Since then, a new journey has begun, but they have followed two different paths, and perhaps it is impossible to say who is happier and who is sadder.

Li Laoyou smiled apologetically: "See the smile, it's rare for you to come once, just listen to me talk about family affairs, just don't mention those things about Chen sesame and rotten grain." If you don't like it, go sit at home and taste the new corn this year! ”

Zhuge Liang did not hesitate, he replied gratefully: "Then trouble Brother Li!" ”

"No trouble, no trouble!" Li Laoyou waved his hand happily and gently swept away the dust on the car board, "Get in the car, I'll take you there!" ”

Zhuge Liang pulled Xiuyuan, who listened dumbly, and the two jumped into the car with Li Laoyou. Li Laoyou flicked the whip rod, and the loud sound shook the dust in the air one after another, and the ox cart creaked across the wet land and drove towards the village not far away.

Xiuyuan bumped on the rickety car, smelling the strong smell of cow dung, he couldn't help but sneeze several times in succession, and he had been timid in his heart, for fear that the cow pulling the cart would lose his temper, so he turned around and pushed himself with his horns, and tightly pulled the corners of Zhuge Liang's clothes all the way.

Zhuge Liang looked at him timidly and smiled: "At first glance, he is a careless man!" He handed the feather fan in his hand to Xiuyuan, "Hold on to this, if you are afraid, you will block your face, and if you can't see it, you will not be afraid!" ”

"The children are from the city, pampered, and very noble, where are they like country boys, and they are used to fighting the sea!" Li Lao said loudly that he came to the spirit, and his words also had strength.

Zhuge Liang said with a smile: "Where is he still young, he will be twenty years old after the New Year, he should marry a daughter-in-law, he wants to be in charge of a family, or this delicate and weak girl's temper, which girl is willing to marry him!" ”

"Sir!" Xiuyuan became more and more anxious, grabbing the feather fan to cover Zhuge Liang's face, trying to stop him from continuing.

Zhuge Liang pressed down the feather fan and teased: "What, I'll find you a daughter-in-law, aren't you happy?" ”

"Sir, don't say it......" Xiuyuan's face was as red as boiling, he turned around and waved his fan, and suddenly, the ox cart drove over a hurdle, and the body shook violently, he thought it was a cow criminal, and he was so frightened that he threw himself on the sack.

Zhuge Liang couldn't help laughing: "Stupid boy, what a pampered city person!" In the middle of the laughter, the ox cart slowly drove into the village, and it was almost afternoon, and the peasant family had eaten early, and the smoke was already curling in every house, and the smell of rice enveloped the small village.

"Gah!" The wheels shook against the ground, and after a moment of slight trembling, it quickly stopped. Xiuyuan raised his eyes and looked, it turned out to be parked in front of a farmhouse, the courtyard wall hung down with a dry creeper, like a dry hand drooping down, Li Laoyou pushed open the courtyard door, and shouted happily: "Dasheng, look who is coming!" ”

Zhuge Liang and Xiuyuan followed Li Laoyou into the courtyard gate, and there was a damp smell of dust on their faces, as if they had entered an old coffin. The courtyard was empty, but it was chaotic, with two large broken wooden barrels lying on the ground, a pool of yellow and black water running down the steps of the hall, and a large pink spider crawling out from behind the door and swishing away.

In the courtyard lay a large millstone, and a thin donkey spun in a circle with all his might, rattling like a tattered windmill, and behind the mill slowly rose a head, and his pale cheeks were covered with confusion.

"Dad, what's wrong?" He carried a thick wooden rod with a strip of cloth wrapped around his head, and a thin slit whip hanging from his hand, which struck the donkey from time to time, causing the lazy donkey to snort unhappily.

Li Laoyou pointed at Zhuge Liang: "Look, who is this?" ”

Li Dasheng stared at Zhuge Liang, and his gloomy eyes flashed with confusion, astonishment, and aftertaste...... He swallowed his dry throat and said sluggishly, "He, he's Kudzu......"

"He is the Ge family brother!" Li Lao shouted in a choked voice.

"Ge, Brother Ge?" Li Dasheng said in disbelief, "It's really you ......"

