There are many such children, all of whom are shuttling through the damp and muddy streets, but all of them are yellow and thin.

There are very few such people in Chang'an City, but here, they are often like a swarm.

They squatted to keep watch over the passing merchants, or at some food stalls, and flocked to the food stalls whenever they saw someone buying cooking cakes.

They are still children, but they are different in height, ragged, dirty, all of them are skinny, in this cold winter, barefoot in the mud, they don't feel cold, and there is a child, only Chen Zhengtai is as tall as his waist, and there is a baby girl behind him, the baby girl is crying, but it is tied to his back with a strip of cloth.

They are both bold and timid, bold is to come in a swarm, and timid is to stop very smartly once they get close to the distance two steps in front of Li Shimin and the others.

They did not dare to provoke these merchants, because they were still children, and if the merchants were more vicious and used their fists and kicks against them, no one would support them.

So they kept their distance, and watched from a distance, and their eyes fell directly on the steamed cakes, and they did not dare to stretch out their hands to ask for them, but as if they were waiting for the owner of the steamed cakes to be full, and to leave some scraps of soup to be cold, they could pick them up and feast on them.

Li Shimin looked down at them.

They didn't dare to make eye contact with Li Shimin's eyes.

For a moment, Li Shimin felt a little dizzy in his head.

When he was young, he also saw such people when he was in Taiyuan, but there were not many such people, it was a very distant memory, not to mention that Li Shimin at that time was still very young, it was the age of no heart and lungs, and he would not take these people in his eyes, and even felt that they were very annoying.

Now that he is the Son of Heaven, the people around him are either eunuchs or ministers, even if they have the lowest status, they are also powerful soldiers, these people are very well maintained, occasionally some of them have rough skin and thick meat, and they also have big bellies, and the clothes they wear, the worst and worst are also well-cut cloth clothes, not to mention those silk satin.

Li Shimin subconsciously put a steamed cake in his mouth and chewed it.

This steamed cake should have a little salt, and the person who sold the cooking cake was quite conscientious, and the cooking cake was quite chewy, not to mention that Li Shimin was also a little hungry in his stomach.

It's just that...... Countless pairs of eyes looked at him, and they subconsciously smacked their lips as they watched him put the pancake in his mouth.

The child carrying the baby on his back had to shake his body constantly because the baby was constantly crying, and his mouth was slurred with words of comfort.

Li Shimin inexplicably felt that this steamed cake had no taste at all at this time, the taste was the same as chewing wax, and even his heart seemed to be blocked by something.

Li Chengqian was behind, he ate a bite of steamed cakes, he was used to brocade clothes and jade food, this pancake was extremely rough for him, only one bite was eaten, and he spit it out, it was unpalatable, and he directly threw away the steamed cake in his hand.

As soon as the steamed cake was thrown on the muddy ground, the children suddenly boiled.

A few of the older children, like dogs, picked up the mud-covered steamed cakes and roared away with a group of children, who shouted for joy and like victorious generals, to take refuge in the corners of the streets to share the spoils.

Li Shimin: "......"

Li Shimin silently looked at the scene in front of him, but his brows were deeply twisted.

Zhang Qian, who was behind him, reluctantly smiled and said, "Your Majesty, look at these children, it's strange and pitiful." ”

Li Shimin pursed his lips and only nodded with a heavy heart.

The man who stood behind the stall selling cooking cakes said: "Guest officer, don't pity them, you can't be pitiful if you want to be pitiful, in this world, there are many such children, and now that prices have risen sharply, how much money can their parents earn?" Where to feed them, they are all thrown on the street, let them beg for food, if the guest officer is kind, there will be more such children, they can't be counted, can the guest officer help one, help ten eight, can you help one thousand? Don't pay attention to them, they see that the guest officer ignores them, and they will disperse in a hurry, if you dare to come and take food, you need to be fiercer than them, and they will run away. ”

The merchant was obviously accustomed to this, and with numbness on his face, it seemed to the merchant that the world should be like this.

Li Chengqian, who was standing on the side, finally had some sympathy, he watched the steamed cakes he had lost being snatched by the children, and he felt a little uncomfortable, so he glared at the merchant angrily and scolded: "What do you know about you hard-hearted thing?" ”

Seeing that Li Chengqian was angry, the merchant grinned and showed his yellow teeth, and said unhurriedly: "Hard-hearted, this is too wrong for me." I was born here by urinating, and I see this kind of thing all day long, and I can barely make ends meet, isn't it a common thing? How did you become hard-hearted? In this world, there should be people who are rich and rich, and some people who are hungry, this is what the Buddha said, who let himself not accumulate virtue in his previous life? But if you want me to say, this Buddha taught everyone to do good, and it's not right. You see, like a few guest officials, dressed in fine clothes, if you want to do good, it's not easy, add some sesame oil to the temple, buy a few cooking cakes and reward those children, isn't this good? In the next life, he will be reincarnated, and he will still be a rich and noble family. But like me, I can't eat enough, I have old and young, if I am not hard-hearted, then my daughter will also go to the street to beg for food? In order to support my family, I am not hard-hearted and do evil things, can I live? Therefore, as the Buddha said, I will still be a poor and lowly person in the next life, and I will not be able to turn over in my life. As for the guest officials, rest assured, you have been a prince for all generations. ”

His words are somewhat sarcastic, but more like self-deprecation.

