Today's soldiers are all straight, armed with guns and knives, and majestic.

No matter which way you look at it, it shows the majesty of the dynasty.

In the afternoon of the same day, Zhao Shuo and his entourage rode their horses and galloped wildly, heading directly to the Lianghuai region south of the Yellow River.

That's right!

Zhao Shuo wants to tour the south and two Huai!

Now in the entire Great Song Dynasty, the north has rotten.

There was no room for increased taxes for the imperial court.

Moreover, it is still in the stage of vigorously investing in aid construction.

However, Li Yanhui collected so much grain and grass in two and a half months.

made Zhao Shuo very dissatisfied with the officialdom of the land of Lianghuai.

The magistrates here made it clear that they wanted to hoard huge supplies and wait for the weather to change.

As a king, how could Zhao Shuo condone their opportunistic and evil tendencies?

In the evening, Zhao Shuo and his entourage settled in a post station sixty miles south of Bianliang City.

It's just a little south and it's less than a hundred miles.

It is able to come and go in the Yellow River and the Yangtze River basin of merchant ships.

Most of them were ships of the imperial court to transport the yamen.

The Great Song Dynasty occupies three of the four great inventions in history.

To have such a strong potential for invention is to engage in a developed model of canal transportation.

Navigation and transportation can change the breakthrough trend of an agricultural civilization to a deeper commercial civilization.

Bianliang City, the imperial capital of the Great Song Dynasty, extends in all directions.

It is the core hub connecting water and land transportation.

This created the prosperity of the Great Song Dynasty, which is enough to make the world's kings look up to the transcendent status.

In addition, of course, the development of commerce alone cannot fully reflect the status of Bianliang City.

There are also natural barriers that are easy to defend and difficult to attack.

With the Yellow River in their backs, it was enough to give the nomadic Jurchens a headache.

In addition, it is planned from the south of Bianliang City to the lower reaches of the Yellow River and the Yangtze River.

These were all strategic reserve areas of the Great Song Dynasty.

It is the decisive place to support the survival of the entire Great Song Dynasty.

How long can the northern front last? How much grain and grass can Bianliang City and the north provide?

It relies on the Lianghuai region.

So this is the purpose of Zhao Shuo's southern tour.

He had to make sure that the Lianghuai region was not infiltrated by gold thieves and was not caused by corrupt officials and corrupt officials.

Just after Zhao Shuo stayed at the station.

A group of panicked villagers appeared at the door of the post station.

Many ordinary people looked behind in despair while running.

"Check it out." Zhao Shuo said to Gao Yu.

Gao Yu nodded, and with a guard, he stepped forward to block the way of the villagers.

"Master, run. If you don't run, your food is gone. ”

The incoherent words of the villager made Gao Yu confused.

"Run? What to run? ”

"What's missing?" Gao Yu rubbed his beard and asked in a deep voice: "Uncle, don't be afraid, tell the old man, what's wrong?" Why is there so much confusion? ”

The old farmer who was stopped looked at Gao Yu carefully, although the other party was wearing folk clothes, it was still difficult to hide his nobility.

Immediately, the old farmer smacked his lips and said, "Bah, no wonder you are not in a hurry at all, we have to go." ”

"Stop!"

Gao Yu reprimanded in a deep voice, and suddenly realized that His Majesty was still watching from a short distance.

hurriedly put on an attitude of loving the people like a son, and said with a smile: "Old farmer, don't be afraid, I will protect you with food." ”

Hearing this, the old farmer looked stunned: "Really? ”

"Absolutely."

"Less blowing, can you keep it? Can you toughen up the official? ”

With that, the old peasant broke free of his soft hand and fled north.

As soon as they left, a group of sons dressed in brocade, like dignitaries and dignitaries, led fierce eagle dogs, and chased them out from the official road in front of the post station.

"Gao Yu, what's going on?"

Zhao Shuo walked behind Gao Yu.

Gao Yu hurriedly bowed down, trying his best to be more humble in front of the emperor.

"Your Majesty, the old minister didn't ask clearly."

Gao Yu was also very depressed.

But when he saw Zhao Shuolong's cold face, he squeaked and whimpered: "The old minister only listened to the old farmer, run, otherwise the grain will be gone." ”

"The old minister made his own opinion, asked him to explain the situation, and promised him to keep food for him, but he said that the old minister was not as tough as the local official."

Zhao Shuo looked at Gao Yu, who looked nervous, and his face became more and more cold.

"I see."

"What the old peasant means is that the local government is plundering their livelihood."

Grain?!

Gao Yu's brain turned, and his eyes were bright in an instant.

Hurriedly bowed his head and said: "It must be like this, otherwise why would those peasants run away?" ”

This Nima!

Zhao Shuo's heart suddenly tightened.

Are local officials so presumptuous now?

This place is less than 100 miles away from Bianliang City!

Actually plundering grain from the peasants in broad daylight?

"Han Shizhong, prepare the horse."

Zhao Shuo turned back to Han Shizhong and said.

At the same time, the guards of the Martial Arts Division also understood His Majesty's meaning.

immediately turned over and got on the horse, followed Zhao Shuo and chased forward.

Not far ahead.

Zhao Shuo saw that the merchants on both sides of the street and many people gathered in groups.

There were also more than a dozen fierce and vicious strong men looking around.

It was the same people who had been chasing after them on horseback.

And the rich young man who took the lead was looking around with majestic eyes.

He stared at the bruised old man in the corner with a proud expression, and said scoldingly: "Run? Do you run again? ”

"Master, what I told you before is clear, it's not robbery, it's levy."

"Now that the north of my Great Song Dynasty is in urgent need of grain and grass, the emperor can't sympathize with the people's feelings, and blindly asks our officials to hand over grain."

"We don't have any, so we can only ask you for funding."

As the young man spoke, he pulled out a silver ingot from his sleeve.

Still at the feet of the old man.

"This is money, you'd better put it away, don't slander us for snatching, it's a buyback, understand?!"

Brother Gongzi walked up to the old man and said with a hideous face.

The old man wiped the blood from the corners of his mouth, his trembling hands around him, and curled up even tighter into the corner.

"Hmph, phew." Brother Childe spat a mouthful.

Look around with your hands on your hips.

At this time, the people on both sides of the street retracted their heads.

Childe said, "What are you afraid of? Can this young master eat you? ”

"What a bargain it is to hand over the grain and take the silver?"

Childe's yin and yang words made the expressions of everyone present more and more lonely.

At this moment, a rickety village chief walked out on crutches.

"Young Master Ma, it's not that we don't support the imperial court, but the consistent price of a stone of grain is unheard of in most of my life."

"Besides, the villagers still have to pay land tax, agricultural tax, and farm tool tax, and there is very little surplus grain at home."

"How can I turn this in?"

"Yoh?" The rich young master's face turned sideways, and he kicked the old man's crutches away.

"You, Diao Min, are you questioning Ben Shao's authority? Come on, call me! ”

When the words landed, the fierce strong men on the periphery turned over and dismounted, pulled out the short stick on the horse's back and walked towards the crowd.

At this moment, a voice full of majesty came from the other side of the crowd: "Presumptuous! ”