"Squeak...... Squeak...... Squeak......"

With the screeching sound of the axle spinning, on the open carriage, Liu Yu lay on his back on the body facing the autumn sky, humming an unknown tune.

Xu Xuanzhu sat beside him with a smile on his face, like a quiet little wife who returned to her parents' house accompanied by her husband. Occasionally, Liu Yu will be used to drive away flies, and in late autumn, the vitality of these little creatures is surprisingly tenacious.

Together with the guards, they were all dressed in civilian clothes, as if they were caravans passing along the way, and the people in the middle of the refugees still seemed very abrupt, and the tall horses made people dare not look directly.

On a sunny day, the autumn breeze was cool, and the two carriages, escorted by more than 100 horsemen, headed north along the official road, and the refugees who had migrated away from home accompanied them all the way. Occasionally, when he encountered a hungry refugee who couldn't walk, Liu Yu would throw some dry food from the carriage.

In addition to the carriage carrying Liu Yu and his wife, the one behind also carried the goods of the half-carriage and three small points, Huo Zhi could not ride a horse, nor was he used to the bumps in the carriage, he trotted all the way to follow, and shouted the trumpet while running, the rhythm was like a bearer, but also like a boatman.

"Come on." Liu Yu smiled at Huo Zhi, "Run two miles further, the front is Lucheng, and we will spend the night at the post station in Lucheng tonight." ”

Huo was tired and out of breath, so when he heard the sound, he directly sped up two steps and jumped into the carriage on Liu Yu's side.

"Go down, go down."

Liu Yu stretched out his leg and kicked Huo Yu, who barely sat down on the edge of the car body, glaring at Liu Yu angrily.

Outside the county town of Lucheng, which is close to the center, there are gradually more refugees, and groups of refugees are clustered in the open space outside the city. As far as the eye can see, even the patches of black pressure are people. Because Lucheng will open a porridge field twice a day in the morning and afternoon. Refugees along the route have also used it as a temporary habitat. Look at the only baggage around the refugees. dragging his family also made Liu Yu quite unbearable.

When he arrived at the city wall, Liu Yu jumped off the carriage and went to the porridge field.

The person in charge of putting the porridge was a small official in the Taishou Mansion in Lucheng, and when he learned that it was the forward general Liu Wenyan, the little official's legs were obviously unable to support his body. Liu Yu didn't say much, looking at the porridge boiled in the pot was a little thin, picked up a chopstick and inserted it and fell down, which obviously did not meet the standards of the imperial court for disaster relief and porridge.

"The general spares his life!" The petty officials knelt on the ground and begged for mercy, and disaster relief was a major event for the imperial court. Officials who make the slightest mistake will be held accountable, and even beheaded to appease the victims.

"You usually give this kind of porridge to the disaster victims?" Liu Yu asked.

"Back to the general's words, it was okay a few days ago, but recently there are more and more refugees outside the city, and the rice and grain in the warehouse are down quickly, and the Taishou has borrowed grain from the rich families in the city many times, but it still can't be used. Porridge can only get thinner and thinner. ”

Liu Yu nodded, what the little official said was right.

More than half a month ago, when the army set out on the expedition, it was stationed outside the city of Lucheng for a day, and at that time, there were only a small number of scattered victims, and the food for disaster relief was still easy. It may be that the suppression of the rebellion by the imperial army made the surrounding people feel that the disaster was coming, and more people chose to flee their hometowns. There are a lot of refugees around the city. Food for disaster relief is becoming more and more scarce.

Whether there is corruption or not, Liu Yue doesn't want to check it, and he doesn't have time to check it.

Liu Yu has no way to solve the current predicament, perhaps only when the Nanyang Gan harvest is harvested before winter, the disaster will be alleviated. Thinking of this, he didn't bother the little official any more.

Not far away, a bunch of people huddled together, as if they were playing tops. Liu Yu squinted and asked, "What is that?" ”

"That's playing Jiuzi Dengke to fight the old cow, many people like to play like this, there will be a lottery, whoever has high skills will win the championship." Huo Yi raised his head and said, "In our place, I play this game very well, and I often win the championship." ”

Playing with a spinning top can also play tricks, Liu Yu walked over and took a look, and roughly understood what "Jiuzi Dengke beats the old cow" means.

Hitting the old cow means playing the top, and the nine sons of Dengke are to put a few small wooden stakes on the ground, which are in the shape of steps from low to high. Then, not only do you have to use the whip to whip the gyroscope to spin, but you also have to whip the top from low to high to send it to the highest stake. Whoever sends the highest will win the championship, and the meaning of Jiuzi Dengke is to send the top to the highest level.

According to Huo Zhi, the steps from low to high are usually made of stones, so that a whip will not move, and the whip only needs to control the force of the spinning top. The steps of the wooden stake are very light, and if the force is not right, not only will the spinning top move, but also the wooden stake may be displaced, which increases the technical content.

The person who put down the "ring" was a thin old man in his fifties and sixties, his face was wrinkled and covered with bones, and he seemed to be weak and impervious, but the strength of the whip was very strong. Not only is the force sufficient, but the force is very even, and it can send the top up the stairs every time. But perhaps he deliberately retains his strength, and each time the top is only sent to five or six steps, and the person who challenges it in the future can be defeated.

To challenge, a person has to hand over a lottery, most of them are copper coins and dry food, if you win the championship will be richer, so there is an endless stream of people to challenge. But in terms of technique, the old man is a step ahead, and after a while, a small pile of colorful heads has been piled up next to him, and a very beautiful and beautiful girl is tidying up.

