Old Man Li is 76 years old this year. People in the village call him Mr. Li Sanye.
His family was a military household in the Ming Dynasty, and they were responsible for guarding the Xiaoling Mausoleum for generations. However, except for the access to the mountain, grass grew all over the place near the Xiaoling Mausoleum, and no officers from the Xiaoling Guards were seen ordering maintenance.
His eldest brother died in infancy, and his second brother became a soldier when he grew up.
When he was a soldier, he did not carry any weapons. He only used axes and ropes to steal trees from Xiaolingwei for the officers. Once when he lowered a log down a mountain, he accidentally rolled down the log along with the man and the log. His spine was broken and he was in pain for several days at home.
expire.
Therefore, Old Man Li also joined the army, filling in for his second brother and doing hard labor for the hereditary military attachés.
If there is no illness or disaster, I can barely survive.
The officers were occasionally given rations, and they and their wives worked odd jobs to supplement their family income. Unfortunately, floods and droughts occurred frequently, and the wife, who was in poor health, died of malnutrition first, and then her only son also died.
His parents have been dead for many years, and he is the only one left in the family.
At that time, Old Man Li didn't see any hope in life and lived in a haze all day long. If the officers had errands, he would do them. If there were no errands, he would do odd jobs. If he really had nothing to do, he would be a beggar.
If he is lucky and can pick up wild eggs in the imperial mausoleum, that will already be his happiest moment.
Suddenly, the Datong Army came and killed Old Man Li. He was transferred to guard Nanjing and was given a rusty spear.
Old Man Li was panic-stricken at that time. He heard that the Datong army would massacre the city and liked to eat human flesh raw. He guarded the city head cautiously and could not understand the military orders at all. He only knew how to follow others around.
Then, there were riots everywhere in the city, and the common people surrounded the nobles, and some soldiers rebelled out of nowhere.
Old Man Li didn't think much, so he rebelled and went to help open the city gate.
He just felt that the Datong Army was very powerful, so he might as well join the rebels or follow them to eat human flesh.
These military households who rebelled against the city were unified into a security force, responsible for arresting criminals who took advantage of the situation.
Zhang San, who was familiar with Old Man Li, was usually submissive, but suddenly he showed off his power. Zhang San did not go to arrest the criminals, but used the banner of the Datong Army to blackmail the wealthy households in the city. At that time, dozens of military households followed him.
Behead them all!
Old man Li saw Zhang's head fall to the ground with his own eyes, and was so frightened that he peed his pants on the spot.
Later, more Datong troops entered the city, and the military households were taken outside the city. The missionary officer escorted the hereditary military attache and said they were going to hold a grievance meeting. At the beginning, they performed "The White-Haired Girl" to farm the land for the officers.
The military household burst into tears when they saw it.
Old Man Li didn't cry when he watched "The White-Haired Girl", but he cried at the grievance meeting.
He kept talking about what happened to his family, detailing how each family member died. He started crying when he mentioned his second brother and couldn't go on talking.
Later, the land belonging to the hereditary military attachés was allotted to military households for farming. Old Man Li never dreamed that he would actually have his own land in this life.
Old Man Li works hard in farming. Although he has never planted anything, his family has been cutting down trees for the officers.
When he met someone who knew how to farm, he would nod his head and fawn over him, begging others to teach him farming skills. Regardless of busy farming times, he would wander around the fields every day, wishing he could eat and sleep on the ridges of the fields.
One day, the village chief convened a meeting and asked all single men and women to go.
Old man Li was tending the crops at the time, and he went there reluctantly. However, he did not expect that he would be assigned a wife, a female beggar who had fled to Nanjing.
In fact, he is not a beggar. He went south with his family to join his relatives.
All her family members died of illness and starvation, so she could only wipe her dirty face and beg on the street. When the Datong army cleared out the beggars, she was half-starved to death. She was taken to the outskirts of the countryside along with other prostitutes and homeless women who were willing to be good.
Marriage.
Old Man Li has land, a wife, children, and a family.
Five sons and three daughters, three died in infancy.
There are as many as eleven grandchildren, not counting the grandchildren. The family's land is no longer enough. The eldest son follows him to farm, the second son died in infancy, the third son went to work in the city, the fourth son died in infancy, and the fifth son graduated from elementary school and became an apprentice.
Today, although the third son is sick from carrying bags, he has bought a house in a slum area in the northwest of the city.
The original owner got rich, moved out of the slums, and sold the house at a very cheap price.
Last year I heard that there was going to be demolition there. If the news was true, the three sons and their family could still live in the building.
The fifth son is even more extraordinary. He graduated from elementary school and is educated, and he is willing to learn and study. He is already a master in a printing and dyeing factory, with a salary of eight taels of silver a month. Even his boss is polite to him. When they meet, he first offers cigarettes, and then
You should be respectfully called "Li Bashi".
Land inside and outside the city is becoming increasingly tight, and all new buildings are buildings.
Old Man Li has been to his younger son's new house, which is more luxurious than the one he got in the demolition. But his daughter-in-law has a very weird temper and often makes him angry. Old Man Li was so angry that he returned to the countryside after not even living there for two months.
Mr. Li didn't say anything about this, and told everyone he met that his son and daughter-in-law were filial and he moved back here because he couldn't get used to living there.
The villagers all envied him for his good fortune. All his sons were promising and filial, and his daughters all married into good families.
In the dim light of morning, Old Man Li went out with his hoe.