"It's me!" Zhuge Liang said with certainty, and he walked towards Li Dasheng with a smile.

Li Dasheng limped with a stick, and suddenly held his hand hard: "It's really you!" He whimpered, tears rolling down his thin, hard cheeks.

"Don't cry, don't cry!" Zhuge Liang patted him on the shoulder comfortingly.

Li Dayou blamed: "You baby, what are you crying about, the Ge brothers came to see us from afar, you just cry a lot, and don't beckon people to sit down!" ”

Li Dasheng hurriedly wiped his tears, pulled Zhuge Liang and walked inside: "Sit in the house, sit in the house!" ”

He dragged out the two rough-textured three-foot tables in the room, asked Zhuge Liang and Xiuyuan to sit down, and went to find two pottery cups, wiped them inside and out, poured two cups of hot water and put them down.

"Brother Ge, why did you think about coming to Yizhou?" He crouched by the door with a stick, a hearty smile on his face.

Zhuge Liang took a sip of water: "Come and travel." ”

"Oh, it's good to travel, the scenery of Yizhou is good, take a look at it." Li Dasheng smiled and didn't ask much, but when he saw Xiu Yuan frowning with a cup, he asked, "What's wrong, is the water cold, I'll change a cup for you?" ”

"No, no, no!" Xiu Yuan shook his head, but he had to take a sip of water, and a greasy and stuffy smell entered his throat, so that he almost vomited. Quietly handed over his eyes to look at Zhuge Liang, the glass of water had gone down halfway, but his face was calm, and he didn't see the slightest disgust, as if he was drinking elixir.

Li Laoyou shouted at the door: "Dasheng, you greet the guests, I'll cook!" ”

"Alas!" Li Dasheng responded, suddenly remembered something, and said loudly, "Dad, I came here just now, and said that this year's autumn endowment has to be increased by 20%!" ”

"What?" Li Laoyou had already raised his legs to leave, and when he heard this, he turned back like a scorpion, "Add two percent?" Why? ”

Li Dasheng said sullenly: "Yes, it is said that the guests of Jingzhou want to add land endowment, and the main family is sent to the heads of the tenant farmers!" ”

"These Jingzhou people, not to mention occupying our land, are still so greedy!" Li Laoyou took a sip, suddenly remembered that Zhuge Liang was also from Jingzhou, he was busy, took a step back awkwardly, squeezed a smile and said, "I, I cook ......" hurriedly walked to the kitchen.

Zhuge Liang was puzzled when he heard this, and asked: "Jingzhou Kejiatian Fu, what is this statement?" ”

Li Dasheng sighed gloomily: "Brother Ge, you don't know, half a year ago, a soldier from Jingzhou occupied our Yizhou, drove General Liu away, and became the new master of Yizhou. Since they came, they have blindly bullied our Yizhou people, forced many lives, and now they have frequently increased the field endowment, last time they said that they would add one percent, and today they said that they would add two percent, and there is no head. I heard that they also wanted to take away the fields of our peasants and distribute them to the heroes, so that we would have no land to plant and be their domestic slaves, alas! ”

Zhuge Liang's expression became grim, where is this Jingzhou Ke's seizure of farmland, it is clearly a deliberate planting, transferring the grievances of Zhangtianling to the farmers, arousing the resentment of the farmers against the Jingzhou people, it is really an insidious and vicious means.

The grudge against the legal power has not disappeared, and now it has added to the anger of the peasants, and disasters have followed. Although Yizhou has been held in his hand, he has not really obtained it, which is like grabbing a slippery snake, which is not only difficult to control, but will also be attacked by it at any time. Although the country is majestic and beautiful, it can also become a grave to bury oneself if it is not guarded well.

Winning the country is not only to get the land, but also to win the hearts of the people, if the people's hearts are lost, no matter how strong the rivers and mountains are, they will collapse like a dam gnawed by an anthill.

"Brother Ge, where have you been all these years, why haven't you come to Yizhou all these years?" Li Dasheng asked.

