For the sake of safety, but also to avoid excessive "population loss" on the way, the Central Taiwan Military Department and the Household Department asked for the consent of Xin Er, and from the garrison of Wangcheng, 500 people each were drawn from the garrison of Wangcheng, and they said that they were "escorts" or "escorts", and they set off with the families of these former camp households.

The officers who led the team were Cao Fei's favorite general Cao Hui and Xin Er's subordinate general Lan Baozhang.

Sending these family members to Shuofang is also a credit, and this is also Cao Fei's love for Cao Hui, so he specially asked for such an opportunity to make meritorious contributions. Cao Hui followed Xin Er to fight in Qinzhou, Xin Er knew his person, knew that he was not a reckless person, so he gave Cao Fei this favor, but sending these family members to Shuofang was an important task, only led by Cao Fei, Xin Er was not at ease, because Lan Baozhang was also sent out.

Coupled with the soldiers, a total of more than 10,000 people, driving hundreds of thousands of sheep and horses, the team is mighty, out of the Xiyuan City Day, not only attracted the Xiyuan City full of residents to see the lively, that is, the middle city, the old city, the north city, the East Garden City, there are also a large number of people crowded to watch.

Xin Er also personally came to the tower in Zhongcheng and watched them go north.

Fu Qiao, Tang Ai, Yang Chao, Yang Fu, Huang Rong and others are all from Xin Er.

The weather was sunny and cloudless.

The morning sun was already quite scorching, and the sun was down, and the green grass and trees outside the city were wilted.

At the end of the north side, the valley water that joins Inonozawa, and the rivers crisscrossing the east and west of the city glow white in the sun, like a ribbon of brocade. Looking to the southwest, a little deep darkness in the distance can be faintly seen, that is the Qilian Mountains that are majestic and continuous, nearly thousands of miles long, now it is also called "South Mountain", and is called "North Mountain" Guyin to the north of the Dunhuang line corresponding to the several mountain ranges, the north of the South Mountain, the two feet of the North Mountain, the place where the water and grass are abundant, the official and private pastures one after another, are the main livestock breeding grounds in Dingxi, and the animals that are "loaned" out this time are mostly transferred from these two places a few days ago; Looking to the northeast, under the blue sky, a touch of yellow jumps into view, this is the only place to go to Shuofang, the desert between Guyin and Shuofang.

Retract your gaze from afar, and look closer outside the city.

About 100 foot soldiers waving red flags, led by Lan Baozhang, led the way, and the family members who moved to Shuofang lined up in a line and followed. The line of 10,000 people was very long, and it stretched out for several miles. In the middle of the family team, at intervals, a group of foot soldiers was arranged, and the task of these foot soldiers was to restrain the formation of the family queue and maintain the "law and order" within the family members, after all, these family members were all camp households, and they had been in close contact with the army since childhood, and there was no shortage of fierce and fierce people. On either side of the family procession, hundreds of cavalry rode their horses. At the back of the family queue was a marching formation of 100 people on foot, and Cao Hui was here.

At the end of the whole queue, and where the noise was greatest, the dust was billowing and obscuring the day.

The hundreds of thousands of sheep and horses that were distributed to the families of the former camp families are all here.

But why did they separate the sheep and horses from the brigade of the families of the former campers? The reason is simple, it is for the convenience of travel and management. More than 2,000 families are home to each family, and they are responsible for driving and caring for these livestock. A total of 1,000 soldiers and horses were allocated to Cao Hui, and the foot soldiers were all in the middle and front of the team, and there were still 200 cavalry left. The 200 cavalry followed outside this caravan of cattle.

Seeing the livestock team, Xin Er unconsciously remembered a dispute between the officials of the Central Taiwan Dynasty when they distributed livestock to the families of these former camp households.

A small number of central and Taiwanese officials suggested that it would be better to wait for the people to arrive in Shuofang and then distribute livestock to them.

However, this proposal was opposed by the majority of Chinese and Taiwan officials who participated in the discussion.

