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Tuanfeng Market is located on the bank of the river opposite Jiangxinzhou, although it is convenient to transport water near the river, but because the water is shallow and the city is small, it has not been able to become a water wharf, not to mention that this is just a small market by the riverside. Even so, thanks to the convenient water transportation, this wind market was also a small boat in the past. The "roar" of "carrying the wharf" and loading and unloading the goods on their shoulders and backs is endless.

However, seeing that the end of the year has arrived, this episode is no longer as lively as before, and this market is deserted not because of a thin layer of ice rising in the bay dozens of feet wide, but because of the current situation.

"Ziquan, this snow is so heavy, it seems that in a few days, this river should almost freeze solid......"

While instructing the guy, Zhou Shunchang pushed open the railing of the shop, and then walked to the door, looking at the heavy snow outside the house, but his mind was floating for a while.

"Look at this day, I haven't worked hard all night, I'm afraid I can't stop!"

The snow was swept down by the wind, and it fell so heavily that it didn't take a few hours, but the snow fell a thick layer on the set, and there were not many people on the road, only some taverns, and a few idlers carrying the docks drinking a few pennies there.

It was already dark, and after the heavy snow fell, the already deserted market became even more deserted.

Looking at this deserted market, standing on the steps at the door, Zhou Shunchang looked at the sky and rain, and whispered to himself.

"Oh my God......"

Although he seemed to be holding a cigarette pouch easily, he couldn't help but feel worried when he thought of the current situation.

Hit from the Xianfeng year, this year is not as good as a year, these two years are not as good as that year, last year there was a big flood, originally in previous years can still buy rice from Hunan, but now it can't, a few months ago, from the two Guangxi out of the "bandits" all the way to Hunan, is considered to be the Hunan rice road cut off, the price of Hubei here naturally rose.

It was good to wait for the army of the imperial court to suppress the "bandits", but who would have thought that this side had just entered Layue, and the "bandits" had hit all the way to the provincial capital.

Just yesterday, Zhou Shunchang also heard from the people who ran the boat that the price of rice in Huangzhou Mansion was at least 5,000 wen per stone, but there was still a price but no market, and there was no price in the market.

Why is that?

It's not that the rice merchants are betting on a price increase.

Not to mention the continuous drought and flood for two consecutive years, that is, now what is the "Taiping Heavenly Kingdom" soldiers besieging Wuchang, the imperial court naturally wants to transfer troops to suppress bandits, and the soldiers and horses will go first before the grain and grass are moved, and the price of rice will naturally rise, and the price will naturally rise, and the benefits will naturally be great.

Although this Zhou family used to be a family of cultivation and study, and the ancestors also did the four products of the previous dynasty, this taking advantage of the disaster to increase the price violated the Zhou family's family motto, although there were still thousands of stone rice in the family's rice warehouse, but now he did not dare to sell it. But anyone who understands a little bit of the world knows that the more troubled the times, the more precious this rice is!

"Five thousand ...... It's turned over compared to previous years, and I don't want the people to live! ”

Taking a puff of cigarette, Zhou Shunchang sighed and looked at the sign on the door of the rice store.

"No rice today!"

"No rice today" brand, now is hanging every other day, although Zhou Shunchang said that he did not want to hoard Juqi, but he couldn't help but want to gamble on the word, but the most important thing is that he knows, if he hangs the "no rice" brand all day long, in case people are forced to be anxious, maybe something will happen, after all, this Shuanghekou is not as good as the general market, if it is urgent, the more than 100 idlers on the dock who begged for food in the north do not know what to do......

"The way of this world......"

Worried about the thieves in the provincial capital, Zhou Shunchang sat on the threshold and thought wildly, the hookah smoked louder, and there was a group of children making noise in the distance, and those children were playing in the snow.

Looking at such a group of noisy children, Zhou Shunchang, who seemed to forget that today was the end of the year, stood up suddenly, put the cigarette pouch on the ground, and said a word.

"If you don't study to raise a child, it's better to raise a pig, at a young age, if you don't send it to study, and you're still frolicking there, won't you study if you don't take the test for fame?"

As he spoke, he stepped forward, as if to persuade him. But just as he was about to go, he heard footsteps. Following the sound of hooves to the entrance of the town, his face instantly turned pale with fright.

