"What does it smell like?" Next to the fire, Gongsun Xun took the dry-baked pancakes, endured his thirst and didn't drink the raw water from the river next to him, but before he could swallow it, he suddenly smelled a faint strange smell brought by the wind.

"It seems to have been brought over there, I'll take a look." A companion sitting next to Gongsun Xun stood up and sniffed, then walked over with a torch to check.

Everyone didn't care, because after all, it was brought by a strange wind, and it shouldn't be too hindering everyone's eating...... And besides, in the absence of water, this dry-baked crepes seem a little more difficult to wrap and attract more attention.

Of course, everyone has a little Amway background, and they have all seen the pandemic, thanks to the perennial teaching of Aunt Gongsun in western Liaoning, everyone can still resist drinking raw water no matter what.

In this way, he barely ate two bites of bread with spittle, and the companion who went to investigate there had already returned quickly, and soon he had completely lost everyone's appetite.

"It's an abandoned baby," the man paled. "I took a cursory look at the torch, and the ditch was full of abandoned babies, dozens of them who had just died, who had been dead for many days, and who had been gnawed to bones by wolves and rats."

Abandoned babies and drowning babies are too common in these years, and Gongsun Xun has seen them more than once in Liaoxi, and he asked his mother about this very early, and the latter's answer was also very helpless.

It is said that there is no birth control measures, and it is easy to conceive a fetus, and once the pregnancy is not easy, it can only be dealt with after giving birth; Second, the people at the bottom really can't support so many children these days; Third, the government's reward and punishment system has basically existed in name only; Fourth, let's not forget that there is also a typical patriarchal ...... So, it can't be avoided at all.

Merely......

"It's okay to abandon babies, but there seem to be only two or three scattered in the east of this neighborhood, three or four hundred households, where will there be dozens of abandoned babies?" Gongsun Xun was puzzled.

"Young master, forgive the little bluntness." A middle-aged apprentice in Gongsun Xun's family (a dependent population with a feudal relationship with the master's family, equivalent to a slave that cannot be traded), couldn't help but interject at this time. "My family fled from Qingzhou to western Liaoning, and Qingzhou was abandoned to the same extent more than ten years ago."

"Did it get to this point more than a decade ago?" Gongsun Xun was a little shocked.

"Isn't it!" The man said sincerely. "It's not that I don't want to raise it, but I really can't afford it. The people are poor, and often a catastrophe and epidemic will collapse the entire township, and then we Qingzhou people will either flee to Mount Tai to be thieves, or go to the border county to find a way to survive. If it weren't for the fact that my hometown couldn't survive, my family wouldn't have fled to the borderlands...... On the contrary, in Liaoxi, according to the master's mother, the land is vast and sparsely populated, and the oppression of the main family is not very heavy, so it can feed more children. Not to mention that there is also our Amway in Liaoxi, the mother will encourage the slaves and maids in the family to adopt some abandoned babies, many of whom have grown up now, and have always regarded the mother as a fairy-like figure. Therefore, it is not that the people here are too poor, but that Liaoxi is really better. And Shaojun grew up there since he was a child, so he naturally didn't know the situation here. ”

The so-called review of the old and learn the new, put aside the nonsense of patting his own wife in the other party's words, but Gongsun Xun suddenly remembered that his old lady once said another sentence - in the border county, the national contradiction effectively suppressed the class contradiction, and I don't know if it is a good thing or a bad thing?

In other words, although the concept of national contradictions and class contradictions is carefully 'popularized' by herself, she was still confused and didn't understand anything after hearing this.

However, at this time, I heard that there were dozens of abandoned babies on his side, thinking of the situation in Liaoxi, Gongsun Xun suddenly became transparent - the same family and Haoqiang, not how high the consciousness will be on the border county, but that in the face of the strong military pressure of the Xianbei people and the sense of uneasiness brought by the Wuhuan people on their side, the family and Haoqiang over there are willing to give up something to the bottom in order to maintain the local military competitiveness.

That's the essence of that sentence!

However, on the other hand, the inland counties of the Han Dynasty not only did not have military pressure, but also had to send a large amount of goods to the border counties in order to maintain this situation...... That's right, the rules of the Han Dynasty were that the border land was poor, so the money to pacify the aliens and maintain the border defense was all sent by the inland counties.

So in this case, the powerful families here in the mainland will exploit the people at the bottom? There are so many abandoned babies in a dark ditch? actually forced the local people to run to the border counties where their lives were in danger to be attached to others?!

This night, Gongsun Xun tossed and turned, and it was difficult to sleep.

And just when our son, who had never seen the suffering of the people, was secretly troubled, what he didn't know was that Jia Chao, the Lulongsai cavalry who staggered because he took the wrong road, was destined to do something big that shocked the township that night!

Let's rewind the time, when we came to the previous afternoon, Jia Chao didn't know that the kind-hearted Gongsun Shaojun and the equally kind-hearted Han Dang Han Yigong were going to come to find him, and he didn't know that these two people later took a fork in the road because of a small river, and then turned into the field at night, freezing like that.

In fact, as the second son in the family, he had not returned to his hometown for many years in Lu Longsai, and this time he brought a good horse and got two silks, not to mention a lot of property that he had accumulated and rewarded before, Jia Chao was full of excitement at that time, and he just wanted to go home as soon as possible to see his mother.

Moreover, he is a local after all, and he will never take a fork in the road.

Therefore, not long after Gongsun Xun's departure, Jia Chao had already crossed the Xiangyue Pavilion and came to the front of the door of Dasangli, Donghe Pavilion, where his house was located.

