Xuanmen Xiaoguo Shi is divination again

Chapter 866 Regret
Oh, and the damn tax.

Hearing this, Bai Jingzhen felt a pain in his head, and immediately let go of the hand that was holding the grain bag. Fortunately, Wen Jin, who was at the side, had quick eyesight and quick hands, and squeezed the mouth of the bag before it fell to the ground, thus saving his life That bag of new food.

"Be careful, Jing Zhen, this bag of rice may kill dozens of people!" Old General Wen frowned slightly, and took the bag with his hand. Hearing this, the young man raised his hand and supported his head in a daze. : "Sorry...Grandpa, this junior accidentally lost his mind just now."

"As for the tax issue that you are worried about... I will discuss it with His Majesty after I have been busy for a while."

"Then your movements should be neat and tidy." Wen Jin, who had put away the rice bag, lowered his eyes in response, his long eyebrows hid the glimmer of sadness in his pupils, "Jing Zhen, it's already July, and there will be another one at the latest." In half a month, it's time for the court to collect taxes again."

Fuli can plant two rice crops a year, so the agricultural tax will be levied twice a year. The first round is set around the New Year’s Eve, and the second round is set at the end of August and early September. When the harvest is exhausted and the late rice is planted.

In an ordinary year, such a tax collection time would be most appropriate, but this year, Fuli suffered a severe drought, and the seedlings in the fields had already died and turned into withered grass, and most of the farmers had no harvest.

In this situation, if the imperial court still wants to collect taxes, or even collect taxes that are much higher than in previous years, it will undoubtedly force the people to a dead end.

Bai Jingzhen's eyes flickered, he lowered his head and stared at his palm for a while, then nodded lightly for a long time: "Okay."

*
Today, he also failed to request the imperial decree of tax exemption.

Bai Jingzhen, who got out of the car, raised his arms to block the excessively strong sunlight outside the car. Since he returned to Beijing from the southern province last month, he has submitted nearly twenty memorials to the emperor asking the court to lighten the tax. Before and after the twenty memorials were submitted, it was like a mud cow entering the sea, never returning.

——Never stirred up the slightest splash.

He finally couldn't bear it this morning, and couldn't help but choke the empress who was on the high platform with all the civil and military officials, but everyone said that he was worrying unnecessarily and blamed him for his lack of manners in front of the palace. Yuan Lingzhi also said that "the treasury is empty." , Urgent need to collect taxes” on the grounds that he lightly returned his petition.

Ridiculous.

The young man moved the corner of his lips with a pale face, and stepped on the long street aimlessly.

The once bustling and prosperous Shangjing Bazaar is now indescribably bleak and deserted. With a severe drought in March, even the always majestic and magnificent Kyoto has lost its former hustle and bustle.

Dongjun couldn't hold on for a long time, and Nanxing was also desperately trying to survive.

According to reports from his informants, the drought has now spread to the northern province, and even in several places in West County, a large number of newly planted seedlings died due to lack of water in the fields.

A large number of young men and women who still had enough strength fled their hometowns and squeezed into the unaffected Gyeonggi. Now even in the capital, people occasionally saw three or two young people with yellow faces, emaciated clothes and shabby clothes who escaped from the gate guards. Victims fleeing famine.

However, even though the famine has already reached the capital, the group of animals in the court can still stare and pretend to be blind, pretending not to see the drought outside the capital.

This is simply...

Bai Jingzhen gritted his teeth in resentment, and turned to stride towards the outside of Beijing. The General Zhen Guo's Mansion set up two porridge soup sheds outside Beijing a few days ago. It was still early today, so he rushed over to see if there was anything he could do to help. Gotta go to a busy place.

Recently, more and more disaster victims fled to the outskirts of Beijing. They could not enter the capital, so they simply set up hay huts outside the city gate.

The soldiers guarding the city gate originally wanted to expel them one by one, but there were too many people, and seeing the thin and miserable one after another, they also turned a blind eye and let the victims went.