The wife, who was already over seventy years old, shouted: "Where are you doing your work this early in the morning?"
Old Man Li turned around and said, "The rice is almost ripe. I'll go to the fields for a walk."
The wife said angrily: "What the hell, there are at least ten days before we can thresh the millet. Your legs are not good, don't fall again. It's not cheap to hire a bone-setter."
"I can't fall. I can walk across our field ridge with my eyes closed." Old Man Li grinned, showing a few sparse teeth.
The wife immediately shouted into the eldest son's room: "Your father is going out again. Follow him quickly and don't let him fall."
The eldest son is called Li Datong. When naming him, someone reminded him that he was breaking a taboo and said that Datong was the name of the imperial court. But Old Man Li insisted on choosing this name, saying that in Datong, everyone has land to farm, everyone has clothes to wear, and everyone has money.
There is no taboo in such a good word like "eat food", and as expected, the government did not send anyone to investigate.
Li Datong was in a daze and was in a bad mood when he was woken up. He murmured and chased after him.
"Dad, what are you doing carrying a hoe this early in the morning?" Li Datong asked.
Old Man Li said: "At midnight last night, I heard the wind. The rice was about to ripen, but it couldn't be blown over. I wouldn't feel at ease if I didn't go around for a while."
Li Datong said speechlessly: "The wind was light last night and could not blow down the rice."
Old Man Li said angrily: "You know nothing, how can you rely on guessing about crops? If I am careless in farming, all of you brothers and sisters will starve to death!"
Li Datong stopped talking and yawned and walked forward.
The father and son walked around the rice field for twenty minutes, and they actually found a piece of fallen rice.
"Did you see that?" Old Man Li said proudly.
Li Datong was convinced and said with a smile: "Dad still has an idea."
The father and son went to the fields together. Old Li used a hoe to lift up the fallen rice. Li Datong followed behind and tied the fallen rice with rice leaves, and straightened the fallen rice row by row.
After working until after eight o'clock, Old Man Li went back to have breakfast with his hoe.
Walking on the ridge of the field, Old Man Li looked at the green and yellow rice and said happily: "God has provided us with food this year, and the weather is good, unlike last year when we were miserable due to drought."
"Dang-dang-dang!"
Suddenly, someone was beating a gong and running past in the distance.
Old Man Li muttered: "It's almost time for farming, so farmers and soldiers are not practicing right now."
When the father and son returned to the village entrance, they saw everyone in panic and two old men crying.
"What's wrong?" Li Datong went over and asked.
The man replied: "Long live the Lord passed away!"
Old Man Li had never read a book. Hearing that it was related to the emperor, he quickly asked: "What does death mean?"
"It's just that people died and ascended to heaven to become gods!" the man explained.
Old Man Li felt like he was struck by thunder. He staggered and almost fell down. He kept chanting: "Long live the Lord is gone. How will we live in the future? How will we live in the future?"
Li Datong said: "Dad, Long live the Lord is gone, and there is a new emperor."
Old Man Li burst out without warning and yelled at his son: "You know nothing, bastard. Only with Long Live Lord can we have a good life. Without Long Live Lord, these good days will come to an end! This good life will come to an end...
Wow wow wow wow!”
As he spoke, Old Man Li knelt down, buried his head between his knees and cried until he couldn't stop crying.
The last time I cried so hard was at a grievance meeting.
Li Datong helped his father go home and found that his mother was also crying. Two children at home who were not in school were watching curiously.
The old woman was crying and telling her past events.
She said that she also had a few acres of thin land in her hometown, and floods, droughts, and locusts were all over the place, so her family fled to Nanjing to seek refuge with relatives. She also said that her relatives were unreliable and only gave her a bowl of porridge. Her whole family worked as beggars in Nanjing and were bullied by local beggars.
The more I talked, the harder I cried. Finally, my eyes were dry from crying. She choked with sobs and said, "Didn't I say that Long Live Lord is a star descending to earth and can live ten thousand years? How can I say that if Long Live Lord is gone, life will be gone?"
There is nothing we can do. If we don’t sell this year’s food, I’m afraid we’ll go hungry next year.”
Li Datong looked at his crying parents. He couldn't understand this situation. The old emperor was gone and a new emperor was replaced. How could it be like the sky was falling?
He called the children to have breakfast, and then went to the vegetable field with a hoe to weed.
When passing by several houses, if there are elderly people at home, you can always hear faint cries.
After weeding home at noon, Li Datong found that lunch had been prepared, but his parents were missing. He asked his wife: "Where are my parents?"
"Going to town." His wife replied.
"What are you doing in the city?" Li Datong asked.
The wife explained: "I put on new clothes and brought some money and dry food, saying that I would wear sackcloth and mourn for the Long Live Lord. More than 20 old people in the village went there. The village chief was afraid of bad things and tried to persuade them.
No, I have no choice but to go along."
"They are so confused that they are afraid that they will be kicked out by the government!"
Li Datong didn't bother to have lunch, so he threw down his hoe and chased after him.
Along the way, Li Datong met several groups of old people, including some young people.
In the shops selling cloth by Xuanwu Lake and in Changganli, linen has been sold out. Many old people use home-spun linen and wear it as they head towards Nanjing.
The soldiers guarding the city gate didn't know whether to stop them or not. With so many people coming from all over the country, there might be trouble in the city.
But they didn't dare to stop him or even scold him, because they were here to mourn the emperor.