The reason for the opposition is: Guyin to Shuofang, not only the road is far, and there is a vast arid desert area, people through this desert area is still difficult to walk, not to mention sheep, horses, it is conceivable that on the way, there will be a lot of livestock to die, so if you wait until Shuofang, and then divide the livestock to the people, it is equivalent to the dead animals on the road, to be borne by Dingxi, for example, originally took out 10,000 sheep, but died 1,000 heads, and only 9,000 heads were divided, and when the "principal and interest" was collected in the following year, It can only be collected according to 9,000 heads, and the 1,000 heads that die must not be counted, and the "country" will suffer a lot of losses because of this, so that it is better to divide the livestock in Guyin, so that first, the loss of the state is avoided, and secondly, let the families of these former campers see with their own eyes and touch the sheep and horses distributed to them, and they can also let them raise their strength to go to Shuofang to settle down.

The reason for the former objection, Xin Er disagreed, and the reason for the latter objection, Xin Er thought about it and felt that it made sense.

Therefore, it was decided to adopt the latter opinion, and it was only then that yesterday there was a grand occasion of dividing sheep and horses in Xiyuan City.

But then again, by distributing the animals to the families of these camps, it is indeed passing on the losses of the "state" to them. This is not in line with Xin'er's original intention of "loving the people", especially sympathizing with the poor, but it doesn't hurt, anyway, the principal and interest will be collected in the next year, and the next year will be the year after that, and look at the breeding situation of the families of these former farmers, and then it is not too late to discuss how to collect the principal and interest.

The front is the people's procession, and the latter is the sheep and horses.

The people's procession has been out of sight, and the procession of sheep and horses has not yet passed through the middle city of Guyin.

Xin Er stood in the city tower, watched for a long time, and sighed.

Yang Chao asked strangely: "Duke Ming, this is the beginning of the important government of the Shi family to organize the people and set up the Lang General's Mansion, and it has been successfully implemented, so it should be joyful, but why does the Duke of Ming sigh?" ”

Xin Er pointed to the direction of the people who were guarding the people who were going away by the infantry cavalry, and then pointed to the sheep and horses that were being guarded by the soldiers and were passing through the city of Zhongcheng, and said: "In ancient times, the people were called 'herdsman', and raising sheep and horses was also called 'shepherd'. ”

Yang Chao groaned and replied: "Those who are in power, every move, every policy and policy are related to all the people, and those who are herdsmen should be careful about the people, only in this way can there be benevolent government." ”

Yang Chao's words did not answer Xin Er's question positively, but just a sentence to discuss the sense of responsibility that politicians should have.

Huang Rong said: "Respect and humility, this person is also human." 'Those who work hard govern people, and those who work hard govern people'. The small people are ignorant, the ears of laborers, in this troubled times, if there is no protection of the Ming Prince, they can't even be the master of their own lives, and they think that they are not sheep, but also similar. ”

Xin Er asked Fu Qiao, Tang Ai, Yang Fu, etc., and said, "Old Fu, thousands of miles, strange truth, what do you think?" ”

Fu Qiao probably has accepted the reality of begging for his wife and sister as a concubine, and gave up resisting, compared to a few days ago, his mood was much calmer, he touched his beard, and replied: "'Heaven and earth are not kind, and all things are used as dogs', all things are born with no superiority, we are so respected, they are so inferior, and they are so humble, so how much they read." Those who work hard certainly govern people, but it seems inappropriate to compare the small people to cattle and sheep. ”

Tang Ai and Yang Fu did not express their views.

One of them only pays attention to current affairs and the military, and the other is a down-to-earth person who is immersed in work, and he is not interested in anything else.

Xin Er looked at the team of sheep and horses outside the city, and was silent for a long time.

Tang Ai asked, "Ming Gong, what are you thinking?" ”

"I have a word, send it to Qing and wait."

Tang Ai said: "Ming Gong, please speak." ”

"Remember: water can carry a boat, or it can capsize. The people, the water, too. Xin Er looked at Huang Rong and said, "Jing Huan, you can't look down on 'Xiaomin'!" Remembering an incident he had read in the history books in his previous life, he pondered for a while and ordered, "Jing Huan, you will play the Queen Mother tomorrow, please erect a stone tablet with sixteen characters in the three provinces and the state, county and county officials in the country." ”

Huang Rong asked respectfully: "Dare to ask Ming Gong, which sixteen words?" ”

"Erlu, the people's fat and the people's ointment. The people are easy to abuse, and the heavens are difficult to deceive. ”

When Fu Qiao and the others heard these sixteen words, they all agreed, and their eyes all fell on Xin Er's face.

