Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 632 King Qi Treats Me
"Woooo-"

In August, Zhu Youjian and Zhu Youxiao continued to head south as the sound of the train chugging and chugging was heard on the Chengdu Plain.

The life of the people in Sichuan is more nourishing than they thought. They took the train all the way to the south, and all they saw along the way were scenes of families raising livestock and providing meat for their families.

It can be said that the words "Apocalypse and Prosperity" could barely appear in front of everyone until Zhu Youxiao and the others entered Sichuan.

This allowed Zhu Youxiao, who is the emperor, to regain a lot of confidence, and he also looked forward to the many upcoming itineraries.

"Woooo-"

"Is this the upper reaches of the Yangtze River?"

When the whistle sounded, Zhu Youxiao looked at the Yangtze River Bridge outside the glass window of the train and couldn't help asking questions.

"Long live back, this place is the Xuzhou Yangtze River Bridge, one of the only three Yangtze River bridges in the Kingdom."

Lu Wenzhao bowed in return, and Zhu Youxiao nodded slightly after hearing the words, and turned to look at Zhu Youjian who was reading a book.

Due to the diligent administration of the Eastern Palace, there are not many times when Zhu Youxiao and Zhu Youjian are required to deal with the memorials. Right now, they are both in the car to pass the time.

Wood carvings and carving knives are placed in front of Zhu Youxiao's desk, and stacks of pre-Qin classics are in front of Zhu Youjian.

"My younger brother is no less than a sage himself. Do you still need to read a book?"

Zhu Youxiao joked with a smile, and Zhu Youjian also raised his head with a smile: "There is no limit to the sea of ​​learning. In the future, many new policies in Ming and Qi will need to make different arrangements. I have to understand everything before I can make arrangements in advance."

With that said, Zhu Youjian took out a thick book, opened it, picked up a pen and started writing.

He lowered his head and began to write. Seeing that he was busy, Zhu Youxiao didn't bother him, and picked up his own wood carving and started carving.

The next destination of the two brothers is Kunming, and the current Kunming is stationed by Qi Wulong, the third generation general of the Qi family.

It will take one day and one night from Xuzhou to Kunming. If there is no accident, Zhu Youjian and the others will stop and rest in Hengjiang Town ahead for two hours.

"Woooo-"

It was almost as expected by Zhu Youjian. When the train traveled for another hour, it blew the whistle to stop just as Zhu Youjian expected.

After a while, the train began to slow down, and finally stopped slowly.

"Is there something wrong with brother?"

Zhu Youjian asked with concern. After all, it was a thousand-meter climb from Sichuan to Kunming. He was not sure whether Zhu Youxiao's body could hold it up.

"It's nothing, but it feels drier here than in Chengdu."

Zhu Youxiao moved around a bit, and responded with a cheerful smile after feeling that there was nothing wrong.

"Come on, let's go down and take a look at Hengjiang Town."

Zhu Youxiao got out of the car with a smile, and Zhu Youjian followed closely behind.

Lu Wenzhao brought more than ten Jinyi guards to guard them, and at the same time told the accompanying Yiluan guards to check the streets in advance.

The ordered Yiluan guards immediately began to check the streets in disguise, while Zhu Youxiao and Zhu Youjian came to the outside of Hengjiang Town.

Outside the town, the golden rice fields are connected together, and there are many old farmers working on the ridges.

Their job is nothing more than patrolling the fields to prevent some birds from coming to peck the food.

"I remember this Xuzhou. When She Chongming rebelled, he mainly attacked this place."

"When I didn't come here, I didn't expect this place to be so peaceful. No wonder She Chongming wanted to take it over."

Standing next to the township road, Zhu Youxiao talked about his feelings, and Zhu Youjian nodded slightly when he saw this.

However, when he nodded, Zhu Youxiao turned his head and said with emotion:
"Without my younger brother's arrangements, I am afraid that the She'an Rebellion will be no less than the Battle of Bozhou that year."

"Brother is absurdly praised..." Zhu Youjian lowered his eyes and responded, thinking about his own affairs.

Seeing his appearance, Zhu Youxiao couldn't help asking:
"My brother seems a little tired today, and seems to have something on his mind."

