Xiang Yu, the overlord of Chu, once said that wealth and nobility do not return to their hometowns, such as clothes and brocade at night. Becoming famous and returning home, this is also the dream of the vast majority of people who go out.

Early in the morning, Li Jing returned to the Jincheng Mansion store at the foot of the mountain with the deep jade tooth trace on the tiger's mouth on his left hand. He was greeted by Li Hui'er and others, but he never saw the white figure again. Seeing him appear, Yu Youniang came over to greet him with concern. It turned out that everyone thought that he had gone back to Wang Li Village alone last night, Li Jing absentmindedly explained a few words to everyone, only saying that he was worshipping Buddha in the temple, and then suddenly fell asleep and didn't wake up until morning. Li Hui'er listened to it and asked Li Jing a few words, but she didn't pay too much attention to it. No one thought that Li Jing experienced such a bizarre and charming night last night.

While everyone was packing their luggage, Li Jing took the initiative to go to the shopkeeper to settle the bill. However, the checkout is only incidental, and what he really cares about is Zhang Yingying. After asking a few words, the shopkeeper replied that Zhang Yingying had come back more than half an hour ago and settled the account and left. After asking a few more words, I don't know where she came from and where she went. At this time, Li Jing regretted a little in his heart, why he didn't ask about her identity last night.

Because of this incident, Li Jing has been in a little low mood all morning. However, the others were very excited, if it weren't for Li Jing's military regulations, the more than 100 people would have been in a hurry to go home last night. Most of them stayed up all night, excitedly imagining what it would be like when they returned home with money and food.

Before disbanding the team, more than 100 people had a relatively rich breakfast at the end. Lin Wei, Wang Chong and the others all stepped forward to explain some things carefully, but Li Jing just said a few words casually, and then ordered the dissolution after dinner and went back to their respective homes.

After the other brothers took their own money and food on their shoulders and went on the road, there were only nine people left from Wang Li Village in the store, as well as Lin Wei and the four of them, as well as Li Hui'er and Yu Youniang, plus their four maids, a total of nineteen people.

"I'm home, brother!" Wang Shi looked at the items piled up with twenty carriages with an excited face, and said happily to Li Jing.

"Let's go!" Li Jing nodded, turned over and got on the horse, he could understand the feelings of the little stones. It has only been a little more than a month since I left the village, but when I come back, it is completely different. Except for the dead Wang Liang, they all have a mixed appearance, not to mention that Li Jing is now a dignified general, even Xiaoshi is also a gang leader. And they all knew that after following Li Jing to Shamen after the New Year, several of them would definitely mention it again and officially be promoted to the ranks.

When they returned to the village today, each of them deliberately changed into a brand-new cyan round-necked robe made when they were in the city, with a black gauze head, a leather belt around their waists, and black leather boots under their feet. Coupled with the horse that a few people stepped on, it was a freshly dressed angry horse when it landed, and the spring breeze was proud.

Even Li Jing deliberately changed into a brand new green Lingluo official robe before going on the road, and the leather belt around his waist was replaced by a green jade belt given by the county lord. All nineteen men rode in front, and twenty carriages behind were driven by chauffeurs hired from the mansion.

It is only more than ten miles from Didian to Wangli Village, and now that the New Year is approaching, the fields are already barren because of drought, but there are many passers-by everywhere on the road. Most of these people are shabby, hungry, and even many of them are in charge of their families. A head in charge of escorting the car in the Didian followed behind Li Jing, and saw that Li Jing's eyes lingered on those people from time to time, and hurriedly said: "It's all famine, the previous drought in Henan, Hebei, and Hedong, and then the locust plague, almost the whole year was lost." As early as June and July, the people in many places had run out of grain, and after the new emperor ascended the throne, he also ordered all prefectures and counties to open warehouses and release grain for disaster relief, but in fact, there were not many people in the prefectures and counties who released grain at all. We Dengju is close to the sea, and there is a sea route to the Silla and Bohai Seas, so it is finally better. But basically those who have been able to hold on to the present are almost exhausted. If you want to survive, you can only come out and eat. ”

"I heard that the situation in Xuzhou is even more serious than ours, and many displaced people have gathered to make trouble and rob the granary. Ay! ”

Li Jing kept a calm face and did not speak. Without the coachman's explanation, he knew better than anyone how serious the famine was. The situation has not yet reached the worst time, and most of the people have already fled the famine to ask for food, and they can barely save their lives. But next year, there will be another great drought, and by then, more people will join the ranks of fleeing the famine and asking for food, and then they will find that the Central Plains will not even have food. Then, these hungry people will really get out of control, and Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao will also take advantage of the opportunity.

