At the end of autumn when Xu Erdan was eight years old, the leaves on the trees were about to fall off, and Xu Erdan and the children in the village liked this season the most, because the farm was over, everyone had plenty of money and loosened control over the children.

The children were looking forward to one thing, that is, a pillar of smoke rising in the northern sky, and sometimes the adults would take the whole family to the mountains, although the adults were busy with the carts to clean up the soft and the livestock and poultry, but the teenagers found it fresh and interesting, just like the whole family outing.

It's a pity that the sky is sparsely sparse, and the adults don't care much about it, which makes Erdan very disappointed, and it seems that he can only stay in the village in winter this year.

When the Mongolian horse team suddenly appeared, it was already late, and the children playing outside the village subconsciously ran into the village.

Some parents waited for their children to go into the cellar together, and some parents didn't wait, when Erdan ran home, the whole family had already hid in the cellar, Erdan cried and cried without any response, he didn't know how to open the cellar mouth, and the family didn't mean to open it from the inside.

When he heard the sound of horses' hooves and howling, Erdan could only hide in the hen's coop, where he hid in the corner of the hen's coop in order to keep warm the newly laid hay, and covered himself with hay.

Xu Erdan didn't see what happened next, but he always saw everything in his dreams, because the sound was in his ears, and covering his ears also seeped in.

Some of the children who were abandoned by their families were killed immediately, some were ravaged to death, and some were forced to betray their families, everyone knew that there was a cellar, and they knew that it was not difficult to find, but some people pointed out that it was always necessary to save some effort, and when the first one was found, they were forced to confess to the cellars of their neighbors and relatives, and gave a promise that no one would believe, but they would always believe it, but they would always believe it, and they would find a Tibetan cellar and they would survive......

None of the villagers know whom, they don't shy away from each other, and no one shows how hard and unyielding they are for the sake of life outside the family, and an illusory promise is better than no promise.

The cellars of every family were found, including the Xu family, Xu Erdan heard the begging for mercy, crying and screaming of his parents and sisters, the screams of his mother and sister lasted for an extra long time, Xu Erdan bit the straw and did not dare to make a sound, until the village became quiet, and then the fire ignited, and more than ten hours had passed since he hid in the chicken coop.

The Mongols took all the chickens, but the coop was too lazy to search, and someone came in and took a look, and it was so dark that nothing could be seen, and the smell was smoky, and nothing could be hidden.

Xu Erdan was choked by the smoke of the burning fire and couldn't stand it, otherwise he wouldn't dare to leave the chicken coop, he was already so frightened that he was about to collapse.

In the yard of his house, Xu Erdan saw the bodies of his parents, brothers and sisters, among which his mother and sister were naked and miserable, Xu Erdan stumbled out of the village, many corpses, many corpses he knew.

After running outside the village, Xu Erdan didn't know what to do, he could still see the smoke and dust raised by the Mongolian horse team in the distance, he could only watch the village burn.

Just waited until it was dark, Xu Erdan, who couldn't stand the cold, re-entered the village, although the smell was unpleasant, but the courtyard of the house that was not burned out could still give people warmth, and it was only at this time that Xu Erdan cried on the street, crying until he had no strength and was so tired that he fell asleep.

At noon the next day, when Xu Erdan was looking for food in the ashes, he heard the sound of horses' hooves from outside the village, he wanted to hide, there was nowhere to hide in the village full of ruins and ashes, and Xu Erdan, who was usually not very bold, didn't want to hide so much, and sat in his own yard in a daze.

This time it was the official cavalry who came, and at first they ignored Xu Erdan, who also heard "..... Kill Lisso with a knife......""...... Why are you so unlucky, there is nothing left in the village......", I only remember that an older old adult cavalryman scolded everyone and came to pick him up and ask.

Fortunately, Xu Erdan still remembered that he had relatives in the city, but fortunately, the cavalry were listless because the village was in ruins, so they were sent all the way to the relatives' homes here in Huairen County.

Xu Erdan's uncle who was separated by a layer had two sons, but they all got sick, and then gave birth to three daughters in a row and survived one, and the two childhood sweethearts were unwilling to find the little ones, and they always wanted to succeed but no one agreed, but Xu Erdan came just right.

Just raised as his own son, and when the old man was older, he passed the errand to Xu Erdan, the rules of this Xu official's inheritance, although this Tsing Yi square hat and soap robe can be passed on to the next generation, but the position can not be passed on, good errands are substituted according to seniority, and the juniors have no big backers to boil from below a little bit, and even have to wait for the position every year, the Xu family made the silver to let the second egg only wait at home for a year, make up the worst deputy servant, and give a certain clerk in the household to watch the door and listen to the errand.

