicked and eggless thing!"
"Lizheng, what do you think we should do?" Another villager sighed.
"That's right, Uncle Bo Yu, you have a lot of knowledge, what do you think we should do?" Some villagers also shouted at Uncle Bo Yu.
Uncle Boyu looked at Wang Gang.
The two exchanged a look.
Wang Gang picked up the package and said to the villagers: "This is a snack from others. Let's go, first call all the children of each family to the wheat field, and share a little with each family. Even if it is not much, it is better than being caught later. Those beasts snatched it away. Big Gazi, you go and carry the pile back. We are incompetent, we can’t help his family, it’s fine if we didn’t have food before, but now we have food, even if the mother is dying, we will Let her eat before going on the road."
Seeing that Wang Gang didn't answer everyone's questions directly, the villagers looked at each other and stopped asking.Although they look young, they are the most thoughtful. Since he didn't say anything, maybe he already has a way to deal with it?And didn't open his mouth when he didn't see Uncle Boyu?
Among them, it is not that there are no villagers who resent Wang Gang for letting go of the brothers, because it means that they will have to deal with the servants of the Hu family's farm to ask for money later, and they may be beaten, but Wang Gang can't do robbery. , can they?
Even when a person is pushed to the extreme, even when facing someone who is extremely disgusting, conscience and instinct will engage in a tug-of-war, let alone a stranger?And the stranger treated them with a little kindness.
Seeing that everyone had dispersed the messages and went home to look for their own children, the young villager in his 20s walked up to Wang Gang and said in a low voice, "I've checked everyone's mouths, and some people really plan to fight, but everyone most people……"
"How long are they going to stay? The spine has been trampled off, and they can still crawl on the ground." Wang Gang cursed angrily.
"Everyone is just afraid." Uncle Boyu said suddenly.
"I know what everyone is thinking."
Wang Gang shook his head, "It's nothing more than thinking that we can get through it. Now the prime minister is not good, so I want to survive until the emperor changes a prime minister; the current fields and harvests are not good, so I hope to survive there for ten years. We haven’t dug a channel for irrigation yet. But why don’t they think, how long can we last?”
"Alas!" The young villager sighed.
"We can't go on like this. When everyone is too hungry to swing their hoes, it will be too late for us to do anything." Wang Gang had a resolute look on his face.
"What do you mean?" asked the young villager.
Wang Gang looked at Uncle Boyu, then at the young man, and said in a deep voice, "The government forces the people to rebel, and the people have to rebel. Everyone has enough grievances, but they lack an opportunity to burst out. What we lack now is someone who can ignite everyone's anger. An opportunity for all resentment and anger. Just not being able to pay the happy money is not enough, those slaves of the Hu family can’t drive us to a dead end, so we need something else, more important..."
The big black mule who hid aside and eavesdropped sighed: "I finally met a fool with a conscience. Second father, shall we help them?"
They were robbed many times along the way, and this was the first time they met someone who was so poor that he didn't even have pants, but could still keep his conscience.
"Geng Er, how much food do you have on you?" The big man who drove the car patted the big black mule and asked the boy.
"There are still some, why, you really plan to help them? Didn't you say that you can save them for a while, but not forever?"
"You also heard what Wang Gang said. Doesn't he still lack an opportunity to make the villagers explode? We will give him one. If he is smart, he will naturally make good use of it, and it can be regarded as a help to him."
Geng Er curled his lips, "You want to make chaos in the south, your brother is fishing in troubled waters, right?"
"This place has been in chaos for a long time. Look at how many places we have traveled all the way. It is almost impossible to get through the chaos. Didn't you hear last time that the Ah She tribe in Shuzhou is going to close the Shu territory and make themselves king?"
"Your brother has another enemy."
"It doesn't have to be an enemy. The Ah She people are tough and xenophobic, but they are also very loyal and bloody. As long as Chuanhai is not stupid, he will focus on winning over."
"Wait! I wanted to ask you just now, did you find anything here?"
"See it?"
Geng Er pouted, "I know what you want to do."
Chuan Shan's hands itched when he saw his small picture, and he stretched out his hand to pinch his mouth, "As expected of my little...Lang Jun, I know you so well."
Dahei turned his head away in pain, not only did the things he did to his second father become more and more obscene, but even the words he said became more and more out of tune, no wonder the second father got more and more angry every day.
Geng Er was silent for a long time, he was seriously thinking whether to restrain a certain strong demand of a certain demon.Since the other party came out of customs, he has been pulling him to mate almost every day. Although this is good for both of them, the disadvantages are also obvious, that is, it is easy to cause someone to be unrestrained, and it will become more and more excessive!
"Two?" Chuanshan touched him again.
