Chapter 5 Caogu (I)

Snow falls from the sky.

The black stones, yellow dead grass, brown soil, and red blood marks were all covered in pure white, clean, neat, and endless.

From Laishui to Caishui, from Yizhou to Bianliang, the pure white covers all conspiracies and crimes without a trace. No one remembers again. More than half a month ago, a considerable team crossed the Yellow River to the north. No one remembers again. Three or five days ago, more than a dozen messengers were rushing along the disrepaired official road. No one remembers that on a cold night, thousands of soldiers once faced each other in two remote and nameless places in Dingzhou, blood flowed into a river!

This is a chaotic world. There is no war for a year and no one stops in a month. Anyway, the battle either takes place in the east or the west, or in the north or in the south of the Yangtze River. Thousands of people died in a confused manner, which is "normal".

The historians have no time to record, and the government did not care about pursuing the matter. As for the envoy behind both parties, they were eager to turn a blind eye to this, and would not take the initiative to put it on the table.

Beat the stick, stumble, robbery, and the winner, everything goes under the stage. Political struggles have always been like this, and from ancient times to the present, there are almost no exceptions. If you really put everything on the stage, it often means that you have reached the final moment of winning or losing. The loser loses all the game, and you will win and make a fortune. Apart from this, there is almost no second possibility.

At present, the new and old camps of the Han Dynasty are obviously not yet at the last time to decide the winning or losing. Therefore, the fierce battle that occurred outside the Li Village Master a few days ago was "fighted" and tacitly ignored. Anyway, for one of them, this victory was just the icing on the cake. For the other party, although he was injured, he was not confident when speaking for a long time from now on, but he would not be completely depressed. As long as he was ruthless, he would not be able to recover. As long as he was ruthless, he would be expected to make a comeback.

I felt sorry for the group of private soldiers pretending to be bandits, and another group of real bandits who were confused by a lot of money and official positions. They disappeared completely without even making a sound.

Just like the jackdaw in the Taihang Mountains, countless people were frozen to death after heavy snow. Apart from themselves, no creature in the world remembers that they have existed, and they don’t care about the noisy sounds they have made.

The snow was rising and falling on both sides of the Taihang Mountains.

For ordinary people who want to live a mediocre life, the heavy snow in winter each year brings not only cold and death, but also hope and life.

When a storm comes, most of the insects that make a living by gnawing on crops will be frozen to death. The jackdaws on the treetops, some hares, foxes and mice in the grass, and even the relatively weak cattle and sheep cannot survive the cruel and severe winter. Every time the snow falls, it means that the wheat yield will increase by 10% next year, and the crops may suffer from pests in half. If three consecutive heavy snow falls higher than people's calves, it will definitely be a good harvest year next year. As long as the farmer is hardworking, he can marry his son and raise new clothes for his daughter.

Most people in Dingzhou, in this heavy snowy weather, are filled with longing for a good harvest.

Almost everyone of the people have heard of the two fierce battles that happened near Lijiazhai. However, none of them were interested in paying attention to them, and they had no time to find out the details. What they were concerned about now are the winter wheat in their own fields, the livestock in their own shacks, and the land reclamation policy introduced by the government in late autumn. Is it also applicable to locals?

"The remnants of bandits who came down from Taihang Mountain have really taken advantage of it!" When huddled in the house, almost every head of the house would sigh so much.

How many people died in the battle on that cold night? Who were the dead? It had nothing to do with everyone! Everyone was too lazy to pay attention to it. But the large areas of farmland that were newly opened before the snow fell along the coast of Fengshui and hundreds of thatched huts were newly packed, but the locals could not ignore it.

The large area of ​​farmland that was once abandoned should be divided into local talents. At least, the locals should have equal opportunities with the remnants of foreign bandits, rather than taking care of the thieves in priority like now! Otherwise, why should everyone be honest in paying food and taxes over the years, and strive to be good? They also follow others' behavior and kill people first and set fire to become bandits. It is because they can't stand it anymore, and then go out to the mountain to accept the government's placement. Will life be twice as nourished as it is now?

"Mr. Sun from our county is a little too soft-hearted!" When several household owners accidentally came to a place and drank a few light wine in the brazier, their feelings turned into discussion without realizing it.

"The remnants of bandits descended from Taihang Mountain have taken advantage of the locals!"

"The county magistrate is so soft!"

"County Magistrate Sun Shan is unfair!"

"Sun Shan is sorry to the local people!"

"This guy named Sun..."

Similar words began to spread inside and outside Dingzhou City as fast as possible. Then, under the promotion of some "mind people", they became the "consensus" of most locals at the fastest speed.

The speaker completely forgot that before the "remnants of bandits" came to clear the land, the farms along the Qingshui River had been uninhabited for many years. They completely forgot that the government had never restricted them from going to the river bank to clear the land, but they did not have the courage to deal with groups of wild dogs and wolves, and did not have the courage to face ghost fires and piles of white dead bones.

County Magistrate Sun Shan soon couldn't sit still.

It would be fine if one or two ordinary people complained in private, but whether they were caught in the yamen and beaten the board or laughed it off, it all depends on his mood. Anyway, since ancient times, officials have been for the people above to show them, so who cares about the people below saying good or bad?

However, the discussion has become increasingly high recently, and there are many local celebrities and even his elders in the participants, which makes Sun Shan unable to continue to be calm.

If the celebrity and his elders continue to act deaf and become dumb, it will be easy to affect the view of the governor Sun Fangjian of the Jiedushi. However, if he wants to make some "appropriate" adjustments to the previous decree, the cool breeze begins to vent his neck.

Although when Sun Shan initially placed refugees from Taihang Mountain, he had the idea of ​​fattening lambs and killing meat. After one night, he found that the one he "raised" by the Hanshui River might not be a group of sheep, but a group of bulls with horns. He could still be at peace with each other if he was furious. If the other party was furious and one horn was pushed over, it would be enough to turn the whole Ding County upside down.

Putting on armor, he was a powerful soldier, and getting on a war horse was an elite. Hu Yancong's son Hu Yanzan waved casually, and pulled out a cavalry from the "refugees" of several villages. He cooperated with Ning Ziming and ordered the two invading enemy troops to be wiped out in the blink of an eye!

"God, what evil did Mr. Sun do in his previous life?" Thinking about the secret report he received afterwards, the county magistrate Sun Shan was in tears.
Chapter completed!