Three years passed in a blink of an eye.
After the fall of the Western Jin Dynasty during the Five Husbands, the Sixteen Kingdoms period was extremely turbulent and divided. At that time, the Han people were like pigs and dogs being wantonly killed by foreigners.
In order to save the Han people, national hero Ran Min issued an order to kill Hu:
The barbarians have been in chaos in the Central Plains for decades. Now I am going to punish them. If we can fight together, we can send the army. The barbarians have been bullying the Han family for decades, killing our people and seizing our ancestral temples. I am here to punish them. They have violated our great Han Dynasty. Those who kill my Han people will die, kill all the barbarians in the world, and restore the foundation of our Han family...
Min is not arrogant and knows that it is difficult for one person to turn the world around. In the land of China, if there are like-minded people, they will send their troops to massacre the barbarians together; if there are people from all sides in Kyushu who share the same principles, they will work together to massacre the barbarians. In order to save my Han Dynasty from falling, I will support the Chinese people who are about to fall.
The appearance of the Hu-killing Order made the Hu people afraid and no longer dared to harm the Han people wantonly. This also saved the lives of millions of Han people and saved them from disaster.
However, there are unforeseen circumstances and misfortunes for people. Although Ran Min was victorious in the early stage, he was ultimately defeated and killed because of his complacency and carelessness.
After Ran Min's death, all vegetation within a hundred miles of Dragon City was scorched to death, and there was a severe drought in the north with no rain for three years. Countless people thought this was God's silent mourning for Ran Min's death.
Perhaps it was because of God's mercy that after Lin Weiwu's death, the area near Yongzhou, including the Huns and Khitan territories, suffered from severe drought for three consecutive years.
In the 21 counties of Yongzhou, except for Pingjiang County and Pingliang County, all the people have fled their localities one by one, and each county has become desolate.
"Alas! But I didn't expect that the people's livelihood in Jing'an City, the capital of Yongzhou, would be in such a miserable state. Didn't it mean that this place was ruled by Qingliu people like Wen Taishi? How could it be like this!" A clean and simple woman said with emotion!
The woman's name was Zhu Yingtai. Next to the woman, stood a tall, burly man who looked a little dull, and it was his husband Liang Shanbo.
Both of them came from Jiangnan Qingmu Academy. Unlike "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai", both of them came from official families, and the status of Liang Shanbo's family here is even higher than that of Zhu Yingtai's family. class.
Overall, the two of them are considered a good match.
Although Liang Shanbo is described as dull, he is actually as wise as a fool.
When he was in the academy, Liang Shanbo actually spotted Zhu Yingtai disguised as a man at first sight, but he still pretended not to know and formed an indissoluble bond with him as a brother-in-law every day.
Later, after Liang Shanbo returned home, he immediately asked his father to send someone to Zhu Yingtai's house to propose marriage. When he learned that it was Liang Shanbo of the Liang family who came to propose marriage, Zhu Yingtai was filled with joy.
In this way, the two got married and lived in harmony with each other, learning together.
This time they came to Yongzhou for a study tour, so that they could read thousands of books and travel thousands of miles.
"Madam, the decline of Yongzhou may be related to the three years of drought, but it may not have anything to do with the local officials!"
The reason why Liang Shanbo said this was because both his Liang family and Zhu family were officials of the Wen Taishi lineage.
At this time, an old man in ragged clothes and carrying a baby spat disdainfully and said: "There is no good official in the entire Jing'an City!"
Liang Shanbo saw that this old man did not feel disgusted with him like other wealthy people. Instead, he asked respectfully: "My father, what do you mean by this?"
The old man and the children around him were hungry and thirsty, but they were too lazy to pay attention to Liang Shanbo.
Liang Shanbo also noticed this and immediately asked his servants to bring some water and dry food to distribute to the old man.
After the old man and the little kid ate some, they collected most of the food.
It was also because of this little food that the old man was willing to continue talking.
It turns out that since Qingliu officials from Wen Taishi's lineage took power in Yongzhou, individual tax revenue has indeed decreased a lot.
At first, the people in Yongzhou counties really thought that they were welcoming Master Qingtian.
But I didn’t expect that in addition to taxes, there would also be various poll taxes, fire taxes, anti-theft taxes, etc. The number of obvious things was jaw-dropping.
Although the money paid by each of these messy names is not much, there are so many types that cannot bear the tax!
In the past, Ye Guangming and Yan Song's group of officials collected taxes by directly chopping the meat with sharp knives, but now the officials of Wen Taishi and his group used blunt knives to cut the meat bit by bit.
Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai did not completely believe what the old man said. They knew that both listening would lead to enlightenment and partial belief would lead to darkness.
Therefore, they decided to ask other people to see if it was really what the old man said.
Zhu Yingtai noticed that the old man and the doll behind him were carrying a package and were probably leaving Jing'an City.
So Zhu Yingtai asked: "Old man, where are you going?"
The old man looked around and made sure that there were no officials from Jing'an Prefecture around, so he whispered: "To be honest, old man, I am going to take my grandson to Pingliang County. I heard that many people are fleeing to Pingliang County and It’s Pingjiang County!”
Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai were very puzzled. As far as they knew, the Pingjiang County and Pingliang County mentioned by the old man were both within the boundaries of Yongzhou, and they were further north, bordering the Xiongnu, Khitan and Qiang Di tribes.
Not only did these people not flee to the south, why did they flee further north?
This operation made Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai feel extremely confused.
The old man also saw the confusion of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, so he replied: "These two kind people must be wondering why I don't flee south!"
"It's really because the food in my hand, old man, is not enough to support us, my grandfather and my grandson, in escaping south. But Pingjiang County and Pingliang County are different. We, my grandfather and my grandson, can still get there if we carry them one by one!" "
Liang Shanbo poured a basin of cold water on him and said, "Old man, the entire Northland has been experiencing a severe drought for three years. Pingjiang County and Pingliang County are not much better. I'm afraid it won't be much better than Jing'an City if you go there! I think I’m afraid you were deceived by someone!”
The old man smiled coquettishly and said: "The news came from the old guys who went to Pingjiang County and Pingliang County. Besides, old man, what can I do to deceive you? If you want money, you won't get any money, and if you die, I will end up with half my foot in the ground." People."
After that, the old man took his grandson, Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai to leave.
In order to verify whether what the old man said was true, Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai asked several people in Jing'an City to inquire about the situation.
Without exception, all the people the two of them talked to told about the various tax issues in Jing'an City, and each of the people they asked about was packing their luggage and preparing to leave for Pingliang County and Pingjiang County. .
Liang Shanbo couldn't believe that those so-called Qingliu turned out to be such a Qingfa.
