Li Yuanzhao got off the car and walked leisurely, looking around intently.
The first time he left the palace, he went straight to Taoyuan County at night, before he had a chance to take a good look at the capital.
But soon, Li Yuanzhao couldn't help but feel disappointed.
Obviously, the surrounding environment is not good to the eye. The road is just a dirt road that has been stepped on. It rained not long ago and is now a little muddy.
There are even small puddles in many places.
Every few steps you can smell a strange smell. The smells are different, some are smelly, some are fishy, but there is no fragrance.
In such an environment, even if there is fragrance mixed in the air, it becomes extremely weird.
The surrounding houses are not made of bricks and stones like those in Taoyuan County, but are made of compacted soil and piled wood.
The exterior walls are uneven and have no aesthetic appeal at all.
If you look closely at the wall, you can still see a log protruding from it.
The window frames and door panels are also made of wood, but the quality of the wood is visible to the naked eye. The low-quality wood has even begun to turn gray and crack due to long-term exposure to wind and rain.
Only the door panel was different. The edge of the door had been pushed and pulled by people for many years, and the middle part had been covered with a thick layer of black paste.
Compared with this, the houses in Taoyuan County can be called beautifully decorated!
The pedestrians on the street were also lifeless, and given the dirty and messy environment, they looked a bit like the walking dead.
Li Yuanzhao stood there, with confusion beginning to appear in his eyes, and even a surprised expression on his face.
The master in the palace originally described the scene outside the palace to him, saying that the people did not know how to educate without the enlightenment of the saints.
Therefore, his education was extremely poor, and he used this to teach himself to study more.
This scene turned out to be far more cruel than imagined.
But now that I am standing in the capital, at the feet of the emperor, there is a huge difference between it and Taoyuan County. Is Fang Zhengyi a saint?
No, it's impossible!
The books read by the people in Taoyuan County are not books by saints, but why are the streets clean and the houses so clean and the people seem to be full of life?
While he was in a daze, Guo Tianyang had quickly arranged for guards and was walking quietly behind Li Yuanzhao.
Li Yuanzhao frowned and carefully stepped on dry ground as much as possible to avoid muddy dirt on his boots.
Hearing a voice behind him, he turned around and saw that it was Guo Tianyang and said, "Eunuch Guo, where is this place?"
"Back to Your Highness, this is the north gate of the inner city."
"Since we have reached the capital city, why is it so dirty? It is not even close to Taoyuan County."
Guo Tianyang smiled and said: "Your Highness, it's your first time out of the palace and you still don't understand the situation. This outer city was newly built in the past two years."
"This part of the inner city entrance was also expanded later. In the past two years, people from all over the country have gathered here, and most of them are refugees."
"Just walk further in, walk around, it will be fine inside!"
Li Yuanzhao pursed his lips and turned back to look at the outer city: "No! I want to go to the outer city to visit."
Guo Tianyang suddenly felt a headache and quickly signaled the surrounding guards with his eyes.
The emperor doesn't worry, and this little ancestor doesn't make people worry either.
There are people from all walks of life in the outer city, and they are so dirty. What’s so interesting about it!
The prince is dressed in brocade, which is like a little white sheep entering a wolf's den!
So he flattered in a low voice: "Your Highness, let's go early and come back early... Don't keep Your Majesty waiting."
Li Yuanzhao felt agitated for no reason, waved his hands and walked away.
Guo Tianyang quickly waved his hand.
The guards hidden around him also followed quietly.
When we arrived at the outer city, it was almost the same as near the entrance of the inner city.
Perhaps because there were no officers and soldiers to guard it, the number of people was much greater than in the inner city.
Many children were playing outside, and vegetable sellers and laundry workers were working on the street.
The odor in the air also became stronger.
Guo Tianyang wanted to cover his mouth and nose very much. The smell was really unpleasant. His nose was sour and he felt nauseous.
But seeing that the prince made no move, Guo Tianyang could only hold back his nausea and follow him.
Suddenly, halfway through the journey, a family suddenly opened the door and poured a bucket of dirt onto the street.
The basin was filled with dirty water and other miscellaneous things, and it was full of fishy smell.
Li Yuanzhao quickly jumped back but still failed to survive, and dirty water splashed on his boots bit by bit.
Li Yuanzhao frowned, looked down at his boots, and then at the dirt the woman had just spilled.
In a pool of blood, apart from a few rotten vegetable leaves, there were fish heads, fish scales and various small internal organs...
Then the fishy smell hit his forehead, and Li Yuanzhao couldn't help but cover his mouth and retched.
When Guo Tianyang saw this, he quickly covered his mouth and nose, then jumped out and pointed at the woman and said angrily: "You bitch! You threw garbage on the street and soiled my young master's boots! What crime should you deserve!"
The surrounding guards suddenly became alert and put their hands on their waists.
The woman quickly glanced at Li Yuanzhao and was shocked to see that he was dressed elegantly and luxuriously like a young man from a high official's family. The basin in his hand was also shocked.
He quickly knelt down and begged for mercy.
"The civilian woman didn't mean it! The civilian woman didn't mean it..."
The woman knelt on the ground and kept shaking, saying these two sentences back and forth.
Li Yuanzhao also got used to the fishy smell at this time. Although it was a bit disgusting, it was bearable.
When I walked up to the woman, I wanted to yell angrily, but when I saw the woman kneeling on the dirt while begging for mercy, I don't know why most of the anger in my heart suddenly disappeared.
Then he unexpectedly asked: "What do you want to eat?"
"Huh?" The woman was stunned when he heard this question.
After slowing down for a while, Qiqi Aiai said: "Fish... stewed fish..."
"Get up and let me take a look." Then Li Yuanzhao walked around the woman and entered the room unceremoniously.
Guo Tianyang was stunned, what happened to the prince?
I went to Taoyuan County for two days and when I came back, everyone was not normal!
What's so good about fish stew in this common people's house? Why is there such a thing in that poor place? ?
Seeing that the prince had already entered the house, Guo Tianyang quickly followed him in.
People began to approach the house sporadically.
Once inside, it seemed a little dark, with only one window for light in the small room.
There are only two rooms in the house, the inside and the outside, separated by curtains. The one inside is obviously the bedroom, and the outside is the kitchen hall.
The soup in the pot on the stove was still tumbling. I didn't know what was added to it. The fish soup that was supposed to be milky white now turned turbid yellow.
It doesn't smell very good either.
Li Yuanzhao couldn't help but look around the room, wondering what he was thinking about.
Suddenly he turned to the woman and said, "Is this what you want to eat?"
The woman stood in the corner tremblingly, unsure of what the noble man in front of her was thinking.
Hearing his question, he quickly replied: "No, no, no, this is for the man who is a peasant woman. He is injured... and needs fish soup to replenish his health."
Then he took a step forward and opened the curtain between the kitchen and the bedroom.
A handsome man was lying inside, sleeping, with his right leg wrapped tightly.
"What's wrong with his leg?"
"I went out to work a few days ago and broke my leg..."
"Then what do you usually eat?"
...
