Invincible son

Chapter 728 727 [Dragon and Tiger]

The terrain of Zhangde Mansion is wide in the north and narrow in the south, like an upside-down gourd.

After the wedding mission left Anhua County, it passed through Ruanling County and Baochang County successively, and arrived in Haiyang County three days later.

Further south into Xunning Mansion, Chengjing City is located outside the southeast boundary of Xunning Mansion.

In the past few days, Wang Qi was worried, for fear that Pei Yue would drag him to the folks, because in fact, many people had no food in their homes. After Qinzhou, more than a dozen heads were beheaded in a row, and most grain merchants dare not sell grain anymore.

Now it is all thanks to the government's Changping warehouse to supply food, and the local rich families to open porridge shops, so there is barely any trouble.

As for those grain merchants, after selling the grain in their stores at the usual price, they declared that they had no grain in stock and could not buy grain outside, and closed their doors one after another.

What Wang Qi was most afraid of was that when Pei Yue saw the tragic scene among the people, he was so angry that he used his sword to pry the mouths of those grain merchants open.

He had no doubts about the killing and courage of the young prince.

Fortunately, Pei Yue didn't seem to be interested in such things as white dragon fish clothes. He stayed in the mission from the beginning to the end, and would chat with Wang Qi for more than half an hour every day. Historical Events.

Wang Qi was naturally fully on guard at the beginning, lest he would be caught by the other party if he said something wrong.However, as time went by, he gradually became calm and composed.

I used to hear that this Marquis of Zhongshan was sympathetic to the common people and that honeycomb briquettes benefited the world, but now it seems that he can only exaggerate the truth.Even if he doesn't understand the specific operation of the government below, he should know that the severe drought affects not only Qinzhou, nor the summer season.As long as there is no rain for a day, the adverse effects of the drought will continue to increase, and even cause turmoil in the southern border of Daliang.

Pei Yue didn't seem to realize it, except for chatting with Wang Qi every day, the rest of the time he stayed in that spacious and comfortable carriage.

Wang Qi also carefully observed the movement of the thousand guard cavalry, and found that they escorted the mission southward honestly, and no one left for a long time.

Everything seemed to be peaceful, but there was one thing that Wang Qi didn't expect, that is, after the mission entered Xunning Mansion, there were two more companions beside him.

The two men were Yujie, the prime minister of Yuanling County, and Sun Guangxin, the magistrate of Haiyang County.

Wang Qi is fairly familiar with them, after all, they are officials from the counties below Zhangde Mansion, and they can meet each other many times a year.During a break at noon, Wang Qi sat under the shade of a tree and said in a low voice, "What exactly does Marquis Pei want to do?"

Yu Jie shook his head slightly and said, "I don't know."

Wang Qi glanced at the soldiers of the Beiwei camp who were silent in the distance, frowned and said, "I always feel that he is playing a big game of chess."

On the other side, there was fear in Sun Guangxin's eyes, and he said nervously, "Could it be that they want to take a knife against us?"

Wang Qi was startled for a moment, then laughed and said, "Why does he have any reason to attack us? Besides, you and I are both serious Scholars, so even if he wants to attack us, Han Shenzheng has to nod."

Sun Guangxin shrank his neck and said: "But I heard that when Marquis Pei was in the western region, he personally killed that Marquis of Wuwei Ningzhong in front of tens of thousands of soldiers."

The faces of the other two were a bit ugly, Wang Qi pondered and said: "Don't scare yourself, I guess he probably wants to get information from us. The two are the same age, and they must keep their mouths tight in the past few days. Don't say a single word, or I will be the one who is unlucky. As for the plan of this Marquis of Zhongshan, everyone can rest assured that the elders of the various families in Chengjing will definitely keep an eye on the mission, and they will definitely know that we disappeared. reason."

Both Yu and Sun nodded in agreement.

On the tree-shaded flat ground on the other side of the official road, in the most spacious carriage, Pei Yue looked down at the letter paper in his hand that was full of small script, with a slightly dignified expression.

Gu Zhen and Ye Qi had different expressions. The former looked at the letter in Pei Yue's hand curiously, and wanted to see how the calligraphy of the talented Shen family, who was famous in Kyoto, was as free and unrestrained as in the legend.

Ye Qi only felt that the other party was haunted, even though this place was very close to the capital, Shen Danmo still sent someone to send a secret letter.But she didn't get jealous at this time, instead she took the initiative to ask: "What did she say in the letter?"

Pei Yue handed the letter to Ye Qi, and said in a deep voice: "It's roughly the same as what I know here, Taishi Taige's means are really extraordinary. I thought they put most of their energy on Southern Zhou, but I didn't expect them to In the case of insufficient manpower, such detailed information can still be found. Compared with it, Tang Linfen may not be as efficient as the other party with 5000 people, but it is a pity that Fu Hongzhi cannot follow this time."

