The end of the world begins with the king

Chapter 812 The World
After leaving the barracks, Zhao Yanxun and his party only walked three or four hundred meters before a carriage caught up to pick him up.

Zhang Meng squeezed the driver away and took over the driving job again.

"Zhang Meng, thank you when you left the city, and the other guards are as you saw yesterday?"

Zhang Meng replied: "Reporting to the emperor, some are good and some are bad, but they are always better than the original ones!"

Zhang Meng used to be a soldier of Longyou Dusi, so he naturally knows what's going on in the guard.

"As for the situation of the capitals, although the Privy Council has strict supervision, I always feel uneasy!"

"After returning to Beijing this time, I plan to send you to inspect various places, what do you think?"

Zhang Meng was stunned for a few seconds, and then replied: "I listen to the emperor's orders!"

Zhao Yanxun laughed a few times, and asked, "Could it be that you are still reluctant to leave me?"

These words really hit Zhang Meng's mind, he really didn't want to do these mind-consuming tasks.

Before Zhang Meng could reply, Zhao Yanxun went on to say: "In the past few years, they have led the army to fight many tough battles outside, but you have been by my side all the time. This is not a solution. You have to go out to experience and learn a lot!"

"I understand!"

The carriage moved forward slowly, and the two started chatting, and rushed to a remote place along the official road.

Although he has been in this era for more than three years, the places Zhao Yanxun entered and exited were either big cities at the county level, places surrounded by zombies, or important military locations...

He has never seen the most common villages and towns in this era.

Those villages and towns beside the official road are actually relatively prosperous places, and Zhao Yanxun basically found no problems along the way.

So, in the end, Zhao Yanxun decided to abandon the carriage and go to the remote village on foot instead.

Along the path, Zhao Yanxun and the others walked seven or eight miles forward, and what they saw along the way was indeed different.

The people I met along the way were obviously thinner than those living around the official road, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that they were skinny.

But at this moment, Zhao Yanxun stopped in a field, and in the ditch next to him, there was a corpse eaten by wild dogs.

What he saw before let him know that in the world he ruled, the common people were suffering, but it was still within the scope of his acceptance.

But the gnawed corpse gave him a great shock and made him feel extremely distressed.

"Find a place and bury him!"

"Yes!"

Immediately afterwards, Zhang Meng greeted the two accompanying people and began to dig a pit to bury the corpse.

Looking at the uncultivated fields in the distance, Zhao Yanxun murmured: "Right now, wild dogs cannibalize people. If there is a shortage of food, I am afraid it will be people cannibalizing people!"

After a while, the body was buried, and Zhao Yanxun and his party continued on their way.

After walking another four or five miles, several farmers' houses appeared in the col ahead.

"Go over there and see!"

Several people continued to move forward, but only a few hundred meters away, Zhao Yanxun heard crying.

Soon, they approached the nearest hut, and the crying sound came from inside.

These are obviously the most ordinary people, Zhao Yanxun originally wanted to ask about their living conditions.

But with the current situation, no matter who asks, they all know that this family is living a miserable life.

"Is anyone in there?"

Zhang Meng yelled several times before an old woman came out. The patched clothes could hardly be called clothes.

Gray hair, sunken eye sockets, thin body... Zhao Yanxun only felt sad when he saw it.

The world he governs includes not only scholar-bureaucrats and officials, but also the vast majority of the common people.

And the one in front of him, although miserable enough, at least has his own house, which is much better than those refugees.

Thinking of those rich and powerful families in the capital city, they have already occupied more than a dozen lifetimes of wealth, but they still want to do some criminal things, and they deserve to be copied.

Although the old woman is ignorant of people, but only from the clothes of Zhao Yanxun and the others, she knows that they must be big shots, even though Zhao Yanxun is the most common clothes she can find.

"Kowtow to all the masters!" The old woman hurriedly knelt on the ground.

"Old man, please get up quickly!"

Zhao Yanxun stepped forward to help, but Zhang Meng took a step ahead and directly helped the old woman up.

Although they behaved very accommodating, they still made the old woman extremely frightened, making her trembling and not knowing how to deal with herself.

With a smile on his face, Zhao Yanxun asked: "Old man, are you the only one at home? Why don't you see other people?"

"Master, the two sons have gone into the mountains to cut firewood, and the head of the family is in the field with his wife and grandson!"

Nodding his head, Zhao Yanxun asked again: "It's a good thing that the whole family is here. How can we get by now?"

Upon hearing this, the old woman began to cry again, the meaning couldn't be more obvious.

"If you have any difficulties at home, you can tell us, we are sent by the government to solve the difficulties for the common people!"

When she heard that Zhao Yanxun was from the government, the old woman immediately said: "No...no problem!"

These words were obviously insincere, but after Zhao Yanxun thought about it for a while, he knew that the old woman did not trust the government.

"Old man, if you have any difficulties, just tell us, we will definitely help you!"

How can trust be easily established.

The old woman knelt down suddenly, kowtowed and said, "My lord, Xiaomin's family is really out of food. If you force me again, my whole family will die!"

In this sentence, the amount of information is not generally large.

"Old man, we are not here to collect food!"

After a lot of persuasion, the old woman believed Zhao Yanxun's words, but the worry and fear in her expression did not disappear.

At this moment, Zhao Yanxun was already sitting on the other side's threshold, and the old woman was sitting beside him.

"Old man, the government recently confiscated your food?"

"Yes!"

"Each family pays by head, and each person pays fifty catties!"

"Who came to your house to collect it?"

"Master Wang's house!"

"That Lord Wang?"

"Master Wang from Anxi Village!"

As soon as he heard that he was a local landlord, Zhao Yanxun immediately asked, "How much land does his family own?"

"Innumerable, many fields belong to his family!"

"This Lord Wang, has he been collecting taxes all this time?"

"Yes!"

"Why doesn't the government collect it by itself?"

Unexpectedly, the old woman asked back: "Do you want the official to collect it?"

In today's era, the county government directly governs only the county seat and its surrounding areas, and places farther away can only rely on the self-government of the village sages.

A big landlord like Mr. Wang will naturally assume the responsibility of being a village sage.

"Where does that old man live?"

"Just ahead!" The old woman pointed Zhao Yanxun in the direction.

"Thank you!"

Before leaving, Zhao Yanxun asked if he had brought any money, and if he could help a little, of course he would.

A few people didn't bring much money with them when they went out, but they added up to more than 20 taels, but Zhao Yanxun only left three taels of silver for the old woman.

It wasn't that he was reluctant, but that he was afraid that if he gave too much money, it would harm the family instead.

Three liang of silver is enough for them to tide over this difficulty.

It's just that there are so many suffering people in the world, how can Zhao Yanxun get so much money to save them.

Just as he was about to leave, he saw a young man running fast in the distance, shouting "Wang Po".

"Master, this is the eldest grandson of the family behind me!"

Having benefited from Zhao Yanxun, Wang Po let go of her guard and took the initiative to introduce someone to Zhao Yanxun.

"Dalang, what's the matter?"

Glancing at Zhao Yanxun and the others, the young man was obviously wary, so that he didn't answer Wang Po's words.

"Just say something, there are no outsiders here!"

With Wang Po's words, the young man said: "Wang Po, the county elder has gone to Master Wang's house!"

(End of this chapter)