Zhu Cihong and his entourage all rode fast horses, and soon threw off the ranks of displaced people.

It was noon when I arrived at Liujiazhuang. Zhu Cihong glanced up at the sky, and then ordered everyone to take a short rest, and then hurry after lunch.

Liujiazhuang is a big village of this generation, with 300 households in the village and 1,500 people in Dingkou. Like many villages in Jiangbei, Liujiazhuang also has a considerable degree of self-protection ability, not only has a wall, but also has the owner of the village called on all men to use their spare time to train, in case of possible thieves and bandits at any time.

Eight years after the fight against Chongzhen, the provinces in Jiangbei are no longer peaceful, and thieves and bandits have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain. It is impossible to expect the government to send troops to suppress bandits, and these villages can only rely on themselves if they want to survive.

Zhu Cihong and his party rode for more than ten years, the scale is not big, but it is not small.

When they walked to the gate of Liujiazhuang Village, they immediately aroused the vigilance of the guards in the sentry tower. The guard blew the horn without hesitation, and soon hundreds of men carrying hoes and dung forks ran to the gate of the village.

"The young master of my family just wants to go to Guizhuang for a while, and there is no malice."

Zhao Xin, the head of the guard of the East Palace, felt the hostility of the other party and said in a kind tone as much as possible.

The villagers behind the gate immediately began to discuss, and after a while, a sturdy young man stepped forward and asked, "Who are you?" Why come to Liujiazhuang? ”

"We are businessmen from Shandong, we went to Yingtianfu to do business, and we hope to be able to rest when we pass by Guizhuang."

This time, it was Zhu Cihong who spoke up. Of course, he won't say the real identity, and after thinking about it, the identity of a businessman is the most suitable.

The sturdy young man was obviously a little hesitant, and he communicated with an old man beside him for a long time before waving his hand to signal the two strong men to open the gate.

Sigh!

Zhu Cihong breathed a long sigh of relief.

Before entering the village, Zhu Cihong and his entourage dismounted one after another to show their goodwill to Liujiazhuang, and as for the other party's previous vigilant behavior, Zhu Cihong thought it was normal. After all, it is a troubled time, and you should be careful to sail the ship of ten thousand years. The other party was able to let himself enter the village to rest, and Zhu Cihong was already very grateful.

After entering Liujiazhuang, Zhu Cihong began to carefully examine every scene and object in the village. He found that the land was flat, the houses were like that, the traffic was strange, and the chickens and dogs smelled each other, which was just like the peach blossom paradise described by Tao Yuanming.

This gave Zhu Cihong a great psychological impact. You must know that along the way, he saw barren and cracked land, and unclothed victims. Sometimes Zhu Cihong himself will wonder, is Da Ming's qi really exhausted?

But after seeing the scene in Liujiazhuang, Zhu Cihong rekindled hope.

"Someone Liu is sick, I don't know what to call my brother?"

Seeing that the other party hugged his fists and asked, Zhu Cihong hurriedly returned the salute: "Under Zhu Quan, thank you Brother Liu for your kindness." ”

This was his name in his previous life, so there was no obstacle to using it.

"Brother Zhu, please!"

Liu Quzhi made a gesture of asking for help with one arm, and then walked in front to lead the way.

Zhu Cihong was not pretentious, and quickly followed. As for the eunuchs Liu Chuanzong and Zhao Xin, the guards of the East Palace naturally did not dare to leave His Royal Highness the Prince, and always kept vigilant in case someone suddenly rushed out to assassinate.

Liu Quzhi led Zhu Cihong and his party to a big mansion with three entrances, and introduced with a smile: "This is a certain family, if Brother Zhu doesn't dislike it, you might as well go in and have a cup of tea." Well, the horses are tied outside. ”

Zhu Cihong sighed in his heart, it seems that the financial resources of this Liujiazhuang are not ordinary, and it costs a lot of silver to build such a three-entry mansion. If there is no accident, the person in front of him should be the young owner of Liujiazhuang, right?

"Brother Liu is invited, dare to disobey his fate?"

Zhu Cihong smiled slightly, and followed Liu Quai's pace.

It happened that it was time for lunch, and Liu Qu was sick and ordered someone to prepare a meal for Zhu Cihong and his party. Fortunately, Liu's home is big enough, otherwise it would be really difficult for the room to prepare more meals for more than a dozen people at a time.

Looking at the plates of dishes served, Zhu Cihong swallowed his saliva. Needless to say, it is rare to eat a hot meal along the way, so the dishes in front of Zhu Cihong are tantamount to delicious delicacies.

When the fragrant rice was served, Zhu Cihong couldn't care about the demeanor anymore and devoured it.

Liu Chuanzong, Zhao Xin and others are no exception, even His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has let go of them, what manners do they have to worry about?

After everyone had eaten, Liu Qubing asked, "Brother Zhu, you are from Shandong, have you heard the news from the north?" ”

Zhu Cihong sighed in his heart, he was really afraid of something, he didn't want to reveal his identity no matter what.

"Brother Liu is talking about the news of Shenjing? To tell you the truth, although we are businessmen, we all went south, and we have never been to Shenjing. But I've also heard that the thieves have hit Shenjing. ”

Liu Quzhi nodded: "I have also heard this news, but I don't know if the thieves are besieging the city now, and whether the army of King Qin has arrived......"

Although Zhu Cihong was very moved in his heart, he did not confide in his identity.

He sighed with emotion: "The Holy Son of Heaven is in power, and the soldiers use their lives, and the siege of Shenjing will definitely be lifted." ”

He didn't intend to dwell on this topic, so he diverged and said, "Brother Liu, just now I saw that Guizhuang was heavily guarded, but it was to guard against bandits?" ”

"Not bad."

Liu Quzhi bowed slightly: "If it was placed ten years ago, Jiangbei would still be stable, but it has become more and more chaotic recently." Not to mention the thieves, small groups of thieves also often come out and plunder, if you don't want to wait for death, you have to be armed. Besides..."

Liu Quai's face turned red and said: "We are outsiders, and the locals are somewhat hostile to us, so we must not guard against it."

"Oh? Brother Liu is not from Huai'an Mansion? ”

Liu Quzhi shook his head and said, "It's not a secret, our ancestors are all from Liaodong. After the battle of Salhu, the ancestors fled into the customs, and finally settled here all the way, which led to Liujiazhuang. ”

Zhu Cihong sighed when he heard it, it turned out that there was such a story in it.

"Damn Jiannu, if it weren't for them, how would we have been displaced and uprooted from our homeland!"

Liu Quzhi said that he hated, his eyes were red, and he clenched his fists tightly.

"One day, the imperial court will exterminate Jiannu and recover Liaodong."

Zhu Cihong said with a firm expression.

"Really?" Liu Quzhi's eyes flashed with scorching brilliance: "Is there really that day?" ”

"Yes, I promise." Zhu Cihong said resolutely.

At this moment, someone suddenly stumbled in front of Liu Quai, and said with a panicked expression: "Young owner, the big thing is not good, they are coming to rob the village!" ”

......

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