When the woman opened the lid of her wooden pot, three children were already gathered around the stove, a half-year-old boy and two little girls.
The young man glanced at the four multigrain pancakes mixed with most of the bran in the pot, swallowed secretly, and his stomach rumbled twice, but he did not reach out. The two young ones did not care whether they were hot or cold.
Grabbing the pancake that had just come out of the pan, put it in your left hand and put it in your right hand, blowing on it and stuffing it into your mouth.
The woman grabbed one and handed it to the boy and said, "This is for you." The boy broke off half of it, and handed back the other half, saying, "Mom, this half is for you, and the rest is for dad."
After saying that, he took out another skinny dead mouse from his arms, handed it to his mother and said: "Mom, I caught this in the field. This beast was so hungry that it couldn't run away, so I grabbed it."
Already."
The woman's eyes were red, and she took the filial piety from her son and took it to the chopping board to wash it off. At this time, there was a noise in the yard and a shout was heard: "Is Mr. Tian here?"
The woman looked out of the wooden window in front of the stove, curled her lips, wiped her hands on her apron, and replied: "Why did the second brother have time to come here?" After saying that, she went out with a smile on her face.
Make a laugh.
The man surnamed Gou who entered the yard had a square face, big ears, and a shiny face. When he saw the woman coming out, he bowed his hands with a smile on his face and said, "Sister-in-law, Gou Er is polite. Is Brother Tian at home?"
Sister-in-law Tian returned the gift and said with a smile: "I went out to borrow food, but I haven't come back yet."
Gou Er said with a smile: "Sister-in-law, can you still find grain in Tongmayi County now? Where can I borrow it? I still want to go."
Sister-in-law Tian shook her head and said nothing. Gou Er took a step closer and said, "Sister-in-law, please give me some advice. Now that you have three little ones to feed, can you still survive? The Wang family has taken a fancy to that piece of river beach land, so let the eldest brother get rid of it.
.”
Sister-in-law Tian shook her head and smiled bitterly: "I am my aunt, you should tell your elder brother about this important matter."
After hearing this, Gou Er shook his head and said: "Who in our house doesn't know that the elder sister-in-law is the head of the family! Isn't the elder brother listening to you? Even though you are a woman, you can still run horses on your arms, and you can spit and nail!"
After hearing this, Sister Tian just shook her head. Gou Er bent down and whispered: "Sister-in-law, listen to my advice. I just came from Mr. Wang's house. He said he would give you twenty acres of land for free. Take it to Dongshan Mountain
In exchange for sixty acres of land, we will also give your family three hundred catties of wheat and one hundred catties of sorghum!"
"With these four hundred kilograms of grain, we can survive the famine years and slowly save for the remaining days. Now that there is no grain, how can your family survive this year?"
A look of determination suddenly appeared on Mrs. Tian's thin face. She straightened her back and said, "I also plan to take the land deeds with me to escape the famine! If I can survive the winter, will there still be a drought next year? By then, the land at my house will be as big as the land on the mountain.
One hundred acres!”
After Gou Er heard this, his face drooped and he sneered: "Master Wang said, there is no food in Shanxi right now - where can you escape to?"
After speaking, he looked the woman up and down and said disdainfully: "My sister-in-law used to be so strong, but now she has only a handful of bones. Do you think you can get out of Mayi County?"
After hearing this, Mrs. Tian's face became ugly, and the courtyard fell into silence for a while. Gou Er licked his lips and tried to persuade him again. Hearing someone say outside the low wall of the courtyard: "Gou Er, what are you doing at my house?
"
Gou Er turned around to look, hurriedly bent down and said with his hands in his hands: "Brother is back. I have nothing to do. I just came from Squire Wang's house——"
Before he finished speaking, the owner of the Tian family who walked to the gate interrupted and said, "Don't say any more! Even if I starve to death, I won't sell the land! The ancestors are buried there. Who can sell the land left by the ancestors?"
Let’s go!”
After hearing these categorical words, Gou Er swallowed, cupped his hands and left the Tian family. The woman looked at her man and saw that his hands were empty, and the fire of hope in her eyes flickered and then went out.
Seeing that his father was sweating profusely after leaving, the boy at home handed him a water ladle covered with thick string, and the man drank the water in the ladle in one gulp.
After taking a deep breath, he said to Sister-in-law Tian: "We have a journey!"
After hearing this, Mrs. Tian's face suddenly lit up and she asked, "What's the way?"
