() At the foot of the south-facing mountains of the Panshan Mountains, a state river meanders through not far away. There is a village in the middle, surrounded by mountains and rivers. As the saying goes, you eat mountains when you rely on mountains, and you eat water when you rely on water. This village takes care of both, so
Although natural disasters continue, we can still get through life.
It was almost noon, and there was a family living at the end of Kaoshan Village. There were two mother-in-law and daughter-in-law sitting in the yard. The daughter-in-law, who was in her mid-twenties, although not beautiful, exuded a simple and capable atmosphere. She was sitting and basking in the sun.
The mother-in-law was talking and kept sewing in her hands, mending the clothes of the little naughty boy in the family. A child who was estimated to be five or six years old was sitting in the yard playing in the mud. He was not afraid of the cold weather and was playing very selflessly.
The mother-in-law was basking in the warm sun on a winter day and felt very comfortable. She moved her body a little and then said to her daughter-in-law: "I am old and sick. I don't know how long I can live like this."
The daughter-in-law moved her hands quickly while comforting: "Mother-in-law, look what you said, the child's father is good at hunting in the mountains, fishing in the water, and farming. He can also go to Sanhe City to work part-time in his free time. Our family has no worries about food and drink.
.”
At this point, I bit off the thread with my teeth, then pulled out the needle. I was very satisfied with the dense stitches, so I put it aside, picked up another piece of clothing to be mended, and then looked at the yard.
The house in the corner said: "Besides, my uncle was selected as a scholar at a young age and has a bright future. He is much more capable than his father. In the future, this family may have to rely on my uncle."
The mother-in-law didn't answer immediately, but tilted her head and listened carefully, as if she wanted to hear the sound of her youngest son reading. She was a little far away, so she didn't hear it, but she didn't care. She showed a satisfied smile and said, "You can't praise me in person."
He will become arrogant if he boasts too much, which will affect his future."
"Isn't this just a compliment in front of you? To be honest, the officers and soldiers from the imperial court who passed by the day before were just like bandits. If my uncle hadn't been a scholar, I'm afraid it wouldn't have been as simple as missing a few chickens."
When the mother-in-law heard this, she couldn't help but sigh: "It is precisely because of this that I am worried that this day will not be easy to pass. Do you remember that a few days ago, those imperial officers and soldiers passing by were not making trouble?
The village was in a state of chaos, and I only left after reaping enough benefits."
"Mother-in-law, you can rest easy. When my uncle wins the first prize in the exam, let's see who is just standing in front of the house!" At this point, he looked at the sky and said, "It's almost time for lunch, my child.
Why hasn't dad come back yet? Gouwazi, go to the door and see if your dad is back."
The dog boy sitting on the ground was playing enthusiastically and ignored his damn words.
The daughter-in-law smiled at her mother-in-law and was about to stand up and teach her son a lesson. Suddenly, the door was kicked open with a "Peng" sound. A burly man about thirty years old broke in.
Several people in the yard were startled when they saw that it was the child's father. The door was broken and could not be repaired. They were about to complain when the burly man rushed directly towards the uncle's house he mentioned just now.
, while saying: "Hurry up, the Tatars are coming."
He rushed to the door of that room and kicked it in. The door opened with a clang, which startled the uncle inside: "Second brother, hurry up, the Tatars are coming."
After he finished speaking, without waiting for his brother to react, he turned around suddenly, ran towards his mother, and carried her on his back. He said to his wife, "Quick, follow me."
"I'll go get the money." The daughter-in-law said hurriedly;
"What are you taking? Hurry up, pick up Gou Wazi and follow me." The sturdy man became anxious and shouted;
The burly man's name was Gu Mancang, a name that carried a farmer's expectations for life. After all, he had seen a lot of things in the world and knew that the Tatars killed people without batting an eye. When he just returned to the village, he saw the Tatars heading this way from a distance.
Come over. I made an immediate decision, dropped what I was doing, and ran home.
Gu Mancang carried his mother on his back and his wife with her son in her arms, and ran to the foot of the mountain. Fortunately, he lived in a corner at the end of the village and close to the mountain, which was closer to the mountain.
I ran to the bottom of the mountain in one breath, then stopped to take a breath, and turned around to wait for my family members who were lagging behind. It was okay if I didn't look, but when I looked, I was shocked. My son and daughter-in-law followed behind me, but my younger brother didn't follow.
The old man on his back was also crying anxiously. His second son was his heart's content, the one he loved the most!
Gu Mancang knew what his mother was thinking. He looked at the dust raised by the Tatars in the distance and saw that it was getting closer. Without hesitation, he gently put his mother on the ground and said to his daughter-in-law who had just approached: "Hurry up and take mom with you."
Go with Gouwazi to the cave where I often hide when hunting, and don’t come out until I come back. What if, what if I can’t come back, Mom and Gouwazi will depend on you."
After saying that, Gu Mancang didn't dare to stay, so he ran back amidst his wife's heart-wrenching shouts. Maybe he felt something, Gou Wazi also cried and called daddy.
The door of the house was open, and Gu Mancang rushed in and shouted: "Second brother, second brother, where are you?"
