Tatecheng is located in the upper reaches of Huaishui, on the plains in the northeast of Shaobi, there is a wharf here that can go directly to Shouyang downstream by boat, so the people in the left near the villagers often choose to go to Shouyang to sell whenever there is any time when the goods are produced. Especially this year, Shouyang no longer collects the city's tax assessment money, which makes people flock to the township.

More than ten miles south of Tatecheng, there is a piece of Pize called Han's Pi, where hundreds of families live, most of whom are people with the surname Han. The villagers enclose the lake to make fields, cultivate and fish and hunt, and although their lives are not very rich, they can also be called living and working in peace and contentment.

In the autumn of September, the work in the fields is almost over, and the farmers who have finished the autumn harvest are not idle, or catch fish and crabs in the ditches and ponds, or search for pikas in the fields.

The women spun linen and looked up into the yard from time to time to beware of gluttonous urchins stealing dried fish and fruits dried in the yard. If you catch one, you will really have to learn a lesson to the death.

This is not a rural fashion, although this year is a big minor, but after the sale of grain and rice, there is not much left, and the remaining miscellaneous and this year's winter rations can be maintained by selling these agricultural and sideline products. If you are sloppy in this matter, not only will the family have to lose food and clothing, but there may also be a catastrophe!

At this moment, a crisp sound of copper and iron sounded outside the fence, accompanied by the slightly hoarse roar of the young man during the voice change: "The cargo team is back!" Come to my house to share the money and goods! ”

Hearing this roar, the villagers scattered inside and outside the village suddenly became active, and even the parents who were still whipping and teaching their children stopped and walked out of their homes to the center of the village.

There is a big mansion in the middle of the village, which is more magnificent than the surrounding cottages, it is the courtyard of the patriarch of the Han clan here, there are several trucks parked in the courtyard, and there are more than a dozen sturdy villagers standing around, under the command of a teenager who controls the order here, and the young man is the one who shouts for money and goods.

"San Lang, take a look at how much my family can share!"

Men and women poured into the room, gossiping about the young man.

The young man was anxious and sweaty, holding a wooden board and carefully reading the charcoal words on it: "Uncle Nine pays one stone and seven buckets of new rice, nine buckets and six liters of miscellaneous millet, and gives the money ......."

Amid the shouts of the young man, a sum of money and goods were distributed to the villagers. Many of these seasonal goods are daily necessities that villagers cannot produce themselves, but many of them are used for resale.

As the saying goes, relying on the mountains to eat the mountains, relying on the water to eat the water, the Han family is next to the Huaishui, of course, they will not miss this convenient navigation. Moreover, their patriarch opened a shop in Shouyang, and with his experience, he helped the villagers buy and sell some sought-after commodities to supplement their families, and sometimes the profits were considerable.

Soon, some villagers noticed that there was a big gap in the amount of money and goods, and they couldn't help but shout: "This year's payment is not compared to last year, why is this year more money than last year?" Was it bad last year? ”

Hearing this shout, before the young man in charge of the account division could answer, a young man with a much similar eyebrow and eyes, but a much taller and stronger physique, came out of the hall, and shouted to the questioning villagers: "Why don't you say that this year is a mistake? Come on, come on, tell me in detail, how much my brother is short of you, I'll cut the meat and pay you back! ”

Hearing the angry voice of the strong man, the atmosphere in the courtyard suddenly sank, and the villagers did not dare to speak casually, so the young man turned around and pushed the strong man: "Second brother, you rest, I'll deal with this!" ”

When the strong man returned to the room with a hum, the young man shouted to the Zhuang people again: "This year, Shouyang has changed the city lord, and the villagers are exempted from renting the land and valuing the market, and they can get more when they sell goods in the market, so my brother sent a message back to send the new rice to sell as soon as possible." Taking advantage of the fact that the price is just right, it is much better to buy grain from Huaixi than to eat and produce it yourself! ”

"The people of Shouyang are really lucky, they actually met such a benevolent city lord!"

Hearing this, the villagers sighed one after another, their faces full of envy, and some people shouted and asked if it was better to go to Shouyang to do tenant work.

Looking at the villagers' eager expressions, the young man shouted again: "Don't think about it, my brother said, Shouyang people may not be blessed by this, although there are many benevolent governments of this city lord, but even the mansion warehouse is not willing to repair, I am afraid that there is no idea of being in this township for a long time, and the characters are gathered and do not know where to go!" Brother wants everyone to be safe, he takes people to Huaibei to buy some cattle and horses, if there is really trouble, he has to avoid Yiyang! ”

After the villagers heard this, the originally relaxed and cheerful atmosphere suddenly sank, although they didn't know about the things outside the township, but they were very convinced of the patriarch's judgment. In the old year, the government moved from the south of Yiyang Sanguan to Huainan here, and in just ten years, it was based here, relying on the leadership of the patriarch's family.

When the money and goods were distributed, the villagers also left the room and went back to their respective homes, and the young man returned to the room, but saw that the second brother who had been persuaded back to the room by him just now was sitting under the window playing with a piece of tree roots that looked like a dog's head and Ma Ma Lai, and he couldn't help but be a little curious: "Second brother, what are you doing with this tree root?" ”

"Roots? Ha, Aya often says that the three brothers are the most clumsy, it seems that San Lang is not much more shrewd than me! ”

When the young man heard this, he burst out laughing, raised his hand to signal the third brother to close the door, waved his hand to beckon people to come closer, and said, "Take a closer look!" ”

The boy leaned in and took a closer look, still feeling that it was no different from ordinary tree roots, except that it smelled of a simple spicy fragrance.

