The idea of revisiting the old place was proposed by Yao Rong.

Since Qi Mingxu's affairs on their side gradually got on the right track, Nan Liujing also turned his attention away from them and devoted himself to answering these two questions.

He originally thought that after going through so many things, he should not be helpless in the face of these two problems.

In fact, he locked himself in his room and thought about it for several days, and he did write some articles.

Every sentence in the article is what he has seen and heard in the past year or so. But for some reason, the article ended up with a poor presentation.

It was so bad that before Yao Rong and Qu Jianbai saw it, Nan Liujing silently crumpled it into a ball and threw it into the paper basket.

It happened that Liang Guangyu came to look for him in the other courtyard, and Nan Liujing decided to go out to relax, and then he was called here by Yao Rong-

[At the beginning, you had doubts in Qingshui Village, but now that you have encountered a bottleneck, you might as well go back to Qingshui Village to have a look.] ]

It had just rained, and the entrance of Qingshui Village was muddy.

The villagers who usually like to stay under the persimmon tree to enjoy the cool and chat are nowhere to be seen. Only the lush persimmon trees still stand there.

Nan Liujing stepped out of the carriage and carefully avoided the puddle, but he still accidentally stepped on it.

Now that the shoes are dirty and wet, Nanliujing has completely let go, and strides over the stagnant water: "A year has passed, and I don't know how the persimmon field has grown." ”

Yao Rongdao: [Just go over and take a look.] ]

Nan Liujing nodded, he still remembered the approximate location of the persimmon field, and he could walk through it by himself without anyone to guide him.

Qingshui Village is almost exactly the same as I remember.

The same muddy road.

The same dilapidated mud house.

The only strange thing is that Nanliujing didn't see any villagers all the way.

"It's kind of weird." Nan Liujing wrinkled his eyebrows slightly, "Could it be that as soon as the rain stopped, the villagers went to work in the fields?" ”

"Your Highness, something seems to be wrong over there." The guards who followed behind Nan Liujing moved their eyes and pointed forward.

Nanliujing listened to a faint noise, as if the movement of the whole village had converged there.

Daye hasn't had a smooth wind and rain for a long time.

Floods in the south, droughts in the north, wars on the borders, and all kinds of exorbitant taxes, land annexation, and corrupt officials have all become mountains that weigh on the heads of the common people.

Located only a few dozen miles from Kyoto, the village faces mountains to the east and water to the west, and its geographical location is so advantageous that even when natural disasters are at their worst, the people here can barely survive.

However, since the defeat of General Yao Lao fifteen years ago, the imperial court began to increase taxes and compulsory conscription in order to rebuild border defenses, and the young and middle-aged people in Qingshui Village have become fewer and fewer, and the taxes to be paid every year have become heavier and heavier.

Until last year, under the leadership of the village head, Qingshui Village reclaimed several acres of mountainous land to plant persimmon saplings. Looking at the persimmon trees that are growing better and better, the villagers have a slight smile on their faces.

It was the joy of life having hope again.

This year, some persimmon trees that are longer in the year have bloomed one after another, and the crops in the field have reached the time when they can be harvested.

After working for more than half a month, the villagers finally finished harvesting all their crops before the autumn rainy season came.

Although the harvest was not high, the villagers still went to the market to buy meat in twos and threes, intending to add more food to the greedy children at home.

But who knows, the meat has just been bought, and the joyful atmosphere has not yet dissipated from the sky above the village-

The cool officials, who smelled the smell of meat, followed them into the village, urging them to pay their taxes as soon as possible.

The imperial court has been collecting taxes under the guise of a name, and even the village chief, who has dealt with the government the most, has not fully understood all the taxes. But they heard the final result -

Seventy percent of the grain they had just harvested had to be handed over, and they could only keep thirty percent for themselves.

These 30 percent include not only their family's food rations for one year, but also their grain for next year.

