The father and son didn't hold each other for too long, Cao Shixuan showed his feelings and then regained his majestic father's expression, he pointed at Li Mingli and said, "You also want to thank you Brother Li, he has helped me to listen to your news in the past few months, and he has not thought of a way." Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo”

Li Mingli said ashamedly: "I didn't take good care of Brother Cao, and I didn't help much, how dare I be so praised as an uncle." ”

Based on the friendship between the Cao family and Li Mingli, Cao Zhenyan and Li Mingli have always been brothers, and Li Mingli is also commensurate with Cao Shixuan as an uncle.

Cao Zhenyan waved his hand and said: "Brother Li, don't say such a thing, the soldiers are fierce and dangerous, no one can take care of anyone on the battlefield at that time, I saw you trying to lean towards me, but at that time the two of us really couldn't get together, and then I was injured and fell, in that situation, you came to save me and just folded yourself in, no wonder you." And I have seen with my own eyes, you have tried desperately to lean on my side several times, this affection, even if it is a brother in life and death. ”

Li Mingli's heart was sour when he heard it, he was really afraid that the Cao family would blame him, but from Cao Shixuan to Cao Zhenyan, he didn't mean this, which made him feel even more guilty.

"You two don't have to say these polite words." Cao Shixuan said: "I have recently lived in Liaoyang City, and I have been given the position of reserve emperor, and I will go to an official village in southern Liaoning to take up my post after a while. ”

Of course, Li Mingli is not indispensable, he is just an ordinary Han army, and there is no difficulty in Cao Shixuan's transfer to him, this face is always given, but with Cao Shixuan's official position as the hereditary commander of Shenyang Zhongwei, the official was given a reserve, which shows that the status of the Han army generals has further declined.

Cao Zhenyan said: "The child was named by Fushun and told to come here to report after the injury is healed. ”

Cao Shixuan was taken aback, frowned, and said: "Li Efu is not a good place to go here, you don't care about this matter first, I have some friendship with Shi Tingzhu, I will beg him for this matter." ”

Shi Tingzhu is also the leading figure in the Han army, although he is not as good as Tong Yanghe and Li Yongfang, he is also a powerful figure among the generals of the Han army, and his power is not small.

Cao Zhenyan said: "Why does my father want to go to southern Liaoning? ”

"It doesn't have to be Liaonan." Cao Shixuan said: "You may also go to Tunzhuang in the area of Lianshanguan." ”

"There are very few Tunzhuang over there, mainly to fight Dongjiang Town, right?"

"Exactly." Cao Shixuan said: "But don't worry too much, I will not be put in the forefront of the Tunzhuang, I will act when I fight, Lao Khan here every day to deal with the Han generals who do not contribute to the war, the law does not blame the public, the Han army will only be less and less used in the future war, most of us will be in the Tunzhuang to farm, and slowly all of them will be woven into clothes, my Cao family has long been attached to the fourteenth elder brother, there is no need to panic about this matter, see the walking steps." ”

If Cao Shixuan would not have said these words to his son before, but this time Cao Zhenyan came back from the Thirteen Mountains, his demeanor and demeanor had changed greatly, and he had escaped from death and disaster, Cao Shixuan felt that he could already talk to his son about these topics that he couldn't talk about before.

As for Li Mingli on the side, there is no need to shy away from it, they both believe in each other.

"If it goes on like this," Cao Zhenyan said, "Tens of thousands of Han soldiers, I'm afraid they will all become enslaved banners." ”

"Almost." Cao Shixuan sighed: "The old Khan is more and more distrustful of the Han army, within a year, the Han army should all be incorporated into the official village, and distributed to each banner for the coat farming, a small number of people will carry the flag to become the bannerman, and the elite of the generals will become the armor of the banner, in addition, the rest is mostly the life of farming." ”

Li Mingli wanted to say that even so, the clothes in the official village are better than those ordinary Han people, and the Han people are also detained by the village, and the labor is much heavier than the Han army's clothing, and they are often killed in crimes, and their personal safety is not guaranteed at all, most of the Han army's clothing belongs to a certain Niu Lu, and even the private property of the Han army generals or their nobles, these nobles always have to protect their private property, and the clothing is also wealth, and the Jurchen cattle often resell the clothing, if the ordinary flag people have a few clothes at home, Life is much better, at least there is a coat to help farm the land, the banner man can practice arching horses, and the chance of saving his life and making meritorious service on the battlefield is much greater.

But just think about it, Cao Shixuan seems to be a lot colder about his career in Houjin, unlike the previous two years when he wanted to make a career on the Jurchen side, because Cao Shixuan has a theory, the Cao family lives and dies in Liaozhen like this, there is no chance to go up, and the Jurchens are career start-ups, of course, the opportunity is much greater than that in the Ming Dynasty, even if the Jurchens only establish a small country in a corner of peace in the future, but judging from the examples of the Bohai State and the Khitan back then, A small country established by a foreign race has gradually developed into a medium-level country, and it is not uncommon for a hundred years or even longer, if the Cao family can take the lead in such a country, it will also be a good opportunity for future generations.

