Zhao Han was in a daze, and he didn't wake up completely, he only felt hungry and thirsty.

In a trance, his lips and teeth touched the crockpot, and he subconsciously opened his mouth to drink water.

The cold porridge with dirt and gravel was poured into his stomach like this, so that Zhao Han could recover his spirits, and when he opened his eyes, he saw a girl lying beside him.

"Second brother, are you awake?" Zhao Zhenfang was so happy that she smiled with tears, and her confused eyes instantly glowed.

"I ......" Zhao Han spoke with difficulty, but after only saying one word, he felt that his throat was torn and painful.

He tried to stand up, but he felt weak, like a ghost pressing the bed. Obviously he was conscious, but he couldn't control his body, and he couldn't even move his fingers, as if he didn't belong to him from the neck down.

Gradually, Zhao Han fell asleep again.

Zhao Zhenfang herself was very hungry, so she stayed by her brother's side like that, ate the rest of the gruel, and even licked it with her tongue while holding the crockpot.

Finally, officials in Tianjin organized people to cross the bridge to collect the body.

It's summer, and if a few hundred corpses are not disposed of, they could easily become plagues.

The people responsible for carrying the corpses were all officers and soldiers of Tianjin City.

Due to the serious flight of the sergeants, the Tartars became bigger in Liaodong, and the Tianjin New Army was formed in the last years of Wanli.

The new army is a battalion system, not part of the guard system, and is funded by the central government. Excluding the "Zhenhai Battalion" and other coastal defense troops, there were more than 6,000 new troops inside and outside Tianjin, but only in the past 10 years, only 2,000 or 3,000 have escaped.

And these two or three thousand new troops, none of them can fight, and they have long been reduced to slave-like existence.

In addition, there are thousands of guards in Tianjin, who have been serfs for military generals for generations.

Inside and outside, tens of thousands of officers and soldiers nearby were so frightened by dozens of horse bandits that they dared to come over now.

"Little Fifth Brother, this one is still panting."

"If you can't survive, you will be dragged to a mass grave."

"I'm not injured, but I'm hungry, and I can still survive by filling half a bowl of porridge."

"Are you giving him porridge to drink?"

"I can't eat enough myself, how can I give him porridge?"

"And what are you talking nonsense about?"

All of them were loaded onto trucks and dragged to a nearby cemetery for simple burial.

After several trips back and forth, he finally came to the Zhao family's side.

Zhao Zhenfang threw herself on her father's corpse and screamed, "Don't touch my father!" ”

When a soldier saw her young age, he couldn't help but say pitifully: "Alas, it's dead, let's bury your father." ”

Zhao Zhenfang shook her head and said, "Daddy is not dead, Daddy is asleep." ”

The soldiers ignored it and turned to carry Zhao Chen's body.

"Mother!"

Zhao Zhenfang rushed over like crazy again, and saw that these soldiers shook their heads again and again. It's just two corpses, and the little girl won't let them move away, so they can save trouble.

Zhao Zhenfang finally protected the bodies of her parents, and when she saw the soldier walking towards her brother, she hurriedly shouted: "That's my second brother!" ”

A soldier sighed: "It's a family together, it's very miserable." ”

The soldier next to him said, "This little brother is not dead, his chest is still moving." ”

The soldier before leaned down and touched Zhao Han's forehead, shook his head and said, "I have a terrible fever, and I have only one breath left." ”

The soldiers left the Zhao family alone and ran to carry the other corpses. Seeing that it is about to get dark, this is the last trip, and there are still hundreds of corpses left tomorrow.

The sun is setting, and the sky is already dusk.

Six-year-old Zhao Zhenfang was rumbling with hunger. She supported her thin little body, dragged her second brother to her father and mother, and then silently waited for dawn.

Zhao Han was woken up by hunger in the middle of the night, his head was dizzy, his stomach was hungry, and his whole body was weak.

It was difficult to get up, and by the dim moonlight, the little girl next to her could be vaguely seen. She seemed to be so hungry that she curled up even when she slept, and a pair of small hands were covering her stomach.

This is the little sister, Zhao Han suddenly remembered.

No, I'm an only child, where did I get my sister?

Zhao Han shook his confused head and looked down at his clothes. I don't know what kind of material it's made of, but it feels rough to the touch, and there are worn-out patches everywhere, and this kind of clothing can't even be seen by horse bandits.

In the first year of Chongzhen, the new emperor ascended the throne?

Zhao Han sat on the ground dejectedly, looking at the ancient bright starry sky, and the matter was so ridiculous that it was difficult for him to accept.

