Emperor Ming Fengyunlu

Volume 4: The Heroic Soul Returns Home

Chapter 1: It is difficult to leap thousands of miles into Shudao

Section 2 The withered hometown of the Han and Tang Dynasties

Due to the rush for several days, the soldiers of the Longxiang Iron Cavalry have not rested properly, and they are already very tired, so Liu Yunwei decided to rest in Luonan City for another day, so that the soldiers can recover their strength. During this period, Liu Yunwei stayed in his room, carefully studying the next marching route.

Liu Yunwei sat by the bookcase with a frown, his eyes staring at the map of the Ming Dynasty on the bookcase, his fingers kept comparing and drawing on the map, thinking about the pros and cons of each feasible route. After a whole day of weighing, Liu Yunwei finally determined the route from Luonan City to the south, passing through Shangzhou, Shanyang, Zhen'an, Hanyin, Ziyang, and finally entering Sichuan through the Chengping Pass.

In the evening of that day, Liu Yunwei, who had formulated the route of the day's march, felt a little tired, so he took two soldiers to the street, ready to walk casually and relax. So, Liu Yunwei and the two soldiers all changed into civilian clothes and walked out of the barracks on foot.

The three of them walked leisurely on the street, and as far as the eye could see, there were very few pedestrians on the streets of the city, and the shops on both sides of the road were even more crowded, and some of the small shops had even closed down. Liu Yunwei was surprised in his heart, this Luonan City is also a big city, it is still early in the morning, how can the street be so depressed?

Liu Yunwei and the others walked forward for a while, and suddenly found that the shop in front of them was very lively, and there were almost hundreds of people gathered in front of the shop, as if they were rushing to buy something.

Seeing this, Liu Yunwei immediately became interested, and beckoned the two soldiers to come forward to find out. The three of them came closer only to find that this was a rice shop, and these people were coaxing grain and rice! And after Liu Yunwei looked at the price listed by the store, he couldn't help but be surprised, the grain sold in this rice store actually cost a bucket of eight dollars of silver! You must know that the price of grain on weekdays is just three or four dollars a bucket, and this rice store has doubled the price of grain!

Liu Yunwei frowned, pulled over a common man who was buying grain, and asked, "This brother, the grain here is so expensive, why are you rushing to buy it?" ”

The man didn't even look back, he shook his hand and squeezed forward again, saying as he walked: "Now that the grain harvest in the whole of Shaanxi has failed, there is a great drought everywhere, and if you don't buy some grain, it won't be long before you starve to death!"

Liu Yunwei was stunned for a moment after hearing this, then shook his head and sighed, and said to himself: "I hope that the imperial court will quickly mobilize relief grain, otherwise something will happen in Shaanxi sooner or later."

Seeing that there were more and more crowds gathered at the entrance of the rice shop, Liu Yunwei couldn't help but feel a little heavy, and he didn't have the mood to continue to hang out, so he turned around and returned to the barracks with the two soldiers.

Early the next morning, Liu Yunwei led his army to leave Luonan City and continued to rush south.

The towns and villages along the way were very depressed, especially some small villages, which were empty and became deserted villages one after another.

Liu Yunwei looked at the devastation along the way, and secretly said in his heart: "It seems that the drought in Shaanxi is far more serious than I imagined, and those cities are a little better for the time being, but the price of food is higher, and the people still have a way to live; But the villages outside the city are not good, and countless peasants have no food, and they will not have too much silver in their hands, so they can only wait to starve to death; Or they become homeless, leaving their homes to beg for a living. Once such a thing happens on a large scale, then the bandit riot in Henan will be staged in Shaanxi! This is the hometown of the Han and Tang Dynasties! ”

Liu Yunwei stopped on the side of the road, watching the iron cavalry soldiers pass by, the war horses trampled on the road and raised a cloud of dust, and there was hardly a trace of green on the ground around him, and his eyes were full of dim scenes; Even the trees on the side of the road have completely died, and the leaves on the trees have fallen or been eaten by the hungry people nearby, and the dry branches are shaking in the wind like dry bones, which is very dazzling.

"What's wrong with this!" Liu Yunwei sighed heavily, slammed his horsewhip to keep up with the iron cavalry army, and continued to rush south.

In the evening of that day, Long Xiang Tieqi finally found a stream that was about to dry up, and Liu Yunwei was overjoyed and immediately ordered to camp by the stream for the night. At this moment, a man who hurried over, his face was very pale, and after seeing Liu Yunwei, he said in a little panic: "General Qiyu, dozens of people were found two miles ahead, they, they, are in the ......."

