Li Hongji was born into a horse household, a kind of household registration that specializes in raising horses.
His father and ancestors all worked in this profession. His nickname was Huang Lai'er, but he was actually Huang Wazi.
When he was a child, he was sent to a monastery because his family was poor, and he was named Huang Laiseng. He returned to secular life at the age of nine and began to herd sheep for the Ai family. Later, he also worked as a handyman until his father died, and he took over as a postman in Yinchuan, and was officially incorporated into the system.
At this time, he had thick dark circles under his eyes, a tired face, and an untrimmed beard on the sideburns. He looked like an old man in his thirties.
He was extremely happy to see Chengzu and Chengzong brothers. He rubbed his hands and looked around. He saw the resting sergeants sitting or squatting in the wine shop, but he didn't dare to get too close. It wasn't until Liu Chengzong stood up to greet him that he led the donkey away. come over.
"Ah, brother Chengzu, the Liu family's lion is still tall and strong. I was wondering why there are so many military masters in this country wine shop, but I didn't expect you to be here."
When Liu Chengzong saw Li Hongji, he was happy from the bottom of his heart. The scene when Li Hongji taught him equestrian also appeared in his mind. However, the two memories were intertwined with each other, and there were many distracting thoughts in his heart. For a while, he just smiled and didn't know what to say.
The elder brother Liu Chengzu was very enthusiastic. He came up and grabbed Li Hongji's arm and said with a smile: "Brother Huang Wa, you came at the right time. You have just stewed the lamb. Come on, come on, pour half a catty of mutton with soup."
"This, this won't work. You guys are on business and you can eat. I have other things to do and I have to go to the county town. I'll leave after saying a few words."
Li Hongji was very embarrassed. He looked around to find an excuse to leave, but Liu Chengzu pushed him to the table and sat down. He winked to his left and right. At that moment, a border soldier came forward to take the reins and tie his donkey up.
He sat there a little shyly. Before he could refuse, a large tea bowl filled with half a bowl of mutton soup was placed in front of him.
This bowl of meat didn't give him a chance to refuse. The aroma filled his nose and he couldn't help but swallow his saliva.
When he opened his mouth again, his stomach, which had been hungry for a long time, began to growl unsatisfactorily.
The words he wanted to refuse turned into an awkward smile.
After a pause, he looked first at Liu Chengzu and then at Liu Chengzong, and then smiled and said: "Oh, it's been more than two years since the fourth master was promoted to Yan'an Mansion and I haven't seen him again.
Later I heard about the fourth master, and that you two went to Yuhe Fort to join General He. I was thinking about this last time when I went to deliver a letter, but I didn't see you two. Now it looks pretty good, both are captains. "
Liu Chengzu chuckled and said, "Don't mention it. The imperial court won't pay the soldiers, and the fort won't be able to send out military rations. No, the brothers asked the general to send them out to look for food. They thought they'd go back to Yan'an Mansion first and take a look."
"Oh, this is going to be difficult." The smile on Li Hongji's face froze, and he shook his head and said: "Nowadays, the situation outside is not good, and none of our descendants from Mizhi are willing to stay safe in the fields. Many of them have become thieves."
"According to past disaster years, serving as a soldier and eating food is still a way out..."
Li Hongji shook his head, but he was still worried about the future of the two brothers. He heard Liu Chengzong ask: "Brother Huang Wa, don't just talk about us brothers. How about you? Are there no horses in the inn?"
This sentence brought a bitter smile to Li Hongji's face.
"Ha, this is also a long story for a baby without a mother."
He sighed, looked left and right, and then said: "The post station has been short of fodder for a long time, and the horses are very weak. Last year, there were rebellions everywhere, and the delivery of official documents was urgent. Everyone was tired and had to pay compensation for the three post horses, and there were no A person who can handle things."
"Those uncles are all elderly. If I have the strength, I will take care of the matter."
Thinking of this, Li Hongji didn't seem too annoyed, but then he became itchy with anger and slapped the table: "Who would have thought that just after I took over the matter, the imperial court would withdraw from the inn!"
He slammed the table, causing the row of frontier soldiers in the back who were eating mutton steamed buns to stand up. Some even instinctively used their thumbs to push the knife out of the sheath an inch, and the tail rope of the knife was wrapped around their wrists.
Liu Chengzu raised his hand to indicate that everyone was okay, and Li Hongji embarrassedly clasped his fists at everyone and smiled in apology.
This man is only in his twenties this year. On the one hand, the postmen at the post station have the mission of delivering official documents and military intelligence. On the other hand, they are also excellent reserve soldiers with riding and archery skills.
Not only the postmen, but also the three-shift government officers and patrol archers are among them. This kind of work itself has a certain degree of stability maintenance significance.
They are all idle young people who want money but no money and no land. Most of them have the skills of fists, feet, swords and sticks. If they are left alone, they will be a factor of instability that uses force to violate the prohibition.
If you have a job where you can earn a few bucks a month to make ends meet, you won't be hungry even if you don't have enough to eat, so you won't endanger public order and you can still be used by the court.
At least in Li Hongji's case, even if Mi Zhi's descendants had turned into thieves, Liu Chengzong didn't see any objection on his part.
Instead, he sighed repeatedly, obviously showing the bitterness of being a docile citizen: "It's good now. When it comes to abolishing the postmen, I will be the first to break the three post horses. If I lose my livelihood, I have to pay for the three horses." .”
"If Grandpa Taizu was still here, how could such a thing happen in the world? Even if you sell it to me, it's not worth three horses."
Liu Chengzu had been listening quietly, and now he glanced at Liu Chengzong, smacking his lips as if he had made up his mind, and turned to Li Hongji and said: "Why don't Brother Huang Wa go to Yan'an with us? Our brothers will give it to you for the three horses." Think of something.
Anyway, no matter how many lice it is, we will have to worry about more money. Three more horses is not a lot, and three fewer horses is not a lot. "
Li Hongji laughed heartily when he heard this. No matter whether Liu Chengzu's words were polite or sincere, he waved his hands and sighed: "Hey! If only I had met you two brothers earlier? It's not possible now, I took another job on myself.
Thanks to the respect of the clan elders, they elected Li as the head of the village. One hundred and ten households in the village were affected by the disaster and could not pay taxes to the court. They asked me to go to the county town to find Mr. Ai to borrow some grain rations and money. As long as the money can be borrowed, , my neighbors helped me solve the problem of three stage horses. "
Liu Chengzong could not remember how many times this was the man in his early twenties who shook his head and sighed. He only heard him say: "Oh, I also know that this loan will not work, but there is nothing I can do."
"This year, sixteen households were unable to pay their taxes. They abandoned their fields and burned their houses and fled into the mountains. Their taxes were paid to the people who were left behind. It was another disaster year. No one could care about others. If the matter is not resolved, all the people in the two villages will have to flee, so they can only borrow money.
Wait for next year! "
Li Hongji glared and said: "This year's farming has yielded a harvest. Even if we pay back a little more next year, we can still find our neighbors in the mountains. They are not sneaky cowards who are willing to work hard to dig food in the soil. The livelihood cannot be ruined.”
Liu Chengzong wanted to speak several times, but he didn't know what to say. At this moment, he asked reluctantly: "Brother, think about it clearly. What if this year is still a drought year?"
"God has to give me a way to survive, right?"
Li Hongji frowned very seriously. He had obviously considered this possibility. He raised his two fingers and said, "Even if it doesn't allow people to live, how can the emperor of the imperial court watch the common people like me starve to death?"
"If you really don't have enough money, Master Ai can do whatever he wants. We have to let this year pass first. Hey - a living person will never choke to death!"
