I am afraid that this day is not far away.

"What do I have to do? It's just a good girl, my precious daughter, she's only sixteen this year......"

Liu Ruozai's heart was full of misery, thinking that his daughter would one day be sent to the sect as a slave, and such a miserable situation made him tremble all over his body.

This is not a conjecture, but a fact that is likely to happen.

The new governor of Datong is a member of the Donglin Party, and he will definitely not be stingy to attack himself from the Holy Lord.

Liu Ruozai rubbed his teeth fiercely, his fists clenched.

He has decided that he will go to inspect the subordinate forts tomorrow, and once he finds the traces of Jiannu, he will immediately order to go out of the city to meet the enemy. I just had to fight with the Tartars, kill a few heads, and save my life!

Life and death are at stake, the future is important, and this weak scholar is also ruthless.

At this time, there was a sudden sound of hurried footsteps outside, and then the voice of the old servant came from surprise and joy: "Master, great joy!" Great joy! ”

"What? Exultation? ”

Liu Ruozai trembled in his heart, regardless of the fact that he was still wearing a cloak and scattered, and he was barefoot, and hurriedly opened the door.

This old servant is the son of a family, and he has been with him for decades, and he is the most stable, if it weren't for a big event, he would definitely not be so panicked.

When he opened the door, the old servant's face was full of joy, and he seemed to have even the wrinkles on his face stretched, and handed a document in his hand to Liu Ruozai, and said vigorously: "Master, take a look, I'm very happy!" Great joy! ”

Liu Ruozai's heart beat violently, he took a deep breath, but it didn't seem to have any effect, he opened the envelope with trembling fingers, and only then did he see that the coldness on his face disappeared without a trace. After he finished reading, the old servant was surprised to find that the old man, who had always been unsmiling and moody, was now full of ecstasy.

Liu Ruozai looked up to the sky and laughed, laughing and laughing, but suddenly sat on the stone steps in front of the room, hugging his head and crying.

gave birth to hope in despair, and made him so out of shape when his mood was agitated.

Not far away, there was a sudden sound of broken footsteps, and a soft and sweet voice said anxiously: "Daddy, what's wrong?" ”

In the early morning of July 25, the year of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, it seemed to be no different from usual, and Anxiangdun once again ushered in a warm but not scorching morning sun.

It's just that there is a backlog of pigs and sheep in the pier, and the tall and divine horses of Liaodong in the simple stables by the wall are telling that today, it is indeed not the same as in the past.

The sun is warm, but the summer sun is not supposed to be like this, but it is even hotter, even scorching.

This is also an important reason for the reduction of grain production at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the arrival of the Xiaoice era, the continuous dry and cold cooling in the north, insufficient heat, unable to accumulate nutrients, grain production fell sharply, and even no grain harvest.

When he got up early in the morning, Dong Ce heard bad news.

He was squatting in front of the house to brush his teeth, when suddenly there was a commotion from the row of houses in the south, Dong Ce teased his eyelids and ignored it. Shi Jin walked over with a calm face and said in a low voice, "My lord, the Ma family is dead." ”

"What? Is Mars dead? ”

Dong Ce was shocked, stood up suddenly, stared at Shi Jin, and said in a deep voice: "What's the matter?" Didn't we get her back? Could it be that he was secretly wounded by the Tartar? ”

"It's suicidal." Shi Jin lowered his voice and spoke carefully.

Only then did Dong Ce know what was going on.

It turned out that after coming back yesterday, Su Dacheng beat and scolded Ma, and scolded her for insulting her reputation, why didn't she die. As a result, early this morning, as soon as Su Dacheng woke up, he saw a person hanging on the beam of his house, and he was out of breath for a long time.

"That Ma was humiliated by the Tartars, this is what Wang Yu saw with his own eyes, even if he didn't see it, he could guess it, those dog Tartars are not people! The night before yesterday, when we went to the night attack on the Tartar camp, Su Dacheng beat Ma's up, and yesterday he was beaten and scolded, and when I got up at night, I could still hear bursts of crying over there, and I thought that Ma couldn't stand it anymore, so he hanged himself. I went to see, the rice in the pot was still hot, and she cooked for her own man and children before leaving......"

Speaking of this, Shi Jin was also a little embarrassed.

Dong Ce looked at him fixedly, and suddenly asked, "What do you think?" ”

"It's better to die, suffer less sin, and everyone will live in peace." The corners of Shi Jin's mouth twitched, and he said expressionlessly.

"It's good to be dead, it's good to be dead!"

Dong Ce sighed gloomily.

It's true that Ma committed suicide, but who was the murderer who forced her to death? The Jurchens are naturally the culprits, but can Su Dacheng get away with responsibility? No one in the pier is spreading some ugly rumors?

That's!

This Su Dacheng is a murderer, and the name of the Rites and Religion is even more of a murderer!

But can Dong Ce manage it? Do you dare to care?

"Let's go, let's see." Dong Ce froze in place for half a while, sighed weakly, and waved his hand.