Well, let's start temperance tonight.Geng Er made a decision in private, then raised his eyes and said slowly: "Tell me, what did you find?"
The man who didn't know that he was going to be forced to abstain from sexual intercourse seemed to point to some land in the distance, "The soil quality here is not so barren, such a large piece of land will become like this, in addition to the lack of water, there is also a Because there is something hidden under this ground.”
Geng Er's cultivation base was not enough, so he opened up his spiritual sense and explored for a long time, but couldn't find anything hidden under the ground, "What the hell is it?" It must not be too bad to make the little devil look good.
Chuanshan smiled mysteriously, "I'll take you down to hunt for treasure tonight, let's deal with the affairs of this village first. Although the villagers in the village don't know what's buried under the land passed down by their ancestors, and it's not good for them , but since I took that thing, I’ll give them a little help.”
Geng Er was pondering in his mind which treasure must wait until night to find, while asking: "Then how much food do you want?" He was a little worried that it would not be enough.
"Don't give too much." Dahei turned around and added.
Geng Er kicked its ass, this stingy mule was definitely not taught by him.
"Hehe, don't worry, it's not easy for your second father to store that little food, I won't take all of it." Chuan Shan said, his eyes flicked over the broken earthen basin by the roadside.Wait, crock pot?
Chuanshan's eyes lit up, "Fatty, I came up with an idea, maybe you don't need to contribute food."
"What idea?"
"Do you know how to transport the five ghosts?"
"That's the skill of ghost cultivators, but I will do the same. What do you want?"
Chuanshan didn't answer Geng Er's question directly, but said: "Master Bai taught me a lot of magical magic skills before we left, and one of them is the magic technique of using little devils to carry objects, called the magic luck technique." .”
Chuanshan pinched a few not-too-complicated instructions, and let out a soft chirp.
The two stared at the open space in front of them, waiting for the little devil to call.
Chuanshan rubbed his fingers interlaced. This was his first time summoning a monster, so he was not very sure.
Half a moment later, Chuanshan judged that his summoning might not have been successful this time, and was planning to call again.
Dayan Village, a medium-sized village composed of nearly [-] households, is only less than [-] miles away from Xinjing, so it can be regarded as a suburb of Xinjing.
On this day, just after dawn, the door of the first house in the east of the village opened, and a little unkempt old lady walked out slowly.
Inside the door, two adults in shabby clothes and a few children who looked small, naked and only wrapped in quilts knelt on the ground and kowtowed to the little old lady.
"Mother, my son is not filial, so I won't send you off." The head of the man who claimed to be his son was knocking on the loess ground.
The child behind the man was crying, and several older children and the woman, who was probably the man's wife, repeated kowtow motions numbly, without speaking.
The little old lady turned her head, tightened the rotten straw mat that was only around her body, and waved to the man, "Close the door, it's cold, don't freeze my little grandson."
"Grandma!" The child behind the man cried loudly, trying to rush forward, but was grabbed by the woman beside him.
"Let grandma go, let grandma go with peace of mind," the woman murmured.
The little old lady also squeezed out a smile, and said to the children in the house: "Don't cry, dear grandson, grandma is looking for your grandpa. You have to be obedient at home. After another month, spring will come, and you will be much better." If you eat, you won’t be hungry anymore.”
"I don't want delicious food, I want grandma, I want grandma!" The child cried loudly, struggling desperately to break free from his mother's hand.
The little old lady wiped her eyes, took a last look at her home and her family, grinned and said to her son, "Close the door." After speaking, she turned and pushed open the fence gate of the yard.
The little old lady wanted to leave quickly, but because she was hungry and weak, she walked crookedly.
Behind her, the wooden door closed, and the heart-piercing cries in the room soon disappeared.
The little old lady walked along the dirt road to the door of the nearest house, and saw that the house opened the door, and someone was peeking at her from the door.
It wasn't until she walked away that the door was slowly closed.
Barefoot, the little old lady staggered towards a low barren hill closest to the village.
The cold wind howled in the mountains at the beginning of February, and the gloomy sky without the slightest sunlight weighed on the top of the head.
The old lady wrapped the rotten straw mat tighter and tighter, but how could this little thing keep out the wind and cold?
The little old lady kept walking. At this time, she had only one thought, that is, she must go to the mountain, and she must not fall down on the side of the road.
As the sky gradually dawned, every household in Dayan Village opened their doors, and figures plowing in twos and threes appeared on the barren fields.
Many people saw the little old lady, but no one spoke to her. Those who saw her, men, women, young and old, all bowed their heads silently.
A young man who was digging the ground with a hoe stopped, looked up at the old lady walking on the village road, then turned his head to look at the silent villagers. After watching for a while, he also lowered his head and continued to wave the hoe in his hand .
