Chapter 372: Wheat ears fluttering, humans are like pigs and dogs
Author: Soy Sauce Mixed History
Chapter 372: Wheat ears fluttering, humans are like pigs and dogs
Hanzhong County, Mianyang County.
Since the establishment of Hanzhong County, Mianyang has been the second largest county in Hanzhong County after the county administration of Nanzheng.
At that time, Cao Cao, on the advice of his ministers, moved a large number of people from several counties near Nanzheng to Guanzhong.
Under Cao Cao's move, the population of Nanzheng and several nearby counties dropped sharply, and the powerful families in these counties also suffered a heavy blow.
However, Mianyang County is closer to Yizhou, and Cao Cao's move to relocate Hanzhong's population was a bit hasty.
Therefore, the population in Mianyang County has not dropped significantly.
In the same way, Mianyang County surpassed Nanzheng County and became the strongest base of aristocratic families in Hanzhong County.
It was precisely for this reason that Liu Bei specifically placed the place where he would become king in Mianyang County.
His purpose was to intimidate the powerful local powerful families inside and outside Mianyang County.
Several years have passed since Liu Bei proclaimed himself emperor.
Perhaps the grand ceremony of proclaiming the king, when tens of thousands of troops gathered and hundreds of ministers gathered together, to a great extent frightened the powerful forces from aristocratic families with evil intentions inside and outside Mianyang County.
But as time goes by, that kind of deterrence slowly dissipates.
The powerful families inside and outside Mianyang County are slowly returning to their old ways.
For example, the Xiao family is the dominant family in Mianyang County.
This Xiao family is the family that dares to openly question Xiao Pu who threatens Mi Yang.
It's autumn, and it's time for the wheat ears to mature in the fields.
There is Mianshui River near Mianyang. This superior water conservancy condition has made agricultural production outside Mianyang County the best among the counties in Hanzhong County.
A large stretch of endless wheat fields lies outside Mianyang City. Under the sunlight, the wheat fields exude a golden light.
When gusts of breeze blow, the unique fragrance of wheat ears instantly fills the world outside Mianyang County.
Looking at the wheat fields full of wheat ears in front of him, and thinking about how much food he would get if he harvested all the wheat ears in the wheat field in front of him, a member of the Xiao family had a look on his face that he could not hide.
's smile.
There are at least hundreds of acres of fertile land in front of him.
Although these hundreds of acres of fertile land are nominally listed in the household registrations of many common people, in fact they are all the family property of his Xiao family.
Moreover, the land belonging to the Xiao family is far more than this hundred acres. The hundred acres of fertile land in front of him is just the tip of the iceberg of the Xiao family's property.
With such a vast family fortune, as a member of the Xiao clan, how could he not feel happy?
In the hundreds of acres of farmland in front of this Xiao clan member, there are at least a thousand farmers who are half-clothed, sallow and skinny, and are harvesting wheat ears in the wheat fields.
These thousands of farmers who are working hard are all the shadow households of the Xiao family, or it is more appropriate to say that they are the slaves of the Xiao family.
Although from the appearance, these thousands of farmers all appear to be malnourished and exhausted.
But in the end, they still had to work under the scorching sun and not stop working for a moment.
Because their lives do not belong to themselves.
As for what will happen if it stops accidentally?
A white-haired, skinny old farmer used his personal experience to verify this point.
The old farmer was so skinny that his arms were not even as thick as the handle of the sickle in his hand.
This is enough to show that his whole person is in a state of extreme hunger.
But despite this, he still had to endure the scorching sun and work for fertile land that did not belong to him, rapidly depleting his remaining life.
Due to old age and frailty, the old farmer fainted unexpectedly.
But when the old farmer collapsed directly in the wheat field because of exhaustion.
There were many common people around him who had the same experience as him, but they were afraid of avoiding him as if they were seeing snakes and scorpions.
They were afraid that the old farmer would implicate themselves.
As expected by these common people, the joy on the face of the Xiao clan member who had been supervising the work of thousands of slaves disappeared in an instant after seeing the old farmer fall.
But then what appeared on his face was not concern or nervousness, but anger.
Holding the riding whip in his hand, this Xiao clan member jumped cautiously into the wheat field with several followers behind him.
When heading towards the old farmer's location, the Xiao clan member and the followers behind him were very careful in their movements.
They were worried that if they were not careful, they would crush the ears of wheat that had not yet been harvested.
But when the Xiao clan member came to the fallen old farmer, the cautious look in his eyes immediately disappeared when he looked at the old farmer who fell to the ground and did not know whether he was alive or dead.
