The new era of chaos begins in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 421 Wang Tixia

Guan Zhong heard what Chen Shen said and felt that it made some sense. He hesitated and said, "Isn't it too harsh to torture Yunqing like this?"

Chen Shen smiled and said, "As the saying goes, if jade is not polished, it will not become a useful tool. If a sword is not sharpened, it will not be sharp. If plum blossoms are frosted, they will naturally become fragrant. Since your disciple lacks talent, he should focus on tempering his mind. Only in this way can he achieve success in his craft. Otherwise, he will be no different from rotten wood!"

Guan Zhong just felt that what Chen Shen said made a lot of sense.

Indeed, Zhou Yunqing lacks talent, and if his character is not good enough, then there will be no hope for him.

However, because of Chen Shen's misleading, Guan Zhong temporarily ignored a fact.

In terms of talent and ability, Zhou Yunqing is certainly far inferior to Guan Yu who lived a thousand years ago, nor is he as good as Zhou Tong, the best fighter in the Song Dynasty army today, or even Guan Sheng, the future leader of the Five Tigers of Liangshan. However, this does not mean that Zhou Yunqing is really useless.

On the contrary, Zhou Yunqing is very outstanding, even better than most people in the world. Even if he is placed among the 108 future Liangshan heroes, Zhou Yunqing is good enough to be in the top five.

Of course, it is undeniable that Zhou Yunqing does have some character flaws, or it can be said that he has some strengths, that is, he is a bit reckless and too sacrificial.

In comparison, Guan Sheng cared too much about the glory of his ancestors and was quite fame- and fortune-seeking.

This is also the reason why Zhou Yunqing is more suitable than Guan Sheng to inherit the legacy of the Demon Suppressor.

But Zhou Yunqing's character also means that he is not very good at protecting himself and is more likely to get killed.

Chen Shen thought it would be better to let this guy suffer a little so that he would become more self-interested.

In order to appease Guan Zhong, Chen Shen added, "Guan Gong, if Zhou Yunqing is determined to be a demon-suppressing person, I will come to repair his broken limbs in three years, and give him a set of good clothes and a divine horse. If he can't stand the misery and gives up the inheritance of the demon-suppressing person, you can send him to Xiangzhou, and I will repair his broken legs in advance and return him to a clean family."

After the two sides finished talking, Chen Shen said goodbye to Guan Zhong and left Yumen Pass on his own.

Not to mention how Guan Zhong comforted Zhou Yunqing later, after Chen Shen left Xiongguan, he spread his legs and rushed to Xihe at lightning speed.

From Yumen Pass to Xizhou, one has to cross almost the entire territory of Western Xia along the Hexi Corridor. The journey is about one thousand kilometers long, and it would take a normal person at least a month to travel by horse or camel.

It was early summer at that time. Chen Shen traveled quickly through the territory of Western Xia. He saw lush oases and rich grass in the Hexi Corridor, and countless Dangxiang or Han herdsmen driving cattle and sheep to graze.

I have to say that compared with the people of the Song Dynasty, the lives of the people of Western Xia were really miserable.

Or it should be said that there were no ordinary people in the entire Western Xia country.

The entire population of Western Xia was composed of the royal family, nobles, and tribal leaders of all sizes in the upper class, and below them were the herdsmen, domestic servants, slaves, etc. who were subordinate to the nobles and tribal leaders. There was no middle class of civilians.

Of course, this statement is not entirely accurate.

Since its founding, Xixia has been fighting with the Song Dynasty. During this period, many Han people (Liao people) either voluntarily or were forced to surrender to Xixia. They essentially belonged to the Xixia king. Although they had a certain status, they were not accepted by the Xixia upper class and were higher than the lower-level herdsmen and serfs.

This created a special situation for these people in Western Xia. They could not gain a foothold in the countryside of Western Xia because they had no livestock, no herdsmen, and did not know much about animal husbandry.