It's just that the man's lowered eyes covered the deep sorrow and a few traces of indisputable anger in his eyes.
It's sad that their village has come to this point, and it's angry that everyone has to endure it.What's even more angry is that as Li Zheng, I can't completely influence everyone, and I don't have a good way to solve the current predicament.
at this time.
"Da da, da da" sounded the hooves of the horses, and a large van with mules walked into Dayan Village unhurriedly.
After not seeing outsiders coming here for about a long time, the villagers in Dayan Village raised their heads when they heard the voice.When they saw the spacious mule cart with compartments, many people had strange lights in their eyes.
The man who was hoeing found that many people turned their eyes to him, and he couldn't help but sighed secretly in his heart.Why would you want a car at this time?What should he do?
The little old lady came shuffling down the road.
The dirt road in the country was very narrow, and the big man who drove the cart saw the old woman staggered and bumped into it as if she hadn't seen the mule cart, so he had to give the mule cart to the side of the road.
The little old lady passed by the mule cart.
The big man driving the car stroked the stubble that had just sprouted on his chin, staring at the old lady's back without saying a word.
The door of the carriage opened, and a half-grown boy with a slightly round figure stuck out his head, "It's another place full of resentment, I thought it would be better to be closer to Xinjing."
The big man driving the car sighed softly: "The war is raging in the north, and the small imperial court in the south is said to have collected taxes for five years in advance in order to resist the invasion of the Lang Kingdom. The common people in China will not be much more relaxed than those in the north. No wonder the old people say that demons come out of troubled times, how could the resentment rising everywhere not attract demons?"
The young man sat down next to the big man, "Hu Yu and his son and the little emperor ran very fast. Before Langguo reached Xinjing, they gave up such a large piece of land in the north and so many people and ran to the south. Listen to the people of Linyao Say, the imperial palace and various yamen in Xinjing in the south were built as early as when the little imperial court arrived?"
"Hu Yu and his son have long planned to rule the country with Lang. Heh, I thought he would stick to the capital and give up the south, but he forgot that the south is rich and prosperous. Of course he would choose to be emperor in the south. That little idiot sleeps caught?"
"Well, I'm asleep. It's a pity that the common people are suffering." The half-grown boy saw that the big man was still looking at the staggering old lady, and asked curiously: "What is she doing?"
"Go up the mountain and wait to die."
"what?"
"I've heard of this custom." The big man glanced around the barren fields and the starving villagers.
"What custom?" the boy asked, looking up.
The big man stroked the young man's head, "I heard this custom from an old man in our camp when I was a soldier. He said that when their hometown was in a famine, some old people who couldn't afford food would eat food in order to reduce the burden on their families. When the shortage is greatest, I walk out of the house wearing only a straw mat.”
"That's it..." The boy scratched his head, "I thought she wasn't afraid of the cold."
"You think it's you?" The big man flicked the boy's forehead with his fingers.
The young man was probably used to being bullied, and he didn't get angry when he touched his forehead, "Then why is she only wearing a straw mat? Why isn't she wearing clothes?"
"I can't even eat, so where can I get money to buy clothes? Such a family, even if they have a little thicker clothes, they will use them for rice grains. The straw mat is for her to hide her shame and use it as a coffin."
The young man, who is not afraid of the cold but afraid of hunger, felt sympathetic, put his hand into his bosom to feel it, and said hesitantly, "...I still have something to eat here."
"I'm afraid we can save it for a while, but not for the rest of our lives." Noticing that some villagers around were secretly looking at them, the big man jumped off the mule cart, grabbed a clod of soil from the field, and said, "Look."
The boy looked over.
"This soil has been compacted, and the top layer has turned yellow and whitish. It is one of the thinnest and most barren lands. This kind of land becomes poorer and poorer, and what is planted will die. If there is enough water around it, it will be fine. Fertilize, maybe you can grow it back, but look, where is the water source here? If you look at the surrounding mountains, there are almost no large mountains here, and even if there are mountains, they are just a few barren hills.”
The big man threw away the clod, "Eat the mountains by relying on the mountains, and eat the water by relying on the water. The people here can't rely on anything. Either leave here or die."
The young man looked at the big man, and then at the surroundings. He could feel that the big man seemed to be looking for something, otherwise he wouldn't have stayed here on purpose.
The boy was about to ask, when he heard—
"Hey, big brother, where are you from?" A thin, dark-skinned man of medium height grabbed a pole and asked in local dialect.
Fortunately, neither the big man nor the half-grown boy had any obstacles in understanding the dialect. When the man spoke, they looked at him together.
