The road Lan Ziyi passed through was full of devastation as far as the eye could see, the roadside was lying on the ground with starvation, dead bodies that no one buried, the weather was hot, these corpses were all decomposed, huge flies followed the stench and flew everywhere, and the swarms could block people's sight. The road has come to this point, not to mention the new graves in the roadside fields.

The river ** first suffered from the rebellion, and then suffered from drought, Lan Ziyi rode a horse for a day's road, on the way many villages and towns have been deserted, and the dilapidated houses show passers-by that this place has become a dead land, and there is no life. But in such a desperate land, when the villages and towns were dilapidated, the post station of the Yamen was still working normally.

Lan Ziyi ran halfway to the horse, and saw the water and grass, thinking that the horses would not be able to hold on, so they had to abandon the horse and walk, but they found that there were still people guarding the post station along the road. The post station not only has people to handle, but also water and food. In the event of a famine, where there is food and water, there is an oasis in the desert, and the people who have been suffering from hunger and thirst should flock to these stations in a frenzy, and they have done so. How could the officials and officials guarding the post station have food and water to drink, they are strong and have bows, arrows and firearms in the post station to defend themselves, and only a circle of corpses of the victims is left around the post station, and the others can only dispel the idea of rushing to the post station.

Lan Ziyi was almost attacked by the officials when he rushed to the post station, but fortunately, Lan Ziyi was dressed in brocade and jade robes, and there were horses to ride, so they were not victims at first glance, and at the same time, Lan Ziyi's Guannei Hou Yin was carried with them in the Yueshan Mountains, and the officials saw the official seal before putting a few people into the post station.

There is a post station to rest, Lan Ziyi and they can finally drink horses and rest, but the price of dry food and water sold in this post station has reached a sensational point, and a liter of water actually charges 300 copper coins, you must know that the water supply of the post station is usually free.

At very moments, Lan Ziyi can only be treated very much, if you want to continue to drive, Lan Ziyi must give the horses to drink water, and you can only accept it, but fortunately, Lan Ziyi is not short of money, and Lan Ziyi can afford to drink the silver of the horses.

In this way, the group took advantage of the supplies of the post station and hurried continuously, and finally arrived at the old capital after three days.

The last time Lan Ziyi came to the old capital, it was when he was suppressing bandits, it was when Lan Ziyi came to the old capital to ask for food, but he was blocked out of the city by Luo Yingmin. This time, there are no demon thieves, and it is still daylight, but Lan Ziyi is still blocked from the door when he comes to the old capital.

Outside the city of Lanzi Yilema, when he saw that the city gate was closed, he said in surprise:

"Didn't the second brother and Mr. Xiaozhi talk about the matter? Luo Yingmin still wants to turn me away? “

Tao Zhuhu followed Lan Ziyi and said:

"Young master, don't panic, wait until I ask the defenders clearly."

Then the peach tiger raised his head and shouted to the city:

"Why don't you open the gates in broad daylight? Open the door! ”

The defenders on the tower of the city gate were reluctant to deal with outsiders, but Lan Ziyi and his party were exquisitely dressed, with bows and horses, and they didn't look like ordinary merchants, and the defenders didn't want to offend the nobles, so they shouted to the city:

"We are guarding the city gate on the orders of Luo Yingmin, and we can't open the door."

Tao Zhuhu asked:

"Why not? There are no thieves here, so why don't you open the city gates?"

The defenders of the city replied:

"It's not about the thief! Now there is a great drought in the world, and the displaced people are rising everywhere, and they are too guarded for fear that the displaced people will flock into the city and destroy the security in the city, so the city gate is closed. If you are a merchant, you will go to other prefectures and counties to vote, don't come to the old capital! ”

Hearing this, Lan Ziyi looked around, and sure enough, there were starving corpses around the city gate.

