Xian Yu Zhongtong's entourage began to pack up their things, planning to leave for Yizhou tomorrow morning.

Before leaving, he sent a letter to Chang'an, and asked the officials to transfer Huang Wenjin, the commander of Qingcheng County, to join the army as Sitian of Shuzhou Assassin Prefecture, and was in charge of farmland reclamation in various counties in Shuzhou.

That night, Gu Qing made a few good dishes for Xian Yu Zhongtong at his home, Xian Yu Zhongtong was quite knowledgeable about etiquette, and brought a few jars of good wine to the door, Gu Qing made braised fish, roast venison, steamed wild boar, and ate Xian Yu Zhongtong was very addicted, feeling that these days in Shiqiao Village were in vain, and he knew that Gu Qing had this skill, and he would definitely come to eat every day.

In the end, Gu Qing mysteriously served a plate of fried beef, and Xian Yu Zhongtong was stunned after taking the first bite.

"It's ......"

"Mountain chicken, the villagers go up to the mountains to hunt, and give it to the kid." Gu Qingmian did not change his face and talked nonsense.

Xian Yu Zhongtong was suddenly, and his face did not change his color: "It turned out to be mountain chicken, the entrance is tender and chewy, delicious!" Good nephew and good craftsmanship. ”

The attitude of self-deception quickly won Gu Qing's favor, everyone's sense of morality and values should be on the same level, such a person is easy to deal with.

The dishes are fired in the porcelain kiln, and the wine cup is also burned by the house, and the indigo wine cup is slightly rippling at the bottom of the wine cup, and the slightly cloudy wine reflects a dreamlike light in the dim light of the oil lamp.

Xian Yu Zhongtong took the wine cup and looked at it carefully, and exclaimed: "Good porcelain, good porcelain!" The wonderful thing in the world is unparalleled in the world, how can this thing not be heard and used by the Son of Heaven? ”

Gu Qing said with a smile: "Uncle Xianyu, the foolish nephew asked the kiln worker to load two boxes of porcelain, and there are dishes, dishes and bottles, which have been handed over to your entourage, which can be regarded as a little heart from the juniors." ”

Xian Yu Zhongtong said happily: "Thank you nephew, you and I are like our own family, and the old man will not be polite to you, and I am ashamed." ”

After speaking, Xian Yu Zhongtong sighed, looked eastward, and held up Yao and said: "Such a subtle thing, the old man only wishes that the Holy Son of Heaven in Chang'an City will use it as soon as possible, if the Son of Heaven does not smell it, how can the old man dare to use it before the Son of Heaven?" The porcelain of the virtuous nephew is not designated as tribute porcelain for a day, and the old man does not use this porcelain for a day. Subordinate to Shuzhou in the southwest, I wish His Majesty the Son of Heaven Kangda Shunyi, and the society will be ten thousand years. ”

Gu Qing was stunned for a moment, and didn't react for a while.

So, now it's time for the banquet to show loyalty? Is this a necessary process for the official banquet of Datang?

Whether it's or not, it's always right to do it.

Gu Qing also hurriedly raised his lamp to respect, with deep feelings and a dull mouthful.

…………

The guests and hosts enjoyed themselves and went to sleep.

Gu Qing and Xian Yu Zhongtong don't have much in common, they only have common interests.

Whether it is from the biological age or psychological age or the time difference between thousands of years, the two have a deep generation gap, so they can only talk about some topics that men like, such as the wind and snow in Chang'an, such as the anecdotes of the courtiers in Chang'an, and so on.

We chatted late into the night, and finally had a good time.

Gu Qing drank a lot of wine, lay on the bed and fell asleep quickly, not long after falling asleep, at midnight, a heart-rending cry suddenly came from the east end of the village, the cry was like a cuckoo crying blood, the sound broke the intestines, echoing in the quiet night sky.

Gu Qing still didn't wake up until the footsteps and chattering outside became louder and louder, and someone patted his door when someone passed by Gu Qing's door, and Gu Qing finally woke up.

