Jiangzhou is located in the northeast of the Central Plains, bordering Beihu. The two countries have been at war for a hundred years, and they have fought many times. In the autumn of the third year of Longjing, 100,000 Northern Hu troops suddenly invaded the Central Plains in a big way, and the beginning of the war was Jiangzhou City, a major border area. At that time, the soldiers were approaching the city, and the commander of Jiangzhou caught Pan Zongde off guard, and there were only 8,000 Longjing garrisons available in his hands, which could be said to be a huge disparity in strength, and Jiangzhou City was in danger.

100,000 Northern Hu troops besieged the city on all sides and attacked day and night, eager to break through the city and move south. However, General Pan was a famous general of Longjing, and the previous dynasty was guarding Jiangzhou here, and he was brave and fierce and good at strategy, so he was willing to sit back and wait for death! Pan Zongde led 8,000 men to kill the enemy on all sides of the city wall, and urgently recruited more than 10,000 people from the people in the city to help, and swore to defend to the death!

At the beginning, the Beihu army shot indiscriminately from a distance, arrows rained down, and the defenders of Jiangzhou blocked it with wooden cotton mats; when the long-distance attack failed, the iron cavalry rushed to the city and stormed the city gate, and the defenders shot it with enemy arrows, and the Beihu cavalry lost its troops and lost its generals; and put a cloud ladder to raise a shield and climb the city wall at the risk of death, and the defenders waited with stones and boiling oil, and the Beihu soldiers fell to death countless times. 8,000 against 100,000, defended for more than a dozen days, Jiangzhou City stood still, and the Beihu army lost more than 10,000 wounded soldiers and filled the camp, which was already a dilemma.

When the news reached the court, Emperor Longjing was furious and ordered the general Guo Yan to raise 120,000 troops and go north to aid Jiang Pohu. Seeing that the situation was improving, Jiangzhou could be protected, the morale of the Jiangzhou defenders was great, and the people in the city were rejoicing. Who knew that at this time, there was another change, and Prime Minister Zuo said in Shenjin, and he advocated peace. It was the first year of Longjing, and under the opposition of the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty, Emperor Longjing somehow ordered Guo Yan to stand by and send an envoy to Beihu to discuss peace.

At that time, Jiangzhou had been besieged for more than 20 days, and the lord of Beihu sent people to pretend to negotiate while ordering the army in front to intensify the onslaught. After the attack reached more than 30 days, the Jiangzhou defenders were exhausted, and their combat strength was almost gone, and they finally gave the Beihu army the city! Immediately, the city was broken, and the Beihu army poured in, although Pan Zongde led the Jiangzhou defenders to fight to the death and did not retreat, but the enemy was outnumbered, and he killed half a day, and none of the 8,000 Longjing troops and more than 10,000 people were spared, Pan Zongde was bruised all over his body, and the blood was exhausted in the end, and he sighed and killed himself. The city of Jiangzhou fell, the Northern Hu army suffered heavy casualties, and slaughtered the city three times in a rage, killing a river of blood, and there was no one out of ten. When the imperial court got the news and sent troops to recover it, Jiangzhou was like a dead city. This was 10 years ago.

The battle of Jiangzhou, the slaughter of the city.

After that, the two countries fought several more wars, and in the fifth year of Longjing, the domestic coup d'état in Beihu, unable to fight again, sent envoys to Beijing to negotiate peace. The shame of the previous saying is still in front of us, and under the opposition of the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty, it was Prime Minister Zuo Yu who instigated Emperor Longjing to negotiate peace, so that the two countries made a peace treaty and the war stopped. The border is constantly fighting, and it is a desolate and dilapidated scene. Although some vitality has been restored in the past decade, it is still sparsely populated and the houses are dilapidated. In recent years, Beihu has been ready to move, sending stragglers to harass and loot from time to time, and the border people are miserable.

Born in troubled times, life is like an ant, and the day is precarious.

Ups and downs can not be freed, ten zhang red dust,.

The sky was overcast, the wind was biting, and there were few pedestrians on the road.

After noon, the sky was brighter, but the weather became more humid and cold, and after a while, a little white flocculent floated down from the sky, and the ground was silent. There was a small tea shed on the side of the road, leaning against a half-section of the earthen wall, a few thick wooden strips were built haphazardly, some thatch was spread on the top, and felt cloth was hung on both sides. There are two small square tables and a few benches in the shed, and the furnishings are very simple. There are no guests, the old man who sells tea has nothing to do, sits by the stove and admires the snow, and his attitude is leisurely.

