Infinite Brilliant Scroll

Chapter 270 After Victory
When the sky is pale and the mist is floating.

Hundreds of young and middle-aged men dressed in coarse linen clothes and tied their hair with fine hemp ropes quietly ran out from the mountains and forests.

Most of them held sickles in their hands, and some held sticks, poles, baskets and so on.

Someone kept shouting for everyone to speed up their pace, but they consciously lowered their voices, as if they were afraid of attracting the attention of anyone in the mist or outside the forest.

Until they gradually transitioned from the gentle slope to the gentle terrain, and saw the ears of rice swaying gently in the early morning mist.

Everyone subconsciously held their breath.

A man with dark skin and many cracked hands couldn't help but stroked a handful of rice, stuffed it into his mouth, and chewed carefully.

The rough feeling of the rice husk piercing the mouth cannot conceal the aroma that gradually diffuses after the rice is bitten.

Someone next to him looked anxious, patted him, and said: "Yan Lao San, what are you still chewing, hurry up, cut quickly, when the sun comes out, so many of us are cutting rice here, maybe we will be punished by the government." people found out."

Yan Laosan stretched his neck, mixed the rice milk in his mouth with a bit of a throat-stretching shell, swallowed it, coughed twice, and muttered: "Why are you shooting me? I heard that the officers and soldiers are fighting , all the officials ran away, afraid of being cowardly."

That's what he said, but seeing that everyone else had already started to cut, he didn't dare to neglect. He bent down in a hurry, grabbed it with his left hand, and swiped the sickle with his right hand, and the root of a handful of rice was broken.

He worked very quickly, and he caught up with the progress of the others in a short while. When he was sweating profusely, he glanced out of the corner of his eyes, and the shriveled old man and the skinny young man next to him chewed their mouths from time to time.

Obviously, they couldn't wait any longer, so they stroked some shelled rice and started to eat it.

This is East Road, Langu County.

If you look up the records about this place in Bianliang City, you will find many historical lists, dating back to Qin, Han, Tang, Five Dynasties to the present, this place has changed many place names, and it has been changed, and it has been designated as Langu. the name.

According to the records of the officials, there are tens of thousands of acres of fertile land here, which is extremely rich, the people have ample food and clothing, the township is full of virtuous people, and the county officials are very respected and governed by Qingming.

But if someone really comes here for a walk, they will find that in this county, many villages are abandoned, the houses are dilapidated, and weeds are overgrown.

The young and strong locals were either taken away by conscripts and miners in the past few years, or dragged their families and hid in the mountains.

The fast-moving yamen servants in the county often go into the mountains with the servants of the big families to search for people.

However, for more than half a year, I heard that there are wars everywhere, and I don't know what's going on in the county, and no one has been in charge of it for a long time.

People from two or three nearby villages like Yan Laosan met in the mountains and discussed several rounds. Life was really difficult, so they pieced together hundreds of people with good eyesight and faster running. Came out a month ago to plant a round of rice.

In the past few months, like thieves, they often sneaked into their fields to take care of the seedlings when the moon was shining or when it was still dark in the morning.

Sometimes when I was watering the fields in the middle of the night, and suddenly saw a figure shaking in the distance, I would panic and flee into the woods in a panic.

After a few months, there were more than a dozen people who got lost or got hurt just like that.

Fortunately, most of the time, they are the ones who frighten themselves. Those policemen and gentlemen seem to really have no time to take care of them, and they never show up.

Yan Laosan was also one of the members who was injured by a fall. Now when he moves, his left ankle still hurts a little. However, as more and more rice has been cut, as long as he touches these golden stalks and ears, He felt that any more pain would be nothing.

Full of joy, everyone around him put a smile on his face, and when someone was doing it, he couldn't help but smirk a few times, and then continued to work sullenly.

