The south of the Cangtou River, Guantunbao Township.

Chen Wenzhou picked up a bunch of ears of wheat and sighed.

The wheat is not yet ripe, but it has already been harvested, which shows the extent of the lack of food.

The heavy damage brought to the people by the Anshi Rebellion cannot be recovered and made up for even if it is rebuilt into a prosperous Kaiyuan era.

"The white bones are exposed in the wild, and there is no rooster crowing for thousands of miles!" Chen Wenzhou felt that the right front army marched all the way, and most of the eyes were wild white bones, Pengcao lonely villages, marching for more than 20 miles, only to find a village not far away.

Li Siye deeply agreed, "When I was a teenager, I followed General Gao Xianzhi into Beijing to report on my work. Who would have thought that in just over ten years, the magnificent rivers and mountains of my Tang Dynasty have been riddled with holes, alas, they are all caused by Anshi rebels! ”

"Not really!" Chen Wenzhou shook his head and said.

"Oh?"

"Big brother, you think, An Lushan is just a traitor in Hebei, and he soars all the way by flattery. If the emperor is far away, how can he give these chaotic ministers and thieves a chance? ”

Chen Wenzhou threw away the ears of wheat and stood up, "I think that Li Linfu has a honey belly and a sword in his mouth, and the loyal ministers in the court are about to die, and they are hidden; Besides, Yang Guozhong, who rejects dissidents and is in charge of the government alone, I heard that even the prince has to give him three points! Any report must pass through his hands, so as to block the emperor's hearing and hearing, and what he reported to the emperor is the illusion of singing and dancing and submissiveness! ”

Chen Wenzhou sneered and continued: "The emperor is obsessed with the scene of the prosperous world, but he does not perceive the hidden disasters under the appearance of the prosperous world! In fact, Datang has long been troubled internally and externally. An Lushan and Shi Siming were just an introduction, which led to the carbuncle that had been brewing in the Tang Dynasty for a long time! ”

Chen Wenzhou did not mention the issue of land annexation, because this was the fundamental defect of the feudal system and the fundamental reason for the demise of the feudal dynasties in previous dynasties, which was not something that people of this era could understand.

Li Siye nodded after listening, "What you said is right, under the prosperous era, there will be a long disaster, and if the king does not notice it, the country will be in danger!" ”

At this moment, Nan Jiyun came to report, "General, the main bookkeeper, I have inquired clearly, the village in front is called Guantun Fort, after our investigation, we found that there are still villagers living there, why don't we camp there tonight." ”

Li Siye nodded, "Order!" The whole army was stationed in Guantun Fort and two teams of scouts were released, one team went to the front to explore the way, and the other team patrolled near the village! Tell my soldiers that after entering the village, they are not allowed to trespass on people's houses, and they are not allowed to tamper with the people's bricks, tiles, and grains! Anyone who disturbs the people, regardless of their position or origin, will be beheaded! ”

"Yes!"

Under Li Siye's order, the right front army died down and advanced into Guantun Fort.

The village was very quiet and desolate, and everyone in the right front army sighed.

The occasional villager or two, trembling like frightened birds, closed the door one after another, peeking out of the window to quietly observe the direction of the army.

"General, there's a small courtyard in front!" A scout came to report.

"Let's go in and have a look!" Li Siye said, "Order! The whole army dismounted, camped on the spot, and was not allowed to break into the houses! Violators are killed! ”

Li Siye and Chen Wenzhou turned over and dismounted and walked into the small courtyard.

The courtyard was made up of three rooms, and it was in disrepair, and the ground was full of broken tiles, and the weeds were growing more than a foot.

In front of a windmill that was about to fall apart was a pile of chaff dregs.

The east and west wings don't even have doors, and gray spider silk hangs obliquely on the door frames, and only the main room has two door panels.

The two of them were about to set up this place as a temporary headquarters, when suddenly there was movement in the main room. The two looked at each other and walked into the house.

There was a musty smell in the house, there was a stove, an iron pot covered with chaff was placed on the stove hole, and a few broken bowls were still stained with chaff and wild vegetables.

A wooden bed leaned against the wall, and a few beds of black cotton wool were covered with it.

Other than that, there is nothing long.

The two looked left and right for a long time, only to realize that the movement was coming from the water tank.

This is already the territory of the rebels, and the two have to be on guard.

Li Siye held the sword in his hand and walked over step by step, and there was a whining sound from the water tank, as if someone had covered his mouth.

