There were a few unwilling tiger roars from time to time in the dense forest, and when Ning Xiaochuan and the others returned to the thatched house, the sky was almost dawn.

"I'm tired, but fortunately, it's not for nothing." Ning Xiaochuan shook the wine gourd in his hand, listening to the sound of the liquid flowing inside, and couldn't help laughing.

Song Jing stretched, "It's just that I pity my old bones." ”

"Young Master Ning, you can be counted as back, or you and Miss Nie will rest for a while, and we will set off at noon." Kong Zhenxuan, who was outside the thatched house, walked over and said.

There was an emergency last night, and Ning Xiaochuan originally planned to take Kong Zhenxuan with him, after all, he didn't know whether the other cave in Nie Hongyi's mouth was good or bad.

But after thinking about it, it was not safe to leave Su Min and Su Su in the mountains, so he left Kong Zhenxuan behind.

Ning Xiaochuan looked at Song Jing, "Old Song Tou, do you want to sleep for a while?" ”

"No need, where to sleep is not to sleep, how much time to delay here." Song Jing shook his head and said.

Ning Xiaochuan was looking at Nie Hongyi, Nie Hongyi nodded at him, Ning Xiaochuan smiled, "Okay, when Su Su and the others wake up, we will set off." ”

"Okay."

The sun is on three poles, it is not very hot when you set off in the morning, the mountain wind blows, accompanied by a faint coolness, but the weather is getting hotter and hotter as you walk, and you can see the sun above your head wantonly scorching the earth.

But fortunately, they saw Santangguan.

Santangguan is not as big as Ning Xiaochuan imagined, and even the specifications are not magnificent, just a pass, a city wall, plus four corner towers and arrow towers, there is no difference from ordinary passes.

But unlike other passes, Santangguan was really honed in the war, and the pale and heavy stone walls tell the hardships of the year.

Today's Santangguan has only a few garrisons to guard, and the gate that the barbarians tried their best to pass through is no longer closed, and in front of the open city gate, the people walked by with laughter and laughter.

Ning Xiaochuan and his entourage also followed the people through Santang Pass, and after passing this pass, it didn't take long to reach the territory of Luzhou.

The carriage slowly drove through Santangguan, Ning Xiaochuan poked his head out slightly, looked at Santangguan behind him, and sighed with emotion.

……

Luzhou, one of the three northern states, is located in the east of Zhongzhou and is a famous Legalist holy place in Dafeng.

When it comes to Luzhou, we have to mention the Legalists, Xinchen in Luzhou is the birthplace of the Legalists, and the originators of the Legalists once preached and accepted disciples here, and the "Legalists are the great of the country!" The concept spread to all parts of Daebong.

Of course, since the birth of the Legalist family, there have been many famous families, just like Han Xuan, who was famous more than a hundred years ago, and single-handedly established the Dafeng Prison Prison.

There are also Xun Si three hundred years ago, who single-handedly presided over the compilation of the "Dafeng National Code", and this "Dafeng National Code" is the national law of Dafeng, which has continued to this day.

Legalists impose heavy sentences, believing that in order to manage the country, it is necessary to adopt a combination of rewards and punishments, and that a country without criminal law has no majesty, and a country without criminal prison has no dignity.

As the punishment in various states has become heavier and heavier in recent years, Legalism has also been hostile to other schools of thought to a certain extent, especially in Luzhou, where Legalism has much greater influence than in other places.

There are many valleys and few plains in Luzhou, and many large cities are built in ravines, and this time they entered Luzhou, and the first city they had to rush to was Ludu.

The carriage creaked and walked when it came to the outside of Ludu City, Ning Xiaochuan looked at the people who came and went with frowns, and couldn't help but speak: "Why are these people all worried, and their steps are in a hurry, as if everyone is in a hurry. ”

Song Jing leaned on the carriage, holding a thatch in his mouth, and said slowly: "This Ludu is not a good place, there is a place called Juxianzhuang in Ludu City, which sounds like a bandit's nest, but in fact, it's not as good as a bandit's nest."

The owner of this Juxianzhuang is a disciple of the Xinchen Fa family, and he is the current city lord, the younger brother of Lu Du Taishou, so ah, this Juxianzhuang often scavenges the people in the name of the government, and the people are miserable. ”

Ning Xiaochuan listened, frowned and said, "Doesn't the imperial court care about such an outrageous place?" Watching them brutalize the people like this? ”

"The imperial court wants to manage it, but how to manage it, this is Luzhou, which belongs to the northern border and is under the control of the king of Jingbei, as for why the king of Jingbei doesn't care, who knows." Song Jing said helplessly.

At the mention of King Jingbei, Ning Xiaochuan frowned, after all, he still has some grievances with this King of Jingbei.

Half a year ago in Yindu, he broke the arm of the prince of Jingbei on the street, although it was the Wu family who later carried the blame for the king of Jingbei, but Ning Xiaochuan knew that this matter would definitely not be so easy.

Now that he has come to the realm of King Jingbei again, it is estimated that King Jingbei will not let him leave easily.

"That's it, that old Song Tou, do you say that we will still enter this Lu Capital City?" Ning Xiaochuan touched his head and said curtly.