"There are indeed some..." Zhu Youjian took a deep breath, looked up at the farmers around the rice fields and said:

"I'm thinking, after I leave, how my brother and brother Ran will govern the Ming Dynasty, and whether the national policy I sent back will be accepted and adopted by all officials."

In Zhu Youjian's heart, the family is the first, followed by the common people, and then friends...

Speaking of friends, Zhu Youjian thought of Yang Lian who lived in Dali.

He should go to see Yang Lian, but this time he brought his brother with him, it might be inconvenient.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian bowed to Zhu Youxiao:
"Brother, I'm afraid I have to go to Dali on this trip, as for Luchuan..."

Zhu Youjian hesitated for a moment, and when Zhu Youxiao saw this, he also helped him up and smiled:

"For the trip to Luchuan, I can go alone. My brother said so many things about Luchuan. I happen to stay in Luchuan for a few more days to see the local situation."

After all, Zhu Youxiao turned around and waved his hands with a smile, motioning for Zhu Youjian to follow, and at the same time said:

"There is still an hour for the train to leave, but I'm a little tired. I'll go back to the car and rest first. Brother, let's see Hengjiang Town first."

Although Zhu Youxiao said so, Zhu Youjian knew that he was a little dissatisfied with going to see Yang Lian.

That's right, after all, Yang Lian lost a lot of face when he went to college, so it's good that he can support Zhu Youjian to go to Dali with an open heart.

Zhu Youjian looked at his back and sighed deeply.

After Zhu Youxiao disappeared, he turned around and went to the field, where he sat with some farmers sitting in the field.

With his luxurious attire, his fair skin and striking features, he sat so abruptly in the crowd that the peasants were afraid to chat loudly.

"I was sent by the county to see the situation in Hengjiang Town."

"Keep your voice down, don't make a fuss, all the officials in the town have gone to the train station now."

Zhu Youjian smiled and "exploded his identity", which made the surrounding farmers a little at a loss, and Zhu Youjian continued:
"Don't panic, the higher authorities sent me and me to Hengjiang Town, mainly to ask how you are doing now, can you still have enough food and clothing?"

Zhu Youjian's reassurance made the farmers sitting around the rice fields and waiting for the harvest breathe a sigh of relief.

Seeing that Zhu Youjian was approachable, they became bolder and said with a smile:

"It's an excellent day, full of momentum."

"It's just that the price of grain has started to drop. According to the original price of grain, we should live a relatively healthy life, but now the price of grain collected in the Huangdian has dropped to two cents per catty. It's better to grow some fruits and vegetables."

"That's right! Planting grain on one mu of land can only yield half a tael of grain, but if you grow melons, fruits and vegetables, you may reap one tael of silver."

"The price of rice has fallen too fast now, and it is estimated that if it continues to fall like this, we will have to change our crops."

"Hey! You are from the county, tell me, will the county take care of these things?"

"Why do you think the price of food suddenly dropped so much?"

"Eh……"

The peasants were chattering, Zhu Youjian laughed and said:

"The county will naturally take care of it. As for the price of food, the main reason is that the drought in various places is over. There is more land than people, so food will naturally drop. Didn't your mayor tell you this?"

"Mayor?" A five-year-old farmer holding a gourd and drinking water said in a self-deprecating way:

"The mayor is not something we can see. To tell you the truth, the biggest official I have ever met in my life is the town's book office."

"Me too!"

"Haha, me too!"

"By the way, who is the mayor of our town?"

"I don't know, I haven't seen it before."

"these people……"

Farmers in the field talked boldly. They thought that Zhu Youjian was a good official. Compared with him, he looked very good. Judging people by their appearance is the norm in this era.

However, their topic also caught Zhu Youjian's attention.

The so-called book office is from the left and right hands of the mayor of Bapin. After the implementation of the New Apocalypse Policy, the Ming Dynasty not only set up village official offices in grass-roots villages and arranged for village officials to serve, but also made arrangements for market towns.

A market town is divided into the mayor, the town soldiers and horses, the left book office, and the right book office. In addition, there are a group of seventeen soldiers and horses besides the town soldiers and horses, and ten officials each under the command of the left and right book offices.

