In the corner.
The two young sergeants, who were hot and hungry, were lying on their backs under an old willow tree. They were complaining and cursing. Naturally, the targets of their greetings were the strange scum they met today, and they were all human beings. He looks like a dog, is despicable and dirty, and is both a snake and a rat. Although there are occasional differences, the essence is generally the same. They are all swearing and swearing, how to go into battle to kill the enemy and defend the country, but their feet are completely motionless, never leaving their own den of thieves, allowing you to unite your home and country. The principle of both prosperity and loss was loudly shouted throughout the sky. He remained unmoved, stuck to his heart, and was determined to do it to the end.
It is understandable that you say you are greedy for life and afraid of death, but now that the situation in Suiyang City is like this, these people are still the same as in the past, with a superior nostril, cynicism and humiliation towards the sergeants who worked hard for you. The garrison in the city was short of food and grass, and the poor people went without food for several days. However, these wealthy households clearly had rich private savings, but they were unwilling to share them. They were full of disgust towards the poor and full of contempt for the sergeants. There are even more ridiculous people who think that the money is still the same money, and they try to use those few taels of silver to buy some conscience and some love and affection with the officers and soldiers. While they hope that the defenders will win, they murmur in their hearts that they will be defeated after the city is broken. How to buy a barbarian's wharf. This group of people were all thinking about how they could settle down and protect their lives in the face of Suiyang's predicament. This problem made them anxious and racked their brains, and the hairs on their heads were falling off one by one.
From the governor of Zhongcheng to the officers and civilians, everyone is well aware of the behavior of the wealthy gang in the south of the city, but these people are still pretending to be smart.
"Actually, these people are quite pitiful. They rack their brains every day, just thinking about how to be a bitch and build a memorial arch at the same time. It's quite tiring!"
The young master also looked away and couldn't help but sigh for these people.
"Bah! There must be something abominable about poor people!"
The black boy first cursed, then paused, sighed, lowered his tone, and muttered:
"Yes, people are like this. When they are about to starve to death, they only think about how to eat. When they are full, they think about how to have two cents to spend. When they are rich, they want to marry a wife, and after marrying a mother-in-law, they still want to ask for money. Concubine, if you want a concubine, you still need someone to serve you. If you want to serve someone, you have to have fame. After you gain fame, you want to be an official. Once you become an official, you want to climb up. After you climb up, you still want to be a high official or a prime minister. After becoming a prime minister, I still want to be crowned a king and a marquis. After being crowned a prince, I still want to be an emperor. Once I become an emperor, I want to live as long as possible. The longer I live, the more I fear death. If I don’t want to die, I have to become a god. Do you think living a lifetime is tiring? Tired, what are you planning on?"
Listening to the long string of rhyming words of the black companion, the young master looked at the companion next to him a little strangely, winking, and suddenly felt that this little friend whom he had known for more than ten years was a bit unpredictable and sophisticated.
"Hey, Erxiao, you can do it. You are so transparent at such a young age. It's amazing, it's amazing. You can even drop your schoolbag and become a teacher!"
The swarthy boy scratched his head in embarrassment, his dark face blushed in embarrassment, and he smiled coquettishly:
"I heard this from Teacher Xian Shu before. I don't have that much talent!"
Hearing his companion mention his mentor, the young master's family also became more serious.
"I don't know what's going on with Teacher Xianshu now. Since he became the magistrate of Xiangyang County, although he has received a few letters, who knew that he would later encounter the bastard An Lushan who wanted to rebel, nor did he know that he was an old man Are you okay?"
"Alas!" Mr. Wang Erxiao also sighed, "You know Mr. Xianshu's temper. He is an upright man. Xiangyang County under his jurisdiction happens to be on the territory of thieves. In this situation, there is no peace even if you want to." !”
Thinking of their mentor, the two teenagers were also sighing. They could only silently wish the teacher to avoid misfortune and suffer less. Although their teacher has profound knowledge and extraordinary character, he is not as capable as Master Zhongcheng in both civil and military affairs. He can bring peace to the country with his pen and kill the enemy with his horse!
In these troubled times, the more we are in trouble, the easier it is to break early.
The two of them were still reminiscing about the past, when suddenly bursts of noise came from the alley in the distance, and someone was faintly crying. The two young men looked at each other, stood up quickly, adjusted their helmets and picked up their swords, and hurried over following the sound. Before they even arrived, they saw about ten people gathering together from a distance, pointing at the people surrounded.