I saw that this black and thin man was wearing a torn jacket, and the hay wadding used as stuffing was exposed at the open part of the jacket, and only a straw rope was tied around his waist.He didn't wear any trousers on his lower body, and he only tied hay around his legs to keep out the cold, and he wore a pair of tattered straw sandals, with two black big toes exposed from the toe of the straw sandals.
The man's hair was tied casually with a piece of rag, and his dark and wrinkled skin made it impossible to tell how old he was. The voice of the question was kind, but the big man didn't miss the cunning and calculation hidden in the black and thin man's eyes.
"Our brothers came to Linyao City." The big man replied.
"Linyao City? It must be far away from our Dayan Village, right? I've never even heard of this place name." The black and thin man said.
"It's quite far away, about a thousand miles away from here."
"You can really run, you must be a big place, right? Why did you come here? We don't have anything here. Your mule looks really strong."
The black and thin man walked up to the big black mule, stretched out his hand to touch it, and swallowed while stroking, "Is this a mare mule? Its mother must be a good horse. Look at this frame, you can touch it." It's also thick."
"You are the mother, and your whole family is a mother!" The big black mule sneezed loudly angrily, wanting to kick the black and thin man who was mopping up on him.
The black and thin man couldn't understand the language of the big black mule, but he was startled and let go of his hand embarrassingly.
"Second father, that wretched man molested me!" The big black mule complained aggrievedly.
The half-grown boy reached out and touched the mule's buttocks, and the big black mule let out a sigh of relief, feeling comfortable.
"Brother, you have a good eye. This is indeed a mule born from the mating of a male donkey and a female horse. It is the most durable for long-distance trekking and carrying heavy loads, but it is not a female." The big man praised the other party.
Mules and horses are valuable livestock, and most people have never even seen them before, and there are no mules and horses in this village, but this black and thin man can not only recognize that it is a mule and not a horse, but also judge that it is a female mule ──Although the judgment was wrong, it was because his Dahei was different from ordinary mules.It can be seen from this that this man either sold mules and horses before, or he had been running outside for a long time.
"It's not the mother who is so majestic? And so obedient? Your family has raised this mule so well that I can't believe it."
The black and thin man bent down to look at the lower body of the big black mule.
The big black mule raised its heels angrily.
The black and thin man backed up three steps in fright, then wiped his face, leaned forward and smiled awkwardly: "Hehe, I have worked in the city's mule and horse shop for five years, I dare not say anything else, an animal Okay, you can basically see it. The two of you are driving this fine mule cart, are you running a business or traveling?”
The big man showed his trademark loyal smile, and said nonsense, "Hurry up. We can't get through the north, so we can only run to the south. Our brothers planned to visit relatives in Xinjing, and we happened to pass by Guibao."
"It turns out that the two senior officials are visiting relatives in Beijing. Our place is indeed the shortest way. Go forward along the official road, and you will see the gate of Xinjing in two days." The thin black man said He is polite, but his slender eyes are dishonest, looking at the mule for a while, and slipping into the carriage for a while.
"This mule cart is really nice. It looks strong and spacious. It looks even better than Mr. Liu's. The family of the two high officials must be very rich... Hehe, look at me, what are you talking about. By the way, you two Do you want the officials to go to my house to rest? Have a drink before leaving?" The thin black man swallowed, and there was a sound in his stomach.
"Thank you, no need, we still have to hurry." The big man looked at the black and thin man pitifully, and he didn't get angry because of his small thoughts. People can't live anymore, and their moral conscience will naturally be reduced to the lowest level.
"I know you're on your way."
Seeing that the two of them had no intention of staying, the black and thin man quickly added: "But you probably don't know that the official road ahead was closed yesterday because Prince Hu is going to get married. Even if you want to leave today, you can't leave. You have to wait for the prince to get married." You can only pass after bringing the bride back today. Even if the two officials want to detour, there is no way for you to go, and none of those small roads can allow mule carts as big as yours to pass."
"Oh?" the big man asked: "This Lord Hu is the son of the prime minister and the regent, Hu Jixiao Hu, the marshal of our dynasty and the king of Zhongyi?"
"Yes, that's the one."
The big man sneered when he heard the words, "The Hu family is terrible. Not only is it a family with two kings, but now they marry a concubine and dare to become an official. It's really..."
"This, this... the high officials don't talk nonsense, the little one didn't hear anything." The black and thin man slapped his ears, and said with fear and sincerity: "I heard that Prince Hu did not marry a concubine this time, but a concubine. Ping wife. I heard that the bride is the daughter of Jingzhou prefect Pang Daren! Prince Hu sealed the way to welcome the bride, which is also the value of Pang Daren."