In the mountains around Langu County, there are a lot of pine and fir trees, all of which grow very tall. The pine needles are edible, and the wild astragalus, bracken, mushrooms, and day lily in the mountains are all edible. , but everyone knows edible wild vegetables.

Bitter vegetables are actually the best food, even salt is not needed.

Those dishes in the past made the whole family want to vomit, but if there is such a bowl of rice to go back and steamed, with those dishes, the taste will be one underground, one heaven, completely different.

Not to mention throwing up, even if I slapped my face, I would not be willing to eat a chopstick less.

Thinking about it, Yan Laosan's left foot began to hurt again. He had to straighten up, lift his left foot, and shake his ankle a little. Suddenly, he saw a group of glowing red figures in the distance.

He froze for a moment, and exclaimed: "The official messenger is here!!"

Everyone around panicked. Some people were about to run away with poles and baskets. Those who had just cut the rice were reluctant to part with the handful of rice in their hands and desperately hugged more, so they were delayed for a while.

Yan Laosan was also picking up the few handfuls of rice that had just been put down by his feet, but when he raised his head, he froze.

Those people who were clearly in the distance just now have already arrived in front of them.

They moved so fast, like tigers and leopards in the mountains, the villagers couldn't see clearly, they only felt a wave of red shadows shaking, and people with sticks horizontally stopped in front of them.

The villagers quickly changed directions, but there were also these red figures in another corner.

"Official messengers" have surrounded them.

The old man next to Mr. Yan lost his sickle and burst into tears on the spot. He sat on the ground and stuffed rice into his mouth, eating as much as he could.

Among the men in red, a big man came up to him and pressed his hand, preventing him from putting the rice into his mouth.

Won't you even give us these few mouthfuls? !
The villagers were afraid and hated at the same time, and their yellow or dark faces were blushing.

Yan Laosan clenched the sickle in his hand, his hands were shaking, he wished he could rush over to fight with them.

That big guy actually picked up his neighbor!

He even took out the straw from the neighbor's mouth!
Also took out a steamed bun!
return……

Steamed buns?
The shriveled old man looked at the snow-white steamed bun with a dazed expression on his face, which was exactly the same as the expressions on the faces of the young and strong people in other villages.

The big man who handed him the steamed buns was really tall and strong. He didn't hold a knife or gun, but he had a badge hanging on his waist. He had a square face, big eyes, an unshaven beard, an old scar on his left ear, and half of his earlobe was cut off. Scars run down the side of the face.

The man seemed to be the leader, patted the old man, took out a water bag, and said, "This rice has never been boiled or ground, so you can't swallow too much in one go. Old man, drink two sips of water and bite Take a mouthful of steamed buns, chew and swallow slowly, don't hurt your throat."

He turned to look at the villagers. On his fierce face, two eyebrows like daggers were furrowed, and the center of the eyebrows was tightly knit together.

The villagers were afraid, and they got closer and closer to each other.

"Don't be afraid, we are not here to grab food from you."

The man quickly grinned and made a smile.

Half an hour later, the sun had already risen.

Yan Laosan and the others were walking back to the mountains. When they came, there were hundreds of young and strong villagers. When they went back, many men in red clothes followed them.

Everyone didn't leave quickly, and those men in red didn't rush them too much. Even when they stared at a certain person for a long time, they would definitely get a smile... Everyone was even more afraid.

Who has seen so many official servants smiling at the farmers?
Just now these officials said a lot to them.

The former imperial court has been overthrown, and the lords in the county, large and small, have been identified by many farmers like them and have already beheaded.

He also said that the new imperial court is good to the common people, has military discipline, and is here to help them move back to the plains and live in places with good farmland.

And so on, a lot of nonsense.

Yan Laosan hardly understood, but he also got a steamed bun, and now he is holding it in his arms, it is so delicious.

The villagers seemed to be bewitched by the aroma of these thick and thin steamed buns, and when they really walked almost to the place where they lived in the mountains, they all started to worry again.