Many of the hungry people on the road came to join their relatives and friends, and compared with many other prefectures and counties in Henan and Hebei, Dengzhou, which guards the countless ports along the coast of the Shandong Peninsula, is undoubtedly much better. At least, the people of Dengzhou can still go to the sea to fish, go to the port wharf to carry work, and exchange for some food. When many hungry people saw Li Jing and his team, dozens of tall horses, and twenty carts of goods, especially when most of them were full of grain bags, their eyes lit up. They begged all the way to eat, and they couldn't remember the last time they had seen so much food.

Envy, and then expectation.

An eight- or nine-year-old girl with a yellow face and unkempt hair stared at the grain on the carriage with bright eyes, and pulled her father, who was also thin and imhuman, and said, "Aya, grain." ”

The man was in his thirties, with thick hands and feet, and he could see that he was also a big man with a tiger's back and a bear's waist, but now he has become a thin bamboo pole. He was half-lying on the road, his lips were already chapped and chapped, and when he heard his daughter's words, he looked up at the group that had come, and then at his daughter and the woman who was already unconscious, and several other children. struggled to get up, but finally couldn't get up, and fell on the dead grass on the side of the road.

The little girl went to pull her father a few times, but she couldn't help him up, and then she suddenly ran to the middle of the road, and knelt there with a puff.

"Please give me some food to save Ayea and her younger brothers, Apricot is willing to be a maid for you, Apricot will do laundry and sweep the floor and cook, she will never waste food in vain, Apricot only needs a bowl of porridge a day. Please, save me, Aye, Niang, and their brothers. ”

The little girl suddenly rushed out, but fortunately, Li Jing, who was in front of the horse, reacted quickly, grabbed the reins, stepped off the black horse, which is also a good war horse, and stood up with a neigh, but did not trample on the young body.

Li Jing's brows furrowed slightly, but he couldn't bear to blame this poor child. When I think of myself when I first came to this world, isn't it also difficult to fill my stomach? "Little Stone, give them a bag of grain." Xiao Shi didn't say anything when he heard this, rode to the carriage behind, took a bag of grain, and came to the front again, jumped off the horse and handed the grain to the thin apricot. "Take it, this is the general of my family to give you."

Xing'er accepted the bag of grain, looked at Li Jing with bright eyes, and then kowtowed three times on the ground, got up and picked up the bag of grain, which was full of ten buckets and fifty-five pounds, nearly half a stone, and staggered back to the side of the road. At a distance of more than ten steps, Li Jing was a little surprised to see that this little girl had so much strength in such a thin body. Li Jing was about to continue on his way, but saw the skinny girl say something beside her parents, then knelt down and kowtowed to her parents a few times, then got up and walked over to them empty-handed.

Xing'er walked straight to Li Jing's horse, Li Jing was slightly surprised, thinking that she just wanted to ask for more food, so she said: "Xiaoshi, you get her another bag of grain, by the way, you can take some steamed cakes and water and send it to her family." They were all starving, and they probably didn't have the strength to cook just by giving them food. ”

Little Stone took dry food and water, and delivered a bag of grain directly to the big man. When he came back, Li Jing kicked the horse's belly and continued to move forward, but the little girl actually continued to follow his horse, although it was a little hard, but she gritted her teeth and persevered.

"Little girl, I have already given your family two bags of grain, what are you going to do with me?" Li Jing asked a little puzzled.

"Childe, Xing'er has been sold to Childe as a maid, where Childe goes, Xing'er has to follow." Xing'er looked up at Li Jing and said with a serious face.

Li Jing was a little surprised, and said with a smile: "The grain just now was just given to you by me, not to buy your grain." You can go back and follow your parents to go to relatives. ”

"Apricot Aya taught me before that you can't take other people's things for nothing. You give the apricot food, and the apricot will be a handmaid for the son. Xing'er stared at Li Jing with both eyes, like a poor stray cat, "The relatives we want to vote for have also fled, and our family has nowhere to vote." If Xing'er follows her son, she will be able to save a portion of food for her younger brothers to eat, and she may be able to persevere. ”

Li Jing was shocked by her words, and she didn't expect a little girl to have this kind of thought. He felt his heart be stabbed, and he couldn't help jumping off the horse, picking up this skinny girl, who was as light as a puppy and kitten, helping her remove the grass clippings from her head, and walking to the man who was eating steamed cakes with bright eyes. As soon as the man saw Li Jing coming, he hurriedly wanted to kowtow to him and kneel, but Li Jing hurriedly stopped him.

"Would you like to work in my house? Follow me if you want. When you arrive at my house, I will provide food, shelter and clothing for your family. ”

The man seemed to be a little unable to believe Li Jing's words, and after being stunned for a long time, he finally came back to his senses, pulled the woman who had just woken up and the three children and kowtowed to Li Jing violently, and he couldn't stop it. After kowtowing, when Li Jing pulled him up, this big man who was seven feet tall and more than two meters tall was actually in tears and couldn't cry.