Yingzhou belongs to Hebei Province. Changsheng has never been to the northeast region where Hebei Province is located before. However, he used to be in charge of the Ministry of Household Affairs and is very familiar with the location of the Tang Dynasty Prefecture and the official roads. Before dawn, a group of people walked along the The official road went all the way north, and at dawn it had left the boundary of Yingzhou and entered Shenzhou in the north.
After entering the boundary of Shenzhou, there were more pedestrians on the road. In order not to attract the attention of passers-by, Da Tou stayed away from the official road and chose to fly low through the mountains and forests and canyons.
In addition to pedestrians, there were also many hungry people and beggars on the road. At first, Changsheng didn't pay too much attention to it, but as more and more hungry people were seen on the road, Changsheng began to murmur in his heart. A lot of money has been spent, and there is a lot of rice and grain in the treasuries of various places. Logically speaking, there should not be a large-scale famine this year. Why is it that just after the new year, people start to flee the famine?
I had doubts in my mind, so I wanted to stop a few hungry people to ask about the situation. As soon as I had this idea, I found a group of hungry people on the road ahead beating a ragged little monk. The little monk was only fifteen or sixteen years old, not tall and very thin. , was surrounded by everyone and was kicked and kicked, unable to fight back.
Shi Xuanming and Yu Yi were both Buddhists. Seeing the crowd beating up the young monk, Shi Xuanming immediately got off his horse and stepped forward quickly, "Stop."
Seeing that he was tall and powerful, everyone guessed that he might be good at kung fu, so they stopped and backed away before he could get closer.
The little monk was beaten with blood from the nose. After everyone stopped, the little monk climbed up with difficulty with the help of Shi Xuanming. He lowered his head to look for his alms bowl, but when he found it, he found that the alms bowl had been broken by everyone.
Seeing that the young monk was beaten so miserably, Shi Xuanming was furious, but after looking around, he found that the people who did it were all sallow and skinny, so he couldn't bear to punish him, so he had to suppress his anger and loudly asked, "What mistake did he make?" , are you treating him like this?"
All the hungry people shrank back and did not answer.
No one said anything, and Shi Xuanming could only ask the young monk, "Amitabha, young master, what did you do wrong? Why did they beat you?"
Seeing fellow Buddhist monks, the young monk felt like he was seeing his family. Tears welled up in his eyes, "The poor monk just wants to share some food with them. It's fine if he doesn't give it to them, and he still wants to beat me."
After the young monk finished speaking, before Shi Xuanming could say anything, some hungry people spoke angrily, "You monks have eaten all our food. Now that we have all fled our hometowns, you still have the nerve to ask for alms from us. Are you really going to force us to do so?" Die?"
"What do you mean?" Shi Xuanming asked with a frown.
Although Shi Xuanming was a monk, he did not have kind features and kind eyes. All the hungry people were afraid of him, so no one answered him.
Changsheng had also dismounted from his horse at this time, and came to talk to the hungry people nearby, "From what you said, it seems that your departure from your hometown has something to do with the monks?"
Chang Sheng was young and had a kind face, so some hungry people answered him, "Oh, this is not a bad situation. The situation is not good to begin with, but the imperial court also collects extra winter grain to feed the monks and soldiers, and they don't care about our life or death at all."
"Feed the monk soldiers?" Changsheng frowned slightly.
"Yes," another hungry citizen answered, "The imperial court hired a group of monk soldiers to fight in the south. They never won a single battle, and they ate a lot of rice. When the imperial court ran out of food, it asked the government to provide it, but the government couldn't provide it. They force us to hand over winter food, and if we don’t give it, they come to rob us, and they don’t give us any way to survive.”
Hearing this man's words, Chang Sheng and others looked at each other in confusion. The monk soldiers in the crowd undoubtedly referred to the new army led by Tong Chen. Tong Chen did not take advantage when he attacked Sun Ru. Everyone knew this, but they did not expect that shortcomings would happen. In just two or three months, the national treasury was actually empty. In order to supply military supplies, the imperial court could only raise military rations from local officials.
After a moment of silence, Shi Xuanming took off his baggage from the horse, took out his dry food and distributed it to everyone. After everyone left, he gave the young monk a few noodles, and then secretly stuffed him with some silver. .
The young monk thanked him profusely and kept wiping away his tears. Yu Yi and Shi Xuanming comforted him with a few words, and then the young monk limped south.
