The cold wind is howling and the snow is falling.

The six years of Kangjing have come to an end.

In the howling cold wind, snowflakes the size of goose feathers fell one after another, and the sky and the earth were pure white.

And in the unbearable cold, there were two people on horses, and they kept galloping forward.

The cold wind that scraped the bones swept through the gaps in the clothes, taking away the few warmths, and the cold snowflakes fell on the people's bodies, adding another half of the coldness.

Xun Ke tightened his shirt and looked into the distance against the wind.

It is the border of the Great Prayer.

He is about to step out of the country of Dayue with Mr. Gu, and walk towards a country that he has only heard of, but has not witnessed with his own eyes.

As a winner.

"Mr. Gu"

Xun Ke's frozen red palm grasped the reins of the horse, and asked with some hesitation, "Did we really win?" ”

When he spoke, a large white haze erupted together, covering people's eyes and blurring the scene in front of them, and between the blurred water vapor, everything seemed like a dream, like a sweet dream that had never woken up.

For Xun Ke, everything is changing too fast.

Before he could come out of the sorrow of the death of the Mo Master, he knew that the Four-Nation Alliance was no longer a formidable enemy to watch out for, and that he even had to atone for the evil deeds he had committed in the past—the events in between were too big and too fast to be felt unreal.

"What counts as a win?"

Gu Dan stared at the white world covered with snowflakes, there was no joy or anger, everything in such a world seemed extraordinarily silent and vast, except for the 'rustling' sound of horses' hooves falling on the snow.

Xun Ke thought for a while, "I thought that it would be the best result for the four countries to be able to withdraw their troops. ”

Yes, in the minds of many people, it would already be a great victory for the Four-Nation Alliance to withdraw from the territory of Otsuki, where would they dare to ask for more?

So when he heard that Mr. Gu was going to take himself to Daqi as a victor, Xun Ke still hadn't come to his senses.

"Xun Ke, you have to figure out one thing."

Gu Dan said seriously: "In such a world, personal power can decide many things, and when you have the force to control everything, you are alone, and you can also make thousands of troops retreat." You don't need to convince everyone, you just need to subdue the person who gives orders.

When they dare not disobey, or even cannot disobey, whatever you say is what you say. ”

"Mr. Gu, so you really surpassed the Grandmaster?"

Xun Ke seemed to be aware of it, and asked with some curiosity.

At the pinnacle of the earthly world, the grandmaster is the limit of personal greatness.

But the grandmaster is still not enough to dominate the world, and it is not easy to influence the direction of a country.

If you don't surpass the strength of the grandmaster, it will never be possible to make the four countries retreat together.

"Hmm."

Gu Dan nodded lightly and acknowledged.

This is somewhat contrary to the concept of Taoguang and obscurity that he has always adhered to.

But the giant that held up the backbone had fallen, and someone else had to step up and take the torch.

He had no intention of becoming famous in the world, nor did he want to be enshrined as a sage.

But in life, sometimes you have to do something, you can't stay in the small courtyard all the time, just watch the flowers bloom and fall and the clouds roll up.

Therefore, I promise the world to be stable for a lifetime.

"That's nice."

Xun Ke was very happy, and a smile appeared on his face, but then he seemed to think of something, and the smile gradually converged, and a sad look appeared in his eyes.

If Master Mo is still around, how great it would be to be able to see the end of this troubled world with his own eyes and realize his ideals and ambitions!

The man who held the torch high in the darkness fell on the eve of dawn.

In exchange for the transformation of another person.

The two of them stopped talking, and only the sound of galloping horses resounded in the silent land.

The horses finally set foot in the land of Daqi, and the wind and snow are still falling, spanning the two countries.

You shouldn't be seeing people in such weather.

But he hadn't been running long in the territory of Daqi when he saw a farmer in a thin coarse linen robe churning something in the snow.

At the sound of the horses, the farmer panicked and began to run wildly in one direction.

"Huh?"