Their footsteps became slower and slower, and at the end they all stopped timidly and looked at each other in blank dismay.

Yan Laosan looked at the people in red in the crowd, and those people also stopped and looked at them without scolding or chasing them away.

The man with the scar said, "Why did it stop? Is it almost there?"

Yan Laosan swallowed his saliva, and seeing the cowards around him, he was heartbroken, and shouted: "General, you found our village, you really don't know how to beat us and punish us to do hard labor?"

The police will not have so many spears and bows, and the bandits will not have such a uniform attire.

The people in front of them were all dressed in red clothes, with a heroic posture and broad shoulders. It was obvious from looking at them that they could lift two or three people like Yan Laosan with one hand.

Then it will only be soldiers, and the leader of the soldiers is of course the general.

"General?"

The man with the scar laughed, "I can barely count."

Since the emperor of Han defeated the Song army from all walks of the world and conquered the Liao country far away, after the Han Dynasty and the Song Dynasty, all the original rebels have also counted their numbers and carried out a more clear reorganization and division.

Now in the army, there are five members, and the leader of the army writes the names of the other four on the card.

The 25 people are A, and A is writing the names of the five captains on the card.

Hundreds of people are the team, and the team will write the names of the first team members and others on the cards.

This man with a scar on his left ear is the captain of the Hundreds in Langu County. For the local people, he can be called a general.

"Don't worry. We have already checked in the county. There were only five villages in the vicinity. Even if you all escaped to the mountains and survived, by now, there are only so many young and strong at most. "

Captain Scar pointed to the old man who was the first to get the buns and said, "Otherwise, we wouldn't let this kind of old man who is still a bit muscular come out for such things as grabbing food."

"If we really just want to drag people to do hard labor, wouldn't it be good to drag you all away?"

The villagers whispered to each other, and the voice of discussion rang out.

"That's right. In the past, the officials sent big households to search the mountains, and they only wanted to work."

"We are already all able to work, and it is useless to go to the mother-in-law at home."

Yan Laosan said again: "Then what is the general going to take us to do?"

"We've just said that."

Captain Scar smiled more sincerely this time, not just because the military required that the common people always smile, but because what he was talking about made him happy just thinking about it.

"Everyone, go back with us to register and register, and divide the fields according to the population."

Yan Laosan became puzzled: "Let us go back to farm, that's of course good, but we used to have our own fields, why should we divide them again?"

"The fields you used to own weren't your own, they belonged to those gentlemen, but now the fields belong to the imperial court."

Captain Scar said, "Oh, I don't understand the details. Anyway, someone will teach you to farm in the future. I heard from the person in charge of this. As far as you locals are concerned, after the land is re-divided, every family After a year, each household can get at least four times more grain than before."

The villagers were in an uproar, and they couldn't believe such a good thing.

But if there is really no hard labor and they can farm, even if they can only receive as much food as before, it is better than sneaking back to farm now.

Obviously, it is all the land plowed by oneself and the food grown by oneself, no one likes to be so sneaky.

After their conversation with Captain Scar, they started to move forward again, and finally led these people to the place where they lived in the mountains.

For the next five days, Captain Scar and the others commanded and helped these people who had migrated to the mountains to return to their village.

It took another half a month before the work of counting the number of people and dividing the fields was barely finished.It's also a coincidence that their village came back, and other places in the county are still busy.

During this period of time, everyone has collected the food, only paid a very small part to the government, and shipped the rest back to their homes.

Yan Laosan heard that people from other villages in the county had also come back. They were not as bold as the people in these villages and did not dare to farm secretly, but the imperial court lent them grain and asked them to pay back slowly in a few years. , There is no interest yet.

For a while, Yan Laosan went out early and returned late, and felt like he was dreaming every day, but it was so good, so good.

Yan Laosan sat on the roof, wiped away the tears that rolled out for some reason, and laughed silly.

Those heavy grains will not be faked.

