Leaving the small village, the murmur of the stream seemed to be still in his ears. Ning Yi carried a small lantern and walked along the post road with Yunzhu, the carriage followed.
Looking back, the little lights in the small village have become thinner, and they are fused with the heaven and earth at night, and can't see any difference. Holding her husband's hand, Yunzhu could still feel the depression in his emotions, which was caused by the battle report from the north, but the remarks he heard in the upper part of the room did not bother him. cause.
Following her husband's ups and downs over the years, Yunzhu can understand what Ning Yi, Xigua and others are doing after seeing their discussions over the years. At this time, after walking a long way, Yunzhu said this matter softly.
"That is... Master Zhong of Zhong Hecheng, I have seen it in the academy. I have never heard him talk about these thoughts before..."
The orange lanterns went all the way forward. On the other side of the road, there were two people with baskets on their backs. They were farmers who didn't know where they were going. Let Ning Yi and the carriages and horses behind him pass, and Ning Yi gestured to them with a lantern.
The two farmers passed from here, and Ning Yi just said as he watched their backs walk in the starlight in the distance.
"If this Zhong Hecheng intends to meet you in the academy, he should be careful, but it is unlikely. He has a more important mission, and he doesn't want me to see him."
"Huh?" Yun Zhuxiu frowned, "He's... here to make trouble? I thought he was influenced by Agua."
Ning Yi smiled: "It's not wrong to say that it was Agua's influence."
"But you said that Agua is extreme."
"The beginning of thinking is extreme." Ning Yi smiled at his wife, "What's wrong with equality for everyone? It's the direction that human beings should go for thousands of years. Good. I'm glad they picked up the idea."
"Liheng is not afraid of getting burned." Seeing Ning Yi's calm attitude, Yunzhu let go of some of his worries. At this time, he also smiled and eased his footsteps. The two walked forward in the night wind, and Ning Yi was slightly sideways. Head tilted.
"When talking about equality with people, one of the biggest questions is whether smart people can be equal to stupid people, capable people can be equal to incompetent people, lazy people can be equal to hard-working people. In fact, of course not. This is not because of the inability of reason, but because it cannot be done at all, but what is the difference between a capable person and an incompetent person? What is the difference between lazy and hard-working people? Yunzhu, you teach in school. There is no class, but a smart child may not be able to learn well, and a fool may work harder. If you meet a guy who can't be carved, will you think that you can't teach it well or that everyone in the world can't teach it well?"
"Sometimes I feel that no one in the world can teach it well." Yunzhu smiled, and then said, "But of course, some teachers put a lot of effort into teaching their children."
"In this world, anyone can become good, and everyone can become useful. Smart children have different teaching methods, stupid children have different teaching methods, and everyone has the possibility of becoming a good person. Those who make people look up highly Heroes and great sages, they were all such stupid children in the beginning. Is there any difference between Confucius and the farmers who used to be? Actually no, they took different paths and became different people. You have Confucius and Yunzhu. What's the difference..."
"Yes." Yunzhu said quickly.
Ning Yi had already taken her hand and smiled: "No. This is equality for all."
"...Everyone has an equal possibility. Are all the smart people who can become adults? I don't think so. Some smart people are unstable and can't study, but suffer losses. The stupid people know their own clumsiness and poverty. However, the later workers can achieve achievements earlier. Then, is it possible for the smart person who can't study to develop the character of study? Of course, there are ways to do it. If he encounters something, encounters a painful lesson, he knows If you can't characterize the harm, you can make up for your own shortcomings."
"... Gong Sima has a saying: Gai Xibo was restrained and performed "Book of Changes"; Zhong Nie's "Spring and Autumn"; Qu Yuan was exiled, and he wrote "Li Sao"... Most people who have had a career, life is often not smooth sailing, in fact, It is these trials and tribulations that make them understand their own insignificance and incapacity to explore some things in this world that cannot be changed. Deeds come…”
“…Everyone is equal in terms of possibility. Everyone can gain wisdom through learning, through self-discipline, through continuous induction and thinking, and finally achieve equality and become an excellent person. However, nothing is To do it, to be born wanting to be equal, to sit at home and hold your head, expecting to be as equal as those who work hard and fight desperately, is a joke, of course... It would be nice if it could be done, but it must not be done. "
Ning Yi looked back: "The two peasants who just walked past, when we first came, they would kneel by the roadside. They don't have the idea of equality in their hearts, and it's not their fault. In other words, inequality is natural, because they have lived in inequality all their lives, even if someone wants to be good, no matter how smart they are, they have no money, no books, no teachers. This is unfair to them. But if some people are excellent, work hard, work hard, and exhaust everything to become more powerful, and some people are lazy to do things, cherish their bodies in the face of big things, and forget their righteousness when they see small profits, the equality of these two people is the greatest irony of equality.”
