Liaocheng is located in the upper reaches of the Huai River, on the plains northeast of Shaipi. There is a wharf here that allows you to take a boat directly to Shouyang downstream. Therefore, people from Zuojin Township often choose to go to Shouyang to sell any seasonal goods they produce. Especially this year.
Shouyang no longer collects city tax assessment money, and people from nearby villages flock to it.
More than ten miles to the south of Liao City, there is a swamp named Hanshipi. There are hundreds of families living there, most of them are members of the Han clan. The villagers build fields around the lake, farm, fish and hunt. Although their lives are not very prosperous.
, but it can also be said to live and work in peace and contentment.
In September of the golden autumn, the field work is coming to an end, and the farmers who have finished the autumn harvest have not been idle. They are catching fish and crabs in the ditches and ponds, or searching for rats and rabbits in the fields.
The women were spinning flax at home, and from time to time they would raise their heads and look into the yard to be on the lookout for greedy urchins eating the dried fish and preserved fruits hanging out in the yard. If they were caught in the act, they would be beaten to death.
This is not the fun of rural life. Even though we have a lot of rice this year, there is not much left after selling the rice and turning it in to the third batch. The remaining mixed batches and this year’s winter rations can all be maintained by selling these agricultural and sideline products.
If we are careless in this matter, not only will the family be deprived of food and clothing, but there may also be a disaster!
At this moment, the crisp chirping of copper and iron sounded outside the fence, accompanied by the slightly hoarse roar of a boy whose voice was changing: "The freight team is back! Come to my house to share the money and goods!"
Hearing this roar, the villagers scattered inside and outside the village immediately became active. Even the parents who were still beating their children to teach them paused, walked out of their homes and walked towards the center of the village.
There is a large house standing in the village, which is more grand than the surrounding cottages. It is the home of the leader of the Han family. There are several trucks parked in the yard, and there are more than a dozen strong countrymen standing around.
The order here was controlled under the command of a 20-year-old boy, who was the one who called for the distribution of money.
"Sanlang, look how much my family can share!"
Men and women poured in, asking the young man questions.
The young man was anxious and sweating on his forehead. He held a wooden board and carefully read the words "Charcoal" on it: "Uncle Jiu pays one stone and seven buckets of new rice, nine buckets and six liters of miscellaneous millet, and the total payment is..."
Amid the shouts of the young man, a sum of money was distributed to the villagers. Many of these fashionable goods were daily necessities that the villagers could not produce themselves, but many of them were goods for resale.
As the saying goes, you can eat from the mountains and from the water. The Han family is close to the Huai River, so of course they will not miss the convenience of navigation. Moreover, their patriarch runs a shop in Shouyang, using his experience to help the villagers buy and sell some urgent goods.
The goods supplement household income, and sometimes the profits are considerable.
Soon some villagers noticed the huge difference in the amount of money and goods, and couldn't help shouting: "The payment this year is not as good as last year, so why do we get more money this year than last year? Is it wrong last year?"
Hearing this shouting, before the young man in charge of the division of accounts could reply, a young man with somewhat similar facial features but much taller and stronger body walked out of the main room. He shouted to the questioning villagers: "Why don't you
You said you made a mistake this year? Come on, tell me in detail, how much my brother is short of you, and I will pay you back by cutting my flesh!"
Hearing the angry voice of this strong man, the atmosphere in the yard suddenly darkened, and the people in the village did not dare to speak casually. The young man turned around and pushed the strong man: "Second brother, please rest, I will handle this!"
When the strong man returned to his room angrily, the young man shouted to the people of the village again: "This year Shouyang has changed its city lord, and the villagers have been exempted from land rent and market assessment. They can get more by selling goods in the market, so my brother spread the word
Send the new rice to sell as soon as you get back the letter. When the price is right now, it is much better to buy grain from Huaixi than to grow it yourself!"
"Shouyang people are really lucky to meet such a kind and kind city lord!"