Xin Er was dressed in civilian clothes, dressed no different from his usual leisure time, his head was wrapped in a black curtain, and he was wearing a red pleated hakama, but because of these sixteen words that were deafening, or "contrary to the concept of the corporal at the time", Fu Qiao and other words that no one expected, he was at this moment, with his hand on the hilt of the sword, standing upright on the high city floor, no matter whether Fu Qiao and others were stunned or surprised by the sixteen words, or could not understand, and no matter their expressions were different, in their minds, they all felt that there seemed to be a different change from his usual.

……

The procession of sheep and horses finally crossed the outside of Midtown.

Xin Er and others went down to the city tower, returned to the official office, and although Huang Rong did not agree with the sixteen words proposed by Xin Er, he still obeyed the order and played the monument the next day, and did not mention it.

It is only said that under the leadership of Cao Hui, the family members, sheep and horses of those camps left the city for two days and entered the desert on this day.

The desert is already dry, and it is the middle of summer, which is even hotter. Although he had made sufficient preparations and brought a large amount of drinking water with him, this water was not enough at all, especially after arriving at the predetermined place of water intake, only to find that a spring that should have existed had dried up, and the water was becoming more and more insufficient. But after three days in the desert, large numbers of sheep and horses died of thirst.

As the only male in his family, Chen La followed the ranks of sheep and horses, and watched the sheep and horses distributed to his family decrease day by day.

Dead sheep and horses could not be carried, except for some meat that was used as a spare, and the rest could only be thrown away in the desert.

After a difficult trek for half a month, in the afternoon of this day, the Helan Mountains were finally in sight.

I couldn't reach the bottom of the mountain that night, and stayed in the desert for another night.

In the middle of the night, someone ran to the Yangma's station, found Chen La, and told him to hurry to see his mother and sister.

Chen La went to the residence of the family members in a panic and saw Huang and Chen Changge, it turned out that the desert was hot during the day and cold at night, and Huang was old and weak, so he couldn't adapt to the temperature difference, so he started to get hot.

Chen La was helpless, and when he was reminded, he mustered up his courage and asked the soldiers in the residence for help. The soldiers couldn't help it. There was a kind-hearted soldier who saw that Chen La was really pitiful, so he asked him about the team's team rate.

The team couldn't sleep, and it was okay to be idle, so he went over to take a look, and saw Brother Chen Chang at a glance.

Although Chen Changge's appearance is ordinary, he is better than at a young age, and the team leader looked at her and looked at her, asked Chen La, and said, "This is your sister?" ”

Chen La replied, "Yes." Kneeling on the sand, begging for this team leader, said, "My aunt is old and can't stand the heat and cold in this desert, the villain begs the general to save the villain's aunt!" ”

"It's not that I can't be saved, there is a medical officer in my army, and it's easy for me to ask him for side medicine, but how can you thank me?"

Chen La gritted his teeth and said: "The villain has been allocated fifty sheep and one horse, five sheep have died of thirst in the past few days, and there are forty-five sheep and one horse left, and I am willing to send half of them to the general!" ”

The team laughed and said, "What do I want your sheep and horses for?" After sending you to the ground, I will go back to Guyin, is it possible, and bring sheep and horses? ”

Chen La said: "The villain is poor, and there is really nothing else to honor the general!" ”

"I'm not a general, don't shout. Don't have anything else left in your house? I don't think so. ”

Chen La was puzzled and asked, "What does the general mean?" ”

The team led Chen Changge to snort.

Chen La was shocked and said, "She is the villain's sister!" ”

"I know, didn't you just say that?"

Huang Shi heard the conversation between the two, raised his hand tremblingly, grabbed Chen La's sleeve, and said in a low voice: "Barbarian slave, I can still hold it." Tomorrow I will go to Helan Mountain, go there to touch some herbs, boil and drink. ”

Chen La looked at her mother who was feverish, looked at her sister next to her, and then looked at the team rate that was laughing and moaning.

