I

Zhao Han was in a daze, he didn't wake up completely, he just felt hungry and thirsty.

In a daze, his lips and teeth touched the crock, and he subconsciously opened his mouth to drink.

The cold porridge with soil and gravel was poured into his stomach like this, so that Zhao Han regained his spirits, and when he opened his eyes, he saw a girl lying beside him.

"Second brother, are you awake?" Zhao Zhenfang smiled with joy, tears in her eyes, and her confused eyes instantly glowed.

"I..." Zhao Han struggled to speak, but after only one word, his throat hurt like tearing.

He wanted to support himself to get up, but felt powerless all over, like a ghost pressing a bed. He is clearly conscious, but he can't control his body, he can't even move his fingers, as if the neck down doesn't belong to him.

Gradually, Zhao Han fell asleep again.

Zhao Zhenfang herself was also very hungry, so she just stayed by her brother's side, ate up the leftover porridge, and even licked it all with her tongue while holding the earthen pot.

Finally, the officials in Tianjin organized people to cross the bridge to collect the corpse.

It is now summer, and if hundreds of corpses are not disposed of, it will easily lead to a plague.

Those responsible for moving the corpses were all officers and soldiers from Tianjin City.

Due to the severe desertion of sergeants and the expansion of the Tartars in Liaodong, the Tianjin New Army was formed in the last year of Wanli.

The new army has a battalion system, which is not part of the guard system and is allocated by the central government. Excluding the "Zhenhai Battalion" and other coastal defense forces, there were more than 6,000 new troops inside and outside Tianjin, but only in the past ten years, only two or three thousand have escaped.

Moreover, none of these two or three thousand new troops can fight, and they have long been reduced to a slave-like existence.

In addition, there are thousands of guard soldiers in various places in Tianjin, who have been serving as serfs for the generals for generations.

Inside and outside, the tens of thousands of officers and soldiers nearby were so frightened by dozens of horse bandits that they dared to come here now.

"Little Fifth Brother, this one is still panting."

"If you can't survive, you will be dragged to the mass grave together."

"I'm not injured, I'm just hungry, and I can still come back alive after drinking half a bowl of porridge."

"You give him porridge?"

"I can't even eat enough myself, how can I give him porridge?"

"Then why are you talking nonsense?"

Regardless of whether they were dead or alive, they were all loaded onto a cart and dragged to a nearby barren cemetery for simple burial.

After going back and forth several times, he finally came to the Zhao family.

Zhao Zhenfang threw herself on her father's body and screamed, "Don't touch my father!"

Seeing her young age, a soldier couldn't help saying pitifully, "Oh, she's dead. We'll bury your father."

Zhao Zhenfang shook her head and said, "Daddy is not dead, but Daddy is asleep."

The soldiers ignored it and turned to carry Zhao Chen's body.

"mother!"

Zhao Zhenfang rushed over like crazy again, seeing these soldiers shaking their heads again and again. It's just two corpses, and the little girl won't let them move them away, so they can just save trouble.

Zhao Zhenfang managed to protect her parents' corpses, and when she saw the soldiers walking towards her elder brother, she quickly shouted: "That's my second elder brother!"

A soldier sighed: "The co-authors are a family, it's very miserable."

The soldier next to him said: "This little brother is not dead, his chest is still moving."

The soldier before leaned over and touched Zhao Han's forehead, shook his head and said, "I have a severe fever, so I have only one breath left."

The soldiers left Zhao's house alone and ran to carry other corpses. Seeing that it was about to get dark, this was the last trip, and there were hundreds of corpses left to talk about tomorrow.

The sun was setting and it was already dusk.

Six-year-old Zhao Zhenfang was growling with hunger. Supporting her thin body, she dragged her second brother between her parents, and then stood there silently waiting for the dawn.

Zhao Han woke up from starvation in the middle of the night, his head was dizzy, his stomach was hungry, and his whole body was weak.

After struggling to get up, by the dim moonlight, I can vaguely see the little girl next to me. She seemed to be extremely hungry, curled up even when she was sleeping, her little hands were covering her stomach.

This is the younger sister, Zhao Han suddenly remembered.

No, I am the only child, where did I get my sister?

Zhao Han shook his confused head and looked down at his clothes. I don't know what kind of material it is made of, but it feels rough to the touch anyway, and there are old patches everywhere, this kind of clothes even horse bandits don't like it.

In the first year of Chongzhen, the new emperor ascended the throne?

Zhao Han sat on the ground slumped, looking at the ancient starry sky, the absurdity of the matter was beyond his acceptance.

