The sun is hanging overhead, and the sun is as scorching as fire.
It stands to reason that there should be few pedestrians on the road at noon when the sun is scorching hot, but the official road outside the south gate of Baiyun City is packed with people.
Those carrying backpacks, those carrying burdens, those supporting the elderly and the young, those pushing carts and horses, those leading cows and sheep, those carrying chickens, ducks and geese, etc., etc., pedestrians of all kinds crowded on the official road, which was not very spacious.
There was so much pushing and shouting, it was so lively.
The pedestrians are all different, but the same thing is that everyone is moving towards the city gate.
They are all refugees fleeing and want to hide in Baiyun City, which has strong walls and is heavily guarded by soldiers.
Not because of the drought, but because the group of blond and blue-eyed devils living in the south of Yandang Mountain have returned. Sixty-eight years ago, their cavalry traveled across the entire southern land and slaughtered more than 12 million people. I don’t know what happened.
How many people will die tragically under their butcher knives at one time.
The big-tooth man is a devil hidden in the heart of every southerner, and his expression changes when he hears it.
Some people say that they emerged from the black forest, while others say that they conquered cities and territories and fought all the way from the southern border. The black-armored army guarding the southern border has been completely wiped out.
No matter where they come from, they are really coming. Otherwise, why is there an emergency recruitment at the gate of the city in front, and the treatment is so generous?
Two meals a day, one meal of meat every five days, and two taels of salary a month. In addition, as long as one person in the family serves as a soldier, the whole family can live in Baiyun City for free, and the official family will also allocate free accommodation.
On the contrary, if no one in the family joins the army, they need to pay enough silver to enter the city. The money is charged per head, with ten taels of silver per head, regardless of gender, age or rank.
Large animals also have to pay silver, five taels of silver per head.
In addition, those who pay money to enter the city will not be assigned a residence by the official family.
There are four gates in the east, west, south and west of Baiyun City. Strict sentries are set up at each gate. Trying to sneak in by trying to fish in troubled waters or break in by force is simply a fool's errand.
This is obviously a forced conscription of the middle and lower-class poor peasants. Each person has a head of ten taels of silver, and a small family of four has to pay forty taels of silver. How can ordinary people get so much money? What's more, in this year of famine, money is scarce.
After buying food, there is no spare money left.
If you don't have money, then you can just be a soldier, or go back and forth from wherever you are. But the big-ya people have scared the shit out of them, and they are as panic-stricken as a bereaved dog. How can they dare to go back? In their opinion, the only way to build a high wall is to
, only in the heavily guarded Baiyun City can you have a good night's sleep.
As the saying goes, you don’t want to be a soldier in troubled times, so most of the people who choose to enlist in the army are poor people who can’t afford the money. They are very happy with the generous treatment. Even fathers and sons and brothers in the same family join hands in joining the army. And almost all the rich families who can afford the money are willing to join the army.
No one wants to be drafted into the army.
At the gate of the city, in addition to officials recruiting new soldiers, there are also businessmen from all walks of life, Ren Yazi, brothel turtles, etc.
Many people did not have enough money and were unwilling to serve as soldiers, so they had to sell their belongings, such as chickens, ducks, geese, cattle and dogs, land deeds, and slaves and maids.
The good thing is that no matter what you sell, unless it is worthless junk, there will be merchants to take it. What is hateful is that the merchants are evil-minded and take advantage of the situation to rob you and keep the price extremely low.
For example, a strong cow can be sold for thirty taels of silver on weekdays, but the merchant at the city gate only offers fifteen taels.
An acre of fertile land could usually be sold for twenty taels of silver, but the merchant at the city gate only offered ten taels.
As for chickens, ducks, geese, clothes, furniture, etc., they are even worthless.
The price at each of the four city gates is the same. Apparently these unscrupulous businessmen have sat together to discuss the price and are just waiting to kill them.
However, some people are unwilling to enlist in the army even if they are willing to sell iron. They can only let others slaughter them.
"Look, the great monk is crazy again!"
"Haha, hit, hit hard!"
"Oh, what a sin! These troubled times have driven all the monks who eat fast and chant Buddha's name crazy."
