"Woo-"

In August, with the sound of the train sizzling in the Chengdu Plain, Zhu Youzhen and Zhu Youxiao continued to march south.

The life of the people of Sichuan was more nourishing than they thought, and they took the train all the way to the south, and all they saw along the way were scenes of families raising livestock in captivity and providing meat for their families.

It can be said that the words "Apocalypse Prosperous" could barely appear in front of everyone until Zhu Youxiao and them entered Sichuan.

This made Zhu Youxiao, as the emperor, regain a lot of self-confidence, and he is also looking forward to the next many trips.

"Woo-"

"This is the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, right?"

When the whistle sounded, Zhu Youxiao looked at the Yangtze River Bridge outside the glass window of the train and couldn't help but ask.

"Long live Hui, this place is the Xuzhou Yangtze River Bridge, one of only three Yangtze River bridges in the national dynasty."

Lu Wenzhao returned the salute, and Zhu Youxiao, who heard the words, bowed slightly, and turned his head to look at Zhu Youzhen, who was reading a book.

Due to the diligence of the East Palace, there are not many times when Zhu Youxiao and Zhu Youzhen need to deal with the negligence, and now they are both passing the time in the car.

In front of Zhu Youxiao's desk were wooden carvings and carving knives, and in front of Zhu Youzhen were stacks of pre-Qin classics.

"My brother himself is not a sage, do you still need to read?"

Zhu Youxiao joked with a smile, and Zhu Youzhen also looked up with a smile: "There is no end to learning, and many new policies of the Ming Dynasty and Qi Kingdom in the future need to make their own different arrangements, and I have to understand everything before I can arrange it in advance."

As he spoke, Zhu Youzhen took out a thick book, opened it and began to write.

He lowered his head and began to write, Zhu Youxiao saw that he had something, so he didn't bother him, and followed him to pick up his wooden carving and start carving.

The next stop of the two brothers is Kunming, and the current Kunming is garrisoned by Qi Wulong, the third-generation general of the Qi family.

It will take another day and one night from Xuzhou to Kunming, and if nothing else, Zhu Youzhen will stop at Hengjiang Town in front of them to rest for two hours.

"Woo-"

Similar to Zhu Youzhen's prediction, when the train traveled for another hour, it sounded the long whistle to stop as Zhu Youzhen expected.

[The app that has been running stably for many years is comparable to the old version of the book-chasing artifact, which is used by old bookworms.]

Asked:

"My brother seems to be a little tired today, and he seems to have something on his mind."

"There are indeed some ......," Zhu Youzhen took a deep breath, looked up at the farmers around the rice fields, and said:

"I'm wondering, after I leave, how my brother and Brother Ran will govern the Ming Dynasty, and whether the national policy I sent back will be accepted and adopted by the hundred officials."

In Zhu Youzhen's heart, family comes first, followed by the people, and then friends......

Speaking of friends, Zhu Youzhen remembered Yang Lian in Dali.

He should have gone to see Yang Lian, but this time he brought his brother with him, I am afraid it will be inconvenient.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youzhen said to Zhu Youxiao:

"Brother, I'm afraid I have to go to Dali on this trip, as for Luchuan......

Zhu Youzhen hesitated for a moment, and Zhu Youxiao also helped him up when he saw this, and said with a smile:

"The trip to Luchuan, I can go alone, my brother has said so many things about Luchuan, I just happened to stay in Luchuan for a few more days to see the local situation."

After that, Zhu Youxiao turned around and waved his hand with a smile, signaling Zhu Youzhen to follow and said:

"The train still has an hour to go, but I'm a little tired, go back to the train to rest first, and my brother will take a look at Hengjiang Town by himself."

Although Zhu Youxiao said this, Zhu Youzhen knew that he was a little dissatisfied with his going to see Yang Lian.

This is also right, after all, Yang Lian lost a lot of face when he was sparse, and it was already good that he could open his chest to support Zhu Youzhen to go to Dali.

Zhu Youzhen looked at his back and sighed deeply.

After Zhu Youxiao disappeared, he turned around and went to the field, where he sat with some peasants.

His sumptuous attire, with his fair skin and striking looks, sat so abruptly in the crowd that the peasants did not dare to talk loudly.

"I was sent by the county to come and see the situation in Hengjiang Town."

"Be quiet, don't be arrogant, now the town's officials have gone to the train station."

Zhu Youzhen smiled and "blew up his identity", which made the surrounding farmers a little overwhelmed, and Zhu Youzhen continued:

"Don't panic, the above sent me and me to Hengjiang Town, mainly to ask how you are doing now, can you still be fed and clothed?"

Zhu Youzhen's reassurance relieved the farmers who were sitting around the rice fields, waiting for the harvest.

When they saw that Zhu Youzhen was approachable, they were also a little bolder, and said with a smile:

"It's a very good day, it's very busy."