"It takes thousands of years to plant a sense of equality in the hearts of a generation. It takes thousands of years to find out how to be equal. Some people are lazy, why are they lazy? What kind of environment did he experience since he was a child, and he developed such a character? It's not because life is too good, then, for the children who are doing well, is there any way for the teacher to teach them the sense of urgency so that they can feel the same way?"
"A person who can work hard, why can he fight, is it because his family was too poor in the past, or because he enjoys a sense of accomplishment? In fact, as for what a good person should do, if a person is willing to read books, he will already be at the age of 30. I understand, the difference is only in how to do it. Diligence, restraint, hard work, seriousness... Tens of millions of children in the world are born, how to have a powerful system, so that after learning, they can inspire their excellent things, when When everyone in the world starts to be good, that's when everyone is equal."
Maybe it was because he thought a lot about these things on weekdays, Ning Yi whispered while walking away, Yunzhu was silent, but he could understand the sadness behind it. If the sacrifices of Zhu Biao and others are really sacrificed, this is the value of their sacrifices, or, in other words, this is something that their husband "has to do".
The dirt road turned a corner, and under the distant sky, the fire of the Huaxia military camp was spreading, and the stars were against the Milky Way in the sky. The couple stopped for a while, holding the small lantern, standing under the tree by the roadside and watching.
"In our lifetime, I'm afraid we won't see everyone being equal." Yunzhu smiled and said in a low voice.
"That's thousands of years, tens of thousands of years." Ning Yi looked over there and replied softly, "When everyone can read and write, it's just the first step. It's very easy to put the truth in people's mouths. It is difficult and difficult to dissolve into people's hearts. Cultural systems, philosophical systems, educational systems... After a thousand years of exploration, we may be able to see true human equality."
"So, even the most extreme equality, as long as they really study and discuss... it's a good thing."
Ning Yi said this, his words have become lighter, he smiled in the dark, and then Yunzhu seemed to hear a sentence: "I have to thank Li Pin..."
This sentence was suspected of being windy, and Yunzhu looked over: "... huh?"
"What?" Ning Yi smiled and looked over. Before Yunzhu could speak, he suddenly said, "By the way, one day, men and women will become equal."
"what?"
"When men and women are equal, and everyone does similar jobs and assumes similar responsibilities, no one will be able to marry as many wives as I do... Well, at that time, if everyone turns out the old accounts, I will probably make the people criticize them. ."
As he said this, he pressed Yunzhu's hand to his lips, and Yunzhu smiled so much that his eyes narrowed: "Then it's interesting..."
"...But in this life, let me take advantage of it like this."
After he finished saying this, he looked at the military camp in the distance, the couple stopped talking, and after a while, they sat down on the grassy slope by the roadside.
The warm yellow light was like a gathering of fireflies. Yunzhu sat there and turned to look at Ning Yi next to him. More than ten years have passed since they met and fell in love.
Apart from the calm in the first few years, for more than ten years after that, they all seemed to be riding a boat in a stormy sea. Even though she came out of the official's house, Yunzhu never imagined that she would experience such a change in her life. At that time, she lived in a small building by the river, watching the scholar run past the door every day. With peaceful greetings and greetings, she fantasized that this life could pass quietly as her concubine or outer chamber.
Jiang Ning has finally become a thing of the past, and since then it is an experience that even the most bizarre imagination has never had. The calm and calm young scholar turned the world upside down and gradually entered middle age. He was no longer as calm as he used to be. The small ship sailed into the sea and into the wind and waves. With a fighting attitude, he was meticulously fighting against the giant waves. Even the demons who were feared by the world were actually always clenching their teeth and tensing their spirits.
Over the years, Yunzhu has been teaching in the school, and occasionally listening to Ning Yi and Xigua talk about the idea of equality, she can understand it, and her heart will feel hot. But at this moment, when she looked at the man sitting beside her, she just thought back to Jiang Ning back then. She thought: No matter what I do, I just hope he can be fine, that's fine.
She reached out, trying to smooth his frown. Ning Yi glanced at her, but he didn't hear her voice, but he just hugged her smoothly. The couple sat next to each other and sat for a while in the bright yellow light under the tree. Under the grassy slope, the sound of the stream is really gurgling, like Jiangning many years ago, they chatted under the tree, the Qinhuai River flowed by...
Not long after, Ning Yi returned to the yard and summoned the staff to continue the meeting. The time did not stop. It was raining outside that night.
****************
Time never stops.
