The stone pavement that had just fallen in the autumn rain was a little slippery.

This autumn rain is the first drizzle of autumn this year, and the obviously cold weather makes the drizzle falling from the sky like drops of ice, sprinkled on the face, there will be a biting coldness.

Tang Xidong was very unaccustomed to wrapping the scholar's robe on his body tightly and walked towards the front mountain.

Luoliang Mountain is close to the official road under the mountain, it is not high, Shanyin has become a cliff because of geological changes, and the slope of Shanyang is gentle, and it has been reclaimed into small terraces.

However, in Tang Xidong's previous memory, in the past two years, Shanxi was dry and rainless, and disasters were raging, so the terraced fields were abandoned.

The front mountain is a flat and open field, surrounded by houses mixed with bricks and stones, and the mountain bandits in their early 1,000s live in this cottage.

It is said that it is a mountain bandit, but in fact, it is not, but they are all mountain people who can't survive under the mountain, and they can't pay the imperial grain, so they are forced to go up the mountain to evade taxes.

They are all old farmers who have been mud legs all their lives.

Can you imagine how unpopular these mountain bandits are? How hard is life?

In addition to the bows and arrows used for hunting, there were only patchwork of rusty knives and guns.

In the previous days, the three sworn brothers who had been relying on Liu Dagu, the owner of the village who was born in the military household of the guard, Deng Dahu, who was born as a deserter in the border army, and Liu Dagou, who was born as a ruffian bully, took everyone blindly.

But half a year ago, Liu Dagu died in the hands of the Kang family, a big family in Pingyang Prefecture, during the robbery, and the position of the owner of the cottage fell on a weak woman, Liu Lianqing.

Liu Lianqing is very beautiful, and from the perspective of Tang Xidong today, there is a touching classical beauty.

is only twenty years old, but he is very assertive, and his temperament is cold on the outside and hot on the inside.

Of course, Tang Xidong and each other are really like strangers who meet strangers, even if the two of them are single-handedly managed by Liu Dagu to become husband and wife.

At this moment, the square in front of the mountain is noisy.

The crowd was surrounded, and one person and one sentence were mixed together like a vegetable market in later generations, coupled with the cries of women and children, how chaotic and chaotic it was.

Tang Xidong leaned over, found someone to crack it, and poked his head out to look.

In the middle of the mountain bandits, the corpses of four or five men lay on the cold ground, and next to them were squatting or sitting family members, emaciated women, and dazed children.

Everyone around them was in the grief of a rabbit dying and a fox.

Robbery inevitably kills people, and everyone who dies is for the more than 1,000 people on the cottage.

Who can't complain, and who can't be cared for?

After all, even the previous owner of the village, the fierce and burly Liu Dagu, was slashed by others.

Tang Xidong felt that his eyes were a little indifferent, out of place with everything around him, so he didn't look at it anymore, but looked at the dilapidated board cars behind those young people.

The empty cart silently told everyone that today was empty-handed.

"Uncle Seven, the dead brother, you will bring someone to live and bury you, and each family will have an extra share of food in the future." A crisp voice rang in my ears.

When Tang Xidong heard the prestige, he saw a young girl with tall eyebrows and picturesque eyes, standing there with a cold face, this is Liu Lianqing, the owner of this cottage, the head of the cottage, just now said the female bandit leader.

An old man next to him with a mole on the corner of his mouth nodded in agreement.

This old man has a very high status in the cottage, and he is the only one in the village who knows a few medical skills, and he is usually responsible for the operation of various happy events and white events in the cottage.

In Tang Xidong's memory, his marriage to Liu Lianqing a few years ago was handled by this old man.

There was also a bearded man beside him, who looked to be in his forties, and a scar on his face made him look a little fierce.

This person is Deng Dahu, who was born as a deserter from the border army, and the tiger head and tiger brain child in his arms is his son, Deng Xiaohu.

This is how the ancients gave names, and the peasant family did not taboo the names of father and son.

Deng Dahu originally had a wife and children, but when he was a deserter, his wife stayed in his hometown, went up the mountain and continued to have a room, and gave birth to a son seven years ago, which is very precious.

A thin but capable man standing next to Deng Dahu was Liu Dagou, the third child in the Taoyuan Three Knots, who also had a ruffian temperament, had no children and no daughters under his knees, and had no family in front of him, and liked to be with widows on the mountain.

