When the sky is slightly white and the mist is drifting.
Hundreds of young and middle-aged men wearing coarse linen clothes and tying their hair with fine linen ropes quietly ran out of the mountains and forests.
Most of them held sickles in their hands, but some also held sticks, poles, baskets, etc.
Someone kept shouting for everyone to speed up, but they lowered their voices consciously, as if they were afraid of attracting the attention of someone in the mist or outside the jungle.
Until they gradually transitioned from the gentle slope to the gentle terrain, they saw the rice ears swaying gently in the early morning mist.
Everyone subconsciously closed their breath.
There was a man with dark skin and many cracks on his hands. He couldn't help but plucked out a handful of rice, stuffed it into his mouth, and chewed it carefully.
The rough feeling of the rice husks piercing the mouth cannot conceal the aroma that gradually spreads after the rice is bitten.
Someone next to him looked anxious, slapped him, and said: "Yan Laosan, what are you still chewing? Come on, cut it quickly. When the sun comes out, with so many of us cutting rice here, we might be arrested by the government." people discovered it.”
Yan Laosan stretched his neck, swallowed the rice milk in his mouth mixed with the shells that stretched his throat, coughed twice, and muttered: "Why are you patting me? I heard that the officers and soldiers are at war. , all the officials ran away for fear of being cowardly."
He said this, but seeing that others had already started cutting, he did not dare to neglect. He hurriedly bent down, grabbed it with his left hand, and cut the roots of a handful of rice with a stroke of the sickle in his right hand.
He worked very neatly, and soon he caught up with the progress of the others. When he was sweating profusely, he glanced out of the corner of his eyes and saw that the wizened old man and the thin young man next to him were chewing in their mouths from time to time.
Obviously they couldn't wait any longer, so they picked up some shelled rice and ate it.
This is Hedong Road, Langu County.
If you search for records about this place in Bianliang City, you will find many historical lists, dating back to the Qin, Han, Tang, and Five Dynasties to the present. This place has changed many place names, and it has changed again and again, and it is called Lan Valley. the name.
According to the records of officials, there are thousands of acres of fertile land here, and it is extremely wealthy. The people have enough food and clothing, there are many virtuous people in the village, and the county officials govern the Qingming Festival and are very popular.
But if anyone really comes here for a walk, they will find that many villages in this county are deserted, with dilapidated houses and overgrown grass.
The young and strong locals were either taken away as laborers or miners a few years ago, or they took their families and hid in the mountains.
The police officers in the county often go into the mountains to search for people together with the servants of those wealthy families.
However, in the past half year or so, I heard that wars are going on everywhere, and I don’t know what is going on in the county. No one has been taking care of it for a long time.
Yan Laosan and others from two or three nearby villages met in the mountains and discussed for several rounds. Life was really not easy, so they pieced together a few hundred people. I planted a round of rice a few months ago.
In the past few months, they often act like thieves, taking advantage of the good moonlight or before dawn in the morning to sneak into their fields to take care of the seedlings.
Sometimes when I was watering the fields in the middle of the night, I would suddenly see a figure moving in the distance, and I would be so frightened that I would flee into the woods in a panic.
Over the past few months, more than a dozen people have gotten lost or injured in this way.
Fortunately, most of the time, they are the ones who scare themselves. Those detectives and gentlemen really don't seem to have time to take care of them, and they never show up.
Yan Laosan was also one of those who was injured in a fall. Now when he moves, his left ankle still hurts a little. However, as more and more rice is cut, just touching these golden rice stalks and ears, He felt that any more pain would be nothing.
Full of joy, everyone around them had smiles on their faces. When someone was doing it, they couldn't help but giggle twice, and then continued to do it.
In the mountains around Arashiya County, there are a lot of pine and fir trees. They all grow very tall. The pine needles are edible. The wild astragalus, bracken, mushrooms, and daylilies in the mountains are all edible. There are many more that cannot be named, and the taste is bitter and heartbreaking. , but everyone knows edible wild vegetables.
Bitter vegetables are actually the best food, and you don’t even need salt.
In the past, those dishes would make the whole family want to vomit, but if we could have such a bowl of rice, steam it, and pair it with those dishes, the taste would be completely different from the earth to the sky.
Not to mention vomiting, even if I get slapped in the face, I won’t bear to eat less than one chopstick.
After thinking about it, Yan Laosan's left foot began to hurt again. He had to straighten up, lift his left foot, and shake his ankle a little. Suddenly he saw a group of red figures in the distance.
He was stunned and screamed: "The official is here!!"
Everyone around was in panic. Some people were running away with poles and baskets. Those who had just cut the rice were reluctant to part with the handful of rice in their hands and tried their best to hold more, which delayed their efforts.
Yan Laosan was also picking up all the handfuls of rice that he had just put down at his feet. When he raised his head, he was stunned.
Those people who were clearly in the distance just now are now in front of us.
They moved so fast, like tigers and leopards in the mountains, that the villagers couldn't see clearly. They only felt a red shadow shaking, and people with sticks across their shoulders came to stop them.
The villagers quickly changed directions, but in another corner, there were also these red figures.