As soon as they heard this, the villagers immediately exploded, and said: "It just rose from sixty percent to sixty and a half percent last year, how can it still rise this year?" ”

"That is, last year, the food in our village was not enough, and in the end, many people had to dig wild vegetables to survive, so there was no starvation to death."

"This year's harvest is worse than last year's, this- how can people live!"

The county magistrate looked at the village chief with hanging eyes: "I will only give you five days." ”

He yelled impatiently at the people around him: "If you want to complain, don't come at me, I am doing what the county commander ordered." The prefectural magistrate also acted according to the above meaning. ”

"If you think that the tax is heavy, go and speak to the lords in the court, and kneel before them and beg them to show kindness and reduce the tax for you. If you don't have the ability to make those big people change their minds, shut up immediately. ”

The village chief of Qingshui Village is the old man who talked to Nanliujing back then.

The corners of the village chief's lips were bitter, and he opened his mouth to say something, but when the words came to his mouth, he sighed deeply: "We understand." ”

His already heavily arched back was overwhelmed and bent deeper, as if he could never straighten up again: "Don't worry, my lord, we all understand the truth." ”

"Okay. It's a sensible one. The official nodded in satisfaction, and added, "There is another matter for you." ”

The village chief chuckled in his heart: "I don't know what is the matter?" ”

The official said: "It is said that this year Dijon in the north suffered a disaster, and many livestock died. They don't have enough food, and in the winter they are likely to send troops to raid the border. The imperial court intends to recruit some more soldiers. ”

"Conscription!?" The village chief stared at the official in disbelief.

One stone stirred up a thousand waves, and the villagers, who were barely able to control their emotions, suddenly exploded.

"What, do you have to levy it again!?"

"You said that the court had lost the battle, so you took my eldest son, and then my second and third sons. They were gone for years. In the past few years, I have not received any money from them, nor have I received letters from them, and I don't even know if they are dead or alive......"

"The young and middle-aged people in our village have all gone to the battlefield, who else are you going to recruit? Is it my fifty or sixty-year-old bones, or my eldest grandson, who is only eleven or twelve? ”

The woman looked at her fifteen or sixteen-year-old son, and did not say a word, but silently shielded her son with her thin body.

"My lord......" The village chief looked around, tears in his eyes, "I really can't levy anymore, there are no young adults in our village anymore." ”

The official smiled coldly and stretched out his hand to push the village chief away: "I just praised you for being sensible, but when you turn your head, you don't know anything." ”

"Think about it, if the imperial court doesn't recruit soldiers, how can there be enough people to defend the border? If you don't defend the border and let Dijon drive straight in, won't you people be the ones who will suffer? ”

The ground was slippery, and the village chief was pushed and staggered.

The eldest grandson, who was standing behind the village chief, hurriedly went to help, so that the village chief did not fall to the ground.

When the villagers saw this, they all glared at the officials.

The young man who was protected by the woman looked immature, but his voice was full of stubbornness: "Di Rong called, we will indeed die." But now that the court is forcing us like this, do we still have a way to live! ”

The official changed color, pointed his long whip at the young man, and said coldly: "Isn't it said that there are no young adults in your village, I see that there is a young and vigorous person here!" It's just you, if you weren't on the conscription list in your village, I would have recruited ten more people in your village! ”

The woman knelt down in terror and kowtowed to the officials and pleaded, "My lord, I beg you to be merciful and forgive this child." His father used to fight with General Yao, but later died outside, and this kid had never seen his father. Our family is such a lone seedling. ”

"Mother-" The young man's eyes were red, and he bent down to pull the woman.

The woman stretched out her hand to hit the young man: "You child, don't hurry up and plead with the adults!" Get on your knees! ”

The young man pursed his lips, but his back straightened up: "Even if we kowtow to him and plead, he won't let us go." They are corrupt officials and corrupt officials, and they will not give up until they have sucked us all out of our bones. ”

"Good! Very good! ”

The official stepped forward and flicked the whip in his hand.

The sound of breaking the air sounded, but instead of throwing it at the boy, it hit the woman.