Gu Qing, who was woken up, had a very bad temper, and he didn't like anything, so he got up and went out, staring at his red eyes, planning to beat a few villagers who were not long-eyed.

When I opened the door, I found that many torches were lit at the east end of the village, and it seemed that the whole village had been woken up, and everyone had gathered there.

Gu Qing's heart tightened, and he hurriedly quickened his pace and hurried over.

The prestige was slowly established, Gu Qing arrived at the place where the crowd gathered, everyone automatically and consciously got out of the way, Gu Qing walked in and saw a group of women and children kneeling in the center of the crowd, all of whom were villagers in the village.

Gu Qing was confused, and grabbed a familiar villager and said, "What happened?" ”

The villagers explained gloomily: "Someone just came to the village to report that the men of these families are dead, and last month the Tibetan thieves committed Yaozhou, Jiannan Province, and these men joined the army and died on the battlefield. ”

Gu Qing was speechless.

Shiqiao Village is a village of the elderly, a widow's village, an orphan village, many young children are unsupervised, they all grow up eating hundreds of meals, and the children who grow up are not willing to die in the barren village, so they go out to join the army to eat military rations, and there are also families who marry their mother-in-law and have children, and then go out to join the army after leaving seeds for the family, such as these families in front of them.

Most of those who joined the army died in battle, and only a few made it back alive, but most of them were crippled for life, such as Feng Aweng and several other veterans in the village.

The saddest thing in life is that in order to survive, you have to go to the road of death.

What is even more sad is that this path was not chosen by them voluntarily, and they did not want to be warriors.

In the middle of the crowd, several middle-aged women knelt on the ground and wept, and ignorant young children stood beside them, blinking innocently, looking curiously at the adults around them, who did not understand why the adults had suddenly become so sad, let alone what they had lost.

The atmosphere was very oppressive, and only the women's cries could be heard, and several widows kept comforting them and wiping their tears with them.

Feng Aweng didn't know when he stood by Gu Qing's side and sighed heavily.

"There is always this kind of bad news every few years, but there are always people who keep going to join the army, joining the army can earn military food, can exchange money, if you are lucky not to die, you can finally keep the family food and clothing, if you die in battle, you can also earn tens of hundreds of dollars for your family, it can be regarded as doing your last effort for this family......" Feng Aweng shook his head gloomily.

Gu Qing quietly looked at the woman kneeling on the ground, they were already widows.

"Feng Aweng, Datang is now a conscription system, right? Can villagers who have joined the army be recalled? ”

"There is a time limit for recruitment, and unless they are dead or disabled and can no longer go to war, they can be sent back early. The old man was sent back because he was disabled. Most of the villagers go out to join the army for five or ten years, and if the deadline is reached, the battalion can distribute money and food to allow them to return. ”

Gu Qing pondered for a long time, and said slowly: "Feng Aweng, you ask your neighbors to bring a message to those villagers who have joined the army, if there are people who have reached the deadline, let them come back, the village is now living a better life, there is no shortage of food or clothing, and there is no need to work hard for a bite of food." ”

Feng Aweng nodded: "Okay." ”

Taking a deep look at the women who were crying again, Gu Qing sighed and turned to leave.

Back at home, Gu Qing couldn't sleep anymore, sat in front of the dim oil lamp in a daze, and sat like this all night.

In the early morning, just after dawn, there was another cry in the village.

Gu Qing hurriedly went out and saw that the villagers were running towards the east, and not long after, someone ran to tell Gu Qing that after the funeral last night, a woman was hanging from a beam, and she was found early in the morning, leaving a five-year-old child.

Maybe it's because the husband and wife are in deep love and can't stand the pain of losing their husbands, or maybe they don't have the courage to continue living. Man, after all, is dead.

Gu Qing raised his head and looked at the gray sky, a few raindrops falling on his face, cold and biting.