About 100 miles away in the northwest of Badong County, Guixiang Prefecture, there is a village, surrounded by mountains, a large open area is vacated in the middle, nearly 100 cherry trees are scattered between the flat land, around this cherry forest, wooden houses and farmhouses are built according to the mountain, there is a family every 50 meters away, like every family guarding this cherry forest.

Just after midnight, smoke was rising from a house in the north of the village, and the wooden door opened, revealing a young man dressed in fancy costume.

In the early morning of May in the south, facing the cool breeze from the valley, the young man shivered, tightened his clothes, and took a deep breath, this was the first time he had gotten up so early since recovering from his injury.

The young man stood in front of the house for a moment, then suddenly ran wildly towards the field path, and in a short time disappeared without a trace.

Half an hour later, an old man of about seventy years came out of the room, full of white hair, hunched over, carrying a bamboo basket and a sickle pinned to his waist.

The old man turned around and was just about to go to the west mountain, when he saw a young man running on the field path in the distance.

The old man was stunned, as if suddenly, the grandson who died in the north went home, but he didn't expect to grow so tall.

The young man came to the old man, saw him looking at him in a daze, doubted in his heart, and asked in a low voice, "Grandpa Wu, Grandpa Wu?" ”

"Huh?"

"What's wrong with you?"

The old man came back to his senses, wiped his blurred eyes with his sleeve, saw the appearance of the young man in front of him clearly, his heart was empty, and his voice was a little choked: "It's okay... It's fine, maybe I fell asleep for less than three hours last night, and I got up at the end of the day, and I was a little tired."

Seeing the old man's face full of loss and trembling hands, how could the young man not know that the old man was thinking of his own grandson.

These days, when he is bored in the house, he goes out to look for people around the village to talk about homely things, and the people in the village do not treat him as an outsider, and often hear this young man talk about some strange things, and from time to time pop out some new words that he does not understand, the villagers are also happy to listen to it, and they are familiar with each other, but they also hear the people in the village talk about Grandpa Wu's family.

The old man's real name is Wu Qinghe, he only got a son at the age of thirty, his wife Yin's gave birth to a child that year, because there was only a midwife in the village, it took four or five hours to invite Lang Zhong back and forth in the county seat, and Yin died of hemorrhage before Lang Zhong arrived.

Wu Qinghe also followed his wife's last wish, and the child was named Wu Yong, and the Yin family probably hoped that the child would not need to make a difference in the future, and it would be good to grow up safely and healthily.

The people in the village saw that the two were very pitiful, so they discussed letting the little daughter-in-law in the village who had given birth help to feed the milk.

Three years have passed in a blink of an eye, and Wu Yong can send batter to his mouth by himself. It's just that I was bewitched by the old ladies in the village who lacked morality, and when I saw the little daughter-in-law who had fed me in the village, I called my mother, and my father was not in front of me. For this reason, Wu Qinghe is very troubled, how to teach this older child.

One day, from the mouth of the villagers who came back from the county town, there was a person named Zhao Yin in Songzhou, brutal by nature, murderous like hemp, successively destroyed the Jin, Western Han, Great Zhou and other countries, every city was slaughtered a city, now is waving the army to the west, the entire Xishu is facing the danger of annihilation, everyone can not live all day, the county has a rich and powerful family, the family moved, went straight to the northwest Pingxia region, Xiazhou is the territory of the Li clan of the party (formerly Tuoba clan), because the Li family has always had no ambition, no matter who is in charge of the Central Plains, the party is willing to bow down to the ministers, It was expected that Zhao Yin would definitely not attack Pingxia, and that the Li clan was willing to accept the Han Chinese.

At that time, the Guixiang Mansion was subordinate to Xishu, and Cherryjing Village relied on going to Badong County and the Guixiang Mansion to sell cherries to supplement the family, plus each family had a few acres of land, except for the grain supply handed over in the spring and autumn, life was still passable.

Now everyone in the county is in danger, all those who can escape have fled, and those who are left can only close the gates.

Seeing that the cherries are still harvested in more than ten days, everyone knows that once the cherries fall to the ground, unless they are refrigerated in the ice cellar, they will rot in a few days. The villagers were very anxious, and for decades the people in the village had only tasted new ones, and no one had ever thought of eating cherries for dinner.

After ten days, the cherries began to fall one by one, and the villagers saw that their eyes hurt in their hearts, and no one dared to approach the cherry tree for fear of accidentally touching the trunk.

On that day, just after noon, there was a sudden sound of horses' hooves in the village, Wu Qinghe gently pushed the window open a crack and looked out, only to see that not far away, a group of officers and soldiers, about 200 people, walked quickly on the official road in the southwest corner of the village. Because the road into the village was too narrow, the officers and soldiers had to dismount and advance along the path in an orderly manner, leaving only more than a dozen people to take care of the horses on the official road.

The closer the officers and soldiers go, the more clearly Wu Qinghe can see, his armor is distinct, his face is resolute, and his steps are uniform, this is by no means a Xishu soldier! Wu Qinghe chuckled in his heart, he only heard that Zhao Yin's army slaughtered the city, and he never thought that the small village a few hours away from the county seat would not be spared!