Just as the whip was about to fall on the woman's head, the official was kicked to the ground and ate a mouth full of muddy water.

His face was distorted in pain, and he felt a sense of annoyance at losing face, and he got up from the ground and roared angrily: "Who! Who dares to hit me! You dare to beat the court officials, this is a blatant rebellion! You all wait for me, and I must report this matter to the county master when I go back!" ”

Before he could stand still, he was pushed to the ground again.

It was only then that the officials saw clearly the man who had subdued him—a tall man, with his right hand on his side, dressed as a guard.

The crowd that was originally in a circle divided into a way, and Nan Liujing came out of the crowd in a black brocade suit: "It's really a great majesty, a little official with no rank and no rank, and he dares to buckle the hat of rebellion on the heads of the people, it seems that the county government of the entire Yongan County is rotten." ”

The anger of the officials froze on their faces. He is the kind of person who knows best who can be offended and who cannot be offended.

"This ......"

Nan Liujing was too lazy to talk nonsense with this kind of dog-fighting thing, and waved his hand at the guards.

The guards immediately blocked the official's mouth and dragged the official out, preventing the official from staying here to obstruct the eyes of the southern scenery.

Nan Liujing looked at the woman who was slumped on the ground and reminded the young man, "Quickly help your mother up." ”

Nan Liujing looked at the village chief again, and asked softly, "Village chief, do you remember me?" I visited your village last year. ”

The village chief nodded repeatedly: "Yes, of course I do." The noble person's all-round style, I can't forget it. ”

As soon as the woman was lifted up, she knelt down sharply towards the south.

Nan Liujing's eyes were quick, and he hurriedly helped her: "I know what you want to say, don't kneel." ”

The village chief also persuaded her a few times, and then the woman left with her son.

The village chief asked the other villagers in the courtyard to leave, and the originally crowded courtyard became empty again.

"Would you like to come in and have some tea?" The village chief asked Nanliujing.

Nan Liujing said: "It's troublesome, just have a cup of warm water." ”

After sitting down and taking two sips of water, Nan Liujing asked about some things in the village, and the village chief said them one by one.

After understanding what he wanted to know, Nanliujing decided to go to the persimmon field to have a look.

"I'll show you there." The village chief hurriedly said.

Nan Liujing pointed to the child who was peeking at the door, and smiled slightly: "Let your eldest grandson take me there." He was the one who showed me the way last year. ”

Last year, Nanliujing came to Qingshui Village, and the little boy who led him the way was the eldest grandson of the village chief.

The little boy said embarrassedly: "Noble, I didn't mean to eavesdrop. My mother asked me to bring you dates. ”

He was holding a bowl with several large dates in it.

Nan Liujing only took one: "You and your sister eat the rest." I remember you had a younger sister, right? ”

The little boy nodded happily and led Nanliujing outward.

As soon as the two of them walked out of the door, they saw the swarthy boy standing there as silent as a sculpture.

Seeing Nanliujing, a trace of fluctuation appeared in the young man's eyes. He subconsciously wanted to take a step closer to Nanliujing, but he retracted it the moment he raised his foot, standing cramped in place.

Nan Liujing said: "That official has been taken away, and he will not come to plague your village again." ”

As soon as he heard this, the young man knelt down directly and kowtowed three times to the south of Liujing: "This nobleman, please be merciful and let me seek an errand by your side." I can do anything, and I'll do it well. ”

Nan Liujing didn't expect him to kneel down for himself, and when he reacted, the three rings of the young man's head were finished: "Didn't you just kowtow to the officials and plead." ”

The young man's voice was stubborn: "It's useless to plead with jackals, tigers and leopards. ”

Nan Liujing liked this answer, and reached out to help him up: "What's your name?" ”

"Back to the nobles, my name is Yang Zhen."

Nan Liujing directly instructed the guards and asked the guards to arrange Yang Zhen.

