Northern Dynasties

Liaocheng is located in the upper reaches of the Huai River, on the plains in the northeast of Shaopi. There is a wharf here that can go directly to Shouyang downstream by boat. Therefore, people in Zuojin Township often choose to go to Shouyang for sale when they have any seasonal products.Especially this year, Shouyang no longer collects city tax assessment money, which makes people from nearby villages flock there.

More than ten miles south of Liaocheng, there is a pond named Hanshipi. There are hundreds of families living there, most of whom are members of the clan with the surname Han.Villagers surround the lake to reclaim fields, farm, fish and hunt. Although their lives are not very rich, they can still be called living and working in peace and contentment.

In the golden autumn of September, the field work is coming to an end, and the farmers who have finished the autumn harvest are not idle, either catching fish and crabs in the ditches and ponds, or hunting pikas in the fields.

The women spin flax at home, and they have to look up into the yard from time to time to beware of greedy urchins stealing the dried fish and dried fruit in the yard.If one catches a trend, it is really a lesson to be beaten to death.

This is not a fun in the countryside. Although this year is big, there is not much left after the sale of rice and rice, and the remaining miscellaneous rice and this year's winter rations can be maintained by selling these agricultural and sideline products.If one is sloppy in this matter, not only will the whole family suffer from food and clothing, there may also be catastrophe!

At this moment, there was a crisp sound of copper and iron clattering outside the fence, accompanied by the slightly hoarse roar of the boy in the voice-changing period: "The cargo team is back! Come to my house to share the money and the goods!"

Hearing this roar, the villagers scattered inside and outside the village suddenly became active. Even the parents who were still beating their children stopped, walked out of the courtyard and walked towards the center of the village.

In the village stands a big mansion, which is more magnificent than the surrounding cottages. It is the home of the patriarch of the Han clan. There are several trucks parked in the yard, and there are more than a dozen strong villagers standing around. The order here is controlled under the command of a young boy who is [-] years old, and that boy is the one who shouts out money and goods.

"Sanlang, let's see how much my family can share!"

Men and women poured into the room, all chattering to ask the young man about the truth.

The young man was sweating anxiously, holding a piece of wood and carefully looking at the charcoal characters on it: "Uncle Jiu pays new rice for one stone and seven dou, miscellaneous millet for nine dou and six liters, the combined money..."

Amidst the shouts of the teenagers, sums of money and goods were distributed to the villagers.Many of these seasonal goods are daily necessities that the villagers cannot produce themselves, but many of them are commodities for resale.

As the saying goes, relying on mountains to eat mountains, relying on water to eat water, Hanshipi is next to the Huai River, of course, you will not miss the convenience of navigation.In addition, their patriarch opened a shop in Shouyang, and based on his experience, he helped the villagers buy and sell some in-demand commodities to supplement their households, and sometimes he saw considerable profits.

Soon, some villagers noticed that there was a big difference in the amount of money and goods, and couldn't help shouting: "This year's payment is not as good as last year, so why is this year getting more money than last year? Did last year count as bad?"

Hearing this shout, before the young man in charge of dividing the accounts could answer, a young man with similar facial features but much taller and stronger physique walked out of the main room, and shouted to the questioning villagers: "Why not?" Said it was a wrong calculation this year? Come on, tell me in detail, how much my brother owes you, I will pay you back!"

Hearing the strong man's anger, the atmosphere in the yard suddenly sank, and the people in the village did not dare to speak casually. The young man turned around and pushed the strong man: "Second brother, rest, I will take care of this!"

When the strong man went back to his room with an angry grunt, the boy shouted to the villagers again: "This year, Shouyang has changed the city lord, exempting the villagers from land rent and market estimation, and selling goods in the market can get more, so my brother passed on Send the new rice to sell as soon as you get back the letter. While the price is just right, buying grain from Huaixi is much better than growing it yourself!"

"Shouyang people are really lucky to meet such a benevolent city lord!"

Hearing this, the villagers sighed one after another, with envy all over their faces, and some people shouted and asked if it would be more beneficial to go to Shouyang to work as a tenant.

Seeing the faces of the villagers who were eager to try, the young man shouted again: "Don't think too much, my elder brother said that it may not be a blessing for the people of Shouyang. I don't want to repair it, I'm afraid I don't want to stay here for a long time, and I don't know where to send people together! My brother wants everyone to settle down on the slope, and he will take people to Huaibei to buy some cattle and horses. If there is a mess, you have to avoid Yiyang!"

After the villagers heard this, the originally relaxed and cheerful atmosphere suddenly sank. Although they didn't know what happened outside the village, they were convinced by the patriarch's judgment.In the old year, it was moved from the south of Yiyang Sanguan to Huainan by the government, and it established itself here in just a dozen years, relying on the leadership of the patriarch's family.

After the money and goods were distributed, the villagers also left and went back to their homes. When the young man returned to his room, he saw his second brother, whom he had persuaded to return to the room just now, sitting under the window playing with a piece of dog-headed, Ma Ma Lai. Looking at Lai's tree roots, I couldn't help being a little curious: "Second brother, what are you doing with these tree roots?"

"Tree roots? Ha, Aye often said that among the three brothers, I am the most clumsy. It seems that you are not much smarter than me, Saburo!"

The young man burst into laughter after hearing the words, raised his hand to signal the third younger brother to close the door, waved his hand to draw him closer, and said, "Look carefully!"

The young man leaned over to look it over carefully, and still felt that this thing was no different from ordinary tree roots, but it smelled of a simple spicy fragrance.

