"Let's go, let's go."

Zhang Zheng greeted Li Chengqian and took the lead in going out and walking outside.

Seeing Zhang Zheng get up, Li Chengqian also drank the porridge in a few sips, and followed Zhang Zheng towards the outside of Jinyang Palace.

When he left the gate of Jinyang Palace, Zhang Zheng had already gathered a large number of guards behind him.

They all heard that Zhang Zheng was going to meet with the Mo family giants today, and they wanted to follow the soldiers who wanted to join in the fun.

Liu Jing, who was originally guarding in front of the gate of Jinyang Palace, saw Zhang Zheng and Li Chengqian's posture, and his face suddenly became difficult to see.

Zhang Zheng looked behind him when he saw Liu Jing's gaze, turned around, and was also taken aback when he saw so many people following him.

What is the situation, subconsciously looked at Li Chengqian, Li Chengqian blinked innocently, and spread his hands to say that it had nothing to do with him.

"What to do, what to do, is the son going to negotiate not to fight, what are you doing with me, can't you find anything to do, scattered, scattered!"

Zhang Zheng scolded the soldiers and instructed Chen Yu:

"Chen Yu, pick two hundred people and follow me."

Seeing that Zhang Zheng had dismissed the crowd, Liu Jing's expression looked a little better, and he arched his hand towards Zhang Zheng and said:

"Zhang Xiannan, please."

Zhang Zheng turned over and got on the horse, saw that everyone was faintly protecting Li Chengqian in the middle, and replied to Liu Jing: "I'm tired of Liu Daxia leading the way." ”

The group rode out of Jinyang City and headed north, and after a while, the tall walls of Jinyang City disappeared from everyone's sight.

Out of Jinyang City, there is the endless Fenhe Plain, and a large area of farmland on the plain is barren.

If it had been in previous years, these farmlands would have been a bustling and busy harvest scene now.

There are two main types of crops in the northern part of the Tang Dynasty, one is wheat as a staple food, and the other is millet as a supplementary grain.

Originally, after the wheat harvest in the autumn, the farmers had to plant another crop of millet to ensure a year's food ration for the family.

And now it's late October, which is supposed to be the season for millet harvesting.

Unfortunately, this year's drought and locust plague have coincided. Not to mention millet, even the wheat as the staple food has been eaten by locusts, and the three grains of Datang have not been harvested.

On the endless Fenhe Plain, there are some small villages scattered here and there.

But after nearly half an hour out of the city, Zhang Zheng did not find a lively atmosphere in these villages.

The young people in the village should have been requisitioned by the government to work, and they can still earn some rations by working.

There were only a few elderly people, squatting at the base of the wall, their faces covered with numbness and dead silence.

In this regard, Zhang Zheng could only shake his head and sigh.

"It's already very good, in the pre-Sui period, these old people only had the fate of starving to death."

Liu Jing on the side heard Zhang Zheng sigh and comforted Zhang Zheng rarely.

He is a person who has experienced the turbulent times at the end of the Sui Dynasty and has a deeper understanding of the living conditions of the people.

In this year of catastrophe, Datang has not starved to death of the people, and there have not been many displaced people, which is already a very good result.

If it had been placed in the pre-Sui period, there had been such a large-scale famine, and the flames of war would have already broken out.

It is also reflected from the side that the policy of cash-for-work proposed by Zhang Zheng is indeed a policy for the benefit of the country and the people.

"Zhang Xiannan, His Royal Highness the Prince, we are almost there."

Liu Jing greeted Zhang Zheng and Li Chengqian, slowed down his horse, and turned into a small road next to the official road.

At the end of the path, a small village was faintly visible.

There is nothing special about this village, just like other villages that Zhang Zheng has seen.

There are still some elderly people squatting at the base of the wall at the entrance of the village, and some children are playing and playing, just like Zhang Zheng went to the Zhuangzi in Weinan for the first time.

If anything, the village in front of you is even poorer than it was before his printing factory in Zhuangzi in Weinan was opened.

The Zhuangzi of Weinan is poor and poor, at least every child will have a piece of clothing that can cover the body although it is full of patches.

But most of the children in this village, male and female, young and old, are naked, and their faces are covered with vegetables.

Only some women, whose bodies were already developing, had a few rags to cover their privacy.

The chaotic sound of horses' hooves attracted the attention of everyone in the village.

The entry of such a large contingent of cavalry into the village had not been seen in many years.

When some old people saw Zhang Zheng and others coming from a horse, they couldn't help but shrink their bodies, as if they were recalling some bad past.

It wasn't until he saw Liu Jing, who was leading the way, dismounted and walked into the village, that he looked at the visitor with some frightened eyes.

Seeing Liu Jing dismount and walk, Zhang Zheng and Li Chengqian naturally couldn't ride on horseback anymore, so they also turned over and dismounted and followed Liu Jing into the village.

With Zhang Zheng's eyes, it can naturally be seen that these people are ordinary people who have nothing to do with the Mo family.

And Li Chengqian looked at the current situation of this village, and he was a little stunned.

In the past, in Chang'an, he was His Royal Highness the Prince, and when he came to Jinyang, he was a prince like a god.

This is the first time he has had close contact with the people of Datang since he left Chang'an.

He never thought that the living conditions of the people of Datang would be like this.

This is also the outskirts of Jinyang, one of the wealthiest places in Datang.

The people in the land of Longxing are still living like this, but what about the more remote places, the people in the more remote territory of Datang, what kind of state of dire distress do they live in?

Li Chengqian pursed his lips, he couldn't imagine it. Because this village is already the most barren place he has ever seen.

Zhang Zheng found out about Li Chengqian's state, but Zhang Zheng didn't plan to interrupt his thoughts.

Only by letting Li Chengqian observe carefully and experience it with his heart will he understand what kind of responsibility he is carrying.

"Brother Zheng'er, I always thought that I would become a wise monarch like my father in the future, and I must become such a monarch in the future."

Li Chengqian retracted his gaze, his mood was a little heavy, and he said such a sentence to Zhang Zheng without a head.

"I know, but now?"

Hearing Li Chengqian say this, Zhang Zheng's thoughts couldn't help but fly back to a few months ago, when the two teenagers talked to each other about their ideals in the East Palace, and couldn't help but ask a rhetorical question.

"Now I understand why Emperor Wen is called the first virtuous monarch in three generations by historians. Even now, with his father's merits that are not inferior to Han Wu, he still respects Emperor Taizongwen. ”

Li Chengqian's answer was still clueless, and the two seemed to be talking about their own things.

But Zhang Zheng understood that this was a sign of Li Chengqian's growth, and he couldn't help but feel a little relieved in his heart.

The Emperor Taizongwen in Li Chengqian's mouth is talking about Liu Heng, the Emperor of Han Wen. In addition, Liu Heng is also Li Er's idol.