In the third year of Hongwu, Zhu Chongba, who rebelled and became the emperor because he was afraid of hunger, was very worried that the Ming Dynasty would repeat the mistakes of Mengyuan, so he ordered the prefectures and counties to set up reserve warehouses in the four townships, and send official money to buy grain and store it for relief, and borrow money from the people in the famine year, and repay it in the autumn to ensure that the people can live in the hungry year.

When Zhu Laosi became the emperor, Zhu Laosi, who wanted to surpass Zhu Chongba, was worried that the food in the reserve warehouse was not enough, so he tossed the Changping position again.

Unlike the reserve warehouse, the Chang Ping warehouse was placed in the city, while the reserve warehouse was located in the countryside outside the city, and was managed by the local "old man", that is, the respected gentry.

However, in the Ming dynasty, he is a little different from other dynasties - he borrowed money from the people in the famine year, but the repayment of the autumn harvest is basically non-existent.

There are two reasons for the lack of repayment, one is that these grains are purchased by the government in good years, and after being loaned out in disaster years, they are also owned by the government.

Anyway, I can't get it back into my own hands.

Another reason is that no one has a way to solve it - the successive famines did not appear at the end of the Ming Dynasty, but appeared in the period of Zhu Laosi, and reached its peak at the end of the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, looking through Zhu Laosi's "Taizong Record" to Zhu Youzhen's "Chongzhen Record" of the unlucky child, there are basically a large number of words such as disaster, famine, and relief in each volume.

However, the Ming Dynasty in the period of Zhu Laosi has not yet rotted into the bear in the Chongzhen period, and at least it can ensure that the grain in the Changping and Reserve Warehouses remains in a relatively sufficient state.

However, when Yang Shaofeng and Zhu Zhanji relied on their horses and galloped all the way to Dengfeng County, they found that Dengfeng's regular closing and reserve warehouses had become decorations.

There is no one to open a warehouse to put grain at all.

Everywhere in sight were some victims lying or sitting, and the sound of baby cries sounding from time to time made the faces of Yang Shaofeng and Zhu Zhanji extremely ugly.

It's just that Yang Shaofeng and Zhu Zhanji, who had been hungry for two days in advance and hadn't eaten a bite, were each wearing tattered clothes, and their faces were deliberately smeared with some dust, so they couldn't see how ugly their faces were, but they were no different from those victims.

Staggered forward a few steps, making a weak look, Yang Shaofeng simply sat down in front of an old farmer with a baby in his arms.

The old farmer glanced at Yang Shaofeng, the expression on his face did not change at all, and he didn't even have the slightest intention of helping or moving the place, as if Yang Shaofeng didn't exist at all, or it didn't matter if he starved to death in the next second.

Looking at the old farmer with a numb expression, Yang Shaofeng took a deep breath and said a little speechlessly: "Uncle, when will this official mansion be able to release grain?" ”

The old farmer glanced at Yang Shaofeng, the corners of his mouth twitched, and replied: "Later life, talk less and save some effort." ”

Yang Shaofeng snorted, but he didn't mean to stop at all: "Then you can't wait like this, right?" I haven't eaten a bite for two days, my stomach is full of water, and if I continue like this, I will really starve to death! ”

The old farmer didn't pay attention to Yang Shaofeng anymore.

Yang Shaofeng moved his body, and then asked, "Are you old and long-lived?" ”

The old farmer ignored Yang Shaofeng, but the baby in his arms cried.

Yang Shaofeng straightened up and glanced at the baby in the old farmer's arms, but found that this child was completely different from the four-legged gold-swallowing beast of Zhu Zhanji's family.

The four-legged gold-swallowing beast has always had a ruddy face, and its exposed arms and legs are all "folded" one by one.

And the baby in front of him, his face is about 108,000 miles different from the word ruddy, and even the face is full of dishes.

As for the arms that stretched out of the swaddling clothes, there was basically no flesh to be seen, let alone the ruddy appearance that a baby should have.

The old farmer shook the baby gently, but he couldn't stop the baby's crying, and it wasn't until the old farmer picked up a little rice soup from a broken bowl next to him and fed it that the baby's crying stopped.

Yang Shaofeng looked at the old farmer, then at the baby, and couldn't help but ask with some curiosity: "What about the child's mother?" ”

Yang Shaofeng's action of pursing his lips aroused the vigilance of the old farmer, and after stepping back a little, the old farmer put down the broken bowl in his hand, stared at Yang Shaofeng and said, "There is no more." ”

Yang Shaofeng suddenly replied with a little crying and laughing: "I can still hold on, no matter how bad it is, I can still drink water to top it, you can feed this baby with a little rice soup, give me a drink, I'm afraid it's not enough to stuff my teeth." ”

The old farmer sighed, and finally let down some of his guard.

In fact, there is nothing to guard against - the last drop of rice soup has already entered the baby's mouth, and there is not a single grain of rice, what else is there to guard against?

