If you don't wear women's clothes, the big man will die!

Cao Jie's clear eyes stared at Cao Jie for a while, the eyes that seemed to be able to see through everything made Cao Jie feel a little uncomfortable, he laughed softly: "Ah Man has a pair of clear eyes, as if he can see through everything , makes people feel strange and uncomfortable." Unfortunately, he has a stubborn temper and is very easy to deceive.

Cao Jie labeled Cao Man as a fool in his heart, and didn't think that Cao Man's paragraphs could see through human nature, but he didn't know that he had already been used as teaching material by the system, and he was stripped clean inside and out .

Cao Jie has no relatives and no reason, and manages his own contacts in the inner palace. There are many subordinates, but the only partner who can bear the risk together is Cao Song who lives in the court.Wang Fu seems to be cooperating with him, but as an eunuch, he has his own interests. He often struggles with Cao Jie. You give me a favor, and I give you a favor. They help each other and compete with each other.

Only Cao Song, the son of Cao Teng, could really help Cao Jie. He carefully maintained these relationships in order to be able to climb to the highest position and to gain the upper hand under the joint confrontation of the other eunuchs.

Although not to the point of difficulty, it is not easy for Cao Jie to live in the court. The emperor with a gloomy and changeable temperament cannot be easily fooled. What Liu Hong likes is that he knows Cao Man's false identity.Therefore, the emperor was happy to let him control the personnel affairs in the court, and he was also willing to let him be active in the court. Compared with other eunuchs, Cao Jie received more favorable treatment, all because of Liu Hong's selfishness toward his family.

Everyone will have the intention to kill Cao Jie.Only Cao concealed it, at most he yelled.

It can be said that Cao Jie is the one who is most afraid of something happening to Cao Man. Without Cao Man, why would he stand out from the emperor?How many eunuchs stared at his position, and how many people wished that he would die without a place to bury him. In the eyes of the emperor, Cao Jie, who also had the surname Cao, had a close relationship with Cao Man. The idiot himself called him "Uncle" in front of His Majesty, so his status is already different compared to other eunuchs.

The emperor can decide the fate of everyone with a casual word, and he can get Liu Hong's closeness. What a blessing this silly boy has cultivated, so he is so stubborn!

Cao Jie was afraid that Cao Man would ruin his own life outside, so he not only wanted Cao Man's autographed letter to deceive the emperor, but also asked him where he left, and sent someone to protect him personally, so he could seize the opportunity The authority of the Custodian.

Cao Meng laughed, and said heartily: "Uncle said this, is he afraid that I will see something? You want to explain to His Majesty, of course, why write a letter, I will go with you personally .”

Cao Jie said: "Don't you understand? If you went to find His Majesty in person and saw you, His Majesty would be even more unwilling to let you leave Luoyang."

Cao Jie looked at Cao Man who wore men's clothes up and down, and saw that the young man was handsome and cheerful, with a wheat complexion, star eyes and white teeth, muscular body, and an extraordinary figure and appearance. If he went out, he would be fascinated by many aristocrats female.

It is such a normal young man, there is no sense of disobedience in dressing up as a woman, and the front and back dresses are not the same person at all. If it is not that the appearance of the woman is too harmless, how could His Majesty say: I am really worried that Ah Mo will let him go. Those villains who were like wolves and tigers were swallowed alive.

"Since Uncle has a way to convince my father, he must also have a way to convince His Majesty," Cao said to himself, "You teach me the way, and I will convince Your Majesty, and you can convince my father. ?”

Cao Jie looked at him sideways, with weird eyes: "Why are you so sure that I will help you?"

Cao Man shook his head and said, "Because if you don't agree, I can only rely on my own means to sneak out."

Sneaking out is the last thing he wants to see. Without the protection set up in advance, the outside is so chaotic. If he dies outside, he will be in great trouble. Maybe he will be angered by the emperor and hurt him. They also lost their lives together, Cao Jie gritted his teeth secretly.Do you want to say that this kid is not pleasing to the eye?Not necessarily, if it wasn't for Cao's concealment, he wouldn't be able to get so many benefits.For Cao Jie, Cao Man is a disobedient and easy-to-use chess piece, and it is also a king chess piece that cannot be regretted once a chess is played, cannot be easily acted rashly, and must consume other chess pieces to protect it!

