nanming man

Chapter 269 The People Are Suffering

In the 15th year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng decided to irrigate the city with the river, and after flooding Bianzhou, he created Bailize Kingdom in the east of Henan.

Today, the population of Chenliu and Qixian in the southeast of Kaifeng has dropped sharply, and it has become a barren area with a radius of more than a hundred miles.

On Songyue Mountain, on the plain to the east of Hulaoguan, only Zhengzhou, Xinzheng, Xuzhou and other counties distributed from north to south along the eastern foot of the mountain range were not impacted by the river, and there were still a large number of people farming.

The people in the east of Henan, after experiencing the catastrophe of Li Zicheng and the Ming army fighting for Zhongzhou, thought that the two sides would win and lose, and they would be able to rest for a while.

After two years of governance by Li Yan, coupled with the decrease in population, the suzerain vassals who controlled a large number of acres were overthrown, the number of unowned land in Henan increased, the conflict between people and land was eased, and most of the people had land to cultivate.

With their hard work, they have rebuilt their houses and purchased farm tools, gradually recovering from the wounds of the war, and are ready to start a new life.They saw hope, but they didn't want bad luck to fall on them again.

On August [-], near Meishan, south of Zhengzhou and north of Xinzheng, there was a small village with a population of about a hundred people.

In the early morning of this day, there was a commotion in the village. After the villagers hurriedly packed up their belongings, they pushed carts, picked up baskets, and walked south with each other's support.

There are more than 100 people, old and young, and they are not rich. There are no animals in the team, only a mule cart, which is the property of the village landlord Zhou Dongkui.

Although he is a landlord, he is not rich. All his family assets add up to a mule cart.

At this time, Zhou Dongkui and long-term worker Sun Maosheng were driving the mule cart ahead, while his old wife, daughter, and little-footed daughter-in-law who was holding a grandson were crowded in the cart.

"Boss, we didn't suffer any disaster this time, and the wheat in the field has not been confiscated, why did we run away?" Sun Maosheng pulled the mule in front, muttering, "Those Tartars are not human, they don't eat, don't Are people farming?"

This year is a good year, the crops in the field will be harvested soon, and he will have enough to eat, but he has to avoid the disaster of the war. Sun Maosheng feels that it is a pity.

In his heart, as long as he can farm and have enough food, it doesn't matter who he farms for.

Zhou Dongkui swung his whip, hit him on the back of the head, and said threateningly, "You son of a bitch, pull the cart well. You don't know that the Lijiazhuang in the north was killed by the Tartars last night. You still want to plant a seed for the Tartars. The Tartars will only rob you of your food and then kill you."

Sun Maosheng shivered. Speaking of which, these Tartars are really vicious. In the past few days, nearby villages have been massacred one after another, causing panic in the village, and the people in the village decided to flee south.

He had heard a lot of news about Tartars killing people before, but Sun Maosheng had never seen it with his own eyes, and he always found it a bit unbelievable. King Li Chuang was so bad that he didn't have an asshole, and he didn't believe it, Tartars I haven't eaten yet.

"Boss, where are we going now?" Sun Maosheng asked.

Zhou Dongkui said comfortingly, "Maosheng, don't worry too much, let's go to Runing. I heard from people from the south that the tall and handsome man in Runing is a benevolent hero. When he goes there, he can divide the fields and return farm tools and seeds. Aren't you Do you want to farm? When you arrive, you can continue to farm for my boss!"

Zhao Maosheng's eyes lit up, "Really?"

"My boss will still lie to you!" Zhou Dongkui said with a smile: "You work hard, and when things are stable, my boss will find you a wife."

Zhao Maosheng was overjoyed, turned his head, and looked into the mule cart.He is also [-] years old this year, and he is full of vigor. He is looking forward to this matter very much, and he already has someone he likes in his heart, which is his young lady Zhou Xiaohuan.

