Chapter 9 Fire merger
Chapter 9 Fire merger
There was a crowd of people busying around the small pond outside Pan Garden.
Farmhands, servants, and soldiers were all mobilized to dredge the ponds and pools while the water was shallow in winter.
This is not an easy job, but it is necessary.
The silt cleared from rivers and ponds can be used to fertilize the fields, and as natural reservoirs, rivers and ponds can retain more rainwater to irrigate farmland after their storage capacity increases. During the spring sowing next year, an extra batch of idle land will be sown to increase grain production.
"Crack!" Shao Xun released the clamp, and a carp jumped out of the mud, landed on the grass, and jumped continuously.
The sergeant Huang Biao grinned, took a step forward, picked up the fish and threw it into the basin.
In the wooden basin, loaches and small fish were moving around, spitting bubbles.
Mao Er squatted there, counting "one, two, three, four" non-stop.
Another squad leader, Zhang Heigou, was also staring at these things in a trance, his Adam's apple moving unconsciously.
Behind him, two young men were already killing fish.
While wiping their noses, they skillfully scraped off the scales of the fish and cut open the belly to remove the internal organs.
Further away, there were two young men happily holding the killed fish, preparing to go back and make soup.
"Jin San and Wang Que'er are in for a treat. Take good care of them and don't be careless." Shao Xun stamped his feet, and the water bank was covered with mud.
Jin San and Wang Que'er are both sergeants of the team, one is eleven years old and the other is thirteen years old, in fact, they are both children. They fell ill two days ago and are now recuperating in the camp. In today's world, it is really not easy to get some fish meat to nourish the body. I only got the opportunity today when I cleaned the pond.
"Yes." After hearing the leader's instructions, the two children saluted and quickly turned around and left.
When the young men who were carrying sludge near and far heard this, they smiled and worked even harder.
Yes, they could only eat some extremely crude food on weekdays. Actually, after getting used to it, they didn't feel it was crude, because they had never seen what the nobles and officials ate on weekdays. For example, wheat porridge and wheat crumbs porridge were made by boiling unground wheat grains, which made their mouths taste bland. But after seeing that the injured or sick people could be well taken care of, they were not jealous. Everyone would get sick or injured. Now Jin San and Wang Que'er could enjoy this treatment, and in the future, they could too.
The golden light from the sun shines on people, making them seem warmer.
This team of theirs makes people feel very comfortable to be with.
The team leader was capable of teaching people to read and write, and he even picked out a few smart people to give them extra math lessons.
If the students really cannot learn, the team leader will not force them, but will teach them according to their aptitude.
For those who are strong and healthy, they will be taught the skills of sword, spear, bow and arrow to increase their survival rate on the battlefield.
Those who are meticulous will take care of miscellaneous matters, such as classifying, storing and distributing the various materials received.
Those who are nimble can also be messengers, runners, etc.
In short, the team leader knows a little bit about everything, is especially good at martial arts, is fair in his dealings, and makes people trust him.
He was kind-hearted, and would tuck in the quilts of people when he checked on them at night. If anyone was sick or injured during training, he would find ways to get fish and meat to nourish them.
The young men privately joked that the team leader was like an "old father" who managed a group of "adopted sons", and that the fifty of them were like a "righteous son army". However, it was just a private joke, as many of them had parents, and if they wanted to have an adoptive father, they would have to get their biological parents' consent.
"Splash!" Shao Xun waded into the water again and continued to dig out the silt.
After he went down, a dozen teenagers followed him into the water. They worked while touching the clams, laughing and playing, looking happy.
Although they have received several months of rigorous military training, they are still children after all.
It's human nature to love playing and making trouble.
In comparison, the children of aristocratic families are like little adults, learning all kinds of courses and cultivating their sophistication from a young age.
Shao Xun thought about the Yu Mansion he had visited four months ago. He heard that their eldest daughter could write poems at the age of six. She would become a talented girl when she grew up.
This is really...
He was almost sixteen years old in this life, and although he could read, he really couldn't write poetry.
But then again, when the best educational resources are monopolized by aristocratic families, unless you forcibly recruit down-and-out scholars like Cao Mengde did and offer classes to the descendants of soldiers who died in battle, how can ordinary people get the opportunity to receive an education?
Furthermore, now is a time of chaos, and although reading and writing are important, they are not as important as before. Shao Xun is now thinking about how to survive and live well in this chaotic world.
After finishing a day's work, when they returned to the military camp, a few people from Sikong Mansion came and brought a batch of pens, ink, paper and inkstone to their team.
Shao Xun was secretly delighted. His flattery of the princess was not in vain. Wasn't it working?
Among the people who came to the Sikong Mansion, one was an old acquaintance Liu Qia, and the other was named Wang Dao, who was born in the Wang family of Langya and had served in Liu Shi's mansion as the chief priest of the East Pavilion. He had recently been recruited by Sima Yue to serve as a military officer in the mansion.
There was a hint of confusion on Liu Qia's face, as if he was wondering how Shao Xun was still alive and well.
Director Wang had a calm expression. He just looked at Shao Xun a few more times but didn't say much. He left after completing his task.
He is just a military household and not worth his attention.
Shao Xun carefully put away his writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone. Writing on the ground was inefficient and inconvenient.
After doing all this, he came outside the barracks and looked at the sunset in the west.
The weather has been very good these days. Although it is a bit cold, when the sun comes out, it makes people feel warm.