He was born in an ordinary family in New China, and his academic performance has been good since he was a child. I was barely admitted to a key high school, but unfortunately I was not admitted to a key university, so I could only study an ordinary undergraduate.

Because he dreamed of being a soldier since he was a child, and when he saw the conscription banner at school, Zhao Han resolutely enlisted in the army and became a college student soldier.

After two years in the army, Zhao Han did not apply for promotion, but retired from the army and returned to school to continue his studies.

Seeing that he was about to graduate, he was wondering whether to take the postgraduate entrance examination, or choose to take the civil service examination, why did he run to ancient times?

And it's the first year of Chongzhen!

It seems that the Chongzhen Dynasty has only been seventeen years, and Zhao Han is not very sure, anyway, it is not far from the fall of the Ming Dynasty.

In the history of the late Ming Dynasty, Zhao Han knew a rough idea, but many details have been forgotten.

He majored in Chinese language and literature, studied ancient literature, philology, and classical philology, but unfortunately did not study ancient history in depth.

The body was too bad, and the high fever did not go away, Zhao Han fell asleep again in a daze.

Awakened by hunger again in the morning, Zhao Han crawled and rummaged through nearby corpses, but did not harvest any food.

The remaining hundreds of corpses had already been turned over several times, not to mention the money and food left, and even the slightly better clothes were taken away by the officers and soldiers in charge of collecting the corpses.

But Zhao Han was really hungry, his eyes were red with hunger, his stomach hurt like a knife, and he had an urge to eat human flesh.

Looking at those corpses, Zhao Han really wanted to pounce on them and nibble on them.

"Second brother, I'm hungry ......"

Zhao Zhenfang didn't know when she woke up, maybe she was hungry, maybe she was frightened yesterday, and her spirit was very weak at the moment.

Zhao Han still remembers that when he was awake yesterday, the little girl fed him porridge. Whether it is out of the residual family affection of the body, or to repay the other party's life-saving grace, he should also take care of this sister, and immediately comforted: "Don't be afraid, the second brother will find you something to eat." ”

I couldn't find anything to eat!

The bark of the nearby trees had long since been stripped by the hungry people, and even the weeds on the riverbank had withered yellow. The canal was mostly drained, exposing the mudflats of the riverbed, cracking into a palm-wide opening.

Zhao Han wanted to look for insects and add a little protein, but there was nothing but mosquitoes.

The ground is so dry that it's hard to dig up with a hoe, and you don't even think about earthworms or anything.

Zhao Han picked up two broken crockpots, pulled his sister to the center of the official road, and tried to meet passers-by begging for food.

After only standing for a few minutes, Zhao Han's body was obviously unable to hold on, and it seemed that a gust of wind could blow it away, so he simply knelt down and pretended to be pitiful.

Zhao Zhenfang suddenly reminded: "Second brother, my father said that the eldest husband is alive, and he only kneels to the prince of heaven and earth, and does not kneel to beg for any food." ”

"Food." Zhao Han corrected.

Zhao Zhenfang said: "Yes, it is the food that comes." ”

Zhao Han asked rhetorically: "Did the father say that the eldest husband should be able to bend and stretch?" ”

Zhao Zhenfang shook her head.

Zhao Han sighed and said: "Standing is stretching, kneeling is bending." I kneel now so that I can stand in the future. Kneel, I don't have the strength to stand firm anyway, so let's just rest on our knees. ”

The brother and sister returned to the official road side by side, each holding a broken crockpot, and the morning sun gradually rose.

About two quarters of an hour later, a caravan came out of the city, and because the canal was dry and difficult to navigate, it went north on mules and horses.

Zhao Han, who had never had begging experience, saw that the caravan was getting closer and closer, and hurriedly knelt down and picked up the crockpot in his hand.

But he didn't say a word, and after all, he was too embarrassed to beg.

"Get out of the way, get out of the way!"

Due to the rapid development of business, the world is not very peaceful, and the dart industry has been thriving in recent decades.

Zhao Han was still holding the crockpot high, and a sturdy dart master walked up, grabbed him and his sister by the collars, and threw them to the side of the road like chickens.

Zhao Han reluctantly got up, completely let go of his shame, and knelt on the ground and shouted: "Good old man, give me something to eat!" ”

No one responded, they all turned a blind eye, and a long caravan passed in front of them.

Not long after, another team came from Tianjin City. However, the canal dried up, the transportation was cut off, and the imperial court urged it ruthlessly, and the grain was transferred by land.

Those Caoyun soldiers and civilians were dressed as shabby as Zhao Han, and some of them simply only had a crotch cloth, pushing and pulling the grain cart forward under the scorching sun.

