Zhao Hao's ancestors and grandsons left Beijing in early May to go south, and they did not go in the wind and rain along the way, the weather was too hot, and they had to stop and visit if there were scenic spots...... As a result, the journey of 1,500 miles took a whole month, and it took me to Zhengzhou Mansion in Henan Province in early June.

Since entering Henan, Zhao Hao's mood has been very heavy.

In the past, he walked the Grand Canal to the north and south, although he could also see the fatigue of people's livelihood and the gap between the rich and the poor, but after all, it was along the canal, and the economy was relatively developed.

This time he went deep inland, and he finally confirmed with his own eyes that the living hell in the mouths of the homeless people is really not an exaggeration.

Under the clear blue sky, the vast majority of the peasants in the prefectures and counties they passed through were destitute. Even in the county town, the houses are old, the streets are narrow and dirty, and the air is filled with an unbreathable stale smell.

On a sunny day, the streets are dusty, and when it rains, the ground is muddy and the wheels are sunken. The streets were full of beggars, or rather, the people were no different from beggars, the same ragged clothes, the same withered faces, the same lack of food, and the same poverty.

They chased Zhao Hao's convoy, begging for food. If it weren't for the brocade guards and heavily armed guards, they would have been looted.

Outside the city, next to the official road, there is a large area of abandoned land, overgrown with tall artemisia grass, like a field. The original scattered villages, with large swathes of collapsed houses in ruins, and only half of the villages still inhabited, are just as depressed and dilapidated.

In this gray and lifeless background, the fat vassal clans are particularly dazzling.

The mansions of those princes and county kings were built like clouds and splendor. They were invited to Kaifeng and received hospitality from the king of Zhou. I saw with my own eyes the beautiful maids in the palace, Zhong Ming Ding food, and the pomp even surpassed the emperor, and the extravagance was not inferior to the scene of Yangzhou salt merchants.

Even those auxiliary generals, lieutenants of Fengguo, and the like live in big mansions in the city, and there are manors outside the city, all of them are dressed in silk and satin, and their fat intestines are full of brains, and they are completely different creatures from the poor people.

At present, Henan has five princes, 80 county kings, generals, lieutenants, county lords, honor guests, and other descendants of clansmen and clansmen, totaling more than 6,890 people. The cost of feeding these rice worms alone has exceeded Henan's annual financial revenue.

In addition, these clans were lawless and greedy, and wantonly swallowed up the people's land and property. In Kaifeng City, more than half of the industries belong to the Zhou family; All the fertile land in Nanyang Mansion was annexed by the Tang Dynasty and his family; Most of the land in Luoyang, Zhangde, Huaiqing, Yuzhou and other places also belonged to the name of the clan.

The land and servants of the vassal clans were not subject to taxes and labor. Therefore, all the burdens of the government were passed on to the poor peasants who had no way out, and the people naturally had no choice but to go bankrupt and flee, and there was no possibility of living and working in peace and contentment.

This is still fertile Henan Province, if we continue to go deep into Shanxi and Shaanxi, which are full of the same feudal kings, but have constant border troubles and severe droughts for many years, the situation may be even worse.

A sense of powerlessness always enveloped Zhao Hao, and he finally knew that he was not omnipotent.

There are always things in this world that he can't do, such as saving the people of Henan in dire straits. The five princes and eighty county kings in Henan, which one of them is a hard nail that he can't pull out, and even those generals and lieutenants, casually surrounding a dozen or twenty, can make him peel off his skin.

Except for abolishing the clan system and sending all these rice worms to labor camps, Zhao Hao couldn't think of any way to save Henan.

And this is far from Henan's worst moment. Wanli Dead Fat Man will also seal his younger brother and son to Henan. In a few decades, the number of clans in Henan will explode from six or seven thousand to fifty or sixty thousand!

As soon as he thought of this, Zhao Hao had some understanding, the 'Daming pill' that the old man often put on his lips, such a Daming is strange if it is not finished......

Since there is nothing he can do, he can't stop other people's tall beards from going out of the mountain, and the salvation plan will survive.

~~

With such an awareness, he finally came to Xinzheng with the old man.

Shao Daxia and son-in-law Shen Yingkui, who came first, greeted the late grandparents and grandchildren outside the county.

"Haha, the old man and the son have worked hard all the way." Shao Fang's face was full of spring breeze, and there was no irritability on his face that had been waiting for several days.

In fact, he wished that Zhao Hao and them would slow down, and that he would have a lot of time to enhance his comradeship with Gao Huzi...... Gao Gong saw that he kept his promise and did his best to make a comeback, and it was fruitful. Naturally, he was impressed by this person in the rivers and lakes, regarded him as a guest and a confidant, talked with him during the day, and slept at night, and was already commensurate with brothers.

"Hmm......" Zhao Liben looked constipated, showed his head and went back to the car to lie down. He did all the way to psychological construction, but he still didn't build it well.

The country is easy to change, and the nature is difficult to change, so it is really painful for the old man who has been on the side all his life to bow his head to his rival.

"The old man hasn't figured it out yet?" Shao Daxia asked Zhao Hao in a low voice.