When I hate him, I really want to squeeze him, and when I feel happy, I want to hold him in the palm of my hand.

Cao Jie finally compromised, he didn't want the power of the forbidden army for a day or two, if he could use this to take control of the military power, so what if this kid wanted it?

He pondered for a moment, and told Cao Mo about his plan: "Yesterday, the president of the university, Xun Li, asked for leave and handed in the memorial, saying that his mother in his hometown died of illness, and he will bring his children back to his hometown for the funeral. You can go on the road with President Xun Li Let’s go to Yingchuan County to have a look, and I’ll have someone to take care of me along the way.”

Cao Mo frowned: "However, I originally planned to go to Hangu Pass along the Yellow River to have a look, and then go to Chang'an, the former capital of the former dynasty, and then turn back all the way. If you ride a horse, one month is enough to go back and forth. gone."

"If you want to go to Hangu Pass, His Majesty will definitely not allow it," Cao Jie affirmed, "Natural disasters always occur in the area outside Hangu Pass, and hungry people are everywhere. The gang of mobs will hurt you, not to mention that if you go outside, you will go to a place where Hu people and Han people live together, it is not safe there, and no one dares to go outside Hangu Pass alone for students on grand tours.”

Cao Man is determined to go to the outside world to see, relying on his own martial arts, he just plans to take a look at the place where the barbarians are!

Seeing this, Cao Jie changed the direction of his persuasion: "There are all kinds of private schools in the world, some are good and some are bad. There are literati exchanges between students and teachers. If you go to Yingchuan here, there will be many famous people. Chang’an is a private school for you to visit. Chang’an is too far away, and a month’s round trip must not be enough. You have never been there. As far as I know, the messenger sent from Chang’an’s fast horse has to kill a few horses all the way. , to be able to reach Luoyang within a month."

Cao kept silent, thinking quietly.

"The way I plan to convince your father is that Chief Xun Yu is going back to his hometown. You can go all the way and see the famous Yingchuan private school. It is closer to Luoyang than Chang'an. It passes through Hulao Pass and crosses the Sishui River. , and then pass through Xingyang, and then over Songshan Mountain, you can reach Yingchuan.

The journey on the road seems not long, but you have to pass customs, cross rivers, and climb mountains. What you see and hear is enough for you to write a grand tour report. The time is not so rushed, and you can rush back to attend the graduation ceremony within the stipulated time. "Cao Jie gave a critical blow: "The graduation ceremony of the university will be attended by His Majesty in person. He will lead the graduates to sacrifice and pray for a smooth future. How disappointed should His Majesty be if he can't come back in time? "

Cao Man thought for a while, and what Cao Jie said made sense, and then nodded: "There are many famous scholars in Yingchuan, and I have heard about it. Since there are people to take care of you on the road, safety can be guaranteed, then my father must agree. Maybe he can't believe it, but Chief Xun Mi always believes it."

Mentioning this, Cao Man suddenly thought, it seems that Xiao Yu has also graduated from the elementary school!

Since he devoted himself to his studies, Cao Mo hasn't contacted Xiao Yu for a long time, and he doesn't know how he is doing.

After entering elementary school, Xiao Yu has never had the opportunity to come to the university library to read the bamboo slips. He must be very sad, and maybe he is still eagerly waiting to go to university!

President Xun's mother died, so Xiao Yu's grandmother passed away?

Cao Man slapped his forehead and decided to write a letter to Xun Yu later.

"Okay, I've decided to go to Yingchuan for a grand tour. Congratulations to Shizhong Cao, you finally convinced me," Cao Mo hooked his lips: "These reasons are enough for me to convince His Majesty, just wait for me, I'll go change my clothes .”

Cao Jie hurriedly said: "Wait! You have to do other makeup for yourself this time. Your Majesty feels a headache every time you dress up as a fair and weak woman. You should pay attention to it."

"Don't want a white and clean style?" Cao Man was stunned.

Cao Jie sighed deeply: "It's okay to be ugly, as long as you don't be recognized by people on the left and right. When you become a minister next to His Majesty, you can come to see Your Majesty in men's clothes."

Cao Mo nodded, went back to the room, and took out the powder that was carefully hidden.

Ever since his father almost discovered his little secret, he has hidden the rouge and gouache very tightly!

