Standing outside the crowded Yun Mansion, Xia Jingyun felt that the hustle and bustle around him quietly disappeared, leaving him alone to bear the overwhelming pressure.
The wind blows from all directions and the chill is biting.
"Brother, brother!"
Zhang Dazhi's hesitant call woke him up from his meditation.
Xia Jingyun came back to his senses, took a deep breath, composed himself, and began to think about a countermeasure.
Go find Concubine De and arrest the Zheng family and his son now?
It is indeed a solution, but the teacher came out of nowhere and nothing happened. Why are you arresting people like this?
What's more, the real problem is that this is just my guess, what if it's not like that!
Therefore, the first thing to do now is to confirm.
Xia Jingyun thought for a while and looked at Zhang Dazhi, "Brother, can I trouble you?"
"Brother, you are still willing to call me brother. This friendship means that even if you let me go up mountains of swords and seas of fire, I won't even frown!"
Xia Jingyun took out a banknote from his arms and said, "Brother, please help me buy some cooked meats and pastries. Buy more. It doesn't have to be too good. It just needs to be eaten directly and fill my stomach. I plan to go there." Go to the labor camp. After purchasing, we will meet at the entrance of the labor camp as soon as possible."
Zhang Dazhi looked confused and couldn't understand, but since Xia Jingyun said so, it was not a big deal, so he nodded in agreement,
Xia Jingyun held his nerve and entered the mansion. After a while, he led the ten-man team out of Yun Mansion again.
This group of people sent Xia Jingyun off three times in a row. Coupled with Xia Jingyun's heart-touching words that day, they had a good impression of the new noble prince and happily followed him.
"Mr. Xia, where are we going?"
Xia Jingyun forced a smile and said, "I'm going to the labor camp outside the city, and I'd like to trouble you brothers to protect me."
"Don't dare to take it. Don't take it. It's your duty. Please rest assured, Mr. Xia."
The group of people arrived at the entrance of the labor camp and waited for a short while. Zhang Dazhi and his apprentice led two trucks full of goods, sweating profusely, and rushed to join them.
Then everyone went directly into the labor camp.
When the labor camp manager saw Zhang Dazhi, he ran over quickly, but when he saw Xia Jingyun, his expression suddenly changed, and he knelt down in fear to say hello.
Xia Jingyun stretched out his hand to lift him up and said with a smile: "No need to be polite. I came here today because I heard that these workers have finished their work but cannot return home due to the current situation, so I bought some meat pastries and came to express my condolences. , the Mid-Autumn Festival will be full soon, let’s talk to comfort each other.”
Naturally, the manager did not dare to have any objections, "Master Xia is benevolent and righteous, and the workers must be grateful."
Then the steward first called everyone in the male labor camp out and sat on the floor, and then asked the supervisors to surround them vigilantly with whips to prevent any changes.
He turned sideways and smiled flatteringly, "Mr. Xia, would you please?"
Xia Jingyun stepped forward and glanced at everyone present.
There aren't many faces that I remember. I don't know if I don't remember a few of them, or if the ones I know are all dead.
"Everyone, some of you may still know me. More than 20 days ago, I was a laborer in this labor camp just like you."
The numb and dirty faces of the workers, whose expressions were as dead as water, showed slight expression fluctuations, and then returned to deathly silence.
Xia Jingyun didn't take it seriously and said to himself: "Now Empress Dowager De is here. Under the orders of His Majesty, she brings with her a well-trained army and important ministers. The army is going to suppress the bandits, and the important ministers are going to punish them." Corrupt officials, they want to clear the sky for our Sishui Prefecture!"
"I am also a beneficiary of the arrival of Empress Dowager De. Those who know me should remember that my whole family was sent here. But now, our injustice has been vindicated, our ancestral property has been recovered, and our lives have become better again."
"What I mean by saying this is that I hope everyone will not give up hope. Now that the most difficult time has passed, those corrupt officials, local tyrants and evil gentry who made us become like this will be punished, and justice will be served. , our grievances will also be redressed! Everything will be fine!"
The words finally stirred up some excitement and anger on the faces of these workers, and a glimmer of hope ignited in the eyes of many of them.
At this moment, a voice rang out from the crowd, "Sir, you are capable, and you have met a noble person, and that is why you have such a good thing. How can such a good thing happen for people like us! It's good to be alive!"
This sentence is like a basin of water, quietly extinguishing the light in the workers' eyes.
Xia Jingyun, who had been paying attention to the scene, immediately locked onto the speaker and waved, "Brother, can you come up and talk?"
The man immediately panicked, "Sir, please spare my life, I just said it carelessly."
Xia Jingyun smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'm here to offer condolences, not to hurt you."
When the man was pushed up by a supervisor, Xia Jingyun found a chair and asked him to sit next to him.
