The war has been going on for more than two years.
In the autumn of the twelfth year of Chengyuan, a gust of wind brought dark clouds and covered the clear sky. An autumn rain was about to come.
The guards speeding on the road stopped and began to wear raincloths to prepare for the situation in advance.
There was also a group of people rushing along not far ahead. When they saw the armored guards, the passersby stopped immediately. One of the porters did not panic. He recognized the flag first and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the characters Huai, Dou and Zhen.
"This is our soldier from Dou County." He introduced to the others.
The most important thing for the empress to reorganize the Wei Dao is to organize the guards.
There are currently three types of guards in Wei Dao. Those responsible for local security in prefectures and counties are town soldiers, who are dispatched by the local state capital. Those stationed in fortresses in the state capital are camp soldiers, who are dispatched by Wei Dao. In addition, there are guards, whose military numbers are ordered by the imperial court.
, officers are also appointed and dispatched by the court.
Passers-by just looked around and moved to the side of the road without being reminded by the porters. This is a rule that everyone is familiar with.
The soldiers quickly put on their raincoats and moved forward without giving passers-by a second glance, let alone stepping forward to inspect them.
After the soldiers and horses passed by, passers-by continued to run forward, and arrived at the city gate of Dou County before the heavy rain came.
The city gate is bustling with people, and most of them are scholars in blue shirts.
The porter at the back looked forward and asked the others: "Why are there so many people today? They are all scholars. I didn't know there were so many scholars here."
"There are not so many people today." The person next to me said, "There have been so many people these days."
Another person pointed at the scholars: "There are real scholars and there are fake scholars."
The porter became even more curious: "What is this doing? No one was a scholar before. In order to get a bite to eat, they all said they wanted to be soldiers. What can a scholar do now?"
The man from before smiled and said: "Have you not read the official announcement for several days? There is a new trend in the court, and regular subjects will be opened."
Looking at him again, I saw that he was thin and dark, with rough skin and thick flesh. He was carrying heavy goods on his shoulders. He was obviously a coolie.
"You know what Changke is, right?"
The porter was in a daze. Chang Ke, how many years have you not heard these three words? It’s almost ten years, right?
"Now are you opening regular courses?" His voice was a little erratic, "There's still a war going on outside."
Singing and dancing to promote peace, and making a name for yourself and promoting officials in white clothes are things that only happen in peaceful and prosperous times.
The voices of other people sounded far and near in my ears.
"We have finished fighting here, and our place has long been peaceful."
"The Marquis said that regular subjects will be held first in Taiping, and it is said that the Marquis will personally conduct inquiries in the palace."
"That's a far cry from what you said. It would be nice if we could have a few of them enter the palace and take the provincial tribute exam."
Before they finished speaking, the porters couldn't hear them anymore. They squeezed forward, grabbed a man in a green shirt and asked, "Where can I sign up? When will the exam start? What is the exam? Ming Jing or Jinshi?"
The man in green shirt was chubby and pushed his hand away with some disgust: "You are a porter, why do you ask these questions? You said you are taking a test on all six subjects."
All six subjects were passed! It was an unprecedented event. The porter wiped his face with his hand and threw the burden away: "I want to sign up! I want to sign up!"
The people around were startled, watching the porter rushing towards the city gate, and hurriedly stretched out their hands to hold him down.
"Are you so frustrated that you dare to cause trouble at the city gate?"
"How dare you not line up? Do you want to be punished with hard labor?"
Fortunately, the porters calmed down by relying on the instinct formed by so many years of habit. Fortunately, the guards at the city gate were a little more tolerant than before. They only glanced here and did not step forward.
The noise quickly quieted down, and the city gates entered and exited in order.
In the end, the porter did not pick up his load and moved forward impatiently. The people around him asked curiously, "Can the porter also read?"
A smile appeared on the porter's face: "I have been reading all my life. I have been reading. Even though I have been a porter for these ten years, I have not stopped reading..."
As he spoke, he began to cry, and he passed through the city gate, dancing and running forward without any scruples.
