Li Yan and the Red Lady climbed over a mountain cliff, and finally saw a village belonging to Guangyuan in the distance, the location of this village is not remote, just outside Guangyuan City a day's journey to the left, because it is relatively close to Guangyuan City, Zhu Jun can go out of the city at any time to deal with the problems here, so there is no garrison here, Li Yan and the Red Lady can sneak here quietly without being discovered by Zhu Jun.

"Red lady, everything you said to me last time was really said by Baishui Zhuba?" As Li Yan walked, he asked the Red Lady that he had made a joke last time when he treated the Red Lady as a fairy. The red lady finally explained to him clearly, and she heard those words from Brother Zhu.

Li Yan couldn't help but be shocked in his heart, he didn't know that Baishui Zhu Ba actually had such knowledge, so he had the idea of seeing Zhu Ba. In addition, Li Yan's family members were mixed in the old and weak women who broke into the army, and they were all arrested by Zhu Ba, and he also had to come to find his family members, and this trip to infiltrate Zhu Jun's territory became an imperative thing.

The red lady didn't want to be recognized, because she hadn't figured out how to face Ma Xiaotian yet, although she took Li Yan into Zhu Jun's territory, she hesitated to go directly to Guangyuan. Li Yan obviously saw her hesitation, and couldn't help but ask, "Red lady, you didn't lie to me, right?" You and Ben are not the generals under Zhu Ba, and Zhu Ba has not said what you said before, otherwise why don't you take me directly to see Zhu Ba? ”

The red lady is very distressed, and she can't say "I'm hiding from a man who pursues me", right? She had no choice but to say vaguely: "Now is not the best time to take you to meet Eighth Brother Zhu, let's investigate in this nearby village first." ”

Li Yan is not stupid. Hearing a hint of strange taste from her words, I couldn't help but have a trace of doubt in my heart, fortunately, the red lady was innocent and romantic, and she really didn't look like a guy who likes to deceive people, which dispelled many of Li Yan's concerns.

The two walked for a while, and the red lady suddenly remembered something, and asked Li Yan: "You said that your family was taken away by Eighth Brother Zhu, so what kind of family do you have?" ”

When Li Yan heard her ask, a strange look suddenly flashed on his face, and he looked very gentle. But in the tenderness, there is a faint worry. He sighed in a low voice, "It's my wife, Tang." When I defected to Li Zicheng, I took Tang with me, she is a beautiful lady and a scholarly person. Virtuous and virtuous. And I am very affectionate. When the army is defeated. She was mixed with the families of the soldiers who broke into the army, and they were all arrested by Zhu Ba's people, and she didn't know at this time...... Alas......"

Speaking of which. He thought of the thieves of the 36th Battalion who burned, killed and looted, and after he made up the children's rhyme of "not paying food", the invading army had already reined in. But he didn't know what the military discipline of Zhu Bajun was, if Zhu Bajun's military discipline was the same as the previous 36th Battalion, his beautiful wife was only afraid that she would be ...... at this moment A chill rose in his heart, and his whole body trembled.

When Li Yan defected to Li Zicheng in real history, it was already October of the thirteenth year of Chongzhen, when the Tang family was dead, and Li Yan's wife was already a red lady, but because the events of this world happened three years earlier than that history, Li Yan did not know the red lady, but took the Tang family to Li Zicheng three years in advance. At this time, he and the Tang family were the newlywed Yan'er, very affectionate, and they couldn't stuff the red lady in their hearts at all, and they were full of Tang's figures.

Seeing his worried look, the red lady smiled and sighed: "You can rest assured of this, Brother Zhu is very good at leading troops, Zhu Jun's military discipline is excellent, and it is impossible for me to rape women, otherwise I would have turned my face with him a long time ago." ”

Li Yan didn't believe what she said, but she preferred to believe what she said.

By this time, the two had already walked to the edge of the field near the village, and saw a scene in full swing in the field, where almost all the inhabitants of this small village were busy harvesting corn cobs from the cornfield. The farmers carry huge pockets full of freshly harvested corn, and their faces are filled with happy smiles.

