It was another snowy day.

For Zhu Houzhao, who likes to move but does not like to be quiet, this season is almost as difficult as the scorching sun. The winter solstice is approaching, which is one of the three major festivals of the year, and the court officials need to go to the Lingji Palace to rehearse the etiquette, and he, the emperor, also has all kinds of trivial things to see. It was easy to pull out of the void, and it could be seen that the West Garden was white, and several eunuchs persuaded each other hard, even if he wanted to jump the horse bow again, he had to dispel this idea, and he even lost the interest in looking for Qi Niang to play.

He was bored with the whip and chalk against the snow and ice on the trees, and he was in a state of annoyance, when he suddenly caught a glimpse of a small fireman whispering something to Latham, and hurriedly opened his mouth and shouted, "Hey, Latham, what are you whispering there?" ”

Ruisheng hurriedly stepped forward and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, Pingbei Bo is here, he is at Xi'an Gate, and he is talking to him and saying that it is rare to have a lot of snow today, and I want to ask the emperor if he is interested in going out of the palace and playing around." ”

Now Liu Jin and others are in charge of a file, it is the end of the year, and it is the busiest time, although they have the intention to please the little emperor, they can only let the people below prepare for it.

And Zhu Houzhao is the most picky person, how can others have these old people who have been with him for many years can make him happy, and he is worried that Xu Xun is in the barracks all day long and no one is to talk to him and play, at this time I heard that someone took the initiative to send him to the door, he was immediately overjoyed, and nodded without hesitation: "Then it doesn't need to be said, go quickly, let's change our clothes and meet him!" ”

In this cold day, Xu Xun was waiting outside the Xi'an Gate with a half-new and not old coat, followed by more than a dozen guards who were stuck there motionless like nails. He himself paced back and forth in the wind and snow, thinking about his previous calculations, and did not pay any attention to the large swaths of goose feather snow falling from the sky. Until he heard a burst of talking and movement coming from inside the door, he turned his head to look, and immediately saw several teenagers dressed as small firefighters walking out quickly, who else was the one who was not Zhu Houzhao with a chalky face? He knew that the little emperor's temperament was slightly bowed and he didn't say much, and after seeing that these people also got on the horse one by one, he turned around and made a gesture, and when he saw the guards getting on the horse neatly, he grabbed the reins and jumped on the horse.

A group of twenty or thirty people turned from Xi'anmen Street to Xuanwumen Street, and then went all the way to the north, and gradually divided into several groups of people to disperse to various alleys. Seeing this scene, the spies of the East Factory and the Insider Factory who followed behind naturally hurriedly parted ways to chase after them, but where could they stop these people from turning around, and they would be chalked up in a moment. Two quarters of an hour later, a mule cart followed by two or three retinues slowly crossed the Silver Ingot Bridge, walked down the street of the Drum Tower for a while, and then passed the Bell Tower and Drum Tower, but went out of the city through Anding Gate.

Zhu Houzhao hated the most is to hug before and after coming out, and at this moment, seeing that he gently and skillfully shook off a chalk and fart worm, he naturally had a big heart and lifted the curtain to look out without fear of the cold, and said at the same time: "Xu Xun, where are we going today?" ”

"Before saying where to go, the minister has to report to the emperor first."

Xu Xun saw that Ruisheng shrank his head and shrunk his head a little cold, knowing that he was not like Zhu Houzhao, who had eaten all kinds of supplements from the mountains and seas all day long, and had never practiced martial arts like that, so he casually handed over a hand stove with a purple copper five butterfly holding longevity pattern on the side. Ruisheng took it with some embarrassment, and glanced at Zhu Houzhao, but found that the little emperor didn't care at all, and looked at Xu Xun while rubbing his hands.

"What's the matter?"

However, Zhu Houzhao's indifferent expression gradually became gloomy as Xu Xun talked about the situation outside the plug. When he heard that Dayan Khan Batu Munk had won a great battle and swept away the unfavorable decline of the previous battle, he couldn't help but slam the bed under him with his hand and said, "This guy is really not to be underestimated, he is so difficult!" ”…,

After saying this, he suddenly frowned thoughtfully, and then looked at Xu Xun and asked, "Xu Xun, you told me before that when this Batu Munch inherited the position of Great Khan, he was younger than me?" ”

"It should be really small, it is rumored that the Mandu Gul Khan side room Mandu Hai, who married him, once wrapped him in a cloth pocket and tied him to the body to kill the enemy, which shows that he should not be ten years old when he ascended the throne."

