Chapter 246 Why am I not happy?
Villages far away from Yandu are basically based on agriculture, supplemented by animal husbandry.
This is also something that generations of Emperors of the Yuan Dynasty have been working hard to promote.
Farming can allow people to put down roots, and the land can also lock people in.
After several generations of hard work, millions of acres of fertile land have been cultivated around Yandu.
Although most of them are in the hands of nobles, big landowners, and big businessmen, there are still a considerable number of homesteaders.
Unlike in the Great Qin Pass, where land annexation became a huge problem and an irreconcilable conflict that tottered a dynasty, in the Yuan Kingdom, because of the sparse population, land had never been a problem.
As long as you are willing, hitch up your horses and oxen, find a piece of wasteland, plow it, and scatter the seeds, the land will be yours.
The Yuan government has always encouraged such behavior.
Of course, if a piece of wasteland is cultivated into fertile land and the harvest is good, there is nothing you can do about whether powerful people will come and harvest it.
For the poor, if they can't fight, they can take a sum of money and find a piece of wasteland to cultivate, and they won't starve to death. They can always survive, right?
Zhou Yi and Gao Wuyang are currently settling in a small village.
This should be a small tribal settlement, with more than a dozen families sharing a livestock shed, and livestock of all sizes are fed together. The crop fields outside the village were obviously just cultivated this spring. of.
This kind of land can be distinguished by just looking at the field ridges or the color of the land.
The harvests of mature fertile fields and newly cultivated fields are completely different.
"There's nothing we can do!" An old man whose old cotton-padded jacket had turned into a shiny shell was sitting on the threshold, looking at Zhou Yi and Gao Wuyang who were drinking mutton soup and eating steamed buns in the room. "People still give us money. If we don't understand, we won't get the money, and we will have to face lawsuits. They have many ways to mess with us."
"The fertile farmland that was finally cultivated has turned into new farmland. , I'm afraid the harvest will be reduced by half, right?" Zhou Yi sipped the mutton soup, not to mention that the old man's wife in the house was really good at making soup.
"Then just plant more varieties!" The old man hugged his arms and said, "If you work a little harder and raise some animals, you can live a good life. What do we people ask for? It's just mediocre food." It’s enough to have enough food.”
“That’s right!” Zhou Yi nodded: “But it’s not peaceful in Yandu now. There’s a fight. Dad, do you believe me? Just go. Stay away somewhere else.”
“A fight started? Why did it start?” The old man became obviously panicked.
"The emperor of Dayuan is dead, and several sons are fighting for the family property. They all want to be the masters of the family. Wouldn't there be a fight?" Zhou Yi finished the mutton soup and walked to the threshold to sit side by side with the old man.
The old man's body was shaking a little.
Looking at his age, he may have experienced the last fight for the Yuan Emperor. Perhaps Zhou Yi’s words reminded him of the past that he couldn’t bear to look back on.
"Where can we go? We can only hope that the princes will decide the winner soon, and then life will be better again." The old man trembled.
The sound of horse hooves sounded in the distance. The old man and Zhou Yi stood up at the same time. Gao Wuyang, who was in the room, walked out with mutton soup in one hand and steamed buns in the other.
"Northern barbarian!" The old man exclaimed, turned around and ran into the house: "Hide quickly, guest, hide quickly!"
Neither Zhou Yi hid, but he looked at me with great interest. Looking at the dozen cavalrymen galloping towards them.
These are the barbarians from the Western Camp outside Yandu.
That is, it is affiliated to the West Camp of the eldest prince Jebe.
Around Yandu, on the first day of the battle between Akedun and Tiele, things got out of control.
What was out of control was the absence of Jebe's Western Camp. Most of the camp was composed of Western Hu and Northern Hu barbarians who had been subdued when the Yuan Kingdom was fighting in the north.
Normally, they are surrounded by the Yandu garrison, with three camps in the east, south and north. These barbarians are frightened by the Yuan soldiers, but they are still honest. Dare to make mistakes.
But now, the East Camp launched a fierce attack on Yandu City. The South Camp and the North Camp had an ambiguous attitude. While waiting and watching, the barbarians in the West Camp, who had been suppressed for a long time, began to tentatively leave the camp. He pretended to be a robber and started looting.
What Zhou Yi and the others encountered today was one of them.
He rushed into the village unscrupulously and ran into several young people. The whips were whipped and there was a crackling sound. Several young people screamed and were whipped, spinning and falling to the side. A woman cried and rushed over. The barbarian soldiers laughed, and with a beautiful side spin and relaxed arms, they easily lifted the woman onto the horse and placed her horizontally on the saddle.
The woman was fierce, and she reached out to scratch the face of the barbarian, but the barbarian was not polite at all. With a slap, the woman's head drooped and she fainted.
