When the villagers heard the old man's words, although they were very reluctant, they still put down their farm tools. The old man came to Shi Yuanji and said apologetically: "Young man, don't mind, they are just too scared, go to my house and talk about it." ”

The old man led the way and came to the door of a grass hut. He opened the door and got an unobstructed view of the room.

In the small mud thatched house, with two rough bamboo beds and a few simple pieces of furniture, it is not enough to describe the misery. The most conspicuous feature in the room was a knife hanging on the wall, with a smooth handle that had obviously been used for a long time. Shi Yuanji fixed his eyes and saw that it was actually the standard saber of the Dayu Imperial Court.

Jing Mu followed behind Shi Yuanji, hesitated for a moment, and still did not enter the house. Just gestured with his eyes, and stayed outside the door.

"You've been a soldier before?" Shi Yuanji walked into the thatched hut, not at all afraid.

"Yes, I'm a captain. The old man poured a bowl of water for Shi Yuanji, and looked out of the door again, his expression quite helpless. "Your colleague still won't come in, he's really afraid of me. ”

Shi Yuanji smiled bitterly and did not take the water: "To tell you the truth, I am also afraid of you, besides, I am not from the twenty-eight stars, it was His Majesty who asked me to come." ”

The old man was a little surprised, but immediately calmed down. He put down the bowl and sighed, the wrinkles on his face even more.

"I see, I see. The old man looked at the sword and looked dazed.

What do you understand? Shi Yuanji was puzzled.

"Would you like to hear a few stories from me, lad?"

"Uh...... Be all ears. Shi Yuanji was very confused by the old man's behavior, but the old man didn't make a fuss after all, so he was happy to push the boat with the water, after all, his target was the dragon pattern of the claw.

The old man's eyes were misty, and he fell into the memory.

"I fought in the Battle of the Burning Plains, and the sword was with me. Later, after the war, I returned home, got married, and gave birth to a son, which can be regarded as a complete life. ”

"The only pity is that the pension promised by the court to our veterans has been delayed, and in the end, only eighty percent was given. ”

Shi Yuanji's eyes widened in surprise: "Eighty percent, how many is eighty percent?"

The old man lamented again: "Four taels of silver." ”

Shi Yuanji was speechless, he rushed to the door, and at a glance he saw Jing Mu Qian waiting outside the door. The two didn't say a word, but the look in each other's eyes betrayed each other's thoughts.

Shi Yuanji's eyes were full of surprise and annoyance, but Jing Mujian's eyes were mixed with helplessness and indifference, as if everything was taken for granted.

Shi Yuanji was helpless, returned to the house, and waited for the old man's narration without saying a word.

"You don't have to embarrass him, he doesn't know. The old man seemed to have a low opinion on this, but his tone was slightly sad. "They have twenty-eight nakshatras, and they don't know anything about the army. ”

"Later, we learned that the court regretted it and seized the pension, so it was less. We went to reason, but we were told that we would be expelled from the army and that we had to fend for ourselves. ”

"I relied on those four taels of silver to buy a piece of land, and I planted it myself to support my family, so I could live at best. But who knows, this good life was just three years ago, and it was completely unbearable. ”

Looking at the old man's increasingly depressed face, Shi Yuanji also sighed: "Senior, listen to your accent, are you from Hedong? By the way, I am from Haitang Town." ”

"I'm from Absinthe, and it's only a few hundred miles away from your Haitang Town. The old man's face was smiling, but then he fell back into a state of misery. "I heard that the situation in your Haitang Town is better, there are still many yeoman farmers, and most of the tenants can still rent land to plant, and they can pay official rent and private rent. ”

"We can't do it in Absinthe, a lot of homesteaders have lost their land, and homesteaders have become tenants. When the landlords got the land and found that they didn't need so many tenants, they drove them away, and they became vagrants. ”

Shi Yuanji hurriedly asked, "Who annexed the land, and why did you annex so much land?"

"Hedong is the fief of the Dayu royal family, and it was all taken by members of the royal family. This thing started at least a hundred years ago, and in my generation, it was already a family of thousands of miles of fertile land. ”

"The Imperial Family?" Shi Yuanji was dumbfounded, he remembered what Hu Dan had sworn to say when Emperor Heavenly Mandate summoned him that day.