It couldn't be easier to click on the one-click dressup first, and then put on makeup for yourself.

He took a chalk pencil and drew on his face, then tangled up in front of the bronze mirror: "Be ugly, how to paint, my husband never taught me the makeup of an ugly girl. How should I paint if I'm not fair?"

He thought for a while, but the blurry shadows in the bronze mirror couldn't be seen clearly, and only by getting very close can we see the subtle traces. At this time, Cao Mo missed the glazed mirror from the Western Regions in Liu Hong's palace very much. It can be seen much more clearly than a bronze mirror!

He picked up the brightest color of lip balm, and wiped it on his mouth chaotically. The color was so red that it was about to bleed. He never used it before, but if he used it today, he would look as ugly as a female ghost.

He picked up the peach face powder and applied it to the corners of the eyes and cheeks, and took the eyebrow pencil, brushed it on the eyebrows, and applied them to the eyelids, leaving a trace that the gentleman arranged by the system called eyeliner , and then opened the door contentedly to find Cao Jie.

"Let's go! Isn't this ugly enough?" Cao Man said with a smile, his eyes are almost breathtaking, pink face peach makeup, red lips and white teeth, so glamorous that it is so vulgar that people can't wait to scold "coquettish" cheap/goods".

Cao Jie stared straight at him and pointed at him tremblingly. The eunuch, who rarely has emotional fluctuations, had his chest heaving at this moment, his blood pressure rose and he became dizzy due to his appearance.

Cao Jie couldn't believe it: "This is called ugly?! Did you do it on purpose?"

Cao Meng tilted his head, his electric eyes showed a puzzled expression, he frowned slightly, and the rustic coquettish feeling came to his face, showing his vulgar taste, so gorgeous that Cao Jie was dazzled.

Cao Jie was so dazed by him that his brain, which was always smart, was rarely blank. For the first time, he lost the self-cultivation like a saint, and he raised his voice and reprimanded: "What kind of clothes are you wearing?! It's so revealing. Too many, that's the behavior of a slut, only a lowly woman who is a prostitute will dress up like this to seduce His Majesty!"

Cao Meng said strangely: "This is not right, it is ugly and vulgar, no one will doubt it, His Majesty can wash his eyes after seeing it, doesn't he not want to see fair and weak makeup?"

Cao Jie shook his head fiercely: "No, no, you take off this makeup for me!"

Cao Man suddenly pricked up his ears, and looked out alertly. He happened to be able to see Cao Song's shadow appearing outside the courtyard through the window. : "What are you withdrawing! Before my father came, I left quickly. If I don't leave, I won't be able to leave."

Cao Jie was driven to the shelf and forced to share the same carriage with Cao Man. With a gloomy face, his eyes drifted past Cao Man's plump silicone fake breasts from time to time. His head started to hurt, his ears started to scream, and even his stomach began to Pantothenic acid is gone!

"I really should let Da Si Nong also come to see what you look like now," Cao Jie said ruthlessly, "Like a slut who doesn't obey women's morals!"

Cao Man glanced at him lightly, the hook-like eyes were full of aggressiveness under the outline of the eyeliner, seducing people all the time.

Cao Jie turned his face away, and he couldn't bear to look directly and covered his eyes.

After arriving at the palace, he welcomed Cao Man into the palace, and the passing eunuchs and maids lowered their heads one after another. When they arrived at Chengde Palace, the imperial guards who were guarding outside took a breath when they saw Cao Man's appearance: This is Where did attendant Cao Chang find the beauty? !

The guard reported in a low voice: "Master Cao, Your Majesty has brought He Guiren to serve wine and dance."

Cao's show light flickered, and he asked softly, "Is it inconvenient to report now?"

The guard shook his head, knocked on the door of the palace, and said to the maid guarding the door: "Master Cao has brought a new beauty."

The maid left a little after hearing the sound, and hurried to open the door for them, and respectfully invited them in.

When Liu Hong in the hall heard that Cao Jie had brought the beauties, his first reaction was that Cao Man also followed, and immediately waved away the dancers, and ordered He Guiren to leave on his own.

All kinds of dancers withdrew respectfully from the hall, and soon came out the beautiful nobleman He Shi. Cao Jie led Cao Man into the Chengde Hall, and happened to pass by He Shi.

