Ping'an led Ah Huang to the foot of the mountain, and saw a middle-aged man carrying a pair of baskets and walking slowly.

The man was gray-faced, with a vegetable-colored face, and the basket he was carrying was not a cargo, but a pair of boys.

The boy was weak and lay on the edge of the basket, looking at Ping An and Ah Huang curiously and blankly.

Like these people, I have seen a lot of peace along the way.

Most of them are in groups of three or five, supporting the old and the young, carrying clay kettles and wattle baskets, but they are all ragged and faltering.

Those who are hungry or fleeing the army are called homeless.

Ping An knew that these were displaced people who had suffered from disasters and had no livelihood, and were forced to leave their homes and live here.

He glanced at the pair of boys, hesitated for a moment, took out two cakes from Ah Huang's back pocket, and handed them to the pair of boys.

Unexpectedly, the pair of boys suddenly reached out before they could be handed over, snatched it very hard, and then devoured it.

Even because the cake was too dry, I rolled my eyes when I swallowed, but I still didn't stop swallowing.

The middle-aged man on the side glanced at Ping An gratefully, licked his chapped lips, untied the water bladder from his waist, patted the boy's back, and fed the two of them a sip of water, and the boy's condition was much better.

When the man turned around and thanked him, Ping An smiled, dismissively, and took Ah Huang to go up the mountain.

It's just that he suddenly noticed that the crowd around him who was still slowly waking like ants just now, didn't know when it stopped, and was staring at himself, his eyes were hungry, like hungry wolves.

Ping'an couldn't help but think of some words recorded in the history books: the people were hungry and poor, the wanderers looked at each other, people cannibalized, the old and weak abandoned each other, and starved all over the wilderness.

Cannibalism eats each other...... The unbearable words jumped into his mind and startled him.

So many people are watching right now. They probably didn't dare to eat themselves, but what about Ah Huang?

People have no windfall and no wealth, and horses have no night grass and no fat.

Ah Huang has less weeds and food, although it is not so stubborn, but it can be seen that he has obviously lost a lot of weight, and he is not a fat cow.

But in the eyes of the hungry, this is a fat cow, which can be eaten for ten days and half a month after being killed.

Afraid that Ah Huang would be killed and eaten by the homeless people, Ping An panicked and slapped Ah Huang's ass hard. Then he trotted up the hill.

However, on the mountain road to Gu Niang Temple, he could still see homeless people from time to time, and he suddenly wanted to give birth to a few more legs, and the cows kept hoofing, until he saw that Gu Niang Temple was close in front of him, and then slowed down.

"Peace?"

Ping'an, who was out of breath and hurrying slowly, heard the scream, looked up, and was slightly happy on his face. finally put his mind at ease: "Sister Chen, why are you here?" ”

The person who came was Chen Yuci, and Ping An knew that this Sister Chen was strong in martial arts, and she was there. In any case, Ah Huang could not have been arrested.

Chen Yuci said with a smile: "I've been in the temple for the past few days, but it's you, is there a tiger chasing you behind you, running sweating profusely?" ”

Relying on Ah Huang's peace. Waving his hand, he replied breathlessly, "There are no tigers, but they look at Ah Huang's gaze." Worse than a tiger. ”

Chen Yuci was stunned and asked, "Who are they?" ”

Ping'an explained a few words, Chen Yuci was so amused that he trembled, and Ping'an's face was red with laughter.

"You little ghost, aren't you quite bold on weekdays, but now you have learned to worry about the sky." Chen Yuci panicked when he saw Ping'an, teased him, and then turned out a few sword flowers with a sheath sword in his hand, and said, "Don't worry, with your sister Chen here, you and your Ah Huang will be safe, and they will definitely not be eaten by those homeless people." ”

Ping An immediately said, "Thank you, Sister Chen." ”

Chen Yuci nodded with satisfaction and asked, "You're here to find your sister Nie, right?" ”

Because of Nie Xiaoqian's relationship, Ping'an and Chen Yuci met in the temple, and they have been in contact a lot, and they have become familiar with each other.

Ping An replied, "Yes, did Sister Chen see Sister Nie?" ”

Chen Yuci's face was slightly gloomy: "I don't know where she went, she hasn't returned yet, and I haven't seen her for a few days." ”

Ping An said disappointedly: "It turns out that my sister hasn't come back yet." ”

The two of them walked towards the temple.

There are several cauldrons in the entrance of the temple, and the porridge is boiling in the cauldron, and dozens of homeless people line up in a long line to receive the porridge there.