"It's that the price of grain is starting to get lower now, according to the original price of grain, we should live a more nourishing life, but now the price of grain collected by the emperor has fallen to two cents per catty, so it's better to grow some melons, fruits and vegetables."

"Yes! An acre of land can only produce half a tael of grain, but if you grow melons, fruits and vegetables, you may harvest a tael of silver."

"Now that the price of rice is falling too fast, it is estimated that if it continues to fall like this, we will all have to plant things instead."

"Huh! You're from the county, tell me, will the county take care of these things?"

"Why did you say that the price of food suddenly dropped so much?"

"Eh......

The peasants were talking nonsense, and Zhu Youzhen said with a smile:

"The county will naturally take care of it, as for the price of grain, the main reason is that the drought in various places is over, and there are more people in the land, so the grain will naturally fall, didn't your mayor tell you this?"

"Mayor Mare?" A fifty-year-old farmer holding a gourd to drink water said self-deprecatingly:

"The mayor of the town is not something we can see, and to tell you the truth, the biggest official I have ever seen in my life is the town's scrivener."

"Me too!"

"Haha, me too!"

"By the way, who is the mayor of our town?"

"I don't know, I haven't seen it."

"These people ......"

The farmers in the field had a bold topic, and they felt that Zhu Youzhen was a good official, and compared him to a good look, he judged people by his appearance

It is the norm in this day and age.

However, their topic also made Zhu Youzhen pay attention.

After the implementation of the new policy of the Apocalypse, the Ming Dynasty set up village officials in grassroots villages and arranged village officials to serve, and also arranged for market towns.

A market town is divided into the town mayor, the town soldiers and horses, the left secretary office, the right book office, in addition to counting the town soldiers and horses, a team of seventeen soldiers and horses and ten officials under the command of the left and right secretary offices.

That is to say, in a market town, there are thirty people with an official establishment.

After the New Deal, market towns had to meet the needs of a settled population ranging from 1,000 to 3,000 before they could be called market towns, and 3,000 people above were county seats.

Therefore, in the market town, it can be said that thirty people are in charge of three thousand people, and each person is in charge of one hundred people.

Due to the loose policy, all the mayor needs to do is collect taxes normally, count the population and fields, and so on.

The economy of various places is basically ordered by the political envoy department, the government yamen, and the county yamen, so there are not many times when the town mayor shows his head.

However, even so, the mayor still has to come forward on key matters.

It's just that in Hengjiang Town, it seems that the people don't know the mayor at all, and this is probably not a single case, but a microcosm of the whole world.

When Zhu Youzhen was helping poverty in a mountain village in his previous life, some ordinary people who lived in seclusion didn't know him, let alone the officials of this era.

However, this kind of thing is not a good phenomenon, and it can only be said that the bureaucratic atmosphere of the Ming Dynasty is too serious.

"Do you think Mayor Mare needs to get out and about?"

Zhu Youzhen asked the peasants, but they looked at me and I looked at you, and they didn't know what to say for a long time.

"Do you know what Mayor Mare is busy with every day?"

Zhu Youzhen saw that they couldn't speak, so he asked curiously, but what he got was their collective shaking of their heads.

Seeing this, he could only sigh and explain to the people:

"Mayor Mare's not a lot to do, but there's something to do."

"Just like now, you will be able to harvest the grain in half a month, but after the grain is harvested, whether it is selling or weighing and paying taxes, you need to prepare in advance."

"The mayor is doing these things at the moment, of course, there are some mayors who have nothing to do and leave things to the people below, it is not excluded that the mayor here is this kind of person."

"Whether he is this kind of person, I will help you check on him later, and what I still want to know now is if there are any problems in your life."

"For example, if you don't have enough clothes to wear, or if the price is too expensive, as long as you feel that you are in difficulty, don't be ashamed to say it."

"You have to know, I also came down this time, you said, I can go up and report to the court."

Zhu Youzhen deliberately said that his power was larger, which made many farmers curious about their identities.

Seeing that they didn't speak, Zhu Youzhen also continued to "self-destruct":

"I'm the inspector of the Imperial Palace, so don't worry about offending people, just ask."

"If anyone dares to trouble you afterwards, I will punish them."

"No, no, no! No one bullied us." Seeing Zhu Youzhen say this, the peasants hurriedly waved their hands to show that no one was bullying them, and some of them also said:

"We find it difficult mainly because some things are too expensive, and the price of grain is too low."

"Yes! Or the purchase price of grain is too low, and sometimes the grain is sold too much, and the people in the imperial store will give us paper money, and it is always comfortable to hold paper money without silver coins."

"Banknotes! Yes, that's the banknote! When we got that thing in our hands, we could only go to the imperial store to buy things, and although the yamen also recognized it, the yamen still let us take cash many times."