No one has lived in the house for a long time, and the hut that needs to be repaired will not be fake.

He was lying on the roof turning the grass, and his wife was cooking in the house, and the aroma was already wafting up.

"Hey, don't do it, wait until the millet is steamed, and wait until your father comes down."

Hearing what his wife scolded his son, Yan Laosan laughed and shouted from the roof: "If Xiao Liu is hungry, let him eat two chopsticks first, half a child eats a poor old man, it is time to grow his body, Can't lose."

The wife said angrily: "Then wait until he washes his hands, you just spoil him."

"Anyway, our family has food now."

Yan Lao San was very happy, "If we had so much food back then, I would definitely be a head taller than I am now."

"Hahahaha, don't worry, your children will definitely grow taller and taller in the future."

Rich laughter came from the dirt road.

Yan Laosan looked back and said pleasantly, "General Niu."

Captain Scar waved his hand with a smile, and said, "Hey, don't worry, you don't need to come down, you are busy with your work, I will go to your village to inform you, and I will leave later."

Yan Laosan shouted: "What good thing is that?"

"Let your children go to literacy classes. If you can read well and learn well, if the fields are too busy in the future, you can give priority to applying for people from the county to help you farm. If you borrow large animals from the county, you will also be given preferential treatment."

Captain Scar said, "And with a little more literacy, you can learn basic skills. There are many benefits. I just want to inform you briefly. Your village chief will talk to you slowly in the future."

Some people ran out on both sides of the dirt road: "General, my family's meal is ready, come to my house to have a meal before leaving."

Yan Laosan was also about to invite, but was preempted, so he couldn't help but hammered his knee in frustration.

However, Captain Scar didn't accept any invitation. In the evening, I heard that Captain Scar's staff had all withdrawn to the county seat. After that, they will be permanently stationed in the county seat and will rarely come to the village.

The villagers didn't know that Captain Scar had received a transfer order as soon as he arrived at the county seat.

"There is a noble family in Ziling County, who entered the mountains as bandits. General Yue Pengju of Dongdong led his troops to suppress them. In order to prevent bandits from fleeing into Lan Valley and disturbing the people, he ordered Niu Gao's team to station in the east of Yunshan Valley. "

………………

Bianliang, November 26.

"Yue Pengju is really capable, and the river is basically quiet."

Li Kai yawned first, put down the military information he just handed over, took out a porcelain bottle, poured a pill and took it, got up and walked around to help the medicine work.

He walked out of the hall and came to the courtyard, only to see figures busily shuttling around holding paperwork.

Li Ying was also active in the yard, saw him come out, and said with a smile: "I heard you just now, is the river peaceful?"

"I can only say that it is for the time being, but after all, there are still some people who are not guilty of death and have their lives. If we don't do well in the follow-up, maybe they will embark on the damn path and resurface."

Li Kai sighed first, shook his head and said, "And things like Hedong are not troublesome, the old land of Xixia, Liao Kingdom, is really a big headache."

Li Ying nodded: "As the saying goes, it is easy to conquer the country, but difficult to defend the country. We have an invincible leader. Regardless of the Song and Liao Dynasties, large-scale enemy troops were suppressed by him. Compared with the people who conquered the world in history Those people, we are already the luckiest."

Li Kai said with a smile: "Now it is Your Majesty."

"His Majesty……"

Li Ying's face turned serious, and he approached, whispering, "I heard some rumors from Lu Da and the others, have you heard of it?"

Li Kai nodded first, and his face became more serious: "Tonight's meeting?"

"Yes."

Li Ying sighed, "Your Majesty seems not to be His Majesty anymore."

In the middle of the night, more than a hundred ministers of the Xinhan court gathered in the garden, the lights were bright, and the tea and fruit were ready, but no one had the heart to touch the tea.

He only listened to Guan Luoyang talking.

"Because the emperor doesn't need to exist at all."

(End of this chapter)