Instead, there was a cold expression of extreme indifference.
Especially when you see the old farmer falling to the ground and crushing a lot of wheat ears.
This made the Xiao clan member's eyes even colder.
Without hesitation, he raised the riding crop in his hand and kept whipping the old farmer who fell in the wheat field.
The old farmer didn't wear much clothing, and his whole body was almost made of bones.
So when the riding whip was vigorously waved by the Xiao clan member and hit him, he who was originally in a coma was immediately awakened by the huge pain coming from his body.
But when he was awakened by tremendous pain, what awaited him was continuous torture.
The riding whip was in the hands of the Xiao clan members, and they whipped hard on the old farmer's body.
Since the old farmer's body was full of bones, the sound of the horsewhip hitting his body was like hitting a stone.
Although the voice sounds similar, the old farmer is not a dead thing that knows no pain, he is a person with flesh and blood who knows what pain is!
Under the continuous whipping by the Xiao clan members, the old farmer's body had already been covered in bloody traces with deep visible bones.
The old farmer's hoarse but extremely miserable cry of pain echoed through the golden wheat fields.
The old farmer's helpless cry for mercy would be heartbreaking for anyone who heard it, but this Xiao clan member had no intention of stopping his movements at all.
In his mind, how could the old farmer's miserable life be compared to the ears of wheat that were crushed by him?
When the old farmer's cry for mercy reached the ears of farmers nearby, the most shocking scene occurred.
There was no fear, panic, or even a hint of sympathy on the faces of the farmers.
From beginning to end, there was only numbness on their faces.
Everyone has emotions. If they behave this way, they are not born to be hard-hearted people.
It's just that in the past few years, such incidents have happened too many times.
After seeing too much, you will naturally become numb.
Countless wheat ears are still blowing in the breeze, and the fragrance of wheat ears is still floating in the air of the wheat fields.
However, in this venue that originally represented hope and beauty, a human tragedy was being staged, reflecting despair and numbness at every turn.
As the Xiao clan member continued to whip, the old farmer's originally shrill cries of pain gradually became fainter, and not long after, they completely disappeared in the field.
Seeing the old farmer being whipped to death by himself, the Xiao clan member showed no fear at all on his face.
He had beaten dozens of people to death in the past, so why would he care about one more?
After Emperor Taizu of the Han Dynasty entered Guanzhong, he made a three-part agreement with the people of Guanzhong, one of which was that those who kill must die.
Since then, the death of the murderer has become an insurmountable red line in Han law.
However, as the authority of the Han Dynasty court declined more and more locally, this insurmountable red line has long become nonsense.
Perhaps it can be said that in the eyes of this Xiao clan member, does the old farmer under him, who was whipped to death by him, be considered a person with the same status as him?
Of course it's not worthy.
Looking at the corpse of the old farmer at his feet, the Xiao clan member kicked him hard a few times. After proving that he was dead, he spat on the corpse of the old farmer and said dissatisfiedly:
"It's really hard to beat.
unlucky!"
After saying this, the Xiao clan member handed the whip in his hand to the followers behind him, and then he ordered the other followers:
"Move it back to the house.
It just so happens that the mighty general I keep in my yard has not tasted human flesh for a long time."
After saying this, the Xiao clan member looked at the skinny old farmer's body with disgust.
His disgusted eyes seemed to say: Why don't you gain more meat? If you are so thin, you don't even know if you can feed his mighty general.
As soon as the Xiao clan member finished speaking, the followers with flattering faces immediately stepped forward to carry the old farmer's body.
They are not members of the Xiao clan, they were born into middle peasant families in Mianyang County.
Logically speaking, the living conditions of middle peasant families in the Han Dynasty should be good, at least they would not be reduced to being slaves.
But once upon a time, this old farmer also came from a middle peasant family.
Unfortunately, a drought and official protection caused the old farmer to sell all his acres to the Xiao family at a low price.
Together with himself and his family, they became the slaves of the Xiao family who completely lost their personal freedom.
However, it is rare for this old farmer to encounter something like this in Mianyang.
Did the hundreds of acres of fertile land they currently have under their feet belong to the Mianyang Xiao family from the beginning?
These hundreds of acres of fertile land originally belonged to thousands of farmers who were working hard.
But now, those thousands of farmers are still working hard in the fields, but the fields they cultivate are no longer their own.
The reason for the current situation is that too many nasty things have happened in Mianyang in the past few decades.
