Chapter 283 Entering the Pass
Spring begins in March, while it is still freezing and snowy outside the Pass, but inside the Pass it is gradually getting warmer and the flowers are blooming.
The further south you go, the more obvious the feeling of spring becomes.
The vibrant green, nurtured by the dead branches and leaves, stubbornly poked its head out of the ground, dancing with the wind, looking curiously at this new world.
The skinny old man only wore a pair of patched trousers. He bent his waist and pulled the plowshare with all his strength to plow the ground. His body was almost touching the ground, and he had to use his hands and feet together to slow down the plowshare. They advanced slowly, and the person holding the plow was an old woman who was equally naked.
And looking around, a large area of land nearby was deserted, and the only ones working on it were the old man and the old woman.
On the road, the sound of horse hooves was heard. The old man and the old woman stopped plowing and turned their heads together to look in the direction of the sound of horse hooves.
Two people and three horses are coming slowly from a distance.
At first glance, he is not an ordinary person.
The two men were wearing bright clothes and angry horses, carrying swords and bows. In addition to the riding horses, there was also a camel horse specially designed to hump things.
The two of them got off their horses and walked straight towards the old man.
The old man quickly bowed and saluted: "I have met two officials!"
"I don't need to be more polite!" The young man in charge smiled and clasped his fists in return and saluted: "My master and servant The two came from afar, but it was a bit strange. I heard that this land east of the river has always been rich and populated, but today I walked for most of the day, but the population was sparse, and there was not even a place to rest. Now I have pure water in my pocket. After we finished drinking, I wonder if I know where there is room for repair."
The old man felt very fond of the young master when he saw him being so polite: "To be honest with you, our place originally had a population of thousands. It was a big village, but there was a military disaster last year, and half of the people died at once. In the first half of the year, a certain General He recruited troops, and most of the young men in the village who had no time to escape were kidnapped. At the end of the year, another certain one came Marshal Linghu wanted to recruit troops, so the remaining young men were taken away again. Now the only ones who can move in the village are old men and women in our seventies and eighties. The young master wants to take a rest and step up his pace and go as far as possible. It’s not peaceful outside in the big city!”
“There’s no one else at home?” The young master was a little shocked.
The old man shook his head and said: "The old man originally had two sons in his family. One was kidnapped by General He, and the other went to answer the recruitment order of General Linghu a year ago. He said he would come back in the spring of this year, but now he can't There is no news, and I don’t know if he is still alive.”
“You two, drink some water!” The old woman next to me came over holding a dark jar, “Lin Qincha, I picked it myself. Drying the leaves is the best way to quench your thirst."
"Thank you, thank you!" The young man took the jar and a cracked wooden bowl from the old man's hand, and poured a large bowl of bright yellow. He drank the tea, then poured another bowl and handed it to the man behind him and said: "Kitten, try this Lin Qin tea. It really clears away heat and quenches thirst. It's a good thing!"
Fang The kitten smiled and drank it all in one gulp.
"Old man, can you sell me the remaining Linqin tea?" the young master asked.
"Young Master, what are you talking about? This Lin Qin Cha is just some tree leaves and some mountain spring water. What is it worth? If you like it, you can just take it away!" The old man waved his hands hurriedly.
"This is not possible!" The strong man took out a leather bag and poured all the Lin Qin tea in the jar into it. Then he took out a silver coin from his arms and handed it to the man. Old man. "Our young master never takes advantage of others, here's this for you!"
The old man looked at the money in a daze, "This is not worth much."
"The rest, just It's our son's reward!" The man laughed.
After saying that, he directly put the ingot of silver into the old man's hand.
Watching the two of them mount their horses, the old woman came over with eager eyes and said, "I see that the young master is a noble man. When we get to the big city ahead, can we tell the high official there and ask him to let our son go and come back?"
The young master smiled and said: "You can give it a try, but I don't know if it will save you face? What is your son's name?"
"My son's name is Fu Erniu. His brother Danniu was taken away by that General He Da Niu in the first half of last year!" The strong woman couldn't help but be overjoyed when she saw that the young man agreed, and quickly told her about her eldest son.
"I may still have a way with this Erniu. Daniel and his team have already left this land east of the river. They are at least hundreds of thousands of miles away from here, so I can There is nothing we can do!" The young man shook his head, got on his horse, bowed his hands to the old man, and then rode away. Behind him, the old man held silver in his hand, and he and the old woman looked hopefully at the two people who were gradually disappearing.
There is always hope, isn't it?