Fortunately, after going up the mountain, I accepted my temperament and never forcibly occupied it, it was all your willingness.

"The eldest niece, plus the five brothers who died today, have already died twelve young men at the foot of the mountain in the past month, and if this continues, people will slowly die." Uncle Seven frowned sadly, and the mole at the corner of his mouth trembled.

When Liu Lianqing heard this, her face was still cold, but there was sadness and distress in her eyes that could not be concealed.

"I'll bury the people first, and then I'll discuss them in my courtyard." After Liu Lianqing finished speaking, she turned around and left.

He was followed by Deng Dahu and Liu Dagou.

When the head left, the crowd behind them dispersed, busy helping to organize the funeral.

The funeral of the cottage is extremely simple.

The dead have always been pulled down in the caves dug in the back mountains, and burned with a handful of firewood.

In this era, it is actually important to enter the soil for peace, but to enter the earth for peace is also to be buried back to his hometown after death, but these mountain bandits on the cottage, where is there still a home?

As soon as the crowd dispersed, Tang Xidong followed and left.

From beginning to end, he was like a shadow, pitiful with a low sense of existence, and everyone who saw him was like they had never seen such a big living person.

Probably in the eyes of everyone in this cottage, he is not even as good as a cat or a dog, and he is raised as an idler, so the feeling of being ignored is very exciting Tang Xidong, and he feels that his heart is hurt.

Cut! A group of native old hats still look down on the talented master, but they are still the masters with great insight with more than 300 years of memory in later generations.

Look at you so pitiful, and do not see as much as you do.

Tang Xidong walked forward, and at the same time comforted himself very unpleasantly in his heart.

He came to eat, so naturally he wanted to go to Liu Lianqing's courtyard.

Although Liu Lianqing looked down on him very much, she still took care of his talented face, and they were all arranged together during meals.

Liu Lianqing's yard is unique in this cottage, the big yard, all green bricks, green tiles as the roof, the east and west wings are available, the front room hall and the backyard housing, can be regarded as two entrances.

Tang Xidong walked to the courtyard gate, directly pushed open the courtyard door with a big grin, and with a "squeak", the old courtyard door let out a groan.

The courtyard was empty, and there was nothing left except for a pair of stone tables and chairs for drinking tea after dinner.

Tang Xidong didn't linger either, and walked directly towards the open meeting hall.

"Uncle Seven is here?" Probably the sun was shining, the room was dark, and the people in the house couldn't see the people outside, Liu Lianqing raised her head and asked.

Immediately after that, Tang Xidong strode in, his face turned cold again, and he sat on the chair at the top of the hall and did not speak.

Sitting on the left and right were Deng Dahu and Liu Dagou, who came to discuss the matter.

Liu Lianqing didn't speak, but Liu Dagou spoke: "Hmph, nerd, it's never too late to eat." ”

The dissatisfaction and contempt in the tone were undisguised.

Tang Xidong didn't speak, he found a chair to sit down, crossed Erlang's legs, and looked at the roof beams.

His presence did not disturb the three of them, and they treated him as air, and continued the topic just now.

"These days, the caravans coming and going under the mountain are becoming more and more abnormal, the small merchants and small brigades are gone, and the remaining big caravans are bringing more and more families, and they can't be beaten and can't be stopped, so if this continues, the food in the cottage will not be able to supply everyone to eat." Deng Dahu lay on the chair, worried.

"Today, I asked Lai Erzi to go into the city to buy oil and salt, but I heard a piece of news." Liu Dagou opened his mouth to answer.

"Yes, a big king who rebelled in Shaanxi, known as the king of Hengtian or something, led people into Shanxi, and is now besieging Zhaocheng County."

In the hall, Liu Lianqing frowned and thought for a while: "In this way, the recent changes in the caravan are all caused by the rebellious Shaanxi rebels?" ”

"It's reasonable, as soon as the rebels come, the situation is very tight, and the trade routes are also restless, so the caravan can't bring more people." Deng Dahu's brows loosened and found the root of the problem, and then his brows tightened: "However, the rebel army will not leave for a while and a half, it is estimated that the caravan will be escorted by a large team for a long time, so if you go on like this, you can't grab food and money, what will everyone eat?" ”

So, the three people who had no choice frowned and pondered the way out, and the hall became quiet for a while.