That is to say, in a market town, there are [-] people with government establishments.

After the New Deal, a market town must have a resident population ranging from 1000 to 3000 before it can be called a market town, and a town with a population of [-] or more is a county seat.

Therefore, in the market town of Daming, it can be said that 3000 people manage 100 people, and each person manages [-] people.

Due to the loose policy, all the mayor needs to do is to collect taxes normally, count the population and fields and other things.

The economy of various places is basically issued by the chief envoy, the government office, and the county office, so the mayor of the town does not show his face much.

However, even so, the mayor still has to come forward on key issues.

It's just that in Hengjiang Town, it seems that the people don't know the mayor at all, and this is probably not a single case, but a microcosm of the whole world.

When Zhu Youjian helped the poor in mountain villages in his previous life, some ordinary people who lived in seclusion did not know him, let alone officials in this era.

But this kind of thing is not a good phenomenon, it can only be said that the bureaucratic atmosphere of Daming is too serious.

"Do you think the mayor needs to come out and walk around?"

Zhu Youjian asked the farmers, but they looked at me and you, and they didn't know what to say for a long time.

"Do you know what the mayor is busy with every day?"

Seeing that they couldn't speak, Zhu Youjian asked curiously again, but what he got was a collective shake of their heads.

Seeing this, he could only sigh and explain to the people:
"The mayor doesn't have many things to do, but there are things to do."

"Just like now, you will be able to harvest the grain in half a month, but after the grain is harvested, whether it is selling or weighing and paying taxes, you need to make preparations in advance."

"The mayor is doing these things right now. Of course, there are some mayors who have nothing to do and leave things to the people below. It is not ruled out that the mayor here is such a person."

"Whether he is this kind of person, I will check him for you later. What I want to know now is whether you still have any problems in your life."

"For example, if you don't have enough clothes, the price is too expensive, etc., as long as you feel that you have difficulties, don't be shy and speak up."

"You have to know that it was hard for me to come down this time. After you tell me, I can go to the Shu and report to the court."

Zhu Youjian deliberately exaggerated his power, which made many farmers curious about their identities.

Seeing that they didn't speak, Zhu Youjian also "exploded himself" and said:

"I'm the inspector censor of the government office, so don't worry about offending others, just speak up."

"If anyone dares to trouble you afterwards, I will definitely punish those people."

"No, no, no! No one bullied us." Seeing what Zhu Youjian said, the farmers quickly waved their hands to show that no one bullied them. Some of them also said:
"We find it difficult mainly because some things are too expensive, and the price of grain purchases is too low."

"That's right! The purchase price of grain is still too low, and sometimes the grain is sold too much, and the people in the Huangdian will give us banknotes. Holding banknotes is not as comfortable as holding silver coins."

"Paper money! That's right, that's the paper money! We can only go to the imperial store to buy things when we get them. Although the yamen recognizes them, they still let us take cash in many cases."

"The yamen asked you to take cash?" Zhu Youjian frowned: "Now that the whole country is exempt from land taxes, why does the yamen ask you to take cash?"

"Why? Of course it's a fine!" The farmers shouted in unison, and then explained in one voice:
"Living in the town and going to the county occasionally, people will always be fined. Sometimes the officials say that we littered things and fine us money."

"Other times, it is said that township roads and county roads need to be maintained, and we have to pay a penny for walking on those roads."

"Although the penny is not much, I have to go to the county more than a dozen times a year to buy and sell poultry feed. This year, it is only a dozen pennies."

"Also, some roads are broken, and the yamen asked us to bring our own tools to help without saying a word. Not only did we not pay wages, but they didn't even give us food. We had to bring our own..."

"and also……"

Farmers talk about their hardships, but most of them are caused by the local government.

Among them, Zhu Youjian has a bad face on the matter of "arbitrary fees and labor".

These things are things that he has repeatedly issued and five orders to eliminate. For this reason, he gave up half a step and gave up [-]% of the imperial court's taxes to the local government. As a result, the local government still does not know how to restrain it.

"Tell Brother Ran about this matter, and he will deal with it."

