About on the eve of dusk, Zhu Youxiao and others arrived at the Yangjia Pass, which is a geographical term that refers to a narrow and relatively flat place between the two mountains.

And Zhu Youxiao is now arriving at such a place, the terrain is shaped like a saddle, a small village happens to be in the middle of the saddle, from time to time there can be a cow's mooing, look back, but see a shepherd boy riding a buffalo to the entrance of the village.

What made Zhu Youxiao curious was not the picture of a shepherd boy riding a bull in this quiet and vivid countryside, but the shepherd boy was actually wearing clothes made of smooth and shiny fine satin.

It stands to reason that in a westerly region like Guangxi, the gentry group is not strong, even in the Ming Dynasty for more than two hundred years, most of the peasants who exist are still composed of yeoman farmers, that is to say, there are very few such rich people and squires and the like, but why can a shepherd boy riding a buffalo be so luxuriously dressed today?

Take a look at the farmhouses surrounded by these fences around are all blue bricks and tiles, the pavement in front of the house and behind the house is bluestone slabs, and the old trees in the village are still growing green leaves.

But Zhu Youxiao still picked up a leaf, brushed the leaf with his hand, and couldn't help laughing, and didn't directly dismantle it, but walked in front of Fang Zhenru, the governor of Guangxi: "You have to behave well in front of me, I understand, but there is no need to make autumn become spring, in addition, let the men, women and children of this village not look like ordinary people in terms of clothing or decoration of the houses they live in, but like rich people or rich peasants, the Ming Dynasty has not prospered to this point, and even a little baby herding cattle is better than the young master of the landlord's family."

Fang Zhenru couldn't help blushing, and looked at Yang Honggui, the political envoy of Zuobu, and Chai Zengyong, the patrol of Youjiang Branch, because this time because Ning Concubine Luoqi returned to his hometown, these two officials were responsible for the repair and redecoration of Yangjiayakou.

At this time, Yang Honggui was also sweating, he was according to the instructions provided by the governor Fang Zhenru said that His Majesty is an aspiring emperor, the most loving people, although he does not seek extravagant hopes, but can not let the people show themselves in front of His Majesty in a poor posture, so he deliberately spent the funds originally prepared for His Majesty to enjoy luxurious treatment on the improvement of the living standards of these villagers, but he did not expect to be seen by His Majesty, but he had to look at the Youjiang Road Branch Patrol Road Chai Zengyong, hoping that Chai Zengyong would stand up and explain to His Majesty.

Chai Zengyong had to stand up, and before he could speak, Zhu Youxiao waved his hand and said: "No need to say more, I know what you have to say, as a minister, you should focus more on the right thing to benefit the people and make contributions to the country. ”

Zhu Youxiao said that he asked Chai Zengyong and other officials to lead him into the village to see Yang Laoqi, the father of Ning Concubine Luoji.

At this time, Ning Concubine was already in a state of tears in her eyes, and when she entered the entrance of the village, she hurriedly saluted Zhu Youxiao, and then hurriedly walked towards the door of her house.

However, at this time, her house had already been occupied by soldiers of the Fifth Army of the Army, and several sharpshooters with rifles were lying on the roof of her house and on a crooked-necked camphor tree next to it.

And her father Yang Laoqi and her weak brother Yang Yier were already wearing brocade clothes and standing outside the house waiting.

By the time this Yang Laoqi and his son saw Ning Concubine's basket, Yang Laoqi was already in tears, his palms were swinging, and he wanted to stretch out his hand and run over to take a good look at his daughter, but after suddenly realizing that his identity was different now, he hurriedly knelt down: "I've seen Niangniang." ”

"Sister", when Yang Yier just shouted and was about to run over, he was directly pulled back by Yang Laoyi, and was busy pressing Yang Yier's head to make him kneel.

Ning Concubine couldn't help but feel a burst of sadness, and tears flowed out at once, but because she thought that she was followed by His Majesty today, as well as the cabinet scholars and celebrant palm seals and other bigwigs, she pretended to be calm and suppressed her tears, and hurriedly helped Yang Laoqi and Yang Yier up, and saluted Yang Laoqi.

Although it was a father and daughter meeting, because of the disparity in status, at this time, Yang Laoqi did not dare to call his daughter affectionately, and Ning Concubine Luoqi did not shout "father", and his younger brother seemed to realize that it was not the same as in the past, so he did not naughtily want to go to his sister to get close, but has been following Yang Laoqi, even if he entered the house, Yang Laoqi was trembling and personally made a cup of coarse tea for Ning Concubine Luoqi, Ning Concubine Luoqi naturally did not dare to take it, and was busy personally helping Yang Laoqi to sit down beside him.

Zhu Youxiao didn't go over, because he felt that if he passed, he was afraid that he would increase the pressure on the father and daughter.

Zhu Youxiao casually walked to talk to a farmer, because he had changed into civilian clothes when he entered the mountain, so these farmers couldn't guess what he did, but they saw that he was followed by officials and men who often came to the village these days, so they thought that Zhu Youxiao might just be a big official who paid a private visit, so he was not very restrained.

The emperors of the Ming Dynasty liked to observe the people's feelings and have close contact with the people, perhaps this is a good habit inherited from Emperor Gao, such as the later Zhu Houzhao, so Zhu Youxiao is now also used to going to the lowest level of people to understand the situation of the whole society and to observe their feelings.

In fact, Guangxi Governor Fang Zhenru and other officials were still worried about what His Majesty would say from these low-level people, even though they had already made these villagers speak in a unified manner.

"How much land does the family have, how much tax does it pay in a year, whether the yamen has ever apportioned forced labor, whether the wages owed have been paid, and so on."

Because Zhu Youxiao was not allowed to approach within a few hundred steps except for the personnel guarding Zhu Youxiao, when Zhu Youxiao asked this, he did not have to worry that the Guangxi magistrates standing far away would hear what they were saying.

And this farmer was also sincere, and told Zhu Youxiao about the situation at home very specifically:

"There are a lot of fields, many people are reluctant to farm, they all go to the city to earn wages for what master and what workshop, I am now planting the fields of three families, one is my brother's family, the other is my cousin's family, they are all given to me to plant, so I don't have to worry about the harvest is not enough, resulting in we have never said that there is no lack of food, the tax is much lower than in previous years, there is no sound of this and that, natural life is much better, these days in the yamen let us do a lot of work, but the wages also earn a lot, Taxes can also be owed first, and now the court is getting better and better, even better than when I was a child. ”

The farmer couldn't help but sigh: "It's all because I have a good emperor again!" ”