It wasn't until he left the realm of Beijing, especially after leaving the Zhili region, that Yang Zhen finally saw the other side of this era for the first time after crossing over to the Ming Dynasty - the other side of backwardness, poverty, and ignorance. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

After Yang Zhen came to this era, the places he stayed in were relatively wealthy, not to mention big cities like Beijing and Hangzhou, even his hometown Jiangling was much richer than the ordinary county because of the existence of Zhang Juzheng. If you really want to talk about it, the only thing that can make Yang Zhen feel next to poverty is Zhuji County. But even in Zhuji County, because it is located in the richest areas of the Ming Dynasty such as Zhejiang, it is only relatively poor compared to other places, and the people there can at least solve the problem of food and clothing and live and work in peace and contentment.

But all the way to Shanxi, what Yang Zhen saw was completely different from what he had seen in the past.

After leaving the town, the population became extremely sparse, and often there was not a single village within a dozen or twenty miles. Even if you see the village, the people there are dressed in tatters, and as far as Yang Zhen knows, even the people in the capital will not wear this kind of dress. As for their mental outlook, it was even more terrifying, even when they saw such a large group of soldiers passing by, they did not look interested in the slightest, and they were like walking corpses in the fields doing repeated movements, and there was no smile on their faces.

Yang Zhen didn't know that what he saw now was the true face of the Ming Dynasty and the real living state of more than eighty percent of the Ming people.

More than 200 years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there have long been many evils, especially the gap between the rich and the poor, which has reached the point of appalling. The rich and the ruling class naturally live at ease, and they can live in poverty and luxury, but the ordinary people can hardly meet even the most basic living conditions. Because of the land annexation issue, the vast majority of them have lost the land they depend on for their livelihood and can only survive by farming for the landlords. In their view, when the problem of food and clothing is difficult to solve, all other external affairs naturally have nothing to do with them.

But these poor people, who may not be able to feed themselves and their families, pay the enormous amount of taxes and money to support the empire - you know, the rich officials and gentry are all privileged classes, and they have little or no taxes and servitudes - and at the same time, these privileged people sometimes try to exploit the poor people at the bottom and squeeze the last vestige of their oil.

This phenomenon occurs in the later part of every dynasty, and everyone who has read history books can understand it. But just a few lines in the book are far less shocking than seeing the difficult life of the people at the bottom with their own eyes, especially Yang Zhenben has no concept of this, and when he sees a completely different way of life from what he knew in the past, it is even more difficult to calm down for a long time.

Perhaps, it is precisely because they saw the hardships of the people in the world and knew that if they did not improve their lives, the Ming Dynasty would be overthrown by them sooner or later, and far-sighted politicians such as Zhang Juzheng would come up with various ways to carry out reforms, in order to change the status quo of the people, so as to extend the life of the dynasty. But it is clear that most of these reforms have only slightly delayed the demise of the dynasty, because even they will not be able to completely reverse the gap between rich and poor.

Whether it is Wang Anshi of the Song Dynasty, or Zhang Juzheng today, and some other people who dream of using their own efforts to change the way of the world, they often end in failure. Because their reforms are often based on encroachment on groups of vested interests that deprive them of their immediate interests, it is natural that they offend a large number of powerful people. When they are at the forefront, they are naturally smooth and smooth, and no one dares to oppose them, but once something goes wrong, or they are suspicious of the emperor, the belated counterattack will devour them with tenfold and hundredfold strength, completely destroying them.

Wang Anshi is like this, Zhang Juzheng also ended badly in the original history, and now, he has one more hidden opponent, Yang Zhen, and the situation has become even more unbearable.

However, after seeing the difficult life of the lower-class people, Yang Zhen's heart was a little hesitant. He knew what Zhang Juzheng had been doing, and was it really right for him to try his best to get rid of him because of personal vendettas? Will doing this hasten the demise of the Ming Dynasty and bring even deeper suffering to the people?

This was the first time that Yang Zhen wavered and doubted his decision. In the past, he did not deeply understand the difficulties of the people at the bottom, but now, what he saw and heard along the way made him have a new feeling, which is also a manifestation of his complete integration into this era.

In the past, Yang Zhen was more just looking at this era as a bystander, feeling that I was me, and what did the life and death of others have to do with me? But now, after going through so many things, he has completely identified with his new identity, and has begun to think about the Ming Dynasty and its people.

