"Young men, show your flag!"
When Li Laiheng saw that he could see his hometown of Mizhi County after turning the corner in front of him, he immediately shouted loudly to his personal guards, his words full of excitement.
Upon hearing this, his personal guards waved flags one after another.
Some of these flags write about Li Laiheng's military position: General of the Dongjiang Army; some also write about Li Laiheng's military exploits, including his battles against Jianlu and Japanese pirates. On his own chest, there were also pieces of military medals hanging, shining in the sun.
Excited, he turned to look at the person next to him, and said a little anxiously: "Father, where is yours? Type it out too, let them all see. Now we are serious officers and soldiers, and we are the leader of Liaodong." The elites directly under Bo!"
The man next to him was Li Guo, the commander-in-chief of the Dongjiang Army. He was the same age as Lu Xiangsheng, both forty-six years old. Although his current identity has changed drastically from when he left his hometown, he was not as interested as Li Laiheng. He just smiled and said lightly: "We are just returning to our hometown for a visit, there is no need to be so ostentatious!"
"Yes, we are returning to our hometown on orders. Of course, we should let them all see what our status is now and what an honor we are! This is what the emperor meant!" Li Laiheng's interest did not diminish and he still said excitedly, "Besides, Yes, I have prepared those flags for you, it would be a pity not to use them!"
After he finished speaking, he saw that Li Guo just smiled and had no intention of talking to him anymore. So, he turned around and ordered Li Guo's bodyguard: "What are you still doing? This has already reached the Marshal's hometown. Whatever you are hiding, raise the flag for me!"
While talking, Li Laiheng even drove his horse over and shouted at Li Guo's personal guards. Seeing this, his own personal guards also started to boo. In the end, Li Guo's personal guards also raised their flags.
Seeing the flags fluttering and being in such high spirits, Li Guo just smiled and didn't stop him. He obviously went along with Li Laiheng to make trouble. Most of the time, he looked at the scenery before and on the left and right, searching for the memories in his mind and comparing them.
There was a famine that year, and Mizhi didn't know how many people died of starvation. He followed his uncle Li Hongji in revolting. At that time, dead people, bones, etc. could be seen everywhere on the road. Nowadays, although people are still rarely seen along the way, dead people or bones have disappeared.
Looking at the fields near the official road, wherever I looked, it was still dry, and there were even fields that were cracked. Li Guo was a little worried and puzzled.
What he is worried about is that God still does not give the people a way to survive, and droughts are still raging. How will the people live their lives?
Another thing that is puzzling is that despite the drought as before, no dead people were seen, and no worries and fears were seen on the faces of passers-by. Logically speaking, this is close to Mizhi County, so there should be more passers-by. You should get up, why can't you see a few people?
Soon, I turned a corner and saw Mizhi County in the distance.
Wherever you look, there is finally a lot more popularity. Some people can be seen in the fields and on official roads.
Seeing this, Li Laiheng suddenly felt as if he had been given a shot of chicken blood. He became even more excited and immediately ordered his bodyguards: "Put your chests up and raise the flag higher. Now, I'm back in a dignified manner." !”
As he spoke, he seemed to feel that it was not enough, so he gave the same instructions to Li Guo's personal guards. He also didn't mind whether they lifted it high or not, whether their chests were straight or not.
As they got closer and closer to Mizhi County, someone finally noticed this group of knights. They all put down their work and stood there watching them.
Li Guo noticed this situation. If it had been before, in this situation, everyone would hide faster than a rabbit, no matter whether they were officers or soldiers, nothing good would happen.
It can be seen from this that the world is really peaceful here in my hometown. Otherwise, it would be impossible to stand there and watch the excitement.
"Hey, who is this? Looking at his posture, he must be a very big official, right?"
"That's not right, they are all warriors, yet they are showing off like this?"
"..."
Hearing their discussion vaguely, Li Laiheng couldn't help but become anxious. At this time, he remembered one thing, that is, many people in his hometown are illiterate. No one knows the words on the flag he put up. Isn't this a waste of money to customize the flag?
In his desperation, he didn't even bother to show off, and quickly greeted the people watching the excitement on the official road in Mizhi dialect: "This general is Li Laiheng, the general of the Dongjiang Army of Liaodong. This is the general of the Dongjiang Army of Liaodong. Mr. Shuai Li Guo Li, we are all from Mizhi, fellow villagers..."
Hearing him introduce himself in Mizhi dialect, I have to say that Li Laiheng's reputation is not very good, but Li Guo's reputation is still very famous in the local area.
"Li Guo, is that the tiger who followed the intruders in rebellion?"
"Yes, it must be. I heard that after being captured by the emperor, he voluntarily went to Liaodong to fight against prisoners!"
"Wow, now I have returned to my hometown in glory and glory. It's so enviable!"
"No, he has become the commander-in-chief of the imperial court! He is really awesome!"
