Apart from this strange silence, no other sounds could be heard; apart from the scattered houses that vaguely showed the peaceful scene of the past, no other things could be seen.
Xu Mingyi: "Isn't this the right time to prepare for dinner?"
Zhu Xiu was stunned.
Dinner...
That's right.
Xu Mingyi looked at a residential area not far ahead and to the side: "But along the way, I didn't see a wisp of smoke."
There wasn't even a hint of food aroma.
Zhu Xiu was silent.
Did the people dare not light up the cooking stoves for fear of attracting officials who would come to steal food?
Has it come to this?
Xu Mingyi tightened his grip on the reins.
Where there are people, there are no fireworks.
What is the role of the government? Instead of maintaining the stability of the people, it has become the biggest scourge in the eyes of the people.
Before the flames of war reached this place, the government had already destroyed the livelihood of the people here.
In other words, in the eyes of the imperial court, the survival of the people is not the most important, but the world is.
It may not matter if a few people die and cause chaos for a while. Raising enough troops, horses, food and fodder to "suppress the rebels" is what they only want, and they can even do this regardless of the cost.
Under the flames of war, the people who suffer the most are always the people.
The group of people slowly arrived outside the inn that Zhu Xiu remembered.
Like other shops, the door of the inn was also closed. Zhu Xiu got off his horse and knocked on the door, but no one responded for a long time.
He could only raise his voice and say: "We are passing by and want to stay here for a night's rest!"
There was a faint sound of rustling conversation inside the door.
After a while, someone opened the door latch. The two doors were first opened with a small crack, and an inverted triangular eye was revealed behind the small crack, which looked Zhu Xiu and his party up and down.
The innkeeper had a bright eye, and after a few glances he knew he was from out of town, so he opened the door and welcomed the person in.
"The current situation is not as good as it used to be. Please forgive me for my slightness..."
This is a short, fat, middle-aged man wearing a felt hat. He must be the innkeeper.
The voice talking to him inside the door just now was obviously a woman's voice, and it was probably a couple guarding the inn.
The tables and stools in the hall were all put away. The shopkeeper temporarily moved a few stools from the tables and called to Xu Mingyi and others: "Everyone, sit down first. I will ask my wife to clean up a few rooms and come out."
"Feed the horse." Zhu Xiu threw the bag of money over.
The shopkeeper reached out to take it, took a look at the six or seven big maroon horses outside the shop, nodded in agreement, and led the horses to the backyard.
"I wonder where you are coming from? Where are you going? At this time, it is said that it is not suitable to travel far away..." After placing the horses, the shopkeeper brought two pots of tea. There was obviously no more tea in the inn.
Other guys.
"We are going to Qianzhou to find relatives." Zhu Xiu followed Xu Mingyi's instructions and chatted with the shopkeeper.
"Qianzhou..." The shopkeeper stopped pouring tea and sighed, "I'm afraid it's hard to find friends..."
"How do you say this?"
"Everyone should know that Qianzhou was hit by a disaster two months ago. The water in Rongjiang River and Donghe River overflowed! I don't know how those dams were built in the first place... In short, many surrounding counties and counties were flooded. Linyou
, Liquan, all suffered, hey..."
The shopkeeper lowered his voice and said: "Floods are common in the south. In previous years, it would have been nothing. But now the government has too much time to take care of itself, so how can it care about the people of Qianzhou? The floods destroyed the houses and fields, leaving no crops to harvest, and many people had no place to go.
Most of the ordinary people fled the city, and those who had relatives went to live with their relatives. Those who were not found were left wherever they were... Not long ago, a group of disaster victims came to our small town, and they were ordered to be expelled by the county magistrate.
Already."
"Besides, things are not peaceful all around now. You must have seen this along the way, right? And the further you go to Qianzhou, the more chaotic it will be. Things are relatively better here..."
As the shopkeeper said, he glanced at the handsome "young man" who was sitting there quietly eating tea, and reminded him in a kind tone: "Especially because you guys are riding horses, now this is very eye-catching... Not to mention meeting those people. The hungry refugees are wandering into bandits. Even if they are seen by the government, they may not be able to get a good deal. At the moment, the government is recruiting war horses, and some people’s mules have been taken away..."
When Zhu Xiu was about to answer the call, Xu Mingyi glanced at the shopkeeper and said: "I have some background in my family, so they don't dare to ask for trouble."
The young man's voice was clear and slightly arrogant.
Hearing Zhang Yang's words, the shopkeeper was slightly startled.
But I really know it in my heart.
He said, how can anyone dare to ride a horse and show off in this situation...
Thinking about it, if I didn't have some identity, I'm afraid my family wouldn't allow me to go on such a long journey.
Especially this young man, although he is dressed in an ordinary way and does not have anything very eye-catching on his body, his pampered and noble aura cannot be hidden.
I'm afraid you won't be able to have such confidence just because you have money. Most likely, you are a descendant of an official...