——After all, man-made disasters and natural disasters have continued one after another these years. If they hadn't been forced into desperation, how many people would be willing to abandon their hometown where they were born and raised, and rush to the capital thousands of miles away to seek a living?
The young man who thought of this made a silent sneer, such a superficial truth, even the defenders of the city who could not read a few characters could understand it, but the courtiers who lived safely above the temple seemed to have no idea, Gao Zuolong The empress on the chair didn't know anything about it.

Bai Jingzhen closed his eyes weakly, and quietly quickened his pace towards the outside of the city. When he arrived at the city gate, Wen Qingchi (the second daughter of Wen Yulang) was leading the guards to share the porridge.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of the young man rushing over, and her black pupils lit up immediately.

"Cousin Jingzhen." The little girl stepped forward quickly, with uncontrollable hope in her eyes, "Cousin, what's the matter, has the imperial edict come down yet?"

"Has His Majesty agreed to reduce taxes for the affected areas? Today is August 27th, and taxes will be collected in two days."

Bai Jingzhen was silent in response, and shook his head with a sigh after a while.

"No." The young man raised his eyebrows, "Your Majesty said that the treasury is empty and he refuses to cut taxes."

"Is that so." Wen Qingchi was slightly taken aback when he heard the words, his eyes full of hope that he would disappear into nothingness in an instant.

"Then... let's forget it first." The little girl blinked her eyes, trying her best to hide the unstoppable astringency in her pupils, "Your Majesty... Maybe Your Majesty also has her difficulties."

Wen Qingchi was trying to find love for Yuan Lingzhi, but it was a pity that she was still young and couldn't hold back her emotions. When she blurted out those two words, her eyes were still red, and her face was full of disappointment that couldn't be hidden.

"What difficulties could she have?" Her difficulties were simply that she didn't want to offend Yuan Lingwei and Lu Jinghong, but also wanted to enjoy her glory and wealth as an emperor in peace.

Bai Jingzhen lowered his eyebrows and smiled softly, and then forced himself to divert his attention. He went to the side of the shed and took the porridge spoons from the guards.

At the end of the line was an eight||nine-year-old doll. Bai Jingzhen saw that she was too young, so he simply gave her the little porridge left in the barrel.

But the child who got the porridge didn't leave in a hurry, she just held the porridge bowl carefully, and raised her head worriedly: "Big brother, are you okay?"

"You look sad."

"Is it because the porridge is gone, and you are very hungry?" The child was talking to herself, she fixedly looked at Bai Jingzhen's furrowed brows, and after a long time, she bit her lips as if she had made up her mind, " Let Mianmian pass this bowl of porridge to brother."

"Mianmian is not hungry. Auntie said that Mianmian is strong, so it's okay to miss a meal." She opened her eyes wide and raised the porridge bowl tremblingly as she spoke. The young man saw a twinkle in her eyes. In the fleeting longing and reluctance, I caught a glimpse of her small body that was thinned to a handful of bones under the dirty old clothes.

He knew she was lying.

She was obviously very hungry.

The sudden tears made his eyes sore, Bai Jingzhen put down the spoon and wooden bucket in his hand, knelt down, and looked into the child's clear eyes seriously: "Mianmian is good, uncle... Brother is not sad."

"I didn't feel hungry either."

"This porridge is for Mianmian. Mianmian just needs to eat it obediently. Don't worry about brother."

"There...we still have something to eat." The young man turned his head and pointed to the carriage of the general's mansion, and the young boy looked in the direction he pointed, his eyes widened even wider.

"Really?" The child's face was filled with inconspicuous joy and astonishment, and after receiving repeated affirmative answers from Bai Jingzhen, he took small steps away with the porridge bowl in his hands.

The young man's gaze followed her back, and he saw a series of crowded and rough grass nests outside the city.

The clothes of the fleeing people were already so dirty that they couldn't tell the original color, and the dust accumulated on the dry grass stained their faces again.

Bai Jingzhen looked at the gray and yellow color that could not be seen at a glance, and felt that he was out of tune with them because of his bright clothes.

——At this moment, he suddenly regretted it.

　I wrote my chest tightness.

　　Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo sad

　　
　
(End of this chapter)