An unusual famine came to Bailu Plain. The famine was caused by drought. Drought has been the most common and common disaster in the plain since ancient times. It happens almost every year, whether minor or severe. It is not surprising. Usually there are many droughts.
It occurs in the three months of May, June, July, and July, and the continuous autumn rains usually end in August. It is mainly due to drought. It does not cause much harm to the highland barley, barley, lentils, peas, and wheat that are sown in late autumn and harvested in early summer. With the reliable harvest of this material in summer, Bailuyuan
Dense villages and bustling crowds have flourished. This year's drought came early, actually starting in late spring and early summer. After the wheat came on the scene, the weather continued to be red day after day, month after month.
; In the wheat stubble fields where the wheat has been cut, the land has been blasted by the fierce sun. A wide hole has been opened, and millet, black beans, and red beans cannot be planted. Some people sow grain seeds in the dry loess with a sense of luck. Sooner or later, they will
As soon as it rained, the rice seedlings appeared, the rice was early and late, and the millet was drought-resistant. However, their bet was in vain. They opened the furrow, picked up the grains and twisted them in the palm of their hands, and they all became crispy.
Gray powder. The fields are full of wheat stubble that has been shined by the sun. The plowshare cannot penetrate the iron plate-like ground, and the steel-edged shovel cannot penetrate.
The land was pried off, but the handle of the shovel was broken. The drought continued, and the high temperature that persisted made people sweat and pant day and night. There was only a pool of dark green smelly water in the center of the village's waterlogged pond, and the children still
After being washed in muddy water, it completely dried up within a few days. The drought situation lasted until the Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15th. This is the season for sowing winter wheat. People had no intention of admiring the moon or eating reunion cakes, and all fell into panic. Officials in Bailuyuan
On the road, there were frequent blasts of firecrackers used to cut down the gods and fetch water, and there were crowds of people wearing raincoats and wicker rain hats. The villagers of Bailu Village started shouting, and Bai Jiaxuan became anxious and impatient, so he asked his second son Xiaowu to go to the village.
A gong was sounded in the alley to announce: Cut the gods to draw water, one liter for each household.
There is a Guandi Temple at the west end of Bailu Village, commonly known as the Laoye Temple, which worships Master Guan Guangguan. After Guan Yu ascended to heaven, he took the initiative to ask the director to manage the wind and rain in the world and bless the people. Every village, big or small, built a Guandi Temple; Yuan Shang has complied with this since ancient times.
Because of the west wind and rain, the Guandi Temple is always located at the west end of the village. The Laoye Temple in Bailu Village is a tall and spacious hall with five rooms wide. The east and west walls are painted with several scenes from Guan Yu's upright and upright life.
Glorious chapter: Taoyuan went to the meeting alone to scrape bones and cure poison, go through five passes and kill six generals; and the sculpture of Mr. Guan, who is in charge of wind and rain, sits in the main hall, with a ruddy face, black beard, bright eyes, white teeth, and an expression as peaceful and charitable as a Buddha.
The temple is surrounded by an empty garden of three or four acres. A thick cypress tree marks the history of the temple. The locust tree in front of the temple is the historical symbol of the village. It has been measured by countless people's arms, regardless of the arm.
The length, measured out, is seven arms, eight arms, and three fingers. The locust tree has long been hollow, and it can hide three passers-by at the same time to avoid the rainstorm; but the branches and leaves are still lush, and the thick tree trunks stretch out dozens of steps away.
, the dense shade of the huge tree crown covers the roof of the entire temple, forming a condensed fairy charm.
Bai Jiaxuan knelt under the locust tree. In front of him was the abandoned bluestone grinding plate that had been standing under the locust tree all year round. On the wax stand, a big red candle as thick as a fist was inserted, making a flame half a foot high. The purple fragrance in the incense burner was as thick as grain seedlings.
The person burning the paper threw pieces of golden yellow paper into the pot one after another. The choking smell of the burning wax paper filled the hot temple; behind him, the twelve people of Bailu Village knelt down.