There was a shortage of people around him, and it was easy to arrange an errand for Yang Zhen. As for whether Yang Zhen can grasp the opportunity and how far he can go in the future, it depends on Yang Zhen's own.

On the sloping slopes, persimmon trees rise in layers.

The rain washed away the dust from the branches and leaves, revealing a kind of clarity on a sunny day after the rain.

As far as the eye can see, the mountains are full of green.

Nan Liujing asked the little boy to stay at the foot of the mountain and wait, he walked into the forest alone, and brushed away the branches and leaves blocking the road in front of him: "Teacher, did you already guess that these things would happen in Qingshui Village?" ”

[That's right.] ]

According to the original historical line, Daye only has five years of qi left.

Yao Rong's arrival changed some things, but it failed to change the overall historical trend - the imperial court still raised taxes and conscription as the original historical line. If nothing is done, starting next year, ordinary people everywhere will be forced to rise up because they are desperate, and eventually form a wave of uprisings that will sweep the world.

[Liujing, after listening to what happened to Qingshui Village, do you feel pity for the villagers?] ]

"Yes."

[Are you going to help them?] ]

"Of course."

Yao Rong asked the most critical question: [Then how are you going to help them.] ]

Nan Liujing pursed his lips, and after a long while, he said softly: "I will send someone to investigate that official and punish him well." ”

"I can also use my status to help Qingshui Village reduce taxes and exempt from conscription."

He lowered his eyes.

The eyelashes, which were as dense as a crow's feather, gently covered his eyelids, and an inexplicable sense of loss rose from him.

"—but, after the punishment of that official, there will be other officials."

The total amount of taxes to be collected by the imperial court and the total number of soldiers to be conscripted will not be less. I helped Qingshui avoid taxes and conscription, and the pressure shared on Qingshui Village will not disappear, but will only be transferred to other villages. ”

"I can save a village of Qingshui. can only save one Qingshui Village. ”

If you are poor, you will be good alone, and if you are good, you will help the world. There are too many injustices in the world, and he can't control them at all.

But why do you just feel unwilling?

When Nan Liujing was completely trapped in this emotion and couldn't extricate himself, Yao Rong's words echoed in his ears.

As always, gentle, and seductive.

[Liujing, what are you thinking?] ]

"I don't know how to put it."

"Teacher, I just think that many things shouldn't be like this."

But it shouldn't be like this, so what should it be......

Yao Rong heard his unfinished meaning, and suddenly said: [You look up and look at the tree in front of you. ]

The persimmon tree in front of him was taller than the other persimmon trees around it, and its branches and leaves stretched out, rustling in the breeze.

Nan Liujing looked up and stared at the persimmon tree for a long time, still not knowing what Yao Rong wanted him to see.

He couldn't cry or laugh, and just wanted to ask Yao Rong, his eyes suddenly froze-

A small pale yellow flower with four petals, wrapped in a square green calyx, presents a low-hanging shape. Like a low-hanging yellow trumpet.

The calyx is much larger than the petals, and at first glance the flowers seem to be hidden between the leaves.

But Nanliujing is very familiar with this flower.

This is a persimmon flower.

Every year from May to July, the persimmon trees bloom when they reach the age of the tree. Each flower only blooms for about ten days, and then it withers and bears small green persimmons.

The persimmon trees planted in this woodland are two to four years old, and it is normal for them to bloom.

But now it's August, and if nothing else, this should be the last persimmon flower in the mountains.

[Remember the persimmon tree we planted at Choshin Palace?] ]

Nan Liujing nodded: "I also asked Master Liang about the situation of the persimmon tree today. Master Liang said it grew very well. ”

[I've always felt that you and persimmons are very fateful.] ]

This fate can be said to be very deep.

[Later, slowly, I found out that you are very similar to the persimmon flower.] ]

Nanliujing's eyebrows were slightly raised.

The eyebrows that have grown open reveal a bit of youthful demeanor, sharp and eye-catching.

"Why not peonies and orchids."