That Mrs. He lowered his brows and eyes, gentle and pleasant. Cao Man's eyes looked over curiously, and they collided with Mrs. He's raised eyes.

He's eyes suddenly widened, with surprise in them, and an unbelievable expression on his face.

The maid at the gate of Chengde Palace urged her again, she suddenly came back to her senses, left here with messy steps, and after returning to her palace, she covered her face and wept softly.

The people around him came to comfort He Shi: "Your Majesty, don't be sad, your majesty may just have important things to do, not to snub you."

"Cao Changshi brought such a beauty to find a place for Empress Song, to share my favor!" Mrs. He was terrified: "Your Majesty saw such a beautiful and alluring beauty, how can you look at her?" How can it be worthy of my ordinary appearance?"

When His Majesty saw such a glamorous and alluring beauty, he was so frightened that he dropped the wine glass in his hand, and jumped up from his seat with a face full of hell!

Liu Hong covered his face and said, "Ah Man dressed up like this to tease me?"

Cao Mo said innocently: "Didn't His Majesty tell me to dress up ugly? I just took some dark rouge and painted a few strokes."

"Stop it, stop it! I will spoil the three thousand beauties in the harem in the future, and you will give me the wrong idea that all beauties are men. No, I must give you an official position that can enter and leave the palace. Next time You come in in men's clothing for me, and don't show me your appearance in women's clothing, I can't stand it!" Liu Hong held his little heart that was shocked by his appearance, wishing he could immediately call the innocent He Guiren back to wash his eyes.

Cao Man didn't expect Liu Hong to react so strongly. He tilted his head in confusion: "How can it be so scary? I just drew a few more strokes. The facial features are still mine!"

"Where are your facial features? Tell me, it's completely unrecognizable!" Liu Hong said excitedly: "Your craftsmanship is so ingenious, you should use it on the right way. You spend all day studying what women's makeup does. You are like this now, and there will be more in the future." Who dares to marry you? Women in the world will feel ashamed when they see your face."

Cao Meng: "In that case, I will take off the makeup."

"You don't need to take it off," Liu Hong felt a little pity when he heard that he was going to take off his makeup, and stared at him several times, taking advantage of Cao Man's beauty to eat two bowls of rice.

"Just don't do this next time." Liu Hong lowered his voice in vain: "Otherwise, I'll call Da Sinong to see if he can recognize you as his son."

Cao Mo's brow was sweating, and he quickly brought the topic back to the right track: "I really want to tell His Majesty that I plan to go to the Zhuang Tour. Seeing that graduation is coming soon, I plan to take a trip to Yingchuan and accompany Chief Xun Yu , to visit and see the glory of the famous place and the situation of Yingchuan private school."

"Yingchuan?" Liu Hong corrected his expression: "It's a good place with a good learning style. The clans from Yingchuan are very knowledgeable about current affairs, and the Xun family is a well-known local family in Yingchuan. If you go there, you will be safe." Guaranteed."

Hearing this, Cao Mo knew that Liu Hong was not going to stop him from the Grand Tour, Liu Hong also said: "Be careful on the way here, I will wait for you to come back to participate in my crowning ceremony."

After finishing speaking, Liu Hong took Xun Yu's memorial and put on a quasi-word.

Liu Hong agreed, Cao Song deserved it and was happy, all because of Xun Li's character.

Cao Song also took Cao Man to the Xun family in Luoyang, found Xun Yu, and entrusted him to take care of Cao Man who was not worried along the way.

Xun Yu agreed to come down, and left Cao Man behind, and said separately: "This trip is for'seeing', not for you to do something. You can keep what you see and hear in your heart, and when you return to Luoyang Don't make any other unnecessary actions before, and always remember the saying 'the power of one person is not as powerful as the power of the country'."

Cao Mo didn't understand why Xun Yu said that, but it didn't prevent him from keeping this sentence in his heart.

The students of the grand tour, riding horses is the treatment that only students from rich families can enjoy, while those from poor families mostly rely on their legs to travel everywhere.

Cao Man not only has a horse to ride, but also a carriage. When he wants to ride a horse, he can go outside and get on his own horse. When he doesn’t want to ride, he can let the horse walk outside. Chat with 15-year-old Xun Yu.

