Pingyang is quiet, at least for the settlement of Huangtou Army soldiers.
However, the epidemic is far away in Hebei, and it has only now spread to parts of Sizhou, Bingzhou, and Yanzhou. As for the counties in Bingzhou that are closer to them, Yanmen County under the control of the Xianbei people has heard that there is an epidemic, and Xinxing County has a wide area of ​​​​people
They are sparse, with few people, little contact with the outside world, and there seems to be no news, although they feel like they are facing a formidable enemy.
Leping County seems to be more serious, causing Taiyuan, Shangdang and other places to be nervous and nervous.
But in the final analysis, Pingyang is still a bit far away from them.
Therefore, it doesn’t matter whether you should move or not.
After November, the leap month ushered in. At this time, there was a sudden epidemic in Hedong County. It was said that the disease was brought back by tribesmen of the Wei and Liu families who fought against the Pujin Pass bandit army.
Xia Houcheng, the governor of Hedong, sent doctors to see that the symptoms seemed different from those in Hebei and were not the same plague. He immediately panicked and ordered the sick people to be driven into abandoned villages and left to fend for themselves.
Now that we have the east side of the river, can Binh Duong, Tay Ho, Hong Nong, Hanoi, Henan and other places escape? The possibility is very low.
As a result, after the twelfth lunar month, everywhere was deserted. During the slack season, people hid at home and stopped walking around. Even the New Year atmosphere was much lighter.
"Team leader, Qi Lei from Nancun is dead." Someone shouted outside the fence and left quickly.
Zeng Yi went out and saw his back in the distance, carrying a large bundle of firewood on his back and walking in a hurry.
He sighed and angrily kicked the big tree in the lower yard, but unexpectedly, he was covered in frost and snow.
The little girl sat on the threshold, giggling, and then continued to eat the cheese in her hand.
Zeng Yi walked over and rubbed her head hard. The little girl ran away with a smile.
Mrs. Lan carried a frozen deer into the courtyard and looked at it carefully.
"Kelan caught this while hunting. I gave the silk cloth given by the king to Paoze and bought it. The skin has been taken away, leaving only the meat." Zeng Yi came to the well and said softly.
.
Lan nodded slightly, and then said: "If your husband wants to eat meat, there is no need to spend money. I will go hunting in the mountains. If you are lucky, you may get something."
Although I had long heard that my wife could ride a horse and shoot arrows, I was still a little surprised to hear her say it herself.
When Lan saw Zeng Yi's stupid look, he chuckled and said: "Liu Yuan, Liu Cong and his son once ordered both men and women in the palace to hold bows and arrows, and those who could not shoot were punished. Among the tribes, even the women also
It is necessary to draw a bow and shoot an arrow. After settling in Pingyang, this trend gradually disappeared, but I can still do it."
Zeng Yi was speechless.
What kind of life do the grassland tribes live like? Even women and children have to learn to ride horses and archery, and worry about being attacked, killed, and robbed every day.
"Who shot this deer? His archery skills were so good that he shot through the eye." Lan asked, stroking the prey.
"The King of Liang shot it in the forest." When he said this, admiration surged on Zeng Yi's face, and he praised: "I raised my hand and shot it, and it fell down in response to the string. It's so magical."
Lan nodded and said: "Raising your hand and shooting is a practical method in the army. If you aim for a long time, you will lose everything. Husband, if you want to learn, I can teach you."
Zeng Yi blushed and shouted: "I am the Sword and Shield Hand, we will talk about this later."
After that, he turned around and went to the kitchen.
There was a bowl of warm milk on the stove. Zeng Yi felt warm in his heart, so he picked it up and drank it.
At the beginning, he couldn't bear to drink cow's and goat's milk. After a long time, he seemed to get used to it. He drank it without any problem and found it quite refreshing.
The grassland herders depend on this thing to survive.
In the autumn, when the nobles organized a hunt, they might be able to share some meat.
Before the winter, some livestock were slaughtered due to lack of fodder, and some meat could be eaten.
