In the fourth year of Jingkang, the Mid-Autumn Festival is coming, perhaps it was the battle of Fuzhou last year, the Jurchen elite Lou Room army suffered heavy losses, almost all the army was annihilated, and the Jin people found that they did not have the ability to break through the city of Tokyo, and after a hasty plunder, they retreated north.

This autumn, the days are long, the weather is cool, and the Jurchen armies from the east and west are assembled in Xijing and Yanjing respectively, eyeing the south and invading the Song Dynasty, which is already obvious.

If Wang Song was still there, the Jin people would naturally not dare to be so rampant. But now that Wang Song is dead, the Jurchen generals have long been impatient to go south, and they are all anxious.

The loss of last year must be recovered no matter what. Who can give up the flowers and mountains of the southerners, the gold and silver jewelry like mountains, and the beauties like flowers and jade!

Wang Song, who has just recovered from a serious injury, is now in his "Humble Garden", writing hard.

"Shou Humble Garden" is located in a wasteland on the mountain of the iron factory, due to frequent wars, worried that the gold people, thieves will attack, since the summer of last year when the loyal and righteous army took control of the southern part of Hebei, the iron factory began to build a high-walled fortress, to the west of the mountain five or six miles of wilderness is also included, to avoid outsiders to attack.

The iron factory is ten miles in a radius, and the construction is solid, and Wang Song does not need to run on both sides of Huangyan Village and the iron factory, so while building the high wall, this "Shou Humble Garden" is also included in the construction schedule.

"Shou Humble Garden" is taken from Tao Yuanming's "Open up the wilderness in the south, keep the clumsy and return to the garden", but unlike Tao Yuanming, Tao Yuanming wants to return to the countryside and enjoy the natural pleasure of the mountains and forests. Wang Song, on the other hand, needs a place for office and leisure, but he is not disheartened and wants to retreat, but to forge ahead calmly.

The huge China can finally accommodate a desk.

Around the wasteland, because of the mountains, the terrain is naturally uneven. There is a stone bridge, there is gurgling water under it, there are a few ancient willows and more than ten old locust trees next to the stream, wild flowers are everywhere, and the green grass is shady. Wang Song was next to the stream stone bridge, and several houses were erected, and the low fence wall was enclosed, which is now the "Shou Humble Garden".

Later, some bamboo trees and flowers were planted next to the house, and now they are all colorful and lush.

Dwelling in the countryside, refreshed, physical, morally healthy, and uncorrupted. And living in the city, wine and wealth, people will inevitably be corrupted and degenerate.

Ma Kuo and Deng Shixiong gently pushed open the fence door and followed the brick and stone path to the door of the hut. Two fierce and grim-faced guards stood beside the door, staring at each other.

Ma Kuo stepped forward and knocked on the door, and Wang Song's voice came from inside: "Come in."

When the two went in, they saw that Wang Song was still writing hard and writing non-stop, so they sat on a chair next to them and waited.

After a while, Wang Song raised his head from the desk and asked, "Ma Xuanzan, in the first battle of Fuzhou, are the brothers' pensions ready?"

Ma Kuo's face was embarrassed, and he nodded: "Xianggong, it's ready." However, even if you count the silver money that was transported back from Taiyuan City, each brother who died in battle could only get a maximum of 50 yuan. ”

Wang Song nodded. In the battle of Fuzhou and Jinning, about 18,000 soldiers of the loyal army were killed and wounded, and 16,000 people needed pensions, if each person was 100 yuan and 20 stone of grain, that was 1.6 million guan and 320,000 stone of grain. For Wang Song's current fiscal taxes, it is definitely a big burden.

Deng Shixiong shook his head and said: "Xianggong, even if you only give half of the pension to the brothers, 50 yuan and 10 stone of grain per person, that is, 800,000 yuan and 160,000 stone of grain." This has wiped out our old bottom, do you want to think about it again?"

