It was already the fifth watch, and Changsheng had been sitting at the intersection, motionless for a long time. He was thinking about what caused the current situation where the people were in dire straits, and he was also thinking about what he could do for the people. At the same time, he was also thinking about what he could do for the people. I wonder why I want to do something for the people.
If you think about it carefully, although the current situation where the people are in dire straits is due to natural disasters, the previous kings are also to blame, because whether it was the Anshi Rebellion a hundred years ago or the Huangchao Rebellion ten years ago, it was all because of the king's problems in handling government affairs. Hidden dangers were laid.
As the saying goes, nothing freezes three feet in a day. Everything has continuity. This is true for a person's life, and the same is true for the continuation of a dynasty. To be fair, the current emperor is a good emperor, but when he took over, he Tang has become a mess, like a terminally ill patient who has missed the best opportunity for treatment.
If the Tang Dynasty were a person, the emperor would be the person's leader. As long as his head is intact, there is still a glimmer of hope. The top priority is to raise food and provide disaster relief as soon as possible. The people are the foundation of the country. We must first protect the people and suppress rebellion. Things can be slowed down a bit.
As for why he cares about the world and sympathizes with all living beings, apart from the emperor's trust and reliance, it is mainly due to his inner kindness. He hopes that the country and the people will be safe, and the world will be peaceful, and he can't bear to see the tragic misery of life, even though the suffering of others seems to have nothing to do with him. , but he just couldn't stand aside and protect himself wisely.
After dawn, more and more passersby passed by. Changsheng was sitting on the roadside, but no one said hello to him, and no one asked him why he sat on the roadside with his head bowed.
The indifference of passers-by did not dissuade him from the idea of being loyal to the country and saving the people. At this time, he already had the state of mind that saints have no name and gods have no merit. It does not matter whether others appreciate it or not. What is important is to have an explanation for yourself.
After the sun rose, Changsheng set out to head north. Along the way, he could see a lot of people fleeing the disaster from time to time, but they were not bustling. The reason why this happened was because there were many officers and soldiers guarding the intersections of various official roads. The local prefectures and counties The people within the jurisdiction are not allowed to flee at will, because the massive loss of population will bring many negative consequences. Among other things, the corvee taxes for the coming year will be lost.
However, the government's blockade could not prevent the victims from escaping. If they were not allowed to go on the main road, they would take small roads through the mountains and forests. The expressions of these victims were almost the same. They were confused and numb, like walking corpses.
There were too many victims on the road, and Chang Sheng's scattered silver was quickly dispersed. When he left Taiping Temple, Taiping Taoist priests gave him two bags of horseshoe gold, but it was inconvenient to separate the gold ingots, so he could only hand the gold to the man guarding the intersection. The officers and soldiers asked them to hand it over to the local government to buy rice and provide porridge for disaster relief.
He is not worried about these officers and soldiers embezzling gold, because he will identify himself everywhere he goes. He has offended many civilian officials. What these people are best at is slandering and slandering. Now he has been portrayed by the officials as a cruel official who likes to kill. No one dared to slack off on what he had told him, and no one dared to embezzle his gold.
Although there was a lot of gold, there were more victims. Chang Sheng knew that this little gold was only a drop in the bucket for this serious plague and famine. In order to stabilize the people's hearts, he asked the officers and soldiers to tell the victims that the imperial court had sent him down to inspect the victims, and that the imperial court would do it as soon as possible. Disaster relief and peace of mind.
It was a hot summer day, and there were few pedestrians on the road in the afternoon. Changsheng was eager to return to Chang'an, so he rode quickly. When he passed an abandoned former post station, the cry coming from inside caught his attention, and he immediately reined in his horse and slowed down. , go and check it out.