Zhou Dongkui had a son, but he died of the plague last year, and there were no young men in the family. Zhao Maosheng felt that his chance had come, thinking that if he worked hard, he could impress Zhou Dongkui, and it would be good to be a backdoor in the future.

"Okay, you bitch, where are you looking?" Zhou Dongkui, who had been comforting him just now, saw him looking into the mule cart, and suddenly a whip came out, making Zhao Maosheng jump far away.

"You bastard, don't even think about it~" Zhou Dongkui was about to scold him, when suddenly there was a terrified commotion from behind the line, and a voice shouted, "No, the Tartars are here!"

Zhou Dongkui swung his whip again and stopped in mid-air. He was so startled that he hurriedly stood up from the mule cart, stretched his head over the roof of the cart and looked back, his expression changed drastically.

He saw a cloud of yellow dust rolling up behind him, and the sound of horseshoes, mixed with the strange howls of the Tartars, reached his ears, which made him tremble in fright.

The Tartar cavalry was extremely fast, and soon appeared behind them. The people on the road scattered in panic, screaming and running away.

"Hurry up, his mother, Xiaohuan, daughter-in-law, hurry up and get out of the cart with Xiaoyu in your arms." Seeing forty or fifty Tartar cavalry chasing after him, Zhou Dongkui was so startled that he stopped the mule cart and shouted hastily.

He hurriedly told Zhao Maosheng to stop the mule cart, raised the curtain of the cart, and helped the people in the cart to get down.

At this time, the Tartar cavalry had already rushed forward, hacking and killing the people on the official road. The people cried out in desolation and despair, and one corpse after another rushed to the side of the road with their eyes wide open.

There are about 50 or [-] of these Tartar soldiers, all with one man and two horses.

Most of them are wearing cotton armor nailed with copper nails, a slender helmet on the iron helmet, and holding a battle knife in their hands.

A few of them, there were three people, all dressed in white armor, with spears in their hands, flags on their backs, and cotton armor on their horses.

These Tartars are skilled in bow and horse, and the people are powerless to fight back.

Zhou Dongkui let his family get out of the car, took his grandson from his daughter-in-law, and ran to the side of the road.

He saw a forest in the distance, and several people ran away in terror. Although Zhou Dongkui was old, he ran ahead alone. Zhao Maosheng supported his wife and followed behind with the young lady. The daughter-in-law fell to the ground within a few steps. , Lying on the ground and crying loudly.

Suddenly, an arrow shot, and Zhou Dongkui, who was running in the front, fell down. He sat up painfully covering his bleeding thigh, and another arrow shot directly through his head.

The screams stopped abruptly, Zhou Dongkui stared, his head lowered, and his body fell to the ground.

Then, there was a roar of horseshoes, and more than a dozen Tartars chased after them. The horses circled around them. The three women hugged each other in fright, crying in panic, with desperate expressions on their faces. Zhao Maosheng was so frightened. His face was pale and his legs were shaking.

At this moment, several Tartar soldiers got off their horses and surrounded them. Suddenly, a Tartar grabbed the ring and took it off. The 15-year-old girl turned pale with fright, "Brother Maosheng, help me~"

When the old lady saw that the tartar was going to take her daughter away, she hurriedly pulled her away. The tartar was so angry that he stabbed the old woman with his backhand, and blood flowed all over the ground in an instant.

Zhao Maosheng stared blankly at the corpse of the Dong family not far away, and his eyes were a little dull when he heard the child crying.

At this time, the Tartars had already dragged Zhou Xiaohuan away for more than ten steps with a lewd smile. During the struggle, her hair fell apart, and a shoe on her foot fell off, crying and struggling, crying in desolation and despair, "Brother Maosheng, hurry up!" help me……"

Zhao Maosheng looked at the corpses on the ground and the tartars around him, but sat down on the ground, muttering at the corner of his mouth, "I'm a coward, I'm a coward~"

(Computer was having a problem, the document was crashing, much later.)
(End of this chapter)