"Haha, you still can't see it? Let me teach you. This thing is called Rhubarb, Longyou Rhubarb. It is a life-saving thing for eliminating stasis and carbuncle, and removing heat from blood! It is just such a piece, do you know how much it is worth?"

The young man looked at his brother with a showy face and whispered, seeing him shaking his head, he laughed again: "My brother bought another [-] yuan for the store in Shouyang in exchange for it from Handong Yiyou Jia. !"

"So expensive? Brother, why did he sell his ancestral property!"

The young man couldn't help but be surprised when he heard the words, Shouyang is an important place for water and land, the reason why their family can run a shop there is because they just took back Shouyang more than ten years ago, their Aye is Pei Sui A team leader under the general's subordinates, so he was rewarded.Now that Shouyang is more prosperous, such a shop is worth more than a million dollars, and the key point is that money can't buy it.

"Don't think it's too expensive. My brother said that if it wasn't for the fact that Jiake was greedy for the benefits of Shouyang without market valuation, this business might not be able to be done! If rhubarb with such good quality is sold in the capital, the price will definitely be higher!"

The young man talked about this and said: "As for my family's ancestral property, it may not be a bad thing to throw it away early. The northern captives entered the city, and monsters happened frequently. If you are still greedy and refuse to let go, I am afraid that your life will be lost. My brother brought it up. After leaving me, I see you are about to grow up, the three of us brothers must live, if one is missing, the rest will not be happy!"

The young man nodded after hearing the words, and immediately said: "What about my sister? If we leave here, what will my sister do?"

The young man took out his knife, gesticulated on the dry piece of rhubarb, and muttered: "Brother, when I come back, I will ask my sister and brother-in-law if they would like to go back to Handong with us. If you don’t want to, cut off a section of the rhubarb and leave it to my sister to support the family. The rest is our brother’s family property, but I am strong and strong, and I can support my family no matter what, so I will leave mine to my sister !"

"I don't even have a wife and children, and I don't need this thing to survive if I live next to you, brother!"

After the boy heard this, he also laughed.

The young man was also very satisfied after hearing this, but he muttered again: "But the rhubarb is always exchanged from our ancestral property, how can I give it up to my sister, a bride from another family, I still have to keep some!"

While talking, he cut off a little root with a knife, and wrapped the rest with green cloth, and then covered his growling stomach and said, "Send it to sister's house before it's too late. It's a generous gift, my sister doesn't care about the last meal, can we return it?"

After saying this, the two brothers all laughed, picked up some seasonal goods from the household, told their family a few words, and then went down to Pei.

This family was originally from Anlu, Eastern Han. They moved to Anfengzhou, Huainan with their father in the early years. After their parents passed away, there were three brothers left. There was also a married elder sister who married in the local area. The third is called Han Xie.

In the old years, the Huai River was blocked by the Huai River, which caused the Huai River to surge and flood, flooding a large area of ​​Huainan. Although it has been a long time now, the Huai River to the west of Shouyang is still silted up, causing many ponds and tidal flats in the territory, making the village People can only reclaim and live on the slopes around these pools.

After the Han brothers left home, they headed southwest, and whenever they came across a large lake, there were simple rafts nearby for commuting, which were built by the villagers for public use.

After passing through two canals and ponds, the destination is about to arrive, but the face of the second eldest Han Shao who is holding a penny on the raft gradually becomes a little uneasy, and the third eldest Han Xie who is sitting on the side can't help but say: " Second brother, why do I smell a bit fishy..."

"Silence!"

Han Shao let out a low cry, and at the same time leaned down and propped the raft into a reed sedge, and ordered his brothers to hide there, while he himself jumped into the river pond, waded ashore, and swam forward, when suddenly a The soaked and swollen corpse suddenly rose to the surface from the bottom of the pond, and many rancid bubbles gurgled out.

"what……"

Even Han Shao, who was always brave, let out a short cry when he was frightened by this scene. He didn't dare to look at the swollen corpse. He gritted his teeth and continued to swim forward. more and more.

Finally on the shore, Han Shao didn't care about the muddy blood on his body, and ran straight to the village where his sister lived, but froze on the spot after a few steps. Outside the branches, there are several naked female corpses suspended by hemp ropes, one of which is his elder sister.

"Ah, sister..."

Han Shao's eyes turned red in an instant, and he rushed forward to put down his sister's body and several other human corpses, holding back tears and digging a hole to bury them.The village here was obviously ransacked by rebels and bandits, there were no survivors left, and all the property was looted.

Although his heart ached, Han Shao didn't dare to stay any longer after searching inside and outside. He swam back to the reeds to meet his third brother Han Xie who had been waiting anxiously, and hurried back without saying anything.

When the two brothers were about to turn out of the reed pond, there was a sudden sound of horseshoes outside the reed pond. Han Shao's face changed abruptly when he heard this, and he hurriedly pushed the raft back into the reed pond, but shouts were already heard on the shore: "who?"

"Second brother, let's..."

Han Shao raised his hand to cover the young boy's mouth, pressed him against the edge of the raft into the reed pond, and put the rhubarb wrapped in layers of green cloth on Han Xie's head protruding from the water, and whispered with his mouth: "Don't get wet..."

Then Han Shao propped up the penny and rushed out of the reed pond. Immediately after seeing several armored knights on the shore pointing their bows at him, he threw down the penny and worshiped on the raft, "Please forgive me..."

A knight suddenly shot an arrow, causing a splash of water on the water, which made Han Shao's body tremble. Immediately afterwards, another team leader scolded: "This country slave is strong, so I will keep it for now. The king is not allowed to use it on birthdays." Yang Zuo is near hunting, but the bandits who went ahead did not obey the rules, there are not many people left in the countryside, don't waste it!"