Li Yan's heart moved, and he couldn't help asking, "Red lady, what kind of crops are they growing?" Why haven't I seen it? ”

The red lady smiled: "You scholars are not diligent in your limbs, you don't divide the grains, and you have never seen many crops." ”

Li Yan's face was straight, and he said solemnly: "I'm not the kind of person who reads, I can distinguish the grains, in fact, I know most of the crops, but this is the first time I've seen this kind of thing in front of me." ”

The red lady smiled and said, "This thing is called corn, huh...... In fact, I have only seen it when it grows, and it is the first time I have seen it bear fruit, this is a new crop that Zhu Ba Ge introduced to Guangyuan this spring, according to Zhu Ba Ge, this kind of crop can grow on a very shallow soil layer, which is very suitable for Sichuan, with this thing, the people will not go hungry. ”

Li Yan let out an "oh" and asked excitedly, "This is the so-called ...... Productivity? ”

The red lady spread her hands: "Don't ask me, I don't know much." "She is a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl, what she likes most is actually to fight and kill, or to recite poetry to play cool, and she is not very interested in the economy, agriculture, and what kind of productivity, Li Yan asked her, she naturally didn't know anything.

Li Yan also knew that he couldn't get anything out of this person's mouth, so he had to go and ask the farmers in person.

Li Yan knew how to speak to ordinary people, he put on a passerby's posture, greeted an old farmer in front of him from a distance, and then put on a polite scholar's style, and said with a smile: "This uncle, in his later life, was a ...... who fled from Henan to Sichuan."

Speaking of this, he paused deliberately, waiting for the old farmer to react. After tasting Li Yan's words, the old farmer was suddenly in awe, and hurriedly saluted: "It turned out to be a ...... old man who lifted people" There are not many people who can read and write in these years, in this kind of poor rural village, even if they know a few words, they will be respected by everyone.

Li Yan hurriedly helped the old farmer, and then said, "Uncle." Seeing you happily harvesting crops, Wansheng was curious for a while, and looked at it a few more times, but the more I looked at it, the more strange it became, I hadn't seen this kind of crop in Henan, what is this thing? ”

When the old farmer heard his question, he smiled and said, "This thing, called corn, was sent by General Zhenxi into the village to teach us how to grow it." ”

Li Yan listened, and his mind changed: Sure enough, it was something that Zhu Ba got from. It's called corn. It's the same as what the red lady said.

He asked again: "Uncle, I see that you are all happy, is this year's harvest very good?" ”

The old farmer was obviously very interested in the subject, and his face was full of pride. laughed and said, "yes, yes." This year's harvest has been fantastic. I've never confiscated so many crops, this time...... Haha......"

Li Yan hit the snake with the stick, and hurriedly asked, "How much have you collected this year?" ”

The old farmer smiled: "My family has two acres of mountainous land. ......He stretched out one finger and made a gesture, and then stretched out five fingers and gestured a five.

Li Yan thought to himself: Sichuan is mostly stone mountains, the mountains are formed by large stones, a thin layer of soil on the stones, planting crops on such land, it would be good to harvest dozens of catties per acre of land, so he said: "Two acres of land have collected a total of 150 catties?" ”

The old farmer obviously knew that he would guess wrong, and his face suddenly turned up, and his eyes were full of smugness: "Master Juren, you can guess wrong, I took 1,500 catties from the old man." ”

"What?" Li Yan was shocked: "Two acres of 1,500 catties? ”

His shocked expression is exactly what the old man wants to see, people, everyone who has done something proud, likes to deliberately let others guess like this, and then get pleasure through the surprised expression of the other party when others guess wrong. For example, you were originally a poor dick, but one day you were suddenly promoted, and when you got home, you said in front of your wife: "Wife, your husband has been promoted, guess what he has become?" The wife guessed: "Is it promoted to the office director?" At this time, the husband will say proudly: "You are wrong, I was directly promoted to mayor." Then the husband can enjoy the shocked expression of his wife, which is really cool.

