The sky was dimming, and the sound of creaking and turning could be heard in the courtyard.
While wiping his sweat, the old man pushed the stone mill hard to grind the newly harvested wheat into flour.
There was a group of people waiting inside the courtyard, making a lot of noise.
"It's better to buy an old horse from Liu Buda, it's cheaper." Someone squatted on the ground and said loudly.
The old man smiled and said nothing.
How many years has it been since Zhongshan was hit by the disaster? The clothes worn by the children at home were still ripped from the bodies of the dead. Where did they get the money, food, cloth and silk to buy horses?
If there is any surplus grain, it is better to save it and plant less grain next year and plant more acres of hemp so that he can make clothes from linen.
The old woman opened the door of the henhouse and drove out seven or eight roosters and hens with a few "oohs".
The rooster immediately jumped onto the tree trunk in the courtyard, holding its head high and looking majestic.
The hens found a centipede and immediately surrounded it, even flapping their wings to fight for it.
The old woman got out of the henhouse that was full of chicken feathers and feces, holding a few eggs in her hand, and walked carefully to the west room.
There is a grain store made of bamboo inside the house. It was originally empty, but now it has some grain.
The old woman placed the eggs in a familiar place and covered them with wheat.
After thinking about it, I felt something was wrong. So I brought a jar, put some wheat in it, and then put the eggs in one by one. After a few days, I sold the jar of wheat and eggs together to get some money.
Return the things you use.
The old man's son carried the rake, said hello to everyone, and prepared to go out.
The soup cakes I had in the morning had a lot of soup and very few cakes. Not long after I finished eating, I felt a little hungry.
Hunger is something engraved in the bones of people in Hebei, especially those who have experienced three years of floods, and their memories are extremely profound.
After the wheat harvest in May, the family finally had some food. However, since wheat had never been planted before, the harvest was not high. Next, we still have to seize the time to plant some miscellaneous grains. We should plant them in mid-June at the latest, and we can harvest them by the end of September.
.
At that time, maybe you can open your belly a little and eat a few more mouthfuls, provided that the government no longer levies grain.
Next door to the farmyard, Su Shuyan had just gotten up.
This is a courtyard with several fronts and backs. Because it is relatively large, several families live in it. It is said that they all came back from other places after the flood receded. They are barely considered members of the same clan, and everyone lives together.
However, they were all kicked out at this time, and the house was "borrowed" by Su Shuyan, the chief of the barbarian guard, and his entourage.
"It's like rain comes after a long drought." A follower who was born as a scholar said with emotion: "Last year, I came to Hebei with the king to provide relief, and everything was devastated. After more than half a year of peace, I actually recovered a lot of strength."
Hearing what they said, Su Shuyan was also very emotional and said with a smile: "When I was young, I was grazing in Guangning. Because it didn't rain for a long time, the sky was filled with wind and sand, and the grass and trees fell. Wherever the sheep passed, there was no grass growing and it was extremely desolate. But in June, there was a scene.
Rain falls and covers the mountains
The whole field became green, and I didn’t know where the grass came from. In this troubled world, the people are almost the same as the weeds. There is no need to treat them well as long as they are not overly exploited and there are no disasters one after another.
Can be restored."
As soon as these words came out, all the officials who followed him looked at Su Shuyan in surprise.
I didn't expect that Chief Hu could not only read and write, but also speak such profound words.
Su Shuyan laughed when he saw them like that.
He is not very talented in writing and cannot speak very beautifully, but he understands the basic principles.
During the drought in Quang Ninh, the river flow stopped and it was difficult for people and animals to drink water, so they dug wells. Later, there was no water in the wells, so they had to go south to plunder.
The current situation in Hebei is probably to ensure that next season's grain harvest is mediocre. There is some water in the well, but it is still incomparable to what it was before the drought.
As for restoring the dried-up rivers and lakes, it will not take a year.
"What Chang Shi said makes sense. But if the King of Liang had not provided relief, things would not have been like this today." A follower from Hebei said: "If we had not provided relief, refugees would have spread all over the place, attacking and killing county officials, and those who could have managed to survive would have been killed."
The people who could support themselves were also dragged in, and the destruction was severe. After three years of disaster relief, although Henan has been full of complaints, Hebei has retained more vitality and recovered faster."
"That's right." Su Shuyan was startled and immediately nodded in agreement as they said.
These people were all his subordinates, but after all, he was from Wuhuan, and he faced more or less strange eyes as an official in the Han region.
The people below may not respect him much, they may ridicule or even curse him in private.