"Wife Ping just has a good name. To put it bluntly, isn't she a child? Could it be that Hu Xiaoji's house will have two concubines? Or is he ready to seal the East Palace and the West Palace?" the big man laughed.
The black and thin man was a little suspicious of the identity of the big man, and this man was too disrespectful to those high officials and princes.
The black and thin man wanted to think about it, but he didn't ask any more questions. He just pretended not to hear what the big man said, and said with a smile on his face: "We don't understand the things above, haha. The officials should come to my house." Rest your feet, there is no good food, but there is always a sip of clean water, it is better than being driven aside at the front and waiting in the car until night. And..."
"Big Gazi, go to your field and don't block people's way here." A loud shout sounded from the field.
The black and thin man named Da Gazi turned his head and looked at Tian Ye with reluctance.
Seeing that the big scorpion still refused to come back, the young man who was drinking violently put a hoe in his hand on his shoulder and strode over.
In another field, a middle-aged man in the same ragged clothes put down his hoe and looked towards this side.
"Big Gazi, come back with me." The young man shouted to the black and thin man.
"Lizheng..."
The big man and the boy turned to look at this young Lizheng who seemed to be in his early twenties.
The young man didn't understand, but the big man was a little surprised. Generally, as an upright person in a village, most of them are local people with high morals. This person is so young, and he can be the head of a village. its extraordinary.
Didn't you see that the black and thin man with sly eyes had a reluctance in his tone, but the expression on his face showed great respect for this young Lizheng?
"Who is this?" the big man asked.
The black and thin man hurriedly said: "This is our Lizheng."
The young man looked at the two big men, "My name is Wang Gang. Thanks to the love of the villagers, after my father passed away, I was elected as the Li Zheng of this Dayan Village."
Although Wang Gang is the head of a village, his clothes are similar to those of the black and thin man, but he looks more energetic.
"I don't know where the two officials came from? Did you come to Dayan Village just passing by or something happened?" Wang Gang asked.
"At Xia Geng University, this is my brother Geng Er. We brothers are about to enter Xinjing, and we happen to be passing through Guibao Land. Excuse me." The big man saluted Wang Gang with his fists cupped, repeating what he had just said to the black and thin man.
Wang Gang nodded, and said to the two: "We have nothing in the poor mountains and poor land here. If you two officials have nothing to do, please leave here quickly. Although the official road ahead has been closed, there is a fork in the road one mile ahead. , go right along the side road, you can avoid that part of the official road. Although it is a bit difficult to walk, but the carriages and horses can barely pass, and you can go back to the official road after walking more than 20 miles."
The big man glanced at Wang Gang inadvertently, the smile on his face increased by three points, and he clasped his fists again and said, "Thank you Wang Lizheng for your guidance, our brothers will leave now."
The big man looked at the young man, and the young man understood, and got into the carriage.
After a while, the boy crawled out of the carriage with a bulging package in his arms.
"Here you are." The chubby young man stuffed the package into Wang Gang's hand, and then quickly retreated to the big man's side.
"This is...?" Wang Gang looked at the rather large package in his arms, puzzled.
"A little bit of dim sum, not much, for the sweet mouths of the children in the village." The big man said with a smile.
Without the big man explaining, Wang Gang and Da Gazi also knew that the package contained food, and they had already smelled the sweet smell coming from the package.But what they didn't understand was, how could the brothers be willing to give them such a big bag of food?
Da Gazi salivated when he smelled the fragrance, Wang Gang could still hold on, but the sound coming from his stomach made the seven-foot man blush with embarrassment.
"This, how is this worth it? There is not much food on the way, and the nearby villages can't provide you with supplies. You should take these snacks to eat on the way." Wang Gang gritted his teeth and forced the package back to him. two people.
The black and thin man jumped anxiously, "Li Zheng!" Then he called out to a middle-aged man who came over: "Uncle Bo Yu, look at Li Zheng..."
The man named Uncle Boyu was the middle-aged man who had been observing the situation here.
Wang Gang seemed to respect the middle-aged man very much, and he also called "Uncle Bo Yu", and then insisted on putting the package back on the car seat, forcibly resisting the desire to snatch the package back and rob the two of them, and stepped back. One step said: "Let's go quickly. If you don't want to take a detour, don't stay near the official road. When Prince Hu got married, not only did the nearby official road be closed to prevent people from passing through, but their servants also took the opportunity to collect wedding money from passers-by. , If you don’t give it, you won’t let it go.”
The black and thin man grabbed Uncle Boyu and stomped his feet anxiously.
Uncle Boyu stared at him, and the black and thin man put down his hands and dared not speak.
