Chapter 923. The Truth (III).

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In the main hall of the Zhou Mansion, when Zhao Junchen saw the male victim again, he realized that he didn't know the name of this person from beginning to end. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

At this time, the male victim knelt in front of Zhao Junchen, his face was full of anger, and he looked at Zhao Junchen with anxious eyes, and it could be seen that he was very anxious, but when Zhao Junchen did not speak, although this person was anxious, he did not speak first, just waited for Zhao Junchen to speak first.

"This man is physically strong and has a strong temperament, but he also knows how to be respectful and humble, and he can also ride ......"

Thinking of this, Zhao Junchen looked at the male victim again, and suddenly asked, "What's your name?" Where did you come from? Have you ever enlisted in the army? ”

The man knew that Zhao Junchen's identity was noble, and he expected Zhao Junchen to help him, so he didn't dare to hide it, and hurriedly replied: "If you go back to your lordship, Xiaomin's name is Zhao Dali, and it was originally a subordinate of Datong Military Town, and Jingyuan Fort was not collected at night...... But because there was a Mongolian tribe in May this year, Jingyuan Fort was broken by the Mongolian Tartars, all the military households in the fort were slaughtered, and Xiaomin happened to be outside to spy on the news, so he escaped, seeing that the military fort was destroyed, Xiaomin simply returned to his hometown in Xinzhou, who knew that he encountered a natural disaster, so he fled with the people in his hometown. ”

Zhao Junchen nodded, and did not dwell on this person's deserter identity, but just asked: "I asked you to ride a horse to find a companion, why did you come back alone?" What about your companions? ”

Zhao Dali's face was sad, and he kowtowed to Zhao Junchen again: "My lord, Xiaomin did not find a companion, but found out the news, and the companion who fled with Xiaomin has been captured by the official mission of Lu'an Mansion!" There are more than 310 people in the villages of the small people who fled the famine, 37 people died of disease and starvation along the way, and the rest of the companions were all captured by officials from all over the country, and I still don't know their whereabouts, I don't know what happened to them, whether they are alive or dead, and I don't know why the government wants to arrest them...... My lord, you are a noble person, and you are still a blue sky, you must find out the whereabouts of the people and uphold justice for the people! ”

Seeing Zhao Dali's appearance was really miserable and pitiful, and before Zhao Junchen could speak, Bao Wenjie couldn't help but interject and said: "Don't worry, the Lu'an prefect has just left and will return here soon, and Lord Zhao will naturally let him let go of your companion at that time." ”

Zhao Junchen turned his head and glanced at Bao Wenjie, a little dissatisfied with Bao Wenjie's decision on his behalf, but he didn't say anything, just said to Zhao Dali: "You get up and talk...... Don't worry, I will naturally give you an explanation for the affairs of your companions. ”

After hearing Zhao Junchen's expression, Zhao Dali's expression finally relaxed a little, and then he stood up and stood respectfully with his hands down.

In any era, soldiers are the group with the strongest class consciousness, and this Zhao Dali in front of him seems to be rude, but his every move is still impossible to find fault.

For Zhao Junchen, rescuing Zhao Dali's companions is just an inconsequential little matter, and after learning Zhao Dali's identity, collecting some intelligence on the border situation from Zhao Dali is the most important thing.

In this regard, Zhao Junchen's luck was not bad, he actually met a deserter from Datong Military Town in Lu'an Mansion, and he could find out some border situations in advance.

In addition, some of the content that Zhao Dali inadvertently revealed just now also aroused Zhao Junchen's interest.

So, Zhao Junchen immediately ended the topic of Zhao Dali's companions, and just asked: "You just said that in May this year, there were Mongolian tribes who invaded Datong Military Town?" As far as this official knows, in March this year, several Mongolian tribes united to invade the three sides of Shaanxi and Gansu...... In previous years, the fire was always around the autumn harvest, why did the Mongolian tribes not only invade in advance this year, but also so frequently? Is the scale so fragmented? What do you know? ”

Zhao Dali shook his head blankly and replied: "The status of the small people is low, and I don't know the details, but as you said, my lord, the behavior of the Mongolian Tatars this year is indeed a bit abnormal, and from time to time some tribes will go south to raid, and their performance is quite crazy, as if they are cornered." ”

On the side, Bao Wenjie interjected again: "Now that Shaanxi, Gansu, and Shanxi are in serious trouble, I'm afraid that Mongolia is also having a hard time, and they are also out of food, so they are really forced by God...... Hey, they have repeatedly invaded the territory of our dynasty and plundered the people of our dynasty, and they deserve it. ”

Because of various things in Nanguan Village, Bao Wenjie's opinion of Zhao Junchen has changed, and now he has repeatedly interjected, but he also accepted Zhao Junchen's performance from his heart.