"The yamen asked you to take the money?" Zhu Youzhen frowned: "Now that the whole country is exempted, why does the yamen let you take the cash?"

"What? Of course, it's a fine!" The peasants shouted in unison, and explained in a gossip:

"If you live in the town and occasionally go to the county, you will always be fined, and sometimes the officials say that we throw things and will fine us with money."

"Sometimes, it is said that the township roads and county roads need to be maintained, and we have to pay a penny for those roads."

"Although this penny is not much, I have to go to the county more than a dozen times a year to buy and sell poultry feed, and this year it is more than a dozen yuan."

"Also, some roads are broken, and the yamen asked us to bring our own tools to help without saying a word, not only did they not pay for the wages, but they also didn't even give us food, so we had to bring our own ......."

"And ......"

The peasants talked about their hardships, but most of them were caused by the local yamen.

Among them, Zhu Youzhen especially had a bad face about the matter of "indiscriminate charges and indiscriminate employment".

These things are things that he has put an end to in his three and five orders, so he has retreated half a step and ceded 10% of the taxes of the imperial court to the locality, but now the local government still does not know how to converge.

"Tell Brother Ran about this, and he'll take care of it."

Zhu Youzhen turned his head and told Lu Wenzhao, and Lu Wenzhao also nodded and won.

It's just that he has already sentenced the officials of Xuzhou to death in his heart.

The one in the East Palace is no better than His Royal Highness, that young and frivolous, killing people at every turn, and the officials of Xuzhou are exiled at most in the hands of His Royal Highness, but in the hands of that person......

Lu Wenzhao narrowed his eyes, and Zhu Youzhen continued to chat with the farmers.

The needs of the peasants are simple, and their confusion is easy to explain, but the local officials ignore them and let them be called by the officials for the rest of their lives.

Officials are reluctant to explain to farmers, let alone others, as to why the price of grain has risen.

Therefore, Zhu Youzhen had no choice but to sit on his own and enlighten the peasants:

"The high price of fertilizer and feed is due to the fact that it has a large effect and is more difficult to produce."

"Now the imperial court is building factories, and when the factories are ready, the price of these things will be cheaper."

"Not only that, but the prices of cloth, clothing, and meat will drop when the time comes, and better days will come, so you don't have to worry."

"Now it is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince who is in charge of the country, and His Royal Highness can't see corrupt officials bullying the people."

"Prince?" Hearing Zhu Youzhen's words, the farmers in the ridge were stunned for a moment, and looked at each other with their friends left and right.

The bold fifty-year-old farmer who was the first to speak also asked cautiously, "Isn't the prison country the king of Qi?"

"That's the old yellow calendar...... Zhu Youzhen couldn't laugh or cry:

"His Royal Highness the King of Qi has long since the seventeenth year of the Apocalypse, and he has been in charge of the crown prince since the seventeenth year of the Apocalypse."

"Huh?!"

The bold fifty-year-old farmer was stunned when he heard this, and the hoe in his hand fell to the ground.

"This, this, this...... This...... Why could His Royal Highness the King of Qi suddenly stop supervising the country?"

"Yes! Why doesn't His Royal Highness King Qi supervise the country?"

"Could it be that he was squeezed out by corrupt officials?"

"No......

"Why doesn't His Royal Highness King Qi supervise the country!"

The peasants asked Zhu Youzhen in a gossiping manner, and some of them even had red eyes, and Zhu Youzhen didn't know how to answer.

He had already stepped down from his post as a supervisor for five years, and he never thought that the people of Hengjiang Town, Xuzhou would not know the news.

"Ugh...... I said that this day is not as good as day by day, it turns out that His Royal Highness King Qi is no longer a prison country......

"Be quiet!"

A farmer couldn't help but complain, and the next second he was kicked by the person next to him and reminded him.

Obviously, in their opinion, although Zhu Youzhen is approachable, he is a member of the yamen after all.

This kind of remark was heard by the people of the yamen, although it would not be punished, but it would not be good if Zhu Youzhen was careful.

Therefore, after being kicked, the man did not get angry, but smiled at Zhu Youzhen in embarrassment.

Regarding their attitude, Zhu Youzhen himself is very curious, he has obviously been thinking about his brother

Brother, his eldest nephew does propaganda and shares the credit, why do the people always favor him?

"Don't worry, that's what I thought, but I'm curious."

"Long live Ming and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince have done a lot for the people, why do you all prefer His Royal Highness King Qi?"

Zhu Youzhen asked his curious question, and he still doesn't know where his propaganda "failure" is.

"This ......," the peasants looked around, unable to say anything for a moment.

But the bold old farmer in his fifties said in a loud voice:

"What else can it be, before King Qi was imprisoned in the country, we were all farmers who were digging in the fields of northern Shaanxi, and a family of seven or eight people could eat two or three catties of old rice every day."