Hearing the defenders' explanation, Lan Ziyi took the initiative to shout to the city:

"I am not a merchant in the past, I am the only son of Luoyan Guan Daigong, and Hou Lanzi is righteous in Guannei. I came to see Luo Taishou today and opened the door quickly. ”

As soon as the defenders on the city gate heard that it was Lan Ziyi, there was a commotion, and someone asked:

"You said you were Wei Hou, but do you have any evidence?"

Hearing this, Yueshan took out the official seal and said:

"The seal of the marquis of Guannai is here, you will know when you come down and see."

After a while, the officer was late, and the officer who looked like a white household first said to Lan Ziyi:

"It turned out that Wei Hou was here in person, and the villains had no eyes, so they offended you!"

Then the hundred households hurriedly urged the sergeant to go downstairs and open the city gate, and let Lan Ziyi and his party in.

Under the guidance of Baihu, Lan Ziyi and the others passed through the urn city and entered the city. After entering the city, Lan Ziyi is like returning to heaven, a city wall is separated, the inside and outside of the city are actually worlds apart, the loess outside the city is a piece, thousands of miles of red fields, the city is still full of traffic, and the vegetation is verdant.

Suddenly, Lan Ziyi thought he was dazzled, and after adapting to the vision in front of him, Lan Ziyi could only be amazed. However, the whole country has been hit by disasters, especially the drought in the north, how can an old capital be spared? Lan Ziyi didn't take a few steps in the city before he saw the strangeness of the city, and from time to time he walked by a trailer on the street, and if he encountered a fallen pedestrian, he would put people in the car and tow them away, and some small alleys were full of corpses.

After entering the city, the person who greeted Lan Ziyi was replaced by a scribe from the Taishou Mansion, and the scribe rode a horse to guide everyone by Lan Ziyi's side, he looked at the gray-faced Lan Ziyi and asked:

"Wei Hou doesn't seem to have much energy? What, sick? “

Lan Ziyi sighed:

"I came all the way quickly, and witnessed the tragic appearance of the river ** full of devastation and no one for thousands of miles, my heart was shocked, I was physically and mentally exhausted, and it was normal to have no energy."

The scribe seemed a little embarrassed when he heard this, and he said:

"Taishou failed to take care of some people, let them run around, and stained Wei Hou's eyes, it's really inconsiderate."

Lan Ziyi listened to the words of the scribe, and his heart was very uncomfortable, he was too guarded by the mansion as a general manager, Heyin's parents and officials, and when discussing the people under his rule, he actually had an indifferent tone, as if these Diao people deserved to die, as long as they didn't hinder the life of officials.

Lan Ziyi wanted to be angry at this clerk, but thinking of what Luo Yingmin had done before, the upper beam was not right and the lower beam was crooked, and it seemed that it was not unusual for Luo Yingmin to have such bastard officials under him. Moreover, Lan Ziyi came to Luo Yingmin this time to ask for help, more things are better than less, and Lan Ziyi suppressed his anger.

After walking with the scribe for a long time, Lan Ziyi suddenly found that there were many people gathered in front of a shop on the street, and when he saw that many people were gathered in front of the store with pocket utensils, they were bustling and just waiting for the predecessors to come out, and the people behind were crowded into the store.

Seeing this, the scribe said to Lan Ziyi:

"This is the rice shop."

As soon as the scribe finished speaking, a notice was hung in front of the shop to close the shop, and the shop was auspicious, and the people who had not bought food had to return in a huff.

Lan Ziyi looked at the crowd and asked the scribe:

"How much does rice cost?"

The scribe said:

"A bucket of rice and a tael of hexagonal silver."

Hearing this, Lan Ziyi exclaimed:

"So expensive? How can anyone afford this kind of food? Didn't the cabinet issue a document asking the government to sell grain to stabilize prices? Why is it still so expensive? ”

Hearing this, the scribe scratched his head and said:

"This grain is all in the Pingcheng warehouse, and there is no grain in the old capital."

Lan Ziyi shook his head and said:

"You better hurry up and wait for me to see Luo Taishou, I have something to talk to him about."