It was dawn, and the city of Xi'an was shrouded in ice and snow. There was no trace of green on both sides of the road. The leaves on the branches had long been picked up by someone and filled their stomachs.
On both sides of the road, pedestrians looked sallow and thin, and the doors and windows of the empty houses were open, letting in the wind, making them look more and more howling and terrifying.
The thin boy was running panting. The sound of wind came to his ears, which made him walk faster.
And the busiest thing about the long queue is the food store.
Turn left on the street and see a house.
"Dong dong dong——" The young man knocked on the door.
"Come in, Thirteen, I've seen you!"
"Sect Master!" The young man chuckled and walked in with small steps.
A wall covered with green moss, a broken door, a deep well, and a young man beside the well.
"Wow!" The young man took a sip of water and washed his face directly, regardless of the severe cold, revealing a withered yellow face.
The bridge of the nose is high and the eyebrows are pretty, but the cheeks are sunken and the eyes are dull, indicating that he has been malnourished for many years.
"Woof——" The yellow dog leaning on the doorpost barked listlessly as a greeting.
"Eat!" Zhu Yixi was excited and stepped into the room. After searching for a long time, she found two vegetable cakes. In the winter, there was no need to worry about them going rancid.
After giving him a piece of vegetable cake, the young man ate it hungrily with a little surprise and satisfaction.
Zhu Yixi, on the other hand, ate slowly, tore off some and fed it to the yellow dog at her feet.
"Sect Master, you don't have enough to eat yourself, why do you keep a dog?" Thirteen muttered, his eyes shining brightly as he looked at the yellow dog.
"This? This is the only property left by my parents, and it is also the most valuable in the family!"
Zhu Yixi said helplessly and touched the dog's head.
Isn't that right? Nowadays, a pound of rice costs 200 yuan, and meat is even more expensive. How much is a yellow dog worth 200 to 30 pounds?
Looking around, Zhu Yixi smiled bitterly: "This shabby yard is not something that others should take over. Isn't Xiao Huang the most valuable?"
"Hehe!" Thirteen nodded and said with bright eyes: "You are right, when we run out of food, Xiao Huang will be our last hope."
"Woof!!" The yellow dog jumped up and looked at Thirteen fiercely.
Zhu Yixi had to comfort him, otherwise he would have had to take a few bites.
"Thirteen, do you know where this house is?"
"Where?" Shisan asked doubtfully, "It takes longer than me anyway."
"This is the house of Qianhu, Jinyiwei."
Zhu Yixi looked around, looking at the gloomy decoration, and couldn't help but smile: "Thanks to the current Holy Emperor, I have a place for me!"
"Sect Master, tell me, what should we do in the future?"
Thirteen walked over timidly. Who wouldn't be afraid of the name of Jinyiwei? Even if they can't control clans like them.
"It looks like Xi'an can't hold on any longer. Commander Sun lost the battle last year and his men are all new soldiers. If we can't hold it, we can only go to Hanzhong to hide."
Zhu Yixi rested her hands on her back and said with a sad face: "The Ming Dynasty is in danger!"
Judging from the memories brought back from time travel, in the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, that is, next year, Li Zicheng will invade Beijing, Chongzhen hangs himself, and the Ming Dynasty falls.
However, it is certain that Xi'an must have been destroyed before this. After all, it is the capital of "Dashun".
"Sect Master, we have no money or food, how can we go to Hanzhong!" Thirteen said distressedly: "It is impossible to go begging. You are the king of Heyang, so you must be dignified."
"Now, you are the only one who regards me as the sect master."
Zhu Yixi shook her head and smiled bitterly.
Who would have thought that the majestic Qin Fan——
Lieutenant Fengguo, the enshrined descendant of the Heyang County Prince, has fallen to this level. How sad!
When Zhu Yixi first possessed her, she suspected that her predecessor had told lies to herself, even herself.
However, the fact is that the dignified Ming Dynasty clan is impoverished.
The expected support from the court and free food and drink turned out to be nothing but a mirror.
Since the first year of Chongzhen's reign, his court has stopped giving out royal titles.
Moreover, this was still in Shaanxi, where there were many uprisings, in the 16th year of Chongzhen. In the 16th year, it was only thanks to my predecessor that I could survive until now. This is really terrible.
The key is, there is no hope for the future. In less than a year, the Ming Dynasty will be dead. As a clan, it does not enjoy many blessings, and it is also implicated in death.
Thirteen, on the other hand, also belonged to the clan, but he was just a poor man. Because he had no money to bribe the Chief of the Qin Palace, he couldn't get a title, and he didn't even have a famous name.
He served as the Lieutenant of Fengguo and enshrined the Prince of Heyang County. To put it bluntly, he inherited his position and made the successive kings more popular, but in fact he was still the lowest Lieutenant of Fengguo.