But I have to say that Bowen Jie's performance is really a bit annoying.

Zhao Junchen still ignored Bao Wenjie, and just asked again: "According to what you said, it was the Mongolian tribes that invaded the Datong military town, not the Mongolian cavalry...... In other words, when the Mongol Tatars invaded the Datong military town, not only did the Mongol cavalry appear, but these Mongol cavalry also dragged their families and carried the old and young women and children in the tribe? ”

Zhao Dali nodded again and said: "My lord is wise, I can see through the strange place at a glance, and the small people also feel strange, it stands to reason that the Mongolian Tatars invaded in previous years, just sent out cavalry, and the old and young women and children in the tribes will still stay in the depths of the grassland, but the Mongolian Tatars who came this year are not only Mongolian cavalry, but also all the people of the entire tribe have gone south, as if the grassland has no place for them." ”

On the other side, Bao Wenjie once again expressed his opinion and nodded: "It seems that the disaster in the Mongolian steppe is even worse than imagined!" ”

After Zhao Junchen pondered for a moment, he suddenly asked: "You are a night guard in the frontier military town, responsible for spying on intelligence, have you ever seen those Mongolian tribes going south?" ”

Lord Zhao still nodded and replied: "Xiaomin once rode a horse and saw it from afar, and was almost caught by the Mongolian Tartars. ”

Zhao Junchen asked slowly with a serious expression: "What is the spiritual outlook of those Mongolian tribes who went south?" ”

Zhao Dali didn't understand the meaning of the words "spiritual outlook" in Zhao Junchen's mouth, and couldn't help but show doubts.

Zhao Junchen had no choice but to further explain: "I mean, what does their state look like? More like a hungry refugee? Or is it more like a desperate defeated army? ”

Bao Wenjie didn't understand what Zhao Junchen meant, but Zhao Dali was thoughtful, and said: "After listening to your reminder, Xiaomin also thought of something wrong, those Mongolian tribes who invaded the south looked very embarrassed, not only the number of cattle, sheep and horses was not large, even the daily utensils such as tents were not complete, and there were many people with injuries, not like they moved south just to escape natural disasters, but more like they were expelled after defeat." ”

Zhao Junchen was also thoughtful, and after asking about some border defense conditions, he let Zhao Dali leave.

After Zhao Dali left the room, Zhao Junchen's expression was unprecedentedly serious.

In fact, since coming to Shanxi, Zhao Junchen's expression has been very serious, the more detailed he is, the more solemn he is, and he finds that the situation is far from being as simple as he expected, and the relaxed state of mind when he first left Beijing has long been gone.

Then, Zhao Junchen sighed lightly and said, "Since entering the northwest, I haven't encountered any good news...... Now it seems that not only our northwest provinces are a little weird, but even some changes have occurred in the Mongolian steppe, and these two things may have some connections...... This year's border situation may be much more severe than imagined. ”

Bao Wenjie asked curiously, "Why did Lord Zhao say this?" ”

Zhao Junchen glanced at Bao Wenjie and then at Hong Gaogong, but shook his head and said: "Now it's just some speculation, it's not accurate, and there is no empirical evidence...... Let's wait until we meet Zhang Xun, the governor of Shanxi. ”

Zhao Junchen is the minister of the Qincha, he doesn't plan to say it explicitly, and Bao Wenjie and Hong Gaogong are not easy to ask, but they are more and more confused in their hearts.

In fact, many speculations that Zhao Junchen did not tell Bao Wenjie and Hong Gaogong because he was afraid that his guess would scare them.

Moreover, once Bao Wenjie and Hong Gaogong are frightened, they will definitely do bad things, with Bao Wenjie's character, once he is frightened, he will inevitably present the details to Emperor Deqing, asking Emperor Deqing to send another important minister of the court to the northwest to preside over the overall situation, which is not conducive to Zhao Junchen's control of the situation, and once Hong Gaogong is frightened, he will definitely retreat and never dare to go north again, which will also drag down Zhao Junchen's plan.