He can change the fighting spirit, morale, and even physical strength of these dun soldiers, but he can't change their inherent ethical standards and moral scales. This is the great defense of etiquette! It is an invisible line of constraints in this era, and even Dong Ce has not touched it and has the courage to change!

If it really wants to change, then it is really what a thousand people refer to, and it will end without a problem.

Dong Ce and the two walked over, and at this time, there were already a lot of dun soldiers and their families outside the door of Su Dacheng's house, except for Wang Yu and Zhou Zhong, who were on guard on the pier, almost everyone in the dun was there. There was a low whisper from the crowd, and Dong Ce clearly heard words like 'insulting the door' and 'damn it' inside.

Dong Ce could only sigh.

Seeing Dong Ce coming, everyone got out of the way, and many people kowtowed respectfully: "I've seen my lord." ”

Dong Ce didn't speak, and walked in with a calm face.

It can be seen that Su Dacheng's family is really poor, with four walls, and there is not even a decent piece of furniture. But this dilapidated home is quite neat and clean inside and out, like a woman in a cloth dress and a hairpin skirt, although there are many patches on her clothes, but it is clean and elegant.

Naturally, it is because there is a meticulous and diligent hostess in this family.

But at this moment, the hostess was lying quietly in the middle of the hall, and the hemp rope on the beam had not yet had time to be untied. Ma's body was covered with a dirty white cloth, only one hair was exposed, and her three children were all young, the eldest was no more than fourteen, and the youngest was just six years old. At this moment, the three children were kneeling beside their mother, weeping and weeping.

But no matter how much they cried, their mother would never come back.

Su Dacheng sat on the ground on the side in a daze, his face was full of wood, and it took a while for his eyes to slowly roll. The arrow wound on his body had already been wrapped, and now it was faintly leaking blood.

Seeing Dong Ce coming, he raised his head, his lips moved slightly, and then lowered his head again, ignoring it.

A trace of anger flashed on Shi Jin's face, and he shouted in a low voice: "Su Dacheng, my lord is here!" ”

"Eh......" Dong Ce waved his hand to signal that Shi Jin didn't need to say more, he walked to Ma's side.

After a long while, Fang Cai said: "This cloth is too dirty, people die greatly, how can they be so lazy?" I remember that I captured a lot of cloth from Jiannu, Shi Jin, you go to the storehouse to find some. ”

"Yes." Shi Jin answered, and just about to leave, Dong Ce said again: "Let Wang Tong go to Liupu Village again, and come back with a good coffin." ”

"Yes."

Shi Jin took the order and left.

Dong Ce patted Su Dacheng's shoulder, sighed, shook his head and left.

"Ahh As soon as he walked to the door, there was a depressed and painful howl that had been suppressed for a long time behind him, and Su Dacheng knelt on the ground, crying and crying.

"It's all gone! Let's disperse! Dong Ce waved his hand, and everyone saluted and dispersed.

Out of the house, he looked up at the sky, it was dark and gray, and it only made people's hearts depressed to the extreme, and they could hardly breathe.

On the morning of July 25, the people of Anxiangdun did nothing but do one thing -- dig a pit.

The corpses of Zhang Qisi and Zhai Rang have been parked in the dun for two nights and one day, although it is not too cold in summer now, but if they are not buried, they will stink.

Not to mention another one today.

The cemetery chosen is not far behind Anxiangdun, about 150 steps away from Anxiangdun, it is a hilly slope that sits west and looks east, the slope is very gentle, but it is enough to ensure that when it rains, water will not accumulate near the grave.

Although for the border people in northern Shanxi and Shaanxi, rain is really an unattainable thing.

After the unremitting efforts of everyone in the morning, two large pits were formed on the hillside that were one zhang deep and four or five feet square, and in a slightly farther position, there was a small pit, which was Ma's home in the future.

The pit was dug, and at noon, Wang Tong also came back with three coffins.

This is a fine coffin, and for the poor military families, it is simply beyond the reach of the past. The coffin was made of heavy and sturdy pine, and the coffin lid was more than half a foot thick, and even seven or eight strong men could not lift it, and the outside was painted with a layer of oily and dense black paint.

This was ordered by Dong Ce Wang Tong in the coffin shop in Liupuzhuang, and each bite cost four taels of silver, and it was Dong Ce's own pocket.

Several corpses had already been buried, the black coffins were covered with white coarse cloth, and their families were all dressed in linen and filial piety, kneeling there and weeping. The emotions that had been vented were almost stimulated by the current scene, but they became sad and grief-stricken.

Dong Ce waved his hand and said in a low voice: "Bury it!" ”

"Yes."

Several strong men lifted the coffin, tied it with ropes, and slowly lowered it into the pit, and the family of the deceased cried and shouted, unwilling to let the coffin be buried.

Before, Dong Ce only felt that this was a formality, but now, he only had depression and sadness in his heart.

This is my soldier, my subordinate!