Taiping Inn

Li Xuandu still remembers that Zhang Suqing once said: "The fields that the royal family, eunuchs in the palace, and officials at all levels occupy half of the world, and the fields that ordinary people can cultivate are less than half of the world, but they want Pay taxes from the world. As time goes by, the common people are getting poorer and poorer, and they can only sell their land and become tenants of powerful people. The court will no longer be able to receive taxes, and the national treasury is empty, so they can only continue to impose taxes. One day , people who have no way out will rise up."

Finally, Zhang Suqing said meaningfully: "In a sense, the emperor and the people stand on the same position. The court needs taxes, the national treasury must be abundant, the emperor wants the world to be stable, the people must live, but where has the money gone ? ”

Yes, where is the money going.

Li Xuandu once asked himself this.

The wealth in the world is fixed and will not disappear without reason. It naturally fell into the hands of others, because there were countless powerful and powerful people between the emperor and the people. Take off layer by layer, and be rich and noble. The great ones are rich, and the small ones are rich.

These things are not difficult to understand, but are those powerful people willing to let go? Unwilling to let go. For them, the country, the country, the country has always been in front and the country is behind.

At this moment, Qian Yurong walked towards Li Xuandu, interrupting Li Xuandu's thoughts.

The young lady seemed to have something to talk about, so she had to pinch her nose to deal with the accountant, but her tone was also stiff and cold: "Li, the accountant is about to arrive at Yanggu County, we are going to unload two of them here. The ship's food will be taken by Li's account at that time."

Li Xuan didn't really come to do the accounting room, and he didn't do it either. After thinking about it, he said, "The head of the family can trust the lady."

Qian Yurong sarcastically said, "So, did Li Chanfang come along with the merchant ship to travel around the mountains and rivers?"

Li Xuandu shook his head and said, "Where will anyone come to Qizhou to travel around in war-torn places? Isn't it good to stay in Jinling Mansion?"

Qian Yurong snorted heavily and asked, "What did Aunt Jin send you to do?"

Li Xuandu looked down at the woman who was shorter than him, and answered the question irrelevantly: "I know Miss Yurong's life. You are from a side house in the Qian family and lost your father early. After all, you can only provoke the family one by one. The burden is considered as a young man. I am even more miserable than you. I don’t know who my parents are, and I have never seen them. I have been walking in the world for a few years and have seen many people and things. This world is not just straightforward It is not easy to deal with the sword and sword shadows, and the twists and turns of human relationships and worldly affairs, so sometimes we have to keep it alone. There are some things we need to know, and some things we don’t need to know. There are some things we need to pretend if we don’t know. If we know, there are still some things that we should pretend not to know when we know.”

Li Xuandu asked with a smile, "Miss Qian, do you know?"

Qian Yurong's face became colder.

Li Xuan has a problem, that is, he is good at being a teacher. If he is intrigued, he will chat a lot. At present, except for the little girl Zhou Shuning who can tolerate and enjoy it, most of the others will not listen. Especially Lu Yanbing, the fifth junior sister, hated this and refused to fight against each other. Qian Yurong was naturally no exception. Her eyes were cold and her tone was even colder, and she said, "The meaning of Li Jianfang is nothing more than to advise me to inquire less. If you know too much, it will not be good for me. Does that mean?"

Li Xuan smiled, not caring about Qian Yurong's cold attitude, and continued, "That's exactly what it means, you and I meet each other in the world, and I'm afraid there will be no chance to meet again in the future, so Miss Qian doesn't have to chase me. In the end, I have to find out where I came from, as that would not be of much benefit to Miss Qian.”

Although Qian Yurong had a little temper, she was not stupid. After hearing Li Xuandu's words, she did not refute immediately, nor did she continue to fall, but turned around and left.

Li Xuandu was still standing at the bow of the boat.

The next journey was quite smooth, but after entering Dongchang Prefecture, people riding horses were often seen on the shore, carrying knives on their waists and bows on their backs, but they were not dressed as officials in the court, that was Qingyang The bandits were taught, which made the guards on the ship feel nervous. However, it is estimated that these Qingyang Sect’s people did not make any special moves when they saw the “money” flag on the fleet, which made Qian Yurong breathe a little relieved.

