Li Tai found that today was an unlucky day, or rather, every day has been unlucky lately, especially today.

lost his position, the former enemy came to the door, and he was so angry that he was half dead, and finally blamed him for not buying his wine......

Li Tai was hesitating, should he call the guards in and blast this guy out, the phoenix with wings is also a phoenix, how can he treat himself as a chicken?

Li Su sat at the low table, took a sip of wine to himself, smacked his lips, and said: "His Royal Highness the King of Wei, the person who comes is a guest, you should also greet it somewhat, such as asking someone to order wine and food or something, although you can't be the prince, the prince's demeanor can't be lost......

Li Tai said coldly: "What are you doing in my house?" Not to mention that I really let people send off guests, even if this king is not the crown prince, he is also a dignified prince of the heavenly family, and you are not allowed to be so presumptuous in my house. ”

Sighing, Li Su put down the wine jug and said, "Your Highness, you may not believe it when you say it, I am here to make friends with you today." ”

Li Tai was stunned: "Make friends? ”

Then Li Tai laughed: "This king has fallen into such a situation, and there are still people who take the initiative to come to make friends with me, is this person sick?" ”

Li Su didn't smile, just stared at him deeply: "I'm not sick, it's you who is sick." ”

Li Tai sneered: "I can eat and sleep, where did the illness come from?" ”

Li Su sighed: "Of course you can eat, but you eat too much...... Of course, when I'm talking about illness, it's not your fatness, it's your heart disease. ”

Li Tai raised his eyebrows, and his expression was still cold: "What is my heart?" ”

Li Suyou said: "Buddha Yun sentient beings have seven sufferings, birth, old age, sickness and death, resentment, love and parting, can't beg, Your Highness, your suffering belongs to 'can't beg', what you had at the beginning, now you have lost, what you were afraid of at the beginning, now you have to face it, what you wanted at the beginning, now you are destined not to get it, Your Highness, this is your suffering, drinking, drugs, obscenity and debauchery, you use a depraved way to alleviate the suffering in your heart, but unfortunately, it is useless." ”

Li Tai looked stunned and muttered, "I can't ask for it, I can't ask for it......"

Li Su said with a smile: "The seven hardships of life, in fact, in the final analysis, but a 'greed' word, when desire dominates your reason, you often want to get it at all costs, once the facts go against your own will, people will collapse, Your Highness, you are on the verge of collapse, so, I am here today." ”

Li Tai came back to his senses, and his expression became cold again: "It's just a matter of becoming a king and defeating a villain, what's the use of saying more?" This king doesn't need you to persuade and comfort! ”

Li Su sighed: "The way you look now, you really look like an ignorant bear child, which makes people want to smoke you ......"

Li Tai sneered: "You can try." ”

"The meat is too thick, I can't smoke it......" Li Su shook his head, and then said: "Your Highness, you and I have been friends and enemies over the years, but in general, there is no inextricable hatred between me and you, I refused your solicitation at the beginning, and decided to assist King Jin, this is my personal choice, you can't control me, and you can't blame me, except for these grievances, we at least used to be friends, I am sitting here at the moment, trying my best to persuade and comfort you, this is the righteousness of friends, even if Your Highness can't listen to me, at least you should treat me politely, right?" ”

After all, Li Tai is a prince who is familiar with the books of sages and sages, and has received a good upbringing from the heavenly family since he was a child, so Li Tai hesitated, snorted unwillingly, and still straightened up and formally saluted Li Su.

Li Su also solemnly returned a salute to him.

After Li Tai finished the salute, his expression was still a little resentful, and he said coldly: "I have done my best, but I came to the door without telling the evil guest, Li Xiangong, forgive the inconvenience of this king, please go back." ”

Li Su blinked: "Your Highness has just woken up from a drunk, do you want to go out for a walk?" ”

"I don't want to."

"Your Highness, don't be in a hurry to refuse, I came to the door today for another purpose, I want to invite Your Highness to hunt outside the city, and please ask Your Highness to reluctantly agree to me for the sake of your friend's face."