On both sides of the Yellow River, it rained heavily. There are many things, just like every raindrop in this heavy rain, it takes care of itself and cuts across the sky and the earth all the time, and gathers in the direction of streams, rivers, and seas.
When they come together, we can see where it's going, its destructive power. But when it fell, no one could take care of where every drop of rain went.
In the Central Plains, the torrential rain of the world has been falling for a year.
This is one of those ordinary rainwater...
dark night.
The rumbling sound was roaring, and the water flowed over the village and washed down the houses. In the heavy rain, some people shouted, some people ran, and some people were running around in the dark mountains.
Lightning streaks across the night sky, and white light illuminates the scene ahead. Under the hillside, the vast waters flood the places where people usually live. Countless sundries are rolling in the water, roofs, trees, corpses, kings Xing stood in the rain, trembling all over.
On the hillside, a small number of people who escaped were still shouting in the rain, and some were crying out the names of their family members. People walk up the mountain, the muddy water flows down the mountain, some people fall into the water, roll down, and cry hysterically in the dark.
The heavy rain continued, and in the daytime, people who climbed to the top of the mountain could see the surrounding scene clearly. The big river burst its banks in the dark night, rushing down from the upper reaches, although some people reported the news, only two or three survivors escaped from the village. Wang Xing dragged out a small bag of dried fish, and all his belongings were gone.
The rain didn't stop. He hid under the tree and built a small shed with branches. His whole body was shaking, and more people were crying in the distance or not far away.
Many people's families died in the flood, and the survivors not only had to face such sadness, but what was even more terrifying was that all their belongings and even their food were washed away by the flood. Wang Xing shivered for a while in the small shed.
When it was dawn, the rain gradually decreased, and the surviving villagers gathered together. Then, a strange thing happened.
They saw Wang Xing carrying the bag of dried fish with half a pot in his hand: "I only have these things at home. If it rains, it will be moldy in the future. Let's cook and eat."
Wang Xing is usually the most stingy and slippery in the village. He has a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks. He is lazy and timid. to the daughter-in-law. But at this time, the expression on his face was very different, and he actually took out the last food to distribute to others, which shocked everyone.
Of course, when there was a sudden disaster at this time, the doubts in their hearts turned into doubts, and then everyone started a fire, divided the dried fish, and ate it to satisfy their hunger. When they shared the dried fish, the survivors in the village did not find any trace of Wang Xing. Soon after arriving, a child turned around the big rock behind the mountain and saw something strange again.
Wang Xing squatted behind the stone, digging for something with the stone flakes, then dug out a long object wrapped in tarpaulin, opened the tarpaulin, and found a knife inside.
At this time, there was still rain falling from the sky. Wang Xing was soaked in the heavy rain all night, and his body was soaked. His hair was sticking to his face, like a lost dog in the water. In addition, he was not good-looking. This scene looks amazing. Chilled all over.
The child was very frightened. Soon after, he told the adults in the village about the matter. The adults were also taken aback. Some people said that there was nothing left. If he dares to take a knife, the child must have misunderstood. Everyone searched for it, but since then, they have never seen the dilapidated households in this village.
Just as they were looking around, Wang Xing was already walking on the mountain road far away from here.
The heavy rain in the Central Plains has actually been falling for more than ten years.
From the first time the Jurchen went south, to the establishment of the pseudo-Qi, and now, life has never been easier. The Yellow River has been the mother river since ancient times, but the residents living on both sides of the Yellow River both love it and fear it. Even in the prosperous period of the Wu Dynasty, the annual cost of controlling the Yellow River was sky-high. The looting of property, the annual work of curbing the yellow gold, has also stopped.
In the past ten years, the dykes of the Yellow River have become worse and worse, and in addition to the flood, the annual plague, refugees, conscription, and extortionate taxes have long pushed people to the brink of life and death. As for this spring in the tenth year of Jianshuo, what was striking was the resistance of Jindi and the fierce battle of Damingfu, but long before that, the floods above people's heads had already raged.
Since the Jurchen expedition began in the second half of last year, the conscription and extortionate taxes in the Central Plains have reached the point of ripping off the bones. After Wanyanchang took over Li Xizhi's site, in order to support the Eastern Route Army's southern expedition, the Central Plains' money and grain tax was increased several times.
In the first few months, almost half of the affairs officials on Li Xizhi's site had been replaced. As for those who were "replaced", their heads had been hung on the city wall to show the public. The food storage in the homes of the Han people in the Central Plains has been completely emptied. As long as the officials are brutal enough, there is basically a way to survive.
