Zhu Biao then comforted Zhu Yuanzhang and said, "After Han Gaozu won the world, it was also a difficult dynasty, and there was even the siege of Baideng, and there was the shame of Weishui before the rule of Tang Taizong Zhenguan!" And I, Daming, under your leadership, suppress foreign clans and sweep away external troubles! ”

"Compared with the previous dynasties, my Ming Dynasty is just a little more difficult in the family business, and my father has also ordered the light endowment and the cultivation of the people, under your governance, I think that the world will be prosperous again in less than twenty years!"

Zhu Yuanzhang listened to his son's persuasion and was also relieved a lot, these days not only have he seen the difficulties of people's livelihood, but the local officials are also constantly reporting.

"Xuzhou is covered with white bones, the grass is reckless, and there are often fox squirrels in the remnants of the grass and grass!"

In the counties north of the Yellow River, "the roads are all hazelnut blockage, and the population is cut off." "It's almost lifeless.

The Dongting Lake basin in Huguang was originally a rich and rich land, but now "the land is sparsely populated, there are few cultivators, and there are many barren people." ”

Sichuan and Shu are known as Tianfu, but after decades of war, they are also full of artemisia, tens of thousands of acres of fertile land are barren, and the old scene of historical prosperity is difficult to find.

Zhu Yuanzhang recited a sentence: "The people are bitter when they prosper, and the people who are dead are bitter!" ”

Then he picked up his spirits and began to review the recital, and Zhu Biao also picked up the recital and thought carefully.

At the beginning of December, he finally arrived in Yangzhou City, and Zhu Biao finally saw with his own eyes what this originally prosperous city looks like now. Most of the walls had collapsed, and it was almost impossible to see where the streets were and where were the houses, and all the houses seemed to have been affected by an earthquake, and there were stones everywhere except for a few black pillars.

Standing on the frame and sweeping away, most of Yangzhou fell into view, there was no towering house, there were dozens of people kneeling on the side of the road, ragged and thin, and the leader was wearing a shabby official robe, and when he saw Zhu Yuanzhang, he knelt and crawled over, "Shame on Your Majesty!" The minister is guilty! The minister is guilty! The minister has not been able to govern Yangzhou for more than a year! ”

Zhu Yuanzhang pulled him up, and he almost couldn't recognize it at first glance: "Lu Mingyi? How did you become like this! How are you a prefect...

The prefect of Yangzhou looked at Zhu Yuanzhang with tears in his eyes and said, "Minister... The minister is really a clever woman, and it is difficult to cook without rice! ”

This person is also the person who has been chasing Zhu Yuanzhang for many years, and his personality Zhu Yuanzhang is clear, so he came to Yangzhou in person, but he really didn't expect that the dignified prefect would fall into this way.

Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at the dozens of people and asked the prefect of Yangzhou, "Is this the whole Yangzhou City?" ”

Then Zhu Yuanzhang personally walked to the front of the crowd, and when the group of people saw the emperor coming, they directly pressed their heads to the ground, and read in their mouths, "Long live the emperor, long live, long live!" ”

Zhu Yuanzhang personally helped up an old man, asked them to get up, pulled the old man to sit on a stone next to him and asked, "Brother, why are there so many people in this Yangzhou City!" ”

The old man stared at his cloudy eyes and said sadly: "The emperor... Your Majesty the Emperor, everyone has run out, and we are left here who can't run. ”

The little granddaughter of the old man on the side glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang and asked her grandfather in a low voice, "Is this Emperor Zhu?" ”

The old man was so frightened that he almost fainted, but Zhu Yuanzhang patted his hand and said to the emaciated girl, "Yes!" We are your Emperor Zhu! In the future, Emperor Zhu will let you have a full meal! ”

Zhu Yuanzhang turned back to Yang Xian and instructed, "You go and let the guards settle on the spot and prepare some food!" ”

Yang Xian took the order and left, and Zhu Yuanzhang asked the old man some questions, but unfortunately he couldn't answer some of them, only knowing that the war and taxes forced them to have no way out.

The Yangzhou prefect on the side calmed down and said to Zhu Yuanzhang: "The war is not endless, and the people have fled in large numbers, and even if they have land, they can't farm." ”

Zhu Yuanzhang felt very surprised, what is the reason for not planting land?