He is destined to have little success in his life, and most of his son's generation will not be able to achieve that either. Perhaps his grandchildren can truly integrate into the Han scholar community and no longer be regarded as an alien by them - if his grandson can still be an official.
"Let's go after breakfast. The Xianbei envoy will send someone to inform you." Su Shuyan ordered.
After saying that, he sat down on a wooden pile and prepared to eat.
It is said that so many giant trees washed down from the Taihang Mountains have been used on a small scale since last year. There has been no big movement this year, but after the summer sowing is over, someone should go out to collect, process, resell, transport, exchange for food and cloth, and subsidize
Household use.
God has harmed the people of Hebei, but he finally got some gold coins: millions of big trees.
The entourage quickly brought breakfast - it was actually dry food, just roasted over the fire.
Of course, Su Shuyan and the accompanying officials could also have some hot food.
Someone collected some yellow or even black flour from a civilian's house and steamed him fresh bread, which tasted much more delicious than rough dry food.
There are already farmers outside the compound carrying farm tools in preparation for summer sowing.
In the small farmyards in front and behind, there were also people working in the vegetable patches, hoeing out the overgrown weeds.
This life is not easy, but the farmers' faces are full of satisfied smiles - in the first two years, even if you wanted to hoe weeds, there was no place for you to hoe, and there was yellow mud soup everywhere.
Su Shuyan finished his meal quickly and greeted everyone to set off.
Before leaving, he seemed to hear something and turned to look.
Under the eaves, a nest of young swallows was chirping, with its mouth wide open, asking its mother to quickly feed the insects.
He seemed to be hit by something and stood stunned for a long time.
During the great disasters two years ago, numerous houses collapsed. When these swallows returned home, they didn't know how they felt.
All things have spirits. Perhaps, the creatures on the land of Hebei are slowly recovering.
I wonder if they still remember the man who went east to Hebei twice and led them out of trouble.
Su Shuyan thought of the Wuhuan Wang family again.
Why don't you surrender? King Liang treats people as human beings, no matter Hu or Han.
****
The grassland in summer is extremely beautiful.
On the high and low mountains, there are waves of pines and waves.
The mountains are full of wild flowers blooming in all kinds of colors.
Foxes and rabbits hang out in the bushes, and variegated wild fruits can be seen everywhere.
The meandering river extends into the distance. On both sides of the river, pasture grows as tall as half a man, and cattle, sheep, horses and camels appear among them, devouring the food they need to survive and constantly multiplying their offspring.
In the mountains and forests farther away, there are faint sounds of roaring tigers and wolves. That is where men show off their courage and archery skills in autumn.
"I miss you so much!" Su Shuyanze immediately climbed up the slope. Looking at the familiar scenes, his thoughts were already far away.
A gorgeous chariot came from afar.
The knights galloped out on horseback, roaring towards them.
They did not take out weapons, and their attitude was very friendly. There were many carriages behind them, and they seemed to be carrying welcome gifts?
Su Shuyan didn't know what was going on at Yu Mi's place. The reception was as grand as the Wang family's. Is Shi Yiqian's mother and son so grand?
He rode his horse down the high slope, then dismounted, straightened his clothes and robes with his entourage, and waited quietly.
Not long after, the chariot approached.
Mrs. Wang got out of the carriage with a child in her arms and said, "I am taking the crown prince to pay homage to the envoys of the great powers."
"Meet Su Changshi." Behind Wang's mother and son, there were dozens of people, led by Wang Feng, who all bowed down.
"Princess, please get up, all the ministers, please get up." Su Shuyan first looked at Mrs. Wang, then at the baby in her arms, and finally looked at the group of ministers - hehe, there are a lot of acquaintances there.
After everyone stood up, they also looked at Su Shuyan.
As one of the once all-powerful chiefs of Wuhuan in Guangning, Su Shuyan gradually moved away from grassland affairs after becoming Wang Jun's son-in-law. He devoted more energy to the Central Plains and even moved many tribes to Shanggu, Fan Yang,
The Yan State area.
But his legend is still spread in Guangning, and there are people he is familiar with. Although these people defeated his son, Huaihuang Town General Su Zhongyi last year, to be honest, they did not kill him, they just drove him into the upper valley.
"Su Changshi." Wang Feng took a step forward and said with a smile: "We went hunting together in the past, and the past events are vivid in our minds. Unexpectedly, we have been separated for so many years. It is a pity. I thought we would never see each other again in this life. I didn't expect it, haha.
!Now we have prepared fine wine so that we can talk about our farewells."