Traveling in a carriage was slower than riding a horse, but faster than walking. Xun Li brought nearly ten servants back to his hometown, all of whom were strong enough to protect them along the way.

A group of people walked along the wide road. This kind of well-repaired avenue has post stations set up by the government along the way, which are used by officials and their relatives to supplement supplies and help.Cao Mo has a seal given by his father, and when he arrives at the post station, he will report his name as Da Si Nong, and he can withdraw money and food at the post station.

On the first day of the Grand Tour, Cao Man spent the time in excitement. He met Xiaoyu, his younger brother who hadn't seen him for a long time. Like a bird about to be released from the cage, he chirped about his feelings.

The 15-year-old Xun Yu has already begun to show off his charm. He has a gentle and quiet personality, and his elegant and scholarly temperament is moving closer to his father Xun Yu. In terms of appearance, he can be said to be a rare handsome man. Dropped the veil.

Cao Mo got into the carriage and saw that Xun Yu was reading a roll of bamboo slips, the carriage was not narrow enough for him to walk two steps inside.

He approached Xun Yu, his dog's nose twitched, and he laughed: "It's so fragrant, so fragrant! What kind of incense is it? Specially made, right?"

Xun Yu said like a grown-up: "Incense is a gentleman's good."

Cao Man smiled and said: "The production of incense is not easy. You need to collect raw materials, make the front and back fragrances and blend them. The poor fragrance makes people feel fragrant after smelling it. Good incense makes people feel like they see it." Wonderful picture."

Xun Yu was a little surprised. He put down the bamboo slips in his hand and said, "I didn't expect Ah Man to learn something about Xunxiang. I often heard people talking about you in the elementary school. The students looked forward to your rich knowledge and hard work. They all said that you almost I rummaged through the bamboo slips in Zangshu Pavilion, and I know everything."

"It's not enough to search it all over," Cao Mole said, "It's probably more than half of it!"

Seeing the two young people chatting happily, Xun Yan nodded slightly and didn't say much.

After the carriage arrived outside the city of Luoyang, they handed over the leaving order and identity documents. After traveling for nearly half a day, the carriage arrived at the first official post station at noon.

As soon as he arrived at the first post station, Cao Man found many people begging near the avenue. They were dressed in rags, holding broken bowls in their hands, looking sad and numb. More people gathered around.

Xun Yu had never seen such a scene before, and his eyes widened in surprise: "There are so many beggars at the feet of the emperor outside Luoyang?"

Xun Li sighed, patted him on the shoulder, and led the two of them down to the station.

Seeing dozens of strong men escorting the carriage, the beggars scattered a little bit, and stared at the carriage with bloodshot eyes, guessing which dignitaries and dignitaries were among them, with hatred, hope, and hope in their eyes. There is also numbness.

Xun Yu looked around for a while, and gradually retracted his gaze. He couldn't bear to see such a scene anymore, he clenched his fist quietly, and asked Xun Yu, "There are heavy guards from the outside of Luoyang City to here, not only to guard Luoyang, but also to protect Luoyang. To prevent beggars from entering, right?"

Xun Yu nodded, looked at the beggars calmly, and said patiently: "The entry of beggars into the city will make Luoyang unsafe. Among these beggars, fish and dragons are mixed, and they are all people who have lost their homes. Those with a conscience may Those who beg and have no conscience will turn into bandits. They are not allowed to enter the city because the generals of the guard army are afraid that they will disturb the nobles and relatives of the emperor."

When Xun Yu was saying these words, he happened to see Cao Man coming outside the post station, and hurriedly called Cao Man: "A man, come in for dinner."

Cao Meng responded, and suddenly came back to his senses, and walked to Xun Lidi's side step by step: "Mr. Xun, there is someone selling his daughter over there, and he can buy his daughter for only fifty plants or a catty of grain." gone."

Cao concealed that he had hidden a pile of money in his pocket. Usually, his pocket money would be a thousand per month, not to mention grain.

He wondered: "Why did you sell your daughter? Why did you sell your daughter so cheaply? How precious is a daughter! How could someone sell her like an animal?"

Xun Yu heard the words and said in a low voice: "If it wasn't because he couldn't survive, why would he sell his son and daughter? If the son is raised, he can still work when he grows up, but the daughter can be sold cheaper than the son. This is the current situation." The current situation of the people, how many people have been displaced due to natural disasters, this place is only outside Luoyang City, and when you go further, you will see even more cruel scenes."

