Li Zicheng nodded, and then said: "That, old patriarch, take advantage of this gap, I just went to see the three people in the imperial court and get a preliminary understanding of their situation, anyway, they are idle." ”

Hearing this, the old village chief behaved very cheerfully: "I thought it was a little bigger, so I will let someone take you there." ”

"Hey, old patriarch, no need, I know the way, I know where they are, don't have to be so troublesome." Li Zicheng hurriedly stopped the old patriarch, afraid that he would insist and find someone to lead the way, which would affect his next arrangements.

"Well, well, Zicheng, anyway, the people in the village know you, so there won't be any trouble." The old village chief did not insist this time, which made Li Zicheng's heart feel relieved.

"Okay, the old patriarch, I'll go and see it first."

"yes, okay."

Immediately afterwards, Li Zicheng gave Ma Messenger a look, signaled to go out with him, and then greeted the one-eyed little black dog: "Xiao Hei, go, my brother will find you something to eat!" ”

Originally, Ma Xin who wanted to walk with his legs raised his legs was just a stumbling moment, and he was speechless, is this still the end? The old village chief stroked his beard lightly and smiled faintly with satisfaction.

I have to say that the one-eyed little black dog seems to be able to really understand people's words, very spiritual, as soon as he heard that he could eat, he jumped around excitedly, so he was not happy, and he bit Li Zicheng's trouser leg and dragged it out, and others were very amazed.

After leaving the courtyard, there were only two people and one dog left, Li Zicheng stepped forward slightly, approached Ma Xin, and whispered: "Ashin, explain to the brothers, see what the villagers have broken the money, write it down secretly, and roughly estimate how much it is worth two taels of silver." When leaving, leave some silver, so as not to break military discipline. Otherwise, it's not good to explain to the other squads, but I'm your leader, and I can't take the lead in breaking military discipline and regulations. ”

However, Ma Xin did not immediately agree, his face was hesitant, as if he wanted to say something?

Seeing this situation, he seemed to understand Ma Xin's thoughts, and Li Zicheng said again: "Ashin, it is not easy for the villagers, and now it is a year of great drought, natural disasters and man-made disasters. You are from Majiatun, you should know that there is not much food in the village, and it is good to barely be able to support the autumn harvest. If their stored grain is eaten by us, how will the villagers live in the future? ”

In an instant, Ma Xin was moved, his heart was warm, and he was even more determined to follow Li Zicheng's belief, nodding heavily, speechless but better than all expressions.

Immediately, Li Zicheng turned around and left, under the leadership of the one-eyed little black dog, walking slowly, waving his big hand without looking back: "Go back, implement the order." ”

Under the scorching sun, under a big locust tree in Majiatun, the three self-proclaimed court officials of the Ming court were tied hand and foot tied and sat there. The expressions are very heavy, but they are different, the young face is full of anxiety, the middle-aged is full of worries, and the old ones are very worried.

The villager in charge of guarding leaned against another locust tree not far away, dozing off, not very vigilant, showing the carelessness of the peasant family, and did not have so many eyes. At this moment, the young man on the left had a look of anger on his face, and said in a fierce voice: "Lord Wang, the people in this tunzi are too ignorant, we are obviously for their good and help them get through this disaster year, but instead they tied us here, it is really a dog biting Lu Dongbin, and he doesn't know the hearts of good people." ”

"Zhengming, leave a little leeway to speak, don't go too far." The person in the middle frowned, and wanted to scold, but when he thought of the young man's background, his words changed again, becoming much softer, and then reminded: "Have you forgotten the admonition of your uncle Xu Dashi? Along the way, be as patient as possible, be as tolerant as possible to the people, and be more humble in your attitude. ”

At this time, the person on the right also said: "Lord Xu, Lord Wang is also a lot of hard work. Along the way, Majiatun is not the first place where we promote new crops, and the attitude is almost the same, and the resistance is strong and weak. However, this is also understandable, they have been facing the loess with their backs to the sky all their lives, and they live on those few acres of thin fields. ”

"If our new crops are not planted here ideally, the yield will not be as good as that of wheat, millet, cereals and other farming. Not only will people suffer heavy losses, but their lives will be greatly affected in the coming year. ”

After the persuasion and appeasement of the two, the young official's anger obviously weakened a lot, and he said with some sympathy: "Lord Wang, Song Juren, I understand what you mean, and I can also understand what the people do. I have stayed in Shaanxi for so long, inspected the people in various places, and have some understanding of the local situation, not the son who only wanted to have fun. ”

Speaking of this, the young official paused, looked at the villagers who had fallen asleep in the distance, their faces were dark, they were only in their thirties, and their foreheads were already full of folds, how could their hearts not be touched?

