"If there is a problem with this Yangshuo magistrate, he will be cured sooner or later, and he will not be in a hurry," Han Lin looked at the steamed bun in his hand and frowned, "The flour used to make this steamed bun is not a good product." ”

Yilong nodded and agreed: "It seems that this Yangshuo is really rotten." ”

"Compared with natural disasters and man-made disasters in the north, God in the south is still face-saving, and there are no major disasters, but this man-made disaster is a lot, and the people still can't live a good life, only the unification of the world is the foundation for the people to live and work in peace and contentment," Han Lin paused and said to Yilong, "Buy some dry food, let's go." ”

"Yes." A dragon answered.

Han Lin and the others came to the river, and saw an old man lying on the bamboo raft to rest, so he paid him some silver taels, and rode the bamboo raft up the river, while heading towards Guilin Fucheng, while enjoying the scenery along the way.

The mountains of Guilin are uprooted from the flat ground in a thousand forms; The water of the Li River is meandering, clear and clean as a mirror; There are many holes in the mountains, and the caves are secluded; The strange stones in the hole, the ghostly axe is wonderful, the dazzling array is full of dazzling, it can really be described as "the mountain is green, the water is beautiful, the cave is strange, the stone is beautiful".

Along the way, Han Lin saw that there was no wharf on the shore, and even if it was separated by a long distance, some of them were old, and they were about to lose their original function. The Li River, which can reach the Pearl River Delta region in the south and connect to the Central Plains region through the Lingqu in the north, could have promoted economic, cultural and political exchanges in the Lingnan region through shipping and merchants, and consolidated the central government's rule and management over the Lingnan region. Han Lin saw some bamboo rafts carrying some bulk goods or individual passengers, which obviously insulted the reputation of the Li River traffic waterway, perhaps because of the chaos in the north, the decrease in demand, or the local forces to blame.

On both sides of the Li River, you can occasionally see a few people's houses, not far from the river, you can see rice in the field, a green patch, the growth is not bad, if there is no accident in the next few months, you should be able to get a bumper harvest.

"Uncle, you have had a bumper harvest of grain here in recent years, right?" Han Lin asked the old man.

"Alas," the old man sighed, "Childe is right, the past few years have been a good harvest year, but it is not a good harvest for ordinary people like us, it is a good harvest for those adults, we can only barely make ends meet, in a hungry year, I don't know how many people died of starvation, I have lived for decades, and I have crawled out of the pile of dead people." ”

"Are the fields here all the adults you mentioned?" Han Lin continued to ask.

"Basically, not only that, but even fishing in this river, the harvest has to be handed over a lot. There are still big lords on the riverside who charge what transportation fees, as long as they pass in front of them, they have to pay money, and if they don't pay, they will collect the bamboo rafts and boats, and if they are unlucky, they will be beaten, and those who carry passengers like me have to pay according to the head," said, the old man looked at Han Lin, "The two sons are generous and generous, and directly gave me enough silver to the little old man, and the previous guests are not too expensive, so I can only reduce the price, but it is too low and I can't even pay the transportation fee, and I can't earn a few dollars a day." ”

Han Lin nodded thoughtfully, and sighed: "It's really not easy for you," After speaking, Han Lin noticed that several rows of bamboo rafts appeared on the river in front of him, and they were like crabs in the place where the river became narrower, and on each row of bamboo rafts were two fierce and evil men, and the ships that wanted to go up the river had to dock on the right to pay the money, and the ships that came down from the upstream had to dock on the left to pay the money, not to mention the nature of this kind of thing, these guys were really orderly, basically did not cause congestion, but they had some skills, It's just that it's not used on the right path.

Han Lin looked ahead and asked, "The front is the place you said about setting up a card to charge, do you know whose subordinates it is?" ”

"How do I know these old guys, I only heard that it was the order of the big man in Fucheng, before there was a young man who relied on some cleverness to evade transportation fees, and after being found out, he was directly beaten half to death, and then he was arrested and put in prison, and then there was no news, I was afraid of dying inside, and then everyone honestly gave money according to the rules they set," the old man shook his head, "They set up a station every other section, and no matter where you come from, each station has to pay money to pass, and a person will have to pay half a penny of silver, which is simply a robbery, But what can be done, if they want to rob, we can only let them rob. ”

After walking out for more than ten miles, Han Lin and the others changed to a passenger boat, and finally got off the boat in front of Fucheng on the second day.

Most of the people who go in and out of the city gate are also wearing Han costumes, which are no different from the people in the Central Plains, Jiangnan and other places. However, there are also rich and noble families who wear clothes made of colorful and colorful brocade, which has a unique flavor.

Han Lin knew that Chen Jian's mixed brigade was stationed at the foot of Yao Mountain in the northeast of Guilin City, and after Yao Mountain was Lingchuan. Han Lin did not choose to go to Chen Jian, but went directly to Guilin City, and someone informed Chen Jian later.