The shopkeeper made a judgment in his mind and did not say more about this topic. He only warned, "You must be careful. Those bandits don't distinguish between people when they go crazy." "It may not be easy to find food any further." , you should prepare more dry food for the road” and so on.
After saying this, he said: "It's getting late. If you have to travel tomorrow, you'd better rest early."
The woman came downstairs just at this time and said that the room was tidied up.
Xu Mingyi and others went upstairs.
Zhu Xiu walked at the end. When she stepped onto the stairs, she took off her cloak and held it in her arms, revealing the long knife on her back.
After Xu Mingyi and his party entered the room, they heard the couple's muffled voices coming from downstairs.
"I see they came on horseback... Didn't the government say two days ago that if a house has a horse but refuses to hand it over, if he reports it to the government, he will be rewarded with one penny for each horse? It should be possible for people from out of town, right? "
"It should be a son of an official family going out... I didn't dare to ask more questions, and I'd better not offend anyone, so as not to cause trouble... Didn't you see, he has a knife on him! If you can carry a knife, how can the official go? Be careful. Just wait and wait, just earn some money for rent and tea..."
The woman seemed to say something again. Their voices gradually faded away, and they could hear footsteps going back to the backyard.
"Fortunately, the girl's words just now calmed them down, otherwise they would have been in trouble if they invited the government." In the guest room, A-Zhu frowned and couldn't help but add another sentence: "The government is just searching for people's wealth. , how come the common people are still helping us to think wrongly."
Those who have horses have to report to the government, and those who have grain also have to report to the government?
Just now, whose mule was said to have been taken away by the government, could it be that he reported it to the government?
Xu Mingyi took off his cloak and said, "If there is a profit to be made, then you don't have to be afraid that there will be no accomplices."
People's evil thoughts will be restrained by the current situation, and they will also be amplified by the current situation.
The government has begun to ignore etiquette and law. How can we expect that the people will continue to abide by it?
If they were just a group of ordinary passers-by today and showed a little weakness, they might leave more than just horses behind.
As it dawned the next morning, Xu Mingyi and the others left the inn.
Before leaving, Zhu Xiu had bought some breakfast and dry food and returned early - there was a breakfast shop that was still open. When he went there, there was a group of officers patrolling, and he saw that the shopkeeper of the breakfast shop was stuffed by the leading officer.
The money passed.
The group of people drove their horses to the end of the street, and faintly heard the cries of an old child coming into their ears through a low alley.
"My lords, please do me a favor. This is really the last bit of food stored at home... My old man has been ill for a long time and has no money to buy medicine. We really can't afford to lose this ration anymore! Please help me.
Master, considering that my two sons and three grandsons have been drafted by the military camp, please leave some for us!"
"Please, please! This is life-saving food!"
"...Ignorant old shell, get out!"
Listening to the noise, it seemed that the old boy had been pushed.
The sound of the official's horse's hooves faded away, and the old boy's cry became more and more desperate.
It was very quiet everywhere, and no one seemed to dare to show their face.
Xu Mingyi, who had been listening, did not come forward.
So what if I show up?
Repulse those officials and get the food back for the old man?
But what happens after she leaves?
Although her hero acted very majesticly, what he left to the old man would only be a more terrible end.
Without thinking about it, you can also know that what you see and hear now is just the tip of the iceberg of the injustices in the world today.
With her mere hands and such brute force and stupid methods, she was destined to be unable to help them.
"Send it to the old man, don't let anyone see it." She took off the unattractive plain purse from her waist and threw it into Ah Zhu's hand.
When people are sick, they still need to take medicine and eat.
Of course you have to think of ways to deal with big things, but you also have to do your part in the smallest things you see.
The group of people continued on their way, still going in the direction of Qianzhou.
Sure enough, as the innkeeper said, the further you go, the more chaotic it becomes.
One day, while passing through a deep mountain, they met a group of bandits who wanted to rob them. However, after seeing Zhu Xiu draw a sword and cut off one of them's left hand, the remaining people did not dare to fight anymore.
In Xu Mingyi's view, the robbery techniques of these people were still a bit unfamiliar, and they must have just started in the industry.
Therefore, they just dispersed them, and Zhu Xiu and others did not insist on hurting anyone's life again.
That night, I traveled all day and could not find a place to stay.
"It looks like there is a ruined temple in front of me. I will take some people to tidy it up. Can you just stay here for one night?" Zhu Xiu suggested.
It's late at night and I don't know what's going on ahead, so it's really not advisable to take the risk any further.
Xu Mingyi nodded: "Okay."
There is no such thing as giving in. Now that I have chosen to go out this door, I have naturally thought of everything I should think of.
The group of people drove their horses in the direction of the temple.
There was fire in the temple, which was why Zhu Xiu and the others could see the outline of the temple from a distance just now. They thought there must be refugees or other people on the road resting here.
In this case, go and discuss it and make it convenient for everyone to make do together for the night. There shouldn't be any big problem.