Such an errand is not busy without oil and water, if you are smart and clever, you can also flatter and get close to your personal connections, but Erdan is good at everything, but the person is a little gloomy, the adoptive parents sighed for a long time, and said that there is not much money in the family, and the favor is about to run out.

Regardless of whether the third class is on duty or deputy to the errand, there is a very important errand, except for a few decent lords on the register, everyone else must participate, even those lords want to be able to sit in a stable position, up and down, they have to participate, this errand is to collect grain and taxes.

This levy of grain is not a trivial matter, small people and small households can make money, but the big clan and the gentry can only bargain, how much can be collected in the end, on the one hand, to see how to talk, on the other hand, to see who can fight, the gentry still have the privileges recognized by the officials, against the big clans and settlements, it depends on who has the big fist.

If it is a village in the interior, of course, there are clans, but the clans do not dare to fight against the government, and many of them are scattered sand, but this Datong border town is different, many villages are the derivatives of hundreds of households or military households.

Although they are small people and small households, there is no clan maintenance, but some of the habits in the army are spread, and they are still a little afraid of thousands of households and the cavalry family who commands the master, and they are really unambiguous about the official servants, even if they have no source of other households with the military households of the guard, they are also border people in the border towns, brave and aggressive, and some people really dare to take the lead to fight, otherwise they will be bullied to death by hundreds of households and military households and villages in the fight for land and water on weekdays.

In such a situation, if the government wanted to collect grain and taxes in a place like theirs, it had to rely on the knives and sticks of the three shifts, and sometimes spears and bows and arrows had to be used, and there were casualties every year.

Therefore, every autumn grain season, the three shifts of the whole city are mobilized, whether they are in charge or in charge, they have to take their belongings out of the city, and walk over one village after another, bluff when they should be bluffed, beat when they should be beaten, and put away the grain.

Erdan is not particularly thin, nor is he particularly strong, he usually doesn't talk much, he doesn't cause trouble, he is an honest person that everyone is used to, but don't say that he is an honest person, as long as you are in the third class, the disabled people also have to go out to collect food together.

Although it is said that it is to open the flag and be nervous and vigilant, but most of the time it is to scold and intimidate each other, plus some private transactions, there is no need to really beat each other with family belongings, but a few villages dominated by military households and Yu Ding have to fight every year, although they will not be disabled and killed, but if they don't fight, they won't pay.

The officers can pull out more than two hundred young and strong, complete equipment and a few bows, the military villages are far inferior, but I never thought that this year together, it will become a situation of two hundred against three hundred, the officers suddenly have a much weaker momentum, originally to increase two percent, but now they have to harvest three percent less.

Cutting off people's wealth is a great enemy, but if you really want to use fire and can't beat it, the errand soldiers will make it difficult all of a sudden, and the arrogance of the military households and villages is high, and they have to take advantage of some words, and some people not only scold in official language, but also use a few words in Mongolian dialect.

There are a lot of Mongolians in the border town of Datong, many of them are still the indigenous officers and soldiers who have been loyal to the Ming Dynasty for generations, and it is not uncommon to speak Mongolian, and those who speak Mongolian are not necessarily the officers and soldiers, everyone can learn a few words.

What no one expected was that Xu Erdan, who had not been very silent, broke out, waving the wooden stick in his hand and rushing into the crowd of the other party, he didn't have any high-strength martial arts, those two strokes belonged to the three classes of errands to practice, the style was simple, but he couldn't stand it and really beat him.

This kind of gathering crowds to intimidate and fight each other, most of them are playing tricks, and they don't want to make a big deal about deaths and injuries when they really fight, why bother to make a big feud, Xu Erdan's move, no one can stop it, and he has continuously knocked over a few young people in the front row of the other party, some people want to dodge, some people have always been fighting, it was a mess at that time, and the morale of the officials was also brought up by Xu Erdan, shouting and rushing over together.

The official difference in this battle was a big victory, the victory was hearty, the people were injured eleven people, three people were bleeding, five people were injured by the official difference, two people were bruised, the official side was very proud of it, and by the way deterred other villages to pay taxes, everyone knew that the official messenger dared to be ruthless this year, and there were ruthless people.

