Chapter 1246: Carrying on the Past and Opening up the Future (One Hundred and Thirty-Six) New Policies in Shu County

Wen Yi leaned against the door and watched as the woman fed the small amount of porridge that could be seen in the bowl into the mouth of her son who had just turned one year old. The one-year-old son was as skinny as a stick, which was a typical symptom of malnutrition. Look again. The daughter-in-law, who was also sallow and thin, had a sad look on her face.

This was the last bit of rice at home. Previously, he had watched the woman take it out of the rice vat almost counting the grains. Even a small amount of rice was only enough to make a little rice soup for his son. But what about tomorrow? What will happen tomorrow? The adults can still make do with it, and they can always fool them with wild vegetables and tree bark, but their son is still so young, how can he endure it?

The woman looked up at him, her big sunken eyes full of despair.

He stood up and tightened the straw rope around his waist, "I'm going to the town to see if I can find some odd jobs and earn some money to buy some rice."

After saying that, without waiting for the woman to reply, he turned around, picked up the hemp rope of the pole standing in the corner, and strode out the door. He didn't know if he could find any work, but he had to go out and give it a try.

When I walked to the entrance of the village, I met Wen Cheng from the same village. The two looked at each other and smiled bitterly.

"No food?" Wen Yi asked.

"Who says it's not the case? Originally, I still had some food at home, and I thought I could survive until the autumn harvest. But a few days ago, the county came to seize the bandits' money and food, and they robbed them all. You can't go out and try your luck. Just watch the mother-in-law starve to death!" Wen Cheng said.

"I can't survive in this world." Wen Yi tightened the straw rope around his waist. "If you really push me, I will go to Xang Er Mountain to become a bandit."

"Shut up!" Wen Cheng was startled and reached out to cover Wen Yi's mouth, "You have forgotten what happened in our village last year. The old Liang family and the old He family have more than a hundred people in each family. Well, they've all been raped. Isn't it because someone in their family rebelled? Don't act like this. We, the old Wen family, are like grasshoppers on a thread with their bones broken and their tendons tied together. Don't act like this! "

"That's all I'm saying. How dare you do this!" Wen Yi sighed. Thinking of the anti-tax riot last year, his heart couldn't help but jump. Liang and He's family were also like this. The wealthy people in the village couldn't bear the endless exorbitant taxes and killed the county officials who came to collect grain. The two families also joined forces with relatives and friends of the He and Liang families from several nearby villages to rebel. At the height of their momentum, they almost even captured the county seat.

What happened later was tragic. The imperial court mobilized a large army. Seeing the huge riot, it was suppressed in a blink of an eye. The remaining members of the He and Liang families fled to the Xang Er Mountain, but they were only some strong men. . The old, weak, women and children were all left behind, and were picked up by the officers and soldiers and taken to the entrance of the village. Just where the two men had just passed, their heads were chopped off.

Rivers of blood flowed. In such a big village, only the old Wen family is left.

At this point, both of them fell silent. It was wrong for the He and Liang families to rebel. But what sin do those women and children have? He was also dragged out and all of them were killed.

"Do you know? The general who killed people is not from Qin, he is from Yan." He walked for a while. Wen Cheng said suddenly.

"What, Yan people? Can Yan people be the generals of our Great Qin?" Wen Yi said in surprise.

"You must be ignorant about this. I heard people in the town say that the current generals of our Qin Dynasty are all Yan people." Wen Cheng said.

"This world!" Wen Yigu said. No wonder he kills people without blinking an eye.

The two stopped talking and walked heavily forward in silence on the road leading to the town.

As soon as the two of them stepped into the town, they were dumbfounded. They could see thin, sallow-looking men like them everywhere in the town, with straw ropes tied around their waists and carrying poles on their shoulders. Some were walking aimlessly on the streets. Sliding around, some leaned against the wall with their long legs stretched out, basking in the sun with their eyes closed, and more gathered together in small groups.

"Don't provoke those people." Wen Cheng whispered to Wen Yi: "Those people all come from the same village. Whenever there is some work, they always rush to do it. Whoever wants to compete with them will win. They came up to fight with poles in hand. There were many of them and they were in a group. I saw them beat people until they vomited blood several times. "

"So cruel!" Wen Yi stuck out his tongue.

"Who says it's not the case, but this little food is enough for several people! Look at the people on the street. They can't survive. Who will join in the fun?" Wen Cheng sighed, "3617/'> I hope there will be more work today and there will be some soup left for us after they eat it.”

The two looked at each other, smiled bitterly, found a wall, and sat down.

A well-dressed man strode over from a distance. Looking at the men carrying poles all over the street, a proud look appeared on his face involuntarily. He walked up to the steps in front of a merchant and shouted loudly: "Lu The master's house needs twenty strong men to take care of food and housing, and the wages are twenty cents a day."

