Chapter 105 Section 2 In front of the parents' grave

Liu Da was the son of Liu Jizu who generously gave away the land so that he could bury his parents, and Cao Xiu was the son of Aunt Wang who bought him gifts from all his family assets and sent him to become a monk in Huangjue Temple.They are the two benefactors that Zhu Yuanzhang will never forget. In the thirteenth year of Zhengzheng (AD 1353), Zhu Yuanzhang had become the governor of the Red Scarf Army. At the end of the year, he unexpectedly saw Liu Da and Cao Xiu who had come to join him in Haozhou City. He was very pleasantly surprised and said, "My old man It's over." He hurriedly asked about the situation of Liu Jizu, his wife and Mrs. Wang.It turned out that Mrs. Wang died shortly after Zhu Yuanzhang joined the army.At the beginning of the thirteenth year of Zhizheng, Liu Jizu also died of illness, and Liu Da was the only one left in the family. He was young and weak, so he and Cao Xiu came to join him.Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang was "moved by misery" ("Fengyang New Book", "Liu Jizu Biography"), so he left them as his personal guards.Although the two talents are mediocre and unusable, Zhu Yuanzhang always treats them differently.The two volunteered to fight on the front line many times, but Zhu Yuanzhang didn't agree, saying, I won't let you risk your life, I'm sorry for your parents!

Returning to his hometown this time, Zhu Yuanzhang deliberately brought these two people with him.In addition, he also deliberately brought a doctoral officer (Xu Cunren) and a living commentary officer (Wang Yi) to record his "return of the ancestors" that will surely be recorded in history.The original wandering monk has now become the "King Wu" who is about to ascend to the throne. Such a huge identity change makes this return home definitely more dramatic than the ordinary return home. When he first set out on the road, he wanted to set up a full set of honor guards for the King of Wu, but as soon as he left Nanjing, he felt like returning home. He left the guard of honor behind him and ordered the soldiers to travel hundreds of miles a day. In just three days, he rushed to his hometown.

Across the small river by the side of the village, the old poplar tree at the head of the village is still there, but everything else is completely changed: the large Huangjue Temple by the side of the village is now only a few low residual walls and piles of rubble.Houses in the village have collapsed and dilapidated. There were originally more than 100 villages, but now there are only more than 20 households still inhabited.In the old yard of my house, the weeds were already as high as a person, and the three thatched houses had already collapsed and their roofs had collapsed. The approach of Zhu Yuanzhang and his party only startled a nest of crows and birds.

Zhu Yuanzhang felt sore in his heart. Startled by the sound of horseshoes, more than 20 families looked here at the door tremblingly.After confirming that this was not a group of looters, people gradually gathered in the old courtyard of Zhu Yuanzhang's house: all of them had dove-shaped faces, timid faces, and ragged clothes. Zhu Yuanzhang first recognized Liu Tianer, his childhood playmate.Tian'er is two years older than himself. He should be forty-two this year, but he looks like he is in his fifties or sixties. He is hunched over, dark-faced, and as thin as a skeleton.When he was young, Liu Tian'er took care of him everywhere, and often gave himself half a pancake when he was not full.Now, it has fallen to this point.With moist eyes, Zhu Yuanzhang walked towards him:

"Tian'er? Is that you?" Liu Tian'er was full of confusion, Zhu Yuanzhang said: "I am Chongba!" "Chongba?" Have you become a high official?" Zhu Yuanzhang held one pair of withered hands after another, unable to speak for a long time.Finally calmed down and able to speak, he asked the guards around him: Take out all the dry food and dried meat you brought, and distribute them to the villagers, and distribute the gifts you brought to everyone. The marching rations of more than 200 soldiers were distributed to more than 20 families, and each family also received two bolts of silk and two bolts of cotton cloth brought by Zhu Yuanzhang from Nanjing.At that time, cotton was not widely used in China, so it was also a precious gift.In addition, each family received twenty taels of silver.

Many families have been eating wild vegetables for a month. At this time, many children began to eat dry food in front of Zhu Yuanzhang.The whole village was beaming. But Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't be happy, and the complacency of returning home has disappeared without a trace.He didn't expect the war to destroy his hometown so thoroughly.While everyone was going home to light a fire and cook, he took his entourage outside the village to visit his parents' graves. The cemetery is almost gone.In Zhu Yuanzhang's memory, the tombs piled up so high were almost level with the ground due to the wind and rain.Zhu Yuanzhang thought about his parents lying on the ground, but it was a pity that he could not catch up with his glory today.He knelt in front of the low grave, tears streaming down his face.

He originally wanted to dig out the remains of his parents and find another good place to bury them, but Xu Cunren, the doctoral officer, and Wang Yi, the daily life note officer, strongly opposed it.They said that the lord is able to have today, obviously because the feng shui of his parents' graves is good, if the graves are erected and reburied, the aura of the mountains and rivers may be vented.As soon as Zhu Yuanzhang heard that it was reasonable, he ordered the soil to be built on the spot, "increasing the soil to double the seal". Back in the village, the villagers already knew from the guards who stayed in the village that Chongba is now the "King of Wu" and will be the emperor soon.Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang again, everyone plopped and knelt down.Zhu Yuanzhang ordered everyone to get up, and when they got up, they all looked cautious and did not dare to joke.Zhu Yuanzhang talked with them in detail, and asked them about their situation in recent years, only to learn that more than half of the villagers died, and the rest also fled.The war in Haozhou has just ended, and everyone expects this year to be a year of peace.

Zhu Yuanzhang announced that Liu Ying and Cao Xiu, who came with him, would be appointed as the mausoleum guards, and they would be fully responsible for guarding the imperial mausoleum. Ten years of money and food.Zhu Yuanzhang said, you twenty households will no longer need to farm land in the future. The land will be planted by others. You will help me guard the ancestral graves. I will make you mausoleum households and help me take care of the sacrifices. I will eat the pigs and sheep for you!From now on, all you need to do is collect rent, eat and drink, and live happily ever after! Everyone lay down on the ground again and kowtowed to Zhu Yuanzhang a few times.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked around at the villagers and found that compared with just now, there was one person missing: the former landlord Liu De.