"Less than ten years ......old," Zhu Houzhao clenched his fists and said word by word for a long time, "then he can be said to be a man of great talent, at that time, the Mongols were surrounded by mountains from east to west, far more chaotic than the situation I faced when I ascended the throne." I'm just a few ministers pointing fingers, but he's going to lose his life anytime and anywhere. No wonder Rayson said something to me before, what is it called...... Well, the children of the poor are in charge early. He was poor and white, and he was similar to a poor man at that time. To put it this way, he really deserves to be called a hero in the last life. ”

Xu Xun glanced at Ruisheng in surprise, and when he saw the little guy's face full of embarrassment, he smiled and said: "This is not bad, but the family of the emperor and the general can't just use this word to explain." In the Han and Tang dynasties, there were some geniuses who were smart and full of ambitions, but in the end, it was not empty? Of course, many children from poor families are teenagers and old adults, sensible and capable, but there are also many who are ruined or give up on themselves. After all, the little prince has a noble identity, has the help of nobles, and firmly grasps every opportunity, which can achieve great things, but more people have to rely on themselves. And on your own, sometimes no matter how much effort you put in, you may not be able to earn your life. ”

"Huh?"

Zhu Houzhao is the Son of Heaven, but he is still young, and from childhood to adulthood, the Mandate of Heaven etiquette that Confucian ministers often say is one ear in and one ear out, but there is a kind of temperament that is not afraid of the sky and the earth. Therefore, the good impression of Xu Xun comes from the similarity between Xu Xun's temperament and him to some extent. At this moment, he rarely heard a life word from Xu Xun's mouth, and couldn't help but look at Xu Xun with wide eyes, and then reached out to touch his forehead.

"I heard you right, what do you say that no matter how hard you try, you can't earn your life? So how did you get to where you are today? ”

"Your Majesty, after all, the ministers have a little more opportunities than others."

Xu Xun smiled slightly, and heard the sound of Jin Liu driving Jin Liu in person today, and the carriage slowly stopped, he glanced at the clothes on Zhu Houzhao's body that he had specially asked him to change, and lifted the cotton curtain in front of him. As the car door opened, the cold wind swept in with snowflakes from outside, and even Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but sneeze. At this time, Xu Xun was the first to get out of the car, and then helped Zhu Houzhao down, and Latham and Watkins, who were at the end, jumped down steadily

"What is this place?" Zhu Houzhao looked around blankly for a while, and found that there was no good-looking scenery as he expected, or some delicious and fun place, and in the wind and snow, he saw a small village not far away, and his brows suddenly furrowed, "Xu Xun, what are you doing here with me?" ”

"Your Majesty, the next minister in the mountains and wilderness will have to call you Xiao Zhu one or two."

"It doesn't matter, it's not like you haven't called ......"

The inexplicable Zhu Houzhao was pulled by Xu Xun and walked forward slowly, and when he saw that Ruisheng had walked to the front with a few entourages at some point, and then looked at his red robe that was still eye-catching in the snow, he suddenly became even more confused. However, the village seemed to be very close, but after walking in the snow for a while, he felt a little panting, and when he reached the entrance of the village, he couldn't help but support his knees with his hands and gasp for breath, and it took a while to come to his senses. …,

"Hey, why don't you let the carriage come, this place is too difficult to leave!"

"Just now the carriage was on the official road, but there is farmland on both sides of this path, and if we accidentally get stuck in the ditch, we don't want to go back." Xu Xun saw that there were already people in the compartment to greet Rayson and his party, so he said in a deep voice, "Xiao Zhu, didn't you just ask me, why do you say that some people can't earn their lives no matter how hard they try?" You'll find out later. ”

Zhu Houzhao only felt that his heart was full of doubts, but when he finally caught up with the Rayson and the others, he suddenly heard the sound of whipping and breaking the air and heart-rending cries from the room next to him. Although he is not the king of a country locked up in the Forbidden City, he has been in the market many times, and he has seen a lot of quarrels, scolding, and crying in the streets, but at this time, he still shuddered, and instinctively grabbed Xu Xun's arm.