The crowd outside the South City Gate suddenly became agitated. A bald monk rode under him a Confucian scholar dressed in a long gown and punched his fair cheeks left and right, until the fair-faced Confucian scholar cried for his father and mother.
The crowd automatically moved aside to make room for the two of them.
Some people are happy to hear it, some are cheering, and some are sad and blame this troubled world.
The bald monk muttered something while beating.
"Every man's face has been completely humiliated by you."
"When a disaster is approaching, as a passionate man, shouldn't you keep your wife and daughter in your arms?"
"It's okay if you don't protect them, but you actually want to sell them to someone else in order to raise the money to go to the city."
"The big one is one tael, the small one is five hundred fen."
"Do you think they are cattle and sheep that can be bought and sold at will?"
"Where is your conscience?"
"Where is your conscience?"
"You still have the nerve to say that you are full of knowledge and you will be a talented person of great use. After entering the city, you will be put into great use by the city lord, and then you will come to redeem their mother and daughter."
"Haha, you are such an unkind and heartless piece of shit. Will the Lord of Baiyun City reuse you if he is blind?"
"Are you still full of knowledge?"
"Have all the books of sages been read into the stomach of dogs?"
"If my guess is correct, when you were drinking and chatting with your classmates, did you say, 'I hate being born at the wrong time, otherwise I will kill all the big-toothed dogs with a long sword', or 'If war breaks out again, I will be shrouded in horse leather' or something like that.
Brave words?"
"Hey, why didn't you say anything? Did I tell you right?"
"Do you know it's embarrassing too?"
"You are a coward among men and a scum among scholars."
The bald monk gritted his teeth and punched the white-faced Confucian scholar in the face after saying a word. After a few punches, the white-faced Confucian scholar's face was covered with blood.
The crowd of onlookers listened to the bald monk's sarcastic insults to the white-faced Confucian scholar, and generally understood the cause of the matter.
I think this white-faced Confucian scholar didn't want to join the army, but he couldn't afford to go to the city, so he had a bad idea and wanted to sell his wife and daughter to someone to raise money. However, the bald monk found out about it, and the bald monk couldn't bear his viciousness.
Behavior, if they disagree with each other, they will take action.
"ah"
"You crazy monk, don't hit my husband!"
"I'll fight you!"
A pretty woman screamed and rushed towards the bald monk, scratching the bald monk's face with both hands.
"Oh, oh, bad monk, don't hit my father."
"I'll bite you!"
Another little girl, seven or eight years old, cried and rushed forward, biting the bald monk's arm and not letting go.
"Beat, beat to death. This kind of coward deserves to be beaten to death!"
"You scum, living is a waste of food, go and die!"
"Well done, great monk, I support you!"
"Where did the great monk come from, meddling in other people's business!"
"That's right. Aren't all monks compassionate? Why don't you show mercy and take thirty taels of snowflake silver and let all three of their families go to the city? Wouldn't there be no need to sell wives and daughters?"
"Hey, you two are sharp-tongued. Did the great monk's words touch your sore spot?"
"That's nonsense. I have plenty of money, so I don't need to sell my wife or daughter."
Some people in the crowd applauded the bald monk, while others spoke harshly. However, the latter attracted numerous strange looks as soon as he spoke his words, or received a few retorts, and could only run away in despair with his head lowered.
"Monk, forget it." A girl in a red dress walked out of the crowd, stepped forward and grabbed the monk's collar, and pulled him up from the white-faced Confucian scholar.
"Amitabha, sin, sin, sin."
The great monk put his hands together and said the Buddha's name. There were blood marks on his face, scratched by the woman's sharp nails. There were two deep rows of small tooth marks on his arms, and blood slowly flowed out, bitten by the little girl.
The great monk ignored his injuries and just looked at the family of three hugging each other and crying. The woman wiped the blood from her husband's face while cursing the great monk with evil words and comforting her husband not to go there.
In her heart, she believed that he was full of knowledge, believed that he would be of great use, and believed that he would soon come to redeem their mother and daughter.
The great monk stared blankly, with indescribable confusion in his eyes.
He doesn't understand why this is happening?
He didn't understand that those cowards hiding in the city and ignorant women like this were worth the soldiers' lives to protect?
"Master monk, I'm sorry, I bit your arm open."
"But who asked you to beat my father?"
