Chapter 922: Xiaohui has not yet pervaded, and the people follow (1)
Dongping County Temporary Hanhou Mansion
After a few days of clear sunshine, the water vapor evaporated. At this time, the sun moved westward, and a group of rare black swans fluttered over the city. They gracefully fell into the reeds in the wetland beside the stream. The red clouds dyed the horizon, as soft as delicate silk.
It's not very bright and gives people a relaxing feeling.
When the last sunset disappeared from people's sight, the black star... or the sun from the outer world shone on the earth. This time it didn't give people a very depressing feeling.
This is very strange, for the citizens, or it may be the result of the triumphal return of the 20,000 troops of the Han Hou. Although the Han troops entered the camp to rest and recuperate as soon as they returned, no news was revealed.
But it doesn't look like we are losing the battle. For the county and city, it is good news that we can avoid losing the battle.
Troubled times have a different scene. Recently, the number of customers in restaurants and teahouses has become more prosperous again. Although it is not as prosperous as it used to be in peacetime, and the dancers and entertainment are much less, it is still a lively place for exchanging information.
There is a restaurant in the south of the city, built near the water, with spectacular carved eaves. The four characters "Laihu Restaurant" are written on the black plaque. The lobby inside is bustling with activity.
The second floor is considered a private seat, which is much more elegant, and everyone is full of wine.
I could hear a group of people next door discussing the price of rice, and many of their words mentioned the recent war situation.
"I heard from the newly arrived farmers that... the battlefield in the north was stained with blood and the river was red. It looked like the fighting was fierce. I wonder which side looks better? Who among you knows?
"It must be the Marquis of Han. I counted it with my own eyes when we returned to the army. There was only about two thousand people less than when we went out. There is no mistake at all."
The middle-aged man who said this was dressed simply, but he had a fair complexion, a neat look, a refined look, and he could do calculations accurately. His words immediately gained points, and many people looked at him with admiration, thinking that this must be a person.
Master Xiucai.
The middle-aged man raised his wine glass and took a sip slowly. He looked knowledgeable but disdainful: "Son, bring me another pot of wine, don't add water -"
"Here you go——"
The captain of the county soldiers who took a break to buy a drink after his shift said, "Huh," he said, unconvinced by this style of work, and drank his glass: "Not necessarily... it could be a tie. There are so many terracotta warriors in the outer regions. Do you know? It's like overwhelming the sky.
, lined up in front of the city..."
"Even if the soldiers of the Marquis of Han can fight three of them one by one, they are tired of fighting and equipped with equipment, but their terracotta warriors are built for free."
The middle-aged man suddenly had nothing to say and coughed slightly: "Unfortunately, the state newspaper is not published in this county due to the disorder of Yuanci. I wonder if there will be any new publications in the past few days..."
"Tsk, I'm afraid it's not the Hunan Newspaper, but the Yingxiang Newspaper. I heard that several newspaper writers in the county were invited to a banquet at the Hanhou Mansion, and everyone's smiling faces looked like old chrysanthemums."
A drunken young man sneered, causing the faces of the people around him to change slightly, and the middle-aged man's face to darken even more. He was one of the old chrysanthemums.
"Shhh... be careful what you say, be careful what you say." Several companions pulled the young man away vigilantly, bowing to the people around him and smiling, "You talk when you are drunk, and you talk when you are drunk."
Everyone pretended not to hear, except for the middle-aged man who stared hard at the young man and memorized his appearance. They all turned back to the original topic of the withdrawal of troops by the Marquis of Han: "But it's strange, what's so special these days? Why did you withdraw like this?"
Where is it?"
"Who knows... maybe the enemy ship has changed again. I heard that this kind of fairy ship can automatically repair itself."
Finally, everyone was a little worried. The intensity of the war has escalated so fast recently. Last month, even the fairy ship crashed into the city. Xiangzhou is really in such a difficult situation.
"Here, drink up this cup"
"full of drinks"
"drink"
In these troubled times, life may be low, and the thought of being drunk now is inevitable. Most of those who stay in the county have deep family backgrounds and are reluctant to abandon their ancestral property and leave. The current market prices are supplied by Yingzhou, but they provide space for consumption.
.
Le Diandian, the owner of this restaurant, Qi, said that whoever in the county supports Han Hou’s notice the most, he must be indispensable. He couldn’t help but say good things: “If Han Hou hadn’t transferred supplies here, there would be no people here to have fun. This is all thanks to Han Hou.
."
"Huh, what do you know? This is just a small favor. How can it be compared to moving refugees to Yingzhou, where tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people live? This is a great virtue." said the middle-aged man.
Everyone was startled for a moment, then they all responded and asked him about the situation in Yingzhou: "It's strange to say that Yingzhou's poor mountains and rivers can only produce a few mountain products. In the past, when refugees appeared, they would run to our Xiangzhou. How come there are so many recently?
Material support for us in northern Hunan?"
"That's all in the old calendar. Now Yingzhou's grain and agricultural products are not as good as those of Xiaoxiang. The Lingshi, steel, textile, and wine industries are all extremely prosperous. Recently, the old Lu family's Changhe fleet has been too busy carrying refugees.
We have to ask the Yun family in Lingzhou to help transport the goods."
Seeing that everyone didn't believe it, the middle-aged man pointed at the wine glass on the table and smiled: "What we are drinking now is Zhuyeqing, which is Houfu's wine, but I am talking about the original wine without water. This kind of soft wine with vanilla added does not count.
."
Inside, shopkeeper Qi coughed lightly: "Sir, I have to go back to this. These are spirits sold on the grassland. They really don't suit the taste of our water town. The original wine can't be sold at all. It's not that Mr. Qi is unkind."
