Northern Dynasties Imperial Industry

Liaocheng is located in the upper reaches of the Huai River and on the plains northeast of Shaipi. There is a dock here that can take a boat directly to Shouyang downstream. Therefore, people from Zuojin Township often choose to go to Shouyang to sell whatever seasonal goods they have. Especially this year, Shouyang no longer collects city tax assessment money, which has caused people from nearby towns to flock there.

More than ten miles south of Liao City, there is a patch of Pize named Hanshi Pi, where hundreds of families live, most of whom are members of the Han surname. The villagers built fields around the lake, farmed, fished and hunted. Although their lives were not very prosperous, they could be said to live and work in peace and contentment.

In September of the golden autumn, the field work is coming to an end, and the farmers who have finished the autumn harvest have not been idle. They are catching fish and crabs in the ditches and ponds, or searching for rats and rabbits in the fields.

The women were spinning flax at home, and from time to time they would look up into the yard to be wary of greedy urchins eating the dried fish and preserved fruits hanging out in the yard. If you catch someone doing something wrong, you will really be beaten to death.

This is not the fun of rural times. Although the rice is rich this year, there is not much left after the rice is sold to the third batch. The remaining mixed batches and this year's winter rations can all be maintained by selling these agricultural and sideline products. If we are careless in this matter, not only will the family be deprived of food and clothing, but there may also be a disaster!

At this moment, the crisp sound of copper and iron echoed outside the fence, accompanied by the slightly hoarse roar of a boy who was in the stage of changing his voice: "The freight 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. Even the parents who were still beating their children to teach them paused and walked out of their homes towards the center of the village.

There is a large house standing in the village, which is more grand than the surrounding cottages. It is the home of the head of the Han family. There are several trucks parked in the yard, and there are more than a dozen strong countrymen standing around. The order here was controlled under the command of a 20-year-old boy, who was the one who called for the distribution of money.

"Sanlang, look how much my family can share!"

Men and women poured in, asking the young man questions.

The young man was anxious and sweating on his forehead. He held a piece of wood and carefully read the words "Charcoal" on it: "Uncle Jiu pays one stone and seven dou of new rice, nine dou and six liters of miscellaneous millet, and the total payment is..."

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

As the saying goes, you can eat mountains if you rely on mountains, and you can eat water if you rely on water. Han's Pi is adjacent to the Huai River, so of course you will not miss the convenience of navigation. Moreover, their clan leader opened a shop in Shouyang, and based on his experience, he helped the villagers buy and sell some in-demand commodities to supplement their family income, and sometimes the profits were considerable.

Soon some villagers noticed the huge difference in the amount of money and goods, and couldn't help shouting: "The payment this year is not as good as last year, so why do we get more money this year than last year? Is it wrong last year?"

Hearing this shouting, before the young man in charge of the division of accounts could reply, a young man with somewhat similar facial features but much taller and stronger body walked out of the main room. He shouted to the questioning villagers: "Why don't you You said it was a miscalculation this year? Come on, tell me in detail, how much my brother has shorted you, and I will pay you back by cutting him off!"

Hearing the angry voice of this strong man, the atmosphere in the yard suddenly darkened, and the people in the village did not dare to speak casually. The young man turned around and pushed the strong man: "Second brother, just rest, I will handle this!"

When the strong man returned to his room angrily, the young man shouted to the villagers again: "This year Shouyang has changed its city lord, and the villagers are exempted from land rent and market assessment. They can get more by selling goods in the market. That's why my brother spread the word Send the new rice to sell as soon as you get back the letter. It’s much better to buy grain from Huaixi than to grow it yourself!”

"Shouyang people are really lucky to meet such a kind and kind city lord!"

Hearing this, the villagers sighed one after another with envy on their faces. Some even shouted and asked if it would be more beneficial to go to Shouyang to work as a tenant farmer.

Seeing the eager expressions on the faces of the villagers, the young man shouted again: "Don't think too much. My brother said that this may not be a blessing for the people of Shouyang. Although the city lord has many benevolent policies, he even has the mansion. They are unwilling to repair their homes, fearing that they will not have the desire to stay here for a long time. The people gather together and don't know where to go! When chaos breaks out, you have to take shelter from Yiyang!"

After the villagers heard this, the originally relaxed and cheerful atmosphere suddenly sank. Although they did not know what was going on outside the village, they were very convinced of the clan leader's judgment. In the past year, the government moved it from the south of Sanguan in Yiyang to Huainan. In just a dozen years, it established itself here, relying on the leadership of the patriarch's family.

After the distribution of money and goods was completed, the villagers also left the place and went back to their homes. The young man returned to the room, only to see the second brother he had just persuaded to go back to the room was sitting under the window playing with a piece of dough that looked like a dog's head. Looking at the roots of the tree, I couldn't help but be a little curious: "Second brother, what are you doing with these roots?"

"Tree roots? Ha, Aye always said that among the three brothers, I am the weakest. It seems that you, Saburo, are not much smarter than me!"

After hearing this, the young man laughed loudly, raised his hand to signal his third brother to close the door, waved his hand to call the person closer, and then said, "Take a closer look!"

The young man came up and took a closer look. He still felt that this thing was no different from an ordinary tree root, but it smelled of a simple spicy fragrance.

"Haha, you still can't see it? Let me teach you. This thing is called rhubarb and Longyou rhubarb. It is a life-saving tool for removing stasis and carbuncles and removing heat and blood! It's just a piece like this. Do you know how much it's worth?"

