Shen Huan had not expected that the rebels would attack Ezhou.
When he unconsciously recited the phrase "Wang Qian's boat sailed down to Yizhou on the Yangtze River, and the king of Jinling lost his energy sadly", he was actually feeling a little pessimistic in his heart.
The Song Dynasty was founded for more than 300 years, and Lin'an was stationed in Lin'an for more than 130 years. The powerful annexations, the corruption of officialdom, and the collapse of the economic system... In short, the country was in decline, and all the civil servants knew it well.
It was precisely because of his thorough understanding, including understanding of the situation under Li Xia's rule, that Shen Huan could blurt out the sentence "The rebels will not touch the people."
As soon as the words were spoken, the old farmer in the room was stunned, wondering if a rebel who did not move the people could still be considered a rebel.
After a while, the old farmer remembered that when the Mongolian king personally conquered Ezhou, he also ordered that soldiers not be allowed to enter people's homes.
"Then...then how can we save Mr. Xian?"
"Let me hide for a while."
"Okay, okay." The old farmer didn't hesitate, but his movements were still very slow. He raised his hand and pointed toward the house.
"Then my husband will hide in..."
Shen Huan followed the old farmer's fingers and saw a broken table with several bamboo baskets next to it. There was a small room inside but there was only one bed. Other than that, there was nothing else and there was no wardrobe. A rice vat is an object that can be used for hiding.
"Hide to..."
The old farmer's slow talking voice also stopped.
Instead, someone outside shouted, "He entered this village!"
Shen Huan was so frightened that he ran to the old farmer's bed, lifted up the quilt and wrapped it around himself.
Only then did he realize that the mattress on the bed was made of straw, which was hard and stinging, and the tattered quilt covered his head. A sour and smelly smell hit his face, making him vomit and almost fainted. .
He felt that he was dead.
However, even after hiding under the quilt shivering for a long time, the rebel soldiers did not enter the house.
…
Hiding until evening, Shen Huan finally dared to get out of the sour-smelling quilt and saw the old farmer still sitting behind the stove, lighting a fire to cook.
The room was dark, and Shen Huan saw the old farmer setting out two bowls of rice, sat down generously, and said, "Thank you, husband."
The old farmer was stunned for a moment, chewed his lips, and seemed very unreasonable and unsure. He hesitated for a long time before softly saying, "My son ate..."
"It doesn't matter." Shen Huan smiled calmly. He reached into his sleeves to take out the money before he realized that his official robe had been thrown away, but he still picked up the bowl of rice on the table and said, "Don't worry, I will wait until I am out of trouble. I will be grateful."
To him, this bowl of rice was really not a big deal, so he just started eating it without a care.
This made the old farmer extremely worried. He could not bear to part with this bowl of rice, but he did not dare to stop his husband. He was in a dilemma. From time to time he glanced outside the door, worried about why his son still did not come back.
The rice has bran in it, and Shen Huan felt it was too coarse to swallow as soon as he put it in his mouth. He also mixed it with the vegetables on the table, but it didn't taste salty at all.
"My husband cooks without salt?"
"Salt is too expensive...taxes were added last month..."
Shen Huan was hungry after all. Although he found the food unpalatable, he still ate less than half of the bowl.
After that, he put down the bowl and leaned on the crack of the door to peek out. He gently pushed the door open a little and looked around, only to see bright lights at the entrance of the village in the distance, as if many people were gathering.
This scene scared him so much that he did not dare to go out easily, so he had to retreat back into the room and sit there, waiting for the Ezhou defenders to repel the rebels.
He and the old farmer didn't have much to talk about, and they didn't talk much all night. After sitting there until the middle of the night, his eyelids became heavier and heavier, and he finally fell into a deep sleep.
I don’t know how long I slept, but I heard someone talking faintly.
"The government said they would buy our grain for fifty cents per dou, and they gave us gold and silver. Where else can we redeem it? They robbed us of a year's harvest for nothing..."
They were all clichés, and Shen Huan was already tired of hearing them.
As if he thought he was in the court of the forwarding company, he murmured in his sleep: "Every year, rent and taxes are exempted, but peace cannot be exempted. Since the rent and taxes of you unscrupulous people are exempted, the ride price is not low, so don't make trouble for nothing..." "
He could blurt out this kind of official talk even in his dreams.
"No bullshit tax! Thirty yuan of annual coins are levied!"
A shout suddenly burst into his ears, and Shen Huan woke up with a start. He turned around and saw that there were several farmers standing next to him. In this late autumn, they were all wearing short skirts, which were open to reveal their thin skin.
"What is this for?"
Shen Huan just wanted to get up, but found that he had been tied up by Wu Hua Da, and said in shock, "You... are you rebels?"
"The army that rebelled against your mother, the dog officer, grandpa is the unruly man Zhongshun under your rule."
"It's not unruly people, it's not unruly people." Shen Huan looked around and found that there were no rebels among these peasants. He felt a little at ease and calmed down and said: "Brother Zhong, what are you going to do? Let me go immediately, I promise to let bygones be bygones and never punish you for your crime."
"Hey, you still want to punish me?"
