A dense pool of water, two meters high reeds swaying, two gray-haired old men.

"The general is still some way away, and I was fortunate enough to come here with that Taoist leader back then. That Dao Chang is a true immortal, and he can step on the water directly, without having to crawl in the mud puddle like the two of us. ”

The old servant chattered tirelessly, just like an ordinary old man, who talked a lot.

"I remember coming here once a year for so many years, and I just wanted to be blessed. The blessing is not touched, there is no wife and no children, but I am looking forward to you. ”

Li Changsheng looked around, without the slightest sense of familiarity. In Tianhe City, the sights and houses are definitely different from the memory, after all, he has been in the army for decades. It is normal for houses to be renovated and roads to be changed.

But the location is the same, as long as the Taojiang River is not diverted, Tianshui City will not change.

"How did this happen? The mountain was a bit similar, but I remember there wasn't that much water here, at most there was a small stream. ”

Saying that, Li Changsheng pointed to a certain place, and followed his finger to see a long strip of pavement with lush flowers and plants on it, and a few pig dragons (crocodiles) lying there.

Look at the body type, it shouldn't be hurtful.

The old servant replied, "According to the chief, this was not Mizusawa in the past, but 1,000 years ago when the earth dragon turned over and collapsed. I don't know if it's right or not, the Wu Dynasty didn't have a thousand years, and those immortals outside the world knew what was going on. ”

"You should be the hunter here, right? There was indeed a group of people who lived here before, and they specialized in hunting and killing those pigs and dragons to make medicines. ”

Li Changsheng shook his head and didn't say much, and continued to walk forward. His forehead was slightly numb, his breathing suddenly became a little confused, and his eyes were often in a trance.

Obviously stepping in the mire, there is no resemblance to the hometown in his memory, but it gives him an inexplicable sense of familiarity. In an instant, the world began to fragment, and memory and reality clashed, and the two were on a par and overlapped with each other.

He was pointing to a dense reed, with a nest of wild ducks hidden inside, and the mother duck was watching them with her teeth and claws guarding her eggs.

"Where is the Wei family, the only big mansion in the village. Although there are no big landowners in Qingshui Village, 1/3 of the people have put the land in the name of Wei Xiucai. He has a meritorious reputation and can reduce taxes, and the Wei family does not receive much of a share. I still can't figure out where my father got the confidence to propose marriage to others, and the teacher agreed. ”

At the beginning, Wei Xi and Li Changsheng's engagement was a sensation, although Wei Xiucai's family was not very rich, but it was also a poor family of ancestors. has a certain number of contacts in the city, and he has a reputation for showing talents.

In that era of paying attention to the right family, it is really incomprehensible for a wealthy local daughter to marry a little child from an ordinary family.

Later, Li Changsheng took the Tongsheng exam, and many people kept their mouths shut. After becoming a Xiucai at the age of only about 10, the polarity of this matter was reversed, and people praised Wei Xiucai for his vision.

People's words change quickly, Li Changsheng has long been used to it.

Wei Xiucai's house is a three-entry compound, even if it is placed in the city, it is quite magnificent. There are two jujube trees in the courtyard of the house, and the jujubes that bear are big and sweet.

There is a stone table under the jujube tree, where Wei Xiucai often opens a small stove for Li Changsheng. Wei Xi sometimes listens to the side, and over the years, he is also proficient in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting.

Women are not allowed to take the imperial examination, but there is no restriction on women reading and writing, and the social atmosphere is relatively open. If you catch up with the queen mother's dictatorship, maybe you can still participate in the female officials.

[Changsheng, do you know why I want to marry my son to you? 】

[The students never forget, one glance and ten lines, outsiders call me a prodigy. 】

[Hahaha, that's the truth, you have to remember that there is no love for no reason. Good people are more likeable, and vice versa. But I don't think that's the case with people, there are many talented people in the world, and there are very few people with conscience. 】

[Today, someone from my family came to insult you, saying that you are not worthy of being a child, and I will send you a sentence. It is not a shame to come from a humble background, and it is an encouragement to be able to bend and stretch out for a husband. Bamboo can be burned but not destroyed, although the body can be dead and the name can be hung on the bamboo silk, this is the way of people. 】

[Students should keep this in mind.] 】

The old servant probed his brain, squinted his eyes and never saw any clues, and his heart secretly chilled.