Zhuge Liang smiled slightly: "When I returned to Jingzhou, some miscellaneous matters were delayed, so I couldn't come to Yizhou to visit you." ”

"Alas......" Li Dasheng sighed sadly, "You have been gone all these years, we are all worried about you, little sister, my mother...... They also think about you, but they can't wait......" The wings of his nose twitched, and heavy tears spread over his faintly lit eyes.

Zhuge Liang couldn't help but feel sorry, and asked softly: "Dasheng, what kind of disease do the eldest sister and younger sister have, how can you say that it is gone?" ”

Li Dasheng whistled his nose uncomfortably: "The younger sister is a stupid woman, a stupid woman......" He raised his face, hatred and grief were like a light and shadow, intertwined on his painful face, "She was killed by the master's family!" ”

Zhuge Liang was surprised, put down the cup in his hand gently, and slowly stood up half an inch.

"The year before last, the little sister followed us to send rent to the main family, and was favored by the main family, the main family deceived her into the house, put her, and ...... her" Li Dasheng hung his head, his hands were cut behind his back, and there was a fine crackling sound between the bone joints, "bullied the ......" The surging tears stained his face with misery, he tried his best to let himself recall the unbearable past, and his voice trembled like a bamboo tree blowing the wind, "After the little sister came back, she didn't say anything, and she was stuffy in the room for three days and three nights, we were all in a hurry, she shouldn't knock on her door, and my mother was so anxious that she kept crying, She just doesn't come out to meet people...... On the morning of the fourth day, she disappeared, and the family searched for her two days later by the creek...... I'm already out of breath......"

He covered his head, and tears dripping on a large part of the floor: "My mother was crying and fainting at that time, and the family ...... I went to the Lord's house for a judge, and they discounted my leg...... The mother went to the government to complain, knelt at the public gate for two days, and no one accepted it, she was carried back by others, and it was only three days before she could do it, and she went with her sister ......"

He raised his head, deep pain and hatred tormented his young and vicissitudes of life: "I hate it so much, I wanted to fight to the death with them, but the neighbors persuaded me to endure it, for my father's ...... I'm really unproductive, the master's family has ruined my family, and we still have to pay rent for his land, I can't figure it out. This hatred is in my heart, and it makes me restless every day, if I can't take revenge, am I still a human being? He cried out, and the wooden stick in his hand pounded the ground frantically, as if to condense the bitter hatred of his life.

"What are you still doing mentioning these old things, don't let the guests laugh at you......" Li Laoyou didn't know when he came, he leaned against the door woodenly, and his wry face was two lines of gray tears.

"Brother Li," Zhuge Liang slowly stood up, the deep sadness in his clear eyes flashed over the calm embankment, "Where are the graves of the eldest sister and the younger sister, I want to go and pay respects." ”

Li Laoyou was stunned for a moment, he covered his face violently, and cried out.

※※※

The cold wind swept over the two graves, the long withered grass was shivering by the wind, crawling over the tombs, and the three or four old persimmon trees nearby were blown off their oval leaves by the wind, and they stopped in the air, like paper money flying all over the sky. A few persimmons fell and rotted into a mess, as if they were death stamps on a coffin.

Li Laoyou squatted in front of the grave and poured wine, and cried out sadly: "Mother, sister, the brothers of the Ge family have come to see you!" ”

Zhuge Liang picked up a glass of sake, bowed deeply, and sprinkled the wine in front of the grave, and the drenched liquid was moistened like tears in the grass.

Li Dasheng stroked the tombstone of the younger sister, and said with a sad smile: "Younger sister, silly sister, Brother Ge is here, you finally waited for him......"

The sadness in Zhuge Liang's heart was like pouring the sea over the river, Xiuyuan handed over the second glass of wine, he bowed down again, but got up with a long sigh. The past is like smoke, vivid, the scenery is still vaguely there, but the old people are gone, and the changes in the world are like the withered grass on this grave, growing every year and decaying every year.