Therefore, Zhao Junchen can only bear many things alone.

And just when the three of them were thinking, Mao Jiadong went into the room again to report, this time it was Wang Laozhang from Nanguan Village who wanted to ask to see Zhao Junchen.

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In the afternoon of this day, Sun Miao, the prefect of Lu'an, rushed to Nanguan Village again, not only to deliver the road guide that Zhao Junchen needed, but also to bring a lot of things, all of which were things that Zhao Junchen and his party could use on the road.

For example, the clothes of the people fleeing the famine and the local officials, the chain torture instruments used by the local officials when escorting the prisoners, and the waist cards of some identity certificates, and even found a real Lu'an Mansion officialdom as a guide, which can be regarded as thoughtful and neatly prepared.

When Sun Miao was led into the room by Mao Jiadong, he found that Zhao Junchen was talking to the elders in Nanguan Village with a kind expression, so Sun Miao kept silent, just stepped aside and waited for the conversation to end, and at the same time pricked up his ears to listen to Zhao Junchen's speech, and secretly paid attention to it in his heart.

This old man of Nanguan Village is naturally the old man Wang, and he asked to see Zhao Junchen because he was instructed by the people of Nanguan Village to inquire about Zhao Junchen's agricultural rectification plan of the imperial court.

According to the imperial court's decree, the people of Lu'an Mansion will have half of the land planted with a plant called corn in the future, and the corn in this period is only planted in a few areas in the south, and most of the people in Lu'an Mansion have never seen this thing, so they naturally have doubts, so they asked Wang Lao to inquire about the news from Zhao Junchen.

At this time, Zhao Junchen patiently told Mr. Wang: "Corn is a crop that is not only cold and drought resistant, easy to cultivate, and the grain yield is also very high, the land in Lu'an Mansion has always been relatively poor, and natural disasters often occur, planting corn is the best choice!" Don't hide it from Uncle Wang, the agricultural rectification plan of the imperial court is presided over by me personally, this matter is absolutely beneficial and harmless to Lu'an Mansion, Uncle Wang, can't you still believe me Zhao Junchen? In fact, this policy is still the first year of implementation, the imperial court reserves not many corn seeds, not enough to promote on a large scale, I put Lu'an Mansion into the plan, and give free corn seeds to the people, but also to the people of Lu'an Mansion special care. ”

After hearing Zhao Junchen's explanation, Mr. Wang's expression relaxed a little, and he asked again: "When the imperial court sent the corn seeds, the villagers cooked them a little and wanted to see if this thing could be eaten, but they found that the taste of this thing was not good, and it was more difficult to chew...... Although it is better than bran rice, I am afraid that the merchants will not accept this thing, if the merchants do not accept it, or if the price is too low, the villagers will have no money to pay taxes, and they will have to work in vain......"

Zhao Junchen shook his head and said: "Don't worry, I came to Shanxi this time to solve the matter of merchants buying corn, I will soon convene the Jin merchants to explain the matter, and I think those merchants will also give the official a face." I also guarantee here that this Lu'an Mansion is not far from the capital, but it is only a six or seven day walk, and if the merchants do not collect corn in the future, or deliberately lower the price, the people of Lu'an Mansion can come to the capital to find me Zhao Junchen, and I will personally solve this matter for you......"

After a pause, Zhao Junchen talked about the benefits of planting corn in order to reassure Wang: "This corn looks bad in taste, but the yield per mu is several times that of ordinary crops, and it is less affected by the weather and land, so it will not make the people suffer in any case...... In fact, I also suggest that the people should not sell too much corn to the merchants at this time next year, and keep more for themselves, corn is a good thing, whether it is to feed chickens, ducks or pigs and rabbits, it is the best feed, and the people can also take the opportunity to raise more livestock, which is more than simply growing grain to make more money. ”

Zhao Junchen's remarks, naturally there is also a basis, the main use of corn in later generations is feed, countless examples prove that corn feed can make a country's meat production increase significantly, with the basic conditions of the Ming Dynasty, it is not surprising that the meat output in the next few years will increase even if it continues to increase.