As for the other way to survive, it was to serve as a soldier for food. When Li Xizhi died, nearly 200,000 troops were scattered. After Wanyan Chang took over military affairs, he mobilized the remaining troops not long after, and launched conscription at the same time. During the siege of Damingfu, the Han troops on the front line ate like beggars, some died in the war, and some were scattered again. Troops", already as many as 400,000.
The combat power of these "troops" may not be high, but they only need to be able to grab money and grain from the people. This part of the money and grain belongs to them, and some of them begin to be sent to the south. As for March, when the city of Damingfu was destroyed, north of the Yellow River was not just a word to describe the people's hardship. Cannibalism has already appeared in many places.
Wang Xing is a coward.
There were a few people who knew that he was forcibly recruited to be a soldier. When he was a soldier to attack Xiaocanghe, he was afraid and ran away. The matter of Xiaocanghe came to an end, and he secretly ran back. He was still young when he was captured and enlisted in the army. Over the years, the situation has been chaotic, and people in the village have been walking around, and there are gradually no people who can confirm these things. He came back here and lived a cowardly and wretched life. .
Of course, no one will know that he was once captured by the Huaxia Army and went to the southwest.
He was so afraid of death that he was taken to the southwest. After a period of preaching, the life of the Huaxia Army was not easy. There were many military regulations. At the beginning, he was hungry. Wang Xing couldn't take it anymore. At home, he was released by the Huaxia Army.
This came and went, and the thousands of miles traveled, which wiped out Wang Xing's burden even more. This world was too terrifying. He didn't want to die, and he didn't want to die suddenly.
Over the years, life has been extremely difficult. In this year, soldiers with rations rushed into the house and beat him half to death. He almost thought that he was really going to die, but he slowly got over it. Jindi is still fighting, Damingfu is still fighting, and those heroes with courage in their hearts are still resisting.
If you can't become such a person yourself, and many people can't, it's human nature. Wang Xing told himself this in his heart, and in this world, as long as there are people like this, people like the Huaxia Army who keep resisting, they will not be destroyed after all.
During his time in the Huaxia Army, at least he remembered something: sooner or later, people would drive away the Jurchen.
When that day comes, good days will come.
But I'm not a hero... I'm just afraid of death, I don't want to die first.
He thought so.
Until that day in April, when the river was flooded, he was lucky and took the opportunity to catch some fish and take it to the city to exchange some things, and suddenly heard the Jurchen propaganda.
The Daming Palace was broken, and the Black Flag Army was defeated.
His heart suddenly collapsed.
He waited in the city for two days, and saw the convoy escorting the prisoners of the Black Banner Army and Guangwu Army into the city. Some of these prisoners had broken limbs, and some were seriously injured, but Wang Xing could clearly identify them. It is a Chinese soldier.
Soon after, they were all beheaded on the execution ground, with their heads rolling down.
In the Jurchen propaganda, the Guangwu Army and the Huaxia Army were wiped out.
No matter how hard life is, some people will always be alive.
Some people want to live with ambition, some people want to live like a human, some people just bend over and not kneel... After all, someone will rush ahead.
It doesn't matter to me, I'm just afraid of death. Even if I kneel down, it doesn't matter to me. After all, I'm different from them. They're not as afraid of death as I am... There's nothing I can do about it. Wang Xing thought so in his heart.
When the Wu Dynasty was defeated, there were various rebels before, and the rebels gradually disappeared. Later, there were the Guangwu Army and the King of Jin. Even if the Guangwu Army and Jin were defeated, at least there were still black flags. But that's all gone... We haven't beaten the Jurchen yet.
The lid of the Central Plains is pressed down, and no one will resist. Returning to the village, Wang Xing's heart gradually died. Two days later, the flood came from the night, and Wang Xing was cold and trembling constantly. In fact, from the moment he saw the beheading in the city, he already knew in his heart: there is no way out.
He kept a little dried fish, divided the rest among the villagers, and dug out the rusted knife. Two days later, a Han soldier who was robbing food was killed on the side of a mountain road dozens of miles away from the village.
Wang Xing took some of the food he grabbed after the murder, found a small sampan, chose a day when the sky was slightly sunny, and started to cross the river against the wind and waves. He heard that there were still Chinese troops fighting in Xuzhou.
Growing up on the banks of the Yellow River, he knew from an early age that half of the people who crossed the river would die under such circumstances, but it didn't matter, those who resisted were already dead.
The most timid person has no way to live.
The rain in the Central Plains is still falling.
Many things gradually fermented in the rainstorm...
At the same time, under the command of Wanyanchang, an army of more than 200,000 people began to besiege them in the direction of Liangshan Shuibo. After the destruction of the Guangwu Army and the Huaxia Army, there are still tens of thousands of family members living on the islands in the water. There are only two thousand troops, guarding them there at this time...