Chen Zishan smiled and said: "Why do I feel that my worries are unfounded? People in Shu are accustomed to ease and are not good at fighting. Why is there any need to waste people and money on repairing this city wall?"
Yang Yunfan said: "People in Shu are used to being comfortable, but what does it mean when my senior brother says that they are not good at fighting?"
Chen Zishan said: "Have you heard of the poem written by Mrs. Hua Rui of Hou Shu: "The flag was lowered on the king's city, and I learned about it in the deep palace; 140,000 people were all disarmed, and not a single man was a man;" The Song Dynasty destroyed Hou Shu in only sixty-six days, which shows that the people in Shu are not as tough as the northerners and will not rebel easily."
Yang Yunfan sighed and said: "One hundred and forty thousand people were disarmed, and not one of them was a man? Alas, senior brother only saw that the Song Dynasty destroyed Hou Shu in sixty-six days, but did not see the use of force to quell the rebellion of Hou Shu. It took a full two years. It was because Wang Quanbin, the commander-in-chief of the Song army who led the army to attack Hou Shu, looked down upon the Shu people too much. He thought that all the Hou Shu court had surrendered, so he did not take the Shu people seriously. He conscripted and plundered them violently. In the end, the Shu people were forced to rebel, so the court spent two years to suppress the rebellion, which also indirectly delayed the opportunity for the Northern Expedition to Khitan."
"Then junior brother, do you think there will be a rebellion in Shu now?" Chen Zishan looked at Yang Yunfan and asked curiously.
"We Han people are the easiest to be satisfied. As long as there is a way to survive and a bite to eat, no one will rise up in rebellion." Yang Yunfan said.
As they talked, the two walked and stopped in front of an inn. It was almost noon and they were tired and hungry. They planned to stay at this inn and eat some food to satisfy their hunger. At this moment, a cry came into the ears of the two of them. The sound of the cry was very sad. The two of them couldn't help but frown and looked towards the place where the sound came from.
On the side of the long street, I saw a little girl about ten years old. She was dressed in rags, with disheveled hair and skinny bones. Hunger made the little girl's eyes look very big, and tears flowed down her frightened eyes. Cheeks full. A man in green cloth on the side impatiently pulled the little girl forward.
While being pulled, the little girl shouted to a middle-aged man behind her who was also in tattered clothes and looked like a beggar: "Dad...Dad..."
A middle-aged man in the back watched the little girl being taken away with tears in his eyes. He felt sad and wanted to rush forward, but he stopped his impulse after looking at the copper coins in his hand.
Seeing this, Yang Yunfan stepped forward and stood in front of the man in green cloth. He frowned and said coldly: "Stop! You dare to rob a civilian girl in broad daylight!"
Seeing Yang Yunfan blocking the way, the man was stunned for a moment, and then said angrily: "Fart, I paid for this, it's none of your business."
Yang Yunfan was stunned when he heard this. He looked at the little girl and then at the tearful middle-aged man behind him, and seemed to understand something. He stared blankly at what was happening in front of him.
Chen Zishan also frowned, but then he rolled his eyes and said to the man in green cloth: "The laws of the Song Dynasty strictly prohibit human trafficking. Do you want to go to the Yamen to eat?"
The man in green cloth saw that the two of them were dressed in gorgeous clothes and spoke with extraordinary momentum. He did not dare to be forceful for a while, but he was not willing to be suppressed by their momentum. He said angrily: "I just feel sorry for the father and daughter, so I gave money to help them." Help them. Since you, little brother, have brought out the imperial decree to suppress me, then I won’t buy it. Come on, come on, give me the money..."
After saying that, the man in green cloth walked towards the middle-aged man behind him and snatched the copper coin from the middle-aged man's hand.
The middle-aged man looked at the copper coins distressedly and said, "Why did you regret the deal you agreed on?" After saying that, he turned his complicated eyes mixed with resentment and gratitude to Yang Yunfan and Chen Zishan, seeming to blame them. There were many things going on, but they seemed to be grateful to the two for bringing back their daughter.
When Yang Yunfan saw this, he immediately became angry. He stepped forward and grabbed the collar of the middle-aged man's tattered clothes and said, "You, a father, sold your daughter for money. Are you still considered a human being? You are simply a beast."
The middle-aged man said with a face full of helplessness and shame: "I know that the two young brothers pitied my father and daughter when they saw injustice, but I am also helpless. Tiger poison does not eat its children. As long as there is a way to survive, what can I do?" Will you sell your daughter? Our family fled from Pengzhou in western Sichuan and came to Zizhou. There was a severe drought in western Sichuan and no crops were harvested. We had no choice but to beg along the way to make a living. When we arrived in Zizhou, only the eight members of the family were left. My wife and I have three daughters, and the rest of them starved to death on the road. Now my child’s mother is seriously ill, and I have no money to see a doctor. Now I can only sell my daughter to get some money for medicine, so that I can give my child and her mother some money. Seeing a doctor can also give my daughter a way to live, otherwise she will starve to death on the streets sooner or later!"
After listening to the middle-aged man's narration, Yang Yunfan and Chen Zishan looked at each other and frowned. Yang Yunfan asked: "Pengzhou is so close to Chengdu, and Chengdu is more prosperous and richer than Zizhou City. Why do you come to Zizhou to beg?"
The middle-aged man sighed and said: "Hey! There is a severe drought in western Sichuan and hungry people are everywhere. Chengdu Prefecture does not dare to open the city to let refugees into the city. They also send officers and soldiers to drive away the refugees who gather at the city gate. There is no other way. Most of the refugees can only continue. Traveling eastward to beg for food.”
Yang Yunfan and Chen Zishan looked at each other, unable to believe that Chengdu Mansion would act like this.
"Approximately how many refugees have come to Zizhou?" Yang Yunfan continued to ask.
The middle-aged man didn't know why Yang Yunfan asked this, but he still thought about it and said: "Western Sichuan is far away from Zizhou, and most of the weak and sick people have not been able to reach Zizhou. I estimate that there are eighty-nine refugees in Zizhou now. A hundred people.”
Yang Yunfan nodded and stopped asking. Then he looked at Chen Zishan and said, "Brother, give me all the money you have."
Chen Zishan looked at Yang Yunfan, hesitated to speak, then sighed, reached out and took out the money bag and handed it to Yang Yunfan.
Yang Yunfan walked up to the middle-aged man with the money bag and said, "I'll give you this money. Take it back to treat your family. Also, don't sell your daughter again."
The middle-aged man looked at Yang Yunfan in bewilderment, and then at the money bag in Yang Yunfan's hand. He burst into tears. He pulled his daughter to his knees, kowtowed and said, "Thank you so much for saving my life. Thank you so much for saving my life." Well..."
"You're welcome, go get the doctor quickly."
Looking at the father and daughter disappearing on the long street, Yang Yunfan let out a long sigh. Chen Zishan smiled bitterly and said to Yang Yunfan: "Okay, junior brother, now we are both penniless, and we can't stay in this inn. If we beg along the way to Chengdu, we won't be able to afford food even with this outfit, haha "
Yang Yunfan thought for a while and said with a smile: "Brother, I will take you to a place to beg for food."
Chen Zishan didn't know where Yang Yunfan was taking him, so he just followed him all the way. When Yang Yunfan asked passers-by about the place, he found out that it was the Zizhou government office.