"Brother, I'm in the house. I'm going to pack up the books that the teacher gave me." A voice came from the house on the side.
Before he finished speaking, Gu Mancang rushed in, knocked over the books in his second brother's hand, and then pulled his second brother away. "You don't want your life. The Tatars kill people without batting an eye. They were killed in Liaodong."
Don’t you know there are corpses everywhere?”
The second younger brother is called Gu Dazhuang. He was named this because he was weak when he was young. He was reluctant to part with the books and wanted to fight them out of his brother's hands, but after hearing Gu Mancang's words, he ran away with his brother obediently.
Unexpectedly, as soon as they arrived at the door, the sound of horse hooves rang at the entrance of the village. Gu Mancang had a good ear, and when he heard it, he knew that he had no chance to run out of the village. His legs could not run as fast as four legs.
Without hesitation, Gu Mancang immediately turned around and took his younger brother to the corner of the yard. He pulled back some wooden boards and found that they were cesspits. They were square and not big, and could only accommodate one person.
I happened to use some of it as fertilizer a few days ago, so there wasn't much rice in it. The barn full of grains signaled my brother to jump in.
Gu Dazhuang was a little hesitant and ran out of time. Gu Mancang directly kicked his younger brother down. After thinking about it, he took off his clothes again and asked his younger brother to cover his nose and mouth. Then he said: "Mom, your sister-in-law, and nephew are all hunting with me.
In the hole where they are hiding. If anything happens to me, they will rely on you."
I have begun to think of the Tatars' chirping sounds outside, accompanied by the screams of the villagers and the panicked cries of chickens and dogs, and the sounds are getting closer and closer to here.
Gu Mancang took a deep look at his brother, then covered the wooden boards back, leaving some gaps. He turned around and took the toilet out from home, poured it on the wooden boards, then pulled some debris to cover it, and then ran out.
Home door.
As Gu Dazhuang listened to his brother's footsteps disappearing and the Tatar voices getting louder and louder, two lines of tears silently flowed down. A voice in his heart shouted: "Brother, you have to take care of yourself!"
Soon, several Tatars broke into his house. The remaining chickens in the yard suffered first. Then they chatted and rummaged through boxes and cabinets for a while before leaving. Before leaving, they even set a fire.
.This seems to be the custom of robbers. They must burn everything that others have in order to show their true nature.
After a long time, there was no sound of people or animals, only the whirring of the north wind. Gu Dazhuang couldn't bear it anymore, so he crawled out.
What came into view were several houses that had been burned down by his own family. At this time, he couldn't care about the stench on his body and his treasured books, and rushed to the door.
As soon as he arrived at the door, Gu Dazhuang vomited with a "wow" sound. Right at the door of his house, Li Ermazi's daughter-in-law, who lived next door, was disemboweled, with all her intestines flowing out, and her head was only half connected.
On the body, the other half is not far from the body.
I have never experienced such a scene before. In the past, under the care of my brother, I ignored everything outside the window and only read the books of sages. Now when I saw it, I naturally couldn't help but vomited.
Few of the houses in the village were good. As he walked, he looked at the dead people on the ground. They were all familiar to him and were gone forever now.
Gu Dazhuang vomited several times before, but then he became numb and couldn't vomit anymore. He almost searched the whole village, but still couldn't find Gu Mancang's body. He couldn't help but shout to the sky: "Brother, where are you?"
The north wind was still blowing. The whole village was quiet, only his lingering voice was echoing.
A village just disappeared.
But it's not just a village like this. Wherever the Tatars passed, they burned, killed, and looted. This village was just a small microcosm.
The next day, the sound of dense horse hooves sounded in the village again, but this time, they did not enter the village and walked around. There was no trace of popularity in the village.
"Supervisor, the people of the Ming Dynasty have been killed by the Tatars. Look, another village has disappeared. We can't just follow the Tatars like this. Should we catch up and fight with the Tatars? In the worst case, we will both die together.
, we can't watch them do harm like this!" He Kegang begged Yuan Chonghuan sadly and angrily.
Yuan Chonghuan didn't speak, he just looked into the distance without taking a look at the dilapidated village. His body swayed with the war horse under his crotch.
"Supervisor!!" He Kegang couldn't help it anymore, he urged his horse to run in front of Yuan Chonghuan's horse and swung his horse to stop Yuan Chonghuan's horse.
Yuan Chonghuan looked at He Kegang's face with red eyes and said softly: "The Tatars will always be punished." Then he urged his horse to bypass He Kegang and continue walking forward.
He Kegang waved the reins and wanted to catch up again.
At this time, Zu Dashou passed by and said to He Kegang: "The governor puts national affairs first, protects the effective strength of Guan Ning's army, and looks for opportunities to defeat the Tatars. This is a sophisticated strategy. Don't be emotional."
"The people of the Ming Dynasty are all the subjects of the emperor. We have been deeply favored by the emperor, but we have dedicated ourselves to serving the country. The people have suffered such a tragedy. How can we cherish this life?"
"Childish!" Zu Dashou curled his lips, ignored him, and left.