In July and August, most of the grain planted in the spring has already been harvested. In the fields, the golden waves of wheat that symbolize the harvest and the scent of grain that fills the air are gone. However, this is not the end of a year's work, it is just a phased process. In the fields, the people were still busy, ploughing the fields, and spilling the hope of the autumn harvest.

Similar scenes are playing out in this country, and indeed in many parts of the world, sooner or later, faster or slower, but the dependence on the land has never changed.

After last year's war, it seems that people always need to rest for a while after high-intensity exercise, and the entire Guangdong ground has entered the stage of recuperation. Under Chen Kai's order, the officials of the counties in Guangzhou were also too busy to keep their feet on the ground, and whenever they had time, they went to the towns and villages under their jurisdiction to observe the people's conditions, so as to better carry out the work of resuming production.

These areas are all within the scope of Chen Kai's authority. In other places, such as Zhaoqing, Gaozhou, Lianzhou, Leizhou, and Luodingzhou in western Guangdong, the vast area is governed by the civil official group in western Guangdong and the generals in western Guangdong.

Unlike the Zheng group, which had an actual military presence in Chaozhou and Qiongzhou before last year and occupied the prefecture and county, all the units of the Ming army in western Guangdong had been bombarded into the mountains and into the sea by the Qing army, and their strength was very weak. The power of the civil official clique in western Guangdong is even weaker and ridiculous, and the high-ranking officials and eunuchs of the two Guangxi provinces surrendered in large numbers in large numbers, so that Guo Zhiqi, Lian Chengbi, Zhang Xiaoqi and others are basically airborne officials sent to Guangdong by the central center after the collapse of Liangguang in the fourth year of Yongli.

Such a historical reality, even if he relied on Li Dingguo's prestige and borrowed Chen Kai's east wind, he could become the winner of this battle, and then share the local benefits. But no matter what, the background is there, and the respective problems will not disappear, but more will be manifested in other forms under the change, or even brewed into bigger problems.

The north-south dividing line between the two forces - Cangbu Water originates from the pallet top of Heshui Town in the west of Gaoming County, and the main stream flows through Heshui, Genglou, Xinwei, Mingcheng, Renhe, Xi'an, Sanzhou, and Hecheng, and flows into the Xijiang River from under the Haikou Tower, with a total length of 82.4 kilometers. This river was called the Gaoming River in later generations, and it was from Gaoming County, Zhaoqing Prefecture, where its main stream originates and mainly flows.

The county seat of Gaoming County is now located in Mingcheng Town, which is located on the side of the river in the upper reaches of the Cangbu River, rather than the place where the Cangbu River flows into the Xijiang River, which was called Hecheng Street in later generations. However, in this season of midsummer heat and busy farming, along the Cangbu Water, there are groups of people staggering in the direction of the streets of Hecheng. But for them, the real destination is not that place.

The team at the foot of the mountain was led by an old man. The slender body carried a burden full of household belongings, as if the old man's back was bent by those. The white hair is pale, but not very bright, dark and almost gray. This is especially the case, but the black and thin shriveled body is still black and white. The rough hands were like sticks wrapped around the bark of a tree, and the scattered strips of cloth on the cuffs were like fallen leaves on dead branches. The same is true of the ruggedness underfoot.

"Uncle, we're not wrong, right?"

"There's no going wrong."

The old man is a farmer in the western part of Gaoming County, where his ancestors have lived for generations. Hecheng, but he has been here, when he was young, it seems that he was serving as a conscription or something, and he can't remember it clearly after a long time, but he can't be wrong along the Cangbu water and the direction of the water.

"Uncle, how far is it from Xijiang?"

It's no better than an old man who has worked hard all his life, and he has a young heart, and he still can't bear the hardships at the moment. Even this trip is a collective decision of the whole clan, because if you don't flee the famine, you are afraid that you will starve to death.

"It's coming, it's coming."

The old man spoke, but his steps did not stop. After a few steps forward, looking back, the clansmen were also following behind with the old and the young, even if they were exhausted, but they did not dare to pause at all, lest they fall off the team. The old man replied perfunctorily, and he couldn't locate where this was, let alone tell how far it was from here to the banks of the Xijiang River, and he could only be so perfunctory at the moment.

For the old man's attitude, the young man was dissatisfied, but the stern gaze of his father behind him had been stabbed on his back, remembering that the inevitable ass suffered after being naughty on weekdays, the young man subconsciously stuck out his tongue, and no longer continued to ask, but continued to support the old man and continue to walk in the direction of the east.

