The next morning, Zhang Yanling said goodbye to his wife and children at home and set off. The group left the city incognito and went straight south along the official road.
We rode hard all day long and arrived at Bazhou Prefecture, the southernmost area under the jurisdiction of Zhili in northern Gyeongsang Province, in the evening. That night, we stayed at the Yuelai Inn in Bazhou City.
The inn was actually a good inn in Bazhou City, but it was empty and there were not many guests staying there. The innkeeper saw Zhang Yanling and others arriving and was very attentive. Zhang Yanling and others just asked for ordinary guest rooms, but the innkeeper arranged for them.
Several upper rooms were provided for Zhang Yanling to live in.
Probably because he saw Zhang Yanling's luxurious clothes and tough companions, he knew that Zhang Yanling was not an ordinary citizen. Besides, the upper room was empty anyway, so it was better to let people live in it and gain popularity.
The group of people were a little tired after running around for a day, so they drank some wine and fell asleep at night. At midnight, Zhang Yanling was awakened by the noise outside the inn. When he got up, he heard the noise and shouting outside, which was mixed with drinking.
The sound of scolding and crying was quite strange. It was midnight and I didn’t know what was going on in Bazhou City.
Zhang Yanling didn't want to pay attention, but Chen Shiyi knocked on Zhang Yanling's door and poked his head out of the window. Zhang Yanling knew that he wanted to see what happened, but he was also a little curious. After being woken up, he couldn't sleep anymore, so he got up.
Come and take Chen Shiyi to the front yard of the inn.
In the lobby of the inn, the shopkeeper saw Zhang Yanling and others coming out and hurriedly stepped forward to ask.
Zhang Yanling said: "What happened to the commotion outside? They were crying and making noise. It was so noisy that people couldn't sleep."
The shopkeeper hurriedly saluted and said: "I'm sorry, guest, for making you noisy. It was the Bazhou Guards entering the city and passing by the entrance of the inn. The few of them held back for a moment, and soon stopped."
Zhang Yanling asked: "The officers and soldiers of Bazhou Guard? What are they doing in and out of the city in the middle of the night? Is there a war?"
The shopkeeper smiled bitterly and said: "Sir, why are you asking so much? How do you know about government affairs? It's none of our business as long as you guys rest in peace, right?"
Chen Shiyi shouted: "How can you talk? Ask what's wrong? Are you not allowed to ask even if you ask?"
The shopkeeper was startled, scratched his head and said nothing.
Zhang Yanling listened for a moment, frowned and said: "No, there are sounds of women and children crying and howling. How can these be the soldiers of the imperial court? There must be bandits doing evil."
Upon hearing this, Chen Shiyi and others hurriedly said: "It does look like it, that's amazing. We have to go and have a look. How can we allow bandits to run rampant?"
A few people ran to the front yard of the inn, and the shopkeeper shouted with a mournful face: "Guests, I beg you, please don't destroy this inn, okay? The whole family is counting on you.
We are living in this inn. They are not bandits outside, they are indeed Bazhou guards. Those who are crying and shouting are just ordinary people."
Zhang Yanling stopped for a moment, turned around and said, "Common people?"
Chen Shi asked: "Old shopkeeper, what are you talking about? What are the officers and soldiers doing arresting the people?"
The shopkeeper gritted his teeth and said: "That's all, I just told a few people. Those are the common people who escaped. They were captured by soldiers and horses from all over the place. These common people are all fleeing towards the capital to beg for food.
The officers and soldiers of the Bazhou Guard went out to make arrests every day, and every night they caught a group of them. There were women and children among them, so naturally they were noisy and howling."
Zhang Yanling's heart moved, and she came back and said: "Shopkeeper, are they arresting the fleeing people because they refuse to farm? Are they arresting them to go back to farm?"
The shopkeeper said in astonishment: "How do you know?"
Zhang Yanling said: "Then I'm right. Could it be that these people couldn't support themselves by farming, so they fled to beg for food. The local officers and soldiers went everywhere to catch them back?"
The shopkeeper was even more astonished and said blankly: "How do you know everything about this guest? Didn't you say you are from the capital? How do you know the situation in Bazhou?"
Zhang Yanling nodded slightly and asked: "Shopkeeper, is the situation already serious? You just said that people are being captured every day. Doesn't that mean people are escaping everywhere?"
The shopkeeper sighed: "Nine out of ten people will have to flee. Those who farm the land will go hungry and have to raise horses and pay taxes. It's not possible to sell sons and daughters. The government still forces people to farm, and they will arrest them if they try to escape.
Come back and be forced to farm. Hey, what kind of world is this? I heard that not only our Bazhou, but also Hejian, Baoding, and Zhending are all under the same rule.
Like this. Not only did the common people escape, but some of them went to work as thieves and bandits. It was really a mess. Look at the good thing about my inn, Bazhou No. 1, it used to be full of guests. Now it's great, I won't die until I die.
We are hanging alive. Our Bazhou is at the foot of the Emperor, the land of Northern Zhili. How could it have become like this? How extraordinary is this."
Zhang Yanling frowned and listened to all this, not knowing what to say. Two months have passed since the last time he passed through Zhaozhou. The situation in Hebei has obviously become worse. Bazhou belongs to the Gyeonggi Province of Beizhili, and now
That's it. The situation is clearly getting worse.
A group of refugees taken in by Wild Dog Ridge in his Xishan Manor escaped from Bazhou. At that time, he didn't pay much attention to it. Now it seems that everything is right.