After the officers and soldiers entered the village, they began to search everywhere, Wu Qinghe immediately picked up Wu Yong and fled from the back door, planning to go to the back mountain to hide for a few days, but he never thought that he had just gone out of the back door, and met a man dressed as a general, who was standing next to his water tank holding a helmet and drinking cow, and there were two rows of soldiers standing behind him.

The person in front of him was a majestic figure, wearing a bright silver and silver armor, and his feet were walking in cloud combat boots. Wu Qinghe's secret path is not good, and I and I am afraid that our lives will be suspended. What he didn't expect was that after the general drank the water, Wu Qinghe smiled awkwardly, and said, Guancun is so quiet, there is no doubt that there are people, and they will take water without knowing it, please forgive me.

Although he was a little confused, but listening to this person's intentions, it seemed that he had no intention of slaughtering the village, Wu Qinghe's hanging heart slowly let go, could it be that the rumors were false?

When you can see the general's face clearly, the outline is clear, the sword eyebrows are starry, the beard is two feet long, and he only feels that he is open-minded, and his expression is not angry and self-threatening, but with a trace of peace, he can know that he is an extraordinary person at a glance.

Seeing that Wu Qinghe didn't talk, the general was not annoyed, and asked him for some cherries with a smile.

Wu Qinghe held the child in his arms and led the general to the old cherry tree in the middle of the village, signaling that the cherries in the village could be picked as far as they could see. The general summoned a few soldiers and told them to pick only cherries from the low places, and not to climb the trees or shake the trunks, and the soldiers took the order.

Wu Qinghe looked around, the doors of each household were still closed, and the officers and soldiers did not break in, but after looking for some water to drink in the village, they gathered under the trees in groups of three or five, waiting for the cherries to fall.

The general looked at Wu Qinghe's expression in his eyes, a little funny, but also a little helpless. After eating some cherries presented by the soldiers, the general was full of praise, and when he left, he ordered his subordinates to leave two ingots of silver for Wu Qinghe.

In the following three years, Western Shu united with the Northern Han Dynasty, still defeated the powerful Zhao Yin's army, and successively destroyed the country, so far Zhao Yin has unified most of the Central Plains.

In 960 AD, Zhao Yin was proclaimed emperor, established the Great Song Dynasty, changed the Yuan Longqing, and set the capital at Kaifeng Mansion in Tokyo.

In February of the following year, the return to the township government was changed to the township state, the imperial court appointed the new governor, and the prefect took the deacon eunuch who accompanied him to Cherrywell Village to announce the decree the next day, and the cherries of Cherrywell Village were accepted as royal tribute, and they were not allowed to be sold privately, and each household in the village could get two copper coins per year as compensation. The villagers were overjoyed, and in previous years, all the cherries were sold in the county seat for less than two copper coins, and each household received thirty yuan.

Listening to the deacon eunuch talk about the reason why Cherry Well Village became the source of royal tribute, it turned out that the general three years ago was the current founding emperor Zhao Yin. Zhao Yin likes to eat cherries since he was a child, and most of the cherries in Songzhou are produced in Anqiu County, Weizhou. At the beginning of 957 AD, Zhao Yin's army occupied Weizhou and celebrated with the soldiers for three days, the only regret was that there were no cherries.

In late April of the same year, Zhao Yin led the army to the west to return to his hometown, after breaking the city, he interrogated the captured assassination history that night, and learned the location of Cherry Well Village from his mouth, and went straight to Cherry Well with the guards early in the morning the next day. After eating cherries, I have been thinking about it for three years, and I often mention to the people around me that the cherries of Cherry Well have beaten Anqiu.

After the establishment of the Great Song Dynasty, the imperial court wantonly dismissed the envoys of the states and advocated the use of literature to govern the military, and the counties of each state set up schools and academies. Wu Qinghe's ancestors were farmers, and it was only in Wu Qinghe's generation that he went to the county academy to learn a few words. Wu Qinghe has the heart to cultivate Wu Yong, hoping that he will be able to glorify his ancestors in the future.

In the early spring when Wu Yong was eight years old, Wu Qinghe led him to the county, then took a carriage to Guixiang Prefecture, went to Changxingku, and took out a silver ingot from his arms to exchange it for five copper coins. The silver that Zhao Yin left him back then was as much as five taels per ingot.

After inquiring about the registration procedures and the location of the school, Wu Qinghe led his son straight to the Department of Student Administration, and the official in charge of the reception told him that the tuition and miscellaneous fees plus room and board required a consistent twenty yuan a year, which scared Wu Qinghe gasp. Settle down and calculate, the existing money in your hand, plus the compensation given by the court every year, you can save some food and use, which should be enough for the child's expenses for ten years.

Fortunately, Wu Yong did not live up to his father's expectations, and studied diligently and strictly in the past ten years. When he was eighteen years old, he returned to the county and took the township test for the first time, and became a showman. In the same year, he participated in the examination of returning to his hometown state, and he won the promotion at once.