"I beg you...... It's just that we don't have money, we can work hard to farm, you can't...... Da Lang, you have already killed him ruthlessly, you have to be so ruthless with this only son, how can you bear it! ”

"Dead mother-in-law, with long hair and short knowledge, castrated and sent to the palace, in case she can come out, she will be a master, and then we will eat and drink spicy food together! Da Lang is dead, today there are nobles in the palace who come here to pick people, such a good opportunity, you missed it by the noisy before, how did the old crucine marry you who don't know what to do, I will kill you! Sons can be reborn, rich but if you miss today, there will be no tomorrow! ”

This scolding was followed by a burst of whipping and screaming, and occasionally mixed with the sound of women's scolding. At this time, Zhu Houzhao, who finally heard a rough idea, suddenly gradually let go of his hand, but his face was already pale. When he saw the old men and middle-aged people in front of him saying good things around Ruisheng, he couldn't help but stare sideways at Xu Xun.

"In this village, the father castrated his son, the brother castrated his brother, and in the past half a year, there have been forty-eight more people from the palace out of thin air. Of course, there are still twenty or thirty people who lost their lives because they didn't survive. Because of those craftsmen with good craftsmanship, they can't afford to hire them, so they can only stick to it. This is not the largest, the largest number of villages, I heard that there are hundreds. ”

Although Zhu Houzhao had heard the reports about the people in the palace from below, and had already ordered a strict prohibition, he still couldn't help but gasp when he really heard and saw such scenes. In the past, when he accepted Rayson to his side, because they were about the same age, he once asked Rayson with great interest how he came to the palace, but the little guy bit his lip and told him about the tragic past, crying uncontrollably, so he knew what kind of hardships Liu Jin and others had suffered to get to him, and subconsciously couldn't help but believe them a little more. However, knowing how much pain it was, how could he believe that there were so many ruthless people who could do it?

"It's already been ordered like that......"

Before he finished speaking, an old man in front of him had already said with a smile on his face: "Father-in-law, the children to be selected are already inside, a total of forty-eight people, all of them are definitely the most clever and good children, and they will definitely not disappoint you." ”

If it had been possible, Latham & Watkins didn't want to be in such a place at all. At this moment, he tried his best to restrain the twitching corners of his mouth, and said word by word: "That's all? ”

"Father-in-law Dongchang Qiu had two children taken away from us before, which shows that the quality of our children here is better than that of other nearby villages." The old man saw that Ruisheng seemed to be a little dissatisfied, and said busily, "If your father-in-law doesn't like them, even if you say what you want, no matter what you want, no matter what you want, the little old man will definitely be able to find it for his father-in-law, and after waiting for two or three months, he will be able to send people to his father-in-law." ”…,

Zhu Houzhao's heart was on fire when he heard this, and he wanted to scold, but his arm was pinched heavily, and he could only barely suppress this evil fire. Following Ruisheng into a warm room with a charcoal basin, he saw rows of ragged clothes, expressions or ignorance, sadness, numbness or deference, the oldest and the youngest were about the same as himself, and the youngest was six or seven years old came forward to kneel down and kowtow, he finally vaguely understood why Xu Xun had just said that.

People can't earn their lives...... That's it!

Although Ruisheng knew that the best way out for these castrated children was to be sent to the palace like himself, but so many people, let alone him, even Liu Jin could not pull them all to the palace in one go. Therefore, he looked at it, and finally chose two children with the most shabby clothes, but still handsome, only eight or nine years old. Even so, the old man and a few villagers were still full of joy and thanks, and the scene of the two children crying and saying goodbye to their family was even more sad. Even though he doesn't shed tears so easily now, he still feels that his eyes are sour and astringent.

