The red sun is scorching, on the official road in the south of Chengcheng, Shaanxi, the loess has been sunburned into very fine dust, and a group of people ride horses slowly towards the direction of Chengcheng. Whether it is a man or a horse, they all look a little depressed when they are rushing under such a blazing sun.

Xia Yunyi, who was surrounded by several family members in the middle of the line, also lost the appearance of a rich and noble son in light clothes when he was in the capital, but changed into clothes that were convenient for traveling. As the team progressed, he stuck out his tongue from time to time to lick his dry lips, but he didn't move the water bladder around his waist.

In this part of Shaanxi, the biggest trouble is that it is difficult to replenish clean drinking water. As a student at Yenching University who has received a new education, Xia Yunyi already knows that clean water that looks clean to the naked eye actually contains a lot of dirty things that make people sick, so he has developed the problem of not drinking non-hot water like people in Beijing.

Shaanxi has been affected by disasters year after year, and there is no telling how many water sources have been contaminated by corpses. In order to prevent some people in the team from contracting the epidemic, Xia Yunyi has always restrained his entourage from drinking raw water, so that only by distributing the drinking water reasonably will these entourages not be able to stop these entourages from complaining about the water when they are in a hurry, Xia Yunyi has always set an example to make them persevere.

Shaking his head, which was a little dizzy from the scorching sun, Xia Yunyi couldn't help but turn his neck to the sides of the official road to distract himself. Except for the loess and cliffs on both sides of the official road, there is rarely a hint of green, which is far from the scenery he saw when he passed through the Taihang Mountains in Shanxi.

When the official road passed over the hill, you could see large wheat fields on both sides, but by this time the wheat in the field had almost been harvested, and there was nothing left except for the wheat stubble, which was a few inches above the ground. But even under such a scorching sun, he could still see black spots in the wheat field far away from the official road, these are women and children picking ears of wheat in the wheat field.

When watching these ragged women and children slowly moving in the distance, like a walking corpse, Xia Yunyi's heart felt heavy. Of course, he knew that this was not the worst season, and that being able to pick up ears of wheat already showed that this year's harvest was not too bad. The last time he came to Shaanxi to investigate the situation of the victims, he could only see corpses and packs of wild dogs in the wild.

It was only at this time that he really understood the emperor's thoughts, and whether the court was ruled by a righteous man or a villain was not important to these people. It is important that the ruling minister is able to give them a full bite to eat and give them hope to live.

When Xia Yunyi was sighing in his heart, a knight who was exploring the road in front ran back and reported to him: "Xia Gongzi, there is Yangzhuang Fort in front, and Chengcheng is ten miles after Yangzhuang Fort, is the team in Yangzhuang Fort to make a point, rest and then hurry?" ”

Xia Yunyi glanced up at the other party's expectant eyes, then smiled and said, "It's okay, just have lunch at Yangzhuang Fort, and then rest for an hour, anyway, you will definitely be able to get to Chengcheng tonight." This time, thanks to you escorting me on my way, I will write a letter to Huang Shoubei, thank you for taking care of me along the way. ”

The knight immediately agreed with a happy smile, and then rushed to the front with a few comrades to prepare. After turning a cliff, the official road leads to a hill, which is lush and overgrown with trees, which is a rare touch of green.

When Xia Yunyi and others walked on this hill, they found that there was a rare flat area here, the official road just rose to the top of the hill, you can see a loess fort wall erected not far away, just condescendingly monitoring the official road leading to Chengcheng, and there is also a checkpoint on the official road near the fort gate, and several officers and soldiers are leading a team of local soldiers to check the passers-by.

They hadn't been able to meet anyone for a long time when they were on the road before, and looking at these black heads that were stopped at the edge of the checkpoint, Xia Yunyi finally understood why. The guards in the fort who had talked with the soldiers who escorted Xia Yunyi knew that there was a big man who could not be provoked, so he hurriedly walked out of the fort to welcome Xia Yunyi and the others inside.

Xia Yunyi didn't want to do much, after all, he didn't have any official status on this trip, but he was taken care of on the way by virtue of his identity as a college student and the friendship he had with local officials when he visited the disaster before. Chengcheng has just experienced a war, and it is also reasonable to set up cards on official roads to check pedestrians to prevent the scattered bandits from escaping to other places.

But the change of things was not transferred by his will, under the leadership of the general guard of the fort, Xia Yunyi and the others were about to enter the gate of the fort, when a few people suddenly rushed out of the crowd squatting under the wall of the fort and stopped the team.

The commander of the fort was startled at first, and immediately retreated into the ranks, where several soldiers had already pressed their hands on the handles of their waist knives and bowed up to meet them. But the three people who came out did not make an attack posture, but knelt on the ground, and pleaded with Xia Yunyi with both hands: "I beg your mercy, we are not thieves, but merchants who trafficked herbs to Xi'an from outside the border, because Chengcheng was occupied by thieves before, and we had to take refuge in the countryside, and now the imperial army has defeated the thieves, and we will only leave for the road."

