Traveling through the Ming Dynasty, as soon as you open your eyes, you will die

Chapter 107 Inspection

Walking on the land of Zhili, the crisp autumn air makes people feel relaxed and happy.

The autumn harvest has been completed, and the people are doing the final picking in their fields.

Although there will be a bumper harvest this year, every grain of food wasted is considered a sin in the hearts of the people.

Walking through a field, I saw an old man holding a pipe, squatting at the edge of the field watching his son, wife, and children, who were busy in the field. Seeing Lu Mou coming with three hundred guards, he saw that he was a high official, so he quickly retreated to the side of the road, knelt down and kowtowed, not daring to look directly.

Lu Mou dismounted, walked to him, and helped him up: "You don't have to be like this, old man, get up quickly."

The old man stood up tremblingly: "I dare not block the master's way."

Lu Mou smiled: "Don't call me master, am I that old?"

The old man was embarrassed.

"Old man, how are you doing this year?"

As soon as he mentioned his new year, the old man immediately lost his restraint and became full of satisfaction and pride: "Thanks to the emperor's kindness and to Wang Hongfu, our family has five strong laborers, plus three grandchildren, and contracted 200 acres of land. Then But they are all first-class places.”

"You have contracted so much? Have you guys come over?"

The old man showed a bit of cunning: "To be honest with this young master, where can I find such good land and such good policies? It is impossible to say that the world is peaceful. The population has increased. If we want to allocate land again, it will be gone."

And these contracted lands can be passed down to future generations. When my sons have sons, they will have sons again, and the family will spread out. If everyone divides their families, these lands will not be enough. We cannot just focus on the present and not consider future generations. "

This is the cunning calculation of the most simple peasant.

"For the sake of future generations, our family of eight works day and night on these 200 acres of land, and we never dare to let the land fall into disrepair. If we are not sorry for the grace of the emperor and the prince, we are also sorry for God. "

"Two hundred acres, how much grain did you harvest?"

"Haha, talking about it, I am very happy." Then he counted on his fingers for Lu Mou: "I planted one hundred acres of wheat, harvested four hundred shi, sold it for 300 shi, and paid the land rent and labor service." In addition, I bought four cows and kept the rest for my family to eat. This year, I can eat enough big white steamed buns.

I planted another fifty acres of sorghum and harvested two hundred shi, which I sold to a merchant for horse feed and received a hundred taels of silver. I plan to build another house during the winter when the farm is off, and then pay Wuer’s betrothal gift so that he can start a family.

Another ten acres of grain were planted. The fourth daughter-in-law is about to give birth, and Xiaomi will be the most nurturing during the confinement period.

I planted ten acres of beans and used them to change the oil. This year’s meals will be delicious.

I planted vegetables on the remaining land, and the eldest and second eldest brother went to the city to exchange money and buy daily necessities. "

"Congratulations, old man, you will be rich this year."

"Isn't this a good life thanks to the emperor's favor and the prince's blessing? We in the village raised funds to build a temple at the entrance of the village. We dare not worship the emperor, but we worship King Ding. But we don't know what King Ding looks like. , I dare not report it, for fear that the prince will blame me."

These are the most simple people in China. Their wealth was obviously the result of their hard work, but they were grateful to the emperor who had imposed excessive taxes and forced their families to die.

Chinese people know how to be grateful.

When we arrived at the end of the village that the old man mentioned, we saw a small temple filled with cigarette smoke. There were fresh fruits and melons on the offering table, and there was even a melon in the old nest.

Looking at the statue of myself, the forehead is prominent and bright, which is the shape of a longevity star. The back of the forehead is so big, it is the appearance of the God of Wisdom.

The little neck is very thin, I guess it is based on Lu Xing; the eyes are half open and half closed, the main thing is a little, I guess it is imitated by the boy who spreads wealth; the body is tall and burly, covered with golden armor, probably because he has won many battles, everyone Imagine yourself as Vajra, the god of heaven.

What can I say about the entire statue? The main thing is that it looks different from one to the other. The guards around him looked at the statue of King Ding for a while and the little King Ding for a while.

Lu Mou glared: "Laugh, if you don't laugh out loud, you will suffer internal injuries."

So the three hundred guards suddenly laughed, clapped their hands, stamped their feet, and rolled on the ground.

Lu Mou ignored them, but on the altar table, he picked up the incense reserved by the villagers and lit one for himself. Then I picked up a fresh pear, rubbed it on my body, and took a bite. No additives, no hormones, crisp and sweet.

Zhao Hu was shocked: "Your Majesty, you can't eat it, in case -"

"Nothing is unforeseen. I want to appreciate what the folks have given me." Then he looked far and far into the northeast: "What I want to repay the folks is to protect this peace and prosperity for them."

While walking, I observed the sentiments of the people and stopped until I arrived in Tongzhou.

Tongzhou is a canal wharf. In the peace years, the canal boats were crowded and covered the entire river, which was prosperous for a while.

But Shandong was lost, the canal was cut off, and the place became deserted.

Countless citizens lost their livelihoods, but fortunately, land contracting was implemented. Those unemployed citizens went to the countryside to farm, and Tongzhou became more like a pure military camp.

People say that the driving force for economic development is urbanization. Drive all rural people into the city and turn farmers into a group of pure consumers.

As a result, Lu Mou was so good that he simply did the opposite.

Walking on the deserted street, Lu Mou and his group seemed extremely eye-catching. The few pedestrians on both sides of the street looked at Lu Mou and this group of people as if they were looking at monkeys.

Lu Mou was a little embarrassed and asked Hu Weijun, commander of the Fourth Army who was accompanying him: "What is the population here?"

Hu Weijun replied: "There are about 20,000 left now."

“What do they do for a living?”

"Most of them are the families of our soldiers and officials, and some are businessmen purchasing for the army."

"This is a city of pure consumption. By the way, why don't we see any officials?"

"After the great changes some time ago, most of the officials hung up their hats and fled. Now the remaining officials have to busy themselves with the affairs of many officials in the past. It is really difficult for them to be distracted, so the general did not notify them of the prince's arrival."

"Okay, very good. Then let's go directly to the military camp."

The Tongzhou military camp was huge, with 20,000 soldiers originally stationed here. But later they all fled, or it could be said that they dispersed due to hunger. Therefore, the First Division of the Fourth Army lives here, which seems a bit empty.

Hu Weijun had already gathered his soldiers at the teaching military field and was waiting for the review.

Seeing the arrival of King Ding, Gu Bingyuan, the commander of the First Division, ran forward and loudly reported: "Report to the prince, the first division of the Fourth Army should be 10,000, but it is actually 10,000. Please give me your instructions."

In the past, the last thing generals wanted was for civilian officials to order their own troops. Because the old, the weak, the sick and the disabled are filling in, because there are too many vacancies, and because the training is too poor, the civil servants go through the lengthy process at the school, and when they turn around, there will be death on the ground. As Geng Ruqi, the governor of Shanxi at that time, reported: "Half of the Shanxi army is short of vacancies, their clothes are in tatters, and half of them are without swords and guns. Those who stand up and attack can happen at any time. Among an army, only one or two out of ten can fight."

With such soldiers, how could the Ming Dynasty survive?

However, if you look at the soldiers in front of you, they have changed drastically. With such soldiers, how could the Ming Dynasty be destroyed?

(End of this chapter)