As the most humble lieutenant of Fengguo, it was common for him to be owed pay by the court. He collected a total of two hundred dan. During the Jiajing period, six notes and four grains were implemented.
Treasure money is equivalent to waste paper.
Every year, Zonglu's salary shrinks to eighty dan.
This Ming Dynasty, whether it dies or not, makes no difference to a low-level clan like him, but the debts owed must be paid back before the building is about to collapse!
Zong Lu, who has been here for sixteen years, must come back no matter what.
"Sect Master, is this what you are wearing?"
Looking at Zhu Yixi's appearance, Thirteen couldn't help but say, and then, without waiting for his instructions, he jogged for a while, went straight into his room, and took out an old leather jacket.
After saying that, he helped Zhu Yixi put it on, gently smoothing the wrinkles with his thin hands, showing great respect.
Looking through the leather jacket, he saw that there were holes inside, and most of the fur on the outside had fallen off. Zhu Yixi smiled bitterly and said, "It's better not to wear these clothes."
"The linen clothes are warm, and they have duck feathers inside!"
"Sect Master, this is your dignity!" Thirteen said stubbornly, with an unquestionable expression.
"We have a big event today, so we can't delay it!"
The fur coat was not keeping warm, so Zhu Yixi couldn't help but put a linen jacket on it. At this time, he couldn't help but think of the Eight Banners disciples in later generations. Even if they were poor, they still had to pay attention to their appearance.
Now, it's my turn.
After a while, I saw a sparse group of people, about a dozen or so, tall, short, and thin, but not a single person with the word "fat". They all tried their best to wear good clothes, but they were still unsatisfactory.
"I've met the sect master!"
There was a roar of bowing, and everyone was respectful, no matter old or young, no exception.
These people are all descendants of the Heyang County King.
Zhu Yixi looked at it and frowned: "A few days ago, weren't there about twenty people we were discussing with? Why did five or six more people come?"
"Sect Master, Zhu Laosan was so hungry two days ago that he couldn't stand it any longer, so he went to the government office to discuss a few words about government affairs and then went to the prison to eat."
Thirteen couldn't help but say, with envy on his face,
"The sect leader and several others left Xi'an City and went to Hanzhong, taking a few cakes with them to beg for food."
Others couldn't help but say, with miserable expressions on their faces.
"Let's go, we will definitely ask for our money and food back today!"
Zhu Yixi shook her head, looking at this group of beggars-looking clan members, she couldn't help but look solemn.
Obviously, no one believed that they could get back the food they owed.
It's so sad that the descendants of the Zhu family have fallen to this level. Who allowed them to be born in this volcanic crater in Shaanxi?
Their branch, or in other words, all the clans in Xi'an, were founded by Zhu Ping, the first generation of Qin Min King.
It was the man who was scolded by Zhu Yuanzhang after his death: "Although you are dead, it is obvious that you are still in trouble."
The King of Qin said, "Looking at what you have done, it is unprecedented in ancient times. According to the public law, the crime cannot be punished" and so on.
Of course, the most famous one is that the Princess of Qin is the sister of Wang Baobao, the legendary "Zhao Min".
Since the first year of Chongzhen in Shaanxi, there has been no Zonglu at all. His Highness, King Qin, has no worries about food and clothing. They, the lower class, are miserable.
"Let's go, let's go get the account -" Zhu Yixi raised her head, mustered up her momentum, and said this.
"Go and ask for the account—" the lieutenants cheered up and shouted in unison.
The imperial court owed him sixteen years of stipend, and Zhu Yixi felt that if he didn't come back, he would have to take advantage of Li Zicheng, and he would have to die a starved man!
It doesn't matter if the Ming Dynasty dies, the money and food will have to be returned.
More than a dozen Fengguo lieutenants, led by Zhu Yixi, headed northwest in a mighty manner.
There are two crisscrossing traffic arteries in Xi'an City, forming four streets in the east, west, south and north, leading to the four city gates in the east, west, south and north.
To the east of North Street is the splendid Prince Qin's Mansion, which is so large that it occupies almost one-eighth of Xi'an.
To the west are the government offices, provincial offices, and governor-general offices.
The once bustling North Street now has only a few people with haggard faces. Almost all the shops on the street are half-open. The most crowded ones are the grain shops.
Gululu——
"Let's go -" there was a sound in his ears, and Zhu Yixi hurriedly told everyone to run away.
"We've arrived at Chang'an County Government—" Thirteen shouted.
"Poor Yamen!" Zhu Yixi shook his head. In the past, the county government still made some money.
"Xi'an government office is here!"
"Bah, I haven't had a prefect for more than a year, it's useless."
"The chief minister has arrived!"
"He's also a pauper——"
"Then where are we going?"
"Governor's offices!"
Zhu Yixi said firmly.
"Zong, sect leader, that's Governor Sun. He has thousands of people under his command!"
Thirteen said tremblingly.
"It is because of Sun Chuanting that I dare to ask for debts!"