Zuo Shaoyang got out of bed and came to the door of his parents' bedroom to knock on the door. Liang's voice came from the house: "Is it Zhong'er?" ”

"Mother, it's me."

"It's not dawn yet, is there something wrong?"

"Mother, I have urgent matters that I want to discuss with the second elder, can you get up now?"

"Why can't you talk about it at dawn?"

"Really urgent! Father! Mother! Get up first. ”

Zuo Gui's voice came from the house: "Zhong'er won't call us if it's okay, hurry up!" ”

After a while, Zuo Gui and Liang got up and came out, and Zuo Shaoyang had already lit the lamp.

Zuo Gui paced over, glanced at him, and said in a deep voice, "What's the matter?" ”

"Dad, mother, there is something urgent, I think I should tell you immediately."

"Oh?" Zuo Gui unhurriedly did the back of the long case, picked up his robe and sat down, "What's the matter?" Liang brought a round stool for Zuo Shaoyang to sit on, and he sat on the long bench by the wall where the patients were waiting, quietly listening to the two of them talking.

Zuo Shaoyang lowered his voice and told Miao Peilan what Miao Peilan said during the day that the rebels burned the grain and grass of the officers and soldiers.

Zuo Gui smiled faintly: "What are you afraid of, your brother-in-law said that the rebels are making trouble in Suizhou, and we have heavy troops in Hezhou, and they can't kill them." What is there to worry about. ”

Zuo Shaoyang said: "A friend of mine told me something, saying that yesterday evening, he saw the shopkeeper of Sui move into the yamen of the state capital with gold and silver!" ”

Zuo Gui frowned: "Their family moved into the state yamen, what does this mean?" ”

Zuo Shaoyang was so anxious that he turned around: "Dad, you haven't thought about it, what are they doing when they move to the state yamen for no reason?" And with gold and silver! ”

Zuo Gui was stunned for a moment: "Isn't he related to the state capital Ouyang Thorn History?" ”

"Yes! So this must have been Ouyang Thorn Shi asked them to move there, and now the state capital is heavily guarded outside the yamen, which has never been done before, doesn't this explain the problem? ”

"What's the problem?"

"The rebels are likely to hit our Shijing County! The shopkeeper of Sui moved into the yamen of the state capital, to prevent the people from revolting, and when the situation is grim, they can be heavily protected and break through! ”

Zuo Gui smiled reluctantly and said, "It's too exaggerated, your brother-in-law said that tens of thousands of officers and soldiers have already rushed to conquer the rebels." ”

"Daddy! The rebels burned the grain and grass of the officers and soldiers, and the soldiers and horses did not move the grain and grass first, without food and grass, how could tens of thousands of troops be stationed here for a long time? We are already short of food in Hezhou, where can we afford to raise these tens of thousands of troops? Tens of thousands of troops have no food and grass, and the consequences are unimaginable! ”

Zuo Gui's face changed, and he forced himself to calm down: "How can it be so serious, isn't it okay for the imperial court to send a large army again, or to raise food and send it again?" ”

"Dad, you think too simply, the war in the last decades of the Sui Dynasty, although it has been several years since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, the country is far from stable, the northern Turks are not attacking, and the heavy troops of the imperial court are deployed on this line, where can I send more troops to quell the rebellion? As for sending grain, don't count on it, now there is a grain shortage in the whole country, and the price of grain has risen again and again, and it has risen to nearly 400 wen a bucket! There are tens of thousands of people starving to death on the streets every day, where can they raise food and grass for a while and a half? ”

Zuo Gui was a little dumbfounded: "This ......"

Zuo Shaoyang continued: "Our Hezhou Tiangao Emperor is far away, and it is more than half a month away from the capital, for the emperor, the rebellion here has not yet reached the point of burning his eyebrows, my brother-in-law has already said that there are rebellions in other places, especially the Turkic army in the north, which often attacks and disturbs in the south, which is the focus of defense." Since the grain and grass of the officers and soldiers sent to us to conquer the rebels were burned, and the enemy army hid in the deep mountains and did not show up to face the battle, and the follow-up grain and grass could not be raised and delivered quickly, so I estimate that unless the officers and soldiers break through immediately, if they want to hold on, they will inevitably collect grain locally soon, and they can only compete with the people for food! However, the food in Hezhou could not support tens of thousands of officers and soldiers at all, and at that time, I was afraid that it would be a disaster for the people! ”

Zuo Gui's face became even more grim, his hand holding his beard froze, and he opened his shriveled mouth and said, "Ah, ......? ”

Liang was listening quietly, but when he heard it, he also stood up: "Master, what can I do about this?" ”

Zuo Gui stood up, walked around the room with his hands behind his back, and finally stood still, and said tremblingly: "Why don't you pack up your things immediately and go out of the city to hide?" ”

Zuo Shaoyang got up and said: "I can't go, now the two armies are facing each other outside, and it is easiest to be caught and killed by the rebels when I go out, and if the two armies fight, they may also be injured by mistake, and it is not safe to hide anywhere, and they can't rush out." It's safest in the city. ”

"Why?"

"There are at least tens of thousands of people in the city, and it is relatively safe when there are more people. What's more, I heard that this rebel army is the former prince's people, and they will also buy people's hearts, in the past in Suizhou and other places, after the rebels broke the city, they never killed or robbed ordinary people, so even if the rebels broke the city, they should not be afraid. ”

"That's right, your brother-in-law also said the same, since you don't run away, then buy more food and be prepared!"