What to do?

Before leaving, he also said to Brother Chen Chang that in the future, he would find her a husband who wanted her to do so, should she be ravaged by this team tonight under the hearing of so many people around her? But if he didn't agree to this team rate, would his mother be able to hold out to the foot of Helan Mountain as she said? Even when he arrived at the foot of Helan Mountain, he could find the right herbs for the symptoms, could he cure his mother?

There are always times in a person's life when they need to make difficult choices.

Although Chen La's family is poor, it is precisely because of poverty and because the camp households are not valued by the people of the household, since he was born, most of the days have been living in the camp group, the official has an order, he will work, and if there is no order, he will ask for some livelihood by himself, so he has not encountered anything that needs to be chosen before. This was the first difficult choice that the young Chen La was forced to face.

Under the eyes of the onlookers and the family members of the former camp, Chen La clenched his fists and did not speak for a while.

The team waited impatiently and said, "What? Won't you? Then I'm leaving. "Gesture to go.

Chen La is a filial person, although the decision has not yet been made, but no matter what, he cannot sit idly by and watch his mother die of illness.

He subconsciously waited to open his mouth and stop the team.

At this time, there were several voices driving away the onlookers, and an officer in the color of a lieutenant's uniform made his way through the crowd and approached.

This officer has a small braid and is a bearded man.

Chen La recognized that his name seemed to be Lan Baozhang, and he was one of the two lieutenant generals who led them to Shuofang this time.

This officer is none other than Lan Baozhang, who came here on a night patrol, and when he saw a group of people gathered here, he came to take a look.

Lan Baozhang's gaze circled around the body of the team leader, turned to the Huang family lying in the sand and Chen Changge, who was kneeling beside the Huang family, and finally looked at Chen La and asked, "What's the matter?" ”

The team leader was Cao Hui's subordinate, but of course he knew Lan Baozhang, gave a military salute, and replied: "His aunt is sick, so I will help." ”

Lan Baozhang leaned down, tried Huang's forehead, and said, "It's the wind cold." "Order the soldiers in your retinue," call the healer and prescribe her medicine. ”

Chen La was immediately ecstatic, bowed and saluted, and said: "The villain has no valuable things, and he is willing to sacrifice half of the sheep and horses to the general!" ”

Lan Baozhang said: "What do I want you to do with that thing!" ”

Chen La's heart sank suddenly, and he said, "That general ......"

"I don't want anything. Tomorrow I will go to the bottom of Helan Mountain, and when I get there, I will rest for two days before continuing to move forward. You have served your grandmother well. There is still a distance from Shuofang, and after Helan Mountain, you still need to go through another desert area! ”

Chen La only suspected that he had heard it wrong, and said in his heart: "There is such a good nobleman?" ”

Lan Baozhang asked the leader, "Have you patrolled your territory?" ”

"The villain just patrolled."

"Why don't you go and rest, what are you staying here?"

The team agreed and went away in a huff.

Lan Baozhang didn't stop long, and when the medical officer came, after giving the Huang Clan's pulse, prescribing medicine, and leaving the medicine, he also left, and then went on a night patrol.

The family members of the former camp onlookers waited for Lan Baozhang to go away, and they exchanged heads and ears, and they all talked about him, all of which praised him. There was a well-informed person who said: "This Captain Lan is a subordinate general of Gong Xin. You see, the people under the Xin Gong account are different! ”

Chen La thought with emotion: "Gong Xin released us as a good family again, and gave us sheep and horses, and his subordinates didn't want anything to save my mother." Xin Gong is such a good person! This Captain Lan is also a good person! Their great kindness, I will never forget! ”

At noon the next day, we arrived at the foot of Helan Mountain.

As Lan Baozhang said, he rested here for two days.

Chen La's mother was well conditioned under his careful care. When the rest was over, and the day of the recuperation continued, a small news spread among the family members, and after Chen La heard it, his heart that had only been relieved because of his mother's illness was getting better was suspended again.

This gossip says: Pu Qin's generals Gou Xiong and Yang Man led 50,000 cavalry and attacked Shuofang.