Xun Ke heard the movement and turned his gaze to Gu Dan.

"Want to see it?"

Gu Dan asked.

"Hmm."

Xun Ke nodded.

"Then go."

Gu Dan said affirmatively.

He specially brought Xun Ke in the hope that Xun Ke could learn enough from this trip to make him grow.

What's more, now that Dayue's crisis has been solved, Dayong's materials will also be sent to Yuzhou as soon as possible, in a short time, Dayue needs enough time to govern and recover, and time is no longer their enemy, but a friend.

So Xun Ke rode his horse and chased after the farmer who fled in a hurry, and called out: "Uncle, don't be afraid, we are not bad people!" ”

At this time, although it was in the territory of Daqi, the people he met were all the people of Daqi, but whether it was Gu Dan or Xun Ke, they were far from the point where they wanted to find a sense of existence and superiority from the people at the bottom.

They will not take pleasure in slaughtering the people just because there is a gap between the two kingdoms.

Xun Ke only had some doubts in his heart, why did he wear such thin clothes to go out in such a thin weather?

You must know that once you get frostbitten or get sick, you can almost only carry it in this era - looking at the other party's appearance, it is obvious that he is not a person who can find a doctor.

Xun Ke's voice spread far away, but the old farmer did not stop, and his speed became more and more hasty, but his legs obviously could not outrun the horse.

Not long after he had been running forward, the old peasant stepped on the air and fell the ground, leaving a series of marks on the snow on his tumbling body.

"Phew!"

When the horse was still ten zhang away from the person, in order to avoid frightening him again, Xun Ke tightened the reins, carried the package and turned over and dismounted.

Before he could get close to the old peasant, the old peasant who had fallen to the ground had already gotten up, and he didn't care about the blood on his face that had been scratched by something, and he prostrated himself on the ground and kowtowed frantically.

"The little one who doesn't know the current affairs collides with the adult, the adult spares his life, the adult spares his life!"

The old peasant grabbed the ground with his head, and there was a sound of touching the ground, and his forehead was already red after only three or two strokes, which was obviously extremely hard.

"Hey!"

Xun Ke hurriedly stepped forward and was about to help him up, "What are you doing here?" ”

"The villain is wrong, the villain is wrong, the adult spares his life, and the villain hasn't picked up anything!"

The old farmer who was pulled by Xun Ke still refused to get up, but although Xun Ke was not very old, he had not practiced martial arts in the Gu family's courtyard for a short time, and he had already begun to practice dirty, so naturally it was not something that the old farmer could resist, so he was directly pulled up from the ground.

"What did you pick up and didn't pick up?"

Xun Ke was a little puzzled, he opened the package, took out a cotton coat from it, and put it on the old farmer, "It's such a cold day, and the clothes are so thin, aren't you afraid of death?" Hurry up and put it on! ”

The warm clothes fell on his body, and the old farmer's whole body stiffened.

The dim and cloudy eyes dared to really look at Xun Ke at this time, and after seeing the other party's white and unusually dressed appearance, he hurriedly looked away, as if it was a sin to look at it for a while.

"Put it on! What are you doing stunned? This dress is for you. ”

Xun Ke frowned slightly, why did this person not understand the words.

"You can't do that."

Gu Dan shook his head, stepped forward, and said: "Don't be afraid, old man, we are businessmen who have come to Daqi to do business, passing by here, we haven't seen people for a long time, and after seeing you, I want to come over and ask for directions, talk a few words, and there is no malice." ”

"Merchant?"

Ben Nene didn't dare to speak, and the old farmer who was standing there came back to his senses at this time, with a smile on his face for the rest of his life.

"Ask for directions, then I know, when I was young, I walked a lot, where are you going?"

The panic on the old farmer's face faded, revealing a proud expression, and he took off the cotton clothes Xun Ke put on him, "If you ask for directions, if you don't use these things, we will never lie to people, and we will definitely not show the way." ”

"We're going to go to the imperial capital of Great Prayer."