Li Tai said coldly: "This king is not in the mood to hunt. ”

Li Su sighed: "In this case, please forgive me for being rude, Your Highness heard the story of the crazy pool keeper last time, and today I also have a story of a perverted old farmer, I don't know if I should tell it or not......"

Before he finished speaking, Li Tai was furious: "Shut up! Go, will hunt! ”

…………

Hunting is the characteristic reserved program of the children of the Tang Dynasty, there are hundreds of children in Chang'an City, and they call friends and companions every once in a while, a group of people ride fast horses and swagger out of the city, and find a mountain forest or plain outside the city to hunt.

I have to say that the ecological environment of this era is still very good, the wilderness mountains and forests outside Chang'an City can be seen everywhere prey, from hares to sika deer, as well as poisonous snakes, wolves, tigers, black bears, etc., these wild animals have become the object of killing and amusement of the children, of course, whenever the children of the children go out of the city to hunt, the most unlucky is not only those wild animals, but also the farmland on the outskirts of the city, a group of people plus the retinue, about one or two hundred people galloped on the plain, met the cold-hearted gentlemen, and galloped directly from the farmland, the farmers have a whole year's harvest is considered to be in the soup.

Li Su doesn't like hunting, mainly because he is very lazy, he can lie down and never sit, and Li Su refuses to hunt this kind of activity that requires physical strength.

Today, Li Su made an exception and led Li Tai, the king of Wei, and their respective subordinates, and the two of them and dozens of people went out of the city.

Li Tai is essentially similar to Li Su, everyone is a person who doesn't want to move, the difference is that Li Su is lazy, while Li Tai is because he is fat.

It is very inconvenient for a fat man to travel, especially a fat man of about three hundred pounds, and it is difficult to find a horse that can withstand him.

The horse that Li Tai rode was still given to him by Li Shimin during the Eastern Expedition, and it looked very strong, but Li Su also found that the horse occasionally had a trembling hoof, and couldn't help but look at the poor horse sympathetically.

This horse must have done a lot of evil in his life, the kind of murder and arson, otherwise he would not have fallen so much bad luck in this life, not only reduced to a beast, but also ridden by a three-hundred-pound spherical human.

Out of the city to the west, everyone rode horses and walked on the village road, and it didn't take long for Li Tai to suddenly say dissatisfiedly: "Isn't this the way to Taiping Village?" Li Zizheng, what exactly do you want to do? ”

Li Su smiled: "If you don't go to Taiping Village, I'll take you to find a place you haven't been to." ”

Li Tai snorted, looked up at the sky, it was already noon, so he said coldly: "Go anywhere, but I can tell you, I have to go back to the city before evening." ”

"I know, I know, if you can't return to the city on time, I will build a stone thrower and drop you into the city, so that you can appear on time on the deep hot land of the Wei Palace, whether you live or die, rest assured." Li Su said perfunctorily.

Li Tai: "............"

I'm so angry, I'm so angry that I want to kill someone......

Running to a fork in the road, Li Su pointed in the direction, and the group walked on another village road, which ran against the direction of Taiping Village.

After walking for another half an hour, Li Su suddenly stopped his horse, and the retinue behind him dismounted one after another.

Li Tai rode on the horse and didn't move, and after slowly looking around, he said coldly: "Didn't you say that you would hunt when you go out of the city?" Where is this place? ”

Li Su smiled: "After riding a horse for two hours, why doesn't Your Highness get off the horse and rest for a while?" This place is called Xianlong Village, which is dozens of miles away from Taiping Village, and there is a mountain forest outside the village, so we can hunt there when we stop for a while. ”

Li Tai had no choice but to dismount and look around at his surroundings.

It is undeniable that this village is very barren, all around are low adobe houses, there are not many farmers in the village, there are only about 100 households, there are more elderly women, children and children, but there are very few young adults, the old people are bent on their waists, their faces full of vicissitudes with a little numbness, the children are not clothed, many children are bare-chested, squatting on the land overgrown with wild grass, carefully and curiously looking at Li Su and his party.

The air of poverty and depression filled the air of this village, and Li Tai frowned tightly after looking at it.

He doesn't like it here, he feels very depressed, the poverty of the world seems to be all gathered here, and everyone in the village can find a lingering temperament on their faces, living a very difficult life, but having to live desperately.