Ping'an recognized that the family members who sent porridge were from Chen's mansion, so he asked, "Sister, are you making porridge?" ”

Chen Yuci replied: "Well, in the past half a month, many homeless people have gathered in the temple one after another, and the grassroots in the mountains have been dug up by them. After eating the grass roots, if you are hungry again, I am afraid that even the statue of Gu Niang in the temple will be broken and eaten by them, and at that time, I don't know how many people will starve to death. ”

The statue of Gu Niang contains part of the Guanyin soil, and the Guanyin soil is also called glutinous rice soil.

The dry Guanyin soil has a smooth and delicate texture, looks like flour, and is used to steam into steamed buns, which look soft and white, as if it were real.

But this kind of steamed bun can't come out after eating it, and it will be swollen to death.

Chen Yuci, who lived in Gu Niang Temple, couldn't bear to see someone die in the temple, so he sent someone to transport a batch of white rice from Chen's mansion and cook it into porridge for distribution every day.

Fortunately, a deep well was dug when the temple was renovated, otherwise it would not be possible to cook porridge even if there is rice when the spring water is exhausted.

Although there are not too many distributions, as long as they are in the temple, everyone can get a little bit and not starve to death.

There is porridge and water, and they can live, and the number of displaced people in Gu Niang Temple is increasing day by day.

Chen Yuci saw it in his eyes and was anxious in his heart.

More than ten years ago, when the year was good, 500 wen could buy one stone of white rice, nearly 200 catties per stone.

In recent years, the price of rice has risen to 700 wen a stone.

After the drought in the summer, the rain did not fall, the crops died, and the autumn grain was hopeless, and in just a few months, the price of rice rose to 1241 stone.

Just these two or four stones, they are still the price of cangmi.

Most of the cang rice in Qiandeng County is old rice, which not only has many impurities, but also has many mildew, and the rich and noble people do not eat it.

However, the drought continues to spread, not to mention new rice, even the price of old rice is bound to rise, and even it may not be impossible to rise to two taels in a short period of time.

What needs to be known is that ordinary families of several people can spend less than ten taels of silver a year after saving money.

Chen Yuci was kind-hearted and originally intended to send porridge to the homeless.

But manpower is sometimes poor. What's more, it's a little lady like Chen Yuci who is raised in a "deep boudoir".

She is not the head of the Chen family, and she doesn't give birth, at worst, she is actually a "rice worm". She is kind enough to send three or five hundred catties, or even thousands of catties, and there is nothing, in the eyes of the elders who are in charge of the Chen Mansion, she is thrown into the lake as a joke, and she listens to it and has a good reputation.

But no more, it wouldn't be possible. No matter how big the Chen family's business is, the money and grain are not blown by the wind.

Chen Yuci understands these things and is in a hurry.

Just thinking about it, she couldn't come up with a solution to the problem.

What she didn't know was that Qilu Province and dozens of prefectures and counties were all affected by disasters, and there were hundreds of thousands of displaced people in the real red land.

Someone wrote a poem for this and said: When the green grass burns the furnace at noon, the drought and the grass wilt and the night is not so. Qilu thousands of miles and hundreds of counties, eighty-four towns and counties.

That is, several counties near Qiandeng County. The drought came late and was slightly less severe than in other states.

And natural disasters that stretch across a province are by no means something that a single household can deal with.

In fact, don't say it's a certain family. Even the government yamen can't solve it.

What's more, the county officials of Qiandeng County, the parents of the people, when someone reports the drought. He pointed to the lush grass and trees in the backyard of the yamen in a very strange way, and quoted the poem of the Song Dynasty poet Lin Kui: "The shadow is sparse and the water is shallow, and the dark fragrance floats in the dusk of the moon." Such a view. Where is the drought coming? As soon as the drought is said, it is just rumors, empty words in the mouths of Diao Min. ”

In fact, the flowers and trees in the rockery pond in the courtyard of the yamen were all watered by the officials every day from a well far away. If you forget to pick one day, most of them will die of drought, but the county magistrate is whitewashed and peaceful, the knife and gun are put into storage, and the horse is put in Nanshan.

Exactly, one hundred and fifty days of drought, can there be wheat harvest on the wall? I still don't believe it when I report to the court, and I still don't believe it.

I don't know what Chen Yuci is in, I just hope that Nie Xiaoqian will come back soon. Even if we can't solve the problem of the displaced people, we can feel much more at ease if we have one to rely on.

Ping An followed Chen Yuci to the temple, but saw the homeless people everywhere, sitting or lying, all of them with empty eyes and motionless, if they didn't look closer, they thought they were all corpses, and there was a rotten smell all over the body, and the air was foul and smelly.

"Sister Chen, they ......" Ping An wanted to speak and stopped.

Chen Yuci glanced at the homeless, shook his head, and sighed lightly. Everything she can do has already been done, and the rest is up to the sky.

