Zhao Defang's road to the virtuous king

Defang, Concubine Di, Peng Tianxian, and Tian Cheng rode horses and drove to Yujia Village outside Meizhou City. Because Li Shunyu's troops besieged Meizhou, the surrounding area had become sparsely populated at this time, and many houses were vacant. It was a mess, and the surrounding farms were all withered. There were a few old people who stayed behind to guard the house sitting at the door. Defang dismounted and walked to a house and asked, "Old man, where have all the people here gone?"

"Fleeing away," the old man said helplessly, "the imperial army and the rebel army fought for several months, and many people died. They are going to attack Meizhou City again. We can’t plant our crops anymore, and we are about to starve to death. The strong men in the village left with their families. It’s convenient, I can only wait here to die.”

"How long have you been living like this?"

"Ten days," said the old man

"Then..." Defang looked around and at the house, "What do you eat?"

The old man pointed to the withered crops, "Those can be boiled to satisfy hunger."

"But those are all dried up, no different from grass."

"As long as you can fill your stomach." The old man shook his head. "In some places, there may not even be any vegetation left to eat."

Defang looked at the yellow and thin old man in front of him, and couldn't help sighing pitifully, "It's such a sad thing to be old and have nowhere to go, and there's war and famine. It is uneasy." Defang looked at Concubine Di, Tian Cheng, and Peng Tianxian and said, "If the thieves don't get rid of the chaos, how can the people live in peace."

"Master," said Concubine Di, "what should I do now?"

Defang thought for a while and said, "Cheng'er, go and get out the dry food from the carriage, and immediately cook a pot of food to satisfy the hunger of these old people."

"Yes, master." Tian Cheng immediately turned around to prepare.

When the old people heard that Defang was going to get them something to eat, they hurriedly saluted and said, "Thank you, sir, thank you, thank you."

Defang Defang supported the old man, "Old man, please don't do this. This is all I can help now, but it won't be long before the imperial army will repel the rebel army, and everything will be fine."