Since ancient times, agricultural civilization has relied on the sky for food, and in the event of a catastrophe, no matter how powerful the dynasty is, it will be affected. In the case of low productivity, the decline or demise of many dynasties was caused by natural disasters.

However, since the ninth year of Changping, the world has not been peaceful, the northwest drought, Huainan floods, the Bashu plague is rampant, Lintao flying locusts are all over the sky, Jiangning fire broke out, and Jiangsu and Zhejiang have become a disaster. The catastrophes are innumerable, the hungry people are uprisings, and the gangsters are rampant.

In the face of this complicated situation, other dynasties are afraid that they have already overturned.

Fortunately, Dayong won the most righteous country, and the dynasty was only more than 30 years old, the army was complete, the officials ruled the Qingming, and the east wall was demolished to make up the west wall.

As a result, there were rumors among the people, all of them said that the first emperor had a loss in virtue and offended the heavens, so he was sent to disaster. Otherwise, why did he issue three guilty edicts in one day two years ago? Even he died in that Jingshi land movement?

Coincidentally, when he ascended the throne today and changed his name to Yongtai, the situation improved instantly. At the very least, natural disasters are not as frequent as they used to be.

This accelerated the spread of rumors, and when the government wanted to manage it, it was already powerless.

The north of Yongtai in the second year was quite calm, and even ushered in a bumper harvest in a small area, which gave the stormy Dayong a little respite.

However, the turmoil of the past few years has displaced too many people and their families have been ruined, and the government's relief can only be a drop in the bucket.

But these days, it is not easy for anyone, and the fate of these beggars can be imagined.

It just snowed yesterday, and the suburbs of Huaiqing Mansion were covered, white and expansive, and the west wind carried ice slag to wreak havoc in the suburbs, and it was bitterly cold.

Wen Ke clutched his chest and ran hard in the cold wind, one of the tattered straw sandals had already been lost, and the empty stomach also reacted at this time, and he vigorously poured acid water upwards.

But he was still running forward, followed closely by several equally unkempt beggars, chasing and scolding.

Suddenly, Wen Ke stumbled, his whole body fell to the ground, he was just about to get up, there was a sharp pain behind him, it turned out that several beggars behind him had caught up, and one of them happened to ride on him. Without saying a word, there was a burst of punches and kicks at him: "Little cub, dare to rob the master's things, you are tired of it." ”

"It's obviously the cake that the kind lady gave me." Wen Ke shouted, but after all, he was small and weak, and no matter how hard he tried to break free, someone had already begun to pick up his clothes.

He gritted his teeth, ignoring the pain, twisted his body, took out the dry cake in his arms, and stuffed it into his mouth fiercely, even if he was killed, he was unwilling to hand over the thing.

The beggars slowed down, and when they found out, the small piece of bread had all gone into Wen Ke's mouth, and he choked on it, rolling his eyes.

Several people were furious, the strength in their hands increased, and the middle-aged beggar sitting on Wen Ke's back was also very angry: "I don't know what to do, little cub, I beat you to death today." As he spoke, he took a stone from his side and was about to smash it on the head of the person under him.

At this moment, a strong wind suddenly struck, knocking the half-human head sized stone away.

"Who?" A few people were startled, turned their heads to look around, only to find that they were in a hurry to chase after them, and they actually followed the little cub to the cemetery outside the city.

"Ahem! Cough! As if to answer him, there was a coughing sound in front of him.

A few people followed the sound, only to see that under the dead trees not far ahead, with the sound of creaking and cracking ice, the snow on a mound of graves was undulating and wriggling, as if something was about to break through the ground.

There was a crisp "pop", and a large hand reached out from the snowdrift.

"Ghosts, ghosts, ......" know that it is broad daylight, but in the face of such a thing, and in such an environment, who is not frightened? What's more, a few evil beggars who have done a lot of bad things can't take care of Wen Ke who fell to the ground at the moment, and a few people ran away in shock, not even daring to turn their heads.

Wen Ke had been lying on the ground, enduring the pain in his body, and he was choking so hard that he was feeling uncomfortable, of course he didn't see this strange situation.

But the ghost crying wolf howl with the voice of "ghost" could be heard clearly, he knew what place this was, and he couldn't help but be shocked in his heart.

Hurriedly looked up, just in time to see a large bald head emerging from the mound in front of him.

Maybe it was out of fear, or because of the beating he had just received, but under the horror, his eyes were dark, and he was completely unconscious......

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The cold wind blew up the snow particles everywhere, forming patches of white snow mist in the wilderness, and the dilapidated houses that had fallen into disrepair were sadly looming in the pine and cypress graves.

The light of the bonfire swayed and danced, illuminating the surrounding scenery, sometimes bright and sometimes dark. The walls were so dark that they were unrecognizable, and they were low and ugly, supported by a few logs to keep them from falling, and many rags were sticking to the windows, whirring. The wind and snow poured into the hole above the head, hitting the people's faces, were cold, and only the bonfire in front of them brought a little warmth.

When Wen Ke woke up, the first thing he saw was the monk sitting cross-legged next to the fire, and he was so frightened that he almost jumped up.

At this time, a clear and gentle voice came, it was the monk, who only listened to him: "The poor monk stayed in the suburbs last night, but he didn't expect to forget the time when he entered the city, so that he was covered by ice and snow and frightened the donor, which is really a sin." ”

Wen Ke was shocked, but his eyes glanced behind the monk and saw the long shadow, and he was a little relieved.