They could only gather in several major cities of Western Xia, such as Xingqing Prefecture (Xingzhou), Xiliang Prefecture (Liangzhou), Xuanhua Prefecture (Ganzhou), etc., and make a living as small vendors or handicraftsmen.

Although their living conditions had almost plummeted compared to those in the Song Dynasty, compared with the tribal herdsmen and serfs converted from Song captives, the situation of these betrayers was still one of superiority.

Some people may ask, how miserable were the herdsmen of Western Xia?

Let's put it this way, they have almost no private property except the clothes on their bodies, and except in winter, their masters will not provide them with any food at other times.

As a herdsman, if you are hungry, you can find food without delaying herding.

Whether it is wild vegetables, tree barks, grass roots, or various birds, beasts, insects, and mice, as long as they are edible, they are all your life-saving things. As for the cattle and sheep you herd, they are all the property of the master, and as a herdsman, you are not entitled to enjoy them.

Of course, as a shepherd slave, the happiest time for you is when the livestock you herd reproduce on a large scale, because you can secretly drink some absolutely fresh and nutritious cow and sheep milk.

The situation of serfs was not much different from that of pastoral slaves, except that one was responsible for herding and the other for farming.

The only chance for pastoralists and serfs to break through their class status was to join the Xixia's capture army and go to the battlefield.

As long as you can survive on the battlefield, capture heads or prisoners of the enemy, you can become a new tribal leader.

But this seemingly beautiful upward ladder is actually a terrifying pit.

The total population of Western Xia was about three million. When Western Xia invaded the Song Dynasty, the Western Xia people would recruit four or five hundred thousand capture soldiers to participate in the battle.

Most of the members of these capture troops were pastoral slaves and serfs handed over by tribal leaders. Most of them would be deliberately used as cannon fodder under the city walls and crossbows of the Song people.

In this way, tribal leaders can save a lot of food expenses in winter.

Chen Shen only took a quick look at the miserable situation of the lower class people in Western Xia, and he couldn't help but have some strange thoughts.

As for the establishment of the Western Xia Kingdom, it was actually a complete disaster for the people of this land (whether they were Tanguts or Han people). The only ones who benefited from it were the Tangut Li family (royal family) and some nobles.

Seriously speaking, this separatist regime should not have existed. It was just that the Song Dynasty was too incompetent. It could have been crushed in one fell swoop, but it turned into a messy war that lasted for nearly a hundred years.

Survival of the fittest, the same is true for a dynasty.

Chen Shen completed the two thousand miles journey in two days and two nights.

It's a rapid progress.

Chen Shen was worried that if he moved too slowly, he would be unable to resist causing some trouble in Xixia.

He is not afraid of trouble, he just doesn't want to cause trouble.

Early in the morning of the third day, Chen Shen rushed to Wuquan County.

Wuquan County was later called Gaolan County. It was originally owned by Western Xia during the Northern Song Dynasty. It was recovered by Li Xian in the fourth year of Yuanfeng (1081). Later, Sima Guang of the old party came to power. He appeased the Western Xia and ceded part of Wuquan County and Western Xia. It was recovered by the Song Dynasty during the reign of Emperor Zhezong.

At this time, Wuquan County was the forefront of the war between the Northwestern Frontier Army of the Song Dynasty and the Western Xia.

In Wuquan County, there were only the Song Dynasty's army and laborers doing corvee labor, and no ordinary people.

This made Chen Shen quite conspicuous when he entered Wuquan County.

However, no one suspected that Chen Shen was a spy for the Xixia people.

After all, in the eyes of the Song people, how could such a small country like Western Xia give birth to such a handsome man?

When Chen Shen entered the city, the officer guarding the gate stepped forward and asked, "Sir, I am Wang Yuan, the arrest officer of this county. May I ask where you are from?"

Chen Shen looked at the officer in front of him, who was wearing a battle jacket and had an extraordinary aura, and couldn't help but cheer.

What a handsome man!
(End of this chapter)