But when the war was in chaos before, the road strip carried by the villain was accidentally lost, and several soldiers wanted to detain us here, and they had to wait for our owner to come and ransom us. The entanglement on the villain and others is about to be exhausted, and if they are detained here again, I am afraid that the big guys will starve to death here. Please also give the adults a way to live, the villain is here to kowtow to you..."

Confirming that the other party only came out to beg for mercy and not resist, the general stationed in Yangzhuang Fort was suddenly bold, he stepped forward and kicked three times at the three people kneeling on the ground, and said with a curse in his mouth: "You Diao people, what kind of road has fallen, this official sees that you are hidden thieves, and you want to escape from the local area and make a comeback."

If your host doesn't come to ransom you, even if you all starve to death, don't think about leaving, the official would rather pay you to collect the body. It's all bastards, and they dare to run out and plead for mercy, which frightens the nobles, and this official has to chop you up..."

Xia Yunyi turned his head to look at the wall where several people came out, in addition to a few wheelbarrows leaning against the wall, and a few lean men kneeling next to the car, there were also two women and two children of seven or eight years old in the team.

He felt sorry in his heart, so he stopped his behavior, then looked at the three people in front of him and asked, "Since you are a pharmacist who sells herbs out of the customs, why are there women and children in the team?" Could it be that you sell not only medicinal herbs, but also human beings? ”

The middle-aged man who had just replied had not yet spoken, and a tall man kneeling to his left had already replied indignantly: "In this year, in Shaanxi, even strong men and strong women can't sell themselves, who would want useless women and children." This is our eldest brother Li's family, and his hometown can't survive the disaster, so he is ready to go to Xi'an to ask for a way to live, but he didn't expect to be starved to death here. ”

Xia Yunyi didn't need to be angered by this man's tone, after he looked at the expressions of the three of them, he asked casually: "Your grievance is really not small, who is your big brother Li?" Is it the leader of this sale of medicinal herbs? ”

The tall man couldn't answer, and subconsciously looked at the man who had been silent beside him, this man was only 2 or 30 years old, but he was much calmer than the tall man.

Seeing Xia Yunyi's gaze on himself, he had to open his mouth and reply: "The villain Li Zao'er is a Mizhi person, and the one who just offended the adult rudely is the villain's nephew Li Jin." The leader of this caravan is the high shopkeeper who has just made a gesture to the adult. The villain is just familiar with the road, so he is in charge of the itinerary for the shopkeeper. ”

When this man named Li Zao'er raised his head and replied, Xia Yunyi couldn't help but be surprised by this person's appearance for a while. After more than 100 years of Chengping period, the Ming people's preference for men's appearance became more and more feminine, with a white face and a little scribe's hair, which is the standard template for beautiful men.

And this Li Zao'er, with a dark face, his beard is connected from his temples to his chin, and he is slightly curled, completely like a fierce general in the army, but the eyes on his face are very pure, without the slightest fierce expression. These eyes, combined with his face, unexpectedly give people a sense of honesty and credibility.

Xia Yunyi's vigilance in his heart suddenly disappeared a lot, and he asked Li Zao'er a few questions in a gentle tone, such as the business route, the types of medicinal materials trafficked, the location of the Xi'an pharmacy, etc., and Li Zao'er answered without flaws.

So Xia Yunyi said with a relaxed expression: "Among the people who traveled with me, two of them coughed incessantly, and I was worried that I had nowhere to buy medicinal herbs." Since I happened to meet you, you can go and grab two doses of Xiao Chai Hu Tang for me. ”

Li Zao'er hesitated for a moment, immediately agreed, and then got up and walked towards the wheelbarrow on the side, with the help of a woman, Li Zao'er quickly grabbed two packets of medicine and came back, he handed it to Xia Yunyi's entourage with both hands, and explained in his mouth: "There are a few medicinal materials in this little chaihu soup that we don't have in our goods, so the villain adjusted the prescription slightly, as long as the adult's entourage drinks a sweat, it is effective." ”

Xia Yunyi opened the medicine bag and slightly identified the medicinal materials, although he didn't know if this medicine was effective, but there was no problem with the dispensing technique of the envoy of the monarch and the minister.

He handed the medicine bag to the entourage on the side, and finally put his mind at ease and said, "I see that you are good-looking, you talk well, and I think you are also a person who has read books." Don't you feel sorry to be a drug dealer here? At the moment when the imperial court is employing people, if you want to serve the country, you might as well come to me in the capital, and I will recommend you to try the exam of the Army Military Academy. ”

After Xia Yunyi finished speaking, he turned his head to look at the general manager of this fort and said: "I think they are a serious caravan, you might as well let them go, if Governor Hong asks about it, I will take care of it for you." ”

This general can't even see the staff around the governor, and he dares to say no to this noble man from the capital. He quickly agreed, and turned to his men to let him go.

Seeing that the checkpoint was finally released to his team, Li Zao'er finally breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, and he sincerely thanked Xia Yunyi for his long bows: "The villain, thank you for your help..."

Xia Yunyi nodded at him and said, "It's not a helping hand, it's just a few fair words." If you come to the capital, just go to Yenching University to find me Xia Yunyi. However, is this Li Zao'er your name? ”

Li Zao'er thought for a while and said: "That's the villain's nickname, and the villain's name is called Li... Self-contained. ”