From Nanjing to Jiangxi more than 400 miles, the Yangtze River waterway is the most convenient. However, Zhang Huangyan did not want to take the boat by water, but decided to go to Jiangxi by land.

Only by personally experiencing and watching the situation in the prefectures and counties along the way can he make a comparison. The western thieves have basically been expelled from Jiangxi, and it is safe to go from Nanjing to Jiangxi, Zhang Huangyan is conceited and rude in martial arts, and he is not worried about his own safety at all. However, he still took off the scholar's long shirt and put on a more convenient short-shirt.

Nanjing is located in Yingtianfu, because of its proximity to Nanjing, the people here are not bad, even if the peasants who have lost their land, they can still rely on selling vegetables, firewood, and domestic help. This is good in big cities, as long as you have the strength, you don't have to worry about not being able to find a job to make a living.

And the official road outside Nanjing is an endless stream of cars and horses, there are many people wearing silk clothes and brocade, although there are also people with vegetables, but on the whole it is a peaceful and prosperous appearance. Who would have thought that just two or three months ago, there would still be a saber-rattling war here.

If Shi Kefa and other civil officials are uncompromising and unwilling to support Princess Kunxing to supervise the country, I am afraid that the Nanjing area seen now is another scene, right? And if the King of Qi didn't stop the western thief, and Zhang Xianzhong led hundreds of thousands of troops down the river, I'm afraid this is already hell on earth! Zhang Huangyan thought of this, and suddenly shuddered, this Ming is really a lot of disasters!

Fortunately, there is the Duke of Qi Guo, and fortunately, the princes of the imperial court have compromised for the sake of the overall situation, so that there is now a peaceful situation. But thinking about Chen Zilong and the other suspicions of King Qi, the civil and military affairs are not the blessings of the society, Zhang Huangyan was originally a member of the scholars, but he was unwilling to blindly obey, which is also the reason why he decided to inspect Jiangxi.

Daming has fallen into the current situation, there are too many internal troubles, and it is time to change, there is no need to hold on to the defects, maybe King Qi can bring another scene to Daming.

Out of Yingtian is the Taiping Mansion, because several wars have not spread here, the Taiping Mansion is still peaceful, on both sides of the road are endless rice fields, countless people are harvesting autumn rice in the fields.

At first glance, there was a peaceful and peaceful scene, but if you looked carefully, you found that the people working in the fields had reached autumn, but they were wearing thin short shirts, many of them even with bare backs, and there was not much joy on their faces, but more numbness.

Just a few simple questions, Zhang Huangyan knew the reason for this scene. The land was the land of the tenant gentry, and after harvesting most of the grain had to be handed over to the lord's family, and then after paying the imperial grain tax, there was very little left to the peasants, and after a year of labor, they could not even get food and clothing.

This year's annual harvest is quite good, Taiping Mansion is adjacent to the Yangtze River, there are many rivers, irrigation is not a problem, and the harvest is not too bad. However, when the harvest was good, the lord's family collected a lot of rent, and the farmers did not get much benefit. The imperial grain had to be converted into silver, and when the grain was sold and the imperial grain tax was paid, it had to be exploited by the grain merchants again.

As for most of the peasants who were barebacked, it was because the peasants were afraid that their work would tear their clothes......

There were also men dressed in fine brocade silk on the side of the road, and these were stewards sent by the lord to oversee them. The situation has been the case for thousands of years, and it will continue to be in the future, and it is difficult to change at all. Politicians try to reduce the burden of these small people, so that they can live a better life, be fed and clothed, and there is no constant danger to their lives, which is a great good governance.

The closer to Jiangxi, the more desolate the scene Zhang Huangyan saw, when he arrived in Wuhu, he could see a large area of barren fields, and there were faint white bones on the side of the road, more than a year ago, the Qing soldiers attacked Wuhu, which brought heavy disasters here, and a large number of people died in the war, and they have not yet healed.

And after Wuhu to the west, the situation is even more serious, Zhang Huangyan can even see a small group of refugees fleeing the famine, it is already the autumn harvest season, these numb expressions of the homeless are wandering.

Pushing a wheelbarrow or carrying a burden, helping the old and the young. And the direction of their wandering is not the wealthy Imperial Jingshi, but along the Yangtze River upstream.

At first, Zhang Huangyan was worried that these homeless people had something to do with the western thieves, but these people only showed disgust in their eyes when they saw Zhang Huangyan's noble dress, but they didn't make other moves.

Zhang Huangyan took out a piece of dry food from the package and handed it to an old man beside him, "Uncle, where are you going to go?" ”

Seeing the dry food handed out by Zhang Huangyan, the old man looked much kinder, "Where else can I go, go to Jiangxi!" ”

"Isn't it the autumn harvest now, why did you leave your hometown and go to Jiangxi, is this year's harvest bad?"

"The harvest is not bad, but no matter how much grain you harvest, there is not much food that can be left in your hands, and you have to be hungry for at least half a year. The fields belong to the gentry and lords, and no matter how much grain they collect, they have to be handed over.

I heard that Jiangxi has just gone through the war, the people have died a lot, a large area of land has been abandoned, and the government there has issued a notice that as long as it is a common person, even if it is a homeless person, each family will also be given 20 acres of good land, and after the harvest, 30% of the imperial grain will be paid, and the rest will be all their own. It just so happened that the rice in our field was harvested, and when I thought about it, I simply sold my family property and went to Jiangxi, where can I make a living! ”

"But Daming has a household registration system, do you leave your hometown and the local government without permission?"

"The official would like to let us poor people leave, so that no one will make trouble when the green and yellow are not available. However, the lords are unwilling to let us go, and no one will give them the land when we leave, but who wants to go to this kind of life without a head? The legs are long on us, and no one can stop them if they want to go! ”

The old man came up and talked to Zhang Huangyan non-stop, but his son on the side looked at Zhang Huangyan vigilantly and persuaded his father in a low voice.

"I'm afraid, this is not far from Jiangxi, and the army of King Qi is there, who else dares to do anything about us?" The old man said with a grin.

Having said that, Zhang Huangyan still saw a faint nervousness on his face, so many people fled into the province, it was impossible for the local gentry and government to not react.

Sure enough, after walking again, a large number of gentry servants and county officials chased after them, and at first persuaded the people to go back, but then when the persuasion failed, they were going to be rude, and suddenly the people cried, and the men were red-eyed and wanted to fight with the servants and servants.

When Zhang Huang wanted to persuade him as a lifter, no one among the officers was willing to listen to him, a passing man.

Just when the matter was in full swing, a group of elite soldiers armed with knives and guns suddenly rushed from the west, and the two sides immediately stopped fighting.