got windy.
This is a saying that is so familiar to my bones.
Galloping on the sea, fighting in the waves, lying drunk under the sunset, always hoping for someone to say "the wind is blowing".
When the wind comes, it is powerful.
If the wind comes, it will be favorable.
The glint of the sword has sunk into the shimmering sunset, and the old man has long lost his heroic spirit.
Fang Guozhen's hands trembled slightly, and he slowly opened his turbid eyes, trying hard to look at the person. After seeing the person's appearance clearly, he managed to say something: "You all go down, let me have a few words with this traveling doctor." talk."
The family members and maids retreated outside the door.
Fang Guozhen looked at the visitor bitterly: "If I remember correctly, you should be Yuan Liang from the former Xiaobaihu."
Yuan Liang didn't expect that he had disguised himself, but Fang Guozhen recognized him at a glance, and said seriously: "It's me, the big leader. Ever since the big leader surrendered to the Zhu family, we have led the remaining troops to live in the vast sea. Over the years, It was a very miserable life, and many brothers died at the hands of Wu Zhen and the Coast Guard sergeants, or died of illness and hunger."
Fang Guozhen let out a long sigh: "My life is over, my destiny has been determined. Don't run away on the waves anymore, killing people and stealing goods, committing many evil acts. Bringing them ashore as soon as possible and surrendering to the court is the long-term strategy. Living is more important than anything else."
Yuan Liang looked at Fang Guozhen, feeling quite unwilling.
It has to be said that Fang Guozhen is a person without great ambitions. Even if the Yuan Dynasty is about to collapse and he has many advantages, he still does not want to be king and emperor. He seems to have a clear judgment that he is not the chosen one, so Most of the choices I made were to live as hard as I could, and to give in when I could. Only when I couldn't kneel down or live anymore did I stand up to resist and fight.
Such a person is not suitable to lead his brothers to rule the roost. However, many people recognize Fang Guozhen as the backbone of all the navy soldiers.
Yuan Liang leaned over and whispered: "Big Chief, we have found a good place in Nanyang. As long as you are willing to stand up and raise your arms, countless brothers will join us. By then, our founding of the country in Nanyang will be just a matter of hands. thing!"
"Nanyang?"
Fang Guozhen squinted his eyes.
Yuan Liang said solemnly: "Yes, it is in Nanyang. Since the chaos in the world at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, in addition to our brothers in the remnants of the navy, there are also many Han family members who have gone to the sea and gone to Nanyang. They have been in Bogu Island, Srivijaya, Traces of the Han people can be seen in the Champa Kingdom. But this group of people are all scattered and lack a leader who can command all directions, so I took the risk this time to invite the big leader to come back."
Fang Guozhen closed her eyes tiredly and understood.
This guy risked losing his head to come to him, so that he could risk losing his head and become a pirate. Back then, I often dragged people into the water, but now that I am old and sick, there are still people who drag me into the sea...
Fang Guozhen doesn't know whether he can become a big thing in Nanyang, but Fang Guozhen knows that he can't go to Nanyang. This is not only due to his physical condition, but also because he can only be used as a puppet if he goes. There are countless inspections in Jinling all day long. Looking at the princes and ministers, he was more or less the Zuocheng of Guangxi Province, even though he only received a salary and did not work. Moreover, as the overlord who rebelled against the Yuan Dynasty and separatized eastern Zhejiang, it was impossible for Zhu Yuanzhang not to pay attention to his movements.
If he ran away, how would his three sons survive?
What's more, Lao Zhu treats himself quite well. His son is either a governor of the Wei Dynasty or a commander of the Wei Dynasty. He is considered a senior general. His life is just getting better, so he can't harm them.
Fang Guozhen opened his eyes and looked at Yuan Liang: "My body can't withstand the waves. If you really want to succeed, go to the Ministry of Punishment and find Zhan Ding. Tell him that the advantage lies in the south, and he will understand."
Yuan Liang knew Zhan Ding, who was Fang Guozhen's most valued staff member and subordinate. When Fang Guozhen sent his son to surrender to Zhu Yuanzhang, he was afraid that Zhu Yuanzhang would be angry with him, so he wrote a pitiful letter of surrender, and this surrender was exactly Written by Zhan Ding.
Seeing Fang Guozhen's pity, Zhu Yuanzhang only complained that Fang Guozhen surrendered a little late, but did not kill everyone.
"good!"
Yuan Liang looked at Fang Guozhen with sadness.
The man he once was, finally couldn't stand it any longer. Time makes people grow old, and although he was less than sixty, he was already very old.
That’s all.
Yuan Liang said goodbye to Fang Guozhen, and after meeting with Sun Ke, he decided to go to the Ministry of Punishment to find the doctor Zhan Ding.
Zhan Ding was a staff member under Fang Guozhen and was very smart. If Liu Ji, Yang Xian, Li Shanchang, Hu Weiyong, etc. did not recognize Zhan Ding, they kicked him to Shaanxi, saying that he would not be able to work in Zhongshu.
After Yang Xian's death, Zhan Ding returned to Jinling in the sixth year of Hongwu and served as a doctor in the Ministry of Punishment, and was highly valued by Hu Weiyong.
Zhan Ding couldn't help but be shocked when he learned Yuan Liang's identity.
Yuan Liang used Fang Guozhen's signature and said: "The big leader said that the advantage lies in the south. We need food, medicine, supplies and intelligence, and of course manpower. If Brother Zhan is willing to go to sea with us, you will be responsible for the founding of the country in the future." For the Prime Minister."