With a sudden sound, all the carrying poles on the street rushed up. Wen Cheng and Wen Yi reacted a little slower, and were stepped on several times by the surging crowd. When the two people got up, the man had already The three floors inside and outside were surrounded.

"Forget it, it's not our fault." Wen Yi sat down again in disappointment.

After a while, the man led twenty men away. As expected, what he led away were all those carrying poles in groups. Those people usually received more work, so they naturally had more to eat. The fuller you are, the more naturally you will look stronger.

Time passed little by little, and the sun had reached the middle of the sky, but except for the member Lu, after the family recruited a group of people, no one came again.

After a few gurgles, the stomachs of both of them growled. Wen Yi looked at Wen Cheng, and the two of them tied the straw rope around their waists tighter in unison, "This town used to be so prosperous. During the slack season, , We all came here to find a job to make some spare money, why is it like this now? "

"It's not the chaos that the Heliang family caused last year. Many people in the town were involved. Those who were beaten to death by the rioters and killed by the imperial army will definitely not be able to go back in ten or eight years. "Wen Cheng sighed, "Actually, it's not just our Ziyang County, I've heard that it's the same in other places. It's like ours everywhere."

"But I think Mr. Na Lu's family is living a good life. Look at the person before, he is just a servant. Look at his belly, he is so shy."

"I heard that Mr. Lu played a great role in suppressing the He Liang rebellion. They have a family army, and the eldest son of Mr. Lu's family is an official in the county!"

"This world!" Wen Yi was dejected. He had sighed like this countless times today.

"Do you know why the Lu family wanted to build the courtyard wall? They helped kill so many people in the past, but they were not killed in the end. Didn't some people from the He and Liang families escape into Xang Er Mountain? Mr. Lu was afraid of those desperate people. The gang secretly sneaked down the mountain to take revenge, so the courtyard wall must be heightened and reinforced." Wen Chengdao.

"Aren't they brave enough to be killed? Why do they dare to come down the mountain to take revenge?" Wen Yi asked curiously.

"Who said they were discouraged by being killed? They fled to the Xiong'er Mountains and became bandits, recruiting troops. Some time ago, the army went to suppress the army. I heard that they suffered heavy losses and many people were killed by the bandits. No, They suffered a loss, but in the end they fell on us and demanded food and taxes, saying that they would invite reinforcements to kill all these bandits. "

Thinking that the last bit of food at home had been looted, Wen Yi was not only angry, "They couldn't do anything to the bandits, but they only knew how to bully us. They robbed our food, but they didn't go to fight the bandits!"

"Please keep your voice down. There are a lot of people talking here. If someone wants to hear them say that you are the bandit's eyes and ears, you can't even open your mouth to explain. Our village has suffered a lot because of the He and Liang families. Otherwise, I will say it repeatedly on the road." I told you not to say you are from our village," Wen Cheng said quickly.

Wen Yi stopped talking and leaned against the wall, curling up into a ball, squinting his eyes and taking a nap. Wen Cheng also closed his eyes listlessly.

This world really makes it difficult for poor people to live. But just a few years ago, their life was still good. But since the Qin Dynasty was defeated by the Han people on the grassland, their life has become worse day by day. Taxes are increasing, and a year's harvest has been reduced by ten. Seventy-eight of them were about to be expropriated, and the rest could not support the family's life. It was a good thing that banditry broke out and the remaining food was gone.

The banging sound of the gong woke up the two people who were a little weak from hunger. They jumped up reflexively, with panic on their faces. That day, the night when so many people were beheaded in the village was also caused by It started with the sound of a gong.

The panic-stricken two people opened their eyes wide and saw a man in a police uniform standing in front of a wall, beating a gong and shouting loudly: "Come and see, come and see, the imperial edict." Ling, let’s all have a good time!”

Wen Cheng and Wen Yi looked at each other and slowly came closer. On the street, not only the idle men carrying poles, but also the merchants and residents on the street came out and gathered around the policeman.

The notice posted on the wall is covered with a large bright red seal, but the line after line of words on it are like a sacred book to most people here, and no one can read it at all.

"Brother, official, what is written on this?" A man asked loudly: "How can we live a good life in this situation now? If the court doesn't collect taxes all the time, our life will definitely be easier."

"You can eat as much as you want, but don't talk nonsense. Taxation is a major national policy. If you dare to make arrogant comments, you may end up in jail." The policeman's eyes widened and he knocked on the notice on the wall. "The imperial court has issued an order. , landless peasants can be given land for free, based on population, every ten acres. Do you think this is a great thing? There are so many good things written here, please be quiet and listen to me read it to you!" to be continued……)