Li Tai is the person who reads the most sage books among all the princes, and it is impossible to talk about kindness, but it can be regarded as a trace of conscience, seeing the barren and difficult scene of this village, Li Tai's fat face showed a trace of compassion.

"This place is only a hundred miles away from Chang'an City, why is it so barren? What is Jingyang County Ling doing? The life of his people is so difficult, why does he ignore it? Li Tai said angrily.

Li Su glanced at the villagers with pity and sighed: "It's not that Jingyang County is derelict in its duties, but there is really nothing to be done, except for allocating grain and relief every year, he can't think of any other way." ”

"Your Highness, take a closer look, how is this village different from other places? Or rather, did Your Highness find anything strange? ”

Li Tai glanced around carefully, and his eyes gradually showed doubts: "I can see it, why don't you see the young people in the village?" It's all the elderly, women, children, and children, and what about the young and strong? ”

Li Su sighed: "The young man in the village ...... Some died in battle, some died of plague, and some were conscripted into conscription and could not return for three or five years, so this village became like this. ”

Li Tai's eyes widened: "Died in battle? How many people in the village became government soldiers? ”

"Hundreds of people, most of the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty are hereditary, the veterans are unarmed and return to the field, and the son continues to go up, hasn't His Highness noticed that many old people in the village have many disabilities? They are all veterans who returned from a hundred battles, decades ago followed the generals to fight in the north and south, they were lucky to survive, despite the lack of arms and legs, after all, they still survived, Datang from the founding of the country to the present, almost all of them are in the famous wars, these old people, are the heroes of the Tang Dynasty, the heroes are old, the descendants inherited the identity of their soldiers, continue to fight in all directions......"

Li Tai was moved and sighed: "Fighting for the country, leveling the four seas, and serving the monarch of the country is commendable." ”

Li Suhan glanced at him with a smile and said leisurely: "Your Highness, you forcibly added drama to others, did you ask for their consent?" ”

Li Tai was stunned: "Why do you say this?" ”

Li Su didn't answer, and after glancing around, Li Su smiled and said, "Since you are resting here, why don't I take you around in the Zhuangzi?" ”

Li Tai nodded, the scene he saw in front of him made him suddenly curious about this village, and at the same time, some questions involuntarily popped up in the depths of his heart, these questions were knocking on the seemingly hard shell in his heart, and the barriers that had been formed for a long time in his heart seemed to slowly crack the cracks.

Li Su's expression was very flat, leading Li Tai into Zhuangzi slowly, under the leadership of Li Su, the group walked very casually, without any purpose.

Li Tai observed everything in this village attentively, and the more he looked, the more frightened he became.

The word "barren" no longer seems to be enough to describe the extent of the village's dilapidation, and if there is one word to describe it, it seems that the word "hopeless" is more appropriate.

The old people looked numb, as if the purpose of their life was to wait for death that was not too far away, or rather, they preferred that death would come sooner rather than later, so that they could be liberated.

Most of the women are middle-aged, simple coarse cloth hairpin skirts, a dead wood branch pulls their hair into a bun at will, they don't care about their makeup at all, they are silently running the farm work, there is no man in the family, they silently shoulder the responsibility of supporting the family, they have completely replaced the role of men, become the pillar of the family, life seems to be a purgatory practice for them, from their faces can not see the love of life at all, just repeat the same heavy busyness day after day, On their shoulders is always a burden that should not have been borne by them.

Perhaps, only the occasional flash of innocence on the children's troubled and confused faces is the only ray of sunshine in this barren village.

