"go."
Xu Fenglei waved his hand and ordered the guards beside him,
"Drive away those Yabo buyers."
"Yes." The guard accepted the order and stepped forward with an indifferent expression.
"Get out! Get out now, don't stay here anymore!"
"Hey! Why are you pushing me, I can tell you..."
"roll!"
"...Come on, hurry up, people from the government are coming!"
"..."
Na Ya Po was a bit aggressive at first, but when she saw the other party's appearance, she immediately shrank and was pulled away from the alley in a hurry by the man beside her.
"Don't go, don't go! For two guans, I'll sell this baby to you for two guans! Don't go..."
"well!"
Seeing Ya Po leaving as if he was running away, the middle-aged man frowned and couldn't help but sigh heavily.
The thin girl next to him lowered her head silently and trembled.
The buyers were driven away, and except for a few soft cries, the alley fell into a deathly silence.
"There is actually this purgatory in Chang'an City..."
Wei Zheng couldn't help but said,
"Your Majesty, I believe that the imperial court should take responsibility and save them."
"Since the war in the late Sui Dynasty, the world's population has dropped sharply. The Zhenguan Dynasty's first priority is to restore the people's power! And these children are the hope of the country!"
Li Shimin nodded heavily.
Since he ascended the throne, he has released thousands of maids from the palace and introduced policies to encourage childbirth.
This is all to ensure the reproduction of the population. With more people, there is greater power!
The abominable incident of selling children and girls is obviously a huge violation of his policy of governing the country and will never be tolerated!
"You all listen."
Li Shimin looked around and said loudly,
"Please tell me the price of the children you are selling now."
This sentence is like a bomb thrown into a puddle, causing waves!
"Master, be merciful! This child is strong and only costs five taels of silver!"
"Master, please take her away with two quid of money!"
"Three taels, just three taels of silver, my baby is so good, you see..."
"..."
In an instant, quotes came one after another, and people flocked in, selling their blood like merchants selling goods.
Fang Xuanling took out his handwritten notes and started recording.
The imperial guards stopped everyone to prevent their "enthusiasm" from offending the emperor.
"Can you tell me why you took this path?"
Li Shimin looked at everyone and couldn't help but said,
"This is your own flesh and blood!"
Yuchi Gong had such a bad temper that he couldn't help but say:
"That's right! You guys are inhumane! If you can't live any longer, you can't sell your sons and daughters! This world is not war-torn, so why don't you think about something to do to get through the difficult days?"
Everyone: "..."
This question made them fall silent. Many people's eyes were red, but they could not shed a single tear.
The tears that should be shed have already been shed.
From the reluctance and coercion at the beginning to the inhumane peddling now, the mental journey in between cannot be told with words.
The deep gray in those eyes already told too much.
Those are a pair of hopeless, lifeless eyes...
"Yuchi, stop talking nonsense."
Xu Fenglei sighed,
"They're just trying to stay alive, there's nothing wrong with that."
Yuchi Gong snorted coldly and said:
"If I get to this point, I might as well commit suicide! It's useless to live, it's not very interesting!"
Xu Fenglei rolled his eyes at him.
"A person as capable as you can naturally live anywhere, but you have to know that most people in this world are ordinary people who can only rely on the ground for food! The fields have no harvest, what do you tell them to do?"
he rebuked,
"They are forced to have no choice. Either the whole family will starve to death, or they will exchange their children for some food. If they are lucky, the children can find a good family and have enough to eat."
When Yuchi Gong heard this, he curled his lips and said no more.
"Of course……"
Xu Fenglei looked at Li Shimin again, shook his head and sighed,
"Often these children are bought by others. The men are used as slaves and the women are used as prostitutes. We don't know how they died in the end."
"Your Majesty, I also agree with Duke Wei. When the people are in trouble, the imperial court should take action to save the people from fire and water."
At this time, Fang Xuanling also said:
"I figured it out, Your Majesty."
"A total of 41 children, a total of 143 taels."
Li Shimin stood with his hands behind his back.
"41 children, a total of 143 taels, which means... one child only sells for more than three taels."
He said sadly,
"Is this the Zhenguan Dynasty? Is this the peaceful and prosperous age?"
"It's ridiculous, it's ridiculous... I thought I had such good political achievements and what a good emperor I was... These two bloody figures really woke me up!"
I have lived high in the temple for a long time, and I don’t know the suffering of the people!
"Give them some money."
Li Shimin ordered,
"Listen Ming, you ask someone to go to the bank and exchange them for copper coins that they usually use."
"Yes." Xu Fenglei accepted the order.
The two guards quickly went to get it. After a while, they came back with a sack of Kaiyuan Tongbao and shared the money with the people.
"Thank you, thank you sir!"
"That's enough rice to put into the pot... Wuwu... My son, my mother can't bear to leave you..."
"When you come to the master's house from now on, you must be obedient. You must be obedient, you know..."
"..."
The people were happy when they saw the money. This is not money... this is life!
But at the same time, she couldn't bear to say goodbye to her children...
"Mom...wuwuwu..."
"Dad, I don't want to leave, dad..."
For a time, there was a group of people crying in the alley.
"do not Cry!"
Li Shimin waved his hand and said,
"Child, I bought it and will return it to you!"
"I give you money so that you can go home and live a good life!"
"The locust plague and drought will eventually pass. If there is another disaster in the future, the court's taxes will be reduced or reduced as appropriate. Don't do such things like selling your sons and daughters again!"
All the people: "!!!"
"Master... I, did I hear you correctly? You gave us money and returned the child to us?"
"real?"
Li Shimin nodded.
"Of course it's true, you have no joke."
He said seriously,
"This money will not only be given to you, but also to those who have sold their children. I will also help them redeem their children!"
"If you know anyone who has sold their children, please tell them all. I will help solve the problem together."
Hearing this, a lot of people fell to their knees in the alley!
"Master Qingtian! Compassionate Master Qingtian!"
"I know, I know, the Sanniu family sold a daughter, and she was still crying in the village yesterday..."
"Well, I know..."
"..."
This time, the people finally cried with joy and kowtowed to Li Shimin.
"Listen, you are good at handling this kind of thing. Just handle it."
Li Shimin couldn't bear to be worshiped anymore, so he waved sideways and said,
"Dispose of it well and make sure there are no mistakes. I want every child to return to his or her own home!"
"I obey the order! I will definitely handle it." Xu Fenglei cupped his hands and looked solemn.
There was drought and famine in the pass, and many people sold their sons to buy food and clothing. Now, they were ordered to redeem the money and silk from the imperial palace and return it to their parents. On Geng Wu, the edict was issued that it would rain last year, but now there is drought and locusts, and the world is forgiven. The edict briefly stated: "If the grain is abundant in the year and the world is at peace, I will remove the disasters and save all the nations. This is my wish, and I am willing to be generous." It rained at the meeting place, and the people were very happy. ——"Zi Zhi Tong Jian"
(End of chapter)