"I can finally be a scholar! I can finally achieve something in my studies!"
Seeing the porters running away, the people in front of the city gate were dumbfounded, shook their heads and laughed: "Now I'm going crazy when I hear about regular subjects. I don't know how many more people will go crazy when they get Jinshi in the future."
The Dou County government office was noisy and crowded, but fortunately the officials had a clear division of labor and guided the people in a busy but not chaotic manner.
There were two people sitting in the main hall, one was the former county magistrate and the other was the current county magistrate.
"Old Wei, we are already very busy here. If you are not busy preparing for the scientific examination, what are you doing here?" said the current county magistrate.
Magistrate Wei said: "What's your attitude towards Shangguan? I'm warning you, things are different now. All the rules should be established, and there will be assessments at the end of the year."
As he spoke, he picked up the tea and took a sip, but he still had something to say.
"This is our local old camellia tea. I rarely drink such cheap tea now."
The current magistrate of Dou County said with a dark face: "If you want tea, just say so. As for showing off?"
Bickering is just bickering, let's talk about the business.
"I didn't just want to come see you." Magistrate Wei said in a low voice, "I am here to accompany the adults above."
The current county magistrate stood up in surprise: "Which one? Is it Liu or Huang?"
There are two inspectors in the imperial court who are ruthless and merciless. Countless local officials have died in their hands in the past two years, and all local officials have become notorious.
"What are you afraid of?" Magistrate Wei glared at him, "Are you feeling guilty?"
The current county magistrate said: "I don't feel guilty, but I am still a little scared."
Magistrate Wei comforted him: "Don't worry, I'm not an inspector."
The current county magistrate sat down with a sigh of relief...
Magistrate Wei continued: "It's Governor Wu."
The current county magistrate jumped up again, Governor Wu! He is more terrifying than the two inspectors Liu and Huang.
He is Hou Fu!
"Where is he now? How can I greet him?"
"Marquis, no no, how many soldiers and horses does Governor Wu bring?"
"Although our Dou County is small, it is not a problem to provide food for tens of thousands of soldiers and horses for one day."
The current magistrate was pacing back and forth restlessly in the room.
Magistrate Wei sat as calm as a mountain and said with a smile: "Don't be nervous, Governor Wu is not an outsider."
Douxian County is considered the natal family of the First Marquis, so there is nothing for the natal family to be nervous about meeting their son-in-law.
"That's not right." The magistrate of Dou County came back to his senses, "In fact, Governor Wu has nothing to do with his wife. She is the eldest lady of Jiannan Road."
Whether this Houfu is real or fake has yet to be determined. It is said that people on Jiannan Road laughed when they heard this question and did not answer.
"It shouldn't be fake." Magistrate Wei thought and confirmed, "Whether the marriage is true or false, the relationship between Madam and Governor Wu is true."
There is no doubt that the Governor of Wudu is so handsome!
The magistrate of Dou County had not seen Governor Wu yet, so he was very curious and straightened his clothes: "When will Governor Wu arrive?"
Magistrate Wei said: "We have arrived, but you don't want me to follow you. You can just walk away by yourself."
The Dou County magistrate suddenly became nervous again, so he still went on patrol, or visited privately incognito!
Let’s hope the city officials don’t cause trouble for him!
Thunder was rolling on the mountain road in autumn, and soon huge raindrops fell, and the road surface was instantly filled with smoke.
"Crow, there is a village ahead." Wang Li shouted, his head and face getting wet under the raincloth, "Go and take shelter from the rain."
Wu Yaer looked ahead in the water vapor. There was a looming village in the mountain col. He said hello and urged his horse to gallop.
...
.....
The lid of the big pot was lifted, and the heat engulfed the stove. The old man waved his spoon and poured bowls of ginger soup onto the tray.
"Old man." Wang Li squeezed in, "I'll come, I'll come."
He took out three bowls of ginger soup. The heavy rain became drizzling and was about to stop. The horses were crowded in the woodshed and the guards stood on the porch.
