The World of Yellow Sky

Chapter 878 Darkness Chen Cang
"The Han Dynasty declined. First, two emperors competed for the throne, and then they were divided into two courts, the North and the South. The disputes were endless and there was no peace for a long time."

"The reform of the imperial court is intended to be strong, but the change of destiny, how can manpower be able to counteract it?"

Mi Fang made a bow with both hands, bowed to the north in vain, and lowered her voice.

"Heaven moves forever, it does not exist for Yao, nor does it perish for Jie."

"Although the little emperor has the qualities of a hero, he is still too young."

"Although Xu An was born in a humble background, he is an extraordinary person. He was ordered to be upright and obey the destiny. He started in Taihang, dominated the northern border, swept away the barbarians, subdued all barbarians, and spread his prestige in the world. He was famous in the eight wildernesses. He has a great talent in his belly. , with a broad mind."

Mi Fang knew very well that if he wanted to persuade Mi Ren, he had to make him feel that he had to.

"The general trend of the world, if you follow it, you will prosper, and if you go against it, you will perish. Now the general trend is in the Ming Dynasty, not in the Han Dynasty. The situation of the First World War in Qingzhou has become extremely clear."

"Xu An sits in eight states and nine provinces, and there are hundreds of thousands of armored men in the country. There is no worries outside, and the warehouse is abundant. The king of the barbarians bows his head and tie his neck, and appoints his subordinates to be sent by him."

"On the other hand, the Han Dynasty seems to have the tendency to fight against the court, but in fact it is strong on the outside and capable on the inside."

"In the battle of Qingzhou, the [-] army was defeated overnight, but in ten months, only the city of Pingchang remained in the six counties and sixty-five towns of the whole prefecture."

"According to the best scenario, even if we rely on Jiancheng to defend the counties and Pingchang this time, so what?"

Mi Fang leaned forward slightly, her eyelids slightly closed, and said in a deep voice.

"The terrain in Yanzhou is flat, and the cavalry can gallop freely. Now that the Ming army has captured Qingzhou, they can attack Yanzhou from three fronts at the same time."

"The so-called Yellow River defense line is just a joke. The Ming army only needs to go all the way south to capture Yanzhou."

"The finances of the Han Dynasty were already tight. Now that Qingzhou has been lost, and if Yanzhou is lost, the finances must be even heavier."

"The trend of the world is irreversible, and the destruction of the Han Dynasty is only a matter of time."

"Even if we retreat to Jianghuai, it will only last for a few more years."

"Brother, do you think that according to Xu An's personality, he can tolerate the Han Dynasty ruling the river?"

Mi Zhu's eyes were slightly closed, just as Mi Fang said, Xu An would never tolerate crossing the river.

What Xu An wants to do now is to unify the entire China.

In fact, his ambitions are no longer limited to the land of China, and now the surrounding barbarians have been suppressed by him.

Although Xu An is not yet finished, he has already laid down a larger territory than previous dynasties. His martial arts and martial arts are far ahead of his predecessors, and he is almost invincible and invincible.

"You have already decided, want to bet on Taipingdao?"

After listening to Mi Fang's words, Mi Zhu was silent for a moment, stared at Mi Fang, and asked solemnly.

"Exactly."

Mi Fang nodded. He had started contacting the Eagle Wolf Guard as early as last year, and secretly passed a lot of information to the Eagle Wolf Guard in exchange for meritorious service.

"Belonging to the Taiping Dao is considered a voluntary contribution. If there is no meritorious service, you must hand over [-]% of your furniture, [-]% of your land, and control rights over all mines, forests, and lakes."

"The Ming court does not allow the keeping of child servants, and does not recognize all sales contracts. As long as the servant is willing, he is allowed to leave the master's house at any time. The master's house must not disobey. Assistant, there is no room for turning around."

"Even if the servants are unwilling to leave on their own, the master's family will have to bear a high tax for violating the order. Although it is not mandatory to dismiss the servants, it is forcing us to dismiss the servants."