It's not that he doesn't like persimmon flowers, it's just that since ancient times, literati Yashi have used plum orchids and bamboo chrysanthemums to compare themselves. The wealth and romance are none other than peonies.

In contrast, the persimmon flower is the most common flower in the northern wilderness, but it has no presence in literature.

Yao Rong said with a smile: [Peony is the flower of wealth, and orchid is the flower of a gentleman.] Compared to them, persimmon flowers are indeed too ordinary, not pretty, and not precious. ]

[But your future is bound to be magnificent.] Now that you've stood at the top, you don't have to take yourself too seriously. ]

[Those who stand at the top need not to be above all beings, but to bow their heads respectfully like persimmon flowers.] ]

[Because all the people in the world, the mountains and rivers are at your feet.] ]

Nan Liujing subconsciously lowered his head.

Beneath his feet were barren, cracked soil, strong roots that were deeply rooted in the soil.

But perhaps because of the influence of Yao Rong's words, Nanliujing seemed to see the people of Daye through these.

- He saw those people who were poor and poor, but still tried their best to survive.

Yao Rong smiled and said, "Persimmon flowers should be the flowers you are most looking forward to seeing, right?] ]

Nanliujing was stunned, and the memories buried deep in the years emerged.

Every persimmon flower can almost form a persimmon.

In the past, every summer, when he was idle and bored, he would stand under the tree and look up to count whether there were any new persimmon flowers emerging and blooming today.

This feeling of looking forward to the harvest, together with the cicadas and the heat of summer, has become his impression of summer.

"Yes. It's the flower I'm most looking forward to seeing. ”

[The flower language of persimmon flower is that everything goes well, it represents the best blessing in the world, and it symbolizes that the harvest season is coming, so it is also a flower that many people look forward to seeing.] ]

[Don't you want to be like that.] ]

Yao Rong's words always carry a strange persuasiveness.

Master Liang always said that he knew how to move people's hearts, but Nan Liujing knew that it was because Master Liang had not heard his teacher speak.

"Of course I want to be like that."

[I remember, you have always liked the sentence that Li Shimin, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, said, 'Only people in the world have entered my world'. Then do you remember another sentence he said. ]

"Jun, Zhouya; people, water also; Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize a boat. Is this what the teacher wants to ask? ”

[Li Shimin feels that the people are water.] What about you, what do you think, what are the people of Daye? ]

"I ......"

Nan Liujing opened his lips slightly, and before he could speak, his eyes were unconsciously a little moist.

No matter which dynasty the people of -

At the height of the dynasty, their lives did not become much better.

But when the dynasty is in decline, they are always the first to be hit and the first to suffer the consequences.

Therefore, the prosperity of the people is bitter, and the death of the people is bitter.

Historical records record that princes and generals sang praises and wrote poems and lyrics for high-ranking officials and nobles, but they were always stingy with pen and ink to the people.

They will never be the protagonists of the times, they can only be the background of the times.

They are the poems "There are frozen bones on the road", and they are the "great hunger and cannibalism" in the history books.

It's thousands of people, it's just a few books.

But are they really not important?

Therefore, the people support the country, and those who do not use the state to support the people are also. If they really weren't important, the saying that Junzhou Minshui wouldn't have been passed down for thousands of years.

After a long time, Nan Liujing finally found his voice: "I know why the teacher asked me to come back to Qingshui Village to have a look." ”

"When I buried my head in the study and wrote articles, I thought I had seen their suffering, and I thought I had understood their suffering."

"But I now realize how naïve and arrogant my original idea was."

His years in the cold palace were indeed dry and long.

But he can still have the opportunity to change his fate and have the possibility to fight against his fate.

Those thousands, the most ordinary and ordinary people, have no chance to speak out.

Their pain is heartbreaking, but it is inaudible.

It was only when they were forced to the point where there was no way to survive and a peasant uprising broke out that their voices would be taken to heart by the princes and ministers.

That is why peasant uprisings broke out in the last years of every dynasty.

