Great Zhou, Tianshui.

Tianshui City has a high wall, and it was originally built as a strong fortress inserted in Longyou.

The control force radiates the entire Xiliang, as the bridgehead of the Great Zhou to resist the Western Turks, and the Silk Road, the last large city before leaving the customs, Tianshui is a military center and an economic center, and the patrol soldiers can be seen everywhere, merchants on the official road, and convoys that constantly transport grain and grass, around the entire Tianshui, busy and busy.

At this time, in Tianshui City, the people were still unaware, but anyone who had a little way, ears and eyes that could stretch a little, and could see a little bit of the situation outside, was a little nervous.

At the end of June, Hu Lu went south, passed through Liangzhou, and attacked Chang'an.

At the beginning of July, the Son of Heaven drove his own expedition and defeated the Turkic and Xiongnu coalition forces in Wugong Mountain, with thousands of heads and nearly 10,000 prisoners, and the remaining tens of thousands of Hulu were also chased by the imperial army and scattered in all directions.

Then, the Son of Heaven announced to the world that he would tour the west and cool the west!

Those who don't know think that the Son of Heaven is showing off his martial virtues, but those who want to understand a little bit know that the Son of Heaven is not good at coming, and he came straight to the King of Xiliang.

Many wealthy businessmen who are attached to the powerful are also thinking about living in the countryside for a few days, and I am afraid that the water will not be peaceful this day.

The common people still live their own lives, the streets and alleys, the women who wash their clothes by the river, the children who play in the streets, and the farmers who sit and rest with hoes, everywhere is the breath of life.

A tall man with a package on his back and looking like a passer-by in a hurry walked through the bustling streets of Tianshui and went straight to a private house, where he knocked on the door when he saw that no one was paying attention.

"Who?"

In the house, someone answered.

"Send charcoal."

At this time, July is still the end of summer, and the autumn tiger is still hot, how can anyone buy carbon for heating, not to mention, this ordinary people's home, there are few people who go out to buy carbon, most of them buy firewood, after using it, by the way, burn charcoal, few people buy carbon.

But after a few seconds, someone opened the door, and the man with the package walked in, and the door closed again.

The passers-by who went in took off their hats and looked like passers-by, but in fact, their real identities were a member of the original Sili Captain in Chang'an City, and now they are a member of the newly established Jinyi Guard in the Great Zhou.

It was originally a lieutenant of Sili, and now it is a lieutenant of Jinyiwei.

Two people came around, and one of them hurriedly asked:

"How's it going?"

The captain of the brocade guard, who took the hat, whispered:

"Come into the back room and talk."

The three of them walked all the way into the back room, and someone poured a glass of water, but the passer-by A didn't drink it, and said:

"This King of Xiliang really has a rebellion, he distributed all the armor in stock, and the generals of the defense in the city are all his own people, and he also let the grain, grass and medicine of the entire Liangzhou be transported to Tianshui to collect the surrounding people, this is clearly in the strong wall and clear the wilderness, and he plans to defend the city and resist stubbornly!"

"Your Majesty will take a few days to arrive, and this King of Xiliang may not open the city gate obediently at that time."

A person next to him frowned and asked:

"General in the army, is there any hope of rebellion?"

The passerby shook his head:

"Most of these generals have followed Yang Shuo for a lifetime, and it is even more difficult to rebel against them."

"There are more than 100,000 soldiers and horses in this city, I heard that the King of Xiliang raised 100,000 private soldiers in the past, but now it seems that I underestimate him, far more than that."

"Quick, send the information out and present it to Your Majesty! Let Your Majesty plan ahead. ”

The three of them discussed for a while, and then not long after, a fast horse came out of the south of the city and ran straight to the east.

…………………

The empress of the Great Zhou Dynasty, starting from Chang'an, has been touring Xiliang for several days, and when she arrived in Baoji County, Geng Zhong had already led the Xiliang Mansion soldiers who had gathered up and waited in Baoji County.

When the Son of Heaven came in person, one after another orders were issued from Baoji County, first of all, to order the soldiers of Xiliang Mansion to advance east and north respectively, such as Yuanling Erzhou, to destroy the remnants of the Hulu army that had not yet withdrawn from the Guanwai.