The wet mud on the riverbank made a lot of footprints, large and small, overlapping and messy, the old man looked at these, and the worries in his heart were gone a few more times, at least his memory should not be wrong. But after seeing these footprints, from the end of the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Ming Dynasty, the local grassroots in Guangdong were out of control, to the subsequent wars, to be able to live to this day, the old man as the helmsman of this family always has a sense of smell, so that he always feels that there will be dangers that he does not want to see on the road ahead.

"Uncle, why did you stop?"

It's been a long time since the last break, but it's still a while since the rest of the week. The young man's father strode after him, and when he asked, the old man turned back and waved his hand at the tired people, who breathed a sigh of relief, and then moved to the side of the road, sat on the ground, and gasped for air.

"If the old man remembers correctly, he should be almost on the bank of the Xijiang River. Listen, faintly in the distance, is there the sound of the waves of the river? ”

There is a cangbu water beside him, and the sound of the waves in the distance is easy to hear. However, as soon as the old man said this, the man listened carefully, and vaguely felt that it seemed to be true, and he didn't know if it was because of the old man's authority in his heart.

"Then, uncle, let's not hurry up and get there before dark, it's safer than spending the night in the wilderness!"

The hinterland of Guangdong, is not a grassland for wolves to hunt, nor is it like the Sichuan Basin, which has now been reduced to a tiger domain, the probability of encountering jackals, tigers and leopards here is not large, but the world is sinister, people's hearts are unpredictable, who knows if there is a strong man in the mountains and forests who does not have a capital to trade.

The man was concerned about safety and spoke in questioning. In this regard, the old man shook his head, and instead whispered to him: "If the ferry over there is guarded by the officials of this county, it is one thing for us to get through, and I am afraid that we will be sent back, or even dragged to serve in the conscription, which is what the old man is most worried about." ”

Gaoming County was the place where the two armies of the Ming and Qing dynasties frequently clashed last year, and the army transited, no matter which side, whether it was to avoid financing the enemy or to enhance its own strength, the destruction of the local people's livelihood was the most uncommon. It was easy to survive the war, and it is said that it was divided into Li Dingguo, the king of Xining, to raise soldiers, and the well-informed people were mostly relieved, because it was said that Li Dingguo's army was not guilty of the people. As a result, who knows, thinking that he could live a good life for a few days, Li Dingguo actually handed over Gaoming County to the management of civilian officials, and those civil officials did not reduce or reduce taxes for the areas affected by military disasters as the practice of previous dynasties, which undoubtedly made matters worse.

It was like that last year, and it was only at the beginning of this year that it was over. Insufficient preparation for spring ploughing, coupled with the lack of seeds, will not make the harvest cost of this year's summer harvest not good. If there is no tax, the life can still last, and the wild vegetables in the forest, and even some grass roots and bark boiled, can always be harvested in the autumn, and this day will continue.

However, now they still have to collect taxes, and the exploitation of officials and the buying low and selling high of profiteers have weighed them down. Not to mention that there are rumors that it is said that the governor of Zhaoqing Mansion has put down his words and wants to collect last year's autumn tax together, because according to the system of the Ming Dynasty, the deadline for the collection of autumn tax is February this year!

If this continues, there is only one way to starve to death, and escaping the famine has become the only way. In fact, in the past six months, many people in Gaoming County and even Xinxing County in the west have passed through here and fled in the direction of Guangzhou. Because of the business and travel exchanges, the circulation of news, it is said that Chen Fujun, who rescued the city of Guangzhou, the Qingtian lord who has always been known for his benevolence and righteousness, tried his best to do tax exemption on the ground of Guangzhou Mansion to restore the people's livelihood, and many people chose to flee to Guangzhou after hearing the news.

Earlier, most of the directions for fleeing the famine were Xinhui County, the main battlefield of last year's fierce battle, and I heard that the people there were basically dead, and the local officials directly divided the fields in order to stimulate the resumption of production. The vast majority of the people do not believe in such a good thing, but since there are few people there, there will be more land to abandon the wasteland, and the people will naturally rush to it.