He was born in an ordinary family in New China, and his academic performance was not bad since he was a child. Barely admitted to a key high school, but unfortunately failed to enter a key university, and can only study an ordinary undergraduate.

Because he dreamed of being a soldier since he was a child, and saw a conscription banner at school, Zhao Han resolutely enlisted as a college student soldier.

After working in the army for two years, Zhao Han did not apply for promotion, but retired from the army and returned to school to continue his university studies.

Seeing that I am about to graduate, I am thinking about whether to take the postgraduate entrance examination, or choose to take the civil service examination, why did I come to ancient times?

And it was the first year of Chongzhen!

The Chongzhen Dynasty seems to be only seventeen years old, and Zhao Han is not very sure, anyway, the end of the Ming Dynasty is not far away.

Zhao Han knew the general history of the late Ming Dynasty, but had forgotten many details.

His major is Chinese language and literature. He has studied ancient literature, philology, and classical philology. Unfortunately, he has not studied ancient history in depth.

His health was really bad, and his high fever did not subside, so Zhao Han fell asleep again in a daze.

Waking up hungry again in the morning, Zhao Han crawled and rummaged through nearby corpses, but found no food.

The remaining hundreds of corpses had been rummaged several times, not to mention leaving money and food, and even better clothes were taken away by the officers and soldiers in charge of collecting the corpses.

But Zhao Han was really hungry, his eyes were red with hunger, his stomach hurt like a knife, and he had an urge to bite human flesh.

Looking at those corpses, Zhao Han really wanted to pounce on them and take a few bites.

"Second brother, I'm hungry..."

Zhao Zhenfang didn't know when she woke up, maybe she was hungry, maybe she was frightened yesterday, and she was very depressed at the moment.

Zhao Han still remembered that when he woke up yesterday, the little girl fed him porridge. Regardless of whether it was due to the remaining family affection or to repay the other party's life-saving grace, he should also take care of this younger sister, and immediately comforted him: "Don't be afraid, the second brother will find you something to eat."

Couldn't find anything to eat at all!

The bark of nearby trees has long been stripped off by the hungry people, and even the weeds on the river bank have withered and turned yellow. Most of the water in the canal has dried up, exposing the mudflat of the river bed, cracked and cracked a palm-wide opening.

Zhao Han wanted to find insects and add some protein, but there was nothing but mosquitoes.

The ground is so dry that it is difficult to dig it with a hoe, and there is no need to even think about earthworms.

Zhao Han picked up two pieces of broken earthen jars, dragged his sister to the center of the official road, and tried to meet passers-by to beg for food.

After only standing for a few minutes, Zhao Han's body was obviously unable to hold on, and he was so light that he could be blown away by a gust of wind, so he just knelt down and pretended to be pitiful.

Zhao Zhenfang reminded suddenly: "Second Brother, Dad said that when a man is alive, he only kneels down to the emperor, relatives and teachers, and does not kneel down to beg for food."

"It's just food." Zhao Han corrected.

Zhao Zhenfang said, "That's right, it's the cheap food."

Zhao Han asked back, "Did that father ever say that a man should be able to bend and stretch?"

Zhao Zhenfang shook her head.

Zhao Han sighed: "Standing is stretching, kneeling is bending. Kneeling now is for standing in the future. Kneeling, anyway, I don't have the strength to stand still, so let's just kneel and rest."

The brother and sister knelt side by side on the official road, each holding a broken earthen jar, and the morning sun gradually rose.

About two quarters of an hour later, a caravan came out of the city. Because the canal was dry and it was difficult to sail, they used mules and horses to carry them to the north.

Zhao Han, who had never been begging before, saw the caravan approaching, so he quickly knelt down and picked up the earthen pot in his hand.

But he didn't say a word, after all, he didn't have the nerve to beg.

"Go away, get out of the way!"

The person who was talking was a escort escort. Due to the rapid development of business and the world is not very peaceful, the escort industry has been booming in recent decades.

Zhao Han was still holding the earthen pot high, when a strong escort came, grabbed him and his sister by the collars, and threw them to the side of the road like chickens.

Zhao Han reluctantly climbed up, let go of his shame completely, knelt down and shouted: "Masters, do me a favor, give me something to eat!"

No one responded, they all turned a blind eye, and the long caravan passed in front of them.

Not long after, another team came from Tianjin City. But the canal dried up, the water transport was cut off, and the imperial court pressed hard, and the grain was transferred by land.

Those grain transport soldiers and civilians were dressed as poorly as Zhao Han, and some of them only had a crotch protector, pushing and pulling grain carts forward under the scorching sun.