Then, with the soldiers of Guanzhong Mansion, the remaining soldiers of Xiliang Mansion, the forbidden army Yulin, etc., more than 100,000 troops, continue to enter Tianshui in the west, tour Xiliang in the west, and at the same time issue an order to let Yang Shuo, the king of Xiliang, prepare for it as soon as possible.

At this time, the army marched to Baoji County, and the Son of Heaven naturally entered Baoji County to rest temporarily.

The original official office is now a temporary residence for the Son of Heaven, and as for the Baoji County Order, Geng Zhong, who arrived in Baoji County in advance, directly ordered to be beaten to death with a stick, and everyone applauded.

Then someone briefly reported the current situation in Baoji County, and saw that the Son of Heaven was silent in the room for a long time, and then sighed.

"Shangguan, I want to go out for a walk."

………………

Today's Son of Heaven is naturally Wu Qiong.

It has been a few days since Wu Zhi gave him a watch and teased Ouyang Xue, and because he is too busy with work, he has no way to pinch his buttocks and fart, try the depth.

On the one hand, he is busy, and on the other hand, Wu Qiong is really not in the mood.

Traveling to the Great Zhou Dynasty, swapping bodies with the empress, and being in the deep palace most of the time, Wu Qiong rarely had the opportunity to see the real folk suffering.

And this time, Wu Zhi patrolled Xiliang to the west, followed the large army, and there were people cleaning the roads along the way, even if there were corpses on the side of the road, Wu Qiong couldn't see one.

Later, when I arrived in Baoji County, I listened to the reports of others about the situation of the victims, even if I just listened to the numbers, it also made Wu Qiong's heart pwitch.

After a moment of silence, Wu Qiong instructed left and right, he first had to go out for a walk, to really see the lives of the ordinary people outside Weiyang Palace and Chang'an City.

………………

Although the emperor was stationed in Baoji, he did not disturb the people too much, and only 3,000 Praetorian Guards followed the Son of Heaven into the city, occupying the official office in the city and several nearby lifang. The rest of the army was stationed outside the city, and did not enter the city, so as not to disturb the people.

The people of the city, how to live, or how to live.

For example, the famous Qinglou Li Fang in Baoji City, and the Qinglou kilns in Lanju Fang are now all open to welcome customers and operate as usual.

In the eyes of the people, this is naturally the benevolence and righteousness of the Son of Heaven.

It's just that between conversations, it is inevitable that the Son of Heaven will be discussed, and there is no literary prison in the Ming and Qing dynasties in the Great Zhou, and it is not forbidden for the people to openly discuss the Son of Heaven and the court, or the current situation in the world on weekdays.

It's like a modern person who likes to order a few side dishes and grab a basket of beer in a food stall, scold the beautiful country of the Americas with his friends, or discuss what important meetings have been held recently, what important reforms will be held in the future, which big tiger has been pulled down, and so on.

The Chinese people like to care about national affairs after tea and dinner, and this has been the case since ancient times.

Wenxiang Pavilion is a green building in Lanju Fang.

Just like most of the green buildings, there are red lanterns hanging at the door, and the three big characters of Wenxiang Pavilion are written on the banner of the feudal domain.

Although it was still daytime, most of the girls also got up early.

There are disciplined teachers who take the girls to practice piano, chess, calligraphy, painting and dance, most of the girls here are because of the elders in the family, after being charged into the teaching department, they were bought by Wenxiangge, and some of them are talented and bought from the people.

But after all, there are a few people who buy them, after all, the girls who live in the homes of ordinary people, are exposed to the wind and sun, and work every day, so it is obviously unrealistic to say how beautiful and moisturizing they can be.

Folk women, when they enter the Qinglou, they can only be maids for those girls, and when the maids don't need them, they can only go to the kiln.

But if you fall into the dust, if you can choose, most women are still willing to choose the Qinglou, after all, you can only sell your art and not your body in the Qinglou, and go to the kiln, then it will really be a catastrophe.

The girls of Wenxiang Pavilion, standing in the courtyard, crossed their legs and pulled ligaments, dance art is an important means for them to please the guests, how can ligaments not work.

