Chang Wu walked on the desolate yellow earth, ragged and weak.

He is a dedicated Jinyi guard, since he found out that Li Hongji was the Li Zicheng he wanted to kill, he naturally didn't want to let go, so he followed all the way south, trying to find an opportunity.

However, Li Hongji and Li Jin were inseparable along the way, and Chang Wu never found a chance to start. And he himself was in trouble. The dry food has been eaten, and the silver on his body has been exhausted, so he has the intention to take out the identity of Jinyiwei to make some money, but those landlords and rich families don't buy his account at all, and Jinyiwei's murderous reputation doesn't seem to be as good as imagined.

Along the way, Chang Wu was terrified all the way, and the further south he went from Mizhi, the worse the situation became. Although the people around Gyeonggi can barely survive in poverty, this northern Shaanxi is completely different.

Successive years of famine, the already water-scarce loess particles have not been harvested, but the government has more and more taxes, Chang Wu asked, the people here do not even know that the emperor has reduced the taxes of Shaanxi for a year, and the emperor's will is not implemented here at all.

Along the way, Chang Wu saw more than once that the official servants rushed into the people's homes like wolves and tigers, taking away the last bit of rations, leaving only the family crying and grabbing the land.

Along the way, he encountered more and more homeless people, many of whom looked at him with green eyes, and if it weren't for the sharp blade he was holding, he would have been eaten alive.

No, I have to kill Li Zicheng early and return to Beijing to make a difference, Chang Wu said to himself secretly. But after a delay, he lost the trace of Li Zicheng's uncle and nephew.

When Chang Wu arrived in Baishui County, all his belongings were exchanged for food, his suit was in tatters, and he became weak due to several days of food, and at this moment, he saw Li Hongji.

I saw that Li Hongji was holding a spear, and rushed into Baishui County with hundreds of homeless people majestically, killing the soldiers guarding the city to cry and cry for his mother, and then rushed into the county office, dragged the county order out and cut off his head after parade into the street.

At that moment, the entire county town of Baishui was boiling, and countless homeless people rushed into the rich households, killed the old men who were high in the past, robbed the old men of their grain, pigs and sheep, and wantonly humiliated the wives and daughters of the old men who did not want to look at them on weekdays.

At this time, the hungry Chang Wu was no different from the homeless, so he simply rushed into the city, grabbed wine and meat from a rich family, and feasted and drank. After eating, he walked down the street with a long knife wrapped in rags, looking for Li Hongji, wanting to continue the task.

Soon, Chang Wu saw Li Hongji at the county warehouse, and he was leading people to open the warehouse to release grain.

Bags of yellow, orange and orange millet were carried out, and the people lined up with their pockets to receive them; on the side of the grain depot, there were several tables, several county officials were forced to register the register, and Li Hongji's nephew, Li Jinzheng, was carrying a big knife to watch.

After receiving the grain and pressing the handprints, they became a member of the Wandering Army, and in this way, Wang Er and Li Hongji's team grew rapidly, and in a few days, they had gathered four or five thousand people.

Looking at Li Hongji, who was wearing a hat and straddled the red horse, and hugged the majestic Li Hongji, Chang Wu knew that he had no chance to kill him. Even if he can find an opportunity to kill Li Hongji, he will never be able to escape the pursuit of Li Hongji's men.

exchanging his life for Li Hongji's life, Chang Wu naturally wouldn't do it, so he had to give up.

With deep regret, Chang Wu embarked on the road back to Beijing, and on the way he had already found an excuse for not completing the task. It's not that I can't do it, it's you Xu Xiancun who underestimated the opponent, then Li Hongji is a big thief, there are many subordinates, and it is not a crime of war! What's more, bringing back the news of the rebellion of the displaced people and letting the court know the truth is also considered a meritorious service, and Chang Wu secretly comforted himself.

And when Chang Wu was still on the way back to Beijing, the rebellion of the Baishui refugees had spread to the city of Beijing, and it was not only here, not long after the Baishui Wang Er and Li Hongji gathered to rebel, the refugees from all over northern Shaanxi heard the wind and moved, first Wang Jiayin of Fugu County led Yang Liu, Bu Dip and others to rob large households, killed people and robbed grain to gather people to rebel, and then Hannan Wang Daliang, Ansai Gao Yingxiang and others led the crowd to riot.

For a time, there were rebellions of displaced people everywhere in northern Shaanxi, and the news reached Beijing, and Zhu Youzhen was furious when he heard the news.

"As early as last year, I issued an order to allocate hundreds of thousands of silver to help the victims of the disaster in Shaanxi, and at the beginning of this year, I issued an order again to reduce taxes in northern Shaanxi throughout the year, why are there still riots among the people?" In the Qianqing Palace, the cabinet elders, as well as the bigwigs of the household department and the military department were summoned, and Zhu Youzhen pointed at their noses and scolded angrily.

In order to avoid civil unrest in Shaanxi, Zhu Youzhen thought that he had done everything in advance, and he should be relieved and exempted, but he didn't expect it to happen, how could he not be angry?

Huang Liji, Shi Fenglai and other pavilion elders all drooped their heads, not knowing how to reply.

"The money and grain for disaster relief were transported to Shaanxi by the hands of the ministers, and the ministers dared to guarantee that how much grain His Majesty allocated would be transported to Shaanxi." The head of the household is full of self-strictness.

"Then tell me, why are there still civil unrest? And it's such a large-scale civil unrest! Zhu Youzhen looked at Bi Ziyan and asked coldly.

Bi Ziyan sighed: "Freezing three feet is not a day's cold, not to mention the famine in Shaanxi for many years, and the heavy taxes paid by the people are also true." In the thirty-eighth year of Wanli, in order to supply the Liaodong army to deal with Jiannu, the imperial court issued an order that the fields of northern Shaanxi provinces would be levied an additional nine cents of silver per mu. Not to mention the taxes paid by the imperial court, there are also local apportionments, in order to supply the vassal kings of the Qin Dynasty, Baishui County alone, during the Jiajing period, an additional 10828 yuan and 7 cents were added every year, and during the Wanli period, an additional 735 25 yuan and 5 cents were levied every year. These are just taxes on the surface, and secretly, the county and township officials are like wolves and tigers, and the money and grain collected from the people in private are often several times more than the number of the imperial court, so that the people are miserable. ”

Zhu Youzhen's eyes widened, looked at the officials present, and said angrily: "You should all know these situations, but why didn't anyone tell me?" ”

Shoufu Huang Liji sighed: "Your Majesty, it's not that the ministers don't say it, it's really like this since ancient times. It is difficult for officials to govern, and it is even more difficult for the officials to control the prefecture and county, and those officials have been officials for generations, and there is no way to be promoted, they are all deceived and concealed, and they try their best to make money, if the prefect and county order are proficient in secular affairs, it is fine, if not, they can only be deceived for them. And the following things have to rely on these officials to do, and in many cases, even the prefect and the county have no choice. ”

No way? Zhu Youzhen sneered. You civil servants are fighting for money one by one, but there is no way to govern the people, so what do I want you to do?

It seems that it is not only this court that is rotten, this Ming Dynasty is rotten from top to bottom!

"Your Majesty, now is not the time to pursue these things, the immediate priority is to quickly quell the civil unrest." Huang Liji finally said.