As soon as the two men saw this situation, they immediately shouted and asked questions. When the crowd of onlookers saw two armored officers and soldiers coming, they quickly opened a gap, and the people surrounded in the middle showed their figures. Surrounded by the crowd were three people, one large and two small. They were all kneeling on the ground with tears on their faces, kowtowing to the crowd of onlookers. The adult was a woman in her thirties, and on her left and right were two children, a boy and a girl. The girl looked to be twelve or thirteen years old, and the boy was only seven or eight years old. They were all dressed in black cloth, with layers of patches, and were shabby. All three of them were sallow and thin, with sunken eye sockets and protruding cheeks. Their foreheads were bleeding from knocks. The blood, tears and dirt were smeared on their faces, leaving red streaks, black streaks and white streaks. The face and hands are all skin and bones, and the blood vessels on the back of the hands are clearly visible. It looks like he has been hungry for a long time.
The young master quickly came to the three of them and shouted loudly to stop their crying. The three kneeling people looked up and saw two armored officers standing in front of them. Their expressions became more frightened and uneasy, and they kowtowed harder.
"Get up and talk!"
The young master looked at the three poor people kneeling, and his heart was full of anger and sympathy. He was afraid that the three people would continue to kowtow, so he could only stop their actions with official shouts. Intimidated by the officer's momentum, the three people quickly restrained their crying and stood up obediently while wiping away their tears.
"What's going on?"
The young master just opened his mouth to ask about the mother and son. Before the woman could answer, a person onlookers rushed to answer:
"I know……"
The young master, who was already very angry, turned around and glared at the person who rushed to answer.
"Did I ask you?"
The person who answered the question was a flatterer at heart. He was about to show off his courtesy to the officer, but he didn't want his flattery to fall on his leg. He immediately choked up at the question, and the long string of words squeezed to the tip of his tongue had to be forced out. I swallowed them back into my stomach one by one, but it was hard to get sick, and I felt very aggrieved.
"you say!"
The swarthy boy made peace and pointed at the frightened woman.
"Reporting to your lord, slave family, slave family..."
It took the slave a long time for the woman to finally calm down. The two officers in front of her looked fierce. She could only stop crying temporarily and tell the whole story.
"The three slaves, mother and son, are tenant farmers living in the north. The family husband's name is Liu Sanwang. They originally rented six acres of dry land from Lu Dong's family. There were surpluses in previous years. This year, due to the war, the harvest from last year's cultivation was not allowed. The family's remaining food has been used up. Lu Dong's family The bodhisattva's kindness helped us save seven bushels of corn. We ate it for less than two months, but it was gone. We couldn't bear it any longer. The family man had no choice but to go to the camp in response to the imperial edict in order to exchange for two liters of rice per day. One month ago, The military department came to report that my father had died in the war, and gave him a personal note and three thousand dollars. He still had two buckets of rice as compensation every day, and the family of four could still survive. But he didn't expect that his mother-in-law would die after hearing the news of his son's death. He cried that he was sick. He finally asked a doctor to prescribe some decoction and medicine. When he took the medicine, he didn't have enough money. The medicine that usually cost 30 yuan now cost 3,000 yuan, so he had to add four liters of rice grain to get it all. "
At this point, the woman couldn't help but feel sad. She hugged the two children beside her, and the three of them cried together again. First, I cry that my family husband died in the war. Second, I cry that life is difficult. When I think of today's helpless act, my heart is as sharp as a knife and my heart is broken.
"Then what are you doing here in the south of the city?"
The young master asked. The woman stopped crying and continued to talk:
"After taking the decoction, there was not much leftover at home, and we still had to spend on salt and firewood every day, so we had to use rice to exchange for it. Two liters of rice a day was not enough. My mother-in-law was old and frail, so she couldn't The reduction was too much. The mother and son of the slave family could only eat one food a day to survive. A few days ago, the military rations were delayed. Our family struggled until yesterday and had not eaten for two days. There was really nothing we could do today, so I thought If you sell your daughter to a kind-hearted family in Nancheng, a bodhisattva-hearted man, you only need three bushels of corn in exchange for a child to work for, so just think of it as buying a kitten or puppy and give her a way to live!"
When it came to selling her daughter for food, the woman could no longer bear the deep love between her brothers and was not afraid of the authority of the officials. She knelt on the ground and burst into tears.
The two young officers looked at the mother and son who were crying together in front of them. They really didn't know what to say. Now, not only in their Suiyang City, but also in the whole world, there are many people selling their sons and daughters. The ladies in the middle cried so hard that they couldn't bear to cry. The dozens of people watching winked and frowned. They all curled their lips and had a thousand things to say, but they were so frightened by the bright armor and ferocious swords of the two officers that they had no choice but to sew their mouths. Line, it was very uncomfortable to hold it back.
After a long time, the dark-skinned boy stopped the crying of the three people and asked them to stand up and continue to reply. The young master looked at the girls and asked:
"Does anyone buy it?"
The woman wiped her tears, lowered her head and whispered back:
"Some people say that the selling price is too high, so let the slave family have less..."
"Fuck that son of a bitch who said the price was too high!"