"Official officers" have surrounded them.
The old man next door to Yan Laosan threw away his sickle and burst into tears on the spot. He sat on the ground and stuffed rice into his mouth, eating every bite he could.
Among the men in red, a big man walked up to him and held his hand, preventing him from putting the rice into his mouth.
Are you not even willing to give us these few bites? !
The villagers were afraid and hated, and their yellow or dark faces were flushed.
Yan Laosan clenched the sickle in his hand tightly, his hands were shaking, and he wanted to rush over and fight with them.
The big man actually picked up his neighbor!
He even pulled the straw out of his neighbor’s mouth!
He also took out a steamed bun!
return……
Steamed buns, steamed buns?
The wizened old man's face was blank when he saw the snow-white steamed bun, exactly the same as the expressions on the faces of the young men in several other villages.
The big man who handed him the steamed bun was really tall and strong. He didn't have a sword or a gun, but he had a token hanging on his waist. He had a square face, big eyes, and an unshaven beard. There was an old scar on his left ear, and half of his earlobe was cut off. The scars extend to the side of his face.
This man seemed to be the leader. He patted the old man, took out a water bag and said, "This rice has not been cooked or ground. You cannot swallow too much in one go. Dad, please drink two sips of water and bite it." Mouth buns, chew them slowly and don't hurt your throat."
He turned to look at the villagers. On his fierce face, his two dagger-like eyebrows were knitted together tightly.
The villagers were afraid and moved closer and closer to each other.
"Don't be afraid, we are not here to steal food from you."
The man quickly opened his mouth and made a smile.
Half an hour later, the sun had risen.
Yan Laosan and the others were walking on their way back to the mountains. When they came, there were hundreds of young villagers. When they went back, there were many men in red clothes following them.
Everyone didn't walk fast, and the men in red didn't rush them very much. Even when they stared at someone for a long time, they would definitely get a smile... and everyone was even more afraid.
Who has seen so many official officials smiling at farmers?
These officials just said a lot to them.
The previous imperial court had been overthrown, and all the gentlemen in the county, large and small, had been beheaded after being identified by many farmers like them.
He also said that the new court was good to the people and had military discipline. It was here to help them move back to the plains and live in places with good farmland.
There's a lot of nonsense like that.
Yan Laosan almost didn't understand, but he also got a piece of steamed bun, which he holds in his arms now. It smells so delicious.
The villagers all seemed to be bewitched by the aroma of these thick and thin steamed buns. When they got closer to the settlement in the mountains, they all started to worry again.
Their steps became slower and slower, and finally they all stopped timidly and looked at each other.
Yan Laosan looked at the people in red in the crowd, and those people stopped and looked at them without scolding or chasing them away.
The scarred man said: "Why did you stop? Is it almost there?"
Yan Laosan swallowed, and when he saw the cowards around him, he was heartbroken and shouted: "General, you have found our village, will you really not beat us and punish us with hard labor?"
The police officers would not have so many spears, bows and arrows, and the bandits would not have such uniform uniforms.
The people in front of me were all dressed in red, with handsome looks and broad shoulders. You could tell by looking at them that they could lift two or three people like Yan Laosan with one hand.
Then it will only be soldiers. The leader among soldiers is of course the general.
"General?"
The scarred man laughed, "I can barely do it."
Since the Emperor of Han defeated the Song armies from all over the world, conquered the Liao Kingdom far away, and replaced the Song Dynasty with the Han Dynasty, all the original rebel armies have been counted and organized and divided more clearly.
Nowadays, there are five people in the army, and the captain writes the names of the other four on plaques.
Twenty-five people are A, and A is writing the names of the five captains of the team on plaques.
There are hundreds of people in a team, and the team will write the names of the top players in the team on cards.
This man with a scar on his left ear is the captain of the Hundreds of Langu County. To the local people, he can be called a general.
"Don't worry. We have already checked in the county. There were originally only five villages nearby. Even if you all fled to the mountains and survived, there would only be so many young people left now. "
Captain Scar pointed at the old man who got the steamed buns first and said, "Otherwise, we wouldn't let an old man like this who still has some muscles and bones come out in the rush to harvest food."
"If we really just want to drag people to do hard labor, wouldn't it be better to drag you all away?"
The villagers whispered to each other and the voices of discussion started.
"That's right. In the past, the big government officials only wanted those who could work."
"We already have all the work we can do, there's no point in looking for the mother-in-law and girls at home."
Yan Laosan said again: "Then what exactly is the general taking us to do?"
"We just talked about it."
Captain Scar smiled more sincerely this time, not just because the army requires people to smile at all times, but because what he was talking about made him happy just thinking about it.
"Everyone, come back with us to register and divide the fields according to population."
Yan Laosan became confused: "Let us go back to farm, of course that is fine, but each of our families had their own fields before, so why should we divide them again?"
"The fields you had before were not yours, but belonged to the gentlemen. But now, the fields belong to the imperial court."
Captain Scar said, "Well, I can't explain it in detail. Anyway, someone will teach you how to farm in the future. I heard from people in charge of this field that you locals, after re-dividing the fields, each family will Each household can receive at least four times more food in one year than before."