Zuo Shaoyang wanted this sentence, and said busily: "Yes! Earlier, when I went out, I went to see the situation of rice, and when I went to two houses, the price of rice went up. It has risen to four hundred and twenty, and it is still impossible to buy, and it is estimated that it will definitely rise wildly in the future. That's why I called the second elder at this time, and now the fifth watch is about to pass, and the curfew is about to end, as soon as the curfew is over, I will go to the rice shop of the shopkeeper Qu to knock on the door to buy rice! Last time, my brother-in-law said that the shopkeeper Qu cheated money everywhere, and he was arrested by the capital, and the yamen was selling the rice shop of the shopkeeper of Sui for money. However, those who know the news of the burning of the grain and grass of the officers and soldiers must have other people besides us, so the price of rice will definitely soar immediately tomorrow, and once the news spreads, the whole city will rush to buy it, and it will be sold out soon! At that time, it would be troublesome if you couldn't buy Miko! So we have to buy it in the head. ”

"Well," Zuo Gui nodded hurriedly, "Then I'll go with you now!" ”

"No!" Zuo Shaoyang waved his hand and said, "We must buy it secretly incognito, lest the army enter the city and collect grain and grass, knowing that we have grain, all of them will be levied for military rations, and it will be a big loss." So I can't show up either, I've got a friend to help me buy it. No problem, we just have to make room at home to equip and load food. It all had to be done before dawn! ”

Liang was a little uneasy, and said, "Zhong'er, is your friend okay?" That's a hundred taels of silver! ”

"Don't worry! Absolutely. Zuo Shaoyang thought to himself, this matter can not be done by a person with kung fu like him at present. As for whether he would swallow a hundred taels of silver, Zuo Shaoyang was not worried at all. Xiao Yunfei only steals the rich, not the poor, and most of the money he steals is donated to the temple, he won't covet his own one hundred taels of silver, he really wants to covet, even the Sui shopkeeper can sweep away the gold and silver, not to mention his own family, so it's useless to be afraid.

Zuo Gui said: "Zhong'er's trustworthy person, naturally yes, besides, this money is said to be at Zhong'er's disposal, and he decided to hand it over to someone else, that's also his idea, so do it!" - Madam, hurry up and get the money to Zhong'er. ”

Liang hurriedly entered the house and brought the box money from the bedside to Zuo Shaoyang.

Zuo Shaoyang held the box containing silver, entered the kitchen, gently opened the back door, and saw that there was no one in the back alley, and his heart was cold, so at this moment, a person jumped off the blue brick wall opposite, came to him in two steps, and recognized Xiao Yunfei by the reflection of the unmelted snow in the back alley. It's just that he changed to a cyan jacket. He looks like an old gentleman. He whispered, "Say it quickly, what's the matter?" ”

Zuo Shaoyang closed the back door, walked away a few steps, and handed the box of silver to Xiao Yunfei: "There are one hundred taels of silver here, please help me buy rice and noodles, buy them all, only brown rice and black noodles!" Maybe you have to load about two cars, just help me borrow a car and pull it to the back alley. That's it. ”

"It's easy!" Xiao Yunfei took the box, didn't open the inventory, tilted his head and looked at him and smiled: "You trust me so much? Aren't you afraid that I'll swallow this money? ”

Zuo Shaoyang smiled: "What do you want all this money for?" Not yet donated to the temple? You can't bear to donate my life-saving money to the temple, do you? Huh"

And there is truth to that. For you to trust me so much, well, this is on me! You're waiting here! ”

"Good! - Wait! Zuo Shaoyang stepped forward to open the box and took out a small ingot of five taels of silver from it, "This one is kept to buy vegetables, you can't just eat rice, there is no food." The rest is just a matter of buying rice and noodles. ”

Xiao Yunfei nodded, buckled the box, turned around, flew out a thin rope with one hand, and his body floated lightly on the high wall, disappearing into the night.

Zuo Shaoyang's heart was still hanging, not because he was worried that Xiao Yunfei would swallow the silver taels, but because he was worried about what this matter would turn out of, whether his estimate was correct, and what the future would be.

He took the silver in his arms and returned to the house, and when Daddy Zuogui and Liang saw him coming back empty-handed, they both asked nervously, "The money was taken?" ”

"Hmm. No problem, rest assured. ”

"Then let's hurry up and prepare a place to fill it, a hundred taels of silver to buy rice and noodles, and we have to fill most of the house!"

Liang said: "This pharmacy is full of people, and people will see it." ”

Zuo Shaoyang said: "The grain is all in the bedroom of the second elder first, you are relatively large, the kitchen should be used often, and the place is small to hide things, and when it is dawn, I will find someone to dig a cellar in the concoction room, and then hide the grain in the cellar, so that it will be safe." ”

After Zuo Gui agreed, the three of them began to tidy up the bedroom and make room for food.

When the place was vacated, I heard the sound of bangs in the distance, the fifth watch had passed, and the curfew was over!

It's still midday, and it's already late in winter, and it's still dark all around. Zuo Shaoyang opened the back door and stood at the door, nervously looking at the black rumbling alley and waiting. Zuo Gui and Liang were originally going to come over and wait, but they were persuaded by Zuo Shaoyang to go back to the lobby and sit down, so they were worried that Xiao Yunfei didn't want others to see it.

(To be continued)