rebirth [rebirth]

On May [-], Fengning County suddenly became hot.

It seems that the coldness of winter has not yet been hidden in the bones. Overnight, most of the inland counties in Beier County were shrouded in brilliant golden crows. The hot sun baked the earth, and summer was just around the corner.

The hot and dry wind blows from the east, causing people in the streets and alleys to take off their winter clothes and put on linen summer clothes.

The weather is getting warmer, and it stands to reason that the people should be happy.

After surviving the winter, the new year is just around the corner. The winter wheat has stood upright all winter, and it is time for it to grow vigorously.

However, in May of this year, for some reason, it was so hot that the green and tender wheat grains were no match for the scorching heat, and their heads fell down one after another.

The people who depended on the farmland for food had to carry water to irrigate day and night, but they still couldn't resist the scorching temperature. The wheat that the farmers depended on for a living quickly dried up.

It only took a few days, and the whole Beier County became panicked.

Da Chu lasted for more than two hundred years. By the time of Emperor Rong Jingxuan’s grandfather, Emperor Wen, the agricultural tax had been reduced to the lowest level. Excluding the count and oral taxes, which were very low, the agricultural tax was only one in twenty.

That is to say, only one-twentieth of the output of one mu of land has to be turned over to the state treasury.

Of course, there is also a minimum amount for this, which is multiplied by calculation and oral Fu depending on the year.

Although Emperor Yongyan was not a good emperor, he never changed the taxes set by his father himself, probably because he didn't care much about how much money was in the treasury.

Regardless of the reason, at least in the first ten years of his reign, the people of Dachu lived and worked in peace and contentment.

But now, in such a calamitous year, the sky above has changed again. It is a lie for the people to say that they are not afraid.

The people in the interior are worried about the harvest of winter wheat, while Fengcheng near the sea is worried about the cold weather, and the grapes will not be able to flower and seed.

Contrary to the unbearable heat in the northern mountainous areas, the prefectures and counties near the sea are still as cold as winter, and the humid and icy sea breeze swirls past, bringing biting cold.

During Xiaoman's night, it snowed again in Fengcheng.

The people were worried about the vines in their homes and the danger of going to sea tomorrow. Many families stayed up all night and kept their eyes open until dawn.

Just as the sun was twilight, three dusty figures came to the gate of the Gu family on Zhuangyuan Street, Ding'an County.

Because the July [-] hot filial piety has passed, the Gu family has already removed the white sails, and only hung two white lanterns under the gate to show that the filial piety has not yet been done.

The three of them were all men, all wearing thick cloaks, which completely covered their faces and figures.

The one standing in front is unusually tall, it seems to be more than eight feet, just standing there, it is like a mountain peak.

Although the two behind him were not short, they looked a bit thin after following him.

The tall man looked around for a moment, then reached out and knocked on the door of Gu Mansion.

It was only the first moment of Mao Shi, the sky was not yet clear, and there was no one on Zhuangyuan Street.

The door of Gu's house was quickly opened, and there was an old man in his fifties standing inside, with his round belly on his back, looking at them with half-closed eyes.

He didn't care much at first, but when he saw the person coming from the door, he suddenly opened his eyes wide and stammered, "Consort...consort..."

The tall man hurriedly shook his head at him, and asked in a low voice: "I wonder if Mr. Gu is at home, I have business to visit."

After all, the old man had seen the big world, so he quickly calmed down. He turned his head to look at the two people behind the man, and with confidence in his mind, he stepped aside and let the three of them enter the house.

When the gate was firmly closed, the old man respectfully saluted the three: "Master Fu, two sons, my master is in the main room right now, please follow me to the main hall and wait, the younger one will go in right now." report."

The tall man nodded, looked back at his companion, and followed him into the main hall.

Although they didn't remember the name of the old butler of the Gu family, they had met a few times and had some impressions.Several people waited in the main hall for no more than a cup of tea, then they watched Gu Guangbo hurried out from the wing room.

He seemed to have just woken up, his clothes were fairly neatly dressed, but his long hair was loose behind him, tied with only a hair tie, and he seemed in a hurry.

He suddenly looked up and saw that the three were acquaintances whom he hadn't seen for a long time, he couldn't help but heaved a sigh of relief, and went forward to salute: "Brother Fu, the son of the Marquis of Anguo, the son of the Marquis of Wuping, you are well, the students are polite here. "

Fu Yanhe, the son-in-law of the eldest princess, quickly stood up and bowed his hands in return: "Mr. Gu, you are very polite. I am here to visit an old friend. I don't know..."

He said it a little tactfully.

Of the three of them, one should have defected with the Eldest Princess, and the other two princes should enjoy the glory in Yong'an, so they shouldn't be here.

But obviously, Gu Guangbo was not surprised that they came to his home, and even took it for granted.

He just smiled when he heard what the eldest son-in-law said, and didn't answer directly, but asked instead: "I don't know where Madam is now? Why did you come to Fengcheng?"

"My wife is currently in the Fengcheng inn. He and his family moved to Fengcheng to join their brothers."

The wife they were talking about was the eldest princess Rong Jingyao.

After hearing this, Gu Guangbo pondered for a moment, and said: "Because Feng Xiandi is not in the mansion now, and he didn't instruct a few people to go to defection in advance, I wonder if there is any token?"

Fu Yanhe didn't act immediately, he looked at Gu Guangbo silently for a long time, and finally took out a tube of wolf hair from his bosom.

It was a very common pen, not expensive, Fu Yanhe unscrewed the tip of the pen, and poured out a roll of yellowed paper from it.

During the whole process, no one spoke in the main hall.