Wang Li greeted them, "Go and drink ginger soup by yourself."
The guards responded, and Wang Li and his father-in-law entered the house. Wu Ya'er and Hu Aqi were wiping the water on their heads and faces. When they saw the father-in-law coming in, they nodded and thanked them.
"You're welcome, you're welcome." The old man said, "That's how the rain in the mountains comes."
Wu Ya'er drank the ginger soup and looked outside: "Old man, there is a mountain near here. I wonder if you know that nine years ago..."
Before he finished speaking, the old man laughed: "You mean the place where the Queen met the bandits, right?"
Wang Li hurriedly said yes, and chuckled: "How do you know what we are looking for, my father-in-law?"
"In the past few years, more and more people have come to see this mountain." The old man said with a smile, "They all want to see where the gods landed."
Wang Li laughed loudly: "What fairy landed on the ground is the eldest lady of Jiannan Road, she happened to be passing by."
The old man smiled and said: "No matter who she is, our village just suffered a disaster that night. She came out of the rain in the middle of the night and rescued us. To us, she deserves to be called a god."
Wang Li was somewhat sarcastic when he was rebutted.
Wu Ya'er asked: "She came to your village before?"
The old man nodded proudly: "And what a coincidence, it was my house that came. The rain at that time was much heavier than it is now. We were robbed by bandits during the day. Some of us were killed and injured. I was almost beaten to death.
My leg was broken, and I hid in the house crying. Suddenly I heard someone calling the door. What could my broken door block? The bandits kicked it to pieces, but the person calling the door was always outside, just waiting for my answer.
Then I was willing to go in. I boldly held up the lamp and looked outside, and I saw it at a glance..."
Wang Li pretended not to care at the side and listened carefully. Hearing this, he couldn't help but ask: "What did you see?"
"I saw the lady standing in the clouds and clouds." The old man's expression seemed to be back to that day, his rosy face shining brightly.
The clouds were still steaming and the clouds were shining brightly. Wang Li thought that he might be dazzled and couldn't see clearly, but he didn't say anything this time.
Wu Yaer smiled.
"Later, my wife stayed at my place for one night," the old man said. "She wanted to leave the next day and gave me the money. I didn't want it, so she said, I'll help you get revenge."
He pointed outside.
"Madam personally led people up the mountain to suppress the bandits and rescued our relatives."
He also rescued his mother. Wu Yaer looked outside and saw that the rain outside had stopped.
"Let's go up the mountain and have a look." He stood up and said.
The old man smiled and said: "The mountain has been taken care of and there are signs. You can also hire a guide from our village to explain it."
We also made signs and explained everything. Wang Li was holding his forehead from behind.
"We don't need a guide. We just have nothing to do and just have a look." Wu Ya'er said, smiling again, "But we have to stay at my father-in-law's house tonight. Is it convenient?"
The old man smiled happily: "It's convenient and convenient. I've built two new houses in the past two years, which can accommodate more than a dozen people."
Wu Yaer said hello with a smile, walked out with Wang Li and others, and followed the direction pointed by the father-in-law.
The father-in-law watched them leave, then turned around and called out the boy from the next door family, asking him to write down the names of fifteen people who claimed to be businessmen, their foreign accents, age, appearance, etc...
"There are too many people." The child squatted in the yard, holding a pen and writing crookedly, complaining, "It's too troublesome to write."
The father-in-law scolded: "Don't be lazy, study hard and practice calligraphy. The queen has taken regular subjects and will take the exam to become a scholar when you grow up."
The little boy bit his pen: "My father actually only knows a few words, but he can't teach me anything..."
"Xiao Qian said that the county is going to open a county school." My father-in-law said, "I'll just ask him to send you to school then."
The child was immediately happy. It didn't matter whether he studied or not. Thinking of the bustling markets in the city, all kinds of food, and the sideshows, his mouth watered immediately. He didn't need his father-in-law to urge him to write quickly.
...
...
