Chapter five hundred and ninety-first Tang You starved to death
"Clang, clang, clang..."
The wooden wheeled cart is driving on an endless stone track, and the sound of the collision between the wheels and the track can be heard.
Zheng Kai sat in a seat by the window, yawned and opened his eyes.
There was a faint white light on the windows covered with oil paper, and it must have been dawn outside.
Sporadic cold wind penetrated into the car through the cracks in the window. It was chilly. Zheng Kai couldn't help but wrap his robe tightly and move away from the window. The cold wind weakened slightly.
It didn't feel so cold anymore, and Zheng Kai was in the mood to look at everything in the car.
More than a dozen rows of seats were arranged against the windows on both sides. There were two people sitting on each row of seats. Unlike him and Suharcha, the people around him were all wrapped in thick cotton-padded jackets. Only the two of them were sitting there.
Wearing the regular robes he wears during the day, Suharcha was shivering in his sleep.
The sky gradually became brighter, and the carriage began to come alive. The fat man sitting opposite him got up, took a wooden bowl from his luggage, and went to the front to beg for some water.
"We've arrived in Jiangzhou."
The fat man was holding a wooden bowl and talking to his seatmate next to him, his voice carrying a rough taste after staying up late.
The seatmate sighed, with a lot of haggardness in his voice: "I've survived this time again. When we get to Shangshan, the clerk in the store should have prepared the mules and horses. Let's go directly to Tangdi."
The two of them talked about business matters, and the fatigue from staying up late and riding in the car gradually dissipated, and they became bright and beautiful again.
Suharcha also woke up. He hugged his arms, shook his head and asked Zheng Kai:
"Where is this? The window paper is really an eyesore. You can't even see it from the outside."
His voice was quite loud, and he quickly attracted the attention of the people around him. However, after a moment of astonishment, he said to himself:
"I forgot. Now we are on a wooden wheel. It is really amazing. When I graduate from the martial arts hall, I will go to the Ordnance Mansion to build these rare things, just like this wheelbarrow."
The fat man opposite looked unkind:
"Your Majesty, please, this wooden wheel cart cannot be built casually. In order to promote it, the prince hurt many people and was blocked by many people. If the prince hadn't insisted, who would have seen this?
Benefits of wooden wheel carts.”
Suharcha looked the fat man up and down and said in a bad tone:
"Why, I hear your tone, and you really look down on me."
The man next to him waved his hand: "I don't dare. I'm just a shopkeeper. How dare I look down on you? It's just that some people look down on the prince. I can't tolerate any disrespectful words towards the prince in my heart. I hope you won't do anything offensive."
angry."
Zheng Kai patted Suharcha on the shoulder and said with a smile:
"This shopkeeper is here to invite me. My friend said something wrong. Please forgive me. This is the first time for us to ride this wooden wheel car. We have obviously slept for a long time, but we feel that our bodies are tired and tight, and we feel a little unhappy in our hearts.
I can't help but feel a little impulsive, shopkeeper, don't be angry."
Seeing that Zheng Kai was easy to talk to, the fat shopkeeper also put away his aura, lowered his posture and said:
"Don't you dare ask this military master for advice?"
"The shopkeeper may not have heard of the vulgar guards. I am Zheng Kai."
The fat shopkeeper suddenly stood up, and his head hit the wooden board above the seat where the luggage was placed. There was a loud bang, which was painful to hear.
The seatmate supported the fat shopkeeper and said with a smile:
"Forgive me, Mr. Zheng, but my shopkeeper is frightened by your name. The Blood Barbarian is very popular in the North. He can stop children from crying at night. We, the merchants, have great respect for the general."
Suharcha became interested: "He kills people like crazy, so aren't you afraid?"
The fat shopkeeper seemed to dislike Suharcha, and there was still a hint of fireworks in his tone:
"It depends on who you are killing."
"When the prince first took control of Xuanfu, there were so many bandits in the North. Not to mention us and other merchants, the common people were often robbed of food, and whole villages starved to death. Later, the prince killed them, and the bandits in the north were almost eliminated. I
Wait until you can live a good life."
"When General Zheng assisted General Zhang Lu in guarding the North, he became even more ruthless. He was even more cruel to the Tule people and grassland horse bandits who dared to rebel. He almost never took prisoners, earning him the title of Blood Barbarian."
"The trade routes in Beidi are smooth all the way, and horse bandits and thieves are never seen coming out to cause trouble. This is all due to General Zheng."
Zheng Kai was praised and felt warm in his heart. Damn it, those bastards in the court have repeatedly criticized him in the name of killing prisoners. What a damn thing they don't understand. The way the prince personally treats prisoners can be wrong.
.
Suharcha was beaten several times, and he felt a little angry. Hearing this, he said irritably:
"Blood Barbarian is not a good name."
"who cares"
The fat shopkeeper said something, which attracted the approval of everyone watching the excitement.
"Who cares about this? What the people care about is survival."
"Without General Zheng, I don't know how many people would have died in Beidi."
"At least there was no food being robbed and the entire village starving to death."
"Since the prince came to power, how many times have we starved to death?"
"You're not starving to death. Yesterday I heard those officials shouting that if the documents can't be delivered to Jiangzhou, people will starve to death."
"That's the Tang Dynasty. Well, the Tang Dynasty people are closely related to us Han people."
Amid the commotion, Zheng Kai smiled and asked the fat shopkeeper opposite.
"Shopkeeper, what, are there any Tang people in Jiangzhou who are going to starve to death?"
The fat shopkeeper nodded: "It's not that bad. There are many bandits and defeated armies in Tang Dynasty. Many people are robbed. There are many deaths. Life is not easy, and many people starve to death."
"In order to survive, they crossed Shangshan and came to our Jiangzhou to seek livelihood. Now there are many refugees gathered in Jiangzhou, and the government's food allocation needs the approval of the Ministry of Household Affairs. This back and forth delays time and is really deadly.
of."
"There are people dying of hunger in the Tang Dynasty because there are no ruthless people like the generals. Nowadays, the trade routes are very blocked."
The fat shopkeeper sighed and said, not knowing whether he felt sorry for his own journey or for the people of Tang Dynasty.
Suharcha frowned and didn't say another word until he got out of the car.
When he was in the Northland, he advised Zheng Kai more than once to commit less killings and not to kill the sergeants who had surrendered.
But today, the fat shopkeeper and these shopkeepers who use wooden wheel carts to do business made Suharcha understand one thing, killing people like hemp is sometimes not a bad thing.
At least it's not a bad thing for the people who were robbed.
When the car arrived at Shangshan, it was already three o'clock in the morning.
The two of them got out of the car with large and small packages of official documents, asked the guards on duty at the post station, borrowed fast horses, and rushed to the Shangshan camp.
As soon as they left the inn, the two of them were surrounded by a large number of hungry people.
"Is there any official document from the Ministry of Finance, adults?"
"That gentleman brought the official document from the Ministry of Finance, it's life-saving."
"The bus didn't arrive last time, and if it doesn't arrive this time, our family will starve to death."
Amidst all kinds of voices, Zheng Kai shouted to Harcha and hurriedly squeezed out of the crowd.
Suharcha was a little puzzled:
"We have the paperwork with us. Let's tell them. Wouldn't it make them all happy?"
Zheng Kai snorted coldly:
"Then do you believe that they will come up to snatch your documents? When the time comes, you will be squeezed to death by so many victims, and you, the newly promoted little prince, will suffer a lot."