Li Su and his entourage watched as they walked, Li Tai's expression became heavier and heavier, and finally stopped, and couldn't help but say, "Can't the local government do something for them?" ”

Li Su sighed heavily, and said: "In the past, the government basically had nothing to do except for food relief, before the Eastern Expedition last year, Princess Dongyang specially went to the Yongzhou Thorn Shi Mansion and proposed to the Thorn Shi to move this village out, the old people, women and children all moved to relatively rich villages, mixed with them, encouraged women to remarry, and the old people were taken care of by the young people in the village in turn, so they barely found a way to live." ”

Li Tai muttered, "How can this be? There are still such miserable and poor people in Datang, and they are only a hundred miles away from the capital Chang'an, Datang ...... There shouldn't be such miserable people, haven't my father and courtiers said that the Tang Dynasty has been prosperous all these years? ”

Li Su shook his head and said: "It's just a whitewash of the peace, today's Tang Dynasty is still far from the real prosperity, most of the people are still poor, they are still worried about food and clothing, but unfortunately, these people in front of them, the princes in the court can't see it." ”

Li Tai looked at him: "How did you find out?" ”

"I also found this place by chance, last year I went out with Princess Dongyang, Dongyang said that he wanted to re-see the dilapidated Taoist temple that was hijacked by the rebel Ashina Association, because that was the place where I saved her, so I inadvertently passed by this village......"

Saying that, Li Su smiled bitterly: "In the final analysis, I am also one of the 'princes of the court', I only care about my own prosperity and peace, but I never thought that in addition to my rich and noble days, there are so many people who are still struggling to survive, if it weren't for me and Dongyang accidentally discovered, I'm afraid this place is still an unknown hell on earth, this is my fault." ”

Li Tai's eyes flashed: "So, the real purpose of the 'hunting' you said today is for me to come and see these poor people?" ”

Li Su shook his head and said, "Now, I can answer the question you just asked, Your Highness, you just said that the young men in the village who died in the battle." I don't dare to agree with the ambition of serving the family and the country, they are all ordinary people, if they say that they have the heart to serve the country, maybe there is a little bit, but what they care more about is to live, and how to make their lives and their families better, these people who died in war or are alive, most of them have not read, and they do not understand the righteousness and integrity that the sages say, whether they die in battle, or survive, in fact, the purpose is just to live......"

"Born in the world, it is not easy to live, what is the 'ambition' and 'righteousness'? It's all nonsense, only if you really live a worry-free life, can you talk about the ambition of serving your family and country, participating in the government soldiers because of the imperial court recruitment, dying on the battlefield because of the military order, worrying about the country and the people, probably only those of us who don't do production will consider it. ”

Li Tai thought for a while, and after a long time, said, "You brought me here today just to tell me these truths?" ”

Li Su said lightly: "I just want His Highness to see with his own eyes, what is the real 'seven hardships of life', birth, old age, sickness and death, resentment, love and parting, begging, the people who really taste these seven kinds of suffering, it is they, not you, they have tasted the hardships of life, but they still have to live, even if they can't live better, at least they have to barely maintain this status quo of not having enough to eat and starving to death......"

"Your Royal Highness, what you have experienced is nothing more than 'asking for nothing', it is nothing more than that you can't fight for the crown prince, so you are willing to fall in the mansion, invite you to get drunk and take drugs, as if the sky has fallen, compared with these people in front of you, what is your suffering?"

Li Tai was silent for a moment and said, "I'...... Unlike them, I am a noble man from heaven, and I was born to be superior to them......"

Li Su sneered: "I really want to smoke you when I hear this, you haven't conquered an inch of land for the Tang Dynasty, and you haven't sought any happiness for the people, why are you higher than others?" Even your father once said, 'Water carries a boat, and water sinks a boat,' and his attitude towards the people of the world is one of awe and humility. And you, from birth to the present, do not produce or farm, do not work hard in your limbs and do not divide the grains, but instead ask the taxes of the poor people to feed you, you live yourself as a moth that absorbs the fat and ointment of the people, and then you tell me that you were born to be superior to others? There's a lot of meat, and the skin is naturally thicker? ”

Li Tai's face suddenly turned red, Li Su's words can be described as sharp and merciless, and Li Tai can't refute it at all.

Li Su stared at the fat face in front of him, and said slowly: "Your Highness, I was born as a farmer, my situation was not much better than these people, ten years have passed, I am already a powerful person in the Tang Dynasty, but I dare not forget my roots for a day, you are a noble family, born noble, and familiar with the books of sages, then let me tell you, the nobles who really have a good upbringing, will never think that they are superior, even if they think so in their hearts, they will not say it, this point, you have done very poorly, this is also the original decision I decided to assist the King of Jin, One of the reasons why I don't want to assist you. ”