The girls were talking while training, and there was a young woman in Tsing Yi who asked:

"The Son of Heaven is also a woman, isn't it true?"

"Of course this is true, although I haven't seen the Son of Heaven, but the Son of Heaven has been the prince for more than ten years, can there be any fake?"

"Ah, I really want to see what the Son of Heaven looks like, she is a woman, I am also a woman, why is the gap between fate so big."

"Sister, don't dream, you can't see it, there are three circles inside and three circles outside, all of them are sergeants wearing Mingguang armor, but they are majestic, let alone people, even a bird can't fly in."

A group of girls were talking and laughing, and then they heard a noisy sound outside the door, and there seemed to be the cry of children, and some people ran out to join in the fun, and found that there were already many people standing on the street of Lifang.

I saw a little girl standing at the door, who was less than ten years old, and a three-year-old child beside her, holding one of the little girl's legs, crying at the top of her throat, and the child's cry obviously attracted more and more people.

And the person standing in front of the two children with a embarrassed face is the bustard's mother of Wenxiangge, surnamed Li.

People are sympathetic, especially when they see the three-year-old child crying so miserably, tears are in full swing, many girls in Wenxiangge are also mourning, someone asked what happened, Li Bustard's mother sighed and said loudly:

"The conscience of heaven and earth, it's not that I'm bullying them here, or kidnapping the child, it's this girl, I have to bring her brother into our Wenxiang Pavilion together, how can there be such a reason, our Wenxiang Pavilion can't eat enough, what's the use of a ten-year-old girl's family, and a three-year-old child, is this not going to make our girl raise a child?"

Li Bustard's mother said to the onlookers, she didn't say that this ten-year-old girl doesn't look good, it's useless to come, even if she is a maid, at least she has to be peugeot, the guests are comfortable to look at, this girl is really not very likable, not to mention a three-year-old brother.

The little girl didn't say a word, she just stood there stubbornly, holding her crying brother with one hand, and the younger brother held her sister with both hands, perhaps because she was worried that her sister would leave him, so she clung to it, crying and shouting "sister" in her mouth.

The people pointed and pointed, and some shook their heads and discussed:

"Hey, it's too miserable, it must be that Hu Lu crossed the border, got separated from his parents, or his parents were killed."

"It's not easy to get to Baoji alive."

"The world is difficult."

Everyone is talking, but to say who is willing to reach out to help, that is not very realistic, these years, who is not a tight life, in the event of a disaster year, not their own family will starve.

But there was a girl who was crying, and couldn't help but say:

"Bustard, they are so pitiful, just take them."

Mother Li Bustard's face turned fierce, and she scolded in a low voice:

"What nonsense, the little hoof knows a mouth and says, why don't you see your mouth to serve the guests comfortably, what kind of big business are you really doing when we are doing, today I have a poor one, tomorrow I have to raise a poor one, not to mention a three-year-old child, how much rice can he eat to work?"

As soon as Li Bustard's mother finished speaking, the girl who had just spoken lost her voice and stopped talking.

The little girl with her three-year-old brother gritted her teeth and said:

"I can just have one meal a day, whether it's working, picking up customers, I can do it, there must be guests who like the young, you take us in, we really have nowhere to go."

Mother Li waved her hand and said:

"I said you can do it, don't make trouble for me here, others still think I hurt you like this, I also want to live, I have hundreds of mouths to eat behind me."

When the bustard mother saw that the little girl still wanted to speak, the bustard's mother said in a very fast tone:

"Let me say it bluntly, if you like the young, you won't want to be so young, besides, we are a green building, not a kiln, you won't know anything, and the guests won't like you."

The little girl bit her lip, pushed the child forward, and said:

"You can do well, let my brother be here with you, he can work, I will go to the kiln, and the money I earn will be given to you."

The little boy felt that his sister was pushing him, and he clung to it, so he kept repeating:

"Sister, don't sell me! Don't sell me! ”

Mother Li hurriedly waved her hand:

"Don't dare to talk nonsense, you go to the kiln by yourself, don't say that I let you go, when the government says that I sold you, a good family, to the kiln, and I won't be enough to die for a few lives."