Zhu Youjian turned his head to tell Lu Wenzhao, and Lu Wenzhao also nodded and won.

It's just that he has already sentenced the officials in Syria to death in his heart.

The one in the East Palace is no better than his own highness, that young and frivolous one who kills people at every turn, the Xuzhou officials would at most be exiled in the hands of his highness, but fell into the hands of that...

Lu Wenzhao narrowed his eyes, while Zhu Youjian continued to chat with the farmers.

The needs of the farmers are very simple, and their confusion is easy to explain, but the local officials don't care about them, and they are confused by the officials for a lifetime.

Officials are unwilling to explain to farmers why the price of grain has risen, let alone other things.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian had no choice but to sit down and enlighten the farmers:

"The price of this chemical fertilizer and feed is high because it has a strong effect and is difficult to produce."

"Now the imperial court is building factories. When the factories are ready, the prices of these things will come down."

"It's not just these, the prices of cloth, ready-made clothing, and meat will all drop by then, and good times will come, so you don't have to worry."

"Now it is His Highness the Crown Prince who supervises the country. His Highness can't see corrupt officials bullying the common people."

"Prince?" Hearing Zhu Youjian's words, the farmers on the ridge froze for a moment, and looked at each other with friends on the left and right.

The bold fifty-year-old farmer who spoke first also asked cautiously: "Isn't Jian Guo the king of Qi?"

"That's the old calendar..." Zhu Youjian couldn't laugh or cry:

"His Royal Highness King Qi has not supervised the country since the 17th year of the apocalypse, and the crown prince has been in charge of the country since the 17th year of the apocalypse."

"what?!"

The bold old farmer in his [-]s was stunned when he heard the words, and the hoe in his hand fell to the ground.

"This, this... this...how could His Royal Highness King Qi suddenly stop supervising the country?"

"Yes! Why doesn't His Royal Highness supervise the country anymore?"

"Could it be that he was squeezed out by corrupt officials?"

"No way……"

"Why doesn't His Royal Highness supervise the country!"

The farmers asked Zhu Youjian in a hurry, and some people even had red eyes, and Zhu Youjian didn't know how to answer.

It has been five years since he resigned as supervisor of the country, and he never thought that the people in Hengjiang Town, Xuzhou, would not know the news.

"Hey... I said how every day is not as good as it is every day. It turns out that His Royal Highness King Qi is no longer a supervisor..."

"Be quiet!"

A farmer couldn't help complaining, and the next second he was kicked by the person next to him as a reminder.

Obviously, in their view, although Zhu Youjian is approachable, he is a member of the Yamen after all.

If this kind of words were heard by the people in the yamen, although they would not be punished, it would be bad if Zhu Youjian was narrow-minded.

So after being kicked, the man was not angry, but smiled awkwardly at Zhu Youjian.

Regarding their attitude, Zhu Youjian himself is very curious. He has been doing publicity for his brother and nephew, sharing the credit. Why do people always prefer him?

"Don't worry, I think so too, but I'm curious."

"Long Live Mingming and His Highness the Crown Prince have done a lot for the common people, why do you all favor His Highness King Qi?"

Zhu Youjian asked a question he was curious about. He still doesn't know where his propaganda "failed".

"This..." The farmers looked around, unable to say anything for a while.

On the other hand, the bold old farmer in his [-]s said in a loud voice:

"What else could it be? Before King Qi supervised the country, we were all farmers who planed food in the fields in northern Shaanxi. Every day, a family of seven or eight could only eat two or three catties of old rice."

"I'm not afraid of your jokes. At that time, the three dolls in my family had no clothes. One of them was a female doll. She could only stay at home and wrap her body in a quilt every day. Only when my brother and I went home did they have a piece of clothing to wear." , you can take turns going out to play."

"After the king of Qi supervised the country, the captives were wiped out, not to mention the peace in the north, and the taxes in Shaanxi were also exempted. Only then did the three children of my family put on clothes."

"Later, due to the drought in Shaanxi, we had nothing to eat, so we had no choice but to rebel. As a result, His Royal Highness Qi Wang did not hold us accountable, and moved us to this place, giving each household [-] acres of land."

