Chapter 45 family suicide

After sailing the canal for more than half a month, their official ship arrived at the Yellow River Ferry under the city of Xuzhou. This place is far away from the Meiyu area, and the sky above the Yellow River is as clear as clean.A few floc-like white clouds floated slowly in the distant sky.The setting sun in May throws the gorgeous afterglow on the open and wide river without any cover.The turbid torrent shining with golden light sprayed white foam and swirled like thousands of violent wild horses, rushing from the western horizon and galloping towards the east sea without stopping. .A few gray and brown sails are bobbing with difficulty in the turbid current.One after another, the hilly waves beat tirelessly against the desolate, naked river bank, making a terrible sound like thunder.

When the boat was crossing the Yellow River, Huang Zongxi and Fang Yizhi leaned side by side in front of the window, looking into the distance, neither of them spoke.Although it was not the first time for them to pass by here, the majestic momentum before them still shocked them so deeply, making their minds expand at once, and they were fascinated by the great, primitive and mysterious nature. Attracted and intoxicated by the charm of the human body, he even forgot to talk and think, and even his own body seemed to be disintegrated and melted by this original mighty force, so that he ceased to exist...

After crossing the Yellow River, there is a big station on the shore, named "Liuquan Station".Because it was getting late, the master and servant rested at the post station.After getting up the next day, tidying up and having breakfast, Fang Yizhi ordered Fang Li to negotiate the car.Fang Li went for a long time, but walked back with Yi Cheng empty-handed.The postman complained: "there are cars, but because of the disasters in the local area for many years, the lack of mules and horses; and the lack of food and wages, the postmen in the station have been cut and cut, reduced and reduced, and there are only ten or twenty people left. , as of last night, everyone who can be sent has been sent out, but they haven't returned yet. I have to be wronged to stay for another day and leave tomorrow."

Fang Yizhi frowned, unwilling to waste a day in this ghost place.He asked Ming that there were still two horses left in the post station, if this number could be combined to take a carriage, but if it was changed to riding horses, it was still barely enough.So, after discussing with Huang Zongxi, he decided not to take the carriage, but asked for the two horses.After spending a long time with the postman, he was finally let out of the two old postmen who were cooking and carrying water in the station, and at least one of them was drawn to follow, and they set off together and continued to march north.

It was still early, and it was dark all around, only the twinkling stars reflected in the horse's eyes, reflecting a faint light.The official road paved with gravel became blurred underfoot, almost unrecognizable.The wind before dawn blows from the wilderness, even wearing a windbreaker and hood, I still feel chilly on my body.This area is the junction of China, Shandong, and Henan provinces, and it is the hub of water and land transportation. However, due to the increasing number of hungry people over the years, many of them have taken risks and turned into thieves.Just last year, there was a strong man named Li Qingshan, following the example of Zhong Songjiang, occupying Liangshanpo, setting up the banner of "walking for the sky", often capturing prefectures and counties, and robbing grain ships.There are many hungry people who defected to support him, and his influence has been extended to Hanzhuang not far from here, which almost cut off the north-south communication.When the imperial court heard the news, it was greatly shocked, and hastily dispatched a large number of troops to encircle and suppress the rebellion. It was not until the first month of this year that the rebellion was barely suppressed.Fearing that the turmoil would recur, the imperial court also ordered relief to the hungry people who were "sufficient".But in the past few years, in order to deal with the "rogue bandits", in addition to collecting several million taels of "Liao pay" every year in the past, the imperial court has successively allocated more than 3.3 million taels of "suppression pay" and 730 taels of money. Yu Wanliang's "practice salary" is now eager to squeeze out every drop of fat from the people and throw it into the battlefield. How can there be any spare money for relief?Had to apportion to the place.And the local government is also struggling to cope with the "three rates", and it is also unable to pay for it.What's more, those government yamen are trying their best to make money from top to bottom. Even if there is a small amount of relief, it can be imagined how much will be left to the hungry people after their hands.Not to mention that there are too many hungry people, and it has reached the point where it is far beyond human power.So in this area at present, although the officers and soldiers have stepped up patrols and suppression, the road is not peaceful.It was precisely in consideration of this situation that Fang Yizhi had already changed into casual clothes before going out, and he and Huang Zongxi each carried a sword. .

