Struggle in the early Tang Dynasty

It may not be without cause.

Hearing what Gu Sanye said so convincingly, he couldn't help but wonder in his heart, what else could there be besides plague, famine and other natural disasters to kill a large number of people in several state capitals?

As for man-made disasters, Guo Ye completely ignored it, because there had been no wars in the country for more than ten or twenty years since the Tang Dynasty was in peace.

And in his impression, it seems that in the fourth year of Zhenguan, there seems to be no military chaos anywhere.

Soon, Gu Sanye answered without asking questions, cleared the answer in Guo Ye's mind, and said to himself: "Hey, you guys will enjoy drinking and eating meat in our Fenglingdu big bowl! You don't know, Several prefectures in the lower reaches of the Yellow River have already been starved and starved, and the people have already been famine and dig up the roots of the trees, dig up the Avalokitesvara soil to eat, and in some places, they have already begun to eat each other, tsk tsk, miserable, miserable!"

Gu Sanye's words were informative and his expression was real, as if he was in the real scene.

"what……"

After hearing the word Yi Zixiangshi, Zhenniang, who lowered her head and was tearing the white-faced bun, stopped her hands immediately. After a cry of surprise, she immediately put the white-faced bun back on the plate, with a respectful and pious expression, As if I was ashamed of wasting food just now.

At this time, there was another humming and whispering sound in the lobby, as if hundreds of thousands of sparrows suddenly flew in from the silent lobby, making a mess again.

Guo Ye saw the panic and disbelief on the faces of everyone. Even some Guanzhong swordsmen who were used to seeing life and death with long knives on the table could not help sighing and shaking their heads.

For a while, there was a noisy discussion in the lobby:

"These years, our Guanzhong area has been enjoying good weather and good weather, why is there still a famine?"

"My God, there is a famine in several states. Hundreds of thousands of people dig up tree roots, dig up Guanyin soil to fill their stomachs, and exchange sons to eat each other. How many people will die?"

"No, at the beginning of last year, I escorted the darts and passed by the Changtai Mansion downstream. I saw that their harvest was quite good."

"Be quiet, be quiet!"

Suddenly, an old man in a gray and white Confucian shirt stood up in the crowd, waving his arms to stop the chatter in the hall.

Guo Ye saw that there was a bundle on the table, it should be a guest staying at Fenglingdu.

The old man clasped his fists at Gu Sanye and asked, "Gu Sanye, you are well-informed and well-informed. Do you know why these states in the lower reaches of the Yellow River started a famine for no reason?"

Gu Sanye drew his nasal voice heavily, hummed, nodded and replied: "Look at your old clothes, you should be a scholar, right? You always asked the right person, Gu San has been rooted in Fenglingdu for decades, He knows the area of ​​the Yellow River like the palm of his hand. As for the famine, he is somewhat clear about it."

The old man let out a cry, then cupped his hand again at Gu San, and asked: "In that case, I hope Third Master Gu can clear up my doubts."

Seeing this old man, as a scholar, Gu San was able to show face to himself, an innkeeper who was in business, so he naturally had a good face, and he let out a groan of great satisfaction.

Then he said to him: "Actually, this is all fate. It is said that we rely on mountains to eat mountains and depend on water to drink water. We people in Guanzhong are the same. We rely on the Yellow River to eat the Yellow River. Because of the irrigation of the Yellow River, the land in Guanzhong can It is fertile and has a good harvest every year. But it is also because of the Yellow River that the downstream state capitals have all suffered disasters this year! You are all visitors from afar. It has ruined the people of several states downstream..."

Gu San talked eloquently and revealed the real reason for the famine in the lower reaches. It turned out that the lower reaches of the Yellow River flooded, broke the embankment, overflowed the bank, and flooded the fields thousands of miles downriver. The crops on the fertile land for thousands of miles have caused the people to lose their harvest this year...

That's it!

Quite a number of guests near the Guanzhong area nodded their heads. They dared to hear about this matter before, but they didn't expect it to be so serious.

As for Guo Ye, although he has never said a word, he seems to have some impression of what Gu San mentioned.

If he remembered correctly, he remembered hearing about it from Eunuch Shun.

But at that time, Eunuch Shun said that the Yellow River caused a disaster and the imperial court gave relief to the disaster. As for the others, Eunuch Shun didn't go into details, which was far less detailed than what the third master Gu said.

However, he was very curious, since the imperial court had already started disaster relief, with His Majesty Li Er's vigorous and resolute style of doing things, how could the people in the downstream states be so serious?

Then he blurted out and asked Gu Sanye: "Hasn't the imperial court already arranged disaster relief? How could the people in several downstream states suffer such a great crime?"