"Do you know all these things?"

Mi Fang's expression sank, what Mi Zhu said now was indeed a huge problem, it was this problem that made most of the aristocratic families unwilling to join the Ming Court, and wanted to make a final struggle.

Such a price is simply too heavy.

The Mi family now owns tens of thousands of acres of land, has nearly [-] servants and diners, [-]% of the furniture, [-]% of the land...

"Brother was shrewd in the past, how can it be so difficult to see the situation clearly at this time, and he is greedy for small gains and loses big gains?"

"If the Han court retreats to the Jianghuai River and the Ming army enters Yan and Qing, it will be difficult to protect Xuzhou. How can Xuzhou's fields be preserved?"

Mi Fang clenched her fists and gritted her teeth.

"Sitting on hundreds of millions of furniture, but can't help exploiting in every possible way and donating constantly."

"There will always be a day, and there will be an end."

Seeing Mi Zhu's expression, Mi Fang knew that Mi Zhu had already been persuaded.

"Brother, do you know about Ming Ting opening the sea?"

Mi Zhu raised his eyebrows slightly and nodded slightly.

He had heard about Ming Ting opening the sea.

Xu An sent his subordinate Lu Sheng to expedition to Sanhan, set up Haidong Province in the old place of Sanhan, and named Jizi Haidongbo.

He also sent Gongsundu to crusade against Woju and Yilou, defeated the two countries, and then killed the donkey. The Ming army entered the capital of Goguryeo on the grounds of disrespect, and punished the royal family of Goguryeo. Surround and annihilate them.

As for the state of Fuyu, after the death of the old king, the eldest son died in battle, and the subsequent sons fought for the throne, which caused the country to be in chaos. Because when they were fighting for the country, rebels invaded Liaozhou, so Xu An sent Liaozhou troops to Fuyu to suppress the rebellion.

After the rebellion was put down, Xu An abolished Fuyu Kingdom again, and all Fuyu King's family was abolished as common people and exiled to Haidong Province.

Since then, the four kingdoms of Liaodong were destroyed, the southern part of Fuyu and the old land of Goguryeo were included in Liaozhou, and Woju Kingdom was included in Haidong Province.

The northern part of Fuyu State and Yilou State were set up as new provinces and named "Far East".

Xu An has built four military ports and two fleets in the north, which seems to have the intention of going to the ocean.

Ming court opened the sea, extensively developed sea-going ships, and established a sea trade route from Haidong Province, Liaozhou, Jizhou, and Qingzhou provinces, continuously producing wealth and collecting a large amount of business taxes. Official business, franchise, and earn a lot of money.

Mi Zhu is still a businessman in essence, and the education he has received since he was a child is mostly the way of doing business, so he can see Xu An's methods.

The main sources of taxation for the Han Dynasty were land and population, and most of the tax pressure was concentrated on ordinary people.

However, Ming Court's source of tax revenue is mainly commercial tax.

The border markets in the north, the silk trade routes in the western regions, the trade of rare grasses and treasures in the south, and the sea opening in the east are all ways for the Ming Court to make money.

The Ming court vigorously developed commerce. As a businessman, the treatment in the Ming court was much higher than that in the Han court.

Although the business tax is harsh, there are many ways to earn money, and the profits that can be obtained are even more terrifying.

If he can become an official businessman and participate in the franchise, then he will really have no worries about food and drink, and even reach a position that the Mi family could never achieve...

Mi Zhu's expression changed slightly, and there was already some movement in his heart.

Although Mi Fang is sometimes impulsive and doesn't consider things comprehensively, but this time Mi Fang's judgment is indeed not wrong.

Mi Fang continued to talk freely.

"Once the Han court retreats to Jianghuai, it will be the time when my Mi family will be abandoned."

"It's better to stop the loss in time, switch to Ming Court, and follow Wuji Zhen's example."