The villagers were in an uproar and couldn't believe such a good thing.
But if there is really no hard labor and they can farm, even if they can only receive as much food as before, it is still better than sneaking back to farm now.
It is obvious that the land is cultivated by oneself and the food grown by oneself, but no one likes to be so sneaky.
After their conversation with Captain Scar, they began to move forward again, and finally led these people to their place in the mountains.
For five days after that, Captain Scar and the others directed and helped the people who had moved to the mountains to return to their villages.
It took more than half a month to finally finish counting the people and dividing the fields. It's also a coincidence that they came back from this village, as other parts of the county are busy.
During this period of time, everyone had collected grain and only paid a very small part to the government. The rest was transported back to their homes.
Yan Laosan heard that people from other villages in the county had also returned. They were not as bold as the people in these villages and did not dare to farm secretly. However, the court lent them grain and asked them to pay it back slowly over the next few years. , there is no interest yet.
For a while, Yan Laosan went out early and came back late. Every day he felt like he was in a dream, but it was so good, so good.
Yan Laosan sat on the roof, wiping the tears that had come out of nowhere and feeling silly and happy.
Those heavy grains will not be fake.
No one has lived in the house for a long time, and the hut that needs to be renovated does not lie.
He was lying on the roof drying the grass. His wife was cooking in the house, and the aroma was already wafting up.
"Hey, don't do it. Wait until the millet is steamed and your father comes down."
Hearing his wife scolding his son, Yan Laosan shouted from the roof with a smile: "If Xiao Liu is hungry, let him eat two chopsticks first. A half-grown man eating a poor man is the time to grow taller. Can’t lose money.”
The wife said angrily: "Then wait until he washes his hands, then you can just spoil him."
"Anyway, our family has food now."
Yan Laosan was very happy, "If we had so much food back then, I would definitely be a head taller than I am now."
"Hahahaha, don't worry, your children will definitely grow taller and taller in the future."
A rich laugh came from the dirt road.
Yan Laosan looked back and said in surprise: "General Niu."
Captain Scar smiled and waved his hand, saying: "Hey, don't worry, you don't have to come down. You are busy with your business. I will inform you of something in your village and I will leave shortly."
Yan Laosan shouted: "What good thing is this?"
"Let your children go to literacy classes. Those who are more literate and learn well. If the fields are too busy in the future, you can give priority to applying for county manpower to help you farm. If you borrow large livestock from the county, you will also be given preferential treatment."
Captain Scar said, "If you are more literate, you can learn basic skills. There are many benefits. I am just giving you a rough notice. Your village chief will talk to you slowly in the future."
Someone ran out from both sides of the dirt road: "General, my food is ready. Come to my house for a meal before leaving."
Yan Laosan was also about to invite someone, but someone beat him to it, and he couldn't help but hit his knees in annoyance.
However, Captain Scar did not accept any invitation. In the evening, I heard that Captain Scar's men had all withdrawn to the county seat. From now on, they would be stationed in the county seat and would rarely come to the village.
The villagers didn't know that Captain Scar had received a transfer order as soon as his men arrived in the county.
"There was a wealthy family in Ziling County who entered the mountains and became bandits. General Yue Pengju of Hedong led his troops to eliminate them. In order to prevent bandits from flowing into Lan Valley and disturbing the people, Niugao's team was ordered to station in the east of Yunshan Valley and patrol carefully to make sure there were no mistakes. "
………………
Bianliang, November 26th.
"Yue Pengju is really effective. Hedong is basically quiet."
Li Kaixian yawned, put down the military information he had just handed over, took out a porcelain bottle, poured a pill and drank it, then got up and walked around to help the medicine take effect.
He walked out of the hall and came to the courtyard. He saw busy figures everywhere, holding documents in their hands.
Li Ying was also active in the yard. When he saw him coming out, he smiled and said, "I just heard you say that there is peace in Hedong?"
"It can only be said that it is for the time being, but after all, there are still some people who have committed crimes that are not worthy of death and have escaped with their lives. If we do not do well in the follow-up, maybe they will embark on the path of damnation and resurrect."
Li Kaixian sighed, shook his head and said, "Besides, Hedong and the like are not troublesome, but the hometown of Xixia and the Liao Kingdom are really troublesome."
Li Ying nodded: "As the saying goes, it is easy to conquer a country, but it is difficult to defend it. We have an invincible leader. Regardless of the Song and Liao Dynasties, large-scale enemy armies were suppressed by him. Compared with those who conquered the world in history, Those people, we already have the best luck."
Li Kaixian smiled and said: "Now you are Your Majesty."
"His Majesty……"
Li Ying's face became more serious, he came closer and whispered, "I heard some rumors from Ruda and the others, have you heard about it?"
Li Kai nodded first and his expression became cautious: "The meeting tonight?"
"yes."
Li Ying sighed, "Your Majesty seems not to be your Majesty."
Late at night, more than a hundred ministers from the New Han Dynasty court gathered in the garden. The lights were bright and tea and fruits were available, but no one had the intention to touch the tea.
Just listen to Guan Luoyang talking.
"Because there is no need for the emperor to exist."