Liu Yunwei glanced at the person who didn't close the night strangely, and asked, "What are those people doing?" Something happened, as for such a panic? ”

The Ye Bushu took a deep breath and said, "General, those people are eating!" ”

"Oh? What's there to be afraid of when eating? Liu Yunwei laughed dumbly when he heard this, and was just about to go to the front to inquire about the news when he didn't accept the night, when he suddenly remembered something, his face suddenly changed greatly, and he asked sharply: "What are they eating!" ”

"Kids, they're eating kids!" The eyes of the night are full of fear.

A moment later, Liu Yunwei hurried to the place where the group of people were with a hundred iron cavalry soldiers.

Liu Yunwei saw that dozens of people were gathering in a depression, and three large fires had been lit in the crowd, and something was roasting on a few thick branches. And the people all looked at the flames with blank expressions and lost eyes, and a dozen or so people near the fire were bowing their heads to eat something, not making a piercing chewing sound, while the rest of the people waited and watched the fire without stopping. Just outside the crowd, there were piles of bloody corpses scattered on the ground.

Liu Yunwei looked at the scene in front of him, as if he was in hell, and he felt cold on the hot earth! You don't have to think about what it is!

"Fence them all up for me!" Liu Yunwei roared angrily.

A hundred iron cavalry soldiers were also very angry, and they all stepped forward to surround these people who were eating children; Several soldiers rushed forward to extinguish the fire, which immediately attracted the surrounding people to pounce, and they thought that these officers and soldiers were here to grab food from them!

Liu Yunwei pulled out his sword violently and shouted, "Everyone kneel down for me!" Those who resist will be killed! ”

As soon as the words fell, the iron cavalry soldiers pounced on the people who were shouting, and after a burst of sword light, more than a dozen cold corpses appeared on the ground. The crowd around them suddenly receded like a tide, and they knelt down honestly under the orders of the soldiers.

Seeing that the situation was under control, Liu Yunwei took a closer look at the scene and found that these people were all adults, and there was no longer a living child!

Liu Yunwei was already angry at this moment, rushed forward and kicked a wooden-looking citizen to the ground, and then kept kicking and beating, and shouted and cursed: "You beasts! Don't you have a little bit of humanity? A bunch of crumbs! Darn! ”

After fighting for a while, suddenly a woman let out a heart-rending cry: "Master Jun, what can we do? We were left with a village, and we were all starving to death! There's nothing we can do. Immediately afterwards, dozens of people around seemed to have found a channel for catharsis, and they all cried heartbreakingly.

Liu Yunwei said loudly: "I'd rather starve to death than eat your own children like you!" Tiger poison doesn't eat children, you are not even as good as animals! ”

At this time, a man sobbed and said, "We are not as good as pigs and dogs, but what about you people in the government?" After such a great drought, all the fields were lost, but what did the government do? Those officials not only did not give alms, but repeatedly raised taxes, can we do such things that people and gods are angry with if we have a little way to live? ”

Liu Yunwei was silent, and then the anger in his heart burned even more vigorously, not only against these people, but also against those officials who did not leave a way for the people to live! These officials are digging the foundation of the dynasty little by little, and they are helping the Tartars to consume the vitality of the dynasty! How is their behavior different from that of traitors?

Thinking of this, Liu Yunwei glared at the crowd in front of him and said, "Bury these children on the spot." Also, leave some food behind! ”

After speaking, Liu Yunwei turned over and rode away, and the Longxiang Iron Cavalry soldiers also followed, leaving more than a dozen soldiers to deal with the affairs here.

Three days later, the Longxiang Iron Cavalry finally arrived near the Kouping Pass after a rapid march, and after passing the pass, it was the border of Sichuan.

Liu Yunwei looked at Xiongguan, which could already be seen in front of him, and was very excited in his heart, and at the same time had a feeling of being closer to home. With the galloping of the war horses, after nearly half an hour, the army arrived under the fortress.

However, what appeared in front of Liu Yunwei was not pedestrians coming and going, but the closed city gate and the thousands of fleeing people crowded in front of the Jiping Pass!

Just when Liu Yunwei was dumbfounded, the people who were blocked here by the Gotping Pass suddenly let out a burst of exclamations: "Ah! The officers and soldiers are coming! ”

"The officers and soldiers are coming to drive us back."

"You'll starve to death when you go back! I'd rather die than go back! ”

"Open the door, we have to live!"

In the shouting, thousands of people flocked to the closed door again, countless pairs of thin arms kept knocking on the cold door, and the old people and children let out desperate cries, tearing their hearts!

Liu Yunwei looked at the scene in front of him, only to feel that his heart had been stabbed fiercely, and it hurt to the bone marrow! There were two lines of tears left in his eyes.