The young man looked at his brother with a show off face and whispered. When he saw him shaking his head, he smiled again and said: "My brother added another hundred thousand yuan to my Shouyang business in exchange for it from a traveler from Handong." !”

"So expensive? Brother, why did he sell his ancestral property!"

The young man couldn't help being surprised after hearing this. Shouyang is an important land and water resource. The reason why their family can run a shop there is because they just took back Shouyang more than ten years ago. Their Aye is Pei Sui. There is a team leader under the general, so he is rewarded. Nowadays, Shouyang is more prosperous. A shop like that is worth more than a million yuan, and the key is that even if you have money, you can't buy it.

"Don't think it's too expensive. Brother said that if it weren't for the fact that Jia Ke was greedy for Shouyang and didn't have the benefit of market valuation, this deal might not have been done! If this rhubarb with similar appearance was sold in the capital, the price would definitely be higher!"

The young man talked about this and then said: "As for my family's ancestral property, it might not be a bad idea to throw it away early. When the northern captives enter the city, evil things happen frequently. If you are still greedy and refuse to let go, you may lose your life. Brother raised me Leave me alone, and I see you are about to become an adult. It is important for the three of us brothers to live. If one of us is missing, the rest of us will not be happy!"

After hearing the words, the young man nodded, and then said: "Where is my sister? What will happen to my sister if we leave here?"

The young man took out his knife, marked it on the dry piece of rhubarb, and murmured: "Brother, I will ask my sister and brother-in-law when I come back, if they are willing to follow us back to Handong." If you don't want to, cut off a section of this rhubarb and leave it to my sister to support the family. The rest will be our brothers' family property. But I am strong and can support my family no matter what, so I will leave mine to my sister. !”

"I don't even have a wife or children. If I live next to you guys, I don't even need this thing to survive!"

After hearing this, the young man also laughed.

The young man was very satisfied after hearing this, but he kept mumbling: "But this rhubarb is always exchanged for our ancestral inheritance. How can we give it all to my sister, a bride from another family, we still have to keep some!"

While he was talking, he cut off some roots with a knife and wrapped the rest in layers of green cloth. Then he covered his growling stomach and said, "While it's still dark, send it to my sister's house. This way It’s a generous gift. Sister, I don’t care about dinner, can we go back?”

After saying this, the two brothers all burst into laughter, collected some household goods, told their families a few words, and then headed down the slope.

This family was originally from Anlu, Dong'an, Han Dynasty. They moved to Anfengzhou, Huainan with their father in their early years. After their parents passed away, they were left with three brothers. There was also an eldest sister who got married locally. The eldest was named Han Mian, the second was named Han Shao, and the second was named Han Shao. The third one is called Han Xie.

In the old years, the Huaiyan weir blocked the river, causing the Huai River to surge and overflow, flooding a large area of ​​Huainan. Although a long time has passed, the Huai River to the west of Shouyang is still overflowing, causing many ponds and tidal flats in the territory, making the countryside People can only live on the slopes around these ponds.

After the Han brothers left home, they headed southwest. Whenever they encountered a large lake, there were simple rafts nearby for passage, which were built by the villagers and put here for public use.

After passing two canals and ponds, the destination was about to arrive, but Han Shao, the second eldest son on the raft, who was holding a bamboo pole, gradually became a little uneasy. Han Xie, the third eldest son sitting aside, couldn't help but said: " Second brother, why do I smell a bit fishy..."

"Silence!"

Han Shao let out a low cry, and at the same time he got down and propped the raft into a reed marsh, and ordered his brothers to hide there. He himself jumped into the river pond, waded ashore, and swam forward. Suddenly, a body had been covered by The soaked and swollen corpse suddenly emerged from the bottom of the pond, and many rancid bubbles bubbled out.

"ah……"

Although Han Shao had always been brave, he was so frightened by this scene that he let out a short cry. He did not dare to look at the swollen corpse, gritted his teeth and continued to swim forward, but he saw broken limbs and broken arms in the river pond. more and more.

Finally reaching the shore, Han Shao ignored the muddy blood on his body and ran straight to the village where his sister lived. However, he froze on the spot after running a few steps. There were only willow trees floating in the wind under the few willow trees on the bank of the river pond. Outside the branches, there were several naked female corpses hanging with hemp ropes. One of them was his sister.

"A-Sister..."

Han Shao's eyes suddenly turned red. He rushed forward and put down his sister's body and several other human corpses. He dug a hole and buried it on the spot while holding back his tears. The village here was obviously ransacked by bandits, leaving no survivors and all the goods looted.

Although he was in great pain, Han Shao did not dare to stay any longer after searching inside and outside. He swam back to the reed swamp to meet his third brother Han Xie, who was already waiting anxiously.

When the two brothers were about to turn out of the reed pond, the rapid sound of horse hooves suddenly sounded outside the reed pond. After hearing this, Han Shao's expression suddenly changed, and he was busy waiting to push the raft back into the reed pond. However, there was already a cry from the shore: "who?"

"Second brother, let's..."

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

Then Han Shao held up his bamboo pole and rushed out of the reed pond. Soon he saw several knights in uniform on the shore pointing their bows at him. He threw down his bamboo pole and worshiped on the raft: "Spare my life, spare your life..."

A knight suddenly shot an arrow, which caused a splash on the water surface, frightening Han Shao so much that his body trembled. Then another team leader shouted, "This country slave is quite strong, so keep him for now. The prince forbids hunting in the vicinity of Shouyang, but those bandits who went ahead did not follow the rules. There are not many people left in the countryside, so don't waste them!"