It's a pity that now it seems that even if this country will have a good future, but at least it has nothing to do with the Han army and the Han people, a large number of Han troops turned into cloth banner slaves, a small number of banners became bannermen, and the attached Han army generals still have a good political status, and at the same time they are also called to manage a large number of tunzhuang, that is, these Han army generals are called to manage their old departments, but their subordinates are turned into slaves, farming and farming, and the status of these Han army generals will decline accordingly, at least far less than two or three years ago.

"This trend should be the meaning of a few big Baylors and old Khan." Cao Shixuan said with a serious face: "In the future, the life of the Han army and the Han people will be more difficult, it is also a good thing for us to find a place to hide, Mingli, you don't have to say much about the relationship between you and our Cao family, I mean, don't delay when you go back, I will talk to your master Niu Lu Ezhen, you are ready to come to my side at any time." ”

Li Mingli made a thousand calls and said, "Thank you uncle for taking care of me, Mingli will prepare after he goes back." ”

"Here are fifty taels of silver." Cao Shixuan handed Li Mingli a big ingot of silver, and said: "Prepare more food and application items, even the Tunzhuang on the Shanguan side is a newly opened land, not more than the familiar land here in Liaozhong, and it will be difficult to survive this winter." ”

……

"I'm back." When twilight came, it was dark everywhere in Tunzhuang, and there was no light in Niu Lu's house, most of the families went to bed or were about to go to bed, Li Mingli put down a bag of grain, took a breath, and said to the eldest girl of the Ding family: "There are still a few bags at the entrance of the village, I will move them, and there are still some vegetables, you go with me to get them." ”

"Hey!" The eldest girl agreed first, then dragged down the towel, twisted a few handfuls in the iron basin by the door, handed it to Li Mingli and said, "Wipe your face first, look at the sweat on your face." ”

Li Mingli smiled slightly, wiped his face, felt the coolness brought by the towel handle and cold water on his face, and felt a sense of joy and tranquility in his heart.

He and the eldest girl became relatives after the spring of this year, saying that they were married, and they didn't even put a cannon, and now no one has this kind of heart, and the marriage between the flag slaves must be allowed by the master, Li Mingli officially raised the flag after the war this spring, and became a member of the flag in the red flag, and his marriage, that is, the report to Niu Lu Zhangjing, was over.

Like all flags, the Zhenghong Banner is divided into five pillars: the bottom horn, the right wing shoulder, the right wing end, the left wing shoulder, and the left wing end.

Li Mingli's Niu Lu is one of the Shi Guan Niu Lu belonging to Bei Zi Shuotuo, after a series of wars, the Jurchens of each Niu Lu have a certain derogation, each Niu Lu has made up a considerable number of Jurchen and Han army, these Han soldiers have become banner people, and they have also been used as flag people in previous wars, and later established Wuzhen Chaoha and Han Eight Banners, many Han bannermen were assigned to the Han Army Eight Banners, and since then they have become banner people, in the Qing Dynasty, the Han Army banner people have the same political status as the Manchurian flag people, They also gradually regarded themselves as Manchurians, and the Han army and Manchuria could freely intermarry, and Manchuria also regarded the Han army as their own people, and this political status and trust began at this time in Liaodong, which slowly dissolved into the Han army in various cattle records.

It is said that Li Mingli can only stay in Niulu, peace of mind as his bannerman, and he may become a man in armor in the future, but he is also likely to die early in war or labor, at this time there is no friendship or trust between the Han army and the banner people, two or three hundred years later, their children and grandchildren regard each other as their own family, and now at this time, the Manchurian flag Ding regards the Han flag as the flag slave is the norm, and the slightest carelessness is to whip and reprimand, or even beheading, and the Cao family's coat is a cut above the flag slave, the serious fourteenth elder brother's household, The ordinary flag man can't be provoked, Li Mingli thought about it, or it was safer to follow the Cao family, so the silver that Cao Shi chose to give him, in addition to leaving a few taels of emergency, most of them bought all the food and various items, and set off for Liaoyang in the morning, deliberately rubbing outside for a long time, and rushed back to the entrance of Tunzhuang Village before dark.

The grain price of Liaoyang was the highest peak last winter, a stone of grain more than 20 taels of silver, and then it fell, and still reached the price of about eight taels of a stone, this grain is unimaginable in the interior of the Ming Dynasty, the grain of the Ming Dynasty has been very stable between a hundred years, generally between four and five dollars, with the time of summer tax payment there will be a price of one or two coins floating, the grain price in the north is higher than that in the south, but the Jingshi area due to sufficient grain reserves, the grain price has always been stable, and the grain price began to rise after entering the Longwan period, Especially in the northern region, because of inflation and natural disasters, the price of grain has risen to one or even two taels of stone in some places, and the highest time is also a few taels of silver and a stone, fortunately, there has been a non-stop food supply line in the north of the Ming Dynasty, unlike Houjin, in addition to the smuggling route is only to rely on oneself, the high price of food is unbelievable, and a large number of people will starve to death every winter.