Approaching the end of the year, Gaoping, a cool country that should have been cold and lonely in previous years, is now experiencing a lively and prosperous atmosphere, while Chang'an, which is more than 600 miles away from Gaoping, has not returned to its former prosperity this year, and has become deserted and lonely, with a lot less vitality.

In between, something major must have happened, otherwise why is Chang'an, the dignified imperial capital, not as good as a city on the western border?

It all came down to the "plague spread" event, which still feels weird to this day.

The news of the outbreak of the plague in the Xiliang area came to Chang'an very suddenly, the day before the people outside the city were still talking about how many casualties the plague would cause to the Liang country, and the next day they heard that the people of the Liang country had fled into Guanzhong, and then there were rumors and hundreds of people fleeing from west to east.

In this chaotic situation, the officials at all levels stationed in the Guanzhong area of the imperial court fully demonstrated their cowardly, mediocre, and inaction, but they were separated with a large number of people who abandoned their homes and fled, but few really stayed to do something practical.

Although the people of Guanzhong fled from their homes, although it was a helpless move, it would also vary from person to person, and they could even be divided into three, six, and nine.

The rich families scattered all over the countryside, at least between the sixth and third classes, let their servants drive ox carts, carry land deeds in their arms, and wrap their bags with gold, silver and jewelry, and rush to the imperial capital of Chang'an. As for the houses and fields they left in the countryside, the left-behind domestic servants were left to take care of them. If these domestic servants dare to flee the country with the free inferior, they will need to sit through the prison if they are later caught.

Those wealthy families who originally lived in Chang'an City, when people below the third class poured into Chang'an, they sat in a comfortable four-wheeled carriage made by the Shangdang, dragged their families out of Tongguan, and went straight to Luoyang, the eastern capital. These people of the third class and above, since they can become wealthy families in Chang'an, the western capital, naturally have relatives and friends living in Luoyang, they will not be obstructed by officers and soldiers when they cross the Tongguan Pass, and there will be a personal escort from Luoyang when they pass through the Hangu Pass, and the whole process of migration is not like a flight at all, but like a return from an outing.

Compared with the upper and middle people, the people below the sixth class are much more pitiful. When the plague came, the poor families had no money to spare and no belongings except for "ugly wives and thin cotton jackets", so they fled resolutely and completely, and they also fled in no order. The poor people went wherever they went with the flow of people, and when they encountered obstacles at the Qingni Pass, they went to Tongguan, and at Tongguan they were retreated by the swords and guns of the officers and soldiers, and then went north to Shangjun, in short, where there was a place to stay, they went there.

Fortunately, this time Jia Xu didn't just want to joke with the people in the Guanzhong area, but had already discussed with the King of Pingxi in Crouching Tiger City in advance, so the people who fled all the way into the territory of the Jin State were relieved, and under the escort and organization of the officers and soldiers along the way, they entered the Jin Kingdom, Youzhou and Jizhou in an orderly manner, and finally most of them moved to the northeast region.

If we leave it in the past, this sudden outbreak of mass displacement will lose at least 30% of the population. This time, except for the initial situation that caused individual casualties in the Guanzhong area, all the displaced people who entered the Jin Kingdom were properly resettled, and there were no human casualties.

The original population of the Guanzhong area was nearly 3 million, and some of the Hu people fled during the Chang'an period, and there were still 250,000 or 600,000 left. After the plague, only 1.5 million people remained.

Without those inferior people flooding the Guanzhong area, it stands to reason that the rich families and dignitaries who stayed behind should be happy, after all, there are no more poor people in ragged clothes and obscene appearances who enter and exit the twelve gates of Chang'an City at the same time as them, and even the air in the city is fresher and cleaner. However, those who stayed behind are really not happy now.

In the past, as long as the rich paid for it, they could hire all kinds of laborers in the bazaar to find helpers, and they could let the poor and inferior people work in their fields, but now even if they spend more money, they find that they can't hire people to work! Although the 1.5 million people who remained in the Guanzhong area can still be divided into 369 and so on, the most miserable and grassroots layer has disappeared.

The people who are still in the Guanzhong area are the most disadvantaged because their families have land and property, and they can mix food and clothing. In the past, those grassroots people who lived like years and worked hard to support their families have been swept away by this plague to the territory of the Jin Kingdom, and they have gone to "scourge" and "bury" Zhao Xing, the king of Pingxi!

Didn't a certain bullshit scholar in the imperial capital of later generations call for restricting low-income people from entering the capital? How lovely are the people at the bottom of the Han Dynasty, they don't need to be restricted or driven away by others, so they obediently go to other places, leaving the western capital of Chang'an a pure sky and a clean and tidy city, so that these rich people can continue to live a superior life.

It's just that if there is another plague outbreak next time, and it starts in Chang'an City, who will be the people who should roll up the bedding and get out?

The residence of the new chariot general, Emperor Fu Song, is located between Weiyang Palace and Changle Palace in Chang'an City, and he is now the de facto ruler of the former imperial capital. On either side of his mansion are the residences of the two lords, the Zhenxi general Huangfu Jianshou and Jingzhao Yin Huangfu Li. With these three adults sitting in Chang'an, Chang'an is still safe for a while.

On this day, Huangfu insisted on and Huangfu Li went to the Bowang Marquis Mansion as usual to ask Huangfu Song for peace. After everyone sat down, Huangfu Li, who was Jing Zhaoyin, said with some indignation: "That Zhao Guochang was so deceitful that he used the "Jin Daily" to spread rumors and deceive the people of Guanzhong to vote for the Jin Kingdom, which caused a great decline in the population under our rule and caused irreparable losses. ”

Huangfu Song, who had white hair, shook his head and smiled bitterly, and said slowly: "Have you ever thought about why Zhao Guochang was able to lure the people of Guanzhong over? If we spread such a rumor in the territory of the Jin Kingdom, will the people of the Jin Kingdom flee to Guanzhong?"

Without waiting for Huangfu Li to answer, Huangfu insisted on speaking first: "Don't say that it is the Jin Kingdom, even the people of the Liang Kingdom will not flee to Guanzhong! According to the report of the brothers below, after the plague passed, the small number of people of the Liang Kingdom who fled into the Guanzhong area at the beginning all returned to their hometowns, and no one was willing to stay in Guanzhong at all!"

Huangfu Li is not stupid, he has already heard the words of his uncle and eldest brother. "Then are we just sitting back and watching Zhao Guochang attack the Sanfu region and be indifferent?" said Huangfu Li with some reluctance.

"If not, what can it be?" Huangfu Song said a little lazily, "When the Han Dynasty has come to this day, more than half of it is self-inflicted, but who can it rely on? The court and the court only know how to compete for fame and fortune and intrigue with each other, who really cares about the suffering of the people at the bottom? How can the Son of Heaven who sits high above the Dragon Court know that the hardships of the people at the bottom are not easy? The big families and high-ranking officials and nobles all regard the poor people as ants and grassroots, and they need to fly and be domineering when they need to fly, and when they are not used, they will abandon their shoes, so they will be abandoned by the people of Li one day!"

Huangfu Song's words were full of concerns, but no one could think of how to refute them.

Because, it is impossible to refute it! The common people are the parents of food and clothing, not the grassroots, and if they gain something, they will prosper, and if they lose, they will die. This article was applicable 2,000 years ago, and it will continue to apply 2,000 years later.