When the court doesn't care about their lives or deaths, and even pushes them to death, isn't it allowed for them to save themselves?

Neiku was burned to splendid ashes, and the heavenly streets were trampled on the bones of the ministers, this was their response to arrogance.

[Don't blame yourself.] ]

Yao Rong's voice was gentle: [Tell me the answer.] ]

"I think ......"

Nan Liujing untied the sword of the Son of Heaven at his waist, half-squatted down, his knotted fingertips covering the moist soil, and stroked from the soil little by little to the strong roots.

Finally, he followed the roots all the way up, skimming over the roots and over the branches, stopping his gaze on the little pale yellow flower.

"The Son of Heaven is a persimmon tree, a persimmon flower. The people are the soil that feeds the trees, and the roots of the trees that sink deep into the soil. ”

"They are the foundation of the times."

"It should also be the protagonist of the times."

Yao Rong reconfirmed: [Do you really think that the common people are so important? ]

"Yes." Nanliujing is extremely sure, "A dynasty can lose its king, it can lose its courtiers and generals, but it must have its people." It is never that the people need the king, but that the king depends on the people. ”

[I told you back then, the distress of the persimmon skin being pecked out by birds and finches is not only the distress of you alone, but also the distress of thousands of families planted with persimmon trees. ]

[By extension, what happened to Qingshui Village is actually a microcosm of the thousands of households in Daye.] ]

[You can only save one Qingshui Village now, but are you - willing to save only one Qingshui Village?] ]

Nanliujing felt his heart beating violently.

He followed the truest thoughts of his heart: "Unwilling." ”

"I have seen the suffering of the people of the world, and I cannot deceive myself and say that I have not seen it."

[Very good.] ]

Yao Rong smiled lightly: [When I was just bound to you, you once asked me a question. ]

[You say, you have no ambition to become an emperor.] I didn't answer your question at the time, I just told you, don't think so much, just do what I say. ]

[So in the past three years, you have done every task I have posted very well.] ]

[By now, I think you should be able to answer this question yourself.] ]

[Eliminate my requests and start from your heart only.] You tell me, do you want that position from the bottom of your heart? ]

At this moment, many, many fragments flashed through Nanliujing's mind.

He thought of the struggle of the Yao family, the Ji family, and Emperor Yongqing that the teacher talked about that afternoon.

remembered Qu Jianbai's persistence for more than ten years.

I also remembered the two arrows that Qi Mingxu shot out of hiding in the shadows.

Finally, he thought of himself.

The system he binds is the Mingjun cultivation system; His teacher wants to train him to become a generation of Ming Jun; The sword he used was the sword of the Son of Heaven; The lessons he learned were the policies of statecraft.

He took a step forward, maybe the mountains and rivers were in his hands, or he could be dead.

But if he takes a step back, he will inevitably be ruined.

Abandoned in the wilderness, gems are still gems. The pearl is covered with dust, but it is still a pearl.

But only the gems and pearls set in the crown of the Son of Heaven can bless all beings.

In fact, until now, he still doesn't seem to have much desire, he doesn't have any yearning for that supreme throne, and he doesn't want to be trapped in a cold palace without a trace of humanity.

But he had grievances.

He wants to stand on the highest stage in history and speak for thousands of people in the world.

He wanted to be like Li Shimin, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, and engraved the four words "people as the foundation" on the long river of time, so that countless people in later generations, including countless ordinary people today, will deeply remember this truth.

The pent-up emotions in my heart finally turned into clear words-

"Behead the king and punish the minister."

"This is my sword."

"Hang the people and cut down the crime, and relieve the people from hanging."

"This is my way."

"If it's me......"

"If the person sitting on the hall is me......"

Nan Liujing raised his hand, lightly pressed it on the hilt of the sword, and then tightened his fingers a little: "I will never let these things happen." ”

Bang -

This sword of the Son of Heaven, which has been dusted for many years, has finally reappeared in the world. ：，，