For Qian Yurong, the official army and the rioters are fine. After all, they have dealt with Jinling Mansion, but this is the first time these bandits who have killed people without blinking. After all, she is a woman. Although she is in front of her face, she is a woman. I was not showing up, and I was still calm, but I was still a little scared in my heart.

At this time, she went to sneak a look at the accountant who had been standing at the bow of the boat, and she was completely unaware of it. She didn't know if he was a big heart or had actually seen the world, so she didn't care about such small scenes.

In the evening, they finally arrived at the dock in Yanggu County. There was a Qianjia businessman responsible for handling it. As long as they moved the grain on the ship to the warehouse, there was no other business dealings.

At this moment, a group of half-grown children on the shore were playing and joking towards the grain boat, singing songs that they learned from somewhere: "Dongchang City is square, and the rich man is walking in the government. Going to the countryside. The poor are forced to clean up their food, and they are home and young and cry. Dongchang City is square in the city, and Hongyang starts to take action by the long river. Kill the rich, beat the government, and the big and small households have food."

The song is simple and easy to understand, but it makes Qian Yurong, who has just arrived in Qizhou, feels chills on her back.

The "Dongchang City" in the song is the Dongchang City they are going to.

Even if the gentry and powerful people in Jinling Prefecture joined forces to force the governor of Jiangnan away, and even let the governor of Jiangzhou die in an unclear manner, they would never dare to shout so verbally.

It can be seen that Qizhou is in chaos.

This cast a shadow on Qian Yurong's heart.

Then the ballad changed again.

"Thinking of Hongyang, looking forward to Hongyang, Hongyang comes and there is food and drink. If you want to live, enter Hongyang. If you want to live, enter Hongyang, the poor man joined the Hongyang sect. You take a knife, I take a shovel, and we must move the royal officials."

When these children sang these ballads, they also looked at the boat, especially Qian Yurong, who was wearing a white fur cloak. At first glance, she was the daughter of a wealthy family, and she was the focus of these children's attention.

In the eyes of these children who should have been innocent, there was no innocence at all, only a sense of spying.

Qian Yurong hugged her arms subconsciously. There were many guards beside her. She was not afraid, but felt a little cold. It was not the coldness on her body, but the coldness in her heart.

The children's ballad continued: "General of man, general of earth, and general of heaven in the sky. The yellow and red flags cover the clear sky, robbing the rich and helping the poor for the people."

The old man surnamed Zhang comforted softly: "Miss, don't worry. Qingyang Church will not do anything to our Qian family's ship."

Qian Yurong nodded.

Li Xuandu, who had been standing at the bow, said, "My ancestral home is Qizhou. I didn't expect that the ballads in recent years have changed. I remember that a few years ago, it was: 'Kill cattle and sheep, prepare wine, open the city gate to welcome Qingyang, and don't pay taxes when Qingyang comes.'"

Qian Yurong murmured, "What a good one that doesn't pay taxes, are they really like that?"

Li Xuandu said calmly, "If they don't pay taxes, what do they eat? It's nothing more than a trick to deceive people. If the people really believe these nonsense and open the city gate, the ending may not be much better."

Qian Yurong hesitated for a moment and said softly, "Li Accountant, do you believe in Qingyang Sect?"

"I never believe it." Li Xuandu shook his head and said, "A man does not talk about strange powers. Whether it is Qingyang, Baiyang or Hongyang, they will not be the ones who save the world. They will only be the ones who break the old world."

Save the world, the old world.

Although the characters are homophonic, the difference of one character has a world of difference in meaning.

Qian Yurong frowned, but did not ask, and said: "I don't believe in Qingyang Sect either. Although the imperial court is not good, the Qingyang Sect is not much better. I have heard from several cousins ​​that the generals of the Qingyang Sect live a luxurious life with many wives and concubines, which is even worse than the provincial governors of the imperial court."

When the old man surnamed Zhang heard this, he quickly made a gesture to silence and whispered: "Miss, be careful with your words."

Li Xuandu smiled and said: "This is the fact. Since they dare to do it, are they afraid of what others say?"

Qian Yurong was startled, then quietly turned her head away, with the corners of her mouth slightly raised.