Li Siye pulled out his saber, tilted his head and opened the lid of the water tank: a sixty-year-old man was covering a little girl's mouth, and the two of them were trembling, looking at Li Siye and Chen Wenzhou in horror and despair.

The old man's face was full of pleading, and the little girl's eyes were wide open with fear, and tears flooded the little face.

"The military master spares his life! Spare your life! The old man cowered in the water tank, protecting the little girl, and kept pleading.

Chen Wenzhou and Li Siye glanced at each other, and the old man saw Li Siye holding a sword in his hand, and he had the courage to hold the little girl out of the water tank, kneeling and kowtowing: "The military master spares his life!" The little old man is willing to be a cow and a horse for the military master, and I only ask the military master to spare my granddaughter! ”

The old man was ragged and skinny, and the little girl was only wearing a tattered blouse, and her lower body and small feet were naked outside, red from the cold.

"What is this old man!" Chen Wenzhou hurriedly helped the old man up, and then whispered to Li Siye, "Your sword!" ”

"Oh," Li Siye hurriedly put away his sword, and the fear on the old man's face dissipated a lot, "The old man doesn't have to be afraid, we are officers and soldiers from the northwest." ”

"Are you officers and soldiers?" The old man asked in surprise.

Li Siye and Chen Wenzhou nodded.

"Are you really officers and soldiers?" The old man asked disbelievingly.

Li Siye hurriedly took out his official document from his arms, thanks to the old man's literacy, at a glance, it was written "Li Siye, the former general of the right Yu Hou Army of the Qin Tang Shuo Fang Xing Camp", the old man believed that the two people in front of him were indeed official soldiers.

"It's a long cry for you, woo woo," the old man burst into tears and couldn't help choking out.

Chen Wenzhou held the old man's hand and asked, "Old man, what about the people in your family?" What about the people in your village? Where have they all gone? ”

"Alas, it's hard to see at a glance," the old man sighed, and explained the reason.

It turned out that the old man was originally the village Lizheng (village chief), named Chen Xingui, and his son was conscripted into the army to fight the rebels in Luoyang, and finally the Tang army was defeated, and the old man's son was killed, leaving only a little granddaughter, and the mother of the little granddaughter saw that life was difficult, and fled with the young people in the village.

Those who could walk in the village ran away, and those who stayed behind were the old, weak, sick and disabled who couldn't run.

Chen Xingui took his little granddaughter, and the grandfather and grandson depended on each other for their lives, living only on bran and wild vegetables.

In the end, Chen Wenzhou and Li Siye comforted the old man for a long time before he stopped crying.

"Grandpa, I'm so hungry," whispered the little girl beside the old man, blinking her big innocent eyes.

Chen Wenzhou looked at the little girl's appearance, and suddenly felt a pain in his heart, he remembered his sister in his previous life.

My sister is also at this age, and she is a little baby and a little ancestor at home, and she is afraid of melting in her mouth, and she is afraid of flying on her head.

And this little girl is unclothed and hungry, struggling with fear and hunger, waiting for death at any time, silently bearing the weight of fate.

Chen Wenzhou's eyes were slightly moist, he squatted down, took off his coat and wrapped the little girl, and asked Hun Yang outside to bring dry food, "Little sister, come, eat." ”

The little girl hid behind her grandfather, "Grandpa, I'm afraid." ”

The old man stroked the little girl's head lovingly, "Xiaohua is not afraid, the military master is a good person, eat when you are hungry." ”

Xiaohua picked up the dry food and nibbled on it.

Xiaohua, who has not eaten a full meal for many days, can't wait to eat all the meals for several days at one time, her little mouth is stuffed, and she is still gnawing non-stop.

"Sister Xiaohua, don't panic, there are so many brothers here, you just have to eat enough," Chen Wenzhou patted Xiaohua's head and said softly.

Chen Xingui looked at his little granddaughter gobbling up, couldn't help but burst into tears, turned his head and wiped a handful of tears.

"Thank you, brother, Xiaohua can't finish eating," the little girl said, holding the dry food in her hand tightly.

"Xiaohua is so polite, why can't you finish eating?" Chen Wenzhou asked with a smile.

Xiaohua reluctantly handed the remaining dry food in her hand to Chen Wenzhou, "Xiaohua has finished eating, my brother has nothing to eat, then he will be hungry." ”

Chen Wenzhou's nose was sour.