After staying in Xi'an for a month, Zhu Yixi led a large army to the southeast and arrived at the Huguang area, where Xiangyang is located.
Xiangyang was the former seat of the Huguang shogunate.
Zhu Yixi intercepted millions of people's property and materials that Li Zicheng had searched for in Hubei, thus laying the foundation for the opening of the shogunate.
Hubei is left with a piece of white land.
Hubei, which used to have a population of seven to eight million people, lost more than half of its population when Zhu Yixi took over. It also swept away the vassal kings, leaving a large amount of open space.
This is also why Zhu Yixi can confer military merit and motivate soldiers with merit points.
Standing on the ridge of the field, Zhu Yixi looked around. The eunuch beside him raised his parasol to shield the emperor from the blazing sun.
In the rice fields, late rice is being harvested. Some of the green and yellow rice grains are tied into bunches and laid down in the rice fields.
The teenage children rolled up their trousers, covered in dry mud, and headed to the fields with rice in their arms.
On the open ground, a wooden threshing machine was being stepped on by two old men. The iron cylinder was rolling continuously with the pedaling, and the rice was being stirred. The ears of rice were beaten down and exposed from the slanted opening on the side.
The children were either holding rice or loading rice, and were extremely busy.
"Threshing machine!" Zhu Yixi was happy for the appearance of such a prop to help the people. This is a reflection of the tradition that has been passed down for thousands of years.
"Has it passed the Mid-Autumn Festival?"
"Master, where is the Mid-Autumn Festival you celebrated in Xi'an Mansion!"
"Where's the Longevity Festival?"
"It's in Taiyuan Prefecture!"
Zhu Yixi was silent. Seeing the busy farming scene, some novelty, or memories, suddenly appeared in his heart.
Taking off his coat and shoes, he walked barefoot on the field ridge. His pampered feet felt the friction of weeds and stones, and the pain was filled with a different kind of novelty.
The eunuchs did not dare to stop him, but Dongzi gritted his teeth, rolled up his trousers, took off his shoes, and ran after him.
At this time, everyone could only imitate this, running awkwardly on the ridge of the field, stepping on the soft mud from time to time, and sliding into the middle of the field, which was extremely embarrassing.
Zhu Yixi walked cautiously on the ridge of the field. The finely chopped rice made it even more uncomfortable. Then she stepped into the water, which was soft and cold at the same time.
The harvested rice roots are even sharper, so be careful.
"Old man, how will the harvest be this year?"
The old man plowing the rice might be younger than Zhu Yixi, but his dark face looked old, and his tired eyes squinted:
"My lord, this is muddy land, so you have to be careful."
"Harvest?" The old man showed a smile:
"The harvest in the past two years has been pretty good. I can harvest one or two bushels more. I remember when I was young, the best fertile fields could only yield two bushels per acre, but my middle field can also harvest two bushels."
Unexpectedly, it was a Henan accent that Zhu Yixi could understand, which made him relax and no longer needed an interpreter.
"Is it vetch?"
"That's right, but it still has to be water!" The old man continued: "With the keel waterwheel and the big tube wheel, the water from the lower places can reach the higher places. Now I can also draw water, so that the rice can be harvested...
"
When asked about his status and family, the old man was unambiguous. He proudly said that he had served as an auxiliary soldier for the emperor in the past. After receiving a year's money, he went home to cultivate wasteland. Over the past few decades, he had won more than ten acres of paddy fields, married a wife and had children.
Spreading branches and leaves.
"Why don't you go? There is a military field to get it!"
"It's not so easy to get money and land. I'm a little tired from opening up wasteland, but I'm stable and staying alive is better than anything else."
The old man sighed, his eyes filled with indifference:
"I saw a lot of dead people in Henan. The bandits killed my children and took my mother-in-law away to live or die. Then they joined the army before me. They went into battle with a stick and survived for several years."
"The Holy Emperor captured the intruders, and I surrendered. After collecting enough money in a year, I no longer want to fight anymore..."