The water transportation officer in charge of transporting grain looked slick, riding a healthy horse leisurely, taking out a water bag from time to time to drink a few mouthfuls to quench his thirst. There are two hundred family members around him, all armored, and he is not afraid of small groups of bandits stealing food.

"Second brother, I'm hungry."

Zhao Zhenfang was hungry and thirsty, and was exposed to direct sunlight. She was exhausted and soon fell into a semi-comatose state.

The Tianjin soldiers went out of the city to collect the corpses again, Zhao Han did not stop them, and watched them remove the corpses of their parents.

This body is only ten years old, Zhao Han struggled to lift his sister up, and after several attempts, he was so tired that he knelt down.

So hungry, no energy at all!

Finally, Zhao Han prostrated himself on the ground and said to Zhao Zhenfang, "Little sister, get on the second brother's back, let's go to the city to get some food."

Zhao Han lay on the ground, with his younger sister lying on his back, and crawled towards Tianjin like two wild dogs walking in a panic.

It might be easier to go to the city to beg for food.

The fundamental thing right now is not to make any long-term plans, but to fill our stomachs and survive first.

The city of Tianjin was built at the mouth of the Sancha River, and the moat can only be reached by crossing the canal.

More than 20 years ago, there was a flood in Tianjin, and the north and south walls collapsed by more than 70 feet. Until now, the government has no money to repair the city.

Due to the dryness of the canal, a large number of ships were stranded, and grain and goods urgently needed to be transshipped by land. Therefore, the North Canal, which had no bridge, now has a temporary wooden bridge. The government was afraid that refugees and bandits would cross the river, so there were soldiers guarding the bridge, and equipment such as horse repelling was set up.

Zhao Han carried his younger sister on his back, and finally climbed to the edge of the canal bridge. The soldiers guarding the bridge kicked him over: "Go away, where is the beggar!"

Almost fainted from hunger, Zhao Han couldn't get angry, he just supported the little girl who had fallen, and smiled flatteringly: "Mr. Jun, please let us go and ask for a meal."

The soldier laughed inexplicably, put his hands behind his back, and spread his legs apart: "If you want to cross the bridge, you can go under my crotch."

Zhao Han was silent, his eyes were red, his fists were clenched tightly, and then loosened again.

Suddenly an officer came over, pushed the soldier who was deliberately making things difficult, and said cursingly: "Well, you Wei Si, how can you count as a good man who bullies children?"

Wei Si laughed and said, "Old Liu, I'll just play a joke on them."

Old Liu glanced at Zhao Han brothers and sisters, and said: "Let people go, whether they live or die depends on their own fate."

Zhao Han stood up with all his strength, and relying on the remaining memory of this time and space, he cupped his hands and said, "Dare to ask your benefactor's name, if my brother and sister can survive, they will definitely repay it with a knot in the future."

Old Liu saw that Zhao Han had all the etiquette, and he also solemnly returned the gift: "It turns out that this is a young gentleman who has been in trouble. My name is Liu Mang, a small management team of the Tianjin New Army."

"Remember your benefactor's name, we will meet again someday." Zhao Han squatted down with great difficulty, and lay down on the ground again, letting the weak little girl lay on his back to grab it, and slowly crawled forward like a dog .

Liu Guantuan thought for a while, took out a few copper coins, and handed them to Zhao Han: "Take it to buy some food."

"Thank you benefactor." Zhao Han was overjoyed.

He bowed his hands again, and spoke in a polite manner, just wanting to attract the attention of the other party, and now luckily it has some effect.

The two brothers and sisters slowly crawled away, Wei Si said: "Old Liu, what are you doing with the money? These two little ones are so hungry that they can't walk anymore. They even have to crawl across to the city. If they are full today, they will be hungry tomorrow." die."

Liu Guantuan watched the siblings cross the bridge, sighed and said, "My family's two children are also so big, just for peace of mind. This world... Sigh!"

Although Tianjin City is built along the river, there is still a distance between the city wall and the canal. Outside the four city walls, there are a large number of illegal dwellings, and a street market has been formed.

Especially outside the North City, where there is the North Canal Wharf, where there are many shops, it is extremely prosperous, and the North Moat has even become an inland river in the dock area.

Zhao Han carried his sister on his back to the streets outside the city, smelling the smell of food all the way.

When he came to a pastry booth, Zhao Han recovered from his breath for a while, tried to stand up but his legs were weak and fell, and finally he could only kneel down on the ground, held out the few copper coins and said, "Eat."

Due to the decline of Spain, there was a silver crisis in the late Ming Dynasty.