"50 yuan of money, 10 stone of grain, a life of my loyal and righteous brothers, how cheap! I'm sorry brothers. ”

Wang Song shook his head slightly, walked out from behind the desk, and said in a deep voice: "Consistent money, that is, two buckets of rice, 50 guan is 10 stones, that is, 20 stones of grain per family." If it is a family of one or five, it can only eat for about half a year at most. I can't let my brothers lose their lives and leave their families without even food! ”

Deng Shixiong said solemnly: "Don't worry, the villain will do it personally, and he will definitely send the bereavement to every brother's family!"

"The descendants of those brothers who died in battle, Dong Ping, Yang Jin, Xu Hu, Li Xiaochun, ......"

Wang Song paused for a moment and continued: "Anyone who has a difficult livelihood at home will be brought here. Set up a school, choose a few brothers who read and write, let them teach first, and when the time is ripe, then move to the city. ”

Deng Shixiong and the others were all solemn, stepped forward together, and bowed solemnly: "We are so grateful!"

Wang Song nodded slightly, and said loudly: "If you want to give a pension to the people in Taiyuan City, don't be too public, so as not to conflict with the local government." Now that the national crisis is at hand, our own people must not start infighting, so as not to give thieves an opportunity to take advantage of. ”

Ma Kuo and Deng Shixiong are full of admiration. Wang Song considered Zhou Xiang, and did everything from the overall situation, with foresight, which made the two of them feel unattainable.

According to the two of them, this is a good time for the loyal army to win the hearts and minds of the people. How could those mediocre officials in the court take the people to heart?

Wang Song's military order was issued, and the two could only bow their heads and obey.

In Taiyuan City, the old king came back from the street, and the huge rice bag in his hand only contained less than four or five catties, so he carried it in his hand and walked listlessly on the road.

Now that it is late autumn, winter is coming soon, and how to solve the problem of eating and drinking for the whole family?

"100 catties of grain, two dollars!"

The old king shook his head, and the corners of his eyes were a little moist.

"Erlang, I thought that you would be able to make a difference with Wang Xianggong, who knew that if you lost your life, it would be worth two dollars."

From a distance, I saw that there seemed to be a bunch of people gathered in front of my house. The old king was puzzled, stepped forward, and separated the people.

"May I ask if this is Wang Mingdong's home?"

An elegant middle-aged man in his forties was asking the neighbors next to him.

"This is Wang Mingdong's home, and I am his father. May I ask this big official, what are you looking for my Erlang?"

The old king was puzzled, his son had died on the battlefield, and the middle-aged man was looking for him, but he didn't know what to do.

"It turned out to be Uncle Wang. Disrespectful, disrespectful, let's take a step to speak. ”

The middle-aged man shouted to a few men next to the cart: "Brothers, take down the grain and move it in for Uncle Wang."

The middle-aged man pulled the puzzled old Wang Tou into the courtyard, seeing that there was no one left and right, the middle-aged man took out a bag of money, handed it to the old Wang Tou, and said in a low voice:

"Uncle Wang, this is the pension money and grain for your second brother Wang Mingdong who died in battle, 50 yuan and 10 stone grain, please write me a note. This is only half of the pension, and the remaining half will be made up in the future. ”

The old king was stunned and took the money bag blankly.

"Big... Official, isn't Wang Xianggong dead, what kind of pension money and food is this?"

The question of the old Wang head was roughly the same as that of the middle-aged man, he shook his head and said with a smile:

"The old man doesn't need to ask about this matter. Just check the money and food, and if there is no deviation, please sign here. The remaining half of the pension is two taels of silver, and when there is more money in hand, the army will send it. ”

The old king's hands trembled, he checked the pension money in his hand, verified that it was correct, and looked at the grain, and there was no deviation, so he signed his name on the list.

He saw that the middle-aged man's behavior was quite mysterious, his heart moved, and he asked in a low voice: "Big official, can you tell me whether Wang Xianggong is still in the world?"