"Brother Li," he said softly, "when I left Yizhou, I left my deeds with my younger sister, and since you have suffered a great calamity, why didn't you write to me?" ”

Li Laoyou was stunned: "Yes, my sister didn't tell me, I don't know if you left your behavior!" ”

Zhuge Liang was also surprised, he obviously wrote his behavior on a handkerchief and handed it to his sister, because he was worried that the address would change, the Li family could not find him, and he also deliberately left the address of Liu Bei in Xinye at that time, and expected Yi to transfer it to himself from him, how Li Laoyou actually said that he never knew, did the sister never tell his family about his behavior. He wanted to find out, but then he thought about it, his whereabouts over the years have been uncertain, from Xinye to Fancheng, then to Xiakou, then to Linhao, and then to the public security...... All the way, tossing and turning, even though the younger sister once wrote a letter to herself, maybe the day the letter arrived, the person has been gone, think about it, it is still this too hurried change in the world to block the meeting of the deceased.

"Brother is sorry for you, you have suffered a great grievance, and my brother can't avenge you, don't blame me......" Li Dasheng muttered in the wall, his palm caressing the rough tombstone texture, "You wait, one day, I will definitely ......" The voice was very low, like a small hole in the skin with a bloody eye, and the sharp pain was mixed with bitter hatred.

"Dasheng, don't come nonsense!" Li Laoyou heard the revenge in his son's tone.

Li Dasheng was angry: "I didn't come nonsense, my sister and mother died unjustly, I panicked in my heart!" ”

"Brother Li," Zhuge Liang said in a clear voice, "Since you have been wronged, why don't you go to the government to file a lawsuit?" ”

Li Laoyou smiled bitterly and shook his head: "What's the use of complaining, isn't his mother just to seek justice for her younger sister, she has been guarding outside the public gate for two days and two nights, who will take care of it, and she will lose her life......"

Li Dasheng took a sip: "The officials are all brutes who see money, so they won't help us poor people speak!" In our township, Daddy Wu's family, last year's crops failed, and the autumn endowment was not paid, so the main family found someone to come and beat Daddy Wu and his son to death, and the female baby was ruined and sold to other families as cheap maids. Aunt Wu went to the government to complain, but the government refused to accept it, let the dog out to bite her, drove her crazy, and couldn't help but feces and urine, if it weren't for the kindness of a few aunts in the village, today's family, tomorrow's land feeding, would have died a long time ago! ”

Zhuge Liang listened silently and asked seriously: "You Xixiang, how many farmers are persecuted by the master's family like this?" ”

"It's too many, you can't count it on ten fingers!" Li Dasheng slapped his stick and slapped his palm on the ground hatefully.

Li Laoyou said sadly: "It's not our village where the main family bullies the tenant farmers, this great Yizhou, where the main family does not bully the farmers, where the government does not love money, it is just that our life is not good, and we have not invested in a good family!" ”

The sad sigh deeply touched Zhuge Liang's heart, the rise and fall, the change of dynasties, the emperor who changed the crown and robe one after another on the Danqi, and the temple has gone through a batch of civil ministers and military generals, thousands of years of meritorious deeds, admired by future generations, but it is always the people of the world who suffer. The heroes are happy or sad in the success or failure of the hegemony, and what history remembers is their flying figures, but the foundation of these rivers and mountains is scattered in history. When the world prospered, the people were the tools used to praise the great deeds of the rulers; When the world declined, the people were the victims of the heroic change of dynasty.

The compassion for the common people made Zhuge Liang feel an unshirkable sense of responsibility, and he said solemnly: "Brother Li, there is something I want to say, I don't know if you believe me?" ”

"You say, I can trust it!" Li Laoyou is very sincere.

"Good!" Zhuge Liang nodded slightly, "Brother Li, if you can trust me, you will make an appointment with the wronged farmers in the township to go to the government to complain!" ”

Li Laoyou was startled and hurriedly shook his hand: "Sue? No, no, where is the government willing to accept it, if it doesn't, it will make the master jealous! ”

Zhuge Liang gently encouraged: "Brother Li, don't be afraid, you go to the government to complain, you believe me, I promise you that this time the government will not only accept your lawsuit, but also handle it strictly!" ”

Li Laoyou was suspicious, he looked at Zhuge Liang, and there was a slight smile on his clear face,

w。 4m.