Li Yanxian's expression was as if he had seen a poor dick become a huge rich man overnight, and his face was full of shock.

The old farmer thought proudly: I knew you would be scared, hahaha. After he made a fool of people, he felt comfortable, and then the simple side was also revealed, and after looking at Li Yan and the red lady a few times, he smiled and said, "Look at your little couple who have walked a lot of mountain roads, right?" Both of them are simple and simple, and the old man seems to be a little injured on his body, if you don't dislike it, go to the old man's house and sit down, and the old man will cook corn to entertain you. ”

When Li Yan heard him say this, he was shocked again. After he followed Li Zicheng, he also traveled thousands of miles, traveled all over the north and south of the river, and the people he saw were all poor and miserable. What's more, in this year of great calamity, if a distant relative comes to you, it must be impossible to get around and want to ask you for help. I can't open the pot at home, where will the food come from to help others?

Unexpectedly, this old farmer of Guangyuan only met him, and he actually invited him to the door, saying that he wanted to entertain him to eat. Thinking of the old farmer saying that he had only collected 1,500 catties of grain, Li Yan suddenly realized in his heart, isn't this exactly "Cangqiao knows etiquette and knows honor and disgrace when he has enough food and clothing"? Because there is an endless amount of food, there is room for the poor who cannot have enough to eat. Because there is no shortage of food and clothing, there is more energy to care for others who lack food and clothing.

Li Yan seemed to faintly feel the power brought by the word "productivity" in his heart. It is a kind of positive energy, which can change a person from beginning to end, such as the old farmer in front of him, the strong "productivity" gives him a happy smile on his face, and also gives him the capital to be kind. Isn't it because he is proud of the wealth of his family that he can stand here today, standing tall and talking to an old man who lifts his back?

Li Yan followed the old farmer into his house, the old farmer was obviously very poor, and there were few pieces of furniture in the house, but at this time there were many golden corn cobs side by side in the yard, and a large handful was hung under the eaves, allowing the sun to roast these corns. The old farmer didn't wait for Li Yan to ask, so he smiled and said: "There is too much corn, and we won't be able to eat it for a while, Brother Zhu taught us to put the corn in a sunny place and dry it in the sun, this thing will not be bad, and it can be stored for a long, long time." ”

Li Yan sighed, seeing that the old man was very interested, he plucked up the courage to ask: "Uncle, listen to what you just said, this is General Zhenxi's management." Does this Zhenxi general collect taxes from you? Do you have to pay heavy taxes? ”

The old man smiled and said, "Collect, how can there be officials who don't collect taxes from us?" The old man really likes to laugh and laugh......" He paused and said, "General Zhenxi collects thirty percent of our tax." ”

"Sancheng?" Li Yan frowned slightly: "It's quite heavy......"

The old man tilted his head and smiled: "It's not too heavy, it's much lighter than the previous Guangyuan Zhi County, and we used to have to pay fifty percent...... Belch...... Sixty percent more than taxes. ”

Li Yan was silent, of course he knew how the officials of the imperial court collected taxes, so he said in a low voice: "In this way, General Zhenxi doesn't collect too much. ”

The old man smiled again: "Don't think that General Zhenxi only collects three percent, which is less than the imperial court of the previous imperial court...... The old man will settle the account for you. In the past, the two acres of land of the old Han family could collect 200 catties from the sky, and the court drew sixty percent. That is, put away one hundred and twenty pounds. ”

"Now...... The old man received 1,500 catties of two acres of land. General Zhenxi took away thirty percent, that is, four hundred and fifty catties! The old man smiled when he said this: "Do you say that the imperial court collects more, or does General Zhenxi collect more?" ”

Li Yan Khan suddenly moved in his heart: No wonder Zhu Bajun's military appearance was so neat. The soldiers were all dressed in uniform attire. Hold a neat weapon. Everyone was full of food and drink, and it turned out that their taxes were so high that they could collect four hundred and fifty catties of taxes from such an old peasant family. If you add up all the people in Shaanxi, Zhu Bajun is really rich.