Now, Huang Zongxi hunched slightly on the horse, wrapped his windbreaker tightly, thinking about his thoughts silently amidst the monotonous and rhythmic sound of the horse's hooves trampling the ground, while waiting for the first dawn to appear.However, because Huang An and Fang Li kept talking to the postmen behind the horse, his thinking was disrupted from time to time, and he couldn't concentrate on one problem.He thought for a moment that it had been almost three months since he left Yuyao, and he didn't know what was going on at home. How is mother?It seems that I should write a letter from home to say hello; after a while, I thought of the quarrel with Hou Fangyu not long ago, and thought that I always didn't get along well with this brother.I remember that I once fiercely criticized Hou Fangyu in front of Zhang Zilie for spending his life and drinking, and disregarding his father's life and death.Did Zhang Zilie convey this to Hou Fangyu later? ...After a while, his thoughts turned to philosophical issues, thinking of the two concepts of "Qi" and "Li". He also advocated that "Qi" comes before "Li", but in his view, "Li" and "Qi" are originally the same thing, there is no difference, and there is no priority. It is really unnecessary and impossible for people to insist on separating them. no reason...

However, he gradually felt more and more uncomfortable sitting in the saddle.Because he has not ridden for a long time, he has become very rusty.He couldn't let his body naturally follow the ups and downs of the horse's walk, and the saddle hurt his femur sharply. "Hey, it seems that I am getting more and more delicate!" He thought, "Back then, Liu Xuande sighed because he hadn't accomplished his achievements and his flesh came back to life because he didn't ride a horse for a long time. My situation is worse than him now! If this continues, what's wrong? Got it?" So he temporarily put aside those contemplations and daydreams, and began to practice horseback riding wholeheartedly.He carefully discerned the horse's walking rhythm, while trying to relax his body to meet it.At first he was always uncertain, and the situation got worse, but he still persisted patiently, and gradually became more used to it.In addition, the set of movement essentials learned when he was practicing horseback riding was also recalled and began to work. After walking for more than ten miles, he finally became proficient again.

At this time, the sky had already broken, and a round of red sun rose slowly from the front right, illuminating the vast misty fields, casting long shadows on the faces, bodies, luggage, and horses of the travelers who were advancing. There was a faint blush on it.A few crows croaked and flew up from the tree branches beside the road.In order to test how well his riding skills had recovered, Huang Zongxi let go of the reins, tapped the horse's buttocks lightly, urged the horse to pass Fang Yizhi, and jogged forward along the clear road. stand up. This time it was quite smooth, Huang Zongxi leaned his upper body forward slightly as he recalled, clamped the horse's belly with his legs, carefully controlled the reins, and ran very smoothly. In the blink of an eye, he had already galloped three or four miles .He reined in triumphantly, looked back, and saw that Fang Yizhi and the others had not followed, so he turned the horse's head, intending to gallop back to meet them along the original road.However, at this moment, he heard a few cries, the voice was sharp and mournful, like a woman or a child.It sounds like the man is hiding in the elm forest not far from the road.Huang Zongxi reined in his horse and looked at Linzi for a while, but he couldn't see anything, but the crying sounded again.He frowned, and wanted to go over to see what was going on, but suddenly thought: If the robbers are robbing, there are so many people, and they can't deal with it, wouldn't it be worse?After hesitating for a while, he finally turned the horse's head and ran quickly to the original road.

Fang Yizhi was surrounded by servants and walked slowly.After hearing Huang Zongxi's report, he turned around and asked the old postman accompanying him if he knew what had happened.The old postman was vague and couldn't explain clearly.On the contrary, Huang An tried his best to dissuade him, saying that the thieves must be robbing.Fang Li also advocates that it is better to be careful.Fang Yizhi looked at Huang Zongxi, pondered for a while, and finally said: "Go, have a look." Everyone followed Huang Zongxi to a place a hundred steps away from the elm forest. Fang Yizhi waved his hand and told everyone to stop.He reined in his horse, watched the forest from a distance for a while, then drew out his sword and told everyone to get ready, and then ordered a young Chengchao named Sun Fu to go over to investigate.

Holding the jujube stick, Sun Fu walked lightly into the woods, and soon came out again.His face turned pale, and he rushed to Fang Yizhi's horse out of breath, and told him, "Master Hui, Mr. Hui, there are all dead, dead people inside!" "Where's the thieves?" Fang Yizhi asked sharply. "No, no!" "No?" "Yes, no." Sun Fu said, hesitated for a moment, and added, "The villain never saw it." "Then who are the people who died? How did they die?" "Maybe it's...the hungry people, the villain didn't see clearly. Oh, they were all hanged!"

