stubborn thief

Chapter 18 Homecoming
The valley faces south, and the desolate scene is the same as ever.

The biggest trouble for travelers when the world goes bad is the sense of unease.

Anxiety drives prevention.

As a result, every unfamiliar face Liu Chengzong saw on the road, he had to try his best to suppress the bastard's idea of ​​letting go.

There are really no people in the desolate ancient road, but there is a wolf who wants to fight with the little drill wind, but he is scared off by his archery.

There were a pack of wolves, so he didn't dare to chase deeply, and continued to go south with a small drill wind.

The presence of wolves is not a bad thing, which shows that the situation at the junction of the three counties is better than that in the north, at least people are retreating and beasts are advancing.

Drought will affect all living beings in an all-round way. If the grass and trees can live, people can receive crops, even if they are small. If the wild animals can live, there will be food in the mountains.

People, there are still those three points.

As for wolves and tigers, they are far less efficient than natural disasters in terms of killing efficiency.

He carried weapons and no armor, and galloped much faster alone.

In the middle, the wolf galloped for a while, and then it took a little while for the red flag to loose the saddle and scratch the sweat, but because the loess was dry and cracked, it took several inspections of the shoes, and it took half a moment to add a piece.

In addition, the road went very smoothly. Starting in the morning, the more you walked, the more familiar you became. He passed a few villages. Even if he saw those people wearing shabby jackets and sunbathing on the mountains from a distance doing nothing, it also made him from the desolate and miserable scene. Feel the breath of people.

In less than an hour, he saw Panlongchuan.

Panlongchuan is a small river that originates from a mountain spring in the north. When the water is not flowing, the water is very shallow. When you see Panlongchuan, you can see the Black Dragon King Temple Mountain. Liu Chengzong is home.

Liu Chengzong walked across the mountain road on horseback, looking at the fields on the mountain, his eyes were full of novelty-in four days, they walked more than 300 miles, and the places they passed were all wilderness villages, with no life everywhere.

Only when I was near my hometown, I saw farmers and children picking stones in the canal next to the endless cracked fields and dredging them further.

Although the people were starving and thin, and there was not a single bit of extra meat under the dark skin, tightly wrapped around the bones, their mental state was better than anyone he had seen in the past few days.

They are repairing the canal, but in Liu Chengzong's judgment on the current situation, people no longer need to repair the canal-going south, everyone is going south to find a way to survive, what kind of canal are they still staying here?
He came back early, and many people were not in a hurry to work in the fields. Some people squatted by the road with their bowls to drink porridge, and my aunt stood by the side with the old wooden lump food box, waiting for the peasants to finish their porridge and put the bowls away. Bring back.

In the field, many people are very unfamiliar with Liu Chengzong who went to Yan'an Mansion with Liu Juren when he was four years old, and went to Mizhi when he was 12 years old.

On the contrary, when the peasants saw him pacing from the country road, they all put down their work and watched silently, leaning on farm implements.

Even if Liu Chengzong wanted to say hello, he didn't know who the others were.

This embarrassing situation did not last long - to his own field.

There are two types of land in Xingpingli, one is private land and the other is family land. Liu Juren stood out from the clan private school back then, and was able to leave production and pass the exam with the support of the clan. Later, he had 280 mu of land, all of which were donated to the The clan repays the kindness of cultivation.

When Liu Juren couldn't pay the tax, he contradicted the superior and was imprisoned, and the clan divided the land for the two brothers Chengzu Chengzong.

Several people in the field were composting, and when they saw him, who was riding on a horse with a waist knife, they all stopped what they were doing and watched from a distance.

He pulled his horse and asked, "Big brothers, where are the three family members?"

The man in the canal was very strong. He raised his head and glanced at him, his eyes fell on the waist knife, and he climbed to the side of the road and asked, "Who are you, and what are you looking for, sir?"

Hearing that he was called "Master," Liu Chengzong thought about it, thinking that he had never seen this man in the clan, so he immediately clasped his fists and said, "The youngest of the family, Chengzong."

If it was someone else, he might still think that he had seen him and forgot about him, but a man who was so strong that he felt like a hill at a glance would never forget him.

"Chengzong?"

This name is a little unfamiliar to a man, he thought for a moment, the expressionless expression on his face melted instantly, and the expression change was very wonderful: "Little benefactor?"

With a thud, the big man pushed the golden mountain down the jade pillar, and kowtowed three times on the yellow earth. Then he raised his body and greeted: "The second young master is back, come here!"

Frightened, Liu Chengzong got out of the saddle and got off his horse. He quickly helped him up and said, "Brother, what are you doing here? Get up and talk."

"I want the young master to know that the villain Shi Wanzhong, who is a farmer in Shijiawan of Ben Suide, couldn't pay the summer food due to the drought last year, so he and the people from the same county took his wife and aunt to flee south. Baby, the great kindness of this day is to ask me to be a cow or a horse!"

Shi Wanzhong's eyes were red, and he wanted to bow down again, but Liu Chengzong held him tightly. At this time, several other people in the field came over and bowed down. Liu Juren was taken in.

Seeing that he couldn't stop one by one, four or five men gathered in one place to talk and make him unable to hear anything, so he had to open his hands and said to the crowd: "Brothers, please call me Chengzong, don't worship any more. , Since it's here, it's better to live and live, there will always be a way to survive in a disaster year."

After that, Liu Chengzong turned his head to Shi Wanzhong and asked, "Brother Shi, where is my eldest brother?"

"The master of the master is training people's strength on Liujiamao. Let's go. You guys continue to work to clear the canal. I will take the master to see the master."

After that, Shi Wanzhong took the reins from his hand and crossed his hands on the horse's belly: "The young master mounts the horse."

Liu Chengzong's mind was going to be messed up. Facing Shi Wanzhong's enthusiasm, he was even more at a loss, so he waved his hand and said, "It's okay, let's go together. I was a soldier outside and I haven't come back for more than a year. There are a lot of things I need to know from my eldest brother. Talk while walking? Just call me a lion, small print."

Shi Wanzhong didn't ask for it, so he led the horse a little behind and said, "Okay, what do you want to ask, Master Lion?"

What are you asking, where did Liu Juren come from to feed them?
In fact, he wanted to ask this the most, along the way, regardless of Mizhi, Suide or Qingjian, the situation was getting worse and worse. There were indeed many people who remained on the land, but in those places, without exception, a large number of people became refugees.

The land is also desolate, and even those who stay in their hometowns, no one has the energy to build water conservancy.

But when the words came to his lips, Liu Chengzong asked, "How did I train the people and the leader?"

Shi Wanzhong shook his head: "The villain doesn't know either. I've been fleeing until this point. The master is the leader of the mechanic. There are some villains who escaped with me. They all told me to kill the mechanic, so I took in me and lived in Xingping for a long time."

The more Liu Chengzong listened to it, the more confused he became. From childhood to adulthood, the old man was a man of literary quality, who had never learned martial arts and never learned military affairs. How could he be so good when he came out of prison?
He knew that he couldn't ask Shi Wanzhong about these things, so he looked up at Liu Jiamao, suppressed his doubts, and walked with his legs.
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Note:
Owner: The name used by employees, tenants, and staff to address employers, landowners, and bosses in the past.

"Thank you brother for giving me these three books. I bid farewell to the owner, and I will go east." - Yuan Ma Zhiyuan, "Midnight Thunder Recommends the Blessing Monument"

(End of this chapter)