Wang Gang was still saying to the two big men: "Grand officials Geng, you are driving such a good cart, and they are bound to ask for a lot of happy money. Those people are greedy and give less. They will detain your mule carts and luggage. So... if you see Hujia Ding in Tsing Yi, you'd better avoid them if you can, and don't fight them if you can't. .”
The big black mule raised its front hooves slightly, and said arrogantly: "If they dare to come, I will trample them to death!"
"Thank you for your advice." The big man's tone was more sincere this time, and he slapped the wordy big black mule by the way, "Brother Wang, if you think highly of the next brothers, you can take this cake, we still have some in the car." Some food, enough for us to walk to the next town."
Wang Gang also declined.
The big man raised his hand and said, "Don't refuse any more, this is also a little reward for us to ask the way. Without your guidance, maybe we will suffer a big loss when we reach the official road, and the loss will definitely be more than that. Pastry, don't you think?"
Wang Gang looked at the big man, took a deep breath, put down his hoe and clasped his fists, "Mr. Geng probably doesn't understand how important food is in this land, but since you say so, then I'd rather be respectful than obedient. Thank you, sir. people."
"To each other." The big man smiled heartily and put the package back into Wang Gang's hands.
Wang Gang held the package in one hand, and pulled the black and thin man away with the other, making way for the two to move forward.
Uncle Boyu stood behind the two of them without any expression, but looked at the big man driving the car as if he was thinking about something.
The big man glanced at Uncle Bo Yu out of the corner of his eye, shouted, and the big black mule slowly walked back to the middle of the road with the mule cart.
"Brother Wang, farewell."
"Official Geng, walk slowly, I wish you two a safe journey."
The big man drove the mule cart away slowly, and the fat boy stuck his head out from the seat of the cart, and waved to Wang Gang and the three with a silly smile.
Wang Gang grinned, and waved his hand.
"Lizheng, just let them go like this?" The black and thin man was anxious and angry.
Wang Gang and Uncle Boyu looked at each other.
The black and thin man complained in a low voice: "What is a bag of dim sum? You are too easy to talk to, aren't you? How did the village discuss it before? How many days have we seen such a good-for-nothing outsider? I don't know how to wait until next time." When. Did you forget what Liu Dawangba said the day before yesterday? If we can’t get together the happy money today…”
Wang Gang suddenly took two steps forward and shouted at the mule cart, "Wait!"
The thin black man looked up in surprise.
The big man stopped his carriage and exchanged glances with the boy.
"Did you hear what the big guy said?"
"Yeah." The boy nodded.
"Guess what they're calling us to do?"
The boy scratched his face and thought for a while, "Robbery?"
The big man smiled and tapped the boy on the head.
The teenager slapped away the big hands that harassed him, "If they really rob us, what are you going to do?"
The big man sighed, "What else can I do? Run."
The young man laughed happily.
"What are you running for? Why are you running? If they dare to rob, I will trample them flat with my hooves. Daddy and Daddy, don't be afraid, I will protect you!"
The big man and the young man stretched out their feet and kicked the big black mule's ass, and the big man complained to the young man: "What do you think you taught him?"
"I didn't teach it! It learned it outside." The young man felt wronged.
The big man and the young man were arguing about the education of the mule son. Wang Gang ran forward, calmed down, and said to the two: "From here to Xinjing, except for big towns, don't stay in any small villages, even if the other party tells you to." Don’t stay no matter how nice it sounds, don’t even drink a bowl of water from them.”
The big man and the boy froze together.
"Remember, don't stay anywhere except big towns. If you want to drink water on the road, don't look for villages. Find the water source yourself. Let's go, you leave quickly. The Hu family has a farm here, and their family members are there anytime today You may come to the village to collect wedding money, and it will be troublesome for them to see you. Go away!" Wang Gang turned his head and left after speaking, without giving the big man and the boy a chance to thank and ask questions.
Not far away, the black and thin man looked at Wang Gang and slowly lowered his head.
Uncle Bo Yu patted the black and skinny man on the shoulder, and said, "Being a man must have a bottom line. Anyone will be robbed, so what's the difference between us and those beasts like Old Dog Liu?"
The mule cart gradually moved away and finally disappeared at the end of the village road.
A dozen or so villagers saw that they had found something, and were impatient for a moment, and ran over anxiously one by one.
"Lizheng, what did the people in the mule cart give you? Why didn't you take them to the village as agreed?" A villager who rushed over asked anxiously.
"It's for food! I can smell it." Another villager was so excited that his nose kept sniffing.
"Ah, they gave me a package of snacks." Wang Gang said to the villagers, then picked up the hoe, picked up the package, and kicked the black and thin man lightly with his feet, "Let's go, go back and share the snacks."
Da Gazi raised his head, and said listlessly, "Just a little snack like this is good for farts."