The reason why they are willing to follow this Xiao family member day and night is simply to please him and prevent those dirty things from happening to their family.
Because he and the old farmer have a common family background, one of these followers knows the old farmer.
In his memory, the old farmer was a kind and amiable person. Although his family was not a wealthy family, it was considered a happy family. There were dozens of acres of thin farmland at home so that he could live comfortably.
But I didn't expect that in just a few years, the old farmer who originally owned dozens of acres of thin farmland would lose his wife, death and children.
That is, after he died, his body didn't even have a place to stand. Instead, it had to enter the belly of a vicious dog.
This tragic situation with strong contrast gave the follower an inexplicable feeling in his heart.
It's sadness and fear.
But no matter what he thinks in his heart, now he dares not to disobey the order of the Xiao clan member he follows.
Although this Xiao family member is not the legitimate son of the Xiao family, otherwise he would not be assigned the task of supervising the work of the slaves in the family.
But he is also a descendant of Xiao Pu, the current leader of the Xiao clan.
The Xiao family has thrived in Mianyang for hundreds of years, and members of his family have served as officials in counties and counties for many generations.
Not to mention in Hanzhong County, even in the entire Liangzhou, the Mianyang Xiao family is also a famous aristocratic family.
What's more, according to this Xiao clan member, his clan leader Xiao Pu was appointed as a meritorious official by Liangzhou Mu not long ago.
With this follower's limited knowledge, although he did not know specifically what kind of authority Liangzhou Mu had, he did know that Liangzhou Mu was the master of Liangzhou.
If Xiao Pu can be favored by such a prominent figure, his power in Liangzhou will definitely become stronger in the future.
How could ordinary people like him offend such a powerful family?
Since I can't afford to offend him, I can only serve him well.
While thinking about this, the follower and his companions had already carried the old farmer's body to the field and placed it on a donkey cart.
The Xiao family's mansion is still some distance away from this field, so it is inappropriate to carry it back with bare hands.
After carrying the old farmer's body onto the donkey cart, these followers drove the donkey cart along the dirt road in the wheat field toward the direction of Xiao's mansion.
But after they had traveled several miles, the follower who had just led the way with an idea in his mind discovered a large patch of dust in front of the road.
And in the dust that filled the sky, he also heard the frightening sounds of marching.
After noticing this, the attendant was so frightened that his companions pushed the donkey cart containing the old farmer's body to the side of the road.
Then he asked his companions to kneel on the ground with him and not to look up.
In troubled times, soldiers are sometimes more vicious than tigers.
Although he didn't know what Liangzhou's soldiers were like, under his father's warning, this follower felt that it was always right to be careful.
There is only one road, and it is too late to retreat at this time, so the only choice is to kneel respectfully by the road.
I hope that the soldiers who are passing here quickly can let them live out of their respect.
Not long after this entourage led his companions to kneel down on the side of the road, thousands of soldiers who were originally hidden in the dust had arrived not far from them.
As the distance got closer, the figures of thousands of soldiers hidden in the dust appeared on the field road outside Mianyang City.
Their fine armor glowed, and there were many spears. These thousands of soldiers were the elite Liang army who had just arrived from Nanzheng to Mianyang.
And the person leading these thousands of Liang troops was Shi Bao, who had just been promoted by Mi Yang.
Because he knew the mission in his heart, Shi Bao kept urging the soldiers behind him to hurry up.
When he was in the distance, sitting on his horse, he noticed several pedestrians pushing a donkey cart forward.
But he didn't care about this, and Liang Jun, who had strict military discipline, couldn't possibly rob them.
But when Shi Bao led thousands of Liang troops closer to the donkey cart, he saw a corpse placed on the donkey cart.
The most important thing is that he saw that the donkey cart had the flag of Mianyang Xiao family.
Seeing this, Shi Bao waved his hand to stop the advance of thousands of Liang troops behind him.
When Shi Bao dismounted and approached the donkey cart, he saw more clearly that the corpse of an old farmer was placed on the donkey cart.
At the same time, the dense and horrific whip marks on the old farmer's body also fell into his eyes.
This scene undoubtedly made Shi Bao, who also came from a peasant family, subconsciously clenched his fists!
This chapter has been a long time coming.
I also made a lot of changes, so it took a lot of time.
Maybe the novel is fictional, but I really hope that in that era, there would be people like the protagonist who would come out and do something.
The significance of reform is not solely to strive for hegemony, but also to bring benefits to the people.
I am also a farmer.
(End of chapter)
This chapter has been completed!