Seeing that Yang Shaofeng was still staring at himself with curiosity, the old farmer sighed helplessly again, his face was full of indescribable bitterness: "My son is dead, he was beaten to death for grabbing grain, the baby can't hold it anymore, and he is afraid that the child will starve to death, so he sold himself and changed it for a little millet, counting on this little millet to last until the government to release grain."

Hey, it's good to sell it, even if it is sold to the Qinglou, it can still live, if you don't sell yourself, you can only starve to death, and you have to starve to death with the baby. ”

Yang Shaofeng said curiously: "How long has it been?" Even if you send someone to Beijing to ask the emperor to release grain, this time should be enough, right? How did it become like this? ”

The old farmer said, "Who knows." At first, there were still people to ask, but every time the government said that it had sent people to Beijing, so that everyone could wait here honestly, don't walk around, and save the time when the grain was released, and slowly no one asked, and there was no strength to ask. ”

Yang Shaofeng's face became more and more gloomy - the song of the Dengfeng famine was not reported by Dengfeng County at all, but by Dengfeng's Jinyi Guard!

After thinking about it, Yang Shaofeng continued to ask: "No one opened a warehouse to release grain?" ”

The old farmer laughed and replied, "Why not?" The famous Zhou Dashan people outside Dengfeng City just opened their granary to give porridge on the first day, and the next day they burned all the fire, saying that they had gone out of the water.

Later, the Wang family also opened a warehouse, but how old is the Wang family, and how many people are there in this Dengfeng? Tens of thousands of people rushed up, the food was all snatched up, and the Wang family was finished, leaving me as an old man who did not die, and such a single seedling, and there was nothing left.

Hehe, I have believed in the Bodhisattva all my life, but he doesn't open his eyes to this mud Bodhisattva! If it weren't for this baby, the old man would have died, and he wouldn't have suffered this living crime in this world! ”

The other old man sitting behind the old farmer snorted and said, "Believe in his mother's legs! When you went to the mountains, what did the bald donkeys say? There is no food in the mountains either! Do you have the wealth to cultivate the golden body of the Bodhisattva? Haha, the Bodhisattva didn't bless you! ”

The old peasant with rich Wang suddenly fell silent.

Yang Shaofeng doesn't care much about whether the Bodhisattva is a Bodhisattva or not, anyway, those bald donkeys have been that virtuous since ancient times.

In contrast, Yang Shaofeng is more concerned about why these people have not become homeless: "Why didn't they run away? There was a famine in Dengfeng, and there was also a famine next to it? ”

Wang Youcai asked rhetorically: "Where to run?" Can the government let you run? What about the guides? ”

Yang Shaofeng said: "Isn't it a rule set by Grandpa Tai, saying that this official is not hit, we can send this dog official weapon to the Beijing master for questioning?" ”

Wang Youcai laughed and said: "If it is said that it is the year of Hong Wuye, we can naturally send this dog official weapon to the capital, but the current emperor is not Hong Wuye, who knows what it is like?"

If only the current emperor was a man who could make decisions for the people, but what if not? Since ancient times, there have been many such things, the former emperor loved the people like a son, and the later emperor was not easy to say!

We heard that the emperor is a lover of the people, but how credible are the rumors? An emperor who is good at war, how good can he be to the common people! ”

Yang Shaofeng was also silent for a moment.

When a common man dares to casually say such a thing that can be regarded as disrespectful, it is enough to explain a lot of things.

The people are not afraid of death, so why should they be afraid of death?

After thinking about it, Yang Shaofeng finally didn't give up: "What about the newspaper?" This is something that is available all over the Ming Dynasty, and it is impossible for us to Dengfeng to do without it, right? ”

Wang Youcai grinned, and the smile was extremely weird: "Housheng, who are you?" ”

Yang Shaofeng asked with a confused expression: "What are you talking about?" I was a victim of a disaster, wondering if I could try my luck if the government could open a warehouse to release grain, and I would be able to get some food. ”

Wang Youcai shook his head and said, "No, you are not our Dengfeng." You are not the one who suffered, although you pretend to be quite similar, but what is false is false, and it will never become true. ”

Seeing Yang Shaofeng's bewildered expression, Wang Youcai said with a smile: "The newspaper is not something that an ordinary farmer can know.

Moreover, our Dengfeng is different from other places, newspapers in other places can be bought at will, but our Dengfeng newspapers are not good, neither can they be bought at will, and they can't not be bought. ”

Yang Shaofeng suddenly became curious: "What do you say?" ”

Wang Youcai smiled and asked, "Where is Dengfeng?" What do we have in Dengfeng? ”

After thinking about it, Wang Youcai finally didn't say the rest of the words, but said to Yang Shaofeng: "Housheng, if you come from Beijing, you can quickly do what you need to do and give us a way to live, and the rest of the things are not something you can do."

If you don't come from Beijing, you will be early, where you came from, where you will go back, don't wade into this troubled water, you can't afford to wade. ”

Yang Shaofeng stiffened his neck and said, "What? This Dengfeng has become a cannibal? I've been in this muddy water, and I've really never encountered any muddy water that I can't afford! ”

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The whole book