Gu Dan said.

"Imperial Capital?"

The old farmer did not hesitate, and pointed in one direction, "Keep walking over there, the more people you go there, if you still have anything unclear, you can ask again on the way." But the imperial capital is far away from here, so how can you rush in the winter? ”

In winter, everything is silent, whether it is business travel, war, or farming, it is usually a quiet wait for the coming year.

can sigh that the winter time is beautiful, it is a rich and noble family with non-stop stoves and rich food and clothing, and what ordinary people are most afraid of is winter.

Idle is idle, and it is difficult to live.

"Hey, isn't it just for a living? You also know that there has been a war in recent years, and the family is about to be unable to open the pot. If you don't take advantage of the winter to come out and find some livelihood, how will you live in the future! ”

Gu Dan said with a sigh.

"Yes!"

As soon as he heard this, the old farmer seemed to feel the same way, "When will this battle be the end!" ”

"You're not happy either? I remember that Daqi is the strongest one, and he has been winning, so why do you want it to end soon? Gu Dan seemed to have found a bosom friend, and hurriedly said.

"Win"

The old peasant's lips twitched, and he was stunned for a moment.

"It's too cold outside to be a place to talk. It just so happens that the two of us are also going to be repaired, why don't we come to your house and talk about it again? ”

Gu Dan said directly.

"This"

After hesitating for a moment, the old farmer said with some embarrassment: "The house is a little messy, don't dislike the two guests." ”

"It's good to say, in this weather, it's grateful to have a place to hide from the snow."

Gu Dan led the horses and said, "It's too slow to walk, come up and ride the horse." ”

The old farmer's drowsy eyes carefully examined the horses brought by Gu Dan, and said in surprise: "Ah, you are a great horse! It's a first-class horse! ”

"You still know horses?"

"Of course I do, when I was younger, I worked for years in the horse farm for the big guys!"

The old farmer said with some pride, and then reacted, "That was many years ago. ”

"Then let's see how you ride."

Gu Dan smiled and nodded.

He and Xun Ke shared a horse, let the old farmer himself ride the horse, although at first a little rusty, but it didn't take long to become proficient, it was really good, quite exquisite, it should be a long time before riding a horse, it will be a little strange at the beginning.

The wind was strong and the snow was flying.

The old farmer looked quite excited, and galloped in front of the two of them on his horse.

After about a quarter of an hour's galloping of the horses, there were several thatched huts that were not very big in front of him, and the old farmer turned over and dismounted, and pointed to the house, "That's my house." ”

"I'm tired."

"It's a small thing."

The old peasant walked quickly to the house and shouted, "Old woman, here are two guests, and eat something hot on the hour." ”

A woman's muffled voice could be heard from inside the room.

"Guest?"

"Yes, hurry up, boil some hot water, this snowy day, I want to freeze to death."

As he spoke, he smiled a little embarrassedly at Gu Dan and Xun Ke, "Wait a minute, I'll go get firewood, and it's warmer to make a fire." ”

Although this house can barely shelter from the wind and rain, it is also a little cold and damp inside, and it is extremely "clean".

Gu Dan looked around, only one table, four stools, and no other objects were seen.

On the contrary, it makes the already small room seem a little empty and spacious.

"Let's go together."

Gu Dan followed.

Walking to the storehouse of the old farmer's house, the cold winter had just arrived, but there was quite little firewood stored in it, only more than two bundles.

When Gu Dan passed, the old farmer was about to move the less firewood, and after seeing Gu Dan come in, he gritted his teeth and directly picked up a bundle.

"You're a guest, how can you move? We still have the strength to do this! ”

The old farmer said.

Back in the empty main house, the old farmer lit a fire with flint, carefully added firewood, and urged: "Hurry up, old woman!" The fire is rising! ”

"Got it, got it!"

There was the sound of rustling clothes in the back room, and the obviously muffled, annoyed grumbling.

"I can't live my life anymore, and I still entertain two guests."

