Chen Mu sighed, squeaked under the bed board under his buttocks, and asked faintly: "Forty-five years of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty?" ”

More than four hundred years later, the soul frowned, the sunlight poured into the house through the half-branched window, and the air was thick with dust, but the nose seemed to have long been accustomed to this foul and rotten smell. A waist knife was placed on the table with short wooden legs, and it was slowly withdrawn, and the clear blade reflected a delicate and attractive face belonging to a young man. This is the beloved object of two generations of Chen Xiaoqi, and the rusty mottling on the spine of the knife shows its fine workmanship in the past, but after years of persistent sharpening, the blade has formed an unaesthetic arc, and perhaps it will break in two after the next full slash.

Behind the leaky wooden door hangs iron armor, and under the whitening blue cloth, the iron armor is rusty and even full of holes, giving people the illusion that a little finger force can pierce it. Under the armor was a musket slanted to a musket, which was called a firebolt in this era, and a two-foot wooden pole inserted the firebolt into it like a spear head, and the residue of the barrel was left with the residue of medicine that had not been fully burned for some year and month.

Chen Mu, the small flag of the hundred households, looked at the house with only four walls and was stunned for half an hour, and finally came back to his senses when the leaky wooden door was knocked, and when he opened the door, he saw a rough man with a beard standing in the barren yard, with a broken knife and a hole on his waist and a patch on his jacket that ran cotton, which seemed to be a nest, and he was a little short of breath with a sackcloth bag: "Brother Mu, my family has no food, the Hun family has just given birth, and I have two buckets of rice to support my hair, is it done?" ”

As if he was ashamed, the rough man pursed his lips and said with a little embarrassment: "It's okay for me to be hungry for a few meals, but the baby and the Hun family can't be hungry...... Brother Mu. ”

In his memory, this rough man was the cousin of the original owner, named Shao Tingda, who was vulgar by nature, and was laughed at as a reckless insect in the guard. But no matter how vulgar it is, there is no way, Shao Tingda is not only the military household of the guard under him, but also the son of his uncle, the old father of the family had a strict tax law when he was alive, in order to evade taxes, he was sent from Yuegang, Fujian to Qingyuan, Guangdong to be a military household Yu Ding, and grew up in Qingyuan Wei and Chen Mu together.

Chen Mu felt that the military system of the guard had been declining in recent years, and judging from what was happening around him alone, he could know the autumn in one leaf. Xiaoqi has a full number of ten military households, two of whom were deserters a few years ago, one who was executed for breaking the law last year, and an old one who froze to death in the spring of this year, and there are only five and a half people under his command, and those half are only thirteen years old, and they have not yet raised their swords.

People died and fled, but there were no new military households to replenish, and if the million guards of the Ming Dynasty were to follow this ratio, I am afraid that there would only be five or six hundred thousand old, weak, sick and disabled.

"Two buckets of rice—"

Reborn in the sixteenth century more than 400 years ago, Chen Mu's mind was messed up.

Obviously, there is an unfamiliarity from the soul, but the memory paradoxically brings Chen Mu a familiar feeling.

Shao Tingda is extremely strong among the generally old and weak guards, and he doesn't know how to save his life in this year, but having a sturdy relative and brother can always add a little security to people's hearts. What's more, it's not a big problem, just two buckets of rice. Chen Mu nodded and turned his head towards the rice jar, and Shao Tingda followed into the house.

However, Chen Mu, who had just taken two steps and opened the rice jar, seemed to have been immobilized, he really didn't expect this to happen, so he turned his head and said to his cousin: "Shao, Tingda, come and see, how much rice is in this jar?" ”

Chen Mu's chaotic memory ignored how poor his little flag was, and when he opened the rice jar, he could almost see the bottom of the jar when he stretched out his head! With the arm facing down, the finger-deep meter is brought together. He then looked at the cloth bag on the bed in the simple furnishings of the room...... The original owner of the body made a fortune a few days ago, so he carried a stone and three buckets of rice for a cotton jacket and a little pickled vegetables, and prepared for winter this year to eat and wear.

"Brother Mu, you're only three fights." Shao Tingda was a little frustrated, and his face was full of defeat when he glanced at the rice tank, he was close to Chen Mu in the guard, and the remaining few military households with the same banner had conflicts or quarrels, even the half was no exception, but he still said: "It's okay, I think about it again, in general, I won't starve to death." ”

Saying that, Shao Tingda walked out, and just after walking a few steps to the rotten vegetable field, he was stopped by Chen Mu, "Come back, what can you think of." ”

Calling people in and closing the door, Chen Mu sat on the creaking couch, then rubbed his face and said, "Take two buckets from me first, eat until you have a fortune and then think about it." ”

Hair and fortune refer to Chen Mu and hair. Shao Tingda's family's Zhengding and Yu Ding's eight people all rely on Tuntian, and there is no money, and now the winter has just passed, which is the most difficult time.

"Brother Mu, how can this work." Shao Tingda said and walked out again, "Three buckets of rice are just enough for you, I'll think about it again!" ”

At first, Chen Mu disagreed with this statement, even if there was only one bucket of rice left, it should be enough for him to eat for seven or eight days, after all, it was enough to eat three or two rice in one meal. I just wanted to refute, but my memory told him that the amount of food people in this era was different - there was not enough meat and vegetables as a non-staple food, the body could not consume enough fat, all relied on the staple food, coupled with the hard work of the guards and soldiers, there were many people who ate a meal of rice.

Chen Mu waved his hand weakly and said, "Okay, take the rice away, I can't eat much by myself, where can I compare to you." It's all tight, and you can always get through it...... Take the rice back and you'll come back later, my brother has something to ask you. ”

Shao Tingda's cheeks flushed with gratitude, and he kept thanking Chen Mu, rice was saving their family's life. Even if there are only two buckets, at least you don't have to worry about your parents and wives starving, you don't have to worry about the cubs not surviving, and when the newborn cats grow up, they can continue to farm for Chen Xiaoqi and carry knives and guns.

Looking at the back of Shao Tingda leaving, Chen Mu looked at the rice bowl that was about to bottom out again with a sad face, but he didn't have much worry about running out of food, but he felt deeply puzzled. The small banner of the guard is the lowest level of military attache under the guard military system of the Ming Dynasty. In the past, he had heard others on the Internet say that the guards were serfs and peasant soldiers, but even if Shao Tingda was a serf and a peasant soldier, he had never heard of a serf leader starving.

If even he lived such a hungry life, then what kind of bad life should ordinary people live?

The only remaining bucket of brown rice with rice worms in the rice bowl seemed to be laughing at him for not understanding life, shaking his head to throw away the messy thoughts, Chen Mu sat on the creaking bed and tried his best to recall all the memories of this era in his mind that did not belong to him, so as to suppress the strong sense of uneasiness and loneliness that slowly rose in his heart.

He wants to eat meat, he wants to.

Note: The reference source of food consumption is the elders who have participated in the educated youth going to the countryside.