Some cavalrymen saw Zhou Yi and Gao Wuyang, and saw the two people staying at the door and watching the fun as if nothing had happened. One of them was still eating, and they immediately rushed over.
Equestrian is really good.
Pushing past the gate, the horsewhip in his hand whipped towards Zhou Yi.
Gao Wuyang immediately took a step back, turned slightly sideways, and continued to drink mutton soup and nibble on steamed buns.
Zhou Yi stretched out his hand and grabbed the whip. With just a pull, the barbarian soldier was pulled off. Amidst the barbarian soldier’s exclamation, Zhou Yi’s other hand touched the barbarian soldier’s hand. With a twist of the neck, there was a crack, and his face directly saw his back.
Zhou Yi mounted his horse, laughed loudly, and rushed out.
Gao Wuyang took the dead barbarian soldier with his free hand and put it under his buttocks. Sitting like this, he breathed softly. He drank the soup and watched Zhou Yi kill people. .
The killing of a master at the pinnacle of the eighth level is really impressive.
A dozen barbarian soldiers were really not enough for Zhou Yi to kill.
Before Gao Wuyang finished drinking the soup, Zhou Yi had already killed everyone.
“The horse is good!” Zhou Yi rode back, dismounted, patted the shiny black horse he had just snatched, and said with a smile: “It’s a profit.”
"I'm afraid it will bring disaster to this village!" Gao Wuyang looked back at the old couple huddled in the house. The two huddled together. Zhou Yi, who had previously been kind and kind, now looked at them in fear. Not much different from King Yama.
"Those who are not killed will not have a good life!" Zhou Yi walked up to the old man and said: "Escape, run farther away, maybe you can be more stable, this place is too close to Yandu Yes, we killed these barbarians today, but tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, there will still be more barbarians coming out to burn, kill and loot.”
"Does the government not care?" the old man asked tremblingly.
"They are busy fighting for the throne now and have no time to care about us little people!" Zhou Yi said: "These dozen horses are left for you. Take what you can take with you while there is still time. Stay away from Yandu! "
There were only thirty or forty people in the village, leading their animals and their few possessions on their backs and fleeing toward the mountains in the distance.
Looking at their backs, Gao Wuyang sighed: "Zhou Zhangyuan, you said that our mission this time was very successful, and the Yuan Kingdom will soon be completely in chaos, these barbarians Coming out to burn, kill, and loot is just the beginning. What's next? A scuffle between several princes will completely plunge the Yuan Kingdom into the abyss, but why don’t I feel so happy now?”
Zhou Yi laughed: “You see. Are these people miserable now?”
"Yes!" Gao Wuyang nodded.
“But think about it, the taxes these people pay will feed many Yuan soldiers, and the grain they pay will feed many Yuan soldiers and many war horses. Those young people look very pitiful today, but If they are recruited into the army and follow Tiele or Akhtun into the pass to slaughter our comrades, do you still think they are pitiful?"
Gao Wuyang shook his head fiercely: "That's not possible! At that time, I will naturally kill them, but now, I still feel sorry for them!"
Zhou Yi patted him on the shoulder, "You really need to rest for a while, otherwise, you go back to Tai'an! City, right? With your mentality, he will deal with you when you get to Guanshan! That guy has a dark heart! And what you will do in the next few years will probably be contrary to your kindness, Wuyang. , There is no justice in national war. You must understand this. You really pity them, and we have to wait until we defeat them and conquer them before we can be kind. Do you understand?"
"Understood? !" Gao Wuyang nodded: "I'm going to the Eagle Thieves, not back to Tai'an City!"
Under the morning sun, Tie Le led a group of men and horses, looking at the black smoke burning in a village in the distance, looking at the fleeing crowd, and then looking at the barbarian soldiers roaring back and forth, he couldn't help but get angry and whip his horse whip. The halberd pointed forward and said: "Go, chop up all these beasts on the spot. Is there any royal method? How dare you do such nonsense in the land of Yandu!"
"Your Highness! Gao Qunshu stretched out his hand to hold Tiele's riding whip, shook his head and said: "The Western Camp is just looting now. They are not our enemies. If you attack them, you will have added another big enemy to yourself. These people have no sense and can do whatever they like!"
"Are you watching them harm our people?" Tie Le said angrily.
"Your Highness, this is just a small sacrifice for the time being. What if we can convince the Rendo family and the Xifeng family this time to unite the three camps in the east, south and north to kill all these barbarians? But now , We really can’t cause trouble, let’s go!” Gao Qunshu raised his whip and hit Tie Le’s horse on the butt, and the horse roared towards the front.
Behind him, black smoke rose from the village that had been plundered by the barbarians.
The area around Yandu was originally a prosperous place, but tens of thousands of barbarians took to the streets like a fish in water, looting wantonly. Overnight, countless widows, widowers, and even their families were wiped out.
(End of this chapter)