The snow is gradually flourishing, and after a short time, the white expanse between the four fields is like a whole, and the heaven and earth are more and more desolate and empty, and the silence is far-reaching. The old man of the tea seemed to feel something, closed his eyes and muttered: "Good snow, good snow, more rain!" Hey, there has been a great drought for many years, and the people are not ...... to make a living" After another moment, the old man opened his eyes, got up and took the pot, collected some snow from the shed, and put it on the stove to burn: "It's rare to be idle, and it's troublesome, look at this isn't-"

The sound of hooves on the official road suddenly rose, and two horses galloped in the distance.

Approaching the tea shed, he immediately said: "The road is slippery on snowy days, just take a break here, and drink hot tea." Another said: "Great, wonderful, old Xue, you have a treat!" The old Xue reined in, dismounted, walked into the tea shed and sat down and scolded: "Stinky boy, no big or small! Hey, when didn't I invite him?" That old Xue is tall and big, with a beard, and he is known as the "blood trail of thousands of miles" Xue Haohan. Another person followed with a smile, thin and sloppy, it was the beggar old and small.

Since he came out of Jiangzhou City, Xue Wanli has regretted it no less than seventy or eighty times, and even scolded himself for taking the wrong medicine, he shouldn't have relented for a while, and brought this child out, which caused his family a big headache. Along the way, this hateful little ghost said for a while that he was tired and wanted to rest, that he was hungry after a while, that he wanted to eat, that he was sleepy after eating, that he wanted to sleep, that he woke up bored, and that he wanted to learn kung fu.

Xue Wanli regretted it in his heart, if he wasn't afraid of falling into a reputation of bullying the weak, he would have used the magic skill of gravel to catch him into powder. Xiao Fangzi didn't know that he had such a vicious idea in his heart, so he sat down and asked with a smile: "It's not called Lao Xue, what is it called?" Xiao Xue?" Xue Wanli said angrily: "Bah, do you want to fight! I also taught you a few tricks of boxing, call it Master!" Xiao Fangzi was surprised: "Huh? Who said that day that he would not accept apprentices? Talking doesn't count, just be—"

"Stop! You don't need to call Master, you should always call Uncle Xue! Respect the elder, don't you understand? Hmph, there is no tutor!" Xue Wanli finished roaring, his heart was so straightforward, the kid should have nothing to say, so he beckoned: "Hey, old man, serve tea and snacks!" Xiao Fangzi glanced at him, sighed heavily, and said in his heart This person has never been big or small, and it is shameful enough to follow him, this uncle is absolutely unspeakable: "Call you uncle, am I not a lifetime younger than you?" You and I are friends, friends of life and death, we can't mess with the generations!"

Xue Wanli didn't bother to fight with him anymore, and waved his hand annoyingly: "Don't call it down, just let it be." The old man had a good temper, and when he heard the two of them arguing, he didn't speak, but only smiled and served two bowls of hot tea. Xiao Fangzi was very thirsty, so he drank it when he copied the bowl, and spit it out again: "What kind of thing? It's hard to die!" Xue Wanli picked up the tea bowl and scolded: "Pick three and pick four, there are really a lot of problems!"

As soon as the tea is in the mouth, it is as bitter as a yellow lotus, and then the astringency rises again, and the root of the tongue is numb! Unconsciously swallowed into his abdomen, the warmth was comfortable: "Uncle, what kind of tea is this? The old man said, "Sanwen." Xue Wanli smiled dumbly: "Uncle, don't rush to collect tea money, let's talk about the origin of this tea first." ”

This tea was born in the arid and saline-alkali land of the north, dense and thick, and the production is very rich, but its taste is bitter and astringent, few people pay attention to it, and Sanwen can buy a catty, hence the name - Sanwen money. Xue Wanli nodded again and again, and laughed loudly: "Bitter and sweet, astringent and fragrant, interesting, very interesting!" Tea Lao said with a smile: "It is said that the two have a mouthful, this tea was born in a dry place, and it has been a long time to admire Ganlin, and when it grows up, it will give birth to a lonely surname, only like rootless water, rain can also be, snow water is especially good, and ordinary water brewing can not solve the meaning of tea." Xue Wanli was amazed, took another product, and sighed for a long time: "Sanwen money, what a cheap and proud Sanwen money!"