The general Caoyun, who was in charge of transporting grain, looked oily and slippery, riding a healthy horse leisurely, and from time to time took out a water bladder and drank a few sips to quench his thirst. There are also 200 families around him, who are fully armored, and he is not afraid of small bandits robbing food.

"Second brother, I'm hungry."

Zhao Zhenfang was hungry and thirsty, and was exposed to the sun, so she was already weak, and soon fell into a semi-coma.

The Tianjin soldiers went out of the city to collect the corpses again, but Zhao Han did not stop them, and watched them move the bodies of their parents.

This body is only ten years old, Zhao Han struggled to carry his sister on his back, and was so tired that he knelt down after several attempts.

Too hungry to have any strength at all!

Finally, Zhao Han lay on the ground and said to Zhao Zhenfang: "Little sister, climb on the back of the second brother, let's go to the city to get food." ”

Zhao Han lay on the ground, and the little sister lay on his back, crawling towards Tianjin like this, like two wild dogs walking in embarrassment.

Going to the city to ask for food may be smoother.

At present, the fundamental thing is not to make any long-term plans, but to fill your stomach and survive first.

Tianjin City was built at the mouth of the Sancha River, and it was necessary to cross the canal to reach the moat.

More than 20 years ago, Tianjin was flooded, and the north and south city walls collapsed more than 70 zhang, and until now the government has no money to repair the city.

Because the canal has dried up, a large number of ships have run aground, and grain and commodities are in urgent need of transshipment by land. As a result, the North Canal, which had no bridge, is now a temporary wooden bridge. The government was afraid that the displaced people and bandits would cross the river, and the bridge was guarded by soldiers, and equipment such as horses were also set up.

Zhao Han carried his sister on his back and finally climbed to the side of the canal bridge, and the bridge guard kicked him over: "Get out, where is the beggar!" ”

was about to faint from hunger, Zhao Han couldn't be angry, he only supported the little sister who fell, and squeezed out a flattering smile: "The military master is good, let us go over to beg for food." ”

The soldier laughed inexplicably, put his hands on his shoulders, and spread his legs: "If you want to cross the bridge, you can get under my crotch." ”

Zhao Han was silent, his eyes were red, his fists were clenched, and he released it again.

Suddenly, an officer came over, pushed away the soldier who was deliberately making things difficult, and scolded and said, "Okay, you Wei Si, how good is bullying a child?" ”

Wei Si smiled and said, "Lao Liu, I'll just joke with them." ”

Lao Liu glanced at Zhao Han's brothers and sisters, and ordered: "Let people go, whether they are dead or alive, depending on their own creation." ”

Zhao Han stood up with all his strength, and with the residual memory of this time and space, he arched his hand and said: "Dare to ask the name of Duke Enzun, if my brother and sister can survive, he will definitely repay him with a grass title ring one day." ”

Lao Liu saw that Zhao Han had all the etiquette, and he actually solemnly returned the salute: "It turned out to be a troubled little minister, my name is Liu Mang, a small pipe of the Tianjin New Army." ”

"Remember the name of Engong, it will meet again one day." Zhao Han squatted down with great difficulty, lay on the ground again, and let the weak little sister lie on his back and grasp it, and slowly crawled forward like a dog.

Team Liu thought about it, took out a few copper coins, and handed them to Zhao Han: "Take them to buy some food." ”

"Thank you, Eun-gong." Zhao Han was overjoyed.

He is also a hand-holder, and he is talking in a crepe, just wanting to attract the attention of the other party, and now he is lucky to have some effect.

The brother and sister slowly crawled away, and Wei Si said, "Lao Liu, what are you paying for?" These two little ones were so hungry that they couldn't walk, and they had to crawl over to even enter the city, and they would starve to death tomorrow if they were full today. ”

Liu Guan team watched the brother and sister cross the bridge, sighed and said: "The children of my family are also so big, just to have peace of mind." The way of the world...... Alas! ”

Although Tianjin City is built along the river, there is still some distance between the city wall and the canal. Beyond the four walls, there are a large number of illegal dwellings, and street markets have been formed.

Especially outside the North City, there is the North Canal Wharf, which is very prosperous with many shops, and the North Moat has even become an inland river in the dock area.

Zhao Han carried his sister on his back and crawled to the streets and alleys outside the city, smelling the fragrance of food all the way.

When he came to a noodle stall, Zhao Han gasped and recovered for a while, and wanted to stand up but his legs were weak and fell, so he could only kneel on the ground, hold out the copper coins and say, "Eat." ”

Due to the decline of Spain, there was a silver crisis at the end of the Ming Dynasty.

Silver is deflationary, copper is inflationary, and copper is becoming less and less valuable.