"Is the advantage in the south?"
Zhan Ding thought for a moment and his eyes became profound.
Yuan Liang said frankly: "Yes, the big leader also knows that if we live in the south, we will definitely achieve great things..."
Zhan Ding waved his hand and didn't say much. He just asked Yuan Liang to wait as an excuse to check the coastal guard garrison and granary information. Yuan Liang was really brave. He drank tea and waited peacefully in the Office of the Ministry of Justice until he saw The people from the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Division came with chains...
The advantage lies in the south. What is the south?
South is not a geographical location, but these two people running from the south.
Catching Yuan Liang will be beneficial to Fang Guozhen, himself, and the court.
Yuan Liang never imagined that something that Fang Guozhen had agreed to and that was clearly arranged by Fang Guozhen would go wrong.
Sun Ke, who was on the outside, saw that the momentum was not right, turned around and ran away.
It doesn't matter whether we are brothers or not, whether we are loyal or not, survival is the most important thing.
When the Wucheng Soldiers and Horses Division learned that there was still a fish that had slipped through the net, it was already a step too late to catch Sun Ke. But because Sun Ke ran too fast and did not notify his accomplices outside the city, more than 30 people were killed in one fell swoop.
After Hu Weiyong learned the news, he immediately sent people from the Ministry of Punishment to interrogate him severely, and then informed Zhu Biao of the news. Zhu Yuanzhang left Jinling. Hu Weiyong did not know Zhu Yuanzhang's whereabouts, but Zhu Biao did.
At this time, Fengyang.
Zhu Yuanzhang was walking in cloth clothes and looked at the rickety old man sitting on the edge of the field. He walked over and looked up. The fields were barren, with only cracked soil clods, like human flesh that had been chopped out alive with knives. A little bit of skin hangs on the earth.
The knife cut deep enough, and the cuts were at least two palms deep.
"Old man, the ground is dry and cannot be cultivated. Why are you still here with a hoe to guard it?"
Zhu Yuanzhang was a little curious.
The old man fanned the hat in his hand, glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang, and moved his cracked lips: "We are just thinking about which area is the driest and has the largest cracks, so that we can save energy when digging the grave later."
Zhu Yuanzhang frowned: "Old man, drought years are not easy to live with. The imperial court will definitely release grain to provide disaster relief. Why is this so?"
"Putting out food?"
The old man looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and took a sip, but there was no spit: "If the imperial court cares about our life and death, will they move us to this dead place where birds do not lay eggs? There are grains in every year, but there is no one in any year. Starve to death, hehe, foreigner, it’s one thing to put food in, but it’s another thing to be able to eat the food. Go and rest, go and rest, don’t disturb the old man’s last few breaths.”
Zhu Yuanzhang stopped Zhang Huan, who was about to have a fit, and said, "dig a hole for him."
"ah?"
Zhang Huan and others didn't understand, but they still took the hoe from the old man's hand and dug the hole.
The ground is very dry and digging a hole is not easy.
After the pit was dug, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the old man and said slowly: "You can take a look when the grain is released this time. If you can get food, this pit will be used for a hundred years. If you can't get food, let's take a look at this pit." We can still dig bigger and bury more people.”
The old man took the hoe and looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and others leaving without knowing why. He looked at the pit in front of his feet with a dark face and smiled: "Finally, there is a place to die."
Zhu Yuanzhang walked a long way and saw with his own eyes the ruined villages and the lonely people. There was neither the hustle and bustle of the imperial capital nor the tranquility of the imperial capital. They were like quiet tombs, one after another.
In the village that originally had two hundred households, only one hundred and ten households were left guarding the village. Upon questioning, they were either dead or had escaped. The people who stayed behind were too afraid to escape because they were afraid of the majesty of the imperial court.
The people were suffering so much that Zhu Yuanzhang could hardly believe his eyes.
Here in Fengyang, it seems that the year of the rebellion is still stuck. From time to time, people starve to death or die of illness. Some people drag their families with them to escape. Some people are beaten by sergeants and enslaved by the government.
The people here never seem to have a good life.
God does not seem to care about this land. In the past ten years, there have been either droughts, floods, or both droughts and floods.
Gu Zhengchen said that he wanted to solve the feeding problem of Jurong people, but who would solve the feeding problem of Fengyang people? It’s not that there are no officials here, even Li Shanchang is here, but God doesn’t take care of this place.
The further Zhu Yuanzhang walked, the more frightened he became, and the more he looked, the more uneasy he became.
If Fengyang is chosen as the imperial capital, the area outside the capital will be devastated and desolate. When all the nations come to congratulate us and see such a desolate scene, where is the majesty of the Ming Dynasty and how can we demonstrate the strength of the Ming Dynasty?
A dilapidated capital cannot support the glory of the empire.
I originally thought that relocating the population and relocating wealthy households would change all the backwardness here, but in the end I made a misjudgment. Having too many people cannot solve the problem of land or weather. Instead, it will cause many problems.
Zhu Yuanzhang stopped and looked at the official road in the distance. Groups of people were pulling thick ropes, huge stones were moving little by little on the rolling logs, and the cruel sergeants waved their whips.
Someone fell and whips were fired.
Someone gritted his teeth and there were constant blood stains.
This is my dynasty, my hometown, my Fengyang?