All the men, some of them wearing wicker raincoats and raincoats, some with their arms crotched, knelt motionless in the sun like wooden and clay sculptures. A square table was placed on one side of the grinding plate, and a temporary table was placed on the other side.
A large stove was set up, and three strong young men wearing only shorts took turns pulling an extra-large bellows that was half a man tall. The flames looked like thousands of dancing elves in the sun, and the stove burned three iron shares.
With a few steel drills, the gong and drum guys were beating in the main hall. A young man from Famajiao ran out of the temple door and jumped on the square table. The team of gong and drum guys also followed and continued to beat vigorously around the square table.
The man guarding the stove used iron tongs to hold a golden iron hammer and brought it to the square table. The young man from Famajiao took a piece of yellow paper and put it in his palm to pick up the iron hammer.
Turning into gray paper dust, the young man screamed and fell down from the square table, and was helped away by the person who helped him. The second horse corner ran from the temple to the locust tree, and fell on his back as soon as one foot stepped over the edge of the table.
He fell down. The third horse horn was exactly the same as the first one. As soon as he grabbed the iron share, he fell off the square table. The horse horn that the gong and drum team brought to the altar for the fourth time from the temple was Lu Zilin. He jumped
When he got up to the table, he twisted his whole body, his arms twisted and danced, and blew out a loud wave of air; he grabbed the iron hammer handed to his face, and the yellow watch paper in his hand was intact; when he went to pick up another
When he was hammering the steel with the thickness of chopsticks, he jumped off the table. Bai Jiaxuan stood up from the ground with a loud sound, and walked into the gate of Laoye Temple with two lumps of loess on his knees and his waist hunched.
Inspector Bai Xiaowu was guarding the main hall when he saw his father walking in the door and stepped forward to try to persuade him to go out. Bai Jiaxuan waved his hand and walked to the statue of Guan Gong, lit three incense sticks and inserted them into the incense burner. After bowing and bowing, he knelt down and remained motionless. His
A large number of men knelt down around him, waiting for the gods to communicate with him. The gongs and drums sounded even more vigorously, and the temple became buzzing. The smell of fragrant wax paper was suffocating. Bai Jiaxuan felt astringent pain in his nasal membranes at first, but then his condition changed.
The fragrance hit my nose, but then I couldn't smell anything anymore; I turned a deaf ear to the noise of the gong and drum guys, I saw the drummers and gong players waving their arms vigorously, but they couldn't make a sound, and the hall became extremely quiet; he
He felt that his limbs and body were gradually becoming as light as a piece of yellow paper, and his mind was blank. Only the turbid air of mortals remained in his chest, and he needed to open his mouth wide and breathe out continuously. At that moment, it seemed that the last breath of filthy chest air was spit out, and he
It bounced gently from the brick floor in front of the seated statue of Guan Gong and popped out of the temple door. People saw the hunched patriarch running out of the main hall door like a dog chasing a rabbit; he ran under the locust tree
, he pressed his palms on the table and jumped onto the square table, shouting: "I am the black black shoot of the West Sea." He picked up a piece of yellow paper, grabbed the freshly baked light yellow and translucent iron plow, and held it tightly.
Holding it in the palm of his hand, he danced it three times from left to right and then three times from right to left above his head, and threw it to the ground. The yellow paper burned into dust with a roar. He caught another red one with his left hand.
The bright steel drill roared "Ah" and made a squeaking sound. It penetrated from the left cheek to the right cheek, and a puff of black smoke burned the skin and flesh. The end of the waist rod, which was stooped like a dog, stood upright.
In the temple grounds under the locust trees, gongs and drums were beating loudly, and nine gunpowder muskets exploded one after another in September. The men kneeling on the temple grounds danced and twisted together, chanting over and over again like crazy: "Guan Guan"
Sir, I have the heart of a Bodhisattva; the black tips show my true body, and the gentle breeze and drizzle save the people..." The person who was waiting to guard the horse horn quickly took out a prepared leather belt with small rings on both ends, and put the two small rings around it.