Xun Yu was stunned, and said incredulously, "Could it be that Luoyang is the only one in the whole world that is peaceful and prosperous?"

Xun Yu took a look at Cao Man who was also shocked, and patiently explained to them in the form of teaching: "Since a few years ago, His Majesty has set up a 'party prison' for scholars all over the world. Close friends and those who are famous among students are not allowed To be an official, so as not to set up party members. There are vacancies in various places, and the eunuchs took advantage of this to install their own people. Among them, the ten eunuchs around His Majesty appointed relatives almost all over the local counties."

Cao Mo said, "How could the eunuchs appoint talented people to manage the place?! The so-called relationship households are all a group of moths who just eat and don't work!"

Xun Yu: "Yes! After they become officials, they will only blindly collect taxes, collect money, occupy good land, and bring disaster to the village!"

Cao Man was furious when he heard this: "Is this still a violation of the law? Is there no one to deal with them? Just let them manage the place like this?"

"Who will handle them?" Xun Yu said: "The literati who dared to handle them have already been demoted and encountered 'party imprisonment'."

The harm caused by party imprisonment is so great? !

Perhaps it was because Cao Mo's expression was too exaggerated, but Xun Yu comforted him: "There are still talented officials in various places, no matter how bad they are, there will be imperial envoys to supervise these things."

"What if the imperial envoy is also bought by them?" Cao Man asked tentatively, "Is there any other way to change this situation?"

Xun Yu glanced at Cao Man: "Then I am afraid that we will have to wait for the literati to defeat the eunuchs again before the situation can be reversed."

Xun Yu hesitated to speak: "But... the struggle between literati and eunuchs has lasted for decades. Judging from what happened, after the literati came to power, they didn't manage the place properly!"

Xun Yu was silent for a moment, feeling a little helpless at his son's uprightness, he rubbed the center of his brows: "Even so, the world should not be governed by eunuchs' henchmen."

"Eunuchs have cronies, and courtiers have cronies. They have been fighting endlessly for a long time. They don't manage the country well. They don't have enough salaries paid by the people to pay taxes. They also want to embezzle and plunder the people's fat and anointing. Is this a long-term plan? ?” Cao Mo had deep doubts about this: “There is no one to govern the country, and the people are starving to death. Will there be chaos in the country?”

Xun Yu couldn't answer Cao Mo's doubts, he sighed softly: "'The people are the most important, the country is second, and the king is the least'. Ji Li has already learned the study of "Mencius" and put them in his heart. Others may have already forgotten the piety they had when they first learned the words of the sage."

The topic was a bit heavy for a while, Xun Yu looked at his father, then at Cao Man, who had an unattractive expression, and lowered his head to think: "It would be great if His Majesty could order a thorough investigation."

Cao Mo's heart moved, and he quickly lowered his head again. He touched Xun Yu's head, and said with sympathy: "Xiao Yu is still too naive, and he has not been deeply involved in the world! It would be great if he ordered a thorough investigation to solve the problem. I'm afraid that even if an investigation is ordered, they will still be able to get along with the method of deception, obedience and inconsistency. There are too many people's interests involved in this. Those who seriously investigate may not find anything. It has been murdered."

It was beyond Xun Tiao's expectation that Cao Man could have such an understanding. He gave Cao Man a high look, nodded in agreement and said, "That's right, that's exactly the reason."

Cao Mo said again: "Unless His Majesty can send enough people who can control the situation, such as Duan Zi, use the army to kill all the rich and nobles who dare to resist!"

The more he talked, the more excited he became, and he felt that what he said was so true!

That's right, the one with the big fist is the boss. Whoever has an army in his hand can protect himself and force others to submit.

Xun Yu was strangely silent, and his eyes gradually became strange. His eyes fell on Cao Man's lean and muscular arms, and his face showed a tangled look.

Xun Yu knocked a chestnut on the top of Cao Mo's head without any scruples. He said helplessly, "The more you talk, the more shameful it becomes. Not everything can be solved by force!"

They rested for a while at the post station, and set off again in the afternoon.