"Lord Wang, Song Juren, I also know that Shaanxi is not only as simple as the disaster is serious, but the land annexation has reached a shocking point, there are almost few people who own land, most of them belong to the kind of tenant farmers, when harvesting grain, after handing over the grain rented land, and then remove the grain tax of the imperial court, the remaining grain is theirs."

"But after deducting these two parts, there is not much food left in the hands of the people. Even if it is a good harvest year, the rest of the grain is only enough for them to live a modest life. So, I understand their concerns, that if the new crop is not well harvested, it will be equivalent to a death sentence in advance. ”

As soon as Xu Zhengming, a young official, finished speaking, Ai Juren on the right side was full of confusion in his heart, his expression was very complicated, and he said slowly: "Two adults, I can assure you that the planting technology of sweet potatoes, corn and potatoes has become mature, and many people in Guangdong, Fujian and other places have planted them, and these three crops are not only cold and drought tolerant, but also have no lower yield than wheat and rice and other crops. ”

"Ying Xing, I know this. When I was in Jingshi, I once read your compilation of "Heavenly Creations" and was convinced of the contents of it. Especially the discussion about agriculture, plus the information I learned from some colleagues, used to be the parents of Fujian and Guangdong, or the people in charge, sweet potatoes, potatoes and corn have been planted in that area, and the habits are not bad with what you said, which is why I will take you with me on my trip to Shaanxi? ”

As soon as the elderly official in the middle finished speaking, Song Yingxing said with some impatience: "In this case, Lord Wang, you know that the new crop is very suitable for planting in Shaanxi, as long as you can persist for two or three years, you can alleviate the disaster in Shaanxi, why do you ......?" ”

"Ying Xing, let's not talk about the frequent wars in Shaanxi, and the anti-thieves are everywhere, making Shaanxi a mess. Just one point, new crops have never appeared in Shaanxi, and the people have never heard of or seen sweet potatoes, potatoes and corn, so how can they take the risk of planting. Let's talk about it, let's go to the first stop of Jiandan Fort in Yingcun, Jingyang County, Xi'an Prefecture? That's my hometown, and even my old family is reluctant to take the risk of planting, which shows how much resistance the people have to the new crop. ”

At this moment, when the three of them were about to talk, an abrupt voice interrupted their conversation: "Hehe, even if the people of Shaanxi follow your advice and plant your new crops on their respective lands, it still can't achieve the effect of alleviating the disaster." ”

The three of them were startled at first, their faces stiffened, these words seemed to touch Xu Zhengming's scales, forgetting the danger they were in, and couldn't help but retort: "How is it possible? I have seen the crops brought by Song Yingxing and Song Juren, and I have planted them on some idle land, which are absolutely cold and drought tolerant. As long as Shaanxi grows new crops of corn, potatoes and sweet potatoes on a large scale, the disaster can be alleviated, and the people will not have to go hungry and hungry. ”

The person who spoke was Li Zicheng, and the peasant in charge of guarding it had disappeared, so the three of them knew that the two villagers should have been sent away by this thief.

Between the walks, Li Zicheng got closer and closer to the three of them, and while throwing the beef jerky in his hand to the one-eyed little black dog, he said: "Hey, I said three, you also know the situation in the whole Shaanxi, not only the drought for many years, but also the continuous military disasters, the imperial court also recruited soldiers from here to go to Liaodong to fight against the troops of the Houjin. ”

Under such circumstances, Shaanxi has idle a large amount of fertile land. Moreover, rebel armies from all walks of life rose one after another, and most of Shaanxi fell into the swamp of war. You say, even if the people agree to your request to grow potatoes, corn and sweet potatoes on a large scale, do you have the conditions? ”

Li Zicheng was making a lot of fanfare when he entered the tun, and the war horse was neighing, how could the three of them not know who the young man in front of them was? It was none other than Li Zicheng, who led the troops to mutiny in Yuzhong City.

Different from Song Yingxing and Xu Zhengming, the two were immersed in Li Zicheng's words, reminiscing about the meaning, but the elderly official in the middle frowned slightly, and when he saw Li Zicheng's bearing, he couldn't help but feel in his heart: "With this bearing, with this kind of words, this Li Zicheng has the style of a general, if it is not for the Gao family's father and son and the general's kingdom to rebel, there will definitely be something to do in the court in the future." ”

Thinking of this, the old official in the middle sighed, and just wanted to say something, but Li Zicheng had already come to the front and said slowly: "Presumably, the three are the officials sent by the imperial court to inspect the disaster, the one on the left is Xu Zhengming, the nephew of Xu Guangqi and Xu University, the one in the middle is Wang Weiwang, and the one on the right is Song Yingxing, who is good at agriculture, right~?" ”

Although it was a questioning tone, he said it so confidently, and he was very sure that Xu Zhengming was the youngest and impulsive, and couldn't help asking: "How do you know the names of the three of us?" ”