As for normal times, they can only live on the milk of cows, sheep, horses and camels, plus wild vegetables, mushrooms, wild fruits, etc., maybe a little saved cheese, physalis, that's all, unless they also plant some "relying on the harvest of the sky"
"The land.
After drinking the milk, Zeng Yi felt refreshed, then came to the door and looked at a cow tied in the cowshed, chewing hay.
I didn’t have it last year, but I bought a new one this year because someone was moved to Hongnong and was forced to sell off their property.
"Did Zhou Da in this year's team come over to help?" Zeng Yi asked.
"Here we come." Mrs. Lan was boiling water in the courtyard and replied casually.
"If I don't go on an expedition next year, I have to go to their fields to help." Zeng Yi nodded and said, "I heard that Queen Hui is training calves in Shanglin Garden, and more than two thousand grown cattle will be sold next year.
, or you can buy one back, but several people always share one, which is not very convenient."
Lan responded.
Zeng Yi secretly sighed, this woman is good, but she is too spendthrift.
If you have money to buy farm cattle, what kind of beef cattle should you buy?
Or is it because the Xiongnu legacy is too strong, and most of the time farming is done by manpower, and the harvest is too low, so we really have to rely on heaven to harvest?
Zeng Yi returned to the stove and opened the basket to see how the cakes were steaming.
I recall that when I first came here, my family was too poor to open the pot. The first meal Lan cooked, the porridge was so thin that it could almost reflect a person's face. He ran to Pao Ze's house and bought a pheasant and a few steamed cakes.
, so that we can just make do with the New Year.
It seems to be better this year.
The government did not go to their homes to collect grain, but allowed them to harvest one season of wheat and one season of millet. The family gradually had a surplus.
After part of the grain was exchanged for a cow, the remaining grain, plus cow and goat milk, could barely sustain the harvest until next autumn.
Zeng Yi thought while looking at the fire.
Things seemed to be getting better in Xihe and Kelan, and the Hu chiefs were more convinced of Liang Wang.
With winter crops in place, many livestock were no longer slaughtered in late autumn but sold to merchants heading south.
It was once mentioned that Queen Hui, Princess Xiangcheng and the Guanqiu family's caravan were the three most active in buying and selling livestock.
Empress Hui built pastures in Guangchengze, Jizhou Anping and Pingyang Shanglinyuan. Now she specializes in collecting calves for training and selling them as cattle when they grow up.
Princess Xiangcheng has a ranch in Runan. Recently, she was encouraged by Queen Hui and sent people to Loufan to build a ranch. When the Huangtou Army returned with King Liang, they once camped outside this ranch.
The Guanqiu clan, on the other hand, simply engaged in business, which was the most unethical. They even asked their Huangtou Army to help escort a group of livestock from Lishi to the east of Hedong. When the tribal chiefs who cooperated with the Guanqiu clan along the way were short of fodder, they even borrowed it from the county granary. The stored hay is very arrogant.
However, the existence of these three families does not seem to be a bad thing. If you can do business, both parties will benefit, which is better than fighting and killing.
"Team leader." Someone shouted again from outside the fence.
"What's the matter?" Zeng Yi glanced at the steaming steamer and asked outside.
"Don't go out. Two more people died in Nancun this morning, and dozens of people were sent to the mountains." Sergeant Zhou Da stood far away on the road and shouted.
Zeng Yi's heart tightened.
The plague is invisible and intangible, and it's useless no matter how well he practices sword and shield skills. It's really scary.
"Sent to the mountains? Why?" he asked subconsciously.
"I'm afraid that others will be infected with the epidemic." Zhou Da said: "The thieves in the county personally led the team and arrested the people to the abandoned village in the mountains. General Yuan Xiyuan issued a strict order, and those who did not obey will be dealt with according to the military law."
Zeng Yi nodded with an ugly look on his face.
He didn't want to be sent to an abandoned dock in the mountains to fend for himself, that would be too hopeless.
Moreover, is this really useful? There are so many people infected with the disease, and only a few can be discovered and arrested.
This year has been difficult.
"Team leader, take care." Zhou Da said again and disappeared.