"Sir, didn't you say that the east of Hedong is known as the mountains and rivers, and has always been one of the richest places in the Qin Dynasty? Now it seems that it is very miserable, even worse than us outside the customs!" Fang Mao Mao was surprised. When he entered the customs for the first time, he was originally full of longing and yearning, but now it seems that he is far inferior to his hometown.
“After being ravaged by He Zudao, he burned them all, killed them all and robbed them all. All the wealthy families, wealthy merchants and even those with a little wealth in the land of Hedong were plundered. His energy was almost wiped out, and before he could catch his breath, our Commander Linghu came again." Li Dachui sighed: " Marshal Linghu definitely wants to base himself on Hedong and Hexi, but he’s just here and wants to establish himself, so he’s naturally not too polite. After this trip, all the good places have been trampled on!”
< br>"It really is true to what the young master said, prosperity will cause the people to suffer, death will cause the people to suffer!" Fang Mao Mao shook his head and said. "Sir, do you think He Zudao killed all the Hedong aristocratic families, is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
"From a close distance, it's obviously bad!" Li Dachui pointed at the road with his riding whip. The fields on both sides where weeds grow: "It can be seen that these fields are good fields. See those canals." Is this possible because the land is irrigated and the harvest is guaranteed by droughts and floods? Now, food is the foundation. If there is no one to grow food, famine will naturally follow. But in the long run, without these. A wealthy family is also a good thing for the future recovery of these places.”
"Just like us outside the customs, our government orders can be transmitted to the lowest level of the people through the school captains, regimental leaders, captains, and village chiefs." Fang Mao Mao said: "Without the intermediate links, these wealthy and aristocratic families have no dependence. The common people they live in are just empty shells.”
“That’s the truth.”
“If you say that, don’t we still have to thank He Zudao?” Cat said: "If he really wipes out all these wealthy families, when we enter the customs in the future, the young master will not have to bear any infamy or burden, and can draw directly on a piece of white paper!"
"You think so well!" Li Dachui said with a smile: "After sweeping away Hedong and Hexi, He Zudao still looks majestic, but do you think he has killed any real wealthy people? No. The ones who fell are those who are not strong enough. Now those who are really strong are thinking about how to use He Zudao as a knife! When He Zudao completes his mission, he is afraid that he will be punished. ”
“What mission?”
"Capture Luoyang or Chang'an!" Li Dachui said: "It all depends on He Zudao's ability. Anyway, in the eyes of those manipulators, it is enough for He Zudao to complete one of them."
"Order Marshal Hu must also be preparing to take advantage!" Fang Mao Mao sneered.
"You can see this accurately. And He Zudao's general attack on one of these two places is probably right in front of us!" Li Dachui said.
"Master, how can I judge?"
"Commander Linghu is still a commander who attaches great importance to farming outside the pass. He is well aware of the principle of food and grass going first before the army moves, but It’s obviously the spring plowing season this year, but the young men he recruited have still not gone home to farm. What does this mean?”
"There is a big military operation!" Fang Maomao suddenly realized: "He needs a lot of young and strong labor."
"Yes, so He Zudao will definitely take action in the near future, and Linghuye needs to follow He Zudao's instructions To complete his strategic direction, he naturally cannot let these young men go home!" Li Dachui said: "Looking at the world, I am afraid that all the powerful people are making this preparation. Today's spring plowing is going to be a disaster. "
"Don't these people think about how they will eat if they don't do spring farming? "
"They won't be hungry, and it will be the common people who will starve in the end!" Li Dachui sneered. "After they have achieved their goal, they will open several warehouses to put grains out, cook several pots of porridge to provide disaster relief, won't their good reputation as a good person come back again? They have long been familiar with such tricks. ”
Fang Mao Mao shook his head.
Li Dachui swung his horsewhip in his hand, whipping a bush on the roadside into the air, revealing a boundary monument hidden in it. He took a look and said, "Let's go, it's not far from Boling. Let's go there." Check out the situation there, and then go to Taiyuan!”
“Young master, are you really going to meet Ling Huye? I’m afraid he hates you so much that he won’t kill you if you really want to meet him. Ah? Young Master, although you are innate now, Linghu is also innate, and he has many masters. Are we throwing ourselves into a trap?"
"Ling Huye is a politician!" Said: "He will definitely weigh the pros and cons of doing things. There is no point in simply venting his anger. He doesn't bother to do it. He is the kind of person who wants to squeeze water out of a dry towel and squeeze oil out of the cracks of rocks. How could a guy like me, who has great use value, go to death?"
"I don't think Ling Huye is this kind of person, but I think you are this kind of person, sir? People!" Fang Mao Mao said seriously.
"How can you slander me like this?" Li Dachui pretended to be angry: "Your young master is a good and philanthropic man."
(End of this chapter)