Xiangyang city north and south long more than three miles, east and west wide nearly three miles, the city is square, there is a cross street in the center, shops stand in a forest, the human settlements are dense, the drum tower, the bell tower stands in it, echo with the four corners of the city wall, the southeast of the city, there is the Ming Xiangwang Mansion, occupies a quarter of the area in the city, majestic and magnificent, it is a pity that since the fourteenth year of Chongzhen Zhang Xianzhong broke through the Xiangyang City, the Xiangwang Zhu Zhenming was caught on the head of the city in front of the public after the head of the owl, a fire burned the palace into white ground, his son Zhu Changcheng escaped from Xiangyang, inherited the throne, and now fled to Jiujiang Mansion to survive and steal his life.

Wang Huan and the three of them held their breath, and after pushing the dung cart into the city with difficulty, they reluctantly walked for a while, turned around and peeked at the defenders at the city gate without paying attention to themselves, as if they had been amnestied, they hurriedly flashed into an alley on the side of the street, retched for a while, and then fanned with their hands, opened their clothes, and fanned for a while, and only after smelling that the smell on each other's bodies was not so obvious, did they dare to take a big breath of air.

"Wang Huan, what should we do now?" Chen Ergou gasped and asked.

Wang Huan straightened up and replied weakly: "I can only wait in the city, it is easy to come in and difficult to get out, the soldiers at the city gate are very strictly guarded, we can only wait for the dung truck to collect the night incense, and when we go out, we will follow out." ”

When Chen Ergou and Xu Goudan heard that they would have to follow the dung truck for a while, their faces cried and mourned, but they were helpless.

The three of them came out of the alley, but saw that the streets in the city were already full of people, and the people of this era got up very early and made the sunrise, so that although the sky was just dawning, the shops on both sides of the street had already opened their doors and opened their doors.

In the era of war, inside and outside the city are like two worlds, there are piles of refugees outside the city, the corpses of the starving and sick are everywhere and no one cares, but the city is still prosperous, Li Zicheng evacuated Xiangyang in a hurry, it is too late to destroy, the city still maintains the population and vitality, the banners hanging on the doors of the shops are waving in the wind, and the clever guys are loudly soliciting customers, selling the goods in the store, which is almost no different from the peaceful and prosperous times.

Wang Huan frowned deeply, and felt that the Qing Dynasty was very successful in winning the hearts of the people, and the soldiers crossed the border but did not commit any offense in the city, although this is because Xiangyang was a Qing soldier who did not resist, and did not dare to close off the enemy like Yangzhou, but it can be seen from this that the Manchu nobles did not adopt the policy of killing chickens and eggs and robbing the people, but operated steadily, and then implemented tough measures after everything was controlled. and ignoring national oppression and alien domination.

Dolgon immediately conquered the world, and his ability to sit in the world was not much better than Huang Taiji, and even too much.

Wang Huan is thinking about the world, but Chen Ergou and Xu Goudan are caring about their own five internal organs. At this time, in the restaurants and restaurants on both sides of the street, the steamed steamed bun rolls, the baked golden baked cake pot helmet, and the fried fruit, the greedy two people dripped water on the ground, and they couldn't move their legs for a long time.

Wang Huan pulled the two of them, and watched as they walked, the more they looked, the more hungry they became, and finally they couldn't stand it anymore, and the three of them stood together in front of a shop that put the steamed bun steamer at the door, staring directly at the hot steamed bun, and couldn't walk anymore.

Xu Goudan stood for a while, wiped the saliva from the corner of his mouth, wiped his face, took a step forward, stood directly at the door of the house, and pronounced the Dharma name, he wanted to continue to pretend to be a novice at home, and wanted to take a few steamed buns for nothing.