However, they did not go to Xinhui County for this experience, because a few days ago, someone spread the news in the town, saying that Shunde County recruited silkworm farmers who planted mulberry and raised silkworms, as well as workers in the machine workshop, and the wages were not small. They all have the land handed down by their ancestors in the countryside, and if they move to other places to farm, they must stay there, and they are reluctant to give up their own fields, so it is better to go out to work for a period of time, and then go back to farming when the policy in Gaoming County is relaxed.

Land is not only the most important means of production for the farming people, but also the difference between farming and part-time work, which is the difference between the haves and the have-nots!

No matter what era it is, as long as it is an era that recognizes private ownership, the propertied will always have more resources and confidence than the proletarian. Being able to become a propertied person, or to be able to retain the status of a propertied person, the vast majority of people do not place themselves in the position of a proletarian. Because, no one likes the feeling that fate is in the hands of others, even if there are few people in this world who have the ability to choose.

Do not suffer from widowhood but suffer from inequality, do not suffer from poverty but suffer from anxiety.

Circumventing the harsh policy by using short-term proletarianism, and then returning to the ranks of the propertied after the policy is relaxed, this has been the case since ancient times. The difference lies in whether it is nothing more than the naked law of the jungle or the labor that pursues the current order to get rich, which is also the reason for whether there will be words such as exile, coercion, and war.

Over the years, they have had enough of the incursions of war and never want to live such a precarious life again. But if you keep walking, and when you get to Hecheng, you are caught by the officials and sent back to your hometown, then I am afraid that it will not be as simple as taxes, not to mention the conscription, they will flee the famine in such a busy agricultural day, and the time delayed will directly lead to the loss of harvest in the autumn. At that time, the land will not be able to be saved, and I am afraid that I will have to sell my sons and daughters in order to bear the taxes. The rest still face the possibility of starvation.

When the old man said this, the man was also embarrassed. The future is bleak, and many of the other people who fled the famine have traveled along the Cangbu River, God knows if this route will have been exposed. There are many things that they need to take care of, after all, the fate of the clan is at stake. However, before they could come up with a plan for both, in the direction of the downstream of the water, a donkey cart followed by a group of men dressed as shop guys rushed over, and directly found the old man who led the team.

"Uncle, but you went to Guangzhou to escape the famine?"

"This shopkeeper, there is no way to eat at home."

"That's not afraid, my husband follows us, we are from the silk weaving workshop in Longjiang Town, Shunde County, and the owners are all good businessmen in Guangzhou City, I am not afraid to tell you, even Chen Fujun's family has invested in silver, go to work with us, have food, drink and wages."

didn't run to take the risk, so he smashed it on his head in advance, the old man and the man seemed to be a little unconvinced, but the guy who led the team insisted that the silk weaving workshop in Longjiang Town, where they worked, was Chen Kai's good prescription for benefiting the people, and knew that Gaoming County did not reduce taxes, so he prepared a way for the people to live. In addition, they had already bought off the officials on the other side of the city, and had a boat to carry them across the Xijiang River, so they didn't even have to sign a contract for work.

In this regard, the old man and the man still seemed very hesitant, but the man simply told them directly that if they did not come forward, even if they went to Hecheng, they would be sent back by the local officials. With such a threat, the old man and the man didn't dare to hesitate any more, so they had to temporarily go to Longjiang County to work.

The old man, who was unable to move, was helped into the donkey cart, and the procession walked slowly, and sure enough, it arrived at Hecheng before it was dark. There were boats ready at the ferry, and in front of the county officials, they got on the boats tremblingly, and then let the ferry transport them across the Xijiang River.

On the other side of the Xijiang River is the area of Longjiang Town, and some people have already prepared for their resettlement. The people of this family, along with some people who had fled from Xinxing County a few days ago, were stationed in a village where the local people were basically dead, and the mulberry forests around the village, as well as the fields, would be their place of work.

"Didn't you say that there are also people in the machine shop?"

The workers in the machine shop were paid more than they were to farm, and they had already asked them when they were on board. The guy in charge of the resettlement was still busy registering their identity information, and he didn't bother to answer these questions, but the people of a new county who arrived a few days earlier than them took over the conversation.

"It's said to be recruited, but there won't be too many, and maybe there won't be so many people for the time being."

Saying the words is almost the same as not saying it, and at a glance it is ambiguous, and I don't know the details. However, the man who spoke seemed very optimistic, his tone was relaxed, he patted the arm of the man who came with the old man, and said with a big grin: "Farming here is better than being captured by those soldiers as auxiliaries and dying of exhaustion in the military camp!" ”