The steel drill that penetrated both cheeks was hung on the top of the head, just like the biting iron in the mouth of the mule and horse. Bai Jiaxuan was helped onto the lifting frame by eight people. The yellow silk around his head was fluttering. The fire gun
The leader, behind the gongs and drums, rushed towards the mountains in the southwest in a mighty manner. As they passed the villages, cannons were fired to respond, and gongs and drums were beaten in a powerful voice, creating a majestic and tragic momentum.
Walking into the Qinling Valley, we walked along a mountain road that became increasingly narrower and around the mountain ridge. The green grass on the roadside was trampled to the ground by the endless stream of people fetching water, and the road was widened. When Gastrodia was dark, Bai Jiaxuan and his tribe
The villagers finally reached the Black Dragon Pool. The pool is about one foot square and unfathomable. The blue and faint water is calm and calm. There is no water coming from above and no water flowing down. The Black Dragon Pool is an underground waterway that connects the East China Sea, the West China Sea, the South China Sea and the North Sea.
The Eye of the Sea, the dragon kings of the four seas come to the mountains through this passage to gather every year. The pool is surrounded by cliffs and bluestones. On the stone cliff protruding forward in the west, there is a single iron temple squatting firmly, with an iron roof and iron walls.
It is completely integrated, and no one can explain whether the iron temple was cast on the cliff on the spot, or whether it was cast on the plain and then carried to the top of the cliff. The gongs and drums were beating around the edge of the pool, and the gunpowder blunderbuss sounded nine times in a row.
People chose a place to kneel, all facing the Iron Temple. Bai Jiaxuan had already got off the lifting frame and walked to the edge of the pool. He chewed the rope with his teeth and climbed up the cliff by stepping on the dimples on the stone wall.
He bowed step by step and bowed his head, then knelt into the iron temple, lit wax and burned incense. There were four dragons cast on the four iron walls. Bai Jiaxuan faced the west iron wall and kowtowed to the ground: "Disciple Heiwu Shao comes and asks for water.
"He kowtowed three times, took off a thin-necked porcelain jar from his waist, passed it three times around the inside and outside of the burning wax paper, exited the iron temple, and hung it with a string to float in the pond. Bai Jiaxuan
With their backs to the Iron Temple, the rest of the people also changed their direction of worshiping and kneeling with their backs to the water pool. The gong and drum guys also stopped, and they were not allowed to talk, cough or fart. There was a solemn atmosphere of holding their breath, waiting for the Dragon King of the West Sea to give their bodies.
Give precious water to the black black shoots of the West Sea. After the star cleared, in the middle of the night, there was a roar in the forest in the mountains. The people who were kneeling quietly on the ground were all shaking from the cold and chatting with their teeth. Suddenly, they heard "
There was a sound of water. Bai Jiaxuan recited aloud: "Dragon King's kindness, kindness, kindness, kindness." The people kneeling on the ground jumped up together, discarding the wicker rain hats and raincoats on their heads, and stripped off all their clothes, pants, shoes and socks,
It means that they are all from the aquatic tribe in the sea and are the warriors of the Dragon King. They jumped up and down around the dragon pool and sang: "Dragon King, Bodhisattva heart; abandon the water to save the people..." The sound of gunfire shook the silent valley, and the iron-cast temple clanked.
There was a buzzing echo, and the gongs and drums started beating again. Bai Jiaxuan pulled the rope to lift the porcelain jar from the pool, and held it in his arms. Everyone placed the offerings in the iron temple, including various fruits made of fine noodles and fried ones.
The mahua dumplings were thrown into the pool together.
It was already breakfast time the next day when the water fetchers returned to Bailu Village. Bai Jiaxuan walked into the Guandi Temple and presented the porcelain jar full of water to Master Guan with both hands. As soon as he finished bowing and knelt down, he fell to the ground with one leg.