"Our good days were given by His Royal Highness King Qi. You said Long Live and Your Highness, how they care about us, the old man didn't see it. Anyway, apart from this year's exemption, he usually didn't get any benefits."

"Yes!" Hearing what the old farmer said, the others also echoed.

It was precisely because of their explanations that Zhu Youjian knew that they were actually peasants who were rebels in the Shaanxi civil uprising back then, so it's no wonder they remembered their own.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian didn't know how to tell them, the atmosphere froze for a while.

However, some peasants saw that he was highly knowledgeable, so they turned to him and asked:
"My lord, since you are an official, why did His Royal Highness King Qi stop being the country supervisor?"

"Is His Royal Highness King Qi a vassal?"

"Yes, where is His Royal Highness King Qi?"

"My lord, tell us, we promise not to tell anyone else..."

"You are a good official, just tell us!"

For a while, the farmers were chattering, and Zhu Youjian could only lie when he saw this:

"His Royal Highness and Long Live are currently inspecting Chengdu, and Kunming should be next."

"That's going to pass us?!" Hearing Zhu Youjian's words, the surrounding farmers were all excited and excited.

Seeing this, Zhu Youjian could only wave his hands and said, "It's also possible to stop here and go directly to Kunming."

"That's at least closer to us." The farmers comforted themselves, and Zhu Youjian couldn't help laughing when he saw their appearance.

While he was laughing, a young man in common clothes walked up to Lu Wenzhao and whispered something in Lu Wenzhao's ear.

After hearing this, Lu Wenzhao stepped forward and whispered in Zhu Youjian's ear, "My lord, the fuel for the train is ready and we can start."

"Well..." Zhu Youjian nodded, then turned his head and said helplessly to the old farmers:

"Since you say so, then wait and see if you can wait."

"I have to go to Wumeng now. If I have a chance to see you again in the future, I will definitely go to your home to ask for some drinks."

As he said that, Zhu Youjian bowed and saluted, and the old farmers were frightened to return the salute.

When they got up, Zhu Youjian had already led Lu Wenzhao out of the field and walked to the village road.

Seeing him leave, some farmers also began to chat about their own affairs. Only the bold old farmer in his [-]s rubbed his eyes, looked at Zhu Youjian's back, and seemed to think of something.

But after that idea appeared, the old farmer smiled and shook his head:

"Probably not, how can His Royal Highness be so young..."

After laughing, the old farmer turned around to pack up his farm tools and go home, but at this moment, someone else's call reached his ears.

"Grandpa! Grandpa! My class is over! We can go home now!"

"Hey~" Hearing the familiar voice, the old farmer who stooped to pack his farm tools paused, and almost subconsciously turned to look at the country road on the slope of the farmland.

On the country road, the three of Zhu Youjian and a school child with a backpack passed by. The child waved his hands and ran towards the old farmer, but he slowed down when he ran past Zhu Youjian, with some doubts Look at Zhu Youjian.

After Zhu Youjian walked away, he stood still and looked at Zhu Youjian's back, scratching his hair.

After packing up his things, the old farmer walked up the steps to the country road, looked at his grandson scratching his hair and said with a smile:

"Why? Are you stupid in reading? Why are you scratching your head?"

"It's not... Grandpa." The child pointed to the backs of Zhu Youjian and others who had gone away completely, and even almost disappeared from sight, and said:

"That good-looking person, he looks like a person hanging in the school..."

"The person hanging in the school?" The old farmer didn't respond.

"Well! That's the one hanging with the emperor!" The child pointed to Zhu Youjian and others who had completely disappeared, and said loudly to the old farmer.

At this time, no matter whether it was the old farmer or other farmers who were walking up the country road with farm tools, they were all stunned. They looked in the direction the child pointed, but they could no longer see anything.

All they can see is the afterglow of the setting sun at the end of the road, and the back figure that seems to not exist, but also seems to exist...

Looking at the invisible back, the old farmer was stunned, and then he opened his mouth as if muttering:
"Grandson, you said that your teacher said how old is His Royal Highness King Qi..."

"It seems to be 32 years old..."

(End of this chapter)