Wang Feng was very young, not much older than the Wang family. Because his parents died young, he inherited the great business at a young age.
However, although their family calls themselves the "Guangning Wang Family", they have moved there since acquiring Daijun - Daijun is also a large settlement of Wuhuan, and there are also Jie people, Xianbei, Xiongnu and Han people.
In a place where both barbarians and Han people live together, there are many barbarians and few Han people.
Because Wuhuan had long-term contacts with the Han Dynasty, there were tribes, but there was no strict tribal organization. People like Su Shuyan and Wang Feng were more like family leaders than tribal leaders.
Traditional tribes are often composed of multiple clans, and people often call the tribe after the clan in power.
For example, there are dozens of clans in the Hedoling tribe, and the Hedoling clan is just one of them. However, because they have been in power for several generations and have "been the masters of the tribe for generations", over time they were called the Hedoling tribe.
But in theory, all clans in the Hedouling tribe are equal, and tribal leaders can be elected and replaced. Tuoba, the leader of the tribal alliance, theoretically has no right to identify the leaders of the Hedouling tribe.
The Wuhuan people in Guangning, half-farmers and half-herders in Daijun, no longer migrate much. The powerful clans began to send retainers and cronies to manage other clans. The characteristics of centralization are obvious, especially for some Wuhuan clans who settled down for farming.
That's true.
Some nobles in Tuoba Xianbei naturally saw the benefits of centralization and were very envious of them. This is one of the reasons why they sided with the New Party - I don't like you to elect the tribal leaders yourself, I like to appoint them directly.
Guangning and Wuhuan in Dai County belong to Dai State, but Dai State does not have the post of prefect or county magistrate here. They like to appoint various generals with local surnames or leaders of large tribes. This is a typical integration of military and civilians.
Regulatory traditions.
Wang Feng is now in charge of Dai County. Of course, he also has great influence among the Wuhuan group in Guangning, especially after the fall of Guangning last year.
"General Wang, do you know that Tuoba Yihuai has contacted the King of Liang and is willing to use Shi Yijian as a pledge to live in Pingyang?" Su Shuyan looked at Wang Feng, who still had a look of neither humbleness nor arrogance on his face, and suddenly smiled and said:
"I also heard news on the way that the Shiben clan has turned to Tuoba Yihuai."
"What? How could the Shiben family vote for Yi Huai?" Wang Feng asked in surprise.
The Shiben clan is also a large tribe, grazing in the Ruyuan area, not far from Guangning and Daijun.
The Shiben clan was later changed to the Han surname Feng clan, and Tuoba Yiyi, Tuoba Yilu's mother, Fengfei, was born in this tribe.
Many years ago, the concubine Feng passed away, and Tuoba Yiyong held a funeral for his mother. The Jin Dynasty sent officials to the funeral, and the princes and ministers from the border areas also sent people to attend. There was no shortage of people from all the grassland tribes, with 200,000 people from far and near attending the meeting.
people.
The feudal tribe is also a tribe under the jurisdiction of the former Eastern Lords, and its strength cannot be underestimated - Tuoba Xianbei kings have lived in the west for a long time, but they all like to choose wives and concubines from the east. It is more likely that they want to maintain the unity of the country in this way.
"The Feng tribe defected to Yihuai, how can the Dugu tribe still turn to you? The Lan tribe will probably follow the crowd and defect to Yibihuai." Su Shuyan shook his head and said: "As for the adults in the west, do you think they think highly of you as a newcomer?"
This is a dry humor.
The Wang family in Quang Ninh is obviously a member of the new party, but because she married a woman to the leader of the old party, she is now forced to side with the old party.
Looking at it this way, it turns out that my grandma doesn't care and my uncle doesn't love me.
Naturally, Tuoba Yihuai was contacted by He Lan Aitou, a die-hard old party member. What should you, the Wang family in Guangning, do?
Now that the New Party is leaning towards Mrs. Qi and her son, can they still help you? Guarding Dai County and one-third of an acre in Guangning is good, but it’s hard to say what the final outcome will be.
Anyway, Mrs. Qi wanted to kill Shi Yiqian. As for Yi Huai, he was a "brother, friend and brother respectful" and could not kill his brother, so he only wanted to send his brother to Jin as a hostage.
It's hard to say whether he will consider his younger brother's situation if he seizes the big position in the future and turns against Jin.
"Only the King of Liang can save you." Su Shuyan looked at Wang Feng, then at Wang's mother and son, and whispered.
Chapter completed!