Everyone laughed and shouted: "It's rare to have peace these days. Shopkeeper, you have made enough, please buy me a drink without water."
"Okay...as long as you dare to drink."
In such a lively atmosphere, spirits are indeed pure fire, but after all, they do not suit the taste of Xiangzhou people. After tasting the heat, there is a feeling of sadness... When will this troubled world end?
The red light of the black star disappears on the horizon. As night falls and the lanterns come on, some drunkards whose wives and children have been separated or even their families have been destroyed. Originally they were just drinking in a low mood to relieve their worries. The water and wine are not very intoxicating. Now, after pouring a glass of high-strength liquor, they are out of breath.
Holding it in my chest, the soreness and swelling rushed directly into my eyes, and the tears fell down. They fell into the wine glass and mixed with the clear wine. Drinking it again was full of bitterness.
Seeing this, the voices in the restaurant became much quieter, and everyone sympathized with each other, feeling sorry for others, but also sad for themselves... Zeng Xiangzhou's prosperous and peaceful life, like the setting sun, never returns, a cruel dark night is waiting for everyone, and the night is getting colder.
"Will you feel better tomorrow?"
"who knows……"
And inside some wealthy families, there were some private banquets, and their expressions were much more serious. There were no beauties singing and dancing at the banquets. It was just a pure gathering, with a sense of nervousness.
It's rare that one of them has a beautiful woman. This is in the west hall. There are dozens of people setting up dozens of tables, drinking and drinking, while the sheng and bamboo instruments are playing in unison. The women are wearing long skirts with wide sleeves, dancing gracefully, and smiling lightly, but everyone is absent-minded.
Discuss whenever there is time.
"There are also immortals in the Hanhou Mansion, so they should be able to withstand enemy ships, right?"
"I can't say for sure. I heard from the news that it was the True Lord ship..."
There was silence for a while, everyone looked at each other, and no one spoke immediately. In the awkward atmosphere, someone suddenly said: "We have to make some plans."
The gratitude for being rescued at the beginning is gradually fading, especially after the news came that the King of Qing Dynasty and the Marquis of Xiang Zhang Weicun were going to hold an alliance, many people were thinking: "The Marquis Ying will not be in Xiangbei for a long time, right?"
But after hearing such words spoken, the scene was still silent. Everyone was silent and their faces were gloomy. It took a long time for someone to say: "Let's see, now we are on the cusp of the storm, and the Marquis of Han is still in the county.
The army has not lost its vitality, who dares to break out of the waves at this time?"
"This is called luring a snake out of its hole, just waiting for someone to jump out."
"Yes, we in Xiangzhou have a history of 100,000 years and are rich in experience. We are not like the rustic families in Yingzhou who don't even know how to look... We deserve to follow Yu Fan and get out of Yingzhou and leave home."
"Bianzhou people are just not particular about it. They pride themselves on being brave enough to fight and fight hard. Are you going to keep a low profile with them?"
"Wait and see..."
Following the previous warning of a grain price war, families in the three counties of northern Hunan were reluctant to do so and could only stay in hibernation. This was a mature way of survival.
The reason for not being willing to give up is very simple. In troubled times, you will not live long if you simply have money. The power of gold and silver depreciates and decays quickly. It must be exchanged as soon as possible to preserve value. Among these value-preserving products is food, and the thing that can preserve value better than food is - people.
Although the average level of human quality is much higher after millions of years of absorbing blood from all ethnic groups, the dragon has nine sons, and the same rice can support hundreds of people. This person is not a rogue, he wants a good family son.
, and this is not easy in peacetime.
The foundation of agricultural society lies in the countryside. Although farmers are uneducated, they are not stupid when it comes to survival. Everyone knows that if there are too few young people in their own family or in-laws' family, the land they have will be gradually occupied by their neighbors. Therefore, young people with strong physiques,
Delicate and diligent farm girls, the former can guarantee their own family, and the latter can make a good marriage. These are the foundations for poor families and farmers to protect themselves and inherit the family. Lifeblood is more precious than land, even if it is impossible for big families to get it easily.
, sometimes even if someone is killed, he will be involved in a lawsuit, and his skin will be peeled off in the yamen. Even if he does not die, his vitality will be severely damaged.
Originally, as long as the price of food increased for half a month, many poor families would have their meager savings wiped out, and they would be so distressed that they would sell their sons and daughters. The idea of every big family raising food was to take the opportunity to enslave them, which was also the case in troubled times.
The mainstream approach to self-protection is to support three thousand guests and hundreds of private armies if you have money, or even various alliances to get involved in military affairs, and it is possible to form autonomous city-states.
Now that everything has gone to waste, I feel angry inside due to the temporary blockage.
It was all because of the numerous heads that the Marquis of Han had killed in the city before, and the bloody lessons that had forced him to do so. No one dared to use their heads to test the sharpness of Ye Qing's sword again - regardless of the gentle words and deeds of the Marquis of Han, he would not kill anyone if he really deserved it.
Don't be soft-hearted.
It is worth noting that no women from the families participating in the private association married into the Hanhou family system.
Each family that marries the Han ministers is considered to be a supporter of the new order and is tied to the chariot of the Han Hou Mansion. It would be a good thing if they could all marry, but it is unrealistic for everyone to be tied to the chariot, and even Sima Yi and Sun Quan
Taking concubines also requires selection. Only outstanding indigenous women can give birth to outstanding children and provide their mothers with good upbringing and precepts and deeds. Therefore, there are only a few who can be selected for marriage.
This is like the following chapter on Cao GUI's war in "Zuo Zhuan": "If small benefits are not widespread, the people will not follow them."
The current favors being extended to the people or wooing families are just small favors that have not spread throughout the entire Xiangbei society. Most people in Northern Hunan still regard Yingzhou as an outsider and will not willingly follow him.