As soon as the voice fell, there was a sudden surprise: "Huh??"

But this surprise did not come from Third Master Gu, but from the old man who asked Third Master Gu just now.

The old man turned his eyes to Guo Ye, stared at him with burning eyes, and asked: "You young man knows a lot, do you also come from Chang'an?"

Guo Ye saw that the old man was slightly shabby in gray and white Confucian shirt, but the imposing manner that the old man was born with when he asked questions was not something that ordinary merchants can possess.

Especially when he heard the old man's last sentence "You are also from Chang'an", he paid attention to it. Obviously, this old man must be from Chang'an.

Could it be that he came to...

Guo Ye seemed to have thought of something, and without being rude to others, he clasped his fists and replied, "So that the old man will know that the boy is not from Chang'an, but from Central Sichuan, and he is from Longxi, Yizhou Prefecture."

Hearing that Guo Ye was not from Chang'an, the old man seemed to lose interest in asking again, but turned his head to look at Gu Sanye, and continued to ask: "Gu Sanye, what this young man said is very true. Didn't the court send him Has the disaster relief money been sent to the downstream states? How can the people suffer such a crime?"

Gu Sanye listened to the conversation between Guo Ye and the old man, and based on his decades of experience, he could see that both of them had extraordinary backgrounds.

Immediately, he also put away the arrogant expression just now, and said with a smile: "You two understand people, the imperial court did send relief money a month ago, and it passed through our Fenglingdu. I heard that there are 150 million guan (Two). But..."

When the old man heard that Gu Sanye was playing tricks again, he kept silent, and then his face became extremely anxious, and he asked repeatedly: "Gu Sanye, but what?"

Gu Sanye put away his smile, and said with a serious face: "Forget it, our Fengling Inn is a small business, and we can't afford to talk about it, even Gu. Everyone, eat and drink well, everyone in the hall today The wine and meat on the table are all Gu San’s.”

The old man was unwilling and wanted to ask further questions, but who knew that the bad old man Gu Sanye was a monkey, so he jumped down from the counter with a bang, and hurried out of the inn gate on the pretext of something happening outside.

The rest, apart from the compliments from all the guests in the lobby, praising Gu Sanye for his righteousness and his open and generous words, there is nothing else.

Soon, the lobby returned to the scene of eating, drinking and making noise just now, as if the famine in the lower reaches mentioned by Gu Sanye just now had nothing to do with everyone sitting here.

Only two people were still standing, one was the old man in Confucian clothes, and the other was Guo Ye.

The old man stood at his original position, looked at the door where the third master Gu disappeared, thought for a while, and then waved at the two attendants at the same table in a dispirited manner, whispered a few words, and slowly went up the stairs , Returned to the guest room on the second floor of the inn.

As for Guo Ye, even though he was standing, his eyes followed the old man's figure all the way, until the old man walked up the stairs and returned to the room, he was still standing there.

Knowing Guo Ye's temperament, Zhao Jiuchou persuaded softly: "My lord, it's more important to enter Chang'an and go to the Imperial College. Just like you reprimanded me before, I don't know the place well, so let's not mind our own business."

Guo Ye glanced back at Zhao Jiuchou, and said with a smile, "You're a fast learner, but it's just a matter of time and time. The road is uneven and people step on it. Old Zhao, hundreds of thousands of people in the downstream are suffering. How can we turn a blind eye to it?" ?”

Knowing that he had guessed Guo Ye's thoughts, Zhao Jiuchou couldn't help saying angrily: "My lord, you and I don't understand the situation in the downstream state capitals. How can we care about it? Also, let's come out this time, But you and I, Zhenniang and the three of us won't be of much use."

The implication is to advise Guo Ye to think twice before acting. Behind the scene of this famine, the water must be deep and muddy. Don't fly moths into the flames and make unnecessary sacrifices.

Guo Ye naturally knew Zhao Jiuchou's reminder, but he still shook his head stubbornly and rejected Zhao Jiuchou's advice.

Then, he turned his face to the door where Gu Sanye disappeared, and said, "This Gu Sanye is not simple!"

After finishing speaking, he raised his right arm and pointed to the stairs on the second floor, and said, "The old man who went upstairs is even more difficult!"

In an instant, Zhao Jiuchou and the silent Zhenniang turned their heads to look at the second floor one after another, and all of them turned their eyes to the room that the old man entered.

Chapter 354

At night, the bustling Fenglingdu gradually calmed down.

Under the boundless night, apart from the howling cold wind that ravages the Guanzhong land endlessly, there is also heavy snow falling all over the sky under the night wind.

Guanzhong at night, Fenglingdu at night, is very desolate...