Due to the heavier accent in Jiangnan, Changsheng could not hear clearly. He could only hear the other party shouting "no" and "run" mixed with "no" and "run". At first, he thought it was a woman who was being bullied, but he followed the sound. When I rushed there, I discovered that it was a boy of twelve or thirteen years old who was crying. Boys only start to grow Adam's apple and change their voices after they are fourteen or fifteen years old. Before that, their voices lacked the dullness and thickness of men.
This young man was half-clothed and emaciated. He was undoubtedly a refugee. At this time, he was tightly holding the right leg of a middle-aged man, crying and begging urgently for mercy.
The middle-aged man was also in ragged clothes and held a stick in his hand. However, although this man held the stick, he did not beat the young man. He just shouted loudly and asked him to let go.
This inn has been abandoned for many years, and most of the buildings have collapsed. Only the west wing is left. Changsheng was standing on the roof of the west wing, and the two victims, an old man and a young man, were entangled in the yard. They saw the young man crying. When he begged for mercy, he looked eagerly towards the woods to the east. Changsheng raised his head and looked eastward, but there was no one in the woods. There was only a skinny old yellow dog lying in the grass at the edge of the woods.
The middle-aged man's right leg was held by the boy and he couldn't break free. He yelled angrily, "Let go!"
"Dad, I beg you, don't kill Ah Huang." The young man cried sadly.
After listening to the conversation between the two, Changsheng realized that the old man and the young man were father and son. The Ah Huang the young man mentioned was undoubtedly the old yellow dog in the forest to the east.
After the young man finished speaking, the middle-aged man dragged him to the west wing, "I don't have the heart to kill it, but your mother and your sister are starving to death. What do you want me to do?"
"Dad, please kill me. I am willing to trade me for Ah Huang." The young man cried.
This scene made Chang Sheng feel sad, because he could understand the young man's mood. He was also in the same mood when the villagers wanted to beat Lao Huang to death.
Thinking of this, he lowered his hand and touched his waist. Then he remembered that all the loose coins in his waist bag had been distributed long ago. He thought that there seemed to be two ingots of horseshoe gold in the horse's pocket, so he quickly went back and rummaged around.
At this moment, a miserable dog barking came from the east, and together with the dog barking came the heartbreaking cry of a young man, revealing infinite despair and extreme sadness.
Changsheng frowned when he heard the sound, and hurriedly flew back. After landing on the roof, he found that the young man had fainted from crying due to excessive grief, and the middle-aged man was holding a bloody stick in his hand and ran away after calling for a beating. An old yellow dog that goes into the woods.
The old yellow dog's head was covered with blood. After running into the woods, he turned around and looked back. Hearing his master's call, he turned around and ran back without any hesitation.
Seeing that the old yellow dog really ran back, the middle-aged man could no longer hold back, threw away the stick, squatted on the ground and howled, "Why are you coming back? Don't you know I'm going to beat you to death?!"
The old yellow dog didn't know why his master hit him before, nor why his master suddenly burst into tears. He was confused and wagged his tail vigorously, trying to please his master.
Seeing that the old yellow dog's head was covered in blood but still wagging its tail at him, the middle-aged man collapsed completely and hugged the old yellow dog, "If it weren't for you, I would have drowned a long time ago. I really lost my conscience, and I still want to eat you."
The middle-aged man's cry woke up the fainted boy. When he woke up, he saw his father holding the yellow dog and crying bitterly. The boy was also heartbroken and crawled over and hugged his father. The father and son burst into tears. Tears.
"Master, let it go, it's all about life." A woman's feeble voice came from the west wing.
Hearing the woman's words, the young man turned his head and looked towards the west wing. After struggling for a long time, he got up and ran to the corner, covering his ears and squatting there.
After the boy ran away, the middle-aged man stood up numbly, bent down and picked up the bloody stick.
The old yellow dog didn't know what his master was going to do. He stuck out his tongue, waggled his tail, and looked up.
The middle-aged man trembled all over, hesitated for a long time, finally closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, and raised the stick. Just when he was about to smash it down with all his strength, he found that the stick in his hand was grabbed from behind...