Then, he reached out and held the other party's dirty hand.
He said with emotion, "Looking at these hands, I couldn't help but think of the days in the camp. I lacked food and drink, and was exhausted. Every day I thought, if only I could eat one more steamed bun, that would be great. Who wants to If they can give me a bite of meat, they are like my reborn parents."
Seeing Xia Jingyun holding hands without disdain, and listening to Xia Jingyun's words that deeply resonated with them, the workers' hearts gradually moved closer to Xia Jingyun.
Xia Jingyun waved at the right time, and Zhang Dazhi and his apprentices cooperated with the supervisors to distribute meat and pastries to everyone.
Smelling the long-lost aroma of meat, many people almost shed tears.
"Sometimes I often think about what mistakes we ordinary people have made and what evil we have done to deserve such punishment. As I think about it, I become angry and resentful. I hate the local tyrants and evil gentry, and the corrupt officials. He hates the imperial court and wants to rise up, kill all the rich people, kill all the officials, seize their property, take possession of their wives and concubines, eat their flesh and sleep on their skins."
As soon as these words came out, not only the workers below were shocked, but the Wudang Army sergeant, Zhang Dazhi, the labor camp manager and others all changed their faces.
Fortunately, Xia Jingyun picked up a but.
"But when I saw those bandits and bandits committing all kinds of evil, burning, killing, and looting, and transforming from a person into a ferocious beast who only knew how to indulge his desires, I knew that my idea was extreme and wrong."
"What is the imperial court? The imperial court is a kind of order. What is the meaning of the existence of order? It is not to make the weak like lambs, but to let the strong know the bottom line. It is to forcibly constrain the strong who can do whatever they want into the scope of order. In turn, it can protect the weak and allow our entire world to operate in an orderly manner. Just imagine what would happen to us if the imperial court was gone and there were mountain kings everywhere. A fist with a big fist can easily take away our money, wife and daughter , and even life is taken away at will, and those with small fists can only be enslaved, squeezed, and slaughtered like livestock. Can those days be better than now?"
"So, we can't lose order."
Xia Jingyun tried his best to relieve the depression and anger of these workers. This was not only brainwashing, but also his true thoughts.
Breaking all the order and enjoying grudges sounds refreshing and comfortable, but that kind of tragic situation is definitely a nightmare for most ordinary people.
Otherwise, why would there be people saying that they would rather be peace dogs than people in troubled times? Those are all the blood and tears of people who have been through this.
"Fortunately, His Majesty has now noticed our Surabaya Prefecture. Empress Dowager De is here. When she comes, there will be blue sky! The people she brings will wipe out these corrupt officials and give us a clear and sunny sky!" "
While he said these words, he kept holding the man's hand, imagining it in his mind, and finally waited until the scene flashed before his eyes.
In the darkness of the night, this man was leaning against the door of a hall, holding a knife in his right hand and covering his abdomen with his left hand. Blood flowed out from between his fingers.
There were cries of killing everywhere, and among the corpses on the ground, most were workers with sallow complexions like him, and then there were sporadic unworthy army sergeants wearing armor and holding weapons.
Seeing that they were all about to be slaughtered, a louder noise rang out, and a team wearing armor and holding weapons rushed out from the dark alley opposite.
Under the cover of a hail of arrows, they rushed over.
The man had no way to hide, and two sharp arrows were inserted into his body in an instant.
At the moment when his life was passing rapidly, he heard a loud shout from the hall he had just attacked.
"Zheng Yuanwang! How dare you collude with bandits!"
He raised his eyes and saw that the last scene in his life was that this team suddenly appeared and launched a fierce attack towards the main hall, stepping on the corpses of their workers as ladders.
When the scene ended, Xia Jingyun suddenly felt weak and dizzy, and almost fell off the chair.
"Master Xia!"
The chief next to him quickly supported him, with a look of concern on his face.
Damn it, I finally know why I was so weak before...
Xia Jingyun slowly steadied himself, waved his hand, then glanced at the man beside him and the workers below, and said seriously: "Everyone, I hope you cherish life and the future. There is always hope when you are alive. Break the order and win. It’s definitely not us who will benefit.”
"Finally, I wish everyone to return home as soon as possible and reunite with their families as soon as possible."
After saying that, he let go of his hand, patted the man's shoulder, turned around and left with the man.
The workers silently looked at this noble young man who was no longer what he used to be. Although they didn't have much feelings about what he said, he gave us meat!
Good people, you should still listen to what good people say.
Regardless of whether he understood it or not, it still planted a seed in his heart.
After coming out of the labor camp, Xia Jingyun had been calm as if nothing had happened. But when he walked to the door and there was no one else around him, Xia Jingyun's expression suddenly changed. He looked at him and said urgently: "Take me to your general, quickly!"