One more thing to say here, the Han Dynasty system, ten miles and one township, and ten miles and one pavilion, sounds a little confused. But in fact, the township is a civil affairs unit, and it is discussed from the point of view of household registration. The pavilion is a public security and management unit, which is discussed from the perspective of protection, post station, and public security. In fact, both are directly under the jurisdiction of the county, and they are not subordinate to each other, nor do they contradict each other.

It's just that the kiosk is an institution that manages the mail business and the post station business, as well as the function of guiding the way, so it naturally has a geographical indication effect, which will often be seen in the address of a certain kiosk.

Of course, further down, the concept of li is undisputed, this is the most basic administrative organization in the Han Dynasty, generally the common people with a certain household registration are concentrated in a settlement for management, generally set up fences, fences and gates, and arrange a li chief to manage. In these years, there is no such thing as a village or a community, so this can basically be regarded as a village or a community in the future.

According to the Zhou system, there should be 72 households in one mile, and in the middle of the Han Dynasty, it was generally believed that there should be 100 households in one mile. But in fact, the rich and poor in each place are different, the population density is also different, coupled with the change in the total population in the late Han Dynasty compared with the founding of the country, at this time, the place of Julu in Jizhou should have been more than 100 households. Moreover, it can no longer be a standard ten-mile township.

"Who's the prison gate?" Jia Chao gasped and slapped the sealed inner door a little helplessly. "Why is the door closed in the afternoon? Hurry up and help me open the door. ”

The prison gate, who is the deputy of the chief, may actually be the lowest level official of the entire Han Dynasty, and in this kind of remote countryside far from the city, it is generally done by lonely and widowed old people who are too old to do farm work, which can be regarded as giving him a way to live.

"Who?" A fairly familiar local accent immediately sounded. "The door here is closed by the lieutenant commander, saying that it is for prevention, a few days ago, a wolf came in the opposite three marries, and took away two sheep......"

"Zheng Jianmen, it's me, I'm Jia Chao who lives in Jia's house at the east end of the big mulberry tree." As he spoke, Zhang Gan had already heard the voice of the prison door, and the local accent had not changed, so he was instantly discouraged, but he was a little happy.

"The ...... of the east end of the big mulberry tree Jia Chao?! The prison door opened in astonishment. Oh, it's really you, and you're still leading the horse with so many things, is this the best silk? Did you receive the book? When we heard that it was snowing in the north, we thought we would have to wait a little longer. ”

"What are you waiting for?" Jia Chao was inexplicable, but he was homesick and didn't bother to talk nonsense with this old man surnamed Zheng, so he directly led the horse and walked quickly towards the door.

"Oh, it's a good thing that Jia Chao came back with money, but it may not be a good thing to come back after making a fortune......" The inner prison door was old, and he couldn't help babbling, but he didn't continue to say what he wanted to say, just plugged in the inner door from the inside again, and then went back to his cabin to hide from the wind and keep warm.

On the afternoon of winter, many villagers are basking in the sun in a sheltered place, Jia Chao went home and was anxious, passing by here just slightly bowed, and he did not come back for several years, and led the horse, and immediately put the silk, these villagers wanted to recognize and did not dare to recognize for a while, until he stopped at the door of his house before remembering who this person was.

It's just that at this time, it's not good to bother anymore.

"Big brother, big brother!" At the door of his own house, Jia Chao was so happy that he almost wanted to push the door in, but when he thought of leaving, the broken door at home was broken by his own palm, and he had to gently smash the broken plank.

"Second brother, could it be that the second brother is back? Is it so fast? There was an immediate response from the courtyard, which happened to be the voice of Zhang Gan's eldest brother Jia Ping.

"I don't know if I brought money to ......" At this time, a somewhat unfamiliar, but still distinguishable complaining female voice sounded next to him, as if Jia Chao's eldest brother had begged the sister-in-law not long before he left home.

It is said that before this sister-in-law got married, she was a well-known beautiful lady in the neighboring town of Rhubarb, just because she fell in love with her eldest brother Jia Ping who could endure hardships and farm, and then she had four rooms and 30 acres of land.

"It's me who is back, and the eldest brother and sister-in-law quickly open the door." Hearing this, Jia Chao, who was standing in front of the door, couldn't help laughing, he didn't think that his sister-in-law was still a cautious eye, so he thought about his own money...... However, he was so lucky to go home this time, and he met nobles in a row, and brought not only the money that he should have brought, but also the extra horses, silk, and silver!

So, where is the accounting better?

In fact, on the way to Jia Chao on horseback, he had already thought very thoughtfully: the silver should be used by his brother to buy some fertile land for his family; The horses themselves had to ride to a few nearby pavilions to see if they could recruit a horseman, which was also an errand; And this silk, my mother is old and has not enjoyed it, so I must first make a good dress for her, and then take out a horse as a dowry, and marry a wife who is more beautiful than my sister-in-law.

was laughing, the gate had been opened, and the small courtyard surrounded by his four straw houses, as well as the brother and sister-in-law, appeared in front of Jia Chao's eyes.

Seeing the two staring at him and the horses behind him in such astonishment, Jia Chao certainly became more and more proud.

"I have some jerky here, and my sister-in-law will take it to cook some hot soup and eat it together later." After many years of training outside, Jia Chao is no longer the township boy he was back then, and he commanded in an orderly manner when he opened his mouth. "The eldest brother went to the neighbor's house to borrow some fodder to feed the horses...... Also, where is my mother, I will come to see her first! ”

"In the first year of Yongping, the sacrifice of the bribe was biased to hit Xin Zhiben and cut it, so the Xianbei adults came to attach, and Liaodong was rewarded, and Qing and Xu Erzhou gave money of 270 million yuan. Ming, Zhang II, Bao Sai has nothing to do. —Book of the Later Han Dynasty, vol. 90. Wuhuan Xianbei Liebiography. eightieth