But after some thought, Yang Zhen still decided to stick to his established policy, not only because he didn't turn back when he opened the bow, but also because he knew that Zhang Juzheng couldn't really save Daming and the people in the end. Since his reform was not successful, let me take a completely different path again!

After entering the Shanxi realm, Yang Zhen figured this out, and the gloomy color on his face also subsided, and his expression became excited again.

Datong, Shanxi.

Before Yang Zhen and the others arrived at the Shanxi border, the news that they had been ordered to come had already reached the ears of those who had a heart, and many generals had begun to feel uneasy. The meaning of the imperial court is very clear, sending people to quell the chaos is only one aspect, but the real intention of the arrival of the Qin mission is to find out the truth of the mutiny.

This makes many people start to sit still, after all, they know their own affairs, how many messy things they have done behind the back of the court, it's okay not to investigate, once they really investigate in depth, I'm afraid that it will not be a few words of reprimand, and how much they will be punished can fool the past.

At this time, in a festival hall, several generals were talking solemnly, and the sun outside the hall shone in, and it looked obscure and unclear when it hit them. Above them, a large man with a black face sat on a large chair, listening to them with a calm face.

"Damn, those rebels are really going to make trouble for us, and now they have alarmed the imperial court, so that the emperor sent Lao Shizi to send him, it's really damned!" This is a statement that goes straight to the root.

"Hey, Dong Xiong, you don't have to worry too much, even if Qin Cha comes, it's just a show. Do they dare to do anything to us? As long as we exterminate those rebels as soon as possible, we can send them back to Beijing, won't there be nothing? "That's an optimistic view.

That's not what I said. You don't know, as far as I know, the Qin cha sent by the imperial court this time was not only to quell the rebellion, but also brought with him the task of finding out the cause of the mutiny. You say, if they were to be randomly checked in the army, we wouldn't be happy. Even if they can't find anything, it's enough for us to drink a pot. ”

"Afraid of a bird? It's just a royal history, and others in the capital still think he's a character, but when he comes to our Datong, he's nothing! If you annoy Lao Tzu, don't let him eat and walk around! Anyway, we have a big backer in the capital, are you still afraid that he will be a Qincha of Laoshizi? ”

"That's not what I said, we don't really want to rebel......"

"Shut up!" Seeing that everyone was becoming more and more speechless, the black-faced man's face became even darker, and he suddenly shouted: "I called you here today to discuss countermeasures, not to call you to shout and kill." The Qin Cha represents the imperial court, so we have to be respectful, do you understand? After this reprimand, the generals who were originally quite arrogant suddenly became much more honest, and they immediately said yes.

The black-faced man nodded with satisfaction, and continued: "And this Zhong Yu is not an ordinary person, he is quite famous in the capital, has handled several big cases, and has participated in many high-ranking officials, he will inevitably make some noise when he comes to our Shanxi, we must be prepared." ”

"General, I don't think it's too difficult to deal with him. Now none of those people in the DPRK and China are greedy, as long as we give enough bargaining chips, we don't believe that he is unwilling to be accommodating. A man who didn't look like a general in his body put forward his opinion.

"If he was really so good, Lao Tzu wouldn't be looking for you today. This person is not simple, it is said that he is a master who does not eat oil and salt, and he does not eat us at all. The black-faced general frowned and said, "Put away your set of things as soon as possible." ”

"Huh? Is there still such an upright official in this world? ”

"It's true that there aren't many such people now, but that doesn't mean there aren't. At least judging from the information I have, this Zhong Yu is not greedy for money, and it is not money that can settle it. ”

"Does he have any other hobbies and weaknesses?"

"I don't know, but we can try something else. People, there are always some weaknesses, just look at whether they are hidden deeply. The black-faced general paused, and then swept over the subordinates in front of him with fierce eyes: "But there is one thing you all have to remember for me." During this time, I have clamped my tail tightly, don't poke any more baskets for me, if there is any trouble during Qincha's stay in Shanxi, be careful that I peel his skin! Also, you weren't careful enough to do things before, there were too many problems, and in the past few days, you have done the aftermath of the aftermath while Qin has not arrived, and you have wiped my farts clean, understand? ”

Swept away by his gaze that almost looked like he was about to kill, the hearts of the generals were stunned, and they quickly sat up straight and respectfully said, "Don't worry, general, we will not ask him to find the problem easily." ”

"Well, that's for the best. It's all gone, what to do and what to do, remember to be careful. The black-faced general waved his hand, and all the generals rushed out. In the end, he was left alone in his seat with a thoughtful expression......