Of course, with the living conditions of the people in the Ming Dynasty, corn is still mainly edible, and the development of breeding industry is only a means of getting rich in a few places, and most of the people in the Ming Dynasty today are mainly coarse grains, and corn can be completely replaced, but the yield is several times higher, so the promotion of corn planting in the imperial court can definitely benefit the people.

After hearing Zhao Junchen's repeated assurances, Mr. Wang finally reassured, nodded and said: "Since Lord Zhao has opened his mouth to promise, the people of Nanguan Village naturally believe it!" Lord Zhao, you are the master of the blue sky, it is impossible to harm us! ”

Zhao Junchen said with a smile: "It's not enough for you to believe it, you still have to tell the people of the rest of the villages what I said today, just tell them that all this is my measure to benefit the people of Lu'an Mansion, so that everyone can follow the court with peace of mind, if there is trouble in the future, I Zhao Junchen will personally come forward to solve it, and I will never let the people have worries!" ”

Mr. Wang naturally assured again and again, saying that the people of Lu'an Mansion believed in Zhao Junchen, and the people of Nanguan Village would definitely spread Zhao Junchen's remarks everywhere to reassure the people of Lu'an Mansion.

In the end, seeing Sun Miao's appearance, Mr. Wang didn't dare to disturb Zhao Junchen anymore, and left with a thousand thanks.

At this time, Sun Miao was secretly thinking about Zhao Junchen's words, thinking that he should pay more attention to the imperial court's agricultural reform plan, and vigorously urge the people of Lu'an Mansion to plant corn, which may be a dazzling political achievement in the future.

However, after Mr. Wang left, Sun Miao didn't think much about it, but hurriedly reported to Zhao Junchen: "Lord Zhao, everything you need on the way to Taiyuan Mansion has been prepared, and the lower official also privately summoned a servant of Lu'an Mansion, this person's name is Ma Jia, who has always been in charge of official correspondence between Lu'an Mansion and Taiyuan Mansion, and is very familiar with the official offices along the road...... In addition, Xia Guan saw that more than 200 of Lord Zhao's subordinates were all riding horses, and so many horses would also arouse unnecessary suspicion, so Xia Guan prepared an extra road guide, indicating that these horses were supported by the Lu'an Mansion to Datong Military Town, which could also reduce a lot of trouble......

After hearing Sun Miao's report, Zhao Junchen nodded with satisfaction and said with appreciation: "You have done a good job, much more thorough than me!" ”

Sun Miao was a little flattered, and hurriedly said: "My lord, you are in charge of the affairs of the imperial court, and these trivial things naturally don't need to be thought about, otherwise it will be useless for me to wait for the lower officials." ”

After Zhao Junchen smiled, he suddenly remembered Zhao Dali's matter, so he asked Sun Miao: "By the way, did your Lu'an Mansion arrest a group of victims who fled the famine two days ago?" ”

Sun Miao replied: "It is true, a total of 213 victims have been intercepted in the past ten days, and all these victims have been sent to Taiyuan Mansion yesterday morning." ”

Zhao Junchen was stunned for a moment and asked, "Has it been sent to Taiyuan Mansion?" ”

Sun Miao nodded yes, and was a little strange why Zhao Junchen suddenly asked about it.

Zhao Junchen shook his head slightly, but he stood up and instructed Bao Wenjie and Hong Gaogong: "Since this is the case, there is nothing to do here, let's prepare, let our subordinates change into the clothes of officials and disaster victims, and then set off for Taiyuan Mansion...... In addition, send someone to tell Zhao Dali about the disaster victims, so that he doesn't have to worry, after the official arrives in Taiyuan Mansion, he will naturally rescue his companions! ”

Hong Gaogong couldn't help but be taken aback, and asked, "Lord Zhao, it's already in the afternoon, and it will be dark soon, let's leave at this time?" Why don't we rest for the night and wait until tomorrow morning before we leave. ”

Zhao Junchen glanced at Hong Gaogong, but shook his head and said: "Now the matter is urgent, even if it is an hour, it can't be delayed, I always feel that the situation in northern Xinjiang is variable, so we have to leave as soon as possible...... And we have to travel day and night these days, and it will never be easy along the way, so you can also explain it in advance, so that everyone can prepare in advance, so as to save time for complaining. ”

In fact, Hong Gaogong already wanted to complain now, but he didn't dare not listen to Zhao Junchen's orders, so he finally agreed with a bitter face.

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PS: First update! Five thousand words!

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