"I'm not afraid of your jokes, my three dolls had no clothes at that time, one of them was still a female doll, and they could only be at home every day, wrapped in a quilt, and only when my brother and I came home did they have a piece of clothing to wear, and they could take turns to go out to play."

"After the king of Qi imprisoned the country, the captives were destroyed, the northern peace was not to mention, and the taxes in Shaanxi were also exempted, so the three dolls in my family were put on clothes."

"Later, when there was a drought in Shaanxi, we had nothing to eat, so we had to rebel, but His Royal Highness the King of Qi did not hold us accountable, and moved us to this place, giving each household twenty acres of land."

"Our good days, it was given by His Royal Highness the King of Qi, you said Long Live and His Royal Highness, how do they care about us, the old man didn't see it, anyway, except for this year's exemption, I usually don't get any benefits."

"Yes!" Hearing the old peasant's words, the others also chimed in.

It is precisely because of their explanation that Zhu Youzhen knew that they were actually the uprising peasants of the Shaanxi People's Rebellion, so it is no wonder that they will remember themselves well.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youzhen didn't know how to say anything to them, and the atmosphere was a little frozen for a while.

However, some peasants saw that he was highly knowledgeable, and turned to him and asked:

"My lord, since you are an official, why did His Royal Highness King Qi go after he didn't become a prisoner?"

"Has His Royal Highness the King of Qi become a vassal?"

"Yes, where is His Royal Highness King Qi?"

"Sir, you talk to us, and we promise not to talk to anyone else......

"You're a good official, just tell us!"

For a while, the peasants were talking nonsense, and when Zhu Youzhen saw this, he could only lie:

"Your Highness and Banzai are currently inspecting Chengdu, and the next step should be Kunming."

"That's going to pass us?!" Hearing Zhu Youzhen's words, the surrounding peasants were all bright-eyed and very excited.

Seeing this, Zhu Youzhen could only wave his hand and said, "It's possible that you won't stop here and go directly to Kunming."

"At least that's closer to us." The peasants comforted themselves, and Zhu Youzhen couldn't help but snicker when he saw their appearance.

While he was laughing, a young man in a cloth suit walked up to Lu Wenzhao and whispered a few words in Lu Wenzhao's ear.

After hearing this, Lu Wenzhao also stepped forward and whispered in Zhu Youzhen's ear, "My lord, the train fuel is ready, and it's time to go."

"Hmm......" Zhu Youzhen nodded, then turned his head to the old farmers and said helplessly:

"Since you say so, then you just wait and see, can you wait."

"I have to go to Umeng now, and if I have a chance to see you again in the future, I will definitely go to your house to ask for some drinks."

Saying that, Zhu Youzhen saluted, and the old farmers were so frightened that they returned the salute one after another.

When they got up, Zhu Youzhen had already left the ridge with Lu Wenzhao and walked to the village road.

Some peasants saw him leave and began to talk about their own affairs, but the bold fifty-year-old farmer rubbed his eyes and looked at Zhu Youzhen's back, as if he had thought of something.

It's just that after that thought appeared, the old farmer smiled and shook his head:

"Probably not, where is His Royal Highness King Qi so young......

The old farmer laughed and turned around to pack up his farm tools and go home, but at this moment, the call of others was heard

to the ear.

"Grandpa! Grandpa! I'm out of class! We can go home!"

"Eh~" Hearing the familiar voice, the old farmer who was leaning over to pack up the farm tools paused, and almost subconsciously turned to look at the country road on the slope of the farmland.

On the rural road, Zhu Youzhen and a child with a backpack staggered by, and the child waved and ran towards the old farmer, but when he ran past Zhu Youzhen, he reduced his speed and looked at Zhu Youzhen with some doubts.

After Zhu Youzhen walked away, he stood in place and looked at Zhu Youzhen's back and scratched his hair.

The old farmer packed up his things, walked up the steps to the country road, looked at his grandson who was scratching his hair and smiled:

"How? Reading stupid? What do you do with your head?"

"It's not...... Grandpa." The child pointed to the back of Zhu Youzhen and the others, who had completely walked away and even almost disappeared from sight, and said:

"The good-looking man, he looks like a guy hanging in the school......

"Someone hanging in the school?" The old farmer didn't react.

"Hmm! It's the one who hangs with the emperor!" The child pointed to Zhu Youzhen and the others, who had completely disappeared, and said loudly to the old farmer.

At this time, whether it was the old farmer or other peasants carrying farm tools on the village road, they were stunned, and they looked in the direction pointed by the child, but they could no longer see anything.

All they could see was the afterglow of the setting sun at the end of the road, and the back that didn't seem to exist, but seemed to exist......

Looking at the invisible back, the old peasant was stunned, and then said as if muttering:

"Grandson, you said that you taught His Royal Highness King Qi how old is this year......

"It seems to be thirty-two or thirteen years old......