"It is true that there is a war going on at the moment, but when the war is over, your crime of kidnapping an official of the imperial court will be serious. Your father is too old to follow you and escape to a foreign land, right?"
Facing these peasants who didn't know a word of Chinese characters, Shen Huan gradually became calm again, and a smile slowly appeared on his face.
As long as he is willing, he is the best at coaxing these people.
"Brother Zhong, you are a spirited man. I admire you very much. If you do what I do, I will protect your future."
Sure enough, someone was immediately frightened and said in a low voice to Zhongshun, "Brother Dashun, I think we can't really rebel if we kiss, right? That's a head-turning business..."
Shen Huan couldn't help but secretly said, "It's done."
These mud-legged people are so uninformed. No matter how dissatisfied they are with tax increases and peaceful harvests, as long as they are given some benefits, they will immediately become obedient citizens again.
"Your father was very helpful to me. I..."
Before Shen Huan finished speaking, he suddenly received a heavy punch in the face.
There was something fishy and sweet in his throat, and he felt a hard object in his mouth when he licked it with his tongue. When he spit it out, he saw that two teeth were missing, and then he felt excruciating pain.
He just felt that this young peasant was unreasonable.
"Old man..."
Looking up, Shen Huan suddenly found that there were several old farmers standing in the house, but he couldn't recognize which one was saving him.
Although I have been staying in this room from afternoon until now, I have neither forgotten to ask the old farmer his name nor even looked at him.
In the impression, there is only a stooped and dull figure, which is as featureless as all the honest and gullible farmers I have seen in my life.
Even a farmer who has never read can feel whether a person is sincere or not.
Zhong Shun looked down at Shen Huan and said, "Let's go and hand over this official to Tang Jun."
He actually wanted to say something to vent his inner anger.
Some emotions have risen to the edge of my throat.
Between taxes, corvées, land purchases, rising prices, and the imminent re-measurement of his family's land due to the issuance of the Public Land Law, life was really unbearable.
In order to have food to eat, I pawned the items in my home, but I still couldn't even afford salt.
But he couldn't tell.
The pain of being knocked to the bone and having the marrow sucked out, living like a pig or horse... pigs and horses can't describe it.
He could only use brute strength to drag the former high-ranking official out.
"You...do you really have no righteousness in your hearts?"
Along the way, Shen Huan struggled hard but couldn't get away. He couldn't comfort him with good words, and finally could only use words to encourage him.
"If you don't read poetry, don't you know etiquette? When Kublai Khan came to kill, the common people helped the Mongolian army cross the river with boats and boats. Now that the rebels are coming, the common people tie up their loyal ministers and sacrifice them... Oh my God, open your eyes. Look at these people!"
Zhong Shun was dragging Shen Huan hard, and when he heard this, he was furious. He finally stopped, turned around and cursed, "Fuck your mother!"
"Do you know what it means to be loyal to the emperor and serve the country?!" Shen Huan shouted: "Help the Meng Yuan and help the rebels. Do you know Grandpa Yue? Come back to the Ming Dynasty and restore the old China."
Ezhou is an important town. Yue Fei once stationed here. He was successively named the Founding Son of Wuchang County, the Founding Marquis of Wuchang County, and after the revolution, he was named the King of E. There is a temple for King Yue'e in the city.
It can be seen that Ezhou people highly respect Grandpa Yue.
As expected, Zhong Shun became anxious upon hearing this and forgot to continue walking. Instead, he wanted to argue with Shen Huan.
He clearly knows that Li is not Shen Huan
That's what I said, but how can a peasant who has never read it possibly be able to argue with a Jinshi***?
"The country is so powerful, but you...you are still only looking for petty profits and helping the evildoers do evil!"
Later, Shen Huan was left scolding.
He closed his eyes, raised his head, and looked so worried about the country and the people. He sighed sadly: "I know that everything will be in vain after I die, but I am not as sad as the nine states."
Several peasants who still wanted to sacrifice him lowered their heads, feeling a little guilty.
Although they are ordinary people, how can they really have no righteousness?
At this moment, the light of a torch shone in front of him.
"What a dog official of the Song Dynasty. He is full of poetry and morals. He ruined Duke Xuan of Jiaxuan, and is still ruining Yue Wumu and Lu Fangweng. I would like to ask you who is the person who robbed the people of the people, but turned around and gave it to Hu Lu. A new year's coin?! Loyalty to the king and service to the country? Only after I kill you, a polite scum, can I be called loyal to the king and serve the country!"
Although they haven't seen him yet and only heard his voice, the villagers have already felt the majesty of the coming person.
Suddenly, Shen Huan, who was talking about "righteousness" just now, knelt down first.
"The guilty officer Shen Huan respectfully welcomes Master Wang. The guilty officer has always opposed peace talks, but he cannot disobey his orders and has no choice but to..."
"That's enough! You can bully others, but you can't bully me. Someone, please take down this animal and sacrifice it to the flag tomorrow!"
In the darkness, rows of soldiers appeared in front, and someone stepped forward and held Shen Huan down.
Later, a general with three long beards and an elegant and majestic appearance stepped forward and took a look at the villagers. He said nothing but a rather honest statement.
"Tomorrow, fellow villagers will go to Qingshiji, and Master Wang will open a warehouse to put grain..."