Before he finished chanting "Amitabha", the guy behind the board copied a broom, ran out viciously, raised the broom and drove people, and scolded in his mouth: "Where did the bald donkey come from, dare to pretend to be a monk to deceive people, hurry up and get away, don't delay my business!" ”

Wang Huan and the three of them fled in the wilderness, ran out for a long time, and when they saw that the guy was not chasing, they stopped panting, and Chen Ergou complained: "Are you stupid?" Look at your head, your hair is an inch long, where is the monk like this? It's okay to deceive the villagers outside, and the people in this city have become fine, how can you be deceived? ”

Wang Huan persuaded: "The dog is also a kind heart, don't scold, he saw that everyone was hungry, so he went to beg for food." ”

Xu Goudan was beaten a few times with a broom, a bag bulged on his head, and he hugged his head with his hands and asked with a sad face: "This is good, even the monk has to pretend, are we going to starve to death in this city?" ”

Wang Huan and Chen Ergou have no choice, a penny is difficult to defeat a hero, rich is an uncle, no money is a slave, this truth remains the same, it is applicable everywhere, now there is no money, who will give you food for nothing?

The three of them had to continue walking along the street, following the smell of the dung truck, waiting for the dung truck to go around the city a few times, collect the night incense, and go out of the city to make plans.

Wandering around the city without any purpose, turning a street, someone suddenly shouted behind the three of them: "Hey, those three teenagers! ”

Wang Huan was taken aback, it sounded like he was calling us, this is the first time they have come to Xiangyang City, how can someone greet them, could it be a fraud? Hurriedly looked back, but there was a middle-aged man in plain clothes, waving at the three of them at the mouth of a small alley, and beside him, a group of teenagers were gathering together, squatting on the ground in the alley to eat nests.

The three of them looked at each other suspiciously, all puzzled, but they moved quietly under their feet, ready to slip away immediately if something was wrong, but the middle-aged man who was very enthusiastic saw that the three of them couldn't hesitate, took out a nest head from the cloth bag spread on the ground, and shouted with a smile: "Hungry, right?" Come over for a bite to eat. ”

The yellow nest is steamed from flour ground from wheat, plus coarse grain brown rice, which is not very delicious, but now, it is more insectivorous than the Manchu and Han banquets.

The three of them ran over together, the middle-aged man patted them on the shoulder lovingly, and one of them made a nest head, watching the three of them gobble up, almost swallowing the fist-sized nest head into their stomachs, stretching their necks one by one, smiling and passing over a bowl of water, and said softly: "Eat slowly, don't worry, there is still this." ”

Wang Huan drank water for the three of them, and one of them ate two nests, and his stomach was at the bottom, so he wiped his mouth with satisfaction, and saw the middle-aged man looking at himself with a smile, and then he remembered, who is this person?

Wang Huan hurriedly shook his head and thanked: "Thank you for the charity of the big officials, the boys are unforgettable." ”

The middle-aged man touched a strand of beard on his chin and smiled: "No, no, this world is difficult and dangerous, everyone has difficulties, a few nests, do the work and come back." ”

When Wang Huan heard this, he chuckled in his heart, and the secret way came, and sure enough, it was not easy to swallow what he wanted us to eat, and it was up to him to do what he wanted us to do.

hurriedly said: "Yes, yes, we have eaten the things of the big officials, and we should work, I don't know what the big officials want the boys to do?" ”

The middle-aged man smiled: "It's simple, you go with me, and you'll know." ”

He put away the burden of the nest on the ground, and said to the teenagers who were squatting on the ground and eating: "When you finish eating, hurry up and go to work, don't squat and be lazy, I will break your legs if you miss the harvest!" ”

The group of teenagers on the ground seemed to be very afraid of middle-aged people, no one dared to say anything, they ate the nest in their hands one after another, stood up and left, Wang Huan noticed that this group of teenagers were all dressed as beggars, with no clothes, and everyone was disabled, either with a broken arm, or lame, and even some people had no eyes, and the two black holes were frighteningly empty.

Only two sturdy teenagers seemed to be the leaders of this group of teenagers, and they also stood up, but they did not leave, and stood behind Wang Huan and the three, faintly trying to prevent them from escaping.