Among the families of these former Sui soldiers in the square, a considerable number of them are gray-haired old men, but these old men generally have their children, even if they are not in good health, they have to stand there with the support of their children, looking at Li Xiu with expectant eyes one by one, hoping to get a positive answer from this nobleman.

But at this time, Li Xiu was among these gray-haired old men, and suddenly found a somewhat strange person, this person was a gray-haired old woman, with a cane in her right hand, and a child at most five or six years old in her left hand, it seemed that it should be a pair of grandchildren, but this pair of grandchildren was covered with vegetables, and the patches on their clothes were stacked with patches, which looked almost the same as those who asked for food on the street, but although the pair of grandchildren were worn, they were very clean, and their hair was meticulously combed. This is what distinguishes them from ordinary beggars.

Seeing this pair of violating ancestors, Li Xiu couldn't help but be very curious, and couldn't help but step over at the moment, and the old woman saw Li Xiu walking towards her, her face also showed a little nervous, the young child also hid behind her shyly at this time, but still curiously showed one eye from the old woman's leg to stare at Li Xiu.

"Old man, did anyone in your family die in Liaodong?" Li Xiu immediately asked the old woman, although not all the people who came today were as rich as the squire just now, and there were also many commoners, but like the old woman in front of him, the conditions were so poor, but there were only two of them.

As soon as Li Xiu's words came out, he didn't expect that the old woman hadn't answered, but tears poured out first, and then I saw her salute Li Xiu respectfully and said: "Qi Guogong, the old husband was also the captain of the Sui army, and the three sons also went to Liaodong with their father, but in the end, none of them came back, fortunately, the eldest son of the old body left a grandson, and the old body worked hard to raise him, marry him and have children, but I didn't expect that three years ago, the grandson and granddaughter-in-law both died of illness, Only such a great-grandson is left to live with the old body! ”

When the old woman said to the end, she couldn't help but burst into tears, the little boy next to her was very sensible, and when she saw her great-grandmother crying, she also tried to raise her little hand with tears in her eyes, wanting to wipe her tears for her great-grandmother, but he was too short to reach it, until the old woman found out about her great-grandson's actions, and she bent down with relief at the moment, although she lost her dearest, but at least she had her great-grandson by her side, which was also her spiritual pillar over the years.

Hearing the old woman's words, Li Xiu couldn't help but show compassion, especially seeing the old and small appearance of their ancestors and grandchildren, which made him feel even more uncomfortable, although this old woman was dressed in tatters, but she knew that she was an educated person at a glance, and she said that her husband had been a lieutenant and was a middle-level general in the army, so she was also likely to be from a big family, but she didn't expect that in the first battle of Liaodong, her husband and three sons died in Liaodong, Li Xiu couldn't imagine how she, a woman, survived the turbulent times at the end of the Sui Dynasty and dragged her grandson to grow up?

Thinking of the above, Li Xiu couldn't help but sigh, and finally thought for a moment and finally spoke again: "Old man, in addition to your ancestors and grandchildren, who else is there in the family, and what do you usually do for a living?" ”

"No, since the death of our grandson and granddaughter-in-law, there are only two of our grandchildren left in the family, and in order to treat the grandchildren and his wife, the family also owes a lot of debts, fortunately, the government has taken pity on us and gave us forty acres of land, but the old man is old, and he can't plow the field, so he can only rent it to others, and collect some rations every year, most of which are also used to pay off debts, the old body is nothing, but it is my little great-grandson!" When the old woman said the end, she couldn't help but caress her great-grandson lovingly, but when she saw her great-grandson's thin appearance, her wrinkled face also showed a little distress.

The law of the Tang Dynasty stipulates that after a man is eighteen years old, he can get 20 acres of Yongye field, which can be passed on to his children and grandchildren after death, and 80 people can divide the field, this field cannot be bought and sold, and the court will take it back after death, and some old and weak people can also know that 40 acres of land are divided, such as the old woman.

It is worth mentioning that in recent years, the population of Datang has been extremely fast, and the fields are not enough, so Yongye Tian and Kou Fen Tian have been discounted in actual operation, such as Chang'an, it is quite good to be able to divide 40 acres of land to 30 acres, and the old woman can get a full amount of Kou Fen Field, and she is indeed taken care of.

"I see." Li Xiu pondered for a moment again when he heard this, and then said, "It's not the busy farming season, you shouldn't be too busy there, old man, if you don't dislike it, why don't you go with us to build a cemetery?" ”

"Me? I...... Can I really go? The old woman was stunned for a moment when she heard Li Xiu's words, and then she also showed a tangled expression, since she came here today, she naturally wanted to contribute to the burial of the bones of the soldiers of the Sui army, after all, among those bones, there were her husband and three sons, but she soon thought that she was old and decrepit, and she was already a little unable to even cultivate the fields, so how could she help anything?

"Hehe, there are so many people here today, and the young and strong people who contribute will naturally not be less, as for the old man, you don't have to do any work, just help boil water and cook at that time, usually take care of food and housing, and there is also a salary to get, and when the cemetery is only completed, you can go up and add a handful of soil, which can be regarded as doing your part for your husband and son!" Li Xiu smiled again at the moment.

Li Xiu naturally didn't point to this old woman for any work, not to mention that she had to take care of a child, but she was too pitiful to see her, so she was asked to go to the cemetery construction site, the old woman and her great-grandson in front of her were all covered with vegetables, and it was estimated that they couldn't even eat enough, so it was better to let them go to the construction site than for them to stay at home and starve.

"Multi-...... Thank you, the old body is willing! Hearing Li Xiu's words, the old woman also knew that the other party was taking care of herself, and she wiped her tears to thank her, and even asked her great-grandson to kowtow to Li Xiu, but was stopped by Li Xiu.

"Do you mean that you agree to recruit some strong men from these people to help us build a cemetery?" Yang Huai had been standing beside Li Xiu, and at this time he finally had the opportunity to speak, and he also showed a happy expression when he spoke, after all, Li Xiu's words just now had made it very clear that to recruit some strong men from these people, it would fulfill the wishes of these people and reduce the pressure on their local government.

"It's not just them, let the government post a list and allow the families of the soldiers who died in Liaodong to come to the cemetery to work and help the imperial court build the mausoleum!" Li Xiu immediately opened his mouth to command, but although he said about the cemetery, he was thinking about another thing in his mind.