Everyone couldn't help but "ah", the voice expressed surprise, but after that, they were relieved.Yes, if you are afraid of running into a thieves right now, you should be thankful if you find out if it is not.As for the hungry people looking for short-sightedness, there is no need to make too much fuss.There have been too many such incidents in recent years, and it is no longer unusual.And as a passer-by, it's hard to manage. At most, you can notify the local authorities and ask them to send someone to collect the corpse.So, after hearing what Sun Fu said, Fang Yizhi just nodded, then put the sword back into the box, and prepared to continue on his way. But Huang Zongxi was still pondering. "Is there—is there anything alive in there?" he asked, glancing into the woods. "No, no. They are all dead." Sun Fu replied. "But, I heard someone calling just now!" "Then—perhaps someone was alive then and died later." "It's best to take a closer look, if there are still alive..." "Ah, that's right!" Fang Yizhi agreed, "Sun Fu, you just go again, if there are still alive, give him some dry food, and send him some money, let him find his own way of life—— go!" "Yes!" Sun Fu agreed, but he was obviously very unhappy, but he didn't dare to disobey his master's wishes, so he pouted, went to the horseback to get a small bag of dry food, and walked slowly towards the forest. Huang Zongxi looked at the young Chengcha's back with a look of dissatisfaction on his face.Suddenly, he leaned over, jumped off the horse, threw the reins into Huang An's arms, strode to catch up with Sun Fu, snatched the dry food from his hand, and walked towards the woods.Sun Fu was taken aback for a moment, and hurriedly followed. This piece of elm forest is not too big, filled with an unpleasant smell.The bark of every tree was stripped and eaten by the hungry people, leaving only the naked woody layer. It looked like zombies that had been skinned, standing there with their teeth and claws open. It was early summer, and there were no leaves growing on the branches.Only flocks of crows were screaming "croaking" and flying around in the woods.These beasts that eat carrion and make their eyes red all grow fat and big, and they are not afraid of people.Several times, if Sun Fu hadn't swung the stick in time, they would have jumped on their heads.The further you go in, the stronger the stench, and the more bones there are on the ground. There are piles of bones thrown here and there, and if you are not careful, you will touch your feet.Huang Zongxi lived such an old age, he had never walked into such a gloomy and frightening forest, never been in such a creepy situation.Even though it was broad daylight, my heart couldn't help but feel hairy.Only now did he understand why Sun Fu was so reluctant to come again.However, since he was brave, he could no longer retreat, and he didn't want to retreat either.So even though he had already thought that this move might be unnecessary, he still covered his nose and rushed forward bravely. Finally, Sun Fu stopped. He pointed his stick at the tree in front of him and said in a low voice, "Here, there it is!" Huang Zongxi looked up in the direction he pointed, and sure enough, he saw seven or eight corpses, big and small, male and female, old and young, hanging on the tree branches.All of them drooped their tongues and their whole bodies were stiff, obviously dead for a long time.Some of the expressions of those corpses seemed to be crying, some seemed to be laughing, and some had their eyes wide open, grinning, and their shapes were horrific.Huang Zongxi didn't want to look further, he walked over slowly, looking around to see if there were any living people left on the ground.However, apart from two tattered bundles of luggage, and some rough bowls and pots that were discarded carelessly, there was nothing to be seen. "Ah, they're all dead, no one left! I heard their cries just now, if I rushed in immediately, maybe they wouldn't have to die, but..." He thought remorsefully, and couldn't help but look up at the tree on the tree again. The corpse glanced at it, and found that although the clothes of the deceased were very tattered and dirty, and their hair was loose, and they didn't wear a hat, judging from the wide sleeves of one or two of them, the style of the skirts that were above the knees, and the material of the clothes, it was obviously not Ordinary civilians should be people with a certain status.There is nothing surprising about this, because years of famines, coupled with the tight pressure of the imperial court to extort "three payments", many middle-class families were hardly spared. "Well, it seems that they are old and young, like a family. In the peaceful world, even if there were natural disasters, they would not be displaced from the road and exposed to the wilderness. But now, even this kind of wealthy family There is no way out for the good people, and the only way to get relief is to die, let alone those poor and helpless people..." Thinking of this, Huang Zongxi couldn't help but feel dejected, and the enthusiasm that was eager to save the dying and heal the wounded just now also followed. Great reduction.Therefore, even though Sun Fu suggested to search in the depths of the forest to please him, he waved his hands, turned around quietly, and walked out.

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