"Everyone is here, how can you not figure it out?" Zhao Gongzi said softly: "But it is inevitable that it will not be happy." ”

"It's really hard for the old man." Shao Daxia sighed and whispered: "Gao Xianggong asked repeatedly, will the old man really come in person?" It can be seen that his sacrifice is necessary. ”

"Gao Xianggong won't do anything to my grandfather, right?" Zhao Hao, who escorted Zhao Liben all the way, finally remembered that it was his grandfather who came.

"Childe rest assured, the so-called 'friends come from afar, don't say it', and the prime minister can support the boat in his belly', and he also said, 'People respect me for a foot, I have to pay it back'." Shao Fang and Zhao Hao walked side by side, and first gave him a reassuring pill and said:

"Childe has proven his strength, although Gao Xianggong is heroic, but he is by no means a person who does not know the importance of the matter, this time he will definitely 'show his face to eliminate his long-cherished wishes, and smile at his enmity'."

After speaking, he said a little weakly: "Of course, the old man still has to be patient and patient, let the old man extinguish the fire, although it may be uncomfortable at first, but it will be comfortable in the future." ”

"That's nature, it's all for Daming." Zhao Hao nodded generously and said seriously: "But you must not be in front of the third person, my grandfather, I want to be faced." ”

"That's that, people live with a face." Shao Fang said thoughtfully: "When the time comes, let them talk alone." ”

"Well, that's good." Zhao Hao was relieved. As long as no one sees it, he can act as if nothing happened, this is the trick he learned from Xu Ge.

As he spoke, he saw Gaojiazhuang in the southwest of the county from a distance.

Although Zhuangzi is not big, it is connected by mountains and rivers. The village is full of green willows, and the stream flows for a long time, like a paradise.

"This old man is quite good at enjoying it." Zhao Liben snorted. When he got out of the carriage again, he was calm and complex. I don't know what kind of comfort Fang Cai Ye gave him.

Having said that, he was still a little embarrassed to see that the Emperor of the High Arch Hall and the Second Auxiliary of the Zhishi actually lived in this rural place and didn't even repair a garden.

Nowadays, the officials of the Ming Dynasty are very simple when they are officials in the court, but there are many mansions in the family, and the shops in the fields are worth millions, and each one is richer than the other...... Well, he's no exception.

It is indeed rare to be as consistent as Lao Gao.

However, Gao Gong actually only sent a housekeeper to greet him at the head of the village, which made Zhao Liben unhappy for a while.

That's not human, right?

As soon as you enter Zhuangzi, you will see a brand-new golden archway, on the book 'good teacher and virtuous face' four big characters, this is the handwriting of Emperor Longqing.

Through the imperial archway, civil officials get off the sedan chair and military attaches get off the horse.

Zhao Liben had no choice but to get out of the car with everyone and walk to Zhuangzi. I saw that on the street in the center of Zhuangzi, there was a dome arched two-story eaves platform, and a blue-bottom plaque was hung on it, which was called 'Baomo Tower'.

The housekeeper Gao Fu said that this is because the three generations of the Gao family have been loved and rewarded by the emperor and the current saint. The holy decrees, gold, silver, silk, jewels and jade items that have been given many times do not dare to be enjoyed without authorization, because they have accumulated too much and have no proper place to store them, and they are afraid of damaging them and disrespecting them. Gao Ge Lao specially asked for the construction of this Baomo Tower, storing the royal gifts, proclaiming the holy king's education, for future generations to admire.

Today, the Holy Emperor approved the construction, gave two silver, and personally nominated the 'Jianzhong Hall'.

"The Holy Lord is even extremely gracious to the third master of my family, almost every month there is a holy decree delivered, and the rewards are continuous every year, this Baomo Tower has just been built, it is almost full, and it will definitely be expanded in the future."

Listening to Gao Fu's proud and boastful appearance, Zhao Liben couldn't help but be secretly sour. Indeed, his grandfather is not as good as Gao Gong, and his father is not as good, and he still can't compare......

"The old man has to take a good look." Zhao Liben put his hands behind his back, took sunglasses and carefully looked at Baomo Lou and said: "In the future, when my home is built, I will strive to do it in one step and no longer toss." ”

Fortunately, Lao Tzu's son and grandson are definitely stronger than him. There is absolutely no doubt about this, because he doesn't even have a son......

"Hahaha." Zhao Liben laughed three times and strode into the Gao family's mansion.

Seeing that the program arranged by the third master for Zhao Liben not only did not work, but made the other party full of fighting spirit, Gao Fu couldn't help but secretly sweat for Gao Gong, this old man is not a soft persimmon that is easy to pinch......

~~

Zhao Hao silently followed behind his grandfather, entered the Gao family's mansion, and looked at the courtyard that was no different from the ordinary landlord's house, feeling that it was difficult to think of the prime minister's mansion that had been Xuanhe for three generations.

At the door of the flower hall, he saw for the first time the bearded man who frightened the entire Ming officialdom.

I saw that although Gao Gong was wearing a half-worn green preaching robe and a Zhuge scarf, he was dressed like a teacher in the countryside.

But he had a wide mouth and a big chin, and he was very majestic, with a beard like a steel needle, and a pair of sharp eyes like a falcon, and he stood there with a very imposing momentum.

Two years of snow hiding did not ruin his sharpness, but made him recuperate and become more and more powerful.

The sword thundered, and it was about to be unsheathed!

ps. The first update of the three consecutive changes, ask for a monthly pass!