Everyone knew that Wang Song died in battle, but they did not see his body, and no ashes were brought back. Some people said that Wang Song did not die in battle, but quietly went into seclusion.

As for the reason for living in seclusion, it is naturally to avoid those cows, ghosts, snakes, gods, and ghosts in the court.

"The old man doesn't need to get to the bottom of it, and he will know the matter in the future. This matter must be kept secret, otherwise it may arouse the suspicion of the government. ”

The middle-aged man said goodbye and left, and the old Wang Tou sat in the room, suddenly lost.

Wang Gu came back, stepped into the room, and saw her husband sitting on the stool in a daze, thinking that he was worried about his livelihood, so he sat down on the stool on the side.

"Official, don't worry about it. Let's take it one day at a time. I heard that the government is recruiting husbands, I'm afraid that the thieves will come again, and the days after this will be even more difficult. ”

"Lady, to tell you the truth, I won't go. In case I lose my life, 100 catties of food and two pieces of money, my life is not so cheap. ”

The old king waved his hand, pointed to the money bag on the table and said, "I bought some things for you, you can open them yourself and take a look."

"Official, there is no rice in the rice tank, and you are still spending money like this!"

Wang Gu shook his head and sighed secretly in his heart. Life has come to this point, and the husband is still so careless and spends money indiscriminately.

She grabbed the money bag on the table suspiciously, and the heavy bag made her not lift it for a moment, but the sound of the copper coins in the bag colliding made her heart move.

Wang Gu stood up, walked to the table, and untied the bag.

"Official, where did you get so much money, it can't be stolen, right?"

Wang Gu held a full hand of money, and looked at her husband in front of her incredulously.

"What stole and robbed, it was sent back by your second son!"

The old king glared at his wife, and the strange thing was that unlike in the past, he was not angry, and there was a faint joy on his face.

"That's 50 dollars. In addition to this money, there are also 10 stone of grain in the room, which Erlang sent back. ”

"Erlang sent it back?"

Wang Gu was puzzled, stood up, went out for a spin, and came back with a happy face.

"Official, there is really so much food, plus this 50 yuan, we have a better winter, and the family has something to eat!"

Wang Gu's body trembled slightly, went over to seal the money bag, and sat down on the stool.

"Official, you just said that this was sent by Erlang. Erlang is gone, what do you mean?"

The old king raised his chin and gestured a few times, Wang Gu understood and hurried over and closed the door.

When his wife sat down, the old king told his wife everything that had happened today.

Wang Gu's eyes widened, and he could hardly believe his ears.

"Official, do you mean to say that the prince is still alive?"

The wife's involuntary voice made the old king startled.

"What are you calling blindly, for fear that others will not know!"

The old king lowered his voice and glared at his wife.

"Do you think, if the prince dies, who will come to send the pension money and food?"

Wang Gu clasped his hands together, closed his eyes, and whispered the words of the Buddha.

"Bodhisattva bless, Bodhisattva bless, bless Wang Xianggong to live a long life, no disease and no disaster......"

She stood up, grabbed Wang Song's spiritual seat on the table, threw it on the ground, and trampled it to pieces.

"The Bodhisattva forgives the sins, and the Bodhisattva blesses the king!"

"You, God's babbling. Wang Xianggong has God's blessing, so don't worry about it!"

The wrinkles on the old king's face were all unfolded, and his face was happy.

The husband and wife kept talking in a low voice late into the night before falling asleep.

In the city of Taiyuan, in the states and counties of the two rivers, many families who received money and food pensions were also brightly lit at night and could not sleep for a long time.

On the second day, the officials of Taiyuan City were surprised to find that Wang Song's mound outside the southern city had been smashed to pieces, and even the stele had been dug up, and I don't know where it had been moved.

Li Ruoshui, the prefect of Taiyuan, ordered the arresters to strictly investigate the saboteurs, but his heart was calm.

It seems that as soon as Wang Song died, people went to tea and cooled, and the people were not so concerned about him.