Zeng Yi sighed.
The sunshine in the farmyard is just right, making you warm, but your heart feels chilly.
Locust plagues, droughts, floods, earthquakes, and plagues have struck one after another, not to mention the continuous war. It is not easy for anyone to survive until now.
Lan also heard this. She subconsciously looked at the man with a look of fear on her face.
The little girl was feeding the livestock in the cowshed and in front of the sheepfold. She couldn't understand this and just blinked.
"Don't be afraid." Zeng Yi looked at his wife and daughter and said, "The world was already in ruins. It was the King of Liang who turned things around. He is the spirit of the Taibai Star who descended to earth, and gods and ghosts made changes. Some plague ghosts must have escaped far away."
Lan nodded slightly, with hope in her eyes.
****
A group of knights rushed out from Ningshuo Palace, galloped to the bank of Fen River, and threw burning torches into the frozen river.
The torch burned quietly for a moment and then went out.
The knights immediately cheered, as if the plague in the palace had disappeared in the cold wind with these torches.
According to the history of the law enforcement order of the former assassination superintendent, Liu Fang, the current Pingyang order, stood by the river, waved his hand and said: "Drive away the epidemic."
The swordsmen and axemen immediately stepped forward and held down the three death row prisoners wearing plague ghost masks. They raised their swords and killed them on the spot.
"The plague ghost is dead!"
"The plague ghost is dead!"
Some onlookers cheered loudly.
Liu Fang's face darkened, she pointed at them and said: "Your Majesty does not allow people to gather in groups, why are you disobeying the order? Disperse them quickly and order everyone to go home."
"Nuo." When the thief was arrested, Cao Cao, the soldier, immediately came forward with his men, beat and scolded him with his scabbard, and drove away the people who were watching the excitement.
There was still steam coming from the broken neck of the death row prisoner. In Liu Fang's eyes, it was the smell of plague, and he subconsciously took a few steps back.
According to folklore, Zhuanxu had three sons, all of whom died and became plague ghosts: one lived in the river and was a malaria ghost; one lived in water and was a sprite ghost; and the third son who lived in a corner of a human palace and was good at surprising children was called a little ghost.
It sounds ridiculous, but there are many believers.
Just yesterday, Xia Houcheng, the governor of Hedong, sent a message: Please make the three plague ghosts generals and build a temple to worship them. King Liang stayed in silence and did not give a response.
Today, Prime Minister Yu Chen, Zuo Jun Si Wang Yan and others have asked again, begging to seal these three ghosts to avoid diseases and epidemics.
Liu Fang knew that the King of Liang probably didn't believe this, but Li Yuanxin and the scholars believed it, so he actually believed it a little bit.
I don't know if it was because of anxiety or something else, but last night he actually dreamed of the little ghost among the three plague ghosts, hiding in Ningshuo Palace, staring at the princes and princesses with bared teeth.
He couldn't tell anyone about this, let alone Prince Liang. If something happened, Prince Liang might not blame him, but what about the ladies?
I hope the Taibai Star Spirit can suppress the plague ghost, right?
"Alas!" He sighed and led the people back to the city.
As the days passed, various anti-epidemic rituals were performed, but the effect did not seem to be very good.
People die one by one.
By the first month of the seventh year of Shengui (323), the funerals in Pingyang and Hedong counties reached a climax.
There is no way to prohibit this kind of thing, and with the current management capabilities of the government, it is even more incapable of prohibiting it.
At this time, news from other places also came intermittently: Jiangnan, Henan, Hebei, Bingzhou, Guanzhong, there was a widespread epidemic, and the dead were not counted.
The plague in Hebei and Jiangnan was probably caused by floods.
Henan might have been spread from elsewhere.
There are two possibilities for Bingzhou.
As for Guanzhong, I don’t know what the epidemic is.
Some people with quick thinking have vaguely guessed that this great epidemic may have more than one disease prevalent, and the source of the disease may be more than one.
No wonder the theory of ghosts and gods is so popular. This era is really too difficult, rarely seen in history.
Chapter completed!