Hearing this, the villagers sighed one after another with envy on their faces. Some even shouted and asked if it would be more beneficial to go to Shouyang to work as a tenant farmer.
Seeing the eager expressions on the faces of the villagers, the young man shouted again: "Don't think too much. My brother said that this may not be a blessing for the people of Shouyang. Although the city lord has many benevolent policies, he even has the mansion.
They are unwilling to repair their homes, fearing that they will not have the thought of staying here for a long time. The people gathered together and don’t know where to go! Brother wants everyone to stay at the mountain, and he will take people to Huaibei to buy some cattle and horses. If there is really trouble
If chaos breaks out, you have to take shelter from Yiyang!"
After the villagers heard this, the originally relaxed and cheerful atmosphere suddenly dropped. Although they did not know what was going on outside the village, they were very convinced of the clan leader's judgment. In the past year, they were moved by the government from the south of Sanguan in Yiyang to this place in Huainan.
In just over ten years, we have established ourselves here, relying on the leadership of the patriarch’s family.
After the money and goods were distributed, the villagers also left the place and went back to their homes. The young man returned to the room, only to see the second brother he had just persuaded to go back to the room was sitting under the window, playing with a piece that looked like a dog's head.
Looking at the old tree roots, I couldn't help but be a little curious: "Second brother, what are you doing with these tree roots?"
"Tree roots? Ha, Aye always said that among the three brothers, I am the weakest. It seems that you, Saburo, are not much smarter than me!"
After hearing this, the young man laughed loudly, raised his hand to signal his third brother to close the door, waved his hand to call the person closer, and then said, "Take a closer look!"
The young man came up and looked at it carefully. He still felt that this thing was no different from ordinary tree roots, but it smelled of a simple spicy fragrance.
"Haha, you still can't see it? Let me teach you. This thing is called rhubarb, Longyou rhubarb. It is a life-saving tool for removing stasis and carbuncles and removing heat and blood! It's just a piece like this. Do you know how much it's worth?"
The young man looked at his brother with a show off face and whispered, and when he saw him shaking his head, he smiled again and said: "My brother added another hundred thousand yuan to my Shouyang business in exchange for it from a traveler from Handong.
!”
"So expensive? Brother, why did he sell his ancestral property!"
The young man couldn't help being surprised after hearing this. Shouyang is an important land and water resource. The reason why their family can run a shop there is because they just took back Shouyang more than ten years ago. Their Aye is Pei Sui.
A team leader under the general was rewarded for this. Nowadays, Shouyang is more prosperous. A shop like that is worth more than a million yuan, and the key is that even if you have money, you can't buy it.
"Don't think it's too expensive. Brother said that if it weren't for the fact that Jia Ke was greedy for Shouyang and didn't have the benefit of market valuation, this deal might not have been possible! If this rhubarb with similar appearance was sold in the capital, the price would definitely be higher!"
The young man talked about this and then said: "As for my family's ancestral property, it might not be a bad thing to throw it away early. When the northern captives enter the city, evil things happen frequently. If you are still greedy and refuse to let go, you may lose your life. My brother raised me.
You have left me, and I see that you are about to become an adult. It is important for us three brothers to live. If one of us is missing, the rest of us will not be happy!"
After hearing the words, the young man nodded, and then said: "Where is my sister? If we leave here, what will my sister do?"
The young man took out his knife, marked it on the dry piece of rhubarb, and murmured: "Brother, I will ask my sister and brother-in-law when I come back, if they are willing to follow us back to Handong."
If you don't want to, cut off a section of this rhubarb and leave it to my sister to support the family. The rest will be our brother's family property. But I am strong and can support my family no matter what, so I will leave mine to my sister.
!”
"I don't even have a wife or children. If I live next to you guys, I don't even need this thing to survive!"
After hearing this, the young man also laughed.
The young man was very satisfied after hearing this, but he also muttered: "But the rhubarb is always exchanged for our ancestral inheritance. How can we give it all to my sister, a bride from another family, so we have to keep some!"