Hearing that this tea was so magical, Xiao Fangzi couldn't help but take the teacup and drink it again, and spit it out again as soon as he entered his mouth, and said angrily: "Where is it! Xue Wanli drank tea by himself and ignored it. Xiao Fangzi also felt bored when he saw this, and hurriedly changed the topic: "Old Xue, why did you say why did we leave here, and I didn't find a decent inn?" Xue Wanli smiled: "Stinky boy, it's good to eat and sleep, you don't know how many people can't eat enough, and they can't sleep!" said and sighed: "If this is the case, it should be caused by the battle of Jiangzhou ten years ago." ”

"The battle of Jiangzhou?" Xiao Fangzi was in a trance. Xue Wanli sighed: "That's a long story! It's a pity that I was in prison at the time, so I couldn't see it with my own eyes!" Xiao Fangzi took a breath: "Yo, you've been in prison!" looked at him, nodded again, and said in his heart Look at his fierce appearance, it's not unusual to have been in prison. Xue Wanli smiled bitterly: "Later, I heard that the Beihu army invaded the border and besieged Jiangzhou for more than ten days without breaking through, hey......!

"Pan Zongde. The old man behind him said slowly.

"Exactly!" Xue Wanli glanced at it, and said: "This General Pan Zongde swears to stick to the Jiangzhou army and people, and the court reinforcements are coming, seeing that Jiangzhou City is about to be lifted, how do you know that the annihilation is wrong for the country, there is a big annihilation minister called Yu, Yu Shen!"

The old man sighed long.

"This is greedy for life and fear of death, and he is bent on seeking peace, and this time he missed a major event, causing Jiangzhou City to be broken by Beihu, and General Pan also died in Jiangzhou City!"

"Hey—"

The three of them sighed at the same time, and Xiao Fangzi said angrily: "Damn! This guy is really hateful!" Xue Wanli smiled bitterly: "It is said that when Jiangzhou fell, the Northern Hu soldiers slaughtered in the city for three days and three nights, and more than 100,000 people died under the knife of the Hu people! Later, when they withdrew, they burned and looted along the way, and most of the border people died in the war!" He glanced at Xiao Fangzi, shook his head and sighed: "There is no big inn along the way, but there is a small shop to rest in. ”

The old man of the tea showed sadness on his face and whispered: "The white bones are exposed in the wild, and there is no rooster crowing for thousands of miles." The people are left behind, and the thought breaks people's intestines. Xue Wanli turned his head sharply and looked at the old man of the tea: "Old man, you really have a lot of knowledge?" The old man smiled at him, and said in a manful voice: "The long lady rests to cover up the tears, and mourns the difficulties of the people's livelihood!" His voice was old and desolate, but it was full of resentment, depression and difficult to express.

Xue Wanli turned sideways and looked intently-

The old man had a haggard complexion, a long white beard, a shabby green robe, and a scarf on his head, which seemed to be a down-and-out old talent. Xue Wanli shook his head and turned to drink tea. There was silence in the tea shed for a while, Xue Wanli didn't hear Xiao Fangzi speak for a long time, and he was slightly surprised in his heart: "This kid is so noisy, how can he be honest now?" Xiao Fangzi sat there, holding his hands and jaws in a daze, his eyes full of confusion. Xue Wanli's heart moved: "Boy, where were you during the Jiangzhou War?"

"Ahh Xue Wanli sighed: "Sure enough, how old were you at that time? What about the family? Are they gone?" Xiao Fangzi's face was bitter, and his eyes were confused: "I only remember living in a big house at that time, eating well, sleeping well, and having many people in the family, both old and young, and it was lively every day, hey——"

“...... She loves me! I'm running all over the yard, and she likes to hold me every day. I was greedy, I don't like to eat the food cooked at home, she would take me to the yard every time she was eating, there were a few lambs in the yard, she held a small bowl, sat on the small bench, and said softly, baa, Fang'er, Fang'er, baa. She fed me spoonful-spoonful, and I sat on her lap, eating and saying, "Mother, mother, you also give the lamb to eat!" Xiao Fangzi said this, his heart was sour, as if he saw the gentle and amiable woman he often saw in his dreams again, and he was smiling softly at himself: "Fang'er-Fang'er-"

"Mother!"

A mother's kiss, full of tears.;