The terrain of Zhangde Mansion is wide in the north and narrow in the south, like an inverted gourd.

After the wedding delegation left Anhua County, they passed through Ruanling County and Baochang County, and arrived in Haiyang County three days later.

Going further south into Xuning Prefecture, Chengjing City is located outside the southeastern boundary of Xunning Prefecture.

In the past few days, Wang Qi was on tenterhooks, fearing that Pei Yue would drag him around among the people, because many people had actually run out of food at home. Before, they could still grit their teeth and buy high-priced food from various rice stores, but when the Han government came to Dongfu,

After Qinzhou, more than a dozen heads were cut off in a row, and most grain merchants did not dare to sell grain anymore.

Nowadays, it depends entirely on the government's Changpingcang to supply food and the local wealthy families opening porridge shops, so that chaos can be avoided.

As for the grain merchants, after they sold out the grain in their stores at the usual prices, they declared that they had no grain in stock and could not buy grain outside, and closed down their businesses one after another.

What Wang Qi was most afraid of was that when Pei Yue saw the miserable scene among the people, he became so angry that he forcibly opened the mouths of the grain merchants with his sword.

He had no doubt about the murderousness and courage of the young prince.

Fortunately, Pei Yue didn't seem to be interested in things like the White Dragon Fish Suit. He stayed in the mission from beginning to end and would chat with Wang Qi for most of an hour every day. They also talked about common topics, such as Qinzhou's customs and customs.

Historical allusions.

Wang Qi was naturally on guard at the beginning, fearing that he would say something wrong and be caught by the other party. However, as time went by, he gradually became calm and calm.

I used to hear that the Marquis of Zhongshan cared about the people and benefited the world with briquettes, but now it seems that I can only say that it is an exaggeration. Even if he does not understand the specific operations of the government below, he should know that this severe drought affects not only Qinzhou, nor Xia.

As long as the sky does not rain for a day, the bad effects of drought will continue to worsen, and even cause unrest in the southern border of Daliang.

Pei Yue seemed unaware. Apart from chatting with Wang Qi for a while every day, he spent the rest of the time in the spacious and comfortable carriage.

Wang Qi also paid close attention to the movements of the thousand escort cavalry and found that they were escorting the mission south honestly, and no one left for a long time.

Everything seemed to be peaceful, but there was one thing that Wang Qi didn't expect, that is, when the delegation entered Xunning Mansion, there were two companions beside him.

These two people are Cheng Yujie of Yuanling County and Sun Guangxin, the magistrate of Haiyang County.

Wang Qi was quite familiar with them. After all, they were all officials from the counties under Zhangde Prefecture, and they met many times every year. During the lunch break, Wang Qi sat under the shade of a tree and said in a low voice: "What happened to Marquis Pei?"

What do you want to do?”

Yu Jie shook his head slightly and said, "I don't know."

Wang Qi glanced at the silent soldiers of Beiwei Camp in the distance, frowned and said: "I always feel that he is playing a big game of chess."

On the other side, Sun Guangxin had fear in his eyes, and he said nervously: "Are you going to stab us?"

Wang Qi was startled for a moment, then laughed and said, "What reason does he have to attack us? Besides, you and I are both serious scholars, so even if he wants to attack us, he has to give Han Zhengzheng's approval."

Sun Guangxin winced and said, "But I heard that when Marquis Pei was in the Western Region, he personally killed the mighty Marquis Ningzhong in front of tens of thousands of soldiers."

The expressions of the other two people were a little ugly. Wang Qi mused: "There is no need to scare yourself. I guess he mostly wants to get information from us. The two of us are the same age. They must be tight-lipped in recent days and say half the things they shouldn't."

Don't say a single word, otherwise you will be the unlucky one. As for the plot of the Marquis of Zhongshan, you can rest assured that the elders of various families in Chengjing will definitely keep an eye on the mission, and they will definitely know about our disappearance.

reason."

Yu and Sun both nodded in agreement.

On the flat ground under the shade of trees on the other side of the official road, in the spacious carriage carriage, Pei Yue looked down at the piece of paper in his hand that was written in small regular script, with a slightly solemn expression.

Gu Zhen and Ye Qi had different expressions. The former looked at the letter in Pei Yue's hand curiously, wanting to see how the calligraphy of the talented girl from the Shen family who was famous in Kyoto was, and whether she was as carefree and unrestrained as the legend said.

Ye Qi only felt that the other party had a lingering presence. Even though this place was very far away from Kyoto, Shen Danmo still sent someone to deliver a secret letter. However, she did not feel jealous at this time, but took the initiative to ask: "What did she say in the letter?"

Pei Yue handed the letter to Ye Qi and said in a deep voice: "It is roughly the same as what I learned here. Taishitai Pavilion's methods are indeed extraordinary. Previously, I thought they would focus most of their energy on Southern Zhou Dynasty, but I didn't expect them. Even with a shortage of manpower, such detailed information can still be found. In comparison, Tang Linfen with 5,000 people may not be as efficient as the other party. It is a pity that Fu Hongzhi cannot follow this time."