Zhu Yixi was silent.
Why did the military meritorious officials lose to the imperial examination?
It's because people yearn for peace.
In fact, most people don't have much ambition. They just want a few acres of land, a wife and children, and they have to join the army.
In times of internal strife and war, military meritorious deeds will be useful, and the recruitment system will arise.
Isn't the reason why today's Beijing Camp pays so much because of its lack of military exploits and how to make up for it with money?
"One acre of land in Hubei is twenty cents, so my family has to pay two hundred and eighty cents. It's not high, but I can get half a stone of grain. But I have too many sons, so it's hard to divide them..."
The old man was melancholy.
When I didn’t have a son, I wished I had one, but when I did, I disliked him too much and not enough.
"My younger son is smart. I gritted my teeth and let him read for five years. He learned more than a thousand words and went to work as an apprentice in a county pawn shop. He only had one penny per month, but it was much better than farming...
"
The way out for farmers is very narrow. They can study literature, join the army, or go to the city to work and learn a trade. The last thing they can do is to rent the land from the landlord and work as a tenant farmer.
Doing business? You don’t even have any capital.
Listening carefully to the old man's ramblings, it makes people calm down immediately.
For ordinary people, weddings and funerals are important events, while illness is an overwhelming event.
But what they fear most is that the government will mess around.
"In previous years, we had to build official channels. When we were busy, one family had only one child, and the land at home was not enough. So we had to rely on connections to find help from the clan."
"Now the official system has been improved, but the corvee labor is still there. It's all heavy physical work. Although you only work in the government, who cares about you when you are busy?"
"I would rather collect a few percent more taxes than do corvee labor."
Zhu Yixi smiled, then stood up and took out two silver beans from An's arms: "Old man, I'm sorry for disturbing you when I listen to you talking!"
The old man opened his mouth, but no words of rejection came out.
This is two taels of silver, enough to give my son a wife.
Zhu Yixi ignored him and left on his own.
"Corvees, corvees, are more feared than taxes!"
He murmured, his mind wandering.
To tyrannize Qin, to tyrannize Qin, does not refer to taxes, but to corvee labor.
What people fear most is illness and mourning.
Medical treatment costs a lot of money, and funerals require coffins, tombs, banquets, and leaving the family with nothing to show for it.
This was how people sold their bodies to bury their fathers in ancient times. There was no place to throw away a roll of mats, and all the wasteland had owners.
Zhu Yuanzhang was like this. He asked the landlord Liu De for a piece of land to bury his parents, otherwise he would have to throw them in a mass grave.
Corvee labor was extremely easy to induce these two items, leading to the destruction of many families.
There are thirty million people in the world, building canals, border forts, mausoleums, building palaces, and running roads, and nearly one-third of them are men.
Without men, the land was barren and taxes could not be paid, so they had no choice but to flee.
After going through countless hardships and not dying of exhaustion, illness, or starvation, and waiting to return home after completing the corvée service, but with no home left, who wouldn’t rebel?
The Grand Canal of the Sui Dynasty was naturally a timeless project, but it only took six or seven years for millions of people to build the thousands-mile canal. How many people died during this period? How many families were indirectly destroyed?
"Are you exempt from corvee?" This idea popped into Zhu Yixi's mind, and she pressed it again immediately.
He has exempted the world from the Ding tax. There is no need to pay taxes to have children, and many children have been saved from drowning.
Being exempted from corvee service was just the icing on the cake for him.
But for the new emperor, it was an important achievement that allowed him to secure his position in the country, defend the world, and at the same time establish his prestige.
The carriage moved gurglingly and arrived at Xiangyang City in a short time.
On the wide moat, water birds were flying, and a large number of awning boats were rushing back and forth, bringing many guests from the Han River.
"Stop!" Zhu Yixi got out of the car and looked at the wide water surface and the cool river breeze, feeling quite emotional for a moment.
"Guest, I have plump river fish here, very fresh!"