Silver deflation, copper money inflation, copper money is becoming less and less valuable.

In addition, there was a famine and the price of food was very high. With these few pennies, we could only buy miscellaneous grains and steamed buns.

The stall owner took the copper coins and stuffed Zhao Han with a steamed bun. He waved his hand in disgust and said, "Go away and eat, don't delay my business."

"Thank... thank you."

Zhao Han reluctantly responded with a smile, and with the steamed bun in his mouth, he turned around and crawled towards the corner of the street with the little girl on his back.

Before reaching the corner of the street, a few beggars suddenly rushed out, snatched the steamed buns and said viciously: "Begging for food in Tianjin, have you visited the pier yet? The steamed buns are regarded as entry money. From now on, I will pay five cents a day. If you have no money, you can pay tribute to eat." , I will allow you to beg on Dock North Street."

Being begged on his knees, kicked by his hands, and forced into his crotch, Zhao Han endured it just to survive.

After finally getting something to eat, he was bullied by several beggars, Zhao Han finally exploded completely. He put down his sister, got up staggeringly, and roared, "Give it back to me!"

"Young lady, you can't even stand upright, how dare you play tricks with grandpa?" The beggar leader stretched out his foot and easily tripped Zhao Han.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

The other beggars laughed loudly. They are the bottom of the society. They suffer from discrimination and bullying all day long, and they can only find fun in the weaker.

Zhao Han was already dizzy from hunger, and at this moment, people were seeing double images. He couldn't stand up anymore, so he crawled forward with all his strength, grabbed the beggar leader's ankle and said, "Give me back the steamed bun!"

"Go away!"

The beggar leader was caught with one foot, so he lifted the other foot and stepped on the top of Zhao Han's head like an ant.

"Don't hit my second brother!"

Suddenly, Zhao Zhenfang, who was almost unconscious from hunger, rushed forward and bit the leg of the beggar leader.

"Ouch!"

The beggar leader felt the pain, stretched out his leg and kicked Zhao Zhenfang away.

Taking advantage of the opportunity of the other party standing on one foot, Zhao Han suddenly exerted his last strength, grabbed the beggar leader's ankle and dragged it vigorously.

"what!"

The beggar leader fell on his back and hit the ground on the back of his head, which made him dizzy.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

The other beggars were still watching the joke, and didn't feel that the two children could pose any threat to their leader.

There are also some passers-by people who stop here to watch the beggars fight with great interest, and some people point and point for fun from time to time.

"Hoo hoo hoo..."

Zhao Han was panting heavily, and before the other party could react, he had already climbed onto the head of the beggar and bit down on the other party's dirt-covered neck.

"Let go, let go!"

The beggar leader struggled in panic, he was so frightened that he forgot to ask his companions for help, and just shouted to push Zhao Han away.

The other beggars finally stopped watching and kicked, beat and dragged Zhao Han. Zhao Zhenfang rushed to help but was kicked away.

Zhao Han hugged the head of the beggar, biting the beggar head relentlessly, biting the opponent's trachea and arteries. The blood flowing into his mouth is not disgusting, but because of the hunger and thirst in his stomach, he subconsciously sucks blood crazily.

Finally, the beggar leader stopped moving.

Zhao Han's mouth was full of flesh and blood, and he turned his head and smiled grimly at the crowd.

"Killer!"

Passers-by exclaimed.

The other beggars were stunned for a moment, not wanting to avenge the boss, they picked up the dog-beating stick and the broken bowl and ran away.

Zhao Han picked up the steamed bun on the ground, tore it in half, stuffed half into his mouth, and handed the half to the younger sister, saying, "Eat!"

Zhao Zhenfang didn't care so much, she grabbed the steamed bun and devoured it hungrily.

Zhao Han ate half of the whole grain steamed bun before wiping the blood off his mouth with his sleeve. The whole process was like eating the flesh and blood of a living person.

People were killed in the street, but no one reported it to the officials.

It's just a beggar's death. When will Tianjin not starve to death?

Zhao Han recovered a little strength, and began to grope for the body of the beggar leader under the watchful eyes of everyone, but unfortunately, he found nothing.

He picked up the other party's dog-beating stick, leaned on the stick to stand up with difficulty, helped the younger sister and said, "Let's go, Second Brother will take you to find a place to spend the night."

Zhao Zhenfang grabbed a small piece of steamed bun, never willing to eat it, and followed Zhao Han silently.

After only walking a few steps, the brother and sister were dizzy, so they got down and crawled forward again.

The onlookers avoided one after another, making way to watch them leave.

This was not a bad start, at least he got a dog-beating stick.