Song Jing rubbed his nose and smiled, "Come in, you're here, if you don't go in, let's see what to do." ”

Just when Ning Xiaochuan and the others entered the city, a good show was being staged in the city of Lu Capital at this time.

……

Lu Du Taishou's name is Deng Hui, and he has been serving as a Taishou for more than 20 years, and Deng Hui is rushing to the city lord's mansion with a big belly at this time.

With a fat head and big ears, and a bloated body, he had to gasp for a while every two steps under the scorching sun, and the sweat on his forehead was dripping down.

In the city lord's mansion, a man in white was leisurely drinking tea, and there was a skinny man sitting next to him, but his eyes were extremely sharp, the man had a goatee, bowed, and sat quietly next to the man.

After a while, Deng Hui walked in, and as soon as he came in, he showed a professional smile, and said with a smile that he didn't care about wiping his sweat and said: "Oh, what kind of wind is this blowing the young master, hahaha, this official is busy with government affairs, and he didn't welcome the young master in person, and I hope the young master will not blame." ”

After hearing this, the man in white turned over and helped Deng Hui up, "Lord Deng is serious, but I'm still curious, where did Lord Deng go when he was busy with government affairs and didn't handle political affairs in the City Lord's Mansion?" It must be that he has observed the people's feelings and gone deep into the people. ”

"This ......" Deng Hui was a little embarrassed, cough cough smiled, "yes, yes......"

Unexpectedly, the face of the man in white changed suddenly, "Lord Deng, all I saw on the way to Ludu were the people complaining about their misery, the heavy tax and forced labor pressed the people so that they couldn't raise their heads at all, and some families worked hard for a year's harvest and were not enough to pay taxes, is this the result of your understanding of the people's feelings?" ”

Deng Hui coughed embarrassedly twice, and hurriedly haha, "Oh, the young master is heavy, this tax is a little heavy, but the rules are not set by the official, there is an order from above, and I am just acting on orders." ”

The above in Deng Hui's mouth naturally refers to the King of Jingbei.

The man was a little helpless, smiled again, and turned to look at the thin man next to him.

"Senior brother, I came to send you an invitation on my father's order, if the invitation has been delivered, the junior brother will leave first." The thin man arched his hand.

"Hey, don't stay two more days before leaving?" Deng Hui said with a smile, and when he laughed, his eyes were almost out of sight.

The man in white got up and straightened his clothes and looked at Deng Hui, "Lord Deng, this time I came to deliver a letter, as for waiting for me to see it, forget it, after all, who knows what you will say in front of my third uncle, don't you say?" ”

Hearing this, Deng Hui's face was also a little unbearable, and the thin man next to him hurriedly came over to play a round, "Young master, don't be so hostile, it's all a family." ”

The man in white looked back at the thin man, wanted to say something but never said it, snorted coldly, arched his hand, "Farewell." ”

After the man in white left, Deng Hui's face fell suddenly, and he leaned on the chair angrily, wiping his sweat and said! "Stinky boy, let Lao Tzu rush over in such a hurry, I thought there was something big, it turned out to be teasing Lao Tzu."

"Big brother, forget it, kid, after all, he is young and can't hold his breath." The thin man next to him said lightly.

"Hmph, if it weren't for his surname Han, Lao Tzu would be afraid of him!" The more Deng Hui thought about it, the more angry he became, and he looked back at the thin man, "How are you preparing?" ”

"It's all loaded, and it will be sent to Jingzhou in the near future." The thin man arched his hand.

"Okay, this time you must be careful to escort, don't go wrong again, our state pastor is not a fuel-efficient lamp, if something happens again, he will be suspicious." Deng Hui frowned and said.

The thin man nodded silently, "Big brother, don't worry, it's foolproof." ”

……

After the man in white left the city lord's mansion, he walked on the street with a horse, looking at the deserted street, his brows were furrowed, where is there still a little bit of a city, the man in white recalled Deng Hui's fat head and big ears, and he couldn't help but get angry.

As he walked, the man in white saw a newly posted notice in front of an archway, requiring each family to pay a tax of five taels of silver.

It's good for people in such towns to pay five taels of silver, not very much, but for the people in the countryside, it is difficult to pay five taels of silver.

The man in white saw that next to the new notice, there was a tax collection notice that had been posted not long ago, which was ten taels of silver, and the interval between the two notices was only twenty days.

In less than a month, the tax of fifteen taels of silver, this is not a tax, this is bloodsucking.

He is not angry, no wonder the people of Ludu are running out, can this not be done, if this tax is collected like this, sooner or later, one day, Ludu will become an empty city.

Just as he sighed, a carriage came slowly behind him, and it was a one-armed old man who drove the carriage, and in front of the carriage a man and a woman were riding horses, the woman covered her face with a red veil, and the man was born white and pure, and his appearance was extraordinary.

I saw the man stop his horse, turn over and dismount, come to the notice, and after reading the notice, shouted disdainfully: "Are all the officials so shameless now?" Where is this tax collection, it is clearly a robbery. ”

As soon as these words came out, the uncle next to him hurriedly stepped forward to stop the man, "Son, be quiet, you are not from Ludu at first glance, in our Ludu, talking about the official government, you will go to prison." ”

The man looked at the old man, frowned, and snorted coldly: "Young Master Ben really wants to see how powerful the official mansion of this Lu Du is, and it can control the mouths of the people." ”