"Anyway, sweet mouth for the babies, how long have they not had enough to eat?"
"You also know?" Da Gazi said angrily, "Lord Lizheng, you have become a good person. If you let the two brothers go, where will the happy money that the village handed over to the Hu family come from?
"Even if we get the wedding money together, it will be the end of February soon. At the end of February, when the Hu family chooses maids, every household has to send girls over ten years old and under to their home. If they don't send their daughters, they have to send their boys to join the army. Then pay money to redeem her. My eldest girl is just ten years old this year, do you think I sent her to be spoiled by those beasts of the Hu family, or..."
"Then what do you want to do?" Wang Gang heard the big scorpion complaining, smiled wryly, and said calmly: "Even if we robbed these two brothers and pooled up the money for this wedding, well, maybe we are lucky, even February The money distributed to everyone to redeem the girls and boys has been collected, but the money for the repair of the river in May, and the payment of the new military service tax and poll tax in October, where are these going to be collected?"
Da Gazi was speechless.The other villagers knew that the words were addressed to them, and they all listened silently.
"In the past, there was a harvest in the fields, so we could live on no matter what, but you can also see that the fields are getting worse every year, and the government taxes are getting more and more every year. Last year, we collected taxes for five years, saying yes There is going to be a war, and this year I will collect it again, and I still say that if I don’t pay it, I will use the males to make up for it.”
Wang Gang smiled wryly, "Pleaded with them, and said that we were lazy and thinned out the farmland, and we wanted to take back all our land. What's even worse is that those dog slaves in the Hu family farm bullied others and made up various names for money. More and more, if this continues, we will have to be like Wuxing Village, where the whole village will be sold to the Hu family as slaves!"
Wang Gang looked around the village and sighed, "If slaves can fill their stomachs and feed their families, that's fine. Look at what kind of life Wuxing Village is living now? Although we can't eat enough, at least We are still free, no one whips us to work every day, and no one comes to sleep with our daughter-in-law and children without any scruples."
Big Gazi squatted on the ground with his head in his arms, and cried out with a crying voice: "I know all this. But what can we do? The thief is going to kill people! If you can't live outside, you still can't live when you come back. This doesn’t work, that doesn’t work, how can we survive?”
A villager in his 20s saw Wang Gang's gaze sweeping across his face, thought for a moment and said, "People in other villages make a living by robbing foreigners and abducting children from other villages, so our village should be able to... "
Wang Gang immediately vetoed: "How long can this kind of life last? Robbery once or twice, people will not leave our village when they hear the news. Kidnapping and selling other people's children? I would rather take the whole family to go out to beg for food than do it." Such a wicked and eggless thing!"
"Lizheng, what do you think we should do?" Another villager sighed.
"That's right, Uncle Bo Yu, you have a lot of knowledge, what do you think we should do?" Some villagers also shouted at Uncle Bo Yu.
Uncle Boyu looked at Wang Gang.
The two exchanged a look.
Wang Gang picked up the package and said to the villagers: "This is a snack from others. Let's go, first call all the children of each family to the wheat field, and share a little with each family. Even if it is not much, it is better than being caught later. Those beasts snatched it away. Big Gazi, you go and carry the pile back. We are incompetent, we can’t help his family, it’s fine if we didn’t have food before, but now we have food, even if the mother is dying, we will Let her eat before going on the road."
Seeing that Wang Gang didn't answer everyone's questions directly, the villagers looked at each other and stopped asking.Although they look young, they are the most thoughtful. Since he didn't say anything, maybe he already has a way to deal with it?And didn't open his mouth when he didn't see Uncle Boyu?
Among them, it is not that there are no villagers who resent Wang Gang for letting go of the brothers, because it means that they will have to deal with the servants of the Hu family's farm to ask for money later, and they may be beaten, but Wang Gang can't do robbery. , can they?
Even when a person is pushed to the extreme, even when facing someone who is extremely disgusting, conscience and instinct will engage in a tug-of-war, let alone a stranger?And the stranger treated them with a little kindness.
Seeing that everyone had dispersed the messages and went home to look for their own children, the young villager in his 20s walked up to Wang Gang and said in a low voice, "I've checked everyone's mouths, and some people really plan to fight, but everyone most people……"
"How long are they going to stay? The spine has been trampled off, and they can still crawl on the ground." Wang Gang cursed angrily.
"Everyone is just afraid." Uncle Boyu said suddenly.
"I know what everyone is thinking."
Wang Gang shook his head, "It's nothing more than thinking that we can get through it. Now the prime minister is not good, so I want to survive until the emperor changes a prime minister; the current fields and harvests are not good, so I hope to survive there for ten years. We haven’t dug a channel for irrigation yet. But why don’t they think, how long can we last?”
