After Liu Bei explained that Guan Yu and Chen Deng were guarding their homes, he took Zhang Fei and embarked on the road to Guanzhong. From Xuzhou to Guanzhong, the first thing to pass through is Yanzhou. Yanzhou once and Xuzhou killed the corpse mountain and sea of blood, the two sides formed a life and death grudge, when passing by, Xuzhou people are very cold to Yanzhou people, Yanzhou people look at Xuzhou people are not very comfortable.

But fortunately, both sides were very restrained and did not break out into bad things. Liu Bei traveled all the way and found that Yanzhou was a bit of a withering livelihood. His Majesty Chen Gong is incompetent, and there are already signs of fighting their own battles in various parts of Yanzhou, and he, the state pastor, is almost in name only.

This is not surprising, he, the state pastor, fell from the sky, although Zang Hong, Zhang Miao, and Zhang Chao have a good relationship with him, but that was all before. After these people become members of the party, all kinds of contradictions will emerge. First of all, there is the problem of paying taxes, the big guy just can't stand Cao Cao's way of scraping the ground, so the righteous gentlemen and gentlemen have a counterattack against Cao Thief.

Now that Chen Gong is the state pastor, it is natural to sweep away all the previous harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes, and the scholars no longer have to pay so much money and grain. But in this way, the state is not enough, so what should I do? It's easy to do, isn't it okay to pass on the taxes to the common people?

Whoever makes a comeback, there is no one who does not counterattack. The scholars and heroes have been suppressed for several years under Cao Cao's rule, and now that they are in power, they naturally want to make up for their previous losses in a different way. It is just ordinary to encroach on the fields, force the people to go bankrupt, and then turn it into their own tenant farmers is just an ordinary operation, everyone can just sit and watch, and there is no need to stand up and shout.

After the military households in Yanzhou moved away, the common people became the most ruthless targets of oppression. Under the operation of the righteous men and gentlemen, a large number of people lost their fields and houses, and had to become tenants of the scholars and heroes. If it weren't for the fact that the imperial court did not allow Han people to be slaves, these people would have to sign a contract of sale with the master's family that they could never turn over.

But not everyone can accept it, even if they can't resist, then can't we run away? Whether it's Xuzhou or Sili next door, it's better than these guys in Yanzhou who eat people and don't spit out bones. Some of them fled into Xuzhou, preferring to be exploited by Xuzhou's Haoqiang, or went up the mountain to vote for Zangba. More people followed the migration route of the military families last year and ran to Sili.

The policy of "free land distribution, one of the ten taxes" is too powerful, and a large number of Yanzhou people spontaneously fled to the division. In addition, the threat of Cao Cao in the south became stronger day by day, and many scholars and heroes on the border of Yanzhou and Yuzhou were killed, and they were often killed by the Cao army who came to rob them on the way to get Xi'er to pay off the debt.

As for why so many people are in debt? This problem is also very simple, if you want to clean up people, there will always be a way.

When a large number of poor people fled to Sili, there were also many scholars who moved their families to Sili, and even went directly to Guanzhong. At the time of Cao Cao's rule, Yanzhou still had a population of 4 million, but by the second year of Jian'an, Yanzhou had only 3 million people left.

When Liu Bei passed by Yanzhou, what he saw was a Yanzhou where people's livelihood was withering and people were panicking.

"I don't want Yanzhou to become like this!"

Liu Bei frowned and sighed: "If Cao Cao comes to attack, Yanzhou is afraid that it will not be able to resist for too long." ”

Zhang Fei said indifferently: "Our soldiers in Xuzhou are now full of food, and we will send troops to Yuzhou next year, and when we tie up Cao Cao, send him to the main horse, and let the lord fall!" ”

Liu Bei smiled and patted Zhang Fei on the shoulder, and quickly left Yanzhou with hundreds of cavalry. They passed through the Tiger Prison Pass, repaired in Luoyang for a night, and then headed west into Hongnong. The situation in Henan is even worse than in Yanzhou, where most of the people live in dark and damp huts made of twigs and mud, but there are lots of corn, turnips, garlic and pepper hanging from the doors.

Compared with the poor people in Yanzhou, although the people around Luoyang are also poor, they can finally eat enough. Hongnong's situation is better than Henan's, but it is also limited. Two years is not enough time for Hongnong to restore his pre-war level.

The situation in Yanzhou and Henan is very bad, which makes Liu Bei's mood even more depressed. Soon, though, his mood improved. After two years of recuperation, Guanzhong has regained its former prosperity and wealth. After passing Tongguan, the situation I saw in my eyes was completely different from what I saw in the Central Plains.

Most of the pedestrians here are dressed in colorful costumes, and there is a constant stream of caravans heading to Chang'an. Winter is about to begin, and before the snow falls, the merchants are thinking about earning more and having a better fat year. Four-wheeled carriages and mules and other animals rode up and down the wide, smooth road, making it seem as if the road was forever filled with dust.

Cloth from Liangzhou and Guanzhong has been sold everywhere, from the Western Regions to Liaodong, from Hetao to Jiaozhou, cotton cloth and wool cloth can be seen everywhere. After the upgrading of textile machinery, the production efficiency has been increased to more than ten times that of other places, even if the freight and taxes to be paid in various places are added, the Guanzhong cloth that arrives in Jiaozhou is one-third cheaper than the local cloth, which makes others how to live?