"Daddy loves me so much, you can't hit him."
"Ah, it's bleeding! Squat down quickly and I'll wrap it up for you."
With tears still hanging on her face, the little girl walked up to the big monk and timidly apologized to him. Seeing that the big monk was still bleeding from her bite, she quickly took out a white-washed handkerchief from her pocket and pulled it
He held the monk's hand and asked him to squat down so that he could be bandaged.
The great monk's eyes fell on the little girl, and he obediently knelt down and put his arms in front of the little girl.
The little girl carefully wrapped the wound with a handkerchief, and then tied a beautiful bow on the back of her arm.
The great monk's blank eyes suddenly brightened, he grinned, and said the Buddha's name to the little girl, saying: "The little donor has a kind and pure heart, and he must be a blessed person."
After saying that, he stood up and squeezed out of the crowd.
The girl in the red dress followed the big monk out of the crowd. When she saw that the big monk seemed to be in a daze and kept laughing, she couldn't help but roll her eyes and said: "You are so stupid, your face is scratched, you should cry."
That’s it.”
"It's worth having fun. It's worth having fun." The great monk said.
"I thought of something fun. Telling it makes me happy too." The girl in the red dress said curiously.
The great monk pointed to the crowd and asked: "Is the Confucian scholar worthy of the soldiers on the battlefield who risk their lives to protect him?"
"Selling your wife and daughter is a scumbag. I wish I could kill him with a sword!" the girl in the red dress said through gritted teeth.
"Is that woman worthy of the soldiers risking their lives to protect her?" the monk asked again.
"Stupid and ignorant, although pitiful, it is also hateful. It is not worth it." The girl in the red dress replied.
"Is that little girl worthy of the soldiers risking their lives to protect her?" the monk asked again.
The girl in the red dress frowned, thought for a while and then replied: "Young and innocent, kind and cute, with a bright future and worthy of protection!"
"Then if this city is full of Confucian women and the like, but there is only one little girl, is it worth the soldiers risking their lives to protect her?" the monk asked again.
The girl in the red dress was silent. In fact, she already had the answer in her mind and guessed the answer in the great monk's mind. However, her answer was completely opposite to the great monk's answer, so she did not want to make the great monk uncomfortable by saying it.
"I know what you are thinking." The great monk smiled at the girl in the red dress and said, "Maybe you are right, but I still insist on my belief. As long as she is protected by me, even if her light is weak, I will sacrifice my life.
Protect, throw your head and shed blood, no regrets!"
The girl in the red dress, Wan'er, smiled and said: "What you said reminds me of a madman. This madman defended an empty city and fought fiercely with the Daya Army for a month, killing 50,000 soldiers and killing 150,000 enemies. If reinforcements had not arrived,
He and the remaining 20,000 soldiers had to die in the battle to rescue him. Afterward, someone asked him why he fought for an empty city. He replied that there was a beautiful flower blooming in the city, which he protected. "
"Fifty thousand soldiers died fighting for a beautiful flower. He was criticized verbally and in writing by the great Confucian scholars. They called him a war madman, a cold-blooded butcher, and the reincarnation of a evil star. The great Confucian scholars scolded him in the streets, and the common people followed.
He scolded him, and eventually the soldiers followed suit, so much so that he had to pack up his bed and get out, and ran to the icy and snowy northern Xinjiang to hide, without even daring to say a word."
The great monk looked at the girl in the red dress with a strange expression and said, "Are you sure he doesn't dare to say anything, rather than disdainful?"
"Uh," the girl in the red dress ended her sentence and said uncertainly: "Maybe she didn't dare to say anything. After all, the entire Dayu people were scolding him from top to bottom."
"Are you sure that Butcher Zhang is afraid of being scolded?" the great monk asked again.
"Go away! How do I know?!" The girl in the red dress suddenly became angry and gave the great monk a fierce look, feeling that the great monk's question was too boring.
But is Butcher Zhang afraid of being scolded?
She always thought that he was afraid, otherwise why would he run to the freezing northern Xinjiang without saying a word, and not say a word despite what Wanfu pointed at him.
But when the great monk asked her this question, for some reason, she suddenly felt that she shouldn't be afraid of Butcher Zhang. After all, he was Butcher Zhang.