Zhu Houzhao originally wanted to call the two boys into the carriage on the way back to ask one or two, but at the moment, the old man and a few middle-aged people sent them out, saying that the children in the village could afford to endure hardships, and when they were asked to walk with the car, he finally couldn't help it anymore, and opened his mouth and said: "Xiao Xu, let your chalky people hold them one by one and just go on the horse, and they will return to the city in a while!" ”

With these words, the two chalky nine-year-old children were carried on their horses by two guards. As the carriage set off, Zhu Houzhao heard two exclamations from outside, but the sound disappeared in a blink of an eye, he couldn't help but take a deep breath, and then looked at Xu Xun and said, "You said before that there are hundreds of such people in a village?" ”

Xu Xun nodded, and then said lightly: "This scene is nothing, next, the minister wants to take the emperor to another place." ”

Zhu Houzhao thought to himself that he had already seen this scene, and he would get used to watching these things next, so he nodded casually, and then sat in the car all the way, but he sulked. He sat there with his chin propped up, and Rayson looked at Xu Xun worriedly, until Xu Xun shook his head at him, and he clutched the hand stove, thinking of the grief and despair of being tied hand and foot in that empty room after being stabbed.

However, I don't know how long it took, when the carriage stopped again, the two people who got off the car after Xu Xun stepped out of the car were smoked by the smell that came to their faces. When he saw the dirty environment around him clearly, Zhu Houzhao's face changed first, and Ruisheng actually forgot the etiquette and grabbed the little emperor's arm.

The carriage happened to stop at the mouth of an alley, and the snow in the alley had already been trampled on black, and a smell that could not tell whether it was rotten food or musty smell wafted out with the wind, making people want to stop and retreat. On both sides are all kinds of low houses, some of which can still see the traces of brick walls, but some of which are clearly made of thatch, planks, etc., and now there are two heavy snowfalls, and there are houses completely collapsed by the heavy snow, and you can even hear the wails of crying and grabbing the ground. After staring at it for a while, Zhu Houzhao asked hoarsely, "Where is this?" ”

"This is a hell of a man who is even more terrible than the village before."

Xu Xun paused as he spoke, but he didn't pull Zhu Houzhao to go inside, but said in a low voice: "The ones I saw before are all children of moderate age, if they are sent to the palace, they can enter the inner study hall by chance, or follow your father-in-law with a head and face." And these are at least over twenty years old, or even thirty or forty fifty, since the palace for many years, because of the poverty and poverty of life, take this road in order to enter the palace to eat, but because they are too old, it is basically impossible to fulfill their wishes, and they are ridiculed by the neighbors and relatives, plus the official chalk government strictly prohibits, so they can only live here chalk. ”…,

As he spoke, a person had crawled out of a room in the depths of the alley on four legs. Although they were far away, whether it was Zhu Houzhao or Ruisheng, they could see the man dragging a soft and weak leg towards the entrance of the alley. The man's head was gray and red, and he couldn't tell whether it was mud or blood, and he couldn't see the true color of his clothes on his body, and his mouth let out a low wheez, which at first glance didn't even sound like a human being. When this person saw their group of people at the entrance of the alley, and suddenly flew over, Zhu Houzhao finally saw clearly that the eyeballs that were almost falling out of his socket finally couldn't hold back anymore, and turned around and went straight into the carriage.

"Okay, give me something to eat......"

"Drive him away!"

Seeing that Ruisheng was about to follow the car, Xu Xun grabbed him with one hand, made a gesture, and after a while, the man fled in a hurry under the drive of several guards with knife handles. At this moment, not far away, a few people with waist knives hurried over, and found that there was a carriage parked at the entrance of this Anhua Hutong, where everyone was far away on weekdays, and there were five or six men who were not ordinary people at first glance, and the leading soldiers hurriedly stepped forward.

"Dare to ask you who ......"

"We are the celebrants." Xu Xun directly pulled out such a big flag, and when he saw that the soldier was stunned, he hurriedly showed an extremely respectful expression, "I heard that it was snowing heavily, so I came here to take a look." ”

"Father-in-law compassion, father-in-law compassion."

It is said that the parents of the chalky body and the skin are affected, although there are more and more people in the palace now, but after all, most people still despise these incomplete people, plus it is rumored that such people are so yin and angry, even the people of the Nancheng Terracotta Division can't help but hide far away. At this time, seeing Xu Xun wearing a thick mink scarf and the kind of commanding style in his speech, none of them doubted that Xu Xun was really the person who came out of the ceremonial supervisor, and the soldier led by the head nodded and laughed, but a cold sweat broke out on his back.