The voice was very low, but Gu Dan's hearing was extraordinary, Xun Ke couldn't hear it, and it was clear in his ears.

A short time later, an old woman came out of the back room.

I saw that she was thin and thin, her face was rough and stiff, and her complexion was sallow and flabby, but the most concerning thing was the thin linen clothes that were worn on her, which was obviously much smaller, tightly wrapped around her thin body, which was not plump, and even breathing seemed a little difficult.

The old woman's eyes fell on Gu Dan and Xun Ke, and she was also taken aback.

Such a handsome person knows at a glance that he is not an ordinary person, and looking at Xun Ke's clothes, he must be either rich or expensive.

Feeling frightened at the moment, he reluctantly squeezed out a smile at the two, and said hurriedly and uneasily: "I'll go and prepare something to eat." ”

"We still have some here, let's warm it up and eat it together."

Gu Dan took out Xun Ke's package and took out all the food in it.

Large pieces of air-dried bacon, steamed buns made of white flour, and some of the extra durable pastries that Xiao Ying found.

"Let's do it all, someone will pick us up after today, and these things will be wasted if we don't finish eating them now."

Gu Dan said.

"What's so embarrassing about that?"

The old woman's eyes straightened, and she swallowed a mouthful of saliva involuntarily, her eyes fell on the large piece of bacon, and she said with difficulty.

Xun Ke had already reacted at this time and substituted himself into the role of a businessman, but his experience was not as good as that of Gu Dan, so he pretended to be a gentleman, and said with some disgust: "This thing is hard and dry, it's really not delicious." I usually eat big and fragrant roast chicken, if it weren't for the hurry to hurry, who would eat these things? It's just barely enough to eat! ”

Sure enough, as soon as these words came out, the old woman stopped refusing, took the food and went to the kitchen to start preparing.

Gu Dan sat on the stool and talked to the old farmer, "Don't you have any extra clothes at home?" ”

"It was supposed to be."

The old peasant's lips twitched a few times, and he sighed, "But a while ago, I had to increase taxes, and I couldn't make up the money, so I had to take my clothes to pay for it." Now there are only two clothes left in the house. ”

He tugged at the sackcloth on his body, and the old woman's clothes, which were obviously much smaller, were the only clothes in the family.

"In the cold winter, on such a cold day, I will leave two pieces of linen clothes?!"

Xun Ke was furious.

If it was in Dayue, he would still be able to understand - this is not because he is more tolerant of Daqi, but because Dayue has been plagued by Emperor Zongming for more than 20 years, and under the accumulation of deep evils, the people are not doing well, and it is a matter of course.

But Daqi is a strong country, even if he sends troops to fight against Dayue, it is not a particularly heavy burden, and I have never heard that Daqi also has an emperor like Emperor Zongming, how can the people at the bottom be like this!

"It's good to be alive, the old Li family next door can't afford to pay taxes, so they are directly dragged to be used as hard labor to transport grain, I'm afraid it will be difficult to live."

The old farmer said with palpitations.

"The Great Prayer Army is strong and strong, and the country is rich, how can it be so difficult?"

Xun Ke was puzzled, he didn't have a deep understanding of Daqi, and it was difficult to understand such a strong country, how could the people at the bottom be as difficult as the people of Dayue.

No matter how strict you are, you should always leave a way for the people below to live!

The old peasant was silent, and the richness of Daqi obviously had nothing to do with him.

"If I'm not mistaken, the people of Daqi were divided into three classes."

Gu Dan thoughtfully.

"I'm a third-class citizen."

The old farmer lowered his head and tried to squeeze out a smile.

The first-class people are naturally the group of people who were originally killed from the white mountains and black waters, and the number is the smallest, but the absolute people are superior, even if they kill the inferior people, they only need to pay some money.

The second-class people need to make meritorious contributions for the great prayers, and the conditions for meritorious service are varied, and the taxes paid are more, and it is possible to be promoted to the second-class people if they marry into the family of the first-class people, and even be appreciated, and they are much better off than ordinary people, and they are also qualified to study and become officials.