"Haha, still can't see? Let me teach you, this thing is called rhubarb, Longyou rhubarb, it is a life-saving thing to eliminate stasis and carbuncles, and remove heat and blood! It's just such a piece, do you know how much it's worth? ”

The young man looked at his brother with a mocking face and whispered, and when he saw him shaking his head, he smiled again: "My family Shouyang business, my brother also added another 100,000 yuan, and it was exchanged for it from Handong Yiyou Jia!" ”

"So expensive? Brother, how did he sell his ancestral business! ”

The young man couldn't help but be taken aback when he heard this, Shouyang is an important place on land and water, and the reason why their family was able to operate a shop there was still due to the fact that Shouyang had just been recovered more than ten years ago, and they were the team leader under General Pei Di, so they were rewarded. Now Shouyang is more prosperous, and such a shop is worth more than millions of dollars, and the key money can't buy it.

"Don't be too expensive, Brother said that if it weren't for Najiake's greed for the benefits of Shouyang's lack of market valuation, this deal might not be possible! If you sell such a good rhubarb, the price will inevitably be higher! ”

The young man said at this point: "As for my family's ancestral business, it may not be bad to abandon it early. When the northern captives enter the city, demons are frequent, and if they are still greedy and refuse to let go, I am afraid that their lives will be folded into it. Brother raised me, and I see that you are about to become an adult, and the three of us brothers must live, and if there is no one, the rest will not be happy! ”

When the young man heard this, he nodded, and then said, "And what about my sister?" If we leave here, what will we do with my sister? ”

The young man took out his knife and gestured on the dry rhubarb, muttering: "Brother will ask my sister and brother-in-law when I come back, if they are willing to go back to Handong with us, if not, cut out a section of this rhubarb and leave it for my sister to support her family." The rest is our brother's family assets, but I am strong and can support my family no matter what, and my will be left to my sister! ”

"I don't even have a wife and children, and I live next to you, brother, so I don't need this thing to live!"

When the boy heard this, he laughed as well.

The young man was also very satisfied when he heard this, but he muttered again: "But this rhubarb is always exchanged for our ancestral business, how can we give it to my sister, the bride of another family, or keep some!" ”

As he spoke, he cut off a little root with a knife, and wrapped the rest in layers of green cloth, and then covered his rumbling stomach and said: "It's not too late, send it to Sister's house, such a generous gift, Auntie doesn't care about the last dinner, can we go back?" ”

After saying this, the brothers all laughed, collected some of the current goods in the house, explained a few words to their families, and then went down.

This family was originally a native of Anlu, Handong, and moved to Anfengzhou, Huainan with his father in the early years, and after the death of his parents, he was left with three brothers, and another eldest sister who married married in the local area, the eldest name Han Mian, the second name Han Shao, and the third name is called Han Xian.

In the old years, the Huaiyan blocked the river, so that the Huaishui flooded and flooded, flooded a large area of land in Huainan, and now although a long time has passed, but the Huaishui river channel west of Shouyang is still silted up, so that there are many ponds and tidal flats in the territory, so that the villagers can only live on the slopes around these ponds.

After the Han brothers left home, they went to the southwest, and whenever they encountered a large lake, there were simple rafts near the left for passage, all of which were made by the villagers and placed here for public use.

After passing through the two canals, the destination is about to arrive, but the second Han Shao, who is holding a penny on the raft, gradually becomes a little uneasy, and the third Han Shao, who is sitting on the side, can't help but say: "Second brother, why do I smell a little fishy......

"Silence!"

Han Shao let out a low snort, and at the same time lowered down to prop up the raft into a reed swing, and told his brother to hide there, while he himself jumped into the river pond and waded ashore, swimming forward, when suddenly a swollen corpse that had been soaked suddenly rose from the bottom of the pond to the surface, and many rancid bubbles bubbled.

"Ah......h

Rao is Han Shao has always been as bold as a fight, and he was also frightened by this scene, he didn't dare to look at the swollen corpse, gritted his teeth and continued to swim forward, but there were more and more stumps and broken arms in the river pond.

Finally came ashore, Han Shao didn't care about the muddy blood on his body, and ran straight to the village where his sister lived, but he froze on the spot after running a few steps, and under a few willow trees on the bank of the river pond, in addition to the willow branches, there were several naked female corpses hanging with hemp ropes, one of which was his sister.

"Ah, sister......"

Han Shao's eyes turned red in an instant, and he rushed forward to put down his sister's corpse and several other human corpses, and buried them in a pit with tears in his eyes. The village was apparently looted by the bandits, leaving no survivors and looting all the goods.

Although his heart was extremely painful, Han Shao did not dare to continue to stay after searching inside and outside, and the third brother Han Xian, who had been waiting anxiously, rushed back to meet the third brother Han Xian, who had been waiting anxiously, and how the third brother Ren asked was just silent.

When the two brothers were about to turn out of the reed pond, the sound of horses' hooves suddenly sounded outside the reed pond, Han Shao's face changed sharply after hearing this, and he was busy propping the raft back into the reed pond, but a shout had already sounded on the shore: "Who is it?" ”

"Second brother, let's ......"

Han Shao raised his hand to cover the young brother's mouth, pressed him into the reed pond against the edge of the raft, and put the rhubarb wrapped in layers of green cloth on Han Xian's head exposed to the water, and whispered with his mouth: "Don't get wet......"

Then Han Shao propped up the penny and rushed out of the reed pond, and when he saw several knights in military uniforms on the shore pointing at him with bows, he threw down the penny and bowed on the raft and said, "Spare your life......

A knight suddenly shot an arrow, causing a splash on the surface of the water, which frightened Han Shao's body, and then another team leader scolded: "This village slave is strong, keep it for the time being." The prince is not allowed to patrol near Shouyang, but those thieves who go first are unruly, and there are not many characters left in the countryside, don't waste it! ”