He wondered if the old general had fallen into evil?

Li Changsheng didn't notice the strange eyes of the people next to him, and continued to walk forward by himself, when suddenly a pool of dark-colored mud appeared in front of him.

The official hurriedly said: "General, don't go any further, there is a swamp and there are water ghosts below." ”

Li Changsheng stopped, but he didn't hear the dissuasion of the officials. He looked into the mire, and instead of a puddle of fishy mud, he saw a clear stream.

The stream flowed quietly, whispering, and the surface of the water shimmered like glass.

The boy and girl stood in the middle of the stream, and the high dam was piled up, and the small fish and shrimp were driven down. The girl looked to be less than 9 years old, with baby fat on her face, like two quail eggs in her mouth.

She scooped up the balance with lotus leaves and held it in both hands for the boy to see. The smile is like a flower, the cheeks are flushed, and the sun shines through the shade of the lotus leaves.

[Brother Li, I'll give you all the fish I caught, don't you play with the second girl next door, okay? ] 】

[And Li Ergou, Sangou, and Sledgehammer, don't play with them. They hate it to death, and they always joke that I can't herd cattle. Especially that second girl, always following your ass. 】

"Aren't you also following me?" My younger siblings also eat vinegar? 】

[Humph! Xi'er is different, Xi'er is not a fiancée. 】

[It's a fiancée, do you know what a fiancée is? When you grow up, if you don't want to, tell me, and I will fulfill you. You are still young and should not be bound by comprador marriage. 】

[Of course I know that my fiancée will marry in the future, and then we can always be together. 】

Li Changsheng turned around and walked in the other direction, and before he knew it, the two of them walked ashore. He pointed to the place where the wild deer drank water a few dozen paces away, and said, "That's my home." ”

There are several mud houses, a fence made of fine bamboo, and a yard with vegetables.

Li Changsheng's father was just a somewhat clever farmer, no more than 1.6 meters tall, with dark skin and calluses on his hands and feet. And his mother died after giving birth to him, and he didn't know what his mother looked like.

[Big dog, go to study tomorrow.] 】

Where do you get the money? 】

[Hey, hey, big brother borrowed it, we have a few families in total, and we can send you to a private school with a little frugality. 】

"The general is in front."

The old servant walked ahead, constantly pushing away the tall reeds, and the rustle of them across the reeds was heard in his ears. For some reason, a fragrance filled the air, and suddenly a strong wind blew and fell from the sky and overwhelmed all the reeds in front of him.

The line of sight instantly widened, and I saw a village in the distance.

Pale cyan smoke rose from the house. The smell of rice and rape wafts in the wind.

A few children were chasing and playing at the entrance of the village, and the old people were sitting under the banyan tree chattering. In the prime of life, the woman was working in the fields, and the woman was ready to eat for the day.

The so-called thatched eaves are low, the wisps of green smoke are wisps, the grass is green on the stream, and the buffalo in the river is present.

"Village?" The old official was stunned, how could he not have thought that there would be a village in this place?

It's in the water, there are many snakes and insects, and once the water is launched, it is useless to get a house as high as it is. And a place with such a heavy humidity is not suitable for long-term living.

Why is there a village here?

"Something is wrong with the general, there can't be a village here. This must be a ghost, let's get out of here......"

When he turned his head, there was no white-haired general left, and only a young man was left there. He took off his armor and dropped his sword, the wrinkles on his face were smoothed by the breeze blowing from the village, and his white hair turned into three thousand green silk with the green smoke.

The living are passers-by, and the dead are returnees.

Heaven and earth are a reverse journey, and they are sad for eternity.