As for the third-class people, they are the remnants of the people who were defeated by Daqi before.

Third-class citizens are not counted as people.

There is no preferential treatment to speak of, but they are absolutely indispensable for the work of suffering.

Of course, it's not without the easiest path to promotion.

After five generations, you can wash away your sins and become a noble second-class citizen.

As for the first-class people? That's something you would never dare to think about.

Generally speaking, more than 20 years is regarded as a generation, and considering that the longevity of ordinary people at this time is around 30 or 40 years old, it will take 30 years to calculate a generation, and it will take 150 years!

This is a time that even the grandmaster can't get through, and it's more like a radish hanging in front of a donkey's eyes.

It is in this way that Daqi gathers strength, nourishes wealth, and creates such a "prosperous and powerful country".

Don't ask the third-class people why they don't go to other countries, then the difficulty is unimaginable for people who may not be able to walk a hundred miles in their lives, and if they are not forced to the limit, no one will want to play with their lives.

If they have something to eat, they will try to survive like weeds in the barren meadows.

Rise and fall are suffering, and the people can't help themselves.

"Daqi royal family, damn it!"

Xun Ke was very angry, he read a lot of books, but the trouble of Dayue has not been solved, he has no leisure to open his eyes to see the world, and his impression of Daqi is mostly hearsay, and he has not witnessed it with his own eyes, so he can't imagine it at all.

Now that he came to Daqi, the first person he saw was shocked.

He was naturally extremely disgusted with this method of dividing people into three, six, nine, and so on, and there was a rare irrepressible killing intent and hatred in his heart.

"You can't say that!"

The old farmer was taken aback, it was really a big start, he fell directly off the stool, and looked at Xun Ke with horror.

Is this still a businessman?!

"Don't be afraid, this kid has read too much, his mind is full of chivalry and righteousness, and he is just confused for a while, and he will know when he calms down."

Gu Dan smiled and said very calmly.

"I'm going to help my wife cook."

The old peasant was so frightened that he didn't dare to share a room with the two of them anymore, so he hurriedly walked away.

Xun Ke, who was left alone with resentment and clenched his fists, was still indignant, "How can people be divided into three, six, nine and so on?!" ”

"Do you think Emperor Zongming is hateful, but the Emperor of Daqi is hateful?"

Gu Dan didn't explain, but asked.

"This"

Xun Ke was stunned for a moment, and said after a while: "I actually think that Emperor Daqi is more hateful!" ”

Emperor Zongming asked for more than 20 years and did not ask about the court, so that the order collapsed, and because of his own selfishness, poverty and luxury, resulting in people's livelihood hardship, he thought that this was the limit of evil.

It wasn't until I came into contact with Daqi that I realized that there is no limit to human evil.

Divide people into equal numbers and shepherd their people in the name of imperial power—just like animals!

Xun Ke couldn't think of a more vicious means than this, even if he had never met Emperor Daqi, his hatred for him had already exceeded his hatred for Emperor Zongming.

Once this division is persistently implemented, in a hundred years or a thousand years, will Anzhi become a kind of "as it should be" and "as it should be" rule?

Born with a kind, the people are not human!

Not only is the etiquette broken, this is a naked trampling on people's hearts!

"Imperial power - Huangquan. With the power to make people go down to the Yellow Spring, you can wantonly take away everything you want in various jaw-dropping ways. ”

Gu Dan said: "The evil of Emperor Zongming lies in his personal greed, and the evil of Emperor Daqi lies in plundering the people of the world to support the poverty and luxury of a very small number of people, so as to ensure the rule of the country.

Remember when we met him? He was frightened and ran away, because the third-class people could not even go to the woods to collect firewood, and those things belonged to the owner, and those who did not belong to the state.