Han Lin and the others walked around the city of Guilin, which is more than a step better than Yangshuo, and it is quite prosperous, it seems that those powerful people don't want to have a withered scene under their noses, and the exploitation is not so powerful, just like the robbers on the mountain will not easily rob the villages at the foot of their mountains unless they have to, and maybe even take a little help to ensure their own survival foundation.

In the evening, Chen Jian sent someone to send the collected intelligence information of Guilin Mansion, and Han Lin and the others went back to the room after dinner at the inn to take a closer look.

Wang Zhengli, the former governor of Liangguang, has already been in Guangzhou to profuse the law, and the position of governor of Guangxi has been vacant for many years since Chongzhen ascended the throne. As for the left and right political envoys, it is said that they don't care about things all the year round, and they have been set aside or embarrassed by the local forces in Guilin, and the envoy has made some noises, according to the inspector Tang Mo should still be loyal to the imperial court, but Chongzhen died, and now the Zhu family has two imperial courts, Hongguang in Jinling and Yongli in Guangzhou, Tang Mo will naturally be a little at a loss, plus it is difficult to speak alone, he naturally has no achievements in Guangxi.

Guangxi's two major Zhuang families, Wei's in Guilin, Qin's in Nanning, Guangxi's general soldier is the Wei family's people, named Wei Tong, and the deputy general soldier is the Qin family's people, named Qin Xiang, Guangxi's battalion soldiers are also divided into two camps, stationed in Guilin Mansion and Nanning Mansion, as if they have become the private armed forces of the two families, but now it is true that the two families themselves raise thousands of people and horses, Chongzhen's reign when the imperial court did not have food and salary to Guangxi, and now Yongli has not established enough contact with Guangxi next door, let alone the Hongguang court, The latter's sight has never been on the remote areas of the southwest.

After the two of them finished reading the information sent by Jian Chen, and then digested and digested it, it was already three o'clock, Han Lin and the others were also a little tired, so they were ready to rest, Han Lin slept on the bed, and Yilong moved the table and chair behind the door, and leaned against the door to sleep, just in case.

Who knew that Han Lin was just about to go to bed, and he heard a "grunt" sound in his ears, and when he looked back, Yilong's stomach that had just put down the table made a "grunt" sound again, Yilong smiled at Han Lin embarrassedly, scratched the back of his head, and said helplessly: "This stomach is not angry, and I can't help it, mainly after receiving the news from Brigade Commander Chen Jian before, I can't wait to come up after eating some in a hurry, young master, you also know, I'm not like you, I have a lot of food, and it's been so long now, so this stomach has begun to scream." ”

Han Lin laughed, Yilong usually doesn't talk much, but he didn't expect to have such a side, so he said: "It's not a march now, or some mission, since you are hungry, go down to find a store to see if there is any food that can fill your stomach." ”

When Yilong heard this, he immediately moved the table and opened the door to go out, when Han Lin suddenly shouted, "Wait, I'll go with you." It turned out that Han Lin was not hungry, but he was a little hungry after being made by Yilong like this.

Han Lin and the others came downstairs, only to see that Xiao Er had fallen asleep on the wine table, and the shopkeeper behind the counter was sitting there fiddling with the abacus and settling accounts.

When the shopkeeper saw Han Lin and the others coming down, he immediately got up and asked softly, "Is there anything I can do for the two sons?" ”

Han Lin smiled: "It's nothing important, it's just that the two of us haven't fallen asleep at this time, and we're a little hungry, but what can we use to satisfy our hunger?"

"There happens to be a few corns in the kitchen, and if the two sons don't dislike it, they take it, and they don't need any money." The shopkeeper walked out from behind the counter as he spoke, leading Han Lin and the others to the kitchen at the back.

Yilong whispered in Han Lin's ear: "I haven't tasted this corn much, I heard that it was brought by Waiyi, I don't know how it tastes." ”

Han Lin smiled slightly and replied, "Naturally, it's good." ”

Corn is native to Latin America and is the main food crop cultivated by the Indians.

In the 16th century, it was introduced to China, and the earliest record was found in the "Gongxian Chronicles" written in the 34th year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty, calling it "Yumai", and then in the 39th year of Jiajing, "Pingliangfu Chronicles" was called "Fanmai" and "Xitianmai". The name "corn" was first seen in Xu Guangqi's "Complete Book of Agricultural Administration".

By the end of the Ming Dynasty, the cultivation of corn had reached more than ten provinces, such as Shandong, Henan, Hebei, Anhui and other places. It's a pity that corn, a high-yield food crop, has not received enough attention, and it is still very little planted throughout the country, and it was not vigorously promoted until the Qing Dynasty, and the same experience as corn is sweet potato, so the population of the Qing Dynasty can grow rapidly.

Guangdong also has very few of these crops now, but Han Lin has already let people start cultivating and promoting. But Guangxi is one of the first areas where corn was planted in China, and the results are not bad.