In addition, it was a famine, and the price of grain was very expensive, and these few cents could only buy multigrain steamed buns.

The stall owner accepted the copper coin, stuffed Zhao Han with a steamed bun, and waved his hand with a disgusted expression: "Go far and eat, don't delay my business." ”

"Thank you...... Thank you. ”

Zhao Han reluctantly smiled, held the steamed bun in his mouth, and turned around with his little sister to crawl around the corner.

Before he climbed to the corner of the street, he suddenly rushed out a few beggars, snatched the steamed buns, and said viciously: "Begging for food in Tianjin, have you ever visited the dock?" This steamed bun is considered to be the money for entering the house, and in the future, you will pay tribute to five Wen every day, and if you don't have money, you will be paid tribute to eat, and you are allowed to beg for food on the North Street of the Wharf. ”

begged on his knees, was kicked by his hands, and was forced to drill his crotch, Zhao Han endured it for his life.

finally got something to eat, but was bullied by a few beggars, and Zhao Han finally blew it up. He put down his sister, staggered up, and roared, "Give it back to me!" ”

"The little lady raised it, she can't stand steadily, and she dares to play tricks with her grandfather?" The beggar leader stretched out a kick and easily tripped Zhao Han.

"Hahahaha!"

Other beggars laughed out loud, they are at the bottom of society, they are discriminated against and bullied all day long, and they can only find fun in the weaker.

Zhao Han was already dizzy from hunger, and at this time, everyone was ghosted. Unable to stand up any longer, he crawled forward with all his might, grabbed the beggar's ankle and said, "Give me back the steamed buns!" ”

"Get out of here!"

The beggar leader was caught with one foot, so he raised the other foot and stepped on the top of Zhao Han's head like an ant.

"Don't hit my second brother!"

Suddenly, Zhao Zhenfang, who was almost unconscious with hunger, pounced on the beggar and bit the beggar's leg.

"Ugh!"

The beggar leader was in pain and stretched out his leg to kick Zhao Zhenfang away.

Taking advantage of the opportunity for the other party to stand on one foot, Zhao Han suddenly exerted his last strength, grabbed the beggar's ankle and dragged it.

"Ahh

The beggar fell on his back, and the back of his head hit the ground, and his head was dizzy.

"Hahahaha!"

The other beggars were still watching the jokes, and they didn't think that the two children could pose any threat to their leader.

There are also some passers-by who stop here and watch the beggars fight with great interest, and there is no one pointing at them for fun.

"Huhuhu......"

Zhao Han gasped in his mouth, and before the other party could react, he had already climbed onto the beggar leader and bit down on the other party's muddy neck.

"Loosen up, loosen up!"

The beggar leader struggled in a panic, so frightened that he forgot to ask his companion for help, and just shouted to push Zhao Han away.

The other beggars finally stopped watching the excitement and kicked and beat and dragged at Zhao Han, but Zhao Zhenfang rushed over to help but was kicked away.

Zhao Han hugged the beggar leader, and he didn't let go of his mouth, biting through the other party's trachea and biting through the other party's arteries. The blood flowing into the mouth is not disgusting, but because of the hunger and thirst in the stomach, the subconscious frantically sucks the blood and goes to the stomach.

Finally, the beggar leader stopped moving.

Zhao Han's mouth was full of flesh and blood, and he turned around and smiled at everyone.

"Murder!"

Passers-by shouted in surprise.

The other beggars were stunned, and they didn't want to avenge the boss, so they picked up the dog beating stick and the broken bowl and ran away.

Zhao Han picked up the steamed bun on the ground, tore it in half with force, stuffed half into his mouth, and handed half to his little sister and said, "Eat!" ”

Zhao Zhenfang didn't care so much, grabbed the steamed buns and devoured them.

Zhao Han finished eating half of the multigrain steamed bun before wiping the blood stains from his mouth with his sleeves crossed, and the whole process was like eating raw human flesh and blood.

When there was a death on the street, no one went to report to the official.

It's just a beggar to die, when will Tianjin City not starve to death?

Zhao Han regained a little strength, and in full view of everyone, he began to grope for the beggar's corpse, but unfortunately he didn't touch any goods.

He picked up the other party's dog-beating stick, stood with difficulty with the stick, supported the little sister and said, "Let's go, the second brother will take you to find a place to spend the night." ”

Zhao Zhenfang dragged a small piece of steamed buns, never willing to eat, and silently followed Zhao Han's side.

After only a few steps, both siblings were dizzy, so they fell down again and crawled forward.

Onlookers avoided and made way to watch them leave.

This start is not bad, at least I grabbed a dog-beating stick.