“...... Fight well, we dare to rush to the front in the yamen, and the young people who have responsibility should be reused...... "This time the bravery made the old men of the sixth room know Xu Erdan, and the undertakings of the official room and the household room all spoke praise, and the head of the third class also felt that there was light on his face.

The leaders of the officials all had this attitude, and Xu Erdan immediately became popular, from a small role of guarding the door and listening to errands to the deputy leader of the third class who was responsible for guarding the city gate and escorting the grain tax.

After this Xu Erdan emerged this time, the ferocity that came from nowhere was also stimulated, all the subsequent fires and brawls were charged forward, and he was not afraid of being injured and bleeding, maybe the tragedy he encountered when he was a child exhausted his bad luck, and after that, no matter how he rushed, his companions around him even made a death and injury, and he was at most a bruise.

Just like this year after year, Xu Erdan will soon be forty years old, and he is also one of the decent officials in the county, although he still has not entered the main book, but the benefits in his hands are not much worse than everyone, and his name has also been changed from Zhou Gui to Erdan, which is the name of a decent person, and there are not many people who may call him by his name, and they all call him "Xu Erye".

Xu Erye also has his own apprentices, as well as deputy servants and fast hands, and he doesn't have to do a lot of things himself, his silence and gloom have gradually disappeared, and he has become a philistine and enthusiastic character, and even when he hears others speak Mongolian, he will not be excited and angry, everyone is such a person, it is normal.

But when the smoke rose in the sky, and when there was a "false alarm" again and again, Xu Erdan began to get anxious, and outsiders could see that Xu Erdan was not resting well, and he was listless even during the day, and he often went to the city to look, and he couldn't take care of many routine errands to make a fortune.

When it was his turn to set up a card at the city gate to check, everyone else regarded this as an opportunity to make some oil and water, but Xu Erdan did it very seriously, and it was not good to be a little vague and suspicious, which made the other errands very unhappy, and some people even chattered, why didn't Xu Erdan touch Zhu Da, he would definitely suffer a big loss, but the two of them didn't meet.

As the situation became a little more urgent, Xu Erdan was also anxious, he secretly bought a courtyard in the area where the poor lived in the city, and he and his eldest son expanded and repaired the original cellar, and put in the necessary materials, on the day the city gate was closed, he let the family move in with a different face, although the city is not big, but no one can recognize it, even his colleagues in the yamen only know that the Xu family went up and down to visit relatives outside the city.

After arranging all this, Xu Erdan began to take the initiative to ask for a shift in the city, he thought very clearly, it is easy for people to misjudge in the city, no matter whether they react slowly or make a false alarm, it is easy to cause trouble, but observing in the city, getting the confirmed news and acting quickly is the most efficient and safe, as for the others, who can take care of it.

Speaking of which, the vast army that appeared under the city of Huairen was the first time Xu Erdan saw the real Mongolian soldiers and horses, and the encounter when he was a child was three years before the Battle of Yingzhou, after that invasion and nuisance, the Tartars were forced to the north little by little by the Ming official army, and Huairen County began to be peaceful from that time.

Since seeing the Mongolian army, Xu Erdan's anxiety disappeared all of a sudden, and his whole person became gloomy again, just like the state he had when he was a teenager, he polished his rusty Pu knife to a crisp one.

Guarding the head of the city is a chore, no matter how good the supply is, it is not as comfortable as at home, the Zhu family, the young poor people still have a heart, so they are conscientious, and the young people who are requisitioned are strictly supervised, and they dare not relax in the slightest, but the old oilmen who have been up and down in the yamen for many years can just be mixed up, as for the guards of the Li family's caravan, it is just a false story.

Everyone understands the nature of these old oilers, and when arranging defense, they are also placed in the position of the second or even third line, filling vacancies, passing on news, checking and guarding materials, etc., anyway, they can't expect much except for miscellaneous work.

But there is no use to summon the intention of the servants to guess the same, this Zhu family kid wants to control the whole city, he can't let the city be able to hold a group, the city can talk effectively and can pull people up, and there are people who want to toss and make trouble, it is nothing more than the gentry and servants, and the ones who have some force are the errands, of course, these people under the age of fifty must be pulled to the city to keep an eye at any time.

If you want to understand this, you will know that as long as you don't mess around, no one will strictly manage you for laziness and slacking off, and they are all old slippery heads, and you can be confused in the past.

As a result, there are those who get together to gamble money, those who drink secretly, and those who find a place to sleep lazily in the sheltered stock, the first two were cleaned up by Zhu Da fiercely, and they suffered a lot from skin and flesh.