Li Yan found that his brain was not enough, and his taxes were lighter than those of the imperial court, but he actually collected more things than the imperial court...... Sure enough, this is again the productive forces at work, because there is more production, so a little tax can collect a huge amount of military spending.

He thought about it for a long time, and slowly understood a little in his heart, but said in his mouth: "Uncle, I don't know if you have ever heard a children's song, that children's song says to open the city gate to welcome the king, and the king will not pay for food, have you ever thought about it, if you don't pay for food...... You can also get an extra four hundred and fifty pounds of grain. ”

He thought that when he said this, the old man would definitely agree, but he didn't expect the old farmer to have a disdainful expression on his face, and said with a smile: "What's the big deal about not paying for grain?" I've heard you sing a nursery rhyme here, and I've heard that it's coming from the south, and a few days ago I heard that the army is in the south...... The old man hesitated for a moment to go to the king, but now that he has harvested the corn, he knows that he was really right not to go in the first place. ”

He patted the corn cob and laughed: "If the old man goes to vote for the king, even if he doesn't pay the grain, the two acres of land will only grow two hundred catties, and now, the old man takes thirty percent of the grain, and there are still a thousand catties, hahaha, the old man is not a melon baby, how can he not calculate this account?" ”

Li Yan was silent, and the confidence in his heart in his children's song had fallen to the bottom. He finally understood now why Zhu Ba said that his idea of "not paying for grain" was fundamentally wrong...... the fundamental idea of "not paying for grain" was "saving", while the idea of "improving productivity" was "earning". It is impossible for a person to become rich, but hard work can make people rich, and wealth is never saved, but earned.

Li Yan chatted with the old farmer for a while, the corn cob had been cooked, and the old farmer handed one in the hands of Li Yan and the red lady, and the two held the corn cob and gnawed it for a while, it was very fragrant in the mouth, and it was really great to eat.

The red lady didn't have any ideas, she just cared about filling her stomach. Li Yan set off a huge wave in his heart, he didn't know where he was, his mind was full of productivity problems, and he didn't notice that the old farmer glanced at his son, and his son, who was in his twenties, quietly opened the back door and ran out to the back of the house.

That night, Li Yan and the red lady rested in the old farmer's house. Early the next morning, the two said goodbye to the old farmer, and the old farmer sent the two of them out of the yard and out of the village until they returned.

Li Yan and the Red Lady walked side by side on the loess road for a while, and couldn't help but sigh: "Red Lady, please take me to see Brother Zhu, I have a lot of things to say to him, and there are many questions I want to ask him." ”

The red lady wanted to agree, but thought of Ma Xiaotian...... She hesitated again, it was nothing to go back, Eighth Brother Zhu had not been sorry for her, she also wanted to serve Eighth Brother Zhu again, but Ma Xiaotian was ...... What should I do? He said that he likes himself, but he hasn't figured out how to face him, how can this be good?

When the red lady didn't know what to do and struggled endlessly, she suddenly heard a loud shout from the side of the road: "It's that man and a woman, they are the spies of the army, and they are preaching the children's rhyme of 'not paying food'...... Catch them......"

Hearing this voice, Li Yan and the red lady turned their heads to look, only to see a young man standing next to the road, it was the son of the old farmer, it turned out that the old farmer heard Li Yan talk about the children's rhyme of "not paying for food", and also said that Li Yan was a spy sent by the army to spread children's rhymes.

The old farmer's son stretched out his hand and pointed at Li Yan and the Red Lady, behind him stood a large group of soldiers of the Zhu Army, and there were many soldiers who jumped out of the front and back of the road, and in an instant they had surrounded Li Yan and the Red Lady in the core.

A young leader among the soldiers came out, it was Ma Xiaotian, and he said loudly: "Spy, suffer death!" (To be continued.) )