Now that he knew that this Mr. Yang was not an idle person, and in the process of escorting him back to visit Zhuangzi one by one, Murong Parrot became more and more flattering and knowledgeable.

"Do you often encounter this situation here in Jingnan?"

Mr. Yang asked interestingly

"No, it's not like this, the situation of gathering people to make chaos was well cleaned up by the army earlier, and three more detachments went to the countryside to liquidate the successors, etc., captured and exiled, and arranged a large number of people. So in fact, my generation can deal with the most, but it is just some petty theft, and even the commission of the traitor department. ”

Murong Parrot hurriedly shook his head and said.

"Of course, sometimes Zhuangzi is suspected of violating the rules and committing crimes, and the patrol team wants to avoid suspicion, and we will also find us to investigate and deal with it, such as damaging and stealing public property, or using Zhuangzi's convenience to make opportunistic profits, etc., and the anti-rebellion committee will also downgrade us."

"You mean, someone stole and sold the grain in the village? Isn't that a regulatory oversight? ”

Mr. Yang couldn't help frowning.

But this is not the case, but because of the protection and purchase of grain products in the Zhuangzi in the Holy Kufadu. And the supervision in Zhuangzi has always been internal and not external. ”

Murong Parrot hurriedly argued.

"Are you saying that the surplus grain collection policy in the exclusive tunzhuang and the enactment of the purchase law for agricultural and sideline products?"

Mr. Yang was slightly surprised.

"That's right, because Zhuangzi has an unlimited minimum purchase price of 15 to 18 wen per bucket that year. So someone is routinely communicating? After selling the surplus grain, I still miss opportunistic profit. ”

Murong said with a sigh.

"Can this still be speculated and profitable?"

Mr. Yang was even more surprised.

"This generation took advantage of the period of abundance in the near left to buy from the neighboring townships the lowly grains and other products that had accumulated in the hands of those villagers; Then it is used as a property to earn the difference in the price of several cents. As a result, a number of gang nests have been formed in which neighbors cover up and hide each other. ”

Murong Parrot patiently explained.

Of course, he was able to grasp these situations more clearly, because he took the initiative to respond to the dispatch more than others to run to the countryside, so that he received some additional non-staple food and agricultural products as his usual welfare.

"However, there are not always opportunities for local governments to collude in selling grain to the detriment of public and private interests. In small or ordinary years, the local output is only enough for your own family to eat, and there is no takeaway. ”

He went on to add.

"But I wonder if this difference can be screamed?"

Mr. Yang asked with interest.

"Naturally, there are large and small in various places, depending on the color of the fields and the convenience of irrigation. But on the whole, it is still far less than good as in Zhuangzi. ”

Murong parrot bowed.

"It is necessary to know that the collective tunzhuang in Hunan today is a roughly planned charter, improved varieties and equipment, as well as newly built irrigation canals nearby; As long as the fertilizer and water are artificially effective, it can already be achieved twice a year, and one more season of melons, beans and vegetables can be harvested. But I'm afraid that there will be no such opportunities in the local area. ”

"They can only get three crops in two years at most, or plant some melons and vegetables in addition to one harvest. If there is an unexpected reduction in production such as floods, droughts and locust plagues, and the harvest is not enough for oneself to eat, you will have to come to Zhuangzi to find a way to help,"

"Is it possible that the Zhuangzi in various places still have the spare strength to help the localities?"

Mr. Yang asked again after a deep sigh.

"Of course, it's not a thing for no reason, those who have the strength will come and work hard, and those who don't have the strength can do something else. If you want to live, you have to think of some way. ”

Murong Parrot was quite touched, but he remembered the women who had seen and heard, because the family could not support or there was a shortage of food, and they all thought of marrying their younger siblings or children to the Zhuangzi. And the price is just a few bags of hulled whole grains, or a large bag of compressed dry cakes.

"What this poor brother said is very true."

At this time, a handlebar who was driving the mule cart in front of him couldn't help but turn his head in response.

"Thanks to the Taiping Army, these villagers who are close to the left, in addition to deducting food in the fields, can also rely on selling their strength to find some livelihood and income to come back; If it was a few years ago, it would only be the life of every family on the road to escape the famine. ”

"I won't tell you that I also came on the way to escape the wilderness, that taste is really... The government doesn't care about our life or death, and those wealthy families also treat us as thieves to prevent and drive us away; Those who walk through the city and town are hungry, grass roots, leaves, bark and even plaster soil, that is what they see and eat. ”

"It would have felt like people weren't like people, they were all beasts starving to death; On the road, in the canal, one after another; The wild dogs and black bustards that were in a crowd could not be eaten; Then he was secretly caught and eaten. There are also those that are sold in the city as fat chickens and pigs, because these things are eaten extraordinarily fat and big. ”

Speaking of which, the folds of his face full of vicissitudes seemed to bloom.

"Fortunately, the rebels came, broke the city of the government and opened a big household, and we also tasted the taste of full food for the first time. We ate a small half basin in one go, and stuffed it until it reached our throats, almost unable to move; But there are still people who are really reluctant to eat this meal, so they just stuff themselves desperately, and finally hold their stomachs to death; Or it's reluctant to spit it out and choke to death. ”

"Later, the Taiping Army also took over the ground, and our old arms and legs were dismissed from the righteous army that followed, and returned to the countryside to participate in the Tuntian camp of the people, thanks to the care of Zhuangzi, let me take charge of the car and feed the livestock, and it can be regarded as the second half of my life."