Although it was just a small matter, it cast a shadow on everyone's minds. After setting off again, Changsheng began to calculate the military requirements of the war in his mind. As we all know, money and food are all that are needed in wars. The 300,000-strong army suppressed the rebellion, and each person was rationed a day. A kilogram of rice would cost nearly ten million kilograms a month. However, when he left, he left a large amount of money and rice grains to the Ministry of Household Affairs, enough to support the expenses of an army of 300,000 for a year, and the national treasury in just two or three months. It was emptied out, which must be due to other expenses besides military supplies.
No matter where the imperial court moves the money and food from the treasury, it will seriously damage the country. Relying on the people's life-sustaining food to supplement military rations is equivalent to cutting out flesh to mend sores and drinking poison to quench thirst. Regardless of whether the rebellion can be successfully suppressed, it will lose the support of the people.
Seeing Chang Sheng's brows furrowed, Yu shook his head and followed him, "Your Majesty, has something changed in the court?"
Changsheng heard Yu Yi's words, but did not answer because he was already far away from the court. How could he know what happened in the court.
Chang Sheng didn't answer, and Yu Yi didn't ask any more questions. The horse's reins were slightly loose and he lagged behind slightly.
As a former minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, Changsheng knew the importance of money and food. The ancients said that poor and humble couples would suffer from everything, and the big would be more powerful than the small. The same is true for the country. If there is no money and food, let alone suppressing rebellion, it is impossible to maintain the status quo. , he couldn't figure out where the imperial court had lost all the little money he had saved so hard in such a short period of time. If it was really gone, it would be all over.
At noon, a group of people arrived outside Shenzhou City. Some cities located in flat areas could be bypassed, while some cities located at dangerous passes could only be passed through the city. Shenzhou belonged to the latter group. Datou drove Bai Nuanlai from the city. Dong Shulin flew by, while Changsheng and others rode to the south gate of Shenzhou.
When we got closer, we found a lot of people gathered outside the city gate, rubbing shoulders with each other. There were at least a thousand people.
In a crowded place like this, it is easy to expose one's whereabouts. Worried that his mount would attract everyone's attention, Changsheng deliberately took a detour, but the left and right sides of the city were surrounded by dense forests and mountains, making it impossible to go around.
Just when Changsheng was hesitant, a drumbeat came from outside the city gate. Changsheng once served as a supervisor and was familiar with the process of executing prisoners. It was early noon. This drumbeat was a precursor to the execution of prisoners. There will be two drum beats at 2:00 noon, and three drum beats at 3:00 noon. At that time, the prisoner's head will fall to the ground.
Prisoners were being executed at the city gate, and passage was temporarily blocked. Everyone on our side could only stay and wait.
Changsheng didn't like to join in the fun and didn't want to go anywhere near, but at this time, the onlookers were crowded at the city gate. The other areas outside the city gate were very empty. If the people on his side were too far away, it would attract attention.
After pondering, Changsheng finally decided to approach the crowd and enter the city as soon as possible after the execution.
But what he didn't expect was that before he could approach the crowd, someone shouted loudly at the makeshift execution platform outside the city gate, "General, save me."
Hearing someone calling for help, Yang Kai and others looked at Chang Sheng at the same time. Chang Sheng was a former hussar general, and this person was probably calling for help.
Changsheng finally managed to lure the eight major Japanese pirate families back to Japan. He wanted to hide his whereabouts and buy as much time as possible, but unexpectedly, a prisoner waiting to be executed called out his identity, and he couldn't help but feel irritated.
Just when Chang Sheng wanted to follow the voice and look closely at who was speaking, the seven prisoners kneeling on the execution platform shouted for help at the same time, "General, General, we are all subordinates of General Yao. That day is You brought us back.”
Hearing people calling for help, Changsheng suddenly realized that that day he traveled to the Western Regions and met a group of loyal border guard veterans from the desert. He was grateful for the loyalty of these soldiers, so he brought them back from the desert. After these veterans returned to China, they were attacked. They were personally received by the emperor, and after receiving the reward, they returned to their respective places of origin.
Although he knew that coming forward at this time would inevitably reveal his whereabouts, Chang Sheng could not stand idly by. He originally wanted to dismount, but decided not to do so this time. He rode directly through the crowd and came to the execution platform.
At this time, there were a large number of soldiers on guard around the execution platform. Seeing Chang Sheng and others coming on horseback, the captain in charge immediately shouted and asked, "Who is here, dare to rush into the execution ground?"
"roll……"