"what do you mean……"

Mi Zhu's eyes moved slightly, and he tilted his head to look at Mi Fang.

"When it comes to the background of the ancestors and the threshold of the official position, no matter how high we climb, it is not as good as the Wuji Zhen family."

"However, when it comes to making a living, the Wuji Zhen family is far inferior to us."

"There is only one official and businessman. I have already negotiated with the Eagle Wolf Guard."

Immediately, he took out a rather small document from a very hidden place in his bosom, and handed it to Mi Zhu.

"This is the appointment order signed by Xu An himself. These seals are the seals of the Ministry of Households and the Taoist Government. Brother, please take a look. This is the seal of Xu An."

Mi Zhu's heart was beating wildly, and he took the document from Mi Fang's hand, it was just a thin piece of yellow paper, but he felt it was extraordinarily heavy.

Following the direction Mi Fang pointed, Mi Zhu also saw that seal and Xu An's signature.

"As long as my Mi family is willing to join, I can obtain an official business certificate. Mingting has confirmed that it will open the sea again in Xuzhou. The first port location is in Donghai County near the sea, near Yuzhou Mountain (Yuntai Mountain). The name of the port has been changed. decided, named 'Haining'."

Mi Zhu's eyes flickered, and he quickly calculated the gains and losses in his heart.

Is it worthwhile to exchange [-]% of the furniture, [-]% of the fields, and forest farms in exchange for a place in an official business.

Mi Zhu closed his eyes.

The answer is already obvious.

The big ship of the Han Dynasty, no matter how much it is repaired now, it can no longer change its sinking fate, and he has no intention of being a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty and dying for the Han Dynasty.

He is just a merchant. Although he has official status, it is difficult to change this situation.

Lu Kang treats him as soon as he is called, and he goes away as soon as he is called.

"This matter is arranged by you, so be careful..."

"You can use all of Mi's resources, don't make any mistakes."

Mi Zhu has been completely persuaded.

Compared with the two evils, whichever is the lesser, land, child servants, mines, woodlands, lakes, these Ming troops came, if they evacuated with them, they would definitely not be able to take them away.

At that time, I am afraid that most of the child servants will be dismissed, and all the things that cannot be taken away from the land will be occupied by the Ming court, and they will be able to carry part of the money and flee south into Jianghuai.

Living under the fence is not easy, what's more, they were born as merchants, and even though they were marginalized in their hometown, the situation might be even worse when they went to the south. The billions of dollars of furniture is not only not wealth, but it may make the Mi family a slave. The prey that people peep at will attract a pack of wolves at some point, and will be devoured alive and completely.

Every husband is not guilty, and he is guilty of his crime.

Everything that happened in Mi's mansion is unknown to outsiders.

No one thought that the Mi family would have hooked up with Yinglangwei long ago.

Just half an hour after Mi Fang discussed with Mi Ren, the caravan headed for Qu County by the Mi family left Tan County and headed east along the smooth official road. Because of the relationship between the Mi family, the caravan continued The journey was smooth, and I didn't even encounter any interrogation.

……

In the land of Xuzhou, people are in panic.

Civil servants were being recruited everywhere, and a large number of soldiers were gathered to help the north of Xuzhou under the leadership of the generals.

The battle in the north of Xuzhou has already started. Under the leadership of Xu An, the Ming army is attacking Pingchang City and counties.

Once Pingchang City and Zhuxian City are destroyed, then Xuzhou will completely lose the ability to resist, and the Ming army will be able to go down the river and drive straight in, all the way into Langya County, and then into Donghai County, deep into the hinterland of Xuzhou.

On the official road, except for the soldiers who went north, there are a large number of people who have fled the war. They are afraid of war and know what war will bring.

Lu Kang did not deliberately leave these people in the north like Cao Cao did.

The actions of the Ming army at the beginning were like textbooks. The more than [-] refugees did not cause too much trouble to the Ming army, nor did they slow down the speed. Instead, they were absorbed by the Ming court and turned into their own use. Lu Kang naturally also absorbed Lesson learned.