After reading it, Ye Qi had no time to take care of Shen Danmo's calligraphy, and said sharply, "These people really don't know how to write dead characters, can they rebel if they want to?"

Pei Yue shook his head and said, "Of course they won't rebel."

Gu Zhen moved to Ye Qi's side and leaned on her body to read the letter.

If it was the past, Pei Yue would definitely not miss such a beautiful and delicious scene, but today he obviously doesn't have this elegance.

After a moment of silence, he said in a cold voice: "The former Wei Guozuo was long, and the clans had become a persistent disease of the dynasty. , Western Wu or Southern Zhou, the strength of these moths has been greatly weakened, and it is impossible to monopolize the lifeline of a dynasty like before."

He paused, and said solemnly: "It's just that the destruction wasn't complete, and some of those clans still survived, such as the Luling Han family, Jiangbei Fu family, Qinghe Xu family, etc. And the Wang, Sun, Xu, Zhao and other aristocratic families living in Qinzhou. They don’t dare to confront the imperial court, but I’m sure they want to return to the glory of the former Wei Dynasty in their dreams.”

Ye Qi stared and said: "That's why they want to take this opportunity to annex the land."

Pei Yue nodded and said: "The so-called powerful people can be traced back to the land occupation system implemented in the early days of the former Wei Dynasty. Compared with the current situation where the three kingdoms stand side by side, the territory of the former Wei Dynasty after the unification of the world seems too large, and the management of the government is very difficult. The people in power at that time thought of this land occupation system, using the gentry to govern the people of Li, and the court only needed to collect taxes from the gentry.”

Gu Zhen pondered and said: "Brother Pei's words are true. The land occupation system did bring a lot of convenience to the former Wei court in the early days, saving a lot of manpower and material resources, which is equivalent to transferring the expenses originally borne by the government to the gentry. Protect the encroachment of these gentry on the fields."

Pei Yue sneered and said: "I don't know whether to say that the person who came up with this method is extremely smart or extremely stupid. The fundamental reason why the gentry can become powerful is that they gradually monopolize the channels for official promotion, because most ordinary people have become theirs. Slaves. The Luling Han family was able to recognize the reality and voluntarily handed over half of the fertile land occupied by the family, which gave Han Gongduan the opportunity to become a Hanlin scholar, and then to participate in politics in today's Dongfu."

Taohua heard that her eyelids kept fighting up and down.

Although Ye Qi was not familiar with the records in the history books, she knew very well about what Pei Yue wanted to do these days, so she couldn't help saying with a little worry: "You will definitely provoke a strong reaction from them."

Gu Zhen also said: "Sister Ye is right, Han Shenzheng is now in the quagmire, it can be seen that these people are extremely well-prepared. Brother Pei, I trust your judgment, but maybe we can use a slightly softer method?"

Pei Yue usually obeyed them, but now he shook his head calmly and said, "This kind of aristocratic family can only bow its head under one circumstance."

The second daughter immediately understood the cruel murderous intent in this sentence.

Pei Yue said softly: "Actually, the secret letter sent by Tang Linfen these days has made it very clear that just after we left Zhangde Mansion, no less than 30 people died of starvation there."

"Ah!" Gu Zhen suddenly covered her mouth and exclaimed, her eyes filled with unbearable and sad expressions.

Ye Qi pursed his lips tightly, his eyes were as cold as ice.

However, Pei Yue said in a complicated tone: "Even if this is the case, the people from all over Qinzhou may not stand on the court's side. Don't think that these aristocratic families are idiots. In fact, they have been opening porridge shops to help the people during this period of time." , although there is not much difference between those porridges and water soups."

Gu Zhen said clearly: "Presumably they have already separated their relationship with the grain merchant."

Pei Yue nodded and said: "On the one hand, they groveled to South Korea's participation in politics, and on the other hand, they hid a large amount of food. In fact, both sides knew it well. It just depends on who bows first. What is in front of us now is like a head If the turtles are retracting, if they want to cut off their heads, they have to figure out a way to let them stick their heads out first."

Ye Qi turned to look at the half-covered car curtain, and said softly, "Those people outside are just..."

"Yes."

Pei Yue nodded expressionlessly, and then said in a cold voice: "People are useful in this world, and so are they."

Ye Qi and Gu Zhen looked at each other, and said firmly, "Then don't be soft."

Pei Yue said solemnly: "Okay."

On July 22, the Daliang Mission left Xunning Prefecture, Qinzhou, and headed for Chengjing, a distance of only ten miles.

On that day, there was great chaos in the city.

(End of this chapter)