At this time, a awning boat docked on the shore and put down a few guests. An old woman was sitting on the boat, cooking fish soup. The boiling white umami was almost overflowing.
"Very good, I haven't eaten fish from the Han River for a long time!" Zhu Yixi smiled and boarded the boat in a few steps.
Five or six big men stepped forward simultaneously, startling the latter.
The young man holding the pole turned pale and fearful.
Only the old woman came back to her senses and said with a smile: "Sir, sit down quickly, my little boat cannot withstand the torment!"
"Just hang out on the moat!" Zhu Yixi said casually, looking at the flying water birds.
Seeing that the young man had not yet come to his senses, Zhu Yixi chuckled lightly and threw a silver bean over.
The latter was overjoyed and glowing red, not as frightened as before.
"My lord, you gave me too much!" the old woman said through gritted teeth.
"It's okay, the extra money will be considered as a reward." Zhu Yixi said with emotion: "Looking at the river fish like you, it should be worth it."
Close your eyes and enjoy the river breeze blowing on your face, the summer heat disappears without a trace.
After a while, there was a bowl of boiling white fish soup in front of him.
Dongzi nodded, indicating that he had tasted it.
Zhu Yixi took a sip: "Yes, it's as delicious as what I had many years ago!"
"Guest, this is my home-brewed fruit wine, please try it!"
The old woman took the wine bag hanging on the wall of the boat, found two more cups, and poured the turbid fruit wine into it.
Zhu Yixi raised his eyebrows. He held the wine bag and it felt familiar: "This wine bag is quite old!"
"Yes!" the old woman said with a smile: "This is my father's favorite wine bag. It was rewarded by a nobleman on the ship in the past, and I have never been willing to throw it away!"
"Look, more than thirty years have passed, and this wine bag is still in good condition. It looks like good material..."
Zhu Yixi looked carefully and saw the small seal carved on the mouth of the bag: Jingming.
This is his name, and no one has called it to me in many years.
"Little girl, why are you so old!"
Zhu Yixi looked at the old woman and recalled that she had a pair of ponytails, her delicate and strong waist supported the pole and rowed the boat, and her face was filled with the breath of youth.
At that time, the old man was still thinking of saving a dowry for the girl!
"Are you the nobleman of that time?" The old woman was shocked, her brows were filled with joy, and she immediately said: "More than thirty years have passed, how come you still look so young!"
"It's like being in your forties."
"Hahaha!" Zhu Yixi laughed wildly, feeling so happy: "Little guy, I didn't expect to see you again after so many years."
"Your Excellency, this is my youngest son, the son-in-law whom I hired. The boat capsized and drowned ten years ago. I have no choice but to get on the boat again."
She talked about suffering, but she didn't care, as if the parents were short-lived: "The eldest son also drowned, leaving no seeds, and the daughter-in-law remarried."
"This is the fate of our fishermen. We have to die in the water. We eat fish all our lives and rely on fish to feed our family. After death, we have to be eaten by fish. Tit for retaliation..."
Zhu Yixi did not disturb her.
This is just an ordinary thing in the life of ordinary people.
If you suffer too much and see too much, you will get used to it.
Living is that simple.
Zhu Yixi was satisfied until half the pot of fish soup was finished.
He let the boat dock and said to the old woman: "Live a good life!"
After saying that, he took a few people and left.
There was already a car waiting at the shore.
The old man wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes. She thought of her father. At that time, he was busy saving a dowry for himself. It was the happiest time in her life.
It's a pity that I didn't enjoy a few years of happiness and left immediately.
Only then did she notice that there were stacks of banknotes left on the bench.
Ten sheets, each containing ten silver coins.
For a fisherman, this is money that is difficult to earn in a lifetime.
"Mom, where did you get so much money?" The younger son was overjoyed: "We are rich and can marry a hotpot wife!"
"What a fish to catch!"
She couldn't hold back her tears, which wetted her clothes, and she murmured: "How come I never touch noble people in my life..."