When I went out, it had not yet snowed. After I got some water and plaster from Yin Bei, and walked out of Kuanzhou Mansion, a strong wind suddenly hit me, and the snow formed into clumps and fell with the wind. All thatched huts on both sides of the road collapsed. , only a few large houses are still standing in place.
The government officials were shoveling the snow on the official road. There were ruts on the ground, and the remaining snow was compacted tightly. It had not been frozen hard by the cold wind, and the horses' hooves stepped on it, making a constant "chacha" sound.
Mo Lingfeng held the bridle in hand, whipped his horse quickly, and left Kuanzhou along the ruts.
The white horse she rides is a war horse, faster than Dipu's horse. If the horse is allowed to run, it can reach three hundred miles in one day. The green horse Yin Nan rides is slower. Both of them are trying their best to raise their whips. It is estimated that After running for thirty miles, he immediately dismounted, ate, and closed his eyes to rest.
By the evening, the two of them had left the official road and walked along the path drawn by Yin Bei.
The sky gets darker, and the snow becomes more and more overwhelming. The snow on the fox fur does not wait for it to disappear, but it falls layer by layer. The gloves are still numb from the cold in the leather tube.
Long and soft fox fur covered the lower half of Mo Lingfeng's face. The ring of fur above his nose was wetted by the heat and frozen into clusters by the cold wind. There was no moment of comfort, and the exposed upper half of his face turned blue. , the two circles of eyelashes on the eyes are separated, and there are clusters of ice particles hanging on them.
She rode ahead and led Yin Nan forward in the silent night.
The farther away from the official road, the more deserted, the thicker the snow, and the low-lying areas are as much as five feet above the human chest and abdomen. Every step the horse takes requires all his strength.
Men and horses were exhausted to the point of numbness.
Just when Mo Lingfeng was estimating the distance, the white horse suddenly stepped into the air, let out a sudden neigh, and rolled to the side, including the man and the horse.
Mo Lingfeng was stiff all over. When the horse fell, he was completely unable to move. He fell upside down and was stuck heavily in the snow.
The snow quickly swallowed her up. Her vision was completely white for a moment, and she couldn't struggle. Her mouth and nose were completely blocked by the snow and ice, and she couldn't breathe. Her head was buzzing, and she could only hear the sound of her own huge heartbeat and The sound of gasping.
The overwhelming feeling of suffocation came over me in an instant.
She forced herself not to move to avoid flopping deeper. At this moment, Yin Nan grabbed her leg and pulled her out.
"Huh..." Mo Lingfeng took a deep breath, raised his hand to sweep the snow off his face, opened his eyes and looked around.
Three inches further from where they just rolled down, one person and one horse would roll down the mountain.
so close.
The wind circled back and forth, making a roaring sound. She took a breath and watched Yin Nan help the horse stand up and jump up the mountain road. She said in shock: "It's almost time to get ugly. Let's go further and rest somewhere where the snow is not so thick." .”
There were no stars or moon tonight, so she could only judge the time based on the color of the sky, but she didn't know if it was accurate.
Yin Nan nodded, got on her horse, and shook off the snow on her fox fur. This time she held the bridle and walked in front.
Mo Lingfeng got on his horse and walked a few steps. Only then did he realize that there was snow in the leather gloves of his hands, and a lot of snow had also been poured into his leather boots, which was melting into water and then forming into ice cubes.
Half an hour later, they arrived at a place where there was less wind and snow, and got ready.
Yin Nan picked up firewood, lit a small bonfire, took out the water bag placed close to his body, pulled out the stopper, and gave Mo Lingfeng a few sips. He also took out dried meat and chess piece-sized rice cakes, and the two of them shared the food. .
The horse buried its head in chewing the snow, then tilted its head to nibble on the bark of the tree and eat the evergreen leaves.
Mo Lingfeng moved his hands and feet and looked at the dark sky. Snow flakes as big as mats fell from the black hole-like sky, making their shapes appear in the firelight and melting silently above the firelight.
She did not believe in gods and Buddhas, but in order to use the names of gods and Buddhas to govern the army, she had read Buddhist scriptures carefully. At this moment, a Zen saying suddenly came to her mind: "Only when you stand on the rock of life and death can you gain great freedom."