While he was talking, he cut off some roots with a knife and wrapped the rest in layers of green cloth. Then he covered his growling stomach and said: "While it's still dark, send it to my sister's house. This way
It’s a generous gift. Sister, I don’t care about having dinner, can we go back?”
After saying this, the two brothers all burst into laughter, collected some household goods, told their families a few words, and then headed down the slope.
This family was originally from Anlu, Dong'an, Han Dynasty. They moved to Anfengzhou, Huainan with their father in their early years. After their parents passed away, they were left with three brothers. There was also an eldest sister who was married locally. The eldest was named Han Mian, the second was named Han Shao, and the eldest was named Han Mian.
The third one is called Han Xie.
In the old years, the Huaiyan weir blocked the river, causing the Huai River to surge and overflow, flooding a large area of Huainan. Although a long time has passed, the Huai River to the west of Shouyang is still overflowing, causing many ponds and tidal flats in the territory, making the countryside
People can only live on the slopes around these ponds.
After the Han brothers left home, they headed southwest. Whenever they encountered a large lake, there were simple rafts nearby for passage, which were built by the villagers and put here for public use.
After passing two canals, the destination was about to arrive, but Han Shao, the second eldest son on the raft, who was holding a bamboo pen, gradually became a little uneasy. Han Xie, the third eldest son sitting aside, couldn't help but said: "
Second brother, why do I smell a bit fishy..."
"Silence!"
Han Shao let out a low cry, and at the same time he got down and propped the raft into a reed marsh, and ordered his brothers to hide there. He himself jumped into the river pond, waded ashore, and swam forward. Suddenly, a body had been covered by the river.
The soaked and swollen corpse suddenly emerged from the bottom of the pond, and many rancid bubbles bubbled out.
"ah……"
Although Han Shao had always been brave, he was so frightened by this scene that he let out a short cry. He did not dare to look at the swollen corpse, gritted his teeth and continued to swim forward, but he saw broken limbs and broken arms in the river pond.
more and more.
Finally coming ashore, Han Shao ignored the mud and blood on his body and ran straight to the village where his sister lived. However, he froze on the spot after running a few steps. On the bank of the river, under a few willow trees, nothing but willows were floating in the wind.
Outside the branch, there were several naked female corpses hanging with hemp ropes, one of them was his sister.
"Ah, sister..."
Han Shao's eyes turned red in an instant. He rushed forward and put down his sister's body and several other human corpses. Holding back his tears, he dug a hole and buried it on the spot. The village here had obviously been looted by bandits, leaving no survivors.
The property was also looted.
Although he was in great pain, Han Shao did not dare to stay any longer after searching inside and outside. He swam back to the reed swamp to meet his third brother Han Xie, who was already waiting anxiously.
When the two brothers were about to turn out of the reed pond, the rapid sound of horse hooves suddenly sounded outside the reed pond. After hearing this, Han Shao's face suddenly changed, and he was busy waiting to push the raft back into the reed pond. However, there was already a cry from the shore:
"who?"
"Second brother, let's..."
Han Shao raised his hand to cover the young man's mouth, pressed him into the reed pond against the edge of the raft, placed the rhubarb wrapped in layers of green cloth on Han Xie's head above the water, and whispered in a low voice:
"Don't get wet..."
Then Han Shao held up his bamboo pole and rushed out of the reed pond. Soon he saw several knights in uniform on the shore pointing their bows at him. He threw down his bamboo pole and worshiped on the raft: "Spare my life, spare your life..."
A knight suddenly shot an arrow, causing a splash on the water. Han Shao was frightened and his body trembled. Immediately, another team leader scolded: "This country slave is quite strong, let's keep him for the time being. The prince is not allowed to live in his birthday."
Yang Zuo was on a hunting trip, but the thieves who went ahead did not obey the rules. There are not many people left in the countryside, so don't waste it!"