Wucheng is the easternmost county of Zhao State, close to Qi State. It was once granted by King Zhao to Mengchang Jun Tianwen, the fourth son of the Warring States Period, as a fief, and it can be regarded as a prosperous place.
However, in recent years, there have been constant wars between the State of Zhao and the State of Qi, and adult men have to be recruited from here for military service every time.
No one planted the crops in the fields, and the people couldn't survive, so they took their families and fled to other places. The remaining people's lives were even more miserable.
Maogou is a li in Wucheng. In the past, hundreds of families lived here. It was the largest li in Wucheng. Nowadays, most of the walls and doors are covered with vines and weeds.
There were less than twenty families left. The men at home had died in the war, and those who were fighting abroad were unable to move.
This place is located on the border between the two countries and is often visited by bandits. When Zhao sent troops to encircle and suppress the bandits, they fled to Qi. When Qi sent troops to encircle and suppress the bandits, they fled to Zhao. In the end, both countries ignored it.
Even in broad daylight, the doors of each house are closed tightly. Unless an acquaintance knocks on the door, they would not dare to open the door.
Qiang lives in the easternmost part of Maogouli. This is an extremely dilapidated house.
The wooden door is low and has cracked with many gaps due to the erosion of time or bandits. The thatch at the head of the house is exposed and has not been renovated for who knows how many years. The earthen walls on both sides are full of traces of rain and have long lost their original appearance. The broken walls are covered with weeds.
Qiang sat in the yard and struggled to hold the soles of her shoes. From time to time she looked up at the western sky, her skinny cheeks filled with sorrow.
Judging from the size of the soles, they are obviously made for men.
The yard is relatively large. Almost all the people in Maogou have moved away, leaving a lot of wasteland. You can build as big a yard as you want, and no one will care about it.
The officials above would appear only when collecting taxes and levying labor, but would never bother them at other times.
There are two mulberry trees planted in the yard. The leaves have been picked, and only the tops of the trees are left. They have begun to turn yellow before they are fully grown under the ravages of the autumn wind.
Mulberry trees are a good thing. Almost every household here grows mulberry trees. The mulberry leaves can raise silkworms. In an era when men farmed and women weaved, silk was one of the few sources of income for ordinary people.
Mulberry is edible, sweet and sour, and is one of the few snacks available to common people. Mulberry bark can be used as a medicinal material. Mulberry wood is strong and elastic, and can also be used to make bows and agricultural tools.
Even in times of disaster, mulberry leaves and bark can be used to satisfy hunger. Although they are not delicious, they will not starve to death.
At this time, not long after the silkworms had just gone up the mountain, Qiang had already exchanged the silk weaved from raw silk for Gebu and rice.
Those who are covered with silkworms are not sericulture farmers.
Ordinary civilians could not afford silk, so they could only exchange it for cloth and linen.
Gebu and linen are rough and uncomfortable to wear, but they are more wear-resistant and more suitable for civilians who often do farm work.
Winter is about to come, and my husband is still on the front line and has not returned. It is a cold winter in Zhao country. If you continue to wear straw sandals, your toes will freeze off.
Qiang planned to use the Gebu she got in exchange to make a winter coat and a pair of shoes for her husband, and when someone from the countryside went to deliver winter clothes to the front line, she would help bring them along.
Two little children were sitting under the mulberry tree, playing with sand. The older one, Mo, was about five or six years old and was a son.
The younger one is about three years old and is also a son.
They were all barefoot, with their buttocks exposed, and all dirty. From time to time they raised their heads and grinned at their mother, revealing their big, muddy faces.
Suddenly, loud voices came from outside, followed immediately by a rapid knock on the door.
Just as the eldest child was about to get up and open the door, Qiang quickly grabbed him and said, "Take the second child into the house, stay with the eldest mother, and lock the door bolt. Don't open the door unless I tell you."
"Mom, be careful." Dawa said worriedly, pulling his younger brother towards the house.
Qiang picked up a wooden stick as thick as her wrist from the ground, held it tightly with both hands, and walked cautiously towards the door.
"It's me at Xiongying's house. Don't be afraid. Open the door quickly. It's a good thing." An old voice came from outside.