Social security is not guaranteed!

It turns out that such a society does not protect the law!" Shi Yuan Jixin said.

"Come with me. The old man looked at Shi Yuanji, with a kind smile on his face, took the saber from the wall, and walked towards the tomb mountain with Shi Yuanji.

The well wood outside the door couldn't avoid it, and just happened to meet the old man. Before the old man could say hello, Jing Mu Qian hid as if he had seen a ghost.

When Shi Yuanji saw this, his brows furrowed, he couldn't understand Jing Mujian's behavior. He didn't know that Jing Mu Qian was not afraid of the old man's claw identity, but he felt guilty.

Located on a hill in the southwest of the valley, dense mounds are scattered in every part of the hill. Shi Yuanji followed the old man here, and behind him, the villagers held the farm tools in their hands, staring at Shi Yuanji's every move, lest he hurt the old man.

Shi Yuanji raised his eyes and looked at the hill, and couldn't help but say, "These tombs are all newly erected?"

"yes, it's been around for less than a year. The old man's eyes moistened, and he could no longer suppress his sadness. "These are the people who fled with me, more than a thousand people, all gone. ”

The old man said solemnly: "Last year's severe drought, many places in Hedong reduced production, and the town of Absinthe had no harvest. In order to survive, our family had to buy the land by the local prince, but there was no way, so we sold cattle and farm tools, and left our hometown to escape the famine. ”

"Along the way, more and more people are fleeing the famine, eating less and less, and more and more people are dying of hunger. My wife died of starvation, and my son died of illness. At this moment, I thought, God, why don't you have long eyes, look at us. ”

"So that night, the wolf god communicated with me, and I willingly became a claw!"

The old man only used a few words to tell the experience of a year, but it made Shi Yuanji's heart tremble.

More than 1,000 displaced people have left one town in Absinthe, and how many are there in the entire eastern part of Hedong? In Haitang Town alone, I am afraid that more than 100 people will have to leave their hometowns to escape the famine. How many of them will die?

"When I was in the army, I had some methods of eating wild vegetables and tree bark, and I finally managed to survive the remaining dozens of people. As for the dead, we don't have the strength to bury them, and we won't be hungry enough to eat people like other displaced people. So, I used the spells of the Celestial Wolf Great God Cult to drive them and let them bring us to this place. ”

He looked back at the villagers behind him, and couldn't help but imagine that they walked, ate, and slept with the dead, just to be able to find a place to live.

Seeing the old man calmly tell these things, the villagers all had a familiar expression on their faces, and Shi Yuanji only felt creepy.

"You ...... Coming here with the dead?" Shi Yuanji's voice trembled, and he asked in a low voice.

Before the old man could speak, the villagers were furious, and the bold man shouted at Shi Yuanji.

"What's wrong with the dead? How can the dead be as bad as the living?"

"But no, how could we get here without them all this way?"

"If it weren't for these dead people to open the way, the officers and soldiers wouldn't have let us out of Hedong!"

Jing Mu Qian stayed away from the crowd, and when he heard the roar of the villagers, the expression on his face turned blue and red.

Of course, he was very aware of the disaster in Hedong, and he also knew about Ouyang Xun sending troops to stop the victims from entering Fenghao. But it's all between the big guys, and he's just doing what he's told. Just like now, Shi Yuanji's contact with the old man is also an order from the Emperor of Heavenly Mandate.

Thankfully, his hands had not yet been stained with the blood of innocents, and he hoped not to do so in the future.

"What do you mean that the officers and soldiers won't let you out of Hedong?" Shi Yuanji immediately asked after hearing the villagers' complaints.

"The imperial court has arranged a defensive line, and no one in Hedong is allowed to go out of the Hedong boundary. Otherwise......" The old man raised his hand, and the villagers fell silent again. He sighed heavily and sat down on the ground in a dejected manner: "I thank you very much, thank you for being willing to listen to me nag this. Many people don't want to listen to us at all. ”