After he unrolled the roll of paper, Gu Guangbo realized that it was actually sprinkled gold paper.

Only the royal family of the Rong family can use the sprinkled gold paper, and Fu Yanhe was able to take it out, which shows that at least he came here at the request of the eldest princess.

He took the paper, spread the letter and read it, only to find that the sharp snow on it was Rong Jingxuan's handwriting.

My sister, seeing the letter as an edict, immediately sneaked out of the princess mansion, left Beijing and went north to Fengcheng.

There is no signature at the bottom of the paper, only a red seal.

The four big characters of Chu Ping Rong An in the letter are exactly the jade seal passed down by Da Chu for more than [-] years.

When Gu Guangbo looked at the paper at first glance, he was in a daze for a moment.From the platinum yellowed paper, he seemed to see that Da Chu was still there, Rong Jingxuan was still sitting on the throne, and his father, Da Chu's teacher, Gu Li, was still holding a scroll and teaching everyone.

"Brother Fu, when did you receive this?"

"Brothers' big wedding day, Duanmu personally sent it off."

Gu Guangbo finally breathed a sigh of relief this time. Gu Guli was the teacher of Rong Jingxuan and Xie Mingze, who taught them to grow up. As a senior, he also accompanied them to study and practice calligraphy.

He would never mistake the words of the two of them.

Since it was Rong Jingxuan's personal instruction, it is reasonable for the eldest son-in-law to come here this time.

However, Gu Guangbo did not tell Rong Jingxuan's whereabouts right away, but instead asked the two princes behind: "I don't know why the two princes came here?"

Yu Xiude, the son of Marquis of An Guo, and Chen Qingyi, the son of Marquis of Wu'an, looked at each other, and stood upright with folded hands, "I'll come and follow Your Majesty."

The two of them were both founding heroes, so it can be said that they are full of loyalty, and they are about the same age as Rong Jingxuan and Xie Mingze. They grew up together, and their relationship is naturally extraordinary.

When the two of them said this, Gu Guangbo believed it.

He pondered for a moment, but decided to tell the truth: "Brother Fu, the two eldest sons, Your Majesty is currently at the foot of the distant mountain. If you want to join us, I will write a letter and let the housekeeper accompany you to go."

While Gu Guangbo was talking, he changed the topic: "However, we can only act at ten o'clock in the middle of the night."

Fu Yan and Ben came to join the brothers together with the eldest princess, and they could go at any time.They met Yu Xiude and Chen Qingyi on the way. Chen Qingyi was alone, and Yu Xiude brought his wife, Hua Jingshu. The three of them looked like they were in the dust. It was obvious that they all came out with the common people when Yongan just opened the city. of.

After they set a time, Fu Yanhe and Yu Xiude went back to the inn to pick up their family.

At the same time, Rong Jingxuan and Xie Mingze were counting the soldiers and rations in the brave camp at the foot of the distant mountain.

After speaking with the old master that day, they took the ten Ding Kai who had already persuaded them to surrender to the Yongwu camp.The brave army deserves to be called the last loyal guard of Da Chu. When the old Hou Ye gave an order, no one refused to obey the order.

Although excluding the two teams of defenders, the firehead soldiers, the seriously wounded soldiers and the homeless veterans, there are only more than 600 soldiers left in the brave camp, but these 600 people are not too weak.

Those who can enter the brave camp are all the best from the camps from all over the country. After all, the brave army defending the imperial capital is the last defense of Yong'an.

What Rong Jingxuan and Xie Mingze are doing is to plan how to drill and use these soldiers.

Because there were only less than 1000 defenders left, the entire brave camp was empty, and only a few barracks lived in soldiers, which were very close to the commander's garrison.

Rong Jingxuan and Xie Mingze lived in the barracks next to the old Hou Ye. General Hussars and General Jin Wu used to live here. The room is very spacious and the furnishings are clean and tidy.

The orderly originally prepared two adjacent barracks for the two of them, but Rong Jingxuan directly said that they could live together.

The little orderly was only fifteen or sixteen years old, and when he saw the two generals being so decisive, he was a little nervous and stammered, "The bamboo bed is too small for the two generals to sleep on."

For some reason, these words made Xie Mingze blush.

He looked at Rong Jingxuan's face as a matter of course, so he had no choice but to explain: "It's okay, let's add an extra bed, it's okay."

The little orderly then left half apprehensive, half puzzled.

As the sky gradually darkened, Xie Mingze got up and lit the oil lamp, and when he looked down, he saw Rong Jingxuan's serious profile.

He actually wanted to ask him why he was so persistent and stayed with him day and night, but when the words came to his lips, he didn't know how to ask.

Rong Jingxuan felt his gaze and suddenly raised his head to look at him.

There was a bang, and the foreheads of the two bumped into each other. Then they both covered their faces and looked at each other in surprise.

Seeing that his eyes were a little dull, Rong Jingxuan couldn't help laughing out loud: "Hey, I'm sorry, Ze, did it hurt?"

Xie Mingze shook his head and put down his hands.

He was a little hesitant, but finally got up the courage to ask, "Why do we have to live together?"

Rong Jingxuan was taken aback for a moment, then as if joking, he suddenly leaned forward, raised his eyebrows and said, "Of course we want to live together, because we are husband and wife."

Xie Mingze didn't know how to answer the call.

He felt his heart warm up, and those inexplicable feelings burst out along with the word "husband and wife", which made his ears turn red.

Seeing that he seemed really embarrassed, Rong Jingxuan slightly restrained his smile.

"Because I'm afraid, afraid that you will leave me." He said lightly.

So I want to see you all the time, staring at you, day and night can not be separated.