"We are only looking forward to such a good day now, and we can follow the longevity of the Taiping Army for thousands of years. In the past two or three years, I haven't heard of people starving to death, and many children have been born in Zhuangzi. ”

"You said that the governor of Zhou was not a person who had the true destiny and qi; With the good fortune of his old man to bless Heze and the small people, there will be these good years of good weather and famine. ”

Listening to the heartfelt words of this handlebar who can't hold back when he opens the chatterbox, this Mr. Yang, or Yang Shigu, the former commander of the Left Army of the Righteous Army, is now the most embarrassing figure in the Taiping Army; But he was a little silent and emotional.

He could vaguely understand the stakes and why. Since the Taiping Army took possession of these areas, they have built water conservancy and roads everywhere, restored and strengthened embankments, cleared and widened rivers and diverted canals for irrigation, and implemented new measures such as strict sanitation management to separate people and animals.

Therefore, because the water conservancy facilities were in disrepair and disasters continued every year, there have been no major floods and droughts for several years. Even the continuous epidemics that used to exist every year have almost disappeared.

However, in the eyes of ordinary fools who are difficult to understand the truth and root cause behind it, this is inevitably the destiny of the Taiping Army, or it is the spirit of the times; Even the people in charge have a strong proof of the law of calling for wind and rain and praying for blessings and misfortunes.

Listening to the chatter in his ears and slowly driving on the road, Yang Shigu remembered the original scene again.

In fact, when he heard the news from the military government, or a warrant full of familiar words; He could only walk slowly back to his room with a blank face, and then his figure fell suddenly, revealing a sense of sadness that was more than death.

No matter what kind of hardships and reasons are filled with that warrant, and how euphemistic and slow words are used to embellish it, it cannot change the most basic fact; As the former military advisor of the rebel army and one of the most valued right-hand men of the Yellow King, the fact that he was betrayed and abandoned like a broken track.

He had been given some kind of valuable price and exchange to the head of the Taiping army, who was the latecomer in the rebel army, and was also the rightful son-in-law of the Yellow King, as a permanent co-ordinator. Along with it, there was also the news that King Huang had secretly accepted the appeasement of the imperial court and was about to go north to take up the post of Fang Zhen.

However, what he cared about and was sad about was not just that King Huang accepted the imperial court and betrayed the demands and hopes of the majority of righteous soldiers; In fact, before this, King Huang had also asked the court for official positions several times, but he was able to do it after asking him first and carefully discussing the pros and cons.

But now this time, he and the ideals and beliefs he upheld were obviously excluded by the Yellow King and those around him who instigated him. It was as if there was no place for him to exist except in the name of a right division.

During that time, he lost most of his goals and directions at once, and was arranged to go to the countryside to parade and observe the folk customs, and at the same time supervise the resettlement situation in various tunzhuang villages in Lingnan as a temporary solution.

Then he met an unexpected man, a badly burned old soldier who was as ugly as a demon; His name is Huang Cunxin, and he is considered to be the hometown of King Huang and one of the families of the same clan.

Therefore, he has participated in almost all the battles since the Yellow King raised his army, and he is also a good man who follows his heart in the true sense and is determined not to change; Even if he has suffered a lot in the world, he always believes that good people will inevitably have a good result, but he has not yet let himself meet it.

However, when he was attacking Shinshu, he encountered a calamity, and was hit by the ash bottle of the defenders and handed over the burning oil. Because he was too seriously injured, he was sent to the rear where there was a lack of medical care and medicine, and he waited to die; When Yang Shigu saw the other party, his body was full of pus and maggots, and his bones were rotten, but he was not dead yet, but he was still panting by the ashes of the plants and trees that were constantly being applied.

However, such a person who was destined to give up treatment and could only wait for death under the hands of the Yellow King was able to survive after encountering the Taiping army, and also obtained the result of continuing to be a dignified person and recuperate for the whole year

He relied on the offerings allocated by the Holy Treasury, and even took in an orphan to take over the family of Zongzhaohe, and enjoyed the pleasure and affection of raising this heir with satisfaction. And there are still many people in the same situation as him, all of whom were disabled soldiers who were left behind (abandoned) in the mountains or along the way of the Yellow King's Northern Expedition.

Although they had a very hard and difficult life, they still worked hard and lived with dignity, and they also tried their best to do their meager strength, and wanted to do something for the Taiping Army in return.

Compared with their lives that are still full of expectations in their pain and hardship, Yang Shigu suddenly felt that his self-pity and self-pity and lamentation of loss, and the ups and downs of life can be counted.

The repeated touches of all this made Yang Shigu suddenly have some enlightenment; Perhaps the so-called heroes of the world and the so-called masters of the Mandate of Heaven are not just the martial arts and heroes who lead thousands of people to conquer cities and conquer cities, kill millions and overturn the world;

It is not only the defeat of countless opponents, but also the prestige of the world that makes the world tremble and bow down. It should be the person who came into being in the world and can bring happiness and hope to most people who are struggling with hardship.

Therefore, the loss and frustration he had now have gradually faded away with the wind; And only the last little obsession and question remains.

(End of chapter)