In all dynasties, human trafficking was a capital offense.

Passers-by shook their heads, some sighed, some turned their heads and left, helped, but they really couldn't stand such an uncomfortable scene, and some people persuaded:

"Little girl, don't go to the kiln, why don't you go to the big family and ask if you want a maid or something?"

"Yes, go to a big family, there are always people who see you pitiful and want you to be a maid."

As those people spoke, the little girl's eyes became redder and redder, tears fell down, and she couldn't help crying:

"I went and asked! They don't want my brother! My brother is going to die! He's going to die! I didn't have a choice! ”

The little girl sat on her knees, hugged her brother and cried.

The two children howled and cried together, and Li Bustard's mother was also a little soft-hearted, but she really didn't have spare money to raise two mouths for nothing, and after opening this opening, everyone's poor baby in the family was sent to watch every day, and this business couldn't be done.

The little girl kept crying and screaming that she had no choice, but someone on the side suddenly asked:

"Didn't the government release grain, why didn't you take your younger brother to eat? The Son of Heaven said that if a person starves to death, the person in charge will pay for his life. ”

When everyone heard someone talking, they looked over one after another, and saw a Lang Jun, whose face was like a crown of jade, and his voice was sweet and gentle, although he was dressed in men's clothes, he looked quite feminine and beautiful.

But if you look closely, it seems that he is indeed a man, after all, he still has a mustache, and there are two maids next to him, five bodyguards with five big and three thick, and a saber at his waist.

In these years, it is impossible for a young lady to come out with so many people dressed as men, and it is impossible for the head of the family to allow his daughter to do this.

This person is, of course, Wu Qiong who went out on patrol in micro-service.

I heard the little girl choke up, wipe her tears and say:

"They said that the emperor came, and the official office only released grain, and as soon as the emperor left, there must be nothing to eat, my house was burned by the Hu people, the fields were also burned, my parents died, and as soon as the emperor left, my brother and I will starve to death!"

Wu Qiong was a little dumbfounded after hearing this, he wanted to say something, but what this girl said was indeed reasonable.

Even if they don't leave, Baoji County will not be able to open a warehouse and release grain without restrictions, and when Hulu has all retreated, these victims still have to go back to their original places, but their homes are gone, and their fields are gone, some people can find something to eat in the mountains and waters, some people may have to become slaves, and some people may be in the hunger and cold of winter, looking for a place where no one is around, and die quietly.

The people of the world are like floating dust.

However, Wu Qiong can't see such suffering after all.

"Hey, get up, don't cry, I'll give you a bite to eat."

Wu Qiong sighed, reached out to pull the girl, and the plainclothes guard on the side hurriedly stopped it, and whispered:

"Your Majesty, beware of assassins in disguise."

This is their duty, and Wu Qiong can't blame it, so she left her hands and didn't go to pull the girl.

The girl stopped crying, hugged the three-year-old boy who was still sobbing, stunned, and didn't know the specific meaning of what Wu Qiong said, but Li Bustard's mother patted her and said:

"You're lucky, you meet a kind big family, hurry up and kowtow to thank you, it's better to go to a big family to be a maid than to show up in the dust."

The little girl hurriedly knelt down and kept kowtowing, and the three-year-old child didn't understand anything, but she also knelt there with her sister.

Some guards stepped forward to pull them up, although they did not know how the Son of Heaven planned to arrange them, but the Son of Heaven sent a message to give them a bite to eat, and that was their great blessing.

The little girl picked up her brother and struggled to follow the crowd, and some guards came up to help carry the child, but her brother clung to her sister's clothes tightly in fear, and did not want to let go at all.

Wu Qiong also waved her hand, it's up to them, there is a wine shop in front, go to sit and rest, Wu Qiong still has some things, I want to ask the two sisters and brothers, wait until the child is familiar with it, not too afraid, and then hug it.

Wu Qiong left with a group of people, and in the crowd, there was a thin person, with a sword at his waist, wearing a hat and watching the back of Wu Qiong leaving not far behind.

Then he also stepped forward, blending in with the crowd, silent.