Taking advantage of the good weather, everyone in Pan Garden reinforced the courtyard wall and even added a few wooden arrow towers. It finally looked like a fortress.
Outside the courtyard wall, the pond was dredged and deepened, the irrigation canal was repaired, and some abandoned farmland was cleared of weeds, waiting for next spring sowing.
Their abilities are limited and the projects they undertake are small, but what they do are full of hope.
Yes, there is hope.
Shao Xun even began to imagine that by the summer and autumn of next year, when the wheat and millet would be harvested, the vegetable patch would be full of juicy green fruits and vegetables, and the vineyards would be full of fruits that could be dried into raisins and made into wine. In early winter, he would slaughter some pigs and sheep, and the fish and shrimp in the pond would grow fat and big...
This is hope, the most beautiful thing in troubled times.
******
"Puff! Puff!" Blood splattered and several heads with hideous faces rolled to the ground.
"Whizzing!"
Amid the deafening cries, men, women, old and young all fled.
Swords and guns are blind, arrows are ruthless.
The 28-year-old girl was stabbed several times and fell to the ground screaming.
The ignorant child was carried away by the arrow and nailed to the ground. He didn't even have time to cry out, and the corners of his mouth were full of blood foam. His tender little hands subconsciously grasped, as if he wanted to hold his mother's hand.
The old man was knocked to the ground and soon fell silent under the steps of countless shoes and boots.
On the street in front of the palace, flames shot up into the sky and the sounds of killing were deafening.
The Sima family's eldest sons have reached the point where their true colors are revealed.
Just this morning, King Sima Yi of Changsha rushed into the palace, took the emperor and all the officials hostage, and announced that the King of Qi was plotting treason.
No one knows how he did it, and why didn't the palace guards stop him?
No one knows why the palace guards did not kill Sima Yi, because there were very few people around him, only more than a hundred followers, but the final result was: most of the palace guards dispersed, and only a few were used by him.
King Sima Jiong of Qi was furious and immediately ordered his trusted general Dong Ai to lead 2,000 men to attack the palace.
Sima Yi was also a ruthless man. He took the emperor, empress and hundreds of civil and military officials as shields, and went straight out of the palace to attack the Prince of Qi's palace.
To the west of the palace, arrows were flying and fires were blazing.
The Northern Army Commander ordered the gates of Luoyang to be closed, prohibiting soldiers outside the city from entering. However, Sima Jiong and Sima Yi each had their own followers who distributed money and recruited desperate criminals, so the scale of the battle became larger and larger, affecting more and more people.
On the 25th, the battlefield moved to the vicinity of the Upper East Gate.
"Swoosh! Whoosh!" The sound of arrows breaking through the air was endless, and screams came one after another.
The emperor (Emperor Hui of Jin) was so frightened that he rolled off the imperial chariot, his buttocks trembling and the smell from his crotch was strong.
In front of him, more than a dozen ministers had been killed or injured.
On the imperial chariot, a feather arrow was still trembling.
Queen Yang Xianrong stared blankly at the long arrow that passed by her, and stood there in a daze.
She knew that this world would not be good.
She knew that the emperor was actually half a puppet.
She knew that the civil and military ministers had their own thoughts.
she knows……
But she never imagined that she, as the queen, would be so close to death.
Sima Yi didn't care about the emperor and empress at all, and used the couple as a shield.
Sima Jue didn't even have the emperor and empress in his eyes, and actually shot arrows directly at the imperial chariot.
At this moment, her mentality collapsed.
Is there any difference between the queen, the mother of the country, and the scholars and common people who are killed and injured on the streets?
After this barrage of arrows, the royal family no longer had any dignity. From now on, they were just playthings in the hands of the princes and puppets in the hands of the warlords.
Is it necessary for the provincial governors and county governors to be respectful to the puppet? Is it necessary for them to transport money and grain to the capital day and night?
The consequences of this volley of arrows are far more serious than imagined!
"Queen, save me!" Another arrow shot towards him, but it missed slightly. The emperor was frightened and subconsciously wanted to pull the queen in front of him to block the arrow.
Yang Xianrong shook his hand lightly: "If you can't protect your wife and children, what kind of man are you?"
Arrows were still flying, but she no longer cared. At the moment of life and death, she seemed to have figured something out, and something in her heart was shattered and could never be put back together again.
"Why does the Queen say that..." The emperor was stunned and felt a little ashamed.
Yang Xianrong glanced at him with disdain.
She used to think that all men in the world were pretty much the same. Instead of picking and choosing, it would be better to pick the one that suits her taste.
What does it mean to be in line with one’s heart?
He is handsome, well-read, and has an extraordinary bearing and elegant demeanor.
If you can't do all these, then choose a noble family that can bring you supreme dignity and dazzling wealth.
But on this battlefield where arrows were flying everywhere, she found that she was wrong, extremely wrong.
These are not real men!
There is great terror between life and death. Whoever can save her from the misfortune of being killed by an axe, whoever can protect her well, is a real man.
She wanted to laugh and cry at the same time, and she felt that she had changed.
Maybe it's not just her who has changed.
This world is changing everyone's perceptions little by little, in the cruelest way.
"Defeated! Defeated!" Chaotic shouts came from the front, coming from the side of King Qi.
The morale of the soldiers under the King of Changsha was greatly boosted. They suddenly became invincible and rushed forward shouting.
This fight seems to be coming to an end.
But does this really mean the end? No, perhaps it is just the beginning of another cycle.
(End of this chapter)