Liu Yu looked at it and thought it was very interesting, so he asked Huo Yidao: "Can you have a ninth son to enter the department?" ”

"No, I can't. I don't have that ability. Huo Zhi, who was still full of confidence, also learned to be "humble" at this time.

"Didn't you say you played this very well in your hometown?"

"It's true to be excellent, but look at that old man, it's obvious that he did this, the whip old cow and the wooden platform are both from other people, how can they compare?"

Liu Yu smiled, and said in his heart that this should be the "home advantage", Huo Yi is also that kind of smart person, it can be seen that the old man is familiar with the manipulation of his own things, and every challenger should be a good master of playing spinning tops, but he still loses again and again in front of the old man.

Watching others have fun, Liu Yu's hands are also itchy, although he learned once when he saw people playing before, but after all, he is not a master, the focus is on participation, he rubbed his hands and said: "Or I'll try." ”

Liu Yu was about to pick up the whip and try it in public, when the old man smiled and said, "This official, you should leave a colorful head." ”

Only then did Liu Yu remember that there was still this rule. But there was no dry food or copper plates around. Look at the old man and the girl is quite pitiful. In line with the principle of relief, he took out five taels of silver ingots from his bosom and put it down, not only the old man's face changed, but even the people around him were exclaimed.

"Official, you are a lottery...... The little old man didn't dare to take it, and the little old man couldn't come up with a suitable color to respond. The old man said in deep fear.

"It's nothing, it's nothing." Liu Yu smiled, "I haven't played this before." If you can't win, you don't need to play any lottery head, you have the right to entertain. ”

Although Liu Yu said this, the old man was still playing the drum in his heart, and he was willing to give out so much silver at one time, and he must be proficient in this way if he was not a master, so at most, it was just a master's modesty.

"Little Lao'er has nothing to be a lottery head, but this granddaughter, if the official wins, he will take her away and let her be a cow and a horse next to her as a maid."

Liu Yu blinked. looked at the shy girl, and the beautiful eyes of the mountain eyebrows were also moving without grease powder. Beauty is beauty, but unfortunately this is not the purpose of Liu Yuelai's game. Liu Yu didn't plan to be strong, but after thinking about it, he was only a beginner, and he didn't practice much, so he definitely couldn't win, so he nodded and agreed.

When Liu Yu picked up the whip and spinning top, the onlookers next to him also accumulated more and more, those who came to challenge before were considered petty fights, and now there are actually people who come out with five taels of silver at a time to respond, and the old man will also press the beautiful granddaughter, which is very beautiful.

originally thought that Liu Yue was a master, and his expectations for Liu Yu were also very high, but when Liu Yu threw up the whip, many people who were good at this way immediately saw that he was a beginner, and he might not even be as good as the naughty boy next door. Liu Yu whipped a whip but didn't hit the spinning top, and there was immediately laughter next to him.

Liu Yu smiled awkwardly and said: "Everyone, forgive me, my skills are not high, and I am ugly." ”

The whip twitched a second time, and the spinning top spun up.

Of course, Liu Yue's clumsiness in skills before would also be seen as deliberately hiding his strength, but Liu Yue whipped a few more whips, even the old man breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that Liu Yu was indeed not modest, he was indeed a beginner, but it was okay to play, but it was categorically inferior to him. But immediately, his head was locked deeply, obviously not quite understanding the purpose of Liu Yulai's challenge.

It's your turn to go to the department.

To twitch the whip to make the top rise and fall on the platform, this is the most technical content, Liu Yue twitched violently, a cloud of dust rose on the ground, and the top rose into the air and landed on the first step impartially. This can be regarded as a son of Dengke.

Although he successfully sent the top to the "first base", Liu Yu's brute force-like gameplay obviously did not contain high-tech skills, and there was no cheering next to him, only scattered laughter.

After all, this first level is the easiest, because the starting point is on hard ground, and the strength does not matter, even if the whip is broken, the wooden platform will not collapse.

The rotation of the spinning top on the first-level wooden platform is getting weaker and weaker, and Liu Yue knows that the spinning top will stop without whipping, and now although he has no ability, he will be hard. The second whip Liu Yu deliberately left his hand to lighten his wrist strength, but unfortunately this whip went down, and the wooden platform still bounced up with the spinning top. The top fell to the ground, and Liu Yu's game was over, and only one son was boarded at the end.

"The official hasn't contacted this before?" The old man didn't expect Liu Yu to end so early, and asked with a sad face.

Liu Yu smiled and said: "I said that I am a novice, so I should laugh, everyone forgive me." ”

Liu Yu arched his hand to the onlookers next to him, as if the Jianghu artist had smashed his performance and apologized to the audience. However, since Liu Yu is a challenger, he bears the lottery for victory and defeat, and no one will mind too much. On the contrary, some people applauded, feeling that this person would lose brightly.

But now, strictly speaking, Liu Yu hasn't lost yet, after all, the old man hasn't officially competed. If the old man can only have one son or one son, Liu Yu still has a chance.

The old man picked up the whip, and the smile on his face was relaxed, and he looked very confident, and he was also full of an indescribable joy, and everyone guessed that most of the old man thought that he could make five taels of silver and was very happy.

The crowd saw him twitch slightly, and the spinning top was already on the ground and began to spin. Just as everyone was about to witness how the old man won five taels of silver from a gentleman at one time, the old man suddenly whipped his whip, and then the top jumped high above everyone's heads, and then disappeared from the crowd.

The onlookers looked at each other, not understanding what had happened. (To be continued......)