He then added, "Okay, don't get in the way of business." If I can't sell this bread today, I won't even be poor, and I will become a thief, or beg for food on the street, and I will really die and fall into hell. ”

When Li Shimin heard this, he was also angry with this merchant, but at this time, he ...... The anger vanished at once.

He didn't say a word from beginning to end, but Li Chengqian was very dissatisfied, and hummed in his mouth, in fact, he did find that he seemed to be powerless to refute, but he just refused to admit defeat.

Li Shimin said at this time: "I will buy all the cooking cakes you have here." ”

The merchant didn't plan to deal with them anymore, but when he heard this, he immediately cheered up, and a surprised smile appeared on his face: "Really? Guest, you really take care of business......"

As if he was afraid that Li Shimin would regret it, the merchant quickly poured all the steamed cakes in the steamer into the lotus leaves and quickly wrapped them.

Li Shimin couldn't see an expression on his face, and only looked at Chen Zhengtai: "Pay." ”

Chen Zhengtai was still full of emotion just now, and now when he heard the word pay, his heart suddenly cooled again.

Dare to love this journey, I will pay professionally!

Li Shimin also seemed to feel a little overwhelmed, so he added: "I didn't bring any money." ”

Chen Zhengtai couldn't say anything, so he quickly withdrew the money and paid it to Li Shimin.

So Zhang Qian held the steamed cake and was speechless for a while.

Li Shimin looked at the child carrying the baby girl on his back, the child was squatting barefoot on the corner of the street eating some steamed cake crumbs given to him by the eldest child, he licked a few bites, and then put them in his mouth, reluctant to swallow them, until the steamed cake crumbs were melted, he smacked his lips, and looked very enjoyed.

The baby girl behind him began to cry again, so he untied the rope that was tied to him, put the baby girl in his arms, and coaxed her in a low voice, while pinching some steamed cake crumbs and putting them in the baby's mouth.

The baby girl was like a lion fighting a rabbit, and her mouth was sucking the child's fingers at once, and she didn't let go, she didn't cry, but she bit and refused to let go, and her nose made a humming sound.

Maybe it's because the baby girl gave birth to baby teeth, and the baby teeth bit the boy's fingers, and the boy bared his teeth in pain, scolding the baby girl while comforting: "Also, what, the second brother gave us more, don't bite, don't bite." ”

When the boy had finished feeding the baby girl, the baby girl seemed to be hungry even after eating all the steamed crumbs, so she began to cry again.

The boy had no choice but to tie her back to his back and walk out into another street.

All this ...... Li Shimin can see clearly, his eyesight is very good, after all...... He is a master of riding and archery.

Subconsciously, Li Shimin paced and chased after the boy.

His steps were unsettling, as if he didn't want to frighten the boy.

Everyone didn't know what Li Shimin wanted to do, but when they saw Li Shimin like this, they had no choice but to follow obediently.

Only Zhang Qian was the most pitiful, carrying a large number of steamed cakes behind him, tired and panting.

Further on, there is the canal.

On the banks of the canal, there are countless low thatched houses, which are so connected that they are too many to count.

The boy came here, carrying the baby girl on his back, and went to a hut, which was very small, and he first said hello, and then a thin woman came out, and relieved the boy from the back, and the boy went to the shed, and played with himself.

The baby girl was still crying, and the woman began to coax, and she could faintly hear that if your father came back from work, he might get a few dollars, and then he could buy yellow rice and porridge to drink.

As soon as the boy outside heard that he wanted to drink porridge, he suddenly became energetic, and he chattered, and shouted with joy in his mouth: "Drink porridge, drink porridge......"

Li Shimin only stood far away, looking at the endless thatched hut.

After half a ring, he looked back at Chen Zhengtai and said, "Why are the people gathered here?" ”

"This ......," Chen Zhengtai blinked and said, "Students have to ask." ”

He really doesn't know, I'm a decent person.

But apparently, His Majesty wanted to know, so ...... You have to ask.

…………

Fifteen thousand words a day, who says it's easy? In fact, many times the tiger wants to be lazy, but I am afraid that everyone is anxious, and I am afraid that once the tiger is written less, it is not easy to insist, but persistence also needs motivation, some readers told me, do not ask for votes, everyone does not know what the tiger needs, so give the ticket to others, the tiger is an ordinary person, but also grew up eating grains, and the ticket is also needed to subscribe! Finally, thank you all for continuing to enjoy reading Tiger books!