In the original history, the beginning of the industrial revolution was not a coal-iron complex, but a textile industry.

Xuzhou is also wealthy, and luxury homes abound, but compared with Guanzhong, it is less energetic. Liu Bei traveled all the way and was deeply touched. He also once reflected on whether he was not good enough in Xuzhou. Otherwise, with the population and amount of cultivated land in Xuzhou, there is no reason why it will be worse than Guanzhong.

Although Xuzhou was slaughtered by Cao Cao, Guanzhong also experienced the rebellion of Lu Bu and Dong Zhuo, and there were two major earthquakes in a row. Looking at the neat fields on both sides of the road and the mill barns that can be seen everywhere, Liu Bei felt that after returning to Xuzhou, he should also use the policy of counting the population and fields.

Hearing that Liu Bei was coming, Chen Cheng went out of the city thirty miles to greet him. After meeting Liu Bei, Chen Cheng was very happy and laughed: "Last year, my brother said that I don't know when we can meet, but it's only been a year, aren't we already meeting again?" ”

Liu Bei also sighed: "The world is changeable, and it is beyond human power to predict it!" ”

Chen Cheng took Liu Bei and Zhang Fei to live at home, and asked Liu Qian to come out with their two sons to meet each other. The two children were still in swaddling clothes, but they were not afraid to see strangers, but stared at the big black eyes and kept looking. It's just that one of the two babies is clearly much older, but I don't know what's going on.

Liu Bei touched his body, and only got a jade pendant, so he took off the short sword on his waist again, and said: "I came in a hurry, I didn't prepare a gift, this jade pendant and this short sword are what I usually wear, so I will take it as a meeting gift for them." ”

Chen Cheng blocked the thing with a smile and said, "I am now a general of the imperial court, do you want anything?" My brother's things are kept by myself. ”

As he stayed in this era for a longer time, Chen Cheng's senses for many people have changed a lot. Compared with princes like Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao, and Cao Cao, although Liu Bei is also ambitious, he has his own bottom line, and he never does those things that slaughter cities and villages. This alone made Chen Cheng's favor for him rise a lot.

Liu Qian came out with the child in her arms for a while, and then asked the maid and the nurse to carry the child back to the bedroom. She didn't have enough milk for her two children, so she found four women from the people who had given birth to feed the two little mouths that seemed to never be filled.

When there was no one else, Liu Bei asked Zhang Fei to go down to eat and drink first, and he stayed in the lobby alone with Chen Cheng.

Chen Cheng said with a smile: "My brother has spent all the third brother, and I have important things to tell me." ”

Liu Bei leaned forward and said, "Wen Zheng knows my intention. ”

"Could it be for Cao Mengde in Yuzhou?"

Liu Bei now has high-ranking cadres in Qingzhou in the north and Cao Cao in Yuzhou in the south, and it is inevitable that he will be under pressure. He nodded and said, "Yes, it's for Cao Cao." Cao Mengde slaughtered Xuzhou and killed hundreds of thousands of people, such an act, people and gods were angry, why did Wen Zheng canonize him as the pastor of Yuzhou? ”

Chen Cheng said: "If you don't seal it, it won't work, Cao Cao has already taken Yuzhou, and Yuan Tan has already submitted his resignation, if you don't seal Cao Cao, who will it be for?" If Gong Du and Liu Pi can drive Cao Cao away and occupy the entire territory of Yuzhou, then I can make one of them the pastor of Yuzhou. Brother, I'm just admitting the facts. ”

After Gong Du and Liu Bi were defeated by Cao Cao in Yuzhou, they fled to Xuzhou and were taken in by Liu Bei.

Liu Bei Zhengse said: "Wen Zheng's words are wrong, how can Cao Cao be named the state pastor just because he occupied Yuzhou?" If according to this, if Cao Mengde seizes the world, then wouldn't he be the Son of Heaven? ”

Chen Cheng stroked his palms and laughed, and said: "Brother's words are very reasonable, the Son of Heaven is the one who is strong and strong." In the past, Emperor Gaozu pacified the world, so he became the emperor. Emperor Guangwu flattened the heroes and reinvigorated the Han Dynasty, so he was also the emperor. If Cao Cao can really defeat the whole world, then of course he will also be the emperor. ”

Liu Bei's face had a look of shock that he couldn't hide, "How can Wen Zheng talk so nonsense?" Emperor Gaozu once killed the white horse and swore an oath to everyone, and the king was not surnamed Liu, and the world would punish him! If you can't even be called a king, how can you be called an emperor by a different surname? ”

Chen Cheng said with a smile: "Mencius has a saying: the people are precious, the community is secondary, and the monarch is light. In my opinion, it doesn't matter who is the emperor, as long as the people can live and work in peace and contentment, it is enough. ”

Liu Bei shook his head again and again and said, "Wen Zheng's words are very inappropriate. Only when the Holy Son of Heaven is in the court, and then assisted by virtuous ministers, can the four seas be clear. If the court is unstable, there will inevitably be chaos in the local area, and smoke will rise everywhere. ”

Chen Cheng has long passed the age of liking to debate with others, and when he saw Liu Bei say this, he just smiled and said, "What my brother said is very true, but I think badly." ”