Wu Yongzhongju caused a sensation in the entire county, and the people were talking about the youngest person in the county in a hundred years. Wu Qinghe was so excited that he burst into tears.

Eighteen-year-old Wu Yong has grown into a young man, white and clean, his appearance is not bad, plus he is famous, and he is still a person from Cherryjing Village, the source of royal tribute, and there is an endless stream of people who come to talk to him for a while. Wu Qinghe was overwhelmed, in order to keep his ears clean, and he was grateful to the villagers for many years, so he made the decision to let Wu Yong marry the second girl of the Li family in the same village, Li Erni.

Although Wu Yong was a little reluctant, he finally read the sage book for ten years, understood the words of his parents, and did not dare to disobey. After marriage, Wu Yong has not performed Zhou Gong's gift with Erni, under the pretext of preparing for the trial of entering Beijing Province in the coming year, he reads books at home day and night, and Erni is also bitter and can't speak.

The following year, the family had enough plates, and Wu Yong went to Tokyo alone to catch the exam. But the heavens did not fulfill people's wishes, Wu Yong failed the list, and did not obtain the qualification for the palace examination. When I went, I was full of ambition, but when I returned, I couldn't hide my loneliness.

Li Erni knew that Xianggong was unhappy, so she served him with tea and water, and often patiently comforted and encouraged him.

After a long time, Wu Yong's heart slowly relaxed, and he saw that his wife was becoming more and more pleasing to the eye, and he was at the age of blood and strength, and he fell into the gentle township for a while and couldn't extricate himself. Within a few months, Erni became pregnant, and both families were overjoyed, and Wu Yong also took good care of Erni. It's just that when it comes to the provincial test in the coming year, it is the period when Erni is full of fetuses in October, and he has to face the scholars of various states and prefectures, Wu Yong has passed the last provincial test, and he knows that there are people outside the people, and there are mountains outside the mountains, so he often feels uncertain and his mood can't help but be depressed.

Although Erni hopes that Xianggong can accompany her when the child is born, she can't bear to feel unhappy in Xianggong's heart, and persuades: "Xianggong can rest assured to go to Beijing to catch the exam, everything at home is supported by my mother's family, don't remember it, just take the exam with peace of mind, no matter whether Xianggong is on the list or not, the concubine and the child are waiting for Xianggong to come back." ”

Time passed day by day, the day of the provincial exam was approaching, Erni's belly was getting bigger and bigger, although Wu Yong was a little unbearable, but for the sake of his own future, he took over the entanglement put together by Wu and Li's two families and embarked on the road to catch the exam.

It's just that I went and never came back.

Li Erni gave birth to a pair of dragon and phoenix fetuses, lying in bed during the confinement period, looking forward to the return of the husband for a long time to no avail, Erni became ill, and had to take care of two babies, resulting in an extremely weak body, although there is a mother to take care of carefully, but it has not improved.

Most of the money of the two families was given to Wu Yongcao for entanglement, how could there be money to go to the county to invite Lang Zhong, seeing that his daughter-in-law was getting weaker and weaker, Wu Qinghe had to borrow money from around the village, and went to the county early the next morning to invite Lang Zhong back, Lang Zhong prescribed a few pairs of medicines, and after drinking for a few days, although Erni was still a little weak, she could walk around on the ground.

When Erni could move freely, the two families got together and discussed naming the two children, Erni patted her head, and then remembered that Xianggong had named the child before leaving, if the boy was named Wu Zirui, if the girl was named Wu Zixin.

As soon as I heard that Wu Yong's two names could be used, the old two members of the Li family didn't know one big character, although they didn't know the meaning, but they felt that the name was very good, Wu Qinghe was also very satisfied with these two names, and the two families hit it off, and picked up the two children and called out Zirui Zixin.

Two years have passed, the child is growing up day by day, these days, Li Erni in addition to helping her father-in-law busy farm work, but also to take care of the two children, so that overworked, the disease that fell during the confinement has not been eradicated, and as long as I am idle, I think of my father-in-law outside, I don't know whether it is life or death, my heart is like a knife, my thoughts become sick, and I finally let go. In the same year, Zhao Yin, the founding emperor of the Great Song Dynasty, died, and the crown prince Zhao Yi ascended the throne and changed the Yuan Taiping.

In the sixteenth year of Taiping, Emperor Zhao Yi intended to recover the sixteen states of Yanyun from the hands of the Great Liao, in order to strengthen the army, the Privy Council issued an emergency conscription document to the governors of each state and county, and posted it on the notice wall of each state and county, and the names of all men over the age of 18 can be queried in the document, and Wu Zirui is impressively listed.

From the 16th to the 18th year of Taiping, the Great Song Dynasty made several northern expeditions to expel the Khitans from the Great Wall, but they all ended in failure.

At the beginning of the seventeenth year of Taiping, when Wu Qinghe received the obituary of his grandson's death, his blood surged, and he passed out.

When I woke up, I was ten years old.