I am old, and I am tired and tired after walking for 2,000 years.

The young man walked into the village, and a middle-aged man dressed as a scholar stood there, with an elegant smile on the corner of his mouth, and said in a gentle voice: "Changsheng, welcome home, I have suffered you outside all these years." ”

"Teacher, I'm a talent." The boy bared two rows of teeth like white porcelain, flamboyant and presumptuous. The humility of the past is gone, and only the spirit of a young man remains.

It seems that he is still the boy who has just come out of the clear water, a young man who shows off his talents before he is weak, who is young and crazy?

"Wen can put pen to peace in the world, and Wu can go to the horse to determine the world. Let's look at the world, I monopolize nine buckets, and let future generations share the remaining one bucket. ”

"Good! Good! Good! ”

Wei Xiucai said three good words in a row, and nodded heavily every time he spit out a word.

"I really didn't read it wrong, your talent is not weaker than anyone else in the world, and it is better than the heroes of the past."

Then Wei Xiucai turned his head to look at the old man who was holding the white-haired veteran behind him and wept bitterly, and said, "Is it okay to end like this?" You can still call on the soldiers and horses of the world, take the position of the ninety-five supreme, and open a prosperous world of peace. ”

"When the emperor can kill the corrupt officials?"

"I can't."

"Can the emperor put an end to the injustices in the world?"

"I can't."

"Can the emperor make the good return to good and the evil to the end?"

"I can't."

The three questions and answers were all shaking his head, and Wei Xiucai explained: "Immortal, no one can divide the world into black and white. Even if you have a perfect and strict set of laws, as long as people are doing them, it is inevitable. The emperor can't act recklessly, there are some things you have to endure. ”

"Not happy, not happy, this bird emperor who loves to be whom."

A beautiful figure walked in the distance, the woman was wearing a long skirt and looked beautiful, and said angrily: "Husband, why don't you look for me when you come back, but look for your father first." ”

"Hahaha, you girl even eats your father's vinegar, it's really the water spilled by the married daughter."

Wei Xiucai and Wei Xi may not be the two of them back then, but he is definitely not just an illusion. It was the primeval existence that laid down this game, and it was a terrifying existence known as the ancestor of the demons.

Wouldn't do things that were so untoned and crude.

Whoever believes, it can be true.

For a moment, there was no young man, and only an old general was left lying on the ground, his pale hair blown by the breeze, and a light smile on the corner of his mouth. The face full of ravines, I don't know how much wind and frost it has gone through in exchange for this smile.

"General!! The old servant almost pounced, ignoring the sand and gravel on the ground piercing the flesh.

Teary-eyed said:

"General! Wake up, this world can't live without you. If you leave, who will ask for justice from us, the common people! Don't leave us behind."

Li Changsheng, formerly known as Wei Pingchuan, is called Wuqu.

The champion of the fifteenth year, the first official right supervisor changed to fight corrupt officials and corrupt officials, and he was upright and selfless, even if he was a prince, he did not have any affection. Folks call it the iron-faced blue sky. Later, he served as a court official, rectified the law, and wrote many books to reform taxation.

proposed to collect taxes from wealthy families and relatives of the emperor, but was later excluded and abandoned from Rong.

After serving in the army for a year, he single-handedly ran hundreds of miles to kill rebel generals, and was promoted to general of the expedition to the north. After two years in the army, he led the soldiers to kill thousands of enemies with repeated exploits, and the name of bravery spread throughout the court, and he was reappointed as the general of the Chinese army, leading 30,000 soldiers.

He served in the army for three years, and was specially appointed as a hussar general by the emperor to command the three armies of Beijun.

Six years to destroy Nanyi. Ten years and two expeditions to the mountains to destroy the Northern Barbarians. Fifteen years to conquer the northern plains, eighteen years to extinguish the Hu Department to quell the rebellion of the kings, killing eighteen princes.

At the age of 45, he died in Tianhe Shuize and was posthumously named Marquis of Wu'an.