Nothing to say all the way to the backyard.

The gate of the backyard is guarded by the Chen family, and no homeless people can enter it.

In fact, the homeless people were grateful to Chen Yuci, the female bodhisattva who gave porridge, and after knowing that she lived in the backyard, where did they dare to rush here.

However, the backyard, which should have been quiet and quiet, also looked a little dilapidated under the influence of the drought.

Ping'an let Ah Huang move in the courtyard, and he followed Chen Yuci to the study.

He thought that since Sister Chen was here, he would stay in the temple for a night to see if he could get Sister Nie back.

While the two people in the study were talking, there was a sudden commotion outside.

When the two of them heard the sound, they saw several officials pulling an unkempt beggar outside.

One of the leaders of the yamen looked like him, and said as he walked: "Feng Mazi, your incident happened, come with us to the yamen." ”

"Feng Mazi?"

Ping'an looked at the beggar who was held by the official lock and turned out to be Feng Mazi, and was taken aback.

He was stopped by his mother that day and did not participate in the burning of the drought, but later he also learned that Feng Mazi's father's grave had been dug up, his body had been burned, and even his ashes had been scattered into the Gan River.

For the grief-stricken Feng Mazi, many people speculated that he would go to the county town to report to the official, after all, he was in charge. If it is reported to the official, I don't know how many people will not be able to eat and walk around.

It's just that a few days have passed, and Feng Mazi not only did not report to the official, but suddenly disappeared. No one knows why he disappeared, let alone where he disappeared.

Unexpectedly, Feng Mazi became a beggar, mixed with the homeless people, and hid in the Gu Niang Temple.

"What happened to me?" Feng Mazi was very shocked at first, then struggled and shouted, "What happened to me, what are you doing to arrest me?" ”

"What are you doing here?" The head of the official snorted coldly, "If people don't know unless they do it, haven't you heard of it?" ”

Feng Mazi screamed in horror: "I don't know what I did, wronged......"

The head of the official choked Feng Mazi's neck with one hand and snuffed out his cry of injustice in his throat: "The blood-stained firewood knives have been found under your bed, and you dare to say that you didn't kill the king camel?" ”

"The king camel is dead?" Feng Mazi suddenly stopped struggling.

"The king camel instigated the people to dig up your father's grave and burn your father's body, and you held a grudge and hacked the king camel to death with a firewood knife, thinking that you could escape this murder by hiding the firewood knife under the bed and escaping?" The head of the official sneered, "It's ridiculous that you don't hide, you want to hide in the Gu Niang Temple, haven't you heard that the sky net is magnificent and not leaky?" ”

According to the official statement, Feng Mazi did not go to report to the official because he wanted to find an opportunity to kill Wang Huozi to take revenge and vent his anger.

Because in the whole matter, Wang Huozi only instigated, even if he sued the official, with the corruption of the county official, as long as Wang Huozi can pay for it, he will not die for the crime. At most, it is to fine some money and silver, hit a few big boards, and close it for ten days and half a month, and then release it.

Feng Mazi was silent for a while, as if he was thinking about the killing of the king camel, but not long after he shouted again: "I didn't kill the king camel, I didn't kill the king camel." ”

Where did the head of the government believe his words: "Feng Mazi, don't report to the official, just to seek revenge, I thought you were a good man who was happy and vengeful, but he didn't dare to do it." ”

Feng Mazi didn't seem to hear the words of the servant, and defended: "I really didn't kill Wang Huozi, I don't know if he is dead, when was he killed?" ”

The head of the official shook his head and said, "The king camel was found dead in the field outside the village entrance three days ago, and the evidence is conclusive, you can't deny it, take it away." ”

Feng Mazi, who was dragged away, suddenly became distracted, and he muttered in his mouth: "Although I can't wait to kill the king camel, but there are so many people that day, I can't do it at all." By the time I went back to look for him the next day, he was gone. ”

Feng Mazi muttered for a while, and suddenly laughed and said, "Hahaha, it turns out that he is dead, die well, die well......"

He laughed so heartily that tears flowed from his eyes.

Feng Mazi was dragged away by the officials, watching the lively people disperse, and the temple was quiet again, only occasionally there were a few coughing sounds.

"Sister Chen, Feng Mazi looks very pitiful, could he really not kill Wang Huozi, he was wronged?"

It's just that he hasn't seen him for a few days, Feng Mazi has become not like a person, a ghost is not like a ghost, and the situation is extremely desolate, and now he has been arrested by the yamen, and it seems that he may be convicted of murder to pay for his life, and he is at peace and compassionate.

"Maybe, maybe not, how can we know."

(This chapter is four thousand, two thousand are missing, and will be added tomorrow.) (To be continued......)