Following the obviously man-made mountain road, we soon reached the halfway point of the mountain. Wang Li looked at the words "bandit cave" written on the big stone on the roadside and laughed, thinking of what else was there along the way.
On the battlefield...I really convinced these villagers...
The group of people soon arrived at the cave. The cave had not been repaired and was dilapidated. There were also faint traces of fire.
"Weapons were hidden here at that time. In order to avoid alerting the enemy, the queen took the initiative to set fire to it," Hu Aqi said, "pretending to destroy the corpses and eliminate traces."
A few people took a look here, and then followed the instructions to see where the people were in trouble...a mountain stream. The stones here were carved in detail with how many people were killed and thrown down at that time.
From a bird's eye view, there are no bones inside.
Most of the bones were from nearby mountain people and were brought back for burial by their relatives. There were also some passers-by who became ownerless and were buried by the queen.
There is only one tomb on the cliff with no inscription.
"That's it." Hu Aqi said, "Yuanji said that he asked the surviving villagers to identify the body and bury Que'er here."
Wu Ya'er took the baggage handed over by Wang Li and said: "This girl was bought by Aunt Wan. She is hardworking and smart. Aunt Wan is also very relaxed. She even praised her to the brothers who went to visit her."
Aunt Wan was already ill at that time and said that with this girl here, my mother would have someone to take care of her in the future.
Hu Aqi said: "Yuan Ji said that she jumped off the cliff while holding a bandit in her arms. She was very brave."
Wu Ya'er nodded, placed the sacrifices in front of the grave, and said thank you: "My mother is fine now."
He stood up and looked around...
"The other people who escorted my aunt were killed at the foot of the mountain." Hu Aqi said, "The bones can't be found."
Wu Yaer opened a pot of wine and poured it around in front of the grave: "You can rest in peace."
...
...
After returning to the village from the mountain, my husband cooked a large pot of broth for dinner. The villagers also helped take care of the horses and fed them good beans. The village women also helped wash the clothes that were wet by the rain, ensuring that they could be baked in one night.
Dry.
Everyone had enough to eat and drink, put on new clothes from the villagers, and had a good sleep in a clean room.
However, some people couldn't sleep. Wu Ya'er lay on the bed and listened to Wang Li on the other side counting money to Hu Aqi.
"....You don't have to pay for ginger soup, but you have to pay some money to eat other people's broth."
"...You don't have to pay for cleaning the horses, but you have to pay for the beans."
"...You don't have to pay for washing clothes, but you have to pay for wearing new clothes."
"....Old Hu, I feel something is wrong. Are we being ripped off?"
"...What are you talking about? How can you be a zai? People have said that it is thanks to the kindness of the Empress that we can live a good life today. This is repaying it to the Empress... We give money, not to them.
It’s also for the Queen.”
Listening to the conversation between the two of them, Wu Ya'er smiled and turned over and closed his eyes to sleep. The voices gradually faded away. The sound of rain came again in his ears. It seemed that it was raining again. A thunder made Wu Ya'er open his eyes.
.
There was darkness in front of him, but his keen instinct made him wake up for a moment. This was not the place where he slept, and he was not sleeping.
Wu Yaer stood in the heavy rain. The darkness in front of him gradually dissipated. There was a fire, there were cries and men's laughter. The firelight reflected the swords in the hands of the men's waists.
A group of women were pushed and pulled, their clothes were messy.
A woman suddenly ran out of it, and a man laughed playfully and stretched out his hand to stop her. The woman hugged him and screamed, rushing towards the edge of the cliff and disappearing instantly.
The laughing men rushed to the edge of the cliff, shouting and cursing.
It was a dream. Wu Ya'er relaxed his body. He went to the mountain to pay homage during the day, so he probably dreamed about this.
He looked up at the sky and saw the rain hitting his face. It was not the colorless, tasteless, unconscious, and biting coldness in his previous dreams.
This dream is very real.
He lowered his head, and his slack body tightened again. There were no yelling men or crying women in front of him, only corpses lying on the ground.
And he stood among the corpses, looking at a familiar face.