After reading it, Ye Qi had no time to pay attention to Shen Danmo's calligraphy. He said with sharp eyes: "These people really don't know how to write the word "death". Do they want to rebel?"

Pei Yue shook his head and said, "Of course they won't rebel."

Gu Zhen moved to Ye Qi's side and leaned against her body to read the letter.

If it were in the past, Pei Yue would definitely not miss such a beautiful and delicious scene, but today he obviously does not have the same elegance.

After a moment of silence, he said coldly: "The former Wei Kingdom has been long and the clans have become a stubborn disease of the dynasty, and can even control the structure and operation of the court. After the overthrow of the former Wei Dynasty, decades of continuous wars destroyed the foundation of the clans, regardless of the main beams. , Western Wu or Southern Zhou, the strength of these moths has been greatly weakened, and it is impossible to monopolize the lifeline of a dynasty as before."

He paused and said solemnly: "It's just that this kind of destruction is not complete. Some of those clans still survived, such as the Han family in Luling, the Fu family in Jiangbei, the Xu family in Qinghe, etc. that are often mentioned in the world. As well as the Wang, Sun, Xu, Zhao and other aristocratic families who are huddled in Qinzhou. They dare not openly oppose the imperial court, but I am sure that in their dreams they want to return to the scenery of the former Wei Dynasty."

Ye Qi stared and said, "That's why they want to take advantage of this opportunity to annex the land."

Pei Yue nodded and said: "The so-called powerful people can be traced back to the land occupation system implemented in the early days of the Former Wei Dynasty. Compared with the current situation of the three kingdoms coexisting, the territory after the former Wei Dynasty unified the world was too large, and it was very difficult for the government to manage it. The people in power at that time came up with this land-occupation system to use the gentry to govern the common people, and the court only needed to collect taxes from the gentry."

Gu Zhen pondered and said: "What Brother Pei said is true. The land occupation system did bring a lot of convenience to the former Wei court in the early days. It saved a lot of manpower and material resources. It was equivalent to transferring the cost originally borne by the government to the nobles. The price was Protect these nobles from encroaching on the land."

Pei Yue sneered and said: "I don't know whether to say that the person who came up with this method is extremely smart or extremely stupid. The fundamental reason why the nobles can become a clan is that they gradually monopolize the channels for official promotion, because most ordinary people have become their Servant. The Han family in Luling was able to recognize the reality and take the initiative to hand over half of the fertile land occupied by the family. This gave Han Gongduan the opportunity to become a Hanlin bachelor and then participate in politics in today's Dongfu."

Taohua's eyelids kept beating up and down as she heard this.

Although Ye Qi was not familiar with the records in history books, she knew very well what Pei Yue wanted to do these days, and she couldn't help but said with some worry: "What you do will definitely arouse a strong backlash from them."

Gu Zhen also said: "Sister Ye is right. Han Shenzhen is now in a quagmire, which shows that these people are extremely well prepared. Brother Pei, I believe in your judgment, but maybe we can use slightly softer methods?"

Pei Yue usually obeyed them, but at this moment he shook his head quietly and said: "This kind of aristocratic family will bow its head only in one situation."

The two women immediately understood the cold murderous intent in this sentence.

Pei Yue said softly: "Actually, the secret letters sent by Tang Linfen these days have made it very clear that just after we left Zhangde Mansion, no less than thirty people had starved to death there."

"Ah!" Gu Zhen suddenly covered her mouth and exclaimed, her eyes full of unbearable and sad looks.

Ye Qi pursed her lips tightly, her eyes as cold as ice.

However, Pei Yue said in a complicated tone: "Even if this is the case, the people across Qinzhou may not necessarily side with the imperial court. Don't think that these aristocratic families are idiots. In fact, they have been opening porridge shops to relieve the people during this period.

Although the porridge is not much different from the water soup."

Gu Zhen said clearly: "They must have cut off their relationship with the grain merchants long ago."

Pei Yue nodded and said: "On the one hand, they bowed to the Han government, and on the other hand, they hid a large amount of food. In fact, both sides knew it well. It just depends on who bows his head first. What is in front of us now is like a head

If you want to cut off the heads of the turtles that have retracted, you have to find a way to get them to stick their heads out first."

Ye Qi turned to look at the hidden car curtains and said softly: "Those people outside are..."

"That's right."

Pei Yue nodded expressionlessly, and then said in a cold voice: "Everyone is useful in this world, and so are they."

Ye Qi and Gu Zhen looked at each other, and then said firmly: "Then don't be soft."

Pei Yue solemnly said: "Okay."

On July 22, the Daliang delegation left Xunning Mansion in Qinzhou and headed for Chengjing City, a distance of only more than ten miles.

That day, there was great chaos in the city.
Chapter completed!