After listening to the woman's words, the young master's family was really ignited. It exploded like firecrackers. He widened his eyes and stared at the woman fiercely and asked.
The woman looked at the officer in front of her who was a head taller than her. Although he looked young, he was wearing gold armor and a silver sword. At this moment, his lips were trembling, saliva was flying, he was furious, and his teeth were bared as if he wanted to eat someone. This situation made the people's deep-seated fear of officials even stronger since ancient times. She was so frightened that she knelt down in front of the officer, kowtowed as if pounding garlic, and kept begging for mercy with fearful cries in her mouth:
"The slave family deserves to die, the slave family deserves to die, please spare the two children, I was wrong, I won't sell them, I deserve to die, I deserve to die..."
The dark-skinned young man quickly stepped forward and held down the young master. In anger, the young man turned out to be like a young bull, with strong brute force, baring his teeth and claws. He was about to hit someone with a knife while cursing profusely. The swarthy boy spent a lot of strength and even used all his grappling techniques to finally hold the young master's family in his arms.
"Let me go, do you hear me?"
Shaodongjia yelled as he struggled to free himself. Instead of letting go, the swarthy boy hugged him tighter. They remained in a stalemate for a while. Shaodongjia's strength gradually weakened and his energy dissipated. The swarthy boy then relaxed and whispered in his ear. The voice said:
"Don't be impatient first, and ask more questions later."
The young master finally calmed down and slowly loosened his grip on the handle of the knife. He took a few heavy breaths before asking the mother and son, whose foreheads were bleeding, to stand up and reply. The frightened mother and son waited until the movement subsided, and then they dared to raise their heads and secretly look at the man-eating officer. They hesitated for a moment before slowly getting up.
"Tell me, who is it that said it was too expensive?"
The young master's face was livid, and he squeezed out this sentence word by word through his teeth. This sentence frightened the woman so much that she turned pale and did not dare to answer. Shaodongjia was angry and anxious, and was about to ask loudly. The dark-skinned young man put his hand on Shaodongjia's shoulders, pulled him behind him, walked forward, looked at the mother and son, and said:
"Don't be afraid, we don't mean any harm."
The frightened mother and son looked at the same young dark-skinned officer in front of them. Perhaps this man spoke in a calmer tone, or perhaps because his face was as tan as theirs and looked more friendly. The three of them tried their best to stop sobbing, and slowly After calming down, he raised his head and waited for the dark boy to ask questions.
"I ask you questions, you understand..."
Without waiting for the mother and son to reply, the dark-skinned young man continued to ask:
"Are you going to trade your daughter for three measures of corn?"
The woman nodded subconsciously, then turned her head and looked at her daughter.
"Any of these people watching are negotiating with you about the price?"
The swarthy boy continued to ask, and the woman nodded again, but never looked at the boy again, let alone raised her head.
"Who is it that said your sales were too expensive?"
The woman lowered her head further, remained silent, and made no further movements, as if she had not heard anything. It's just that the little boy who was being paid careful attention to by the dark-skinned boy couldn't help but subconsciously raise his head to look at someone in the crowd after hearing that question, and immediately lowered his head again after just one glance.
The swarthy boy stopped asking. With just one glance, he locked the target. He walked up to the man, looked into his eyes, and asked softly:
"Then what price do you think is not expensive?"
The person being stared at suddenly trembled, took half a step back, then quickly straightened his back and said in a stern and restrained tone:
"How do I know? It's not like I said it was expensive..."
"Oh, really?"
The swarthy boy looked at the middle-aged man in front of him who was slightly taller than him, wearing coarse clothes, with a fat face full of anger and fear, and then smiled coldly:
"Then why are you blushing? Are you full of energy or guilty of being a thief?"
"you put……"
The middle-aged man just wanted to scold the other party for being arrogant, but then he remembered that the other party was an official. Although he had rich possessions, a strong body, and had practiced a few moves for a few days, and it was in front of his own house, he had a special status after all. Since ancient times, people have not fought with officials. , If you really want to have a conflict with these two stupid boys, although you may not suffer a loss from arguing with such vulgar untouchable warriors, it is not worth it. It will seem to taint the sage books you have read and lower your level in vain. The middle-aged man figured this out, changed his attitude, and changed his face. He was calm and relaxed, and said something unhurriedly.
"The military master has such great official authority. Since you insist on believing that what I said is what I said, I have nothing to say. I am just forcing ordinary people like this. It is not like what the Zhongcheng ordered. In case of being killed by the Zhongcheng, Sir, I know, but I wonder if you two can afford it?"
The middle-aged man, who relied on his profound knowledge, was not in a hurry at this moment, but used words to win over the two young sergeants.