"Alas!" The young villager sighed.
"We can't go on like this. When everyone is too hungry to swing their hoes, it will be too late for us to do anything." Wang Gang had a resolute look on his face.
"What do you mean?" asked the young villager.
Wang Gang looked at Uncle Boyu, then at the young man, and said in a deep voice, "The government forces the people to rebel, and the people have to rebel. Everyone has enough grievances, but they lack an opportunity to burst out. What we lack now is someone who can ignite everyone's anger. An opportunity for all resentment and anger. Just not being able to pay the happy money is not enough, those slaves of the Hu family can’t drive us to a dead end, so we need something else, more important..."
The big black mule who hid aside and eavesdropped sighed: "I finally met a fool with a conscience. Second father, shall we help them?"
They were robbed many times along the way, and this was the first time they met someone who was so poor that he didn't even have pants, but could still keep his conscience.
"Geng Er, how much food do you have on you?" The big man who drove the car patted the big black mule and asked the boy.
"There are still some, why, you really plan to help them? Didn't you say that you can save them for a while, but not forever?"
"You also heard what Wang Gang said. Doesn't he still lack an opportunity to make the villagers explode? We will give him one. If he is smart, he will naturally make good use of it, and it can be regarded as a help to him."
Geng Er curled his lips, "You want to make chaos in the south, your brother is fishing in troubled waters, right?"
"This place has been in chaos for a long time. Look at how many places we have traveled all the way. It is almost impossible to get through the chaos. Didn't you hear last time that the Ah She tribe in Shuzhou is going to close the Shu territory and make themselves king?"
"Your brother has another enemy."
"It doesn't have to be an enemy. The Ah She people are tough and xenophobic, but they are also very loyal and bloody. As long as Chuanhai is not stupid, he will focus on winning over."
"Wait! I wanted to ask you just now, did you find anything here?"
"See it?"
Geng Er pouted, "I know what you want to do."
Chuan Shan's hands itched when he saw his small picture, and he stretched out his hand to pinch his mouth, "As expected of my little...Lang Jun, I know you so well."
Dahei turned his head away in pain, not only did the things he did to his second father become more and more obscene, but even the words he said became more and more out of tune, no wonder the second father got more and more angry every day.
Geng Er was silent for a long time, he was seriously thinking whether to restrain a certain strong demand of a certain demon.Since the other party came out of customs, he has been pulling him to mate almost every day. Although this is good for both of them, the disadvantages are also obvious, that is, it is easy to cause someone to be unrestrained, and it will become more and more excessive!
"Two?" Chuanshan touched him again.
Well, let's start temperance tonight.Geng Er made a decision in private, then raised his eyes and said slowly: "Tell me, what did you find?"
The man who didn't know that he was going to be forced to abstain from sexual intercourse seemed to point to some land in the distance, "The soil quality here is not so barren, such a large piece of land will become like this, in addition to the lack of water, there is also a Because there is something hidden under this ground.”
Geng Er's cultivation base was not enough, so he opened up his spiritual sense and explored for a long time, but couldn't find anything hidden under the ground, "What the hell is it?" It must not be too bad to make the little devil look good.
Chuanshan smiled mysteriously, "I'll take you down to hunt for treasure tonight, let's deal with the affairs of this village first. Although the villagers in the village don't know what's buried under the land passed down by their ancestors, and it's not good for them , but since I took that thing, I’ll give them a little help.”
Geng Er was pondering in his mind which treasure must wait until night to find, while asking: "Then how much food do you want?" He was a little worried that it would not be enough.
"Don't give too much." Dahei turned around and added.
Geng Er kicked its ass, this stingy mule was definitely not taught by him.
"Hehe, don't worry, it's not easy for your second father to store that little food, I won't take all of it." Chuan Shan said, his eyes flicked over the broken earthen basin by the roadside.Wait, crock pot?
Chuanshan's eyes lit up, "Fatty, I came up with an idea, maybe you don't need to contribute food."
"What idea?"
"Do you know how to transport the five ghosts?"
"That's the skill of ghost cultivators, but I will do the same. What do you want?"
Chuanshan didn't answer Geng Er's question directly, but said: "Master Bai taught me a lot of magical magic skills before we left, and one of them is the magic technique of using little devils to carry objects, called the magic luck technique." .”
Chuanshan pinched a few not-too-complicated instructions, and let out a soft chirp.
The two stared at the open space in front of them, waiting for the little devil to call.
Chuanshan rubbed his fingers interlaced. This was his first time summoning a monster, so he was not very sure.
Half a moment later, Chuanshan judged that his summoning might not have been successful this time, and was planning to call again.
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