Postscript: Five years after Li Wuqu's death, Nanyi established the state again and sued for peace with the Wu Dynasty. In the past ten years, due to the corruption of the imperial court, the three armies of Beijun had insufficient food and grass, and the military supplies were not complete, and they had reached the point where there were no guns available. had no choice but to retreat from the grassland, and Hu Qi made a comeback.

At this point, the border once again fell into chaos for many years, and there were constantly Hu cavalry going north to burn, kill and loot, which indirectly further aggravated military expenditure. When there is more military spending, there will be more taxes for the people, and it just so happens that the Juntian Law advocated by Li Changsheng was abolished.

The imperial court no longer collected taxes from wealthy families and relatives of the emperor, so the common people who could not afford to pay the taxes could only mortgage their fields to the landlords.

In the thirteenth year, Nanyi entered the pass, the northern county fell, and the hinterland of Guanzhong was no longer in danger to defend. At the end of the same year, Hu rode north and slaughtered 12 cities in a row. In the end, the imperial court sent Li Wuqu's [Tiger Leap] card, and Nanyi Hu Qi worshiped it as a holy relic, and then each of them withdrew half of the troops and left.

In the fourteenth year, the emperor of the Wu Dynasty took out the "Ten Strategies of Wuqu" of that year, and wanted to make a change, but he was unable to suppress the wealthy family of the family, and was saved and attacked the deep palace. The emperor lamented with tears: "I am wrong, there is no Uncle Li Shi, and the Wu Dynasty is not there." ”

In the sixteenth year, the emperor collapsed, the young emperor succeeded to the throne, peasant uprisings broke out in various places, and the rebel army broke through the capital. The thirty-six courtyards of the palace were ransacked, and those who claimed to be kings from all walks of life competed for the "Ten Strategies of Wuqu".

In the past 30 years, the two dynasties of the north and the south have been divided, and the "Ten Strategies of Wuqu" in each line has begun to expand externally. By the way, the five policies behind the "Ten Strategies of Wuqu" were all destroyed, because it had to collect taxes from scholars and relatives of the emperor, and there were many other changes that touched the interests of the scholar class.

Some scholars think that Li Wuqu's method is too extreme and not like the royal road.

——

In the Lechuan River, two thousand miles deep into the Yellow Spring, a white-clothed Taoist stands on the Lethe River.

His face was plain, his eyes were slightly closed, and his breath was full of divine light, as if he was an ordinary person.

And the white-clothed Taoist was shrouded in a strange gray mist, and a hundred years have passed since this back-and-forth, and he still hasn't woken up. But the gray mist didn't corrode him completely, and it was even difficult to wipe the skin.

Impatience came from the void.

Li Changsheng is not really immortal and immortal, as long as he is given enough time to eat and wipe the other party clean, he will live a lifetime with the weight of this flawless colored glass. But this time is a bit too long, and a hundred years have just broken a layer of skin.

How long does it have to swallow this body?

The gray mist surged again, turning into various beast shapes and crashing into Li Changsheng's body.

Whew!

A rapid and bright thunder sounded, and the power of the most yang and the strongest swept through the void, and the gray mist dissipated for dozens of miles in an instant.

There was silence for a long time, and it took several days for the gray mist to extend again.

It's not that Li Changsheng woke up, this is just the protective body of the thunder law on his body, and it is also the biggest obstacle to refining this body.

I don't know how long it took, the eyes of the white-clothed Taoist moved slightly, and in an instant, the entire Lethe began to surge. Countless gray mist gathered here, turning into a cage and imprisoning the white-clothed Taoist inside, wanting to keep him here forever.

I don't know how much power, how many laws, and how many eyes are cast in the void.

Li Changsheng finally opened his eyes, which were a pair of quiet and waveless eyes, and the light seemed to contain an endless volume of history.

Open your eyes, and the heavens and the earth open.

The gray mist split into two, and the white-clothed Taoist raised his hand slightly, and an eyeball in the void was ingested into his hand.

"That's what you're capable of?"

(End of chapter)