"You are like a dog, how dare you use Master Zhongcheng to suppress your grandpa and me?" After hearing this sinister tone, the young master also snorted coldly, put down his excitement just now, and just glanced sideways at this middle-aged man who was neither humble nor overbearing. people.
"What's your name?" The dark-skinned boy turned away the young host's family and asked, looking at the middle-aged man.
"To tell you what I'm saying, my ancestor, Song Yanzheng of Shangqiu, is none other than the sage Weizi."
Having said this, the man looked solemn and full of pride. He clasped his hands and bowed to the sky, performing an authentic descendant ceremony. After saluting, he replied even more arrogantly: "I was given the name 'Yanzheng' by my family. I have studied hard for ten years, but my talents are limited and my knowledge is shallow. Fortunately, God is grateful and does not neglect his talents because of his virtue. Fortunately, I received the Zhongming Sutra at the age of twenty-eight, and I have been cultivating my moral character, but I am always afraid of polluting the sage wisdom of my ancestor!"
When people asked him what his name was, he started talking a lot. He also mentioned his family background, fame, ancestors and place of birth. His intention was self-evident. It's just that he didn't expect that these two sergeants don't care who you are or what your financial background is. They can just pay it back to other families. You are a member of the Song family. You are so sleepy that someone handed you a pillow!
"Oh? Song Yanzheng, who are you Song Yanzong?"
When Song Yanzheng heard that the other party suddenly asked about Song Yanzong, who was famous for his family name "Yan", Song Yanzheng, who was from the concubine branch, suddenly felt proud and proud, and immediately answered loudly.
"Brother Yanzong is the direct leader of the clan!"
Song Yanzheng's branch is relatively close to the direct bloodline in the Song clan. Even he, a small family head of the common branch, was a powerful figure in the original Suiyang City. He was always called upon by others. Hold it, nod and bend down. Song Yanzheng spent some money on his own to get the title of "Ming Jing", and his status improved even more. Everywhere he went, people respectfully called him "Song Ming Jing". This could be regarded as a complete rebirth and glory. But compared with Song Yanzong, who was the direct descendant of his family, if he was Kunpeng, he himself would be a small bird. The ancestors of the Song family left the far-reaching word "Zong" to this family. It can be seen that since I was born, I have been on the second floor, and I have no hope of climbing up in my next life.
And this brother of his is really remarkable. He has been taught by famous teachers since he was a child, and he has read poetry and books. Compared with the straw bag and dung heap of his own, there is a world of difference in his mind. He is outstanding in literature, Tao and martial arts. He passed the exam at the age of forty-three. He became an extremely difficult Jinshi, and was deeply appreciated by Li Ju, the king of Si Guo. He was appointed as a consultant to the shogunate and made suggestions under his account. He was highly regarded, and he was really worthy of the word "Zong" in his name.
"Haha, it's not surprising. It turns out to be bed bugs crawling out of the same dung heap..."
The tone of the young master's words was not light at all. The crowd of onlookers were stunned when they heard this. Song Yanzheng was stunned at first, and then became furious. He heard that the little humble officer in front of him actually said it over and over again. He slandered himself and insulted their entire clan with such vicious words. The clay figure was still angry. The little bit of family pride in Song Yanzheng's bones instantly rose and his face turned red. He didn't care about the consequences, raised his finger and pointed. The arrogant boy in front of me cursed:
"Little beast, how dare you scold me, your mother, grandpa, I will teach you a lesson for your father today..."
After saying that, he took a step forward and punched the young master's face with his right hand. The fist was filled with wind and looked quite powerful. The young master was neither impatient nor impatient. He watched the incoming punch with his eyes, turned sideways and took half a step back to the left. The opponent immediately followed up with a left fist, but unexpectedly, the boy's half step to the left created a space between the two. Song Yanzheng originally used his fists when he was angry. According to his usual experience, this set of crab fists could just hit the opponent's face. However, unexpectedly, the opponent's half-step away made him lose his focus, and the fists brought out The strength made him lose his center of gravity and he rushed forward. Shaodongjia looked at the opponent's left wrist, gently clasped and pulled it with his left hand, and then stretched out his right foot, which happened to trip on the opponent's legs as he jumped forward. The opponent immediately fell to the ground with his hands and face on the ground.
"Hahaha……"
Dozens of people watching watched the Song family master, who usually had his nostrils turned up in the sky, being teased and abused like this. They became angry and punched people, but unexpectedly, the other party made fun of him with his butt turned up in the air. They burst out laughing loudly.
The laughter spread so far along the alleyway that the dozens of surrounding courtyards could still hear it, no matter how high their courtyard walls were!
At this time, in the alleyway, the helpless mother and daughter, the arrogant young officer, the laughing and pointing melon-eaters, and the messy old man Song who was full of shame and anger, formed a scene. It’s a wonderful drama, and it’s getting more intense.