Qiang breathed a sigh of relief and walked quickly towards the door: "It's Li Zheng, please wait a moment, I'll open the door right now."
When he got close to the door and saw through the crack that he was indeed upright and not intimidated, he left the wooden stick on the ground and opened the door.
Li Zheng was an old man in his sixties, with a kind face and kind eyes, leaning on a cane.
The reason why Maogouli can survive in such a place where robbers are everywhere is thanks to this Li Zheng.
Whenever there was a robber, Li Zheng would throw away his crutches, run to the robber, throw himself on the ground, or hug the robber's lap and roll around. The robber had no choice but to wander around in despair. past.
In this era, the status of the elderly was very high. At fifty, he was raised in his hometown, at sixty, he was raised in the country, at seventy, he was raised in learning and reached the ranks of the princes.
Respecting the elderly is not only moral, but also written into law.
If the old man really wants to behave and wallow, even the king will have a headache when he sees it, let alone these "loyalty" robbers.
Although it was unseemly, Li correctly applied this method to save Mao Gou Li several times, and everyone respected him very much.
"Who are these?" Qiang looked at the people behind Li Zheng with a wary look in her eyes.
"This is the village elder and You Jiao from the countryside. They came here specially to deliver the letter." Li Zheng said happily while stroking his short beard and pointing to the old man next to him.
Qiang then breathed a sigh of relief.
"Are you Qiang?" The village elder took a step forward, looked at Qiang and asked.
"I am." Qiang nodded.
"Your man is called Xiongying and he is a soldier in Changping?"
"yes."
"This is a letter sent to you by your man." The village elder took out a tied bamboo slip from You Jiao's backpack and handed it to Qiang.
"Letter home? Really...really?"
Qiang took it in disbelief. Before she could open it, an old woman came out of the house quickly and said, "But there is a letter from my son. Please show it to me quickly."
Qiang quickly put the bamboo slips into the old woman's hands.
"Big Mom, Big Mom, I want to see it too." The two children hugged Big Mom and shouted.
The old woman opened the bamboo slip tremblingly and looked at the densely packed characters on it. Although she did not recognize any of them, she seemed to hear her son talking in her ear. Her eyes instantly turned red, and two lines of tears fell from her eyes onto the bamboo slip. I quickly wiped it away for fear of blurring the handwriting.
The old woman held the bamboo slip and looked at it for a while, then reluctantly put it into Qiang's hand.
"I...we are illiterate..." Qiang looked at Li Zheng and the village elder and said with some embarrassment.
Li Zheng also looked at the village elder. He was also illiterate.
"I'll read it to you." The village elder took the letter, and Qiang quickly picked up the big baby, who stared at the letter intently.
The village elder slowly read: "My wife Qiang is so good, I miss her very much..."
Uh-huh!
Qiang's tears burst out instantly, and she couldn't wipe them all away.
The old man didn't stop. He had seen this scene many times in the past few days.
Qiang cried while the village elder read.
While the village elder read it, Qiang cried.
The letter was short and read quickly.
After reading it, the village elder handed the family letter to Qiang.
"Thank you, fellow villager, and thank you Li Zheng." Qiang took the letter from home, held it tightly in her arms, and kept bowing and saluting.
"If you want to thank Ma Fuzi, thank Ma Fuzi. By the way, news came from the front line. Ma Fuzi defeated the Qin army. There is a high possibility that your man will come back alive. Okay, you go back, we are going to the next house Already." The village elder turned around and left with a group of people.
"I heard that this letter was written by Ma Fuzi himself. The man in your family has become promising." Li Zheng whispered, and then chased after the village elder.
Qiang returned home, closed the door again, inserted the bolt, took out the letter, and looked at it again and again, with a blush on her face.
Even if I give her 10,000 gold now, she will not exchange this letter from home.
After a while, she picked up the big baby and asked in a low voice: "Do you remember all these words?"
"Remember." Da Wa nodded.
"Okay, from today on, you will learn these words, remember how to read them, how to write them, and what they mean. Do you understand?" Qiang put the bamboo slips in Da Wa's hands.
"I understand." Da Wa said obediently.