The person on the ground was unconscious. Everyone hurriedly pulled out the steel drill from his cheek, plugged the two holes with incense ash and yellow ash, and carried him back to the courtyard. They wiped the palms of their hands with the well water they had just lifted.
Another bowl of cold well water was poured into the soles of the feet and the back of the back. Bai Jiaxuan opened his eyes with a roar, and looked at his family and tribesmen gathered around the kang in a strange way. It seemed that he had just returned from the Dragon King of the West Sea.
What happened in this world? Bai Jiaxuan suddenly saw Lu San standing behind him: "Third brother, have you fed the animals?"
Until the water in the narrow-necked porcelain jar that was brought back completely dried up at the feet of Mr. Guan, the rain still did not fall. People could no longer bear the anxiety of waiting, so they scattered wheat into the dry land with their last hope.
, the plowshare turned up the dry and cracked soil, sending up puffs of yellow dust and smoke. The wheat grains were pulverized faster than the grains, and there was truly a wonder of seedlings per acre, and that rare wheat seedling was in the cow urine.
It was unearthed by chance. The drought continued into the twelfth lunar month, and a heavy snowfall fell, which had not been seen for many years. The persimmon trees in Bailuyuan were frozen to death. Almost all old and new trees were spared. Some of the persimmons on the original slopes and in the farmyard were huge.
Like a saucer, some have four protruding edges, and even the fire crystal persimmons, which were famous as a tribute to the emperor, have all been cut off in one winter. After the heavy snow, there was a continuous winter drought and extreme cold, and the snow did not melt.
Gradually it dried. When spring came, the fields were completely red. There was neither wheat nor grass. They were full of dead persimmon branches. Even if you wanted to plant some radishes, you couldn't get any seeds. Persimmons can be used as food, and radishes can also save lives.
, God did not leave even the slightest chance of survival to the villagers in Bailuyuan. The drought persisted through the spring and continued through the summer. When a drenching rain fell that had not been seen for several years, people no longer cared much or had no intention to worry about sowing in Akita.
There are no more seeds, no more cattle, and no more cattle. The long-lasting and unprecedented severe drought has caused an unheard-of and long-lasting drought. As soon as the wild vegetables and weeds break out of the ground, they are dug up by the roots for cooking, and the leaves just bloom.
Later, they were also taken away for cooking, first the willows and poplars, then the elms, paper towels, and eucalyptus trees, and then all the leaves were cooked and eaten, leaving one crop after another. The elm leaves are the best among all tree families.
Or, the leaves and bark are peeled off, the thick skin is removed and the inner flesh is left, chopped into fine pieces and boiled with water, it becomes a sticky and thick paste. The elm tree in Bailuyuan is the successor of the persimmon tree.
Another family that became extinct later. People who starve to death no longer cause panic and surprise. First the old people and then the children. The old people and children seem to be even more unable to withstand hunger. The old people who starve to death will not only not be sad but happy, they can save a portion of food to continue.
More useful human lives. Only inexplicable rumors can arouse weak interest. A daughter-in-law who has been married for a year wakes up in the middle of the night so hungry that she can no longer fall asleep. She feels that her husband is no longer around her, and she doubts her husband and her grandfather.
Grandma was eating without her back, so she crept under Grandma's window and eavesdropped on the wall. She heard Grandpa and grandma discussing with her husband about killing her for cooking. Grandpa said: "Don't worry, Dad will give me some after the New Year."
If you marry someone else, all our men will starve to death, not to mention my daughter-in-law, and even the incense will be cut off.” The new daughter-in-law was so frightened that she became paralyzed, and fled back to her parents’ home overnight to tell her parents. She was comforted by her mother and fell asleep, but woke up again from her dream.
, I heard my father and mother talking: "Rather than letting others kill me, it's better for us to kill and eat ourselves." The woman was so frightened that she jumped off the bed and went crazy... The scaremongering was as creepy as the crow of a crow.