The weather in Wuyang City has been very good recently. It has not rained and the temperature is not hot. March and April every year are such good days. The crops planted take advantage of the good weather to grow as high as possible.
, to avoid drowning yourself in the coming rain.
Rice is the main food in Wuyang City. However, the land is sparse and mountainous, which is very unsuitable for agricultural development. The people of Wuyang also have ways to enclose the poor mountainous plains with terraced fields and stone cofferdams, just like a chessboard, dotted with dots.
It doesn’t mean that Wuyang has no flat land at all. The large fields outside the city belong to the city lord. The city lord’s land is the best and the largest. Thousands of slaves stick their butts out and work under the supervision of the soldiers. They sweat like rain.
, they worked so hard, but in the end not a single grain fell out of their mouths.
Fertilizing is a chore, and the long queues are full of stench, pouring buckets of fertilizer into the ground. Artemisia annua is not a smart weed, it grows too fast. I always think that I can take advantage of this good time and work hard to absorb it.
Hard-earned nutrients and adequate exposure to sunlight will allow its descendants to prosper. But it forgets that just because it grows too fast and too tall, it is often pulled out by the first batch of weeding slaves.
On the road in the distance, more than a dozen bulging bullock carts were slowly walking towards Wuyang City under the protection of a group of big and round men. The leading cart driver was facing the sun and put up his hat to block his eyes to avoid glare.
The light shines directly into the eyes. The ox cart moves very slowly, shaking every step. The sun is very warm on the body, which is particularly comfortable. The driver is dazed and lets the obedient old ox walk slowly on the road.
This is a convoy of Han people, who have just come from Han Dynasty. The hard journey has made both the cattle and people a little tired. Wuyang is very close to Han Dynasty, and Han people often come to Wuyang, but these days
It's a bit too much.
A slave in the field straightened up, turned his head and glanced at the slow convoy, and was immediately whipped. The guards of the city lord's palace standing on the ridge of the field roared at all the slaves: "Work hard! It's not your business to care about."
Don't worry about the matter, if you take the whip this time, it will kill you next time!"
The life of a slave is worthless, and no one will care if he dies. The city lord has many slaves in his family. As long as she wants, she can turn an ordinary person into her slave anytime and anywhere. This is a privilege given to the city lord by her ancestors, and it is also a weapon.
stipulated by Yang law.
Compared with the hard work of slaves, the common people with more people and less land are much more leisurely. It doesn't matter if they don't have enough to eat. Wuyang is like spring all year round, and there are endless weeds to eat at any time. It's not a big deal if you don't have warm clothes.
The coldest time is more than ten degrees Celsius. Get some more thatch and put a layer of thatch under your body to avoid freezing to death.
"This is Mr. Su's goods again. I went to see them last time. They are all good things I have never seen before. It's a pity that we have neither money nor ability to buy them!"
An old man and a young man sat opposite each other on the field ridge, looking longingly at the slowly moving oxcart convoy.
"I want to work as a helper for Mr. Su. I heard that I can still earn two yuan a month!" The young man said it seriously, not as if he was joking.
The old man thought for a while and shook his head: "No, the city lord didn't issue a notice. If the city lord finds out, we will become them!" The old man turned his head and looked at the slaves who were working hard at the foot of the mountain.
"Hey!" The young man sighed and kicked the ground, and the head-sized clod of soil was kicked to pieces: "Dad, you said that we are so busy working all year round that we don't even have enough to eat, and those gentlemen don't have anything to eat.
If you don’t do it, everyone will be well fed and clothed warmly, why is that?”
"These are all arranged by God. Is that what us mortals can understand? God has the final say on what kind of life everyone should live!" The old man had no expression on his face. He knelt down and clasped his hands together, kowtowing to God: "No.
If you have any regrets, as long as you work hard and have no complaints in this life, God will make you rich and prosperous in your next life."
"But that's not what Mr. Su said! He said..."
"Pa!" The old man was really angry this time. Ever since Mr. Su arrived, he often heard words he shouldn't have heard from his son: "That's a Han. Don't forget your identity. We are from Yelang!"
The young man covered his face and remained silent, with tears in his eyes flowing down his cheeks.
"Drive!" The coachman raised his whip, flicked his wrist, and the long whip drew a graceful arc in the air, and then retracted it precisely above the cow's ears, making a "pop!" sound. The leisurely old cow immediately
Looking up and back to the middle of the road, my pace has accelerated a lot.
There was really a lot of cargo, and the oxcart was heavy and heavy, and a shallow rut was made in the soft soil. Seeing that they were about to arrive in Wuyang, the guards relaxed and gathered in groups of three and three, talking and laughing.
Although I couldn't understand what they were saying, the expressions on those people's faces still made people envious.
"Hey...! What good things have been transported this time?" I don't know if it was the brave guy who shouted something in Chinese to the convoy.
"They are all good things, cloth, silk, porcelain, salt, tables and chairs, tea, whatever you want is available! If you want it, hurry up tomorrow!" the big man at the head of the motorcade replied loudly.