Nothing belongs to them other than a place that is temporarily rented to them for use. The difference is only whether they want to take it or not, not whether they can take it or not. ”

Xun Ke was really dumbfounded, "Not even allowed to pick up firewood?" How to survive the winter! ”

"I did find out that when winter approached, they needed to help. Pick up a lot of firewood, and then the masters who have a good heart will give them a star and a half, and they must be grateful to Dade to get it. If you pick up less, not only will you not have it, but you will also be beaten. ”

Gu Dan said.

"How come such a country hasn't perished yet?!"

Xun Ke couldn't figure it out.

"Strength. They had enough power in their hands, and until this power was corrupted, these third-class citizens had no chance to resist at all. It's not so easy to do it, at least a grandmaster has to pick the lead. Do you think the Grandmaster will be a third-class citizen? ”

Gu Dan said quietly.

Of course not.

The Grandmaster must be a higher class than the first-class people, and he is a real special class.

In a world of personal power, it is more of a joke that the people at the bottom want to rebel.

If there is, it must be someone stronger who has stepped up.

Like Chen Guang and Wu Sheng, they have also been vigorous, and meeting the White Lotus Sect Master is a dead word.

As soon as the leader dies, the rest are all rabble.

Personal greatness, that's it.

The goodness of the individual is good, and the world is good.

The evil of the individual is evil, and the whole world is evil.

There is no need to reason, the fist is the reason.

That's why he never left the mountain.

It is not until after the Great Master that he can do something.

It was a grandmaster before, and it didn't help, it was okay to be inspiring, but it was not enough to change the world.

It seems that the gap between a realm is directly related to whether it can be done.

Xun Ke silently looked at Gu Dan, and for a long time, he clenched his fists.

"I will study martial arts well, and then talk about morality."

Xun Ke seemed to be talking to Gu Dan, and as if he was warning himself, this young man's face had a more determined look.

Gu Dan nodded with satisfaction.

He wants to bring Xun Ke here, and he does have his own purpose.

The immortals also need to judge the situation, and the peak of the moment has not lost Gu Dan's eyes.

He couldn't do everything himself, he couldn't sit in a dragon chair all day reviewing papers, he wouldn't even preach morality—but someone had to do it.

He can help settle the external tribulations, but the internal construction still depends on Xun Ke's generation.

"The meal is ready."

Without waiting too long, the old woman walked out with a bowl and basin, and the fragrant bacon exuded an oily and slippery luster, and the aroma was fragrant, which made people appetite.

The old peasant followed behind the woman, his eyes a little evasive, and he did not dare to look at the two of them again.

Gu Dan pulled Xun Ke up and said with a smile: "I suddenly remembered that there was an urgent matter to do, and I really couldn't delay." There's no time to eat this meal, so let's eat, and we'll go first. ”

"Huh?"

The old woman's face was dazed, "This, this is done!" ”

How can a guest take out the ingredients, but they have to leave without eating a bite?

"I can't really delay, I'll see you again."

Gu Dan didn't give them a chance to stay, took Xun Ke, faced the heavy snow, and rode away.

"What's going on?"

The old woman couldn't figure it out.

She looked at the old farmer, "It's only been a while, why don't the guests even eat?" ”

The old farmer remembered what Xun Ke said before, shrunk his neck in horror, and just shook his head.

There was a shout from the back room.

"Mother, are the guests leaving?"

"It's a pity that the fire is up! The meal is ready, and I will give you the clothes later, and you will come and eat first. The old woman said.

"I can smell the meat."

As the voice came from far and near, a thin, short, swarthy child came out of the back room, naked, shivering from the cold.

But when I saw the bacon in the bowl, my eyes lit up.

"Oh, you dare to come out of this? I'm not afraid of freezing to death! Go inside and I'll take off my clothes for you. ”

The old woman reprimanded in a loud voice.

"No need to go to the house."

The old farmer, who had not spoken, pointed to the stool where Gu had been sitting before, where a package lay quietly.

Inside are two cotton coats.

(End of chapter)