Bazhou is located between the various prefectures in Hebei and the capital, so the people can only flee in the direction of the capital. Because if you want to flee to the south, Hejian Prefecture, Baoding Prefecture, and Zhending Prefecture are all places where the pilot land reform is implemented.
Refugees will definitely be arrested.
But it was even more taboo for them to run to the capital. In order to prevent the court officials in the capital from knowing about this chaotic situation, the local authorities also set up a dragnet to arrest them.
No wonder there were many officers and soldiers cruising on the road before arriving. Zhang Yanling and others rode on horseback from the official road and encountered several checkpoints on the way. Fortunately, Zhang Yanling and his gang only checked those going to the capital, but not those coming from the capital. Goodbye
Zhang Yanling and others were well-dressed and came from the capital. They did not dare to make things difficult and let them go after asking a few questions.
The situation here is so serious, but for several months in the capital, Zhang Yanling did not hear any news. It can be seen that the news here is strictly blocked.
Zhang Yanling thought: It's impossible that Liu Jin didn't know that the situation was so serious, but it was obvious that he was determined to continue and sent troops to arrest the people and prevent them from going to the capital to expose all this. Isn't this guy afraid of causing trouble?
"Master... this matter... should we take care of it?" Chen Shi whispered when he saw Zhang Yanling frowning and thinking.
Zhang Yanling smiled bitterly and said: "What the hell. How do you care? Go back to sleep. We have to go on the road tomorrow morning. Go to sleep."
Chen Shi was stunned and had no choice but to take his men and follow Zhang Yanling back to his room to rest. The shopkeeper also breathed a sigh of relief, fearing that the dozen or so guests would go out to cause trouble and implicate him.
That night, Zhang Yanling did not fall asleep for a long time, and the sounds of crying were always echoing in his mind. But Zhang Yanling had to pretend that nothing happened, because he had already reported the situation to Zhu Houzhao truthfully. If Zhu Houzhao was willing to ask, these
The matter will be resolved. If he doesn't intend to ask about it at all, he won't do anything about it. Maybe he won't wake up unless something goes wrong.
For now, it's better for me to stick to my original plan. There are too many things in this world, and I can only do what I can do and take care of what I can manage. I'm not yet at the point where I can take care of everything.
Early the next morning, everyone left the inn and set off. When paying the bill, they gave the shopkeeper an extra tael of silver. The shopkeeper was very grateful. At the same time, he also told Zhang Yanling and others that if they wanted to go south, they must not go through Wen'an County, which is twenty miles away.
, it is best to take a detour because it is said that thieves have been causing a lot of trouble in Wen'an County recently.
Chen Shiyi and others naturally disagreed, but Zhang Yanling listened. Originally, Wen'an County was the only way to go, but Zhang Yanling ordered a detour to the east. This surprised Chen Shiyi and others. The Marquis actually really
I'm afraid of getting into trouble. The sun is really shining in the west.
After leaving Bazhou, Zhang Yanling chose to go south from Hejian Prefecture. Because traveling through Hejian Prefecture is the fastest distance to reach the border of Shandong. Zhang Yanling did this because he wanted to leave the Hebei prefectures as soon as possible. I am afraid it is not peaceful here.
Along the way, we rode hard and met several groups of refugees and pursuing officers and soldiers. Originally, the land of Hebei was vast. At this time of year, when the rice was ripe, it should have been a golden scene. However, we saw a lot of weeds along the way.
The situation in the wasteland is very desolate.
Arrive in Cangzhou Prefecture that night, stay in the city for one night, and set off the next day.
After walking for less than an hour, there were mountains and mountains ahead. Mountains are not common around Cangzhou, but there are quite a few hills and hills. But the mountain ahead was indeed a mountain, lush and green, with undulating hills and mountains, stretching for four or five miles.
The height is not very high, just the trees are lush and deep.
A few miles away from the hill, Chen Shiyi discovered that something was wrong. When passing several villages, some people looked furtively and looked suspicious. When they arrived a few miles away from the mountainside, Chen Shiyi was sure that there was something wrong.
"Master Marquis, something is wrong. You see, every time we pass a village, there are smoke pillars rising from the village. When we pass three villages, three plumes of smoke rise. It looks like it is sending a message. I am afraid there is a scam." Chen
Shiyi said in a deep voice.
Zhang Yanling sneered and said, "I've seen it a long time ago. I'm afraid there's something strange in the forest ahead. We may have encountered thieves. These common people are tipping off the thieves."
Chen Shiyi also understood and cursed: "These thieves actually colluded with thieves? This is simply unreasonable."
Zhang Yanling said: "This is the situation in Hebei. The people already hate the government to the core. The thieves are no longer a threat, the government is. We seem to be the target they are targeting today, and they are their fat sheep."
"
Chen Shi asked: "Then what should we do? Let's go back the way we came and take a detour."
Chen Shiyi originally thought that according to the style of Hou Ye, he would not want to provoke thieves. But he did not expect Zhang Yanling glared and said: "What a joke, I have to go around this way, why wait until now? After passing this mountain
, and another fifty miles will be the boundary of Jinan Prefecture in Shandong Province. If we take another detour, we will not be able to reach the boundary of Shandong Province tonight. Besides, there are fields all around and there are no roads. How can we ride a horse? This is a place we must pass through. "
Chen Shiyi said in astonishment: "Then... rush over?"
Zhang Yanling said: "Needless to say? Guys, get ready. The thieves in Zhaozhou last time had a lot of pustules. Let's see what the thieves here can do. Charge!"