The man said: "I heard from my uncle's sixth brother that porridge is made in the county! Let's pack our luggage and go to the county town. Sixth brother said that the emperor's imperial envoy was watching. The grain officer cooked the porridge, and the imperial envoy put it in the pot.
If the chopstick falls over, kill his head!"
After hearing this, Sister Tian glanced at her children, and said with a wry smile: "Can the court take care of us until next autumn? There was a drought last year, and all the grain reserves were used up. There is nothing left at home."
The man said: "Take it one step at a time! Eat porridge to survive first! Look at my baby's belly. It can't be pulled out after eating bran. It's so swollen! Are your legs and feet swollen? If you continue to endure it, we and the earth will not be able to survive!"
"
Brother Tian's words made sense, and Sister-in-law Tian, who loved her family, could only shed tears and turned the last bit of old grain in the house into solid food. The family embarked on a journey to survive, carrying quilts and reed mats on their backs.
For thousands of years, generations of ancestors on this land have been reincarnated like this. They face the loess, endure the pain, and only seek the humble pleasure of fullness. When encountering natural or man-made disasters, they do not blame others, but only think about
Strive for your own way to survive.
...
In June of the thirteenth year of Wanli, Zhang Siwei had confirmed that most of his hometown had suffered a severe drought that had not been seen in decades.
Guangling, Naoxian and Shuoping counties are among the top three worst affected by drought in Shanxi. It is a typical spring and summer drought, with no rain falling for more than 100 days and three days. There are thousands of miles of bare land and no vegetation. Shanxi Governor Yu Zhao Shangzhuo said
"There was no snow last winter, and not a drop of rain fell until May this year. The wheat fields were exhausted, and Rao Ji's family could only make ends meet. People died in the morning and in the evening, and they were scattered in all directions in the ravines. There is no hope of a famine."
This is why”.
Starting from the beginning of June, the Shanxi government has begun a comprehensive porridge and grain distribution, and urgently requested the court to allocate grain relief.
Although the drought in North Zhili has eased and the harvest will not be cut off, a large-scale production reduction is inevitable. In addition, the harvest in Shanxi is almost complete, which shocked the government and the opposition.
Memorials and letters about the disaster in Shanxi came like a snowflake, and Zhang Siwei no longer had the good mood to reach the top of the civil service. He only had one thought in his mind every day, transporting grain!
There is plenty of food. Soybeans and sorghum in the Northeast are full of government treasury, and there is enough rice to support three years of famine in Zhili and Huguang areas in the south. However, Shanxi has already released grain due to drought last year, and it is difficult to support it now.
The only way to change the situation is to transport food in quickly.
Zhu Yijun has ordered Hou Yuzhao to be dismissed from his post and investigated - last year, grain was released, but this guy did not try his best to replenish the warehouse, which finally led to a huge disaster. The tragedy of "painting corpses, cutting flesh and eating" has already occurred in Guo County, where the disaster was most serious
, this news made the face of Zhu Yijun, a time traveler, swollen, and made him even more angry.
Sanjin has been an easy-to-defend but difficult-to-attack place since ancient times. It is located on a plateau with basins in the middle. It is surrounded by mountains and rivers, with Taihang to the east and Luliang to the west. There are only a few roads connecting it with the Central Plains and the capital.
Due to a severe drought, the Shanxi section of the Yellow River has almost stopped flowing, making it difficult for large ships to sail. Transporting grain by small boats will not help. What's more, the grain unloaded from Mengjin Ferry still needs to be transported to the disaster area through Taihangxing and Chiguanxing.
On the one hand, there were mountains of grain outside the province, and on the other hand, there were hungry people inside the province who were crying for food. Not to mention the sour taste of the emperor and officials. Zhu Yijun even held a court meeting and allocated millions of internal funds to lure businessmen and people from all over the country to transport grain to Shanxi.
The grain tax exemption is also appropriate, but it was waived last year, and the surplus grain left for the people had been used up at the beginning of summer - Sister Tian's family is a typical example. Fortunately, sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn, etc. have been added in recent years. Crop promotion has achieved some success, otherwise the fields will be starved to death this spring.
For a time, both the government and the public were devastated by the Shanxi disaster. The emperor sighed every day in the inner palace, worrying about how to transport grain to the Jin Dynasty. Zhang Siwei was already weak, so he forced himself to work while he was sick. In less than half a month, his mouth was broken. There was a circle of bubbles.