"We can't afford these!"
"If you can't afford it, you can just exchange it with something! Herbs, animal skins, anything else will do! Even your rocks will do, hahaha... There are treasures everywhere in your mountain, no matter what you get, you can't exchange it for anything.
No, we want everything."
"This cloth is strong and durable, and the clothes made can last for a year. And this table and chair are so comfortable! Make a cup of tea, move a table and chair, sit under the tree and enjoy the off-farm season. This is the best enjoyment.
Yes, even my husband is like this. He said this is the happiest thing in life. Go quickly! Get something from your mountains, no matter what it is, even the soil will be fertile!"
It sounds unintentional, but it sounds intentional. Shamasayi keeps receiving reports that his forest has been suddenly destroyed on a large scale, the medicine garden is stolen from time to time, and even the livestock in the corral are often lost. No matter you
How to beat slaves? Those guys didn't say a word, lying on the ground with their backs bare, burying their heads in the mud, and letting you beat them all black and blue with the whip.
The troops and forest rangers were sent out, but it had no effect. The valuable trees and medicinal materials on the mountain disappeared in large tracts. The livestock raised on the mountain were also lost in large numbers. People were sent to investigate, but no clues could be found at all. Even if they were arrested,
There were one or two people living there. Their faces were frightened, but they kept silent and said nothing.
Shamasayi was angry. Such a thing had never happened in her territory. She supported the railing on the second floor with both hands and looked at the two thin guys tied to the stakes downstairs. She recognized that this was her home.
The stable boy, these two guys were caught red-handed while stealing a horse from home. They were tied here and prepared to be punished, so that everyone could see the consequences of stealing her things. This is not the first time they have done this.
"Tell me! Who asked you to steal the city lord's horse?" Sama was holding a whip in his hand, with blood still dripping from it.
The two stable boys had no trace of flesh on their bodies, their chests were rotted into wadding, their mouths were bloody, their faces were expressionless and they said nothing.
"Damn it, Ge, you have such a tough mouth, come on, come on, do it!"
"Ah...!" Sama gave an order, and two men came up with knives in their hands, cut off a bunch of meat from the stable boy, stuffed it into their mouths, and chewed it with a bloody mouth.
Laughing.
The two stable boys looked like they were going to die.
Many people gathered around the execution ground, including common people and slaves. These people watched silently, with dull eyes, as expressionless as the two stable boys.
"Have you seen it? This is the consequences of stealing the city lord's things. As long as you tell me who asked you to steal the city lord's things, you will not only avoid physical pain, but also your family will not be affected. Otherwise, you will be caught by me.
Come on, your fate is even worse than theirs!"
Sama waved the whip in his hand, snapped it, and glanced at everyone present.
"Is it you? And you! Arrest them both!" Sama casually pointed with his whip, and the two civilians with slightly twinkling eyes were pulled over by the soldiers.
"Let me go! I didn't steal anything!"
"You didn't steal anything. You must know who stole it. If you tell me, I'll let you go!" Sama chuckled and cracked the whip again, making a crackling sound.
"I, we really don't know! We didn't steal anything! Please, let us go?"
Sama laughed heartily, waved his right arm, rolled up his whip, and made a long gash on a commoner's body. The screams rang out again, and the expressions on the common people's faces were no longer dull, and they were bitten one by one.
He gritted his teeth, clenched his fists, and moved forward unconsciously.
Sama turned his back to the people and didn't pay attention to what was behind him. Shama Sayi upstairs could see it clearly and couldn't help but raise his head and frown.
At some point, Mr. Liu appeared behind Shamasayi and laughed: "What a scheming trick! This move is very cruel. If the city lord handles it improperly, not only will the mastermind behind the scenes be unable to be found, but it may even trigger a civil uprising."
.”
Shamasayi glared at Mr. Liu: "What good idea do you have?"
Mr. Liu shook his head: "According to what we Han people say, scheming lies in the word "heart". Under the city lord, the hearts of the people have been scattered. It may not be easy to gather them together!"
"If you say it, you haven't said it yet!"
"Haha, that's not entirely true. Only by finding the mastermind behind this can we truly defeat this conspiracy."
"who is it?"
"have no idea!"
"You!" Shamashayi glared at Mr. Liu and pinched Mr. Liu hard on the waist.
"Ah!" Mr. Liu grinned after being pinched and quickly apologized: "Okay, okay, let's analyze it. Who in this Wuyang City wants to see the city lord so passive?"
"You mean..."
Mr. Liu smiled and nodded.
Shamasayi snorted coldly: "Huh! There are no good people. I wanted to get along well with them, but they actually incited the people to rebel, so don't blame me for being rude!"
Mr. Liu chuckled: "Speaking of which, they are also very smart. If the city lord doesn't treat your people like this, these people will not go against the city lord. Now it seems that they have united. If you want to keep Wuyang, the city lord needs to make up his mind.