Day and night on duty in the city, they look for a place with few people to chat, and they also bring wine jugs, but they don't dare to overdo it after drinking one or two sips, and everyone chats all day long, from eating, drinking, prostituting and gambling to the recklessness of the rivers and lakes, and then to the officialdom, everything is discussed, but it is a rare leisure time.

In the past, Xu Erdan would also happily participate in it, but now even if he drags him, he can't be dragged either, he carries a knife all day long and patrols the city like those young people, and is regarded as a bad brain by his colleagues.

After staying in the city for a few days, the messengers began to rumor that the siege was going to be lifted and withdrawn outside the city, saying that Master Zhu had relaxed down, and everyone didn't have to be so nervous, just wait for the siege to be withdrawn.

Unlike his colleagues' relaxed and relaxed, although Xu Erdan couldn't see anything from the movement of the enemy forces outside the city, he instinctively felt that something was wrong, and this reaction was corroborated by the reaction of Zhu Da that he could see, and he could immediately come to a conclusion that was completely opposite to everyone.

Xu Erdan has been thinking about what to do after the city is broken, and he has also thought of his reaction, he will be frightened, and even scared crazy, but this situation is constantly approaching in front of him, but Xu Erdan is at a loss, he sneaked home twice, asked his family to go to the place that had been settled a long time ago to prepare, and told him to enter the cellar immediately as soon as he heard the noise in the city, not afraid of misjudgment, he was afraid that it would be too late, but he didn't want to hide.

The bastards and oilmen in the yamen have already made a judgment, even if they don't come to work, the little master will not be held accountable, the reason why everyone still obeys the rules is nothing more than waiting for the Tartar to leave, everyone has to beg for a living under this old man Zhu, if you don't bend down now, you will be in trouble if you don't keep it in order in the future, Xu Erdan naturally understands that these few days are the best time to escape......

Xu Erdan thought about his family, thought about the fear in his heart, when the small group of Tartar cavalry began to watch the battle, he ran back to the hiding place for the first time, but hesitated for half an hour, and after explaining a few words to his family, he returned to the city, and then tossed it two or three times, and when Xu Erdan was in a trance for the last time, he thought clearly, his family may not want to hide, he wants to fight, he has some memories tumbling, thinking of the crying and screaming he heard in the chicken coop, especially his parents and sisters.

When he left the hiding place this time, the few words that Xu Erdan confessed to his mother-in-law were like his last words, which directly scared his mother-in-law into crying.

The scars and anger hidden in the bottom of his heart may not be able to suppress fear and despair, Xu Erdan regretted it when he returned to the city, and the anger and revenge brought by those crying and screaming could not compare to the fear when he hid in the chicken coop.

It's better to go back, it's still too late to lead your family into the cellar, and when the Tartar is gone, you can still work in the yamen and live a good life...... Xu Erdan hesitated, he wanted to see what Zhu Da was doing, and judged the situation outside through Zhu Da's reaction, but he didn't see anyone, and he asked someone to find out that the little man was actually asleep.

Isn't the situation as bad as he thought, otherwise how could this little old man go to sleep regardless of the city defense, but Xu Erdan still trusts his instincts more, and has been worried for so long, is it a false alarm?

But what Xu Erdan didn't expect was that he actually had eyelids fighting, drowsiness welled up, and he couldn't hold it anymore, and he was scared until now, no one could sleep well at night, and even insomnia all night, although there was no result, although he didn't make a decision, his body and spirit had reached the limit, and he couldn't hold it anymore.

These oil bastards in the yamen have already found a place where they can sleep lazily, Xu Erdan also knows, if they really die on the verge of death or a false alarm, they will not delay anything by sleeping, although it is more likely to be a false alarm now, Xu Erdan yawned and walked to the place where the military funds were stacked.

fell asleep quickly, but he didn't sleep well, but he still quickly fell into a dream, and after some strange pictures, Xu Erdan had the nightmare that had been repeated many times, and he hid in the chicken coop and didn't dare to move.

Listening to the crying and screaming of the family, the conversation and laughter of the Tartars, and the dead silence that gradually quieted down, the nightmare has these every time, and each time it ends with the Tartar discovering the chicken nest, it seems that this time it is slightly different from before, this time the Tartar even put his hand into the chicken nest, and even poked and stabbed in it with a knife and gun, just to see if there was anyone inside, Xu Erdan was frightened, crying and struggling, and he even felt the injury of the knife and gun......

"Are you stunned? Wake up, wake up! Xu Erdan was woken up by his colleagues. (https:)

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