The arsenals in various parts of Xuzhou were opened one after another, and a large number of newly recruited soldiers were armed. A long spear or a short knife was a soldier.

These newly recruited soldiers with little experience at all, or more appropriately farmers with weapons, were pushed onto the battlefield like this.

only……

Everyone is paying attention to Pingchang City and the counties, and the troops from all over Xuzhou are rushing towards these two cities quickly.

Their attention was diverted to the two cities in the north, and they were attracted by the main force of the Ming army and Xu An's big flag.

No one paid attention to the vast sea east of Xuzhou.

……

There is a large continent in the Northeast Sea, which is called Yuzhou.

Although Yuzhou Mountain is called a mountain, it is actually a large island close to the land. There are many residents on the island who live on fishing and hunting. They spend most of their lives in the sea and mountains. Although they are separated from the inland Not far, but almost no intersection with the inland

Qu County in the west of Yuzhou Mountain used to be the water village of the Xuzhou Navy for a short time, so it was prosperous for a while, but after that, with the departure of the Xuzhou Navy, it no longer had a grand occasion, and the water village here also fell into disuse. .

On the surface of the sea, the small fishing boat seemed quite dangerous among the waves, but in fact it was very stable and did not appear to be overturned at all.

They have lived by fishing for a long time, and they have long been accustomed to the bumps of the waves.

Li Zhong looked at the empty fishing net, and lay down on the fishing boat, looking up at the sky above his head.

The sky was dark and there was no strong sun.

He is not very old. In fact, he is not yet an adult this year but only seventeen years old. If it is normal, he is only this age now, and his elders will take him to go fishing. After all, he does not have that much experience.

But when the Xuzhou Navy was established, fishermen were widely recruited into the army. Of the many adult men in Yuzhou Mountain, only a few were not recruited, and the rest were forcibly recruited into the army. This kind of thing could not allow them to resist.

There was no harvest all day, which made Li Zhong extremely annoyed and miserable. Without harvest, there was no food. There were only a few acres of Susukida in the family. Although there was rented land, the tax was heavy. The heavy work fell on him and his mother. The younger brother is only ten years old, so he can only help a little in the field.

The harvest in the field is not good, and the only way to fill the gap is to rely on fishing.

It's just that this fishing and hunting is not easy, and I have been busy all day without any gains.

Li Zhong closed his eyes, the hunger in his belly made him feel weak and unable to move, he just wanted to rest.

Driven by the waves, the fishing boat shook gently, and Li Zhong fell asleep on the fishing boat by himself.

……

This time, Li Zhong felt extremely heavy, and couldn't even open his eyes.

Until he felt his head lifted, and then a stream of sweet water slowly flowed down his throat and into his stomach.

Consciousness returned to his mind.

"This is where……"

Li Zhong raised his head and looked at the dark sky. He didn't understand why the sky turned yellow.

Could it be that he has already entered the afterlife, which also has heaven and earth?
"Xuzhou."

His question was answered.

Only then did Li Zhong notice that beside him, two soldiers in armor and yellow scarves were sitting on the boat.

"Xuzhou?"

Memories flooded in like a tide, Li Zhong remembered that he seemed to have fallen asleep on the boat, maybe he had drifted to other sea areas.

"Then why..."

Li Zhongzheng wanted to ask why the day was yellow, but he didn't ask this question after all.

Because he discovered that the color of the sky has not changed, and it is not the sky that covers him...

But the sails of warships!
Li Zhong looked around. At this moment, he finally discovered his situation and saw his surroundings clearly.

Just above the surrounding sea, ocher yellow flags almost block out the sky and the sun.

Thousands of sails compete for the race, and hundreds of boats compete for the flow.

Hundreds of huge ships blocked all his vision, and on the entire sea surface, there were warships wherever he could see.

(End of this chapter)