There were once one or two characters who were lucky enough to enter the palace, but most of them could only wait for death, how could there be a big man in the palace who wanted to come here to take a look?

Xu Xun was silent when he saw that people were silent, but he was not verbose, he glanced inside again and asked coldly: "Such a heavy snowfall, it looks like it should have collapsed a lot of houses, how many people died inside?" ”

"This ......" is a cold day, even the dead are frozen tightly, and it will rot if it is not dealt with in time in midsummer, so the soldiers and horses naturally dragged it and did not come here to check, just thinking that when the time comes, it will be finished by Xu Xun, and at this moment, when Xu Xun asks like this, the soldier suddenly felt that his head was cold, and he stammered after a while, "Villain, villain, let's take someone to count." ”

"Move fast, I'll wait here for a reply.

I'm just looking for numbers, not to inquire about your failures. Don't play any tricks of false reporting and concealment, otherwise if I verify it at that time, I will definitely be severely punished! ”

"Yes yes yes ......"

After giving a strict order, Xu Xun made a gesture and told Ruisheng to get in the car and wait, but he didn't follow, but stood in front of the car, looking at those low rooms, and listening to the shouts and scoldings inside, his eyes flickered, and he gradually thought farther.

Although the punishment of the people from the palace has always been very heavy, but with more and more people, the execution of the people from the palace itself has become a false text, after all, the court does not always become a big kill in this matter, and one killing is hundreds or thousands. But such a chalk body that can't enter the palace but is rejected by the people around it is going to make a big mess if it is thrown like this.

Although the Great Masters do not completely treat people as their own kind, if they are rashly disposed of, they will also cause harm to them. And if you blindly send people to the remote areas to fill the army, of course, you can send away the far away out of sight, but it is no different from forcing people to die. …,

After waiting like this for about half an hour, even though Xu Xun gently rubbed his hands and stomped his feet, his hands and feet were still cold, and when he was impatient, a soldier from the Nancheng Soldiers and Horses Division finally ran out quickly. In front of him, the soldier shrunk his hands and feet and saluted, but he stopped him with a look, and then he swallowed hard.

"Returning to my father-in-law, the heavy snow crushed seventeen houses, and a total of thirty-four people died, of which twenty were crushed to death, and fourteen died of cold and starvation. As for the number of people who have been crushed and frostbitten, Liu Touer is calculating there. ”

"I know, transport all the dead out as soon as possible, otherwise if there is an epidemic, you are the only one who asks." Xu Xun said that he took a piece of silver from the hand of the entourage next to him, weighed the weight and threw it over, and when he saw that the soldier's eyes lit up in his hand, he said, "Build a shack to collect these people first, and then set up a big pot to cook porridge, how many can be saved." After today, I will have someone send another twenty taels of silver, and I don't care if you want to chalk down his hands, but if there are any more dead people......"

"Yes, yes, don't worry, don't worry!"

Seeing that Xu Xun reflexively boarded the carriage without looking back, followed by the three or five guards surrounding the carriage and slowly set off, the soldier wiped the sweat from his forehead, and finally breathed a long sigh of relief. When the carriage was gone, he looked at the silver in his hand, which was obviously from the inner treasury, and immediately ran into the depths of the alley.

And on the carriage, Zhu Houzhao, who finally came back to his senses, looked at Xu Xun viciously, and only after a while did he say word by word: "Xu Xun, hello, you are very good!" ”

Seeing that Xu Xun was only silent, the little emperor was silent for a long time, but suddenly sighed: "I thought it was really the peace and happiness of the people in the world, but I didn't expect that there would be such a thing at the feet of the Son of Heaven......"

PS: This month is another month of new books in the chalk history category, and now it seems that as long as the monthly pass can break 300, there is hope to get the monthly pass award! As soon as the three super new books are on the shelves next month, it is estimated that there will be no hope for it, please search for a monthly pass and clear the warehouse to support me! With the addition of fractions, my updates will exceed 200,000 words this month! [To be continued "This text is provided by.] If you like this work, you are welcome to ◣◥ to vote for recommendation and monthly passes, your support is my biggest motivation. 】