Next to him, Lu Chang, who had been in the Yuan Dynasty, replied: "The fields have been barren due to military disasters for many years; The Yuan army passed through Yangzhou repeatedly, and the chickens and dogs were restless; The people of Yangzhou went into exile; The harsh government made the people reluctant to farm. ”

"To what extent? One acre of land can make two loads of grain, and all kinds of taxes are added together to receive three loads. The more industrious the people became, the poorer they became, and they did not want to cultivate after a long time. ”

Later, fifty years after the tax was paid, the tax went to the grandchildren of an adult. There are more than 30 kinds of taxes on the surface, such as land tax, ding tax, head cutting tax, autumn tax, winter tax, industrial tax, instrument tax, five poultry tax, etc. ”

"The imperial court issued an edict for the people to pay 50 yuan per household, and the state government, government offices, counties and townships levied additional taxes, and finally collected thousands of yuan, and the court collected less than 12 out of 10, and the rest went into the hands of corrupt officials. There have long been no clean officials under the harsh government. ”

Because the court cut off the salaries of officials, if the officials are not greedy, they will be starved to death.

In Yangzhou City, the people could not satisfy their hunger, so they dug wild vegetables, ate tree bark, and even Yizi and eaten, and the vast majority of the people "have not eaten meat for more than ten years, and have not eaten grain for three or four years."

Hearing about this situation, even if it was a hero like Zhu Yuanzhang who came out of the sea of corpses and blood, he couldn't help but burst into tears.

Yang Xian walked back, saw Zhu Yuanzhang's state and didn't dare to speak, Zhu Biao called him back and asked what was going on.

Yang Xian is Zhan Shicheng of the Prince's East Palace, and he is also Zhu Biao's person, Yang Xian said to Zhu Biao, "Your Highness, Yangzhou City just snowed yesterday, the weather is cold and the firewood is wet, and now I can't light the fire, I'm afraid it will take a while to cook." ”

Zhu Biao said, "These people seem to have been hungry for a long time, so let's dismantle the frame of the palace!" Cook for the people first, and the palace will squeeze with the other princes for a while. ”

Yang Xiangang wanted to say where to dismantle the prince's frame, if you want to dismantle it, it is better to dismantle his! But as soon as he saw Zhu Biao's calm eyes, he closed his mouth.

When Zhu Di heard it, he walked up to Zhu Biao and said, "Big brother, dismantle my frame!" I'll take a ride with my third brother later! ”

Zhu Biao patted his head, and Yang Xian saw that Zhu Biao had made up his mind and went down to dismantle it.

Zhu Biao glanced at the emaciated crowd again, and said to Zhu Di, "You go and take out all the meat, except for some left for your father, make it into broth and distribute it to these people." ”

Zhu Di also left in response, Zhu Biao sighed, a little depressed in his heart, the words he saw in the music and the words he saw with his own eyes were indeed two different feelings.

He ordered the dismantling of his frame to show his benevolence, but he did feel a little sorry for these people, he was the prince of the country, and these people were also his people!

Zhu Biao really hopes that his people can have food and clothes to wear!

The wood on the prince's frame is excellent, and it's not so damp that it lights the fire after a while.

Liu Bowen walked up to Zhu Biao and asked, "How does Your Highness feel now?" ”

It was the first time Zhu Biao talked to Liu Bowen, glanced at his prince guest and said, "I feel distressed!" The palace is eager to let them have endless food and warm clothes now, and a shelter to shelter them from the wind and rain. ”

Liu Bowen glanced at the frowning young man, "Your Highness can think so, that is the luck of the people of the world!" ”

Zhu Biao asked, "It is said that Mr. has the talent to go through the heavens and latitudes, but there is a way to make my Ming Dynasty quickly restore the people's livelihood!" ”

Liu Bowen shook his head and said, "The minister has a way, and he will not be stingy, but as the prefect of Yangzhou said, it is difficult for a good woman to cook without rice, and Yangzhou is easy to solve!" ”

"The saint has seen the situation here, and he will definitely arrange manpower and material resources to help Yangzhou when he goes back, but what about other states and counties? There are only so many materials in the world now, and it is impossible to support the whole world. ”

Zhu Biao also sighed, the reality is like this, he can't conjure food, he knows that corn and sweet potatoes are high-yield crops, but these are all overseas, and now the situation of Daming is not capable of exploring at all.

The materials needed to build a large sailing ship are very terrifying, and Da Ming can't afford it at all now, and just by his words, Zhu Yuanzhang can't let him waste resources like this.

What's more, the sea is very dangerous, even in modern times, there is no guarantee that the voyage is foolproof, and no one can guarantee that the seeds of corn and sweet potatoes will be found.

…………………