"..."
He received compliments as expected, but they were all given to Li Guo. Li Laiheng next to him couldn't help but feel a little anxious. Why didn't he praise himself? He also changed his ways and voluntarily went to Liaodong to kill Jianlu, and became a general!
In his excitement, he never thought that Li Guo was more famous than him at the beginning and his official position was higher than his now, so others would naturally focus on Li Guo instead of him.
On the other side of the city gate, a group of people suddenly poured out. The man at the head, wearing a green robe, was the county magistrate of Mizhi County.
I saw him clasping his fists and asking, "But in front of Mr. Li, the commander-in-chief of the Dongjiang Army?"
Although Li Guo's rank is now much higher than that of the seventh-grade county magistrate, Li Guo is a military general and the county magistrate is a civil official. If it were changed to the past, it would be basically impossible for the county magistrate to welcome the military generals who returned to their hometown to visit their relatives.
But now, the county official is still here. Regarding this, Li Guo knew in his heart that this was because they were ordered to return to their hometown to visit their relatives, and the local people probably also received the emperor's order, so they did this.
Thinking of this, Li Guo couldn't help but feel very moved, and felt that the emperor was really kind to them. Not only did he think about them and arrange for them to return to their hometown to visit relatives, he even ordered the local authorities not to neglect them. I am so lucky to meet such an emperor in this life!
Li Guo didn't know how to trust others, so he quickly got off his horse and started to be polite with his parents in his hometown.
Li Laiheng beside him couldn't help but feel a little bored when he saw that he had nothing to do. His interest dropped a bit and he could only follow his adoptive father and listen.
The magistrate of Mizhi County and Li Guo walked side by side and talked cordially. Everything was very harmonious. The county magistrate also prepared a banquet to welcome Li Guo.
After chatting more familiarly, Li Guo also saw the inside of the county town. It seemed that there were fewer people than before the famine. He was more puzzled than before, and finally mentioned it to the county magistrate: "I don't know if there are people nearby." But there is some festival gathering, are all these people going to join in the fun?"
The magistrate of Mizhi County was stunned for a moment after hearing this. Then he looked around and suddenly realized it. He immediately explained with a smile: "The commander-in-chief means that there are not many people in Mizhi County, right?"
Hearing this, Li Guo nodded slightly apologetically.
The population of a county determines which of the three tiers the county belongs to, and is linked to the county magistrate's political performance. It seems a bit embarrassing to bring it up in person like this.
However, it was obvious that the county magistrate did not mind this aspect and just said with a smile: "Mizhi County has been suffering from drought and lack of rain, and the land is barren, making life difficult. Thanks to the potato, which was vigorously promoted by the imperial court, it is a drought-resistant crop. It has helped a lot of people. But if you want to live a good life, with the fertility of the land in Mizhi today, you can only feed so many people."
"What about the others?" After Li Guo asked smoothly, he felt that the question was a bit wrong, so he immediately changed his words and said, "I mean, what if the population increases in the future?"
After hearing this, the county magistrate immediately smiled and said: "In recent years, the world has been peaceful, and the population has naturally increased. The extra people have gone to break into the river."
"Break into the river?" Li Guo couldn't help but be startled after hearing this.
After he was a prisoner of the imperial court in the Battle of Nanyang, he voluntarily went to Liaodong to kill Jianlu. Since then, he has been in Liaodong, or simply in North Korea. With the communication conditions of this era and the fact that he had no relatives in his hometown, he basically knew very little about the situation in his hometown.
Seeing his reaction, the county magistrate understood what was going on, and explained with a smile: "The imperial court has a policy to encourage Han people in Guannei to go to the Hetao area to open up wasteland and farm. As a result, not only our Mizhi County, but also many places including Yan'an Prefecture, Those who suffer from severe droughts all go to the Hetao. This is generally known as crossing the Hetao!"
Having said this, he paused and then added: "It must be the first time that the commander-in-chief has come back in so many years. I don't know the details. Today's Guihua City can be said to be very prosperous. If the commander-in-chief has time, You might as well go and take a look, it’s worth seeing.”
Back then, the emperor personally conquered the city and killed more than 10,000 captives in Guihua City. Of course, Li Guo knew about this.
As a native of northern Shaanxi, he had naturally heard of the saying that the Nine Bends of the Yellow River were only for wealth.
Now that he heard what the county magistrate said, he was really curious. The people in the drought-stricken areas within the pass have another way of survival, making Guihua City prosperous?
If this is the case, there will probably be no need for the military town of Yulin in the future, let alone the need for the Great Wall.
Suddenly, he remembered something and couldn't help but frown and asked: "Although the Mongolian tribes along the Great Wall were either destroyed by the emperor or have surrendered. However, there are also three tribes in Mobei and Mongolia in the west. Is it safe over the Hetao?"
Miaoshuwu
