Established a thousand-year family from the end of Qin Dynasty

Chapter 279 Sheep Cannibalize People ([-])

Two years later

Winter of the second year of Yanxi (AD 159)
Liaodong
Jinting (formerly known as Gaojuli City in Xuantu County)

"Mother, I caught a pheasant, I can have extra meals today! Hee hee~"

A 13-year-old sturdy boy showed a simple smile and said to the middle-aged woman in the wooden house.

His name is Xu Rong, and his grandfather was originally a small landlord in Jinting, but decades ago, Goguryeo invaded Liaodong and looted their family, causing their family to decline into a rich peasant.

"Rong, we can't eat this pheasant. You can find a time to go to the city and give it to Mr. Gongsun." Xu Rong's mother said.

There was a scholar named Gongsun Yan in the city who started a primary school. On weekdays, he relied on teaching literacy to the children of small landlords and rich farmers, and collected some agricultural products as tuition fees, but he was doing well.

"Oh." Xu Rong felt a little pity. After setting up the trap, he waited for several days to finally catch such a pheasant, but in the end he had to give it to Mr. Gongsun.

I heard that Mr. Gongsun was born in the Gongsun family in western Liaoning, and is a side branch of the Gongsun family in western Liaoning, so his status is very low.

Later, when he was an official in the Central Plains, he was arrested by the court for corruption. After that, Mr. Gongsun took his family and fled all the way to Jinting, Liaodong, to settle down.

In order to save the lives of the whole family, Mr. Gongsun gave all the money he embezzled in the Central Plains to the three major families in Liaodong, and then opened Mengxue to support his family.

Although the imperial court knew that Mr. Gongsun, the corrupt criminal, had fled to Liaodong, but with the guarantee of the three major families in Liaodong, the imperial court dared not come to Liaodong to arrest people.

A few days later, Xu Rong came to Jinting City.

There are many Goguryeo people here, and these Goguryeo people are locked in prison cars, and then people from three major families spend money to buy these Goguryeo slaves.

It was not the first time Xu Rong came to the city, and he was used to this kind of situation.

Every year, the Goguryeo city lord would capture the Goguryeo compatriots, and then bring them to Jinting City for sale, and then the three families of Wang, Zhang and Li would send people to buy these slaves and bring them back to their own plantations for reclamation.

But the Wang family and the Li family did not border Jinting City after all, so the Zhang family mainly bought slaves in Jinting City.

The population of Jinting City is getting smaller and smaller, and Jinting people continue to migrate to the warmer and more humid south. For some reason, the Zhang family doesn't care about such things.

After a long time, when Xu Rong came to the home of Mr. Gongsun, the first thing he saw was a nine-year-old child.

"Brother Rong, look at the sword my father bought for me, whether it looks good or not, hee hee~" The little boy waved a short and light sword, imagining himself as a great hero on the battlefield.

"I, Gongsun Du, will also be a Wang You'an who serves the country in the future!" The nine-year-old boy said confidently.

"Abao, when did you change your name?" Xu Rong asked puzzled when he heard the little boy calling himself Gongsundu.

"Hee hee~ The name Gongsun Bao is too ugly. I begged my father for a long time before I asked him to give me a new name, Gongsun Du!" very satisfied.

This little boy, Gongsundu, is the son of Mr. Gongsun, the embezzler, and also Xu Rong's elementary school student.

At the beginning, Xu Rong's elementary school was taught by Mr. Gongsun.

Entering Mr. Gongsun's home, Xu Rong saw many old farmers kneeling at Mr. Gongsun's feet, praying for Mr. Gongsun.

what happened?

Xu Rong was very curious, so he watched from the sidelines.

"Sir, my family has a total of [-] mu of land, which cannot be expropriated. Our family will starve to death."

"Sir, I have an old man and a young man, please don't confiscate our land."

"Sigh...it's not my Gongsun Yan who wants to confiscate your fields, it's the order of the prefect. Except for the land in Wenchengli, which can be kept, all the fields in other areas must be confiscated, and none of them can be kept."

"Moreover, the imperial court is not an empty-handed wolf. As long as you hand over the acres, you can go to the Zhang family to receive compensation. An acre of good land will be compensated for [-] yuan, an acre of ordinary land will be compensated for [-] yuan, and an acre of bad land will be compensated for [-] yuan. "

"Damn the imperial court, an acre of good land used to be sold for [-] yuan, but now it is forced to expropriate, and the compensation is only [-] yuan."

"Without the fields, what are we going to do?"

"Please don't expropriate our family's land. I know that someone secretly hid some acres of land that have not been confiscated. If I report him, can the court not expropriate my family's land? Woooooooo——"

"Everyone, the fields must be handed over within one year. After one year, anyone who keeps the fields and does not turn them in will be regarded as rebels! Liaodong County soldiers will cooperate with the bravery of the three major families to suppress the rebels!"

Seeing this scene, Xu Rong was a little dazed, so he asked Gongsun Du beside him: "Abao... oh no, Adu, what's the matter?"

"Ah?" Gongsun Du was taken aback for a moment, and then replied honestly: "It seems that the Wang family, the Zhang family, and the Li family want to turn Liaodong into a pasture for sheep, so they have to confiscate all the fields of Liaodong people, but they will give compensation. .”

"Now the weather is getting colder every year, and the price of wool is getting higher and higher. Many people stop farming and start herding sheep." Gongsun Du laughed.

"Why didn't my family receive the news?" Xu Rong asked.

"Brother Rong, you live in a remote place, and the news is slow to come. It is estimated that someone will come to your house to expropriate the farmland in two days." Gongsun Du explained.

"There's no way out, woo woo woo—"

"Everyone, if you have no way out, you can go to the Wang family's ship and go to the country of gold to look for gold. Many people have made a fortune by looking for gold overseas!"

"You liar, I heard that those who went overseas to find gold never came back!"

"Believe it or not is your own business. There is still a chance of survival if you go overseas to find gold. If you stay in Liaodong, you can only starve to death."

The crowd broke out into riots, but some soldiers from Liaodong County and Zhang Jiayong arrived in time to maintain law and order.

Xu Rong saw that the crowd was too crowded, and he wanted to tell his mother about the forced expropriation of the land by the three major families, so he handed the pheasant to Gongsun Du, and said: "A Du, I have to go home quickly, please If you give this pheasant to your father, it is a gift from me, Xu Rong, to Mr. Thank you for your teachings over the years."

After walking the mountain road for a long time, when Xu Rong returned home, he happened to see the old man coming to their house.

"Old man, who is this?" Xu Rong's mother asked him, and then said to Xu Rong who hurried back: "Rong, hurry up and get some snacks from the kitchen to entertain the old man."

"Mother, I..." Xu Rong wanted to tell what he learned in the city.

"Go quickly, you child, you don't know any manners!" Xu Rong's mother scolded.

"No need, since your little Rong just came back, I'll tell you about it." The village elder stopped Xu Rong who wanted to go to the kitchen to get some snacks, and then said to Xu Rong and Xu Rong's mother: "The order of the prefect's mansion is to confiscate the land of all the people in Liaodong, and those who don't obey will be beheaded!"

"What?!" Xu Rong's mother's eyes were full of disbelief.

"But don't worry, there will be compensation. An acre of good land is [-] renminbi, an acre of ordinary land is [-] renminbi, and an acre of bad land is [-] renminbi." The village elder continued.

"What's the difference between this and a hard grab?" Xu Rong's mother said angrily.

(End of this chapter)