"No, it's okay......" He hurriedly waved his hand, but as soon as these words came out, his face suddenly swelled and red.

He considered himself articulate, otherwise he would not have been able to get food during his long wandering life.

But perhaps because the monk's appearance was too special, he almost couldn't even speak with the warm eyes of the monk.

Wen Ke lowered his head embarrassedly, the monk over there didn't seem to notice his embarrassment, took off a shoe, took out the needle and thread from the baggage, and began to sew it carefully.

Wen Ke secretly looked at the other party, this was a very young-looking monk, with soft eyebrows, tall and thin, a robe similar to his beggar's outfit, with patches on it, but he could still see many damaged places. The shoes on the feet were also bad, and the toes of the shoes were already sticking out.

Neither of them spoke, and the only thing left in the room was the whirring wind.

I don't know how long this state lasted, the monk finished mending both shoes with a rag, and suddenly turned his head to look at the sun outside: "It's time to eat." After saying that, he took out an iron bowl from his baggage, stood up and walked out.

The dilapidated house had no door at all, and Wen Ke could easily see the actions of the monks outside.

I saw that he first rubbed his hands with the snow, and then put the snow in the bowl, and when he returned, he put the iron bowl next to the fire, and the snow in it immediately turned into snow water, and it did not take long for it to boil.

Then, the monk took out a cloth bag and opened it, revealing the two dry nests inside.

He smiled and glanced at Wen Ke, who was staring directly at the head of the nest, and said: "The so-called meeting is fate, and I just frightened the little donor, the poor monk has nothing to grow, so he can only use a bowl of thin porridge to apologize." With that, he carefully broke one of the nest heads and threw them into the boiling water, and when he picked up the second one, his movements suddenly stopped, and he handed the nest head to Wen Ke instead.

Wen Ke looked at the nest head in front of him, and wanted to refuse. Although the other party kept expressing his apologies, he knew that it was this monk who saved him, and now he still had to give him food, how could this be embarrassing?

Seeing that he didn't move, the monk laughed and shoved the nest head into his hand. Only then did he turn around and seriously stir the food in the iron bowl with a wooden stick.

Wen Ke looked at the things in his hand in a daze, but before he could come back to his senses, an iron bowl containing most of the porridge was put into his other hand, and I don't know how the monk got it, the iron bowl that had just been burned red became only a little warm at this time.

"Nope." Wen Ke hurriedly stood up and handed back the iron bowl.

"The donor is injured, so he should eat more." The monk pushed it away with a smile and said, "Poor monks are doing penance, and a bowl of porridge is enough." After speaking, he held a wooden bowl in both hands and drank it.

Wen Ke had eaten a piece of bread in the morning, but he was the most edible age, and he couldn't resist the temptation of food at this time, so he only endured it, and now when he saw the monk say this, he saw that the other party really didn't mean to eat, so he couldn't help it anymore at this time, and squatted down to eat.

To be honest, this nest is dry and dry, and it is mixed with bran and grass roots, which is not delicious. The porridge in the bowl is almost clear, only a slight taste of grain, and it is almost the same as fooling the mouth.

But both of them ate very sweetly. Wen Ke was extremely hungry and devoured it, while the monk drank it slowly and leisurely, and did not waste a single drop.

In the end, the two ended at the same time.

The monk boiled another iron bowl of water, scalded the wooden bowl and put it away, and then asked Wen Ke: "Listening to the donor's accent, it seems to be someone from the vicinity of Jinan Mansion." ”

When Wen Ke heard this, he hurriedly nodded: "The kid is from Qingzhou Mansion. ”

"It's really Qingzhou." The monk groaned, laughed again in an instant, and said, "That's really a coincidence, the poor monk has been a monk in Qingzhou since he was a child. Speaking of this, he suddenly paused, looked at Wen Ke again, and suddenly asked again: "I don't know the name of the donor." ”

It may be because of the identity of the other party's monk, or it may be because of a hot meal just now, or it is more likely because he met his fellow villagers in other places, the young Wen Ke has completely given up his guard in his heart at this time, and replied truthfully: "My name is Wen Ke, my hometown suffered a disaster in the early years, with my parents wandering around, my parents died a few years ago, leaving me alone to wander in the countryside, I didn't expect to meet the master here." ”

Hearing this, the monk's face became a little more solemn, and he continued to ask: "Lord Wen's hometown is in Lijia Village, Qingzhou?" ”

"Exactly." Wen Ke was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly nodded: "How can the master know?" ”

"When the donor was young, the poor monk saw you." The monk looked at Wen Ke with a complicated expression, and shook his head with a sigh: "Ten years ago, I also went to Lijia Village to look for Lingzun Lingtang, but unfortunately there was no one in the village at that time. ”

Wen Ke didn't expect that he still had such a relationship with the monk opposite, so he hurriedly straightened up: "Does the master know my father?" ”

"I've met once." The monk sighed: "I didn't expect that the poor monk had been wandering the rivers and lakes for so many years, and he could meet the deceased here. With that, he was silent at the dancing flames. A hand slowly stroked his forehead, and after a long time, he seemed to suddenly have his spirit again, and said to Wen Ke with a smile: "I forgot to introduce myself, the poor monk is fateful." ”