Yin Nan moved the stone and whispered: "Girl, sleep for a while."
Mo Lingfeng nodded, sat on the stone, and slept back to back with Yin Nan for an hour. After waking up, he rubbed his face and hit the road again.
On the fourth day of December, after a day and a half plus a whole night of trekking, they finally arrived outside Shuozhou City.
Although there is snow in Shuozhou, it is not heavy and it is enough for sightseeing. However, the state has suffered from locust plagues for three consecutive years and six crops have not been harvested. In the countryside, nine out of ten houses are empty, and the city is also a desolate scene.
The imperial court has been providing disaster relief and controlling locusts for many years, but there is still no improvement.
At this time, there were almost no lights on the streets, and only a few large houses still had lights and the sound of laughter.
In the second hall of the Shuozhou magistrate's office, charcoal basins and candles were burning, illuminating the sitting officials Wu Jin, the magistrate Tao Ping, the magistrate Lou Jiang, and a county official Gao Yi.
Tao Zhizhou sat in the first seat, Lou Zhifu and Wu Jin sat in the lower seat opposite each other, and Gao Xiancheng sat in the last seat.
The four of them all wore regular clothes. Wu Jin wore a white collared shirt and a Tang scarf on his head. His eyes were wandering. Tao Zhizhou picked up the tea cup, took a sip of hot tea and said with a smile: "In ancient times, there was a king of Kuaiji who was as bright as the morning glow, lighting up the court. Today, I was lucky enough to have Wu Tongpan illuminate the humble room, and I realized that what the ancients said was true."
Wu Jin smiled at the compliment and said, "May I ask Zhizhou why Xingye summoned me?"
Tao Zhizhou took another sip of tea and sighed: "Chief Gao County, it's up to you to speak."
"Yes." Gao Xiancheng stood up quickly and bowed to the three leaders.
His expression was respectful and his attitude was humble, but his words were harsh: "There is no money or food in the county. Do you want to immigrate to get food?"
"That's not right. There are constant wars at the border and the treasury is tight. The immigrants are just for food. This is a problem for His Majesty. The people should also be considerate and considerate of the difficulties above." Tao Zhizhou saw that Wu Jin was as steady as a mountain. He didn't even frown, so he had to frown on his own. Two eyebrows, "Wu Tongpan, what do you think?"
Wu Jin said: "Since the locust plague in Shuozhou, the imperial court has allocated a total of three million taels of silver for disaster relief. It has also used Changpingcang to provide relief. The tax is exempted for one year. One stone of rice is six hundred taels. Now it has increased to 1,000 taels. The rice grains that can be purchased are I can calculate how much, and you should also be able to calculate it clearly. Such relief is comparable to military pay, so why do you have to settle for food?"
He looked at Magistrate Lou: "When I came in just now, I saw Magistrate Lou reading the tabloid. He must have also seen that six people from the Shipping Department of Ningzhou City were confiscated, and a total of 26 million taels of silver were confiscated."
Tao Zhizhou and Lou Zhifu originally wanted to throw the problem of Kozhi County to Wu Jin, but now they heard Wu Jin use Ningzhou to describe Shuozhou, their hearts trembled, and a layer of sweat broke out on their backs.
Wu Jin sneered and said: "You two, why are you out of food and money? Don't you still have no idea?"
Kochi County was trying hard to offend Shangfeng today and came to ask for a countermeasure. When he heard Wu Jin mocking the two state officials so bluntly, his eyes widened and he swallowed, and his cold hands became hot in an instant.
Tao Zhizhou's face was extremely ugly. He was so frightened that he was speechless for a moment. When he was about to scold Wu Jin, Wu Jin had already stood up, walked into the hall, bowed his hands and said, "Please Tao Zhizhou build a warehouse, and all the state officials will take the initiative first." Store chestnuts at home, put them in the warehouse, and then ask rich people to donate grain, so as to help the victims and tide over the difficulties."
After saying that, he raised his head and looked at Tao Zhizhou: "The eggs have been dug up. There will definitely be harvest next year. One handsome man can cover up all the ugly ones. What do you think?" (End of Chapter)