The neat pounding of the earth shattered the calm and serene evening, and the always quiet market made a panicked sound, and the barking of dogs continued to resound.

"What's up, what's wrong......"

In the midst of the noise, the idlers who were drinking bad wine shouted out, as if annoyed that someone had interrupted their drinking.

"The bandits are coming, the bandits are coming......"

When the people in the market shouted, there were already bandits at the corner of the street, only looking at the large yellow flag, the original eyes were red and the face was ruthless, the momentum suddenly weakened, and there was still a trace of the ruthlessness of the past, all of them fled in a panic.

Bright red torches lit up half of the sky, and the sky was full of red shadows, and the threshing floor at the entrance of the Tuanfeng market was already full of people -- more than a thousand men, women, and children who had not fled in a hurry were driven to this threshing floor, and most of them stood there in fear, not knowing whether it was cold or afraid that most of them could not stop shivering.

Sitting on the low horse that he snatched from nowhere, Zhu Yifeng was followed by Li Ziyuan, Zhu Fucai, Lin Yuqing and five or six other seemingly fierce subordinates.

Looking at those panicked people, looking at these men, women, and children who seemed to be worried about the unknown fate, Zhu Yifeng's expression suddenly became arrogant, at least a little bit of wanting to be arrogant:

"Fellow villagers, don't be disturbed, the brothers led by this general are all soldiers of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, not bandits in the mountains, and then they are only passing by your land temporarily, as long as you keep to yourself, we will never disturb the people......"

The whole threshing floor was silent, and they didn't believe his words at all, and they didn't know that this bandit was like a comb, and the soldiers were like a grate, not to mention that after they entered the village, when they drove people to the threshing floor, it could be said that chickens flew and dogs jumped, dogs barked and pigs howled, and they looked like that, but they were more ruthless than bandits.

Listening to the high-sounding words, the people stood in place, trembling one by one, but none of them dared to speak.

“…… Now, this general has passed on a military order, one shall not plunder floating wealth, two shall not hurt people's lives, and three shall not **** women, if there is a violation, there will be no forgiveness! ”

Before Zhu Yifeng's words of appeasement were finished, those people who were originally panicked hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly, shouting words like "the general is wise".

"The general is very kind, and the grass people are toothless and unforgettable......"

In that wave after wave of gratitude, following the owner, no, behind the "general", Li Ziyuan inadvertently noticed that the owner's face seemed to be a little strange, and the owner's mood seemed to have changed somewhat!

"What's the owner thinking?"

At that time, in the face of more than 1,000 people kneeling and kowtowing, Zhu Yifeng's heart had an inexplicable emotion stirring there, this kind of emotion had never been seen before, this kind of pride and superiority brought by holding the power of life and death! This kind of power brings a sense of ethereal that he has never experienced, especially when those people kneel down and kowtow in gratitude, which makes him fully feel the allure of power.

Sensing the change in the owner, Li Ziyuan once again cast his eyes on the threshing floor, but saw the panicked faces, and after they heard the promises of the owner not to hurt people's lives, the panicked faces seemed to be relieved.

Why would they not resist?

When the thousands of people chanted "the general is wise", looking at the people who were relieved because of the sentence "don't hurt people's lives and don't plunder floating wealth", Li Ziyuan's brows were furrowed, as if he was holding a fire in his chest, the fire was burning in his chest, and his eyes were full of incomprehension.

"Zilin, but I don't know why he is so deferential?"

When he turned around, Zhu Yifeng noticed Li Ziyuan, who was also one of the few "scholars" around him, and asked proudly.

"General Hui, I really have doubts below, why is the general sure that he will never resist?"

Since he is acting, he has to perform a full set, and this is what Li Ziyuan is puzzled about, he has never seen such a deferential people, when he was in his hometown in Guizhou, occasionally when bandits attacked the village, the people in those villages were also desperately protecting each other, and they were so obedient and restrained.

"Humph......"

Li Ziyuan's appearance of seeking advice made Zhu Yifeng's face show a hint of pride, but he did not answer directly, but pretended to be false.

"In our China, there are only two periods, one is when you want to be a slave but can't get it, and the other is called the time when you are a slave for the time being...... When we wait for the army to come here, how dare the grass people fight with swords? Therefore, I am willing to be a stable slave! ”