In this way, I arrived at Xingyang all the way. Weeds were overgrown along the roadside, and there were bones on the side of the wasteland. The well water dried up, as if a drought had just occurred.

Hungry people prostrated themselves on the ground, digging grass roots and stuffing them into the entrance. On the edge of the road, they would always meet beggars, staring greedily at the passing vehicles.Whenever a vehicle passed by, they would stretch out their bony hands to hook the shaft.

Xun Yu asked the two not to get out of the carriage, and only after entering the city of Xingyang did they let Xun Yu and Cao Mo get out of the carriage.

The joy of travel was no longer on Cao Man's face, he stayed with Xun Yu at the inn sullenly, and obviously became taciturn, and when he was serious, he was really a bit of a bluff.

Xun Yu still had the naivety of a young man. Seeing the miserable scenes in various places made him feel uncomfortable. It was a scene that every student who studied the words of the sages and took governance as his future career choice could not bear to watch. Thinking about their education in Taixue, Xun Yu comforted Cao Man: "When the Taixue students grow up, won't there be talents who can govern the world? After graduation, the situation will get better and better."

Cao Man nodded, cheering up a little.

In the city of Xingyang, there seems to be a different atmosphere. Whether it is the prefect's mansion or the local rich and nobles, all closed their homes. Xun Li and others have the official seal of Luoyang, and they have been taken care of by the officials left behind at the post station.

The remaining officials persuaded them: "Are you going to Mount Song to Yingchuan? Mount Song is not safe!"

Even so, it is not safe to take a detour.

The little official said sadly: "In recent years, there have been natural disasters, and the tax has been getting higher and higher. The plague broke out in Xingyang. The people have no money to treat the disease, and many people died. Xingyang has no people to farm, and the harvest is not good. Seeing that the pot is about to be uncovered, the local wealthy landlords have raised the price of food! So many people fled to the mountains and gathered to become bandits. If you go to Songshan, you will encounter bandits."

After arriving in Xingyang, all the people here spoke in dialect, which was quite different from Luoyang's official dialect. Cao spent a lot of energy trying to understand what the little official said, and his heart was even heavier.

He decided to write everything he saw and heard along the way into the report and submit it to His Majesty, so that His Majesty, who has lived in Luoyang City for a long time and cannot see the situation of the world, knows what the world is like today.This is Xingyang!It is a big city that is very close to the capital of Luoyang. Even this place is dilapidated like this. What kind of hell would it be in a place farther away?

People's voices came from a distance, Cao Man and others looked around and saw a group of guards escorting a scrawny woman back.

The officials at the station whispered: "Isn't that the widow of the king? What happened to her again?"

"This time it's stealing, what else can she do? She's trying her best to go to prison, isn't it just to eat to survive? Our prison is almost full of people, and it won't work if this continues!"

As the sky was getting dark, Xun Yu told Cao Meng to go to bed early and set off early tomorrow morning.

Cao Meng agreed absent-mindedly, and after Xun Yu left, he quietly came to the lobby of the post station, ordered a pot of wine and a plate of dishes, and listened to the chatter of the officials and the officials who came and went to and from the accommodation.

"There was a family at the entrance of the village that had no money or food. Men and women only gave birth to children to eat. After the children finished eating, after a while, the man couldn't help but ate the woman too. Later, he ate his own arm. He cut off his own leg, and when we found out, he was already dead, his stomach was full of mud that he had eaten, he was swollen to death!"

A small official spoke gloomily of the true story he had encountered, and the rest cried out in horror.

Cao Man was not as frightened by the darkness of this story as they were, but felt even heavier.

Xun Yu quietly came to Cao Man's side, he took down the wine glass in Cao Man's hand, put it down, and asked his doubts softly: "The master on the bamboo slips taught us that the country's food reserves are used for war, It can also be used in times of famine, and the governments all over the country have stockpiled grain and grass, since it has reached this point, why doesn’t the eunuch open a warehouse for disaster relief?”

Cao Mo shook his head: "If there is insufficient food and grass, then opening warehouses for disaster relief is just a drop in the bucket. In the case of limited food and grass, sacrificing the people is better than sacrificing soldiers."

Cao Mo closed his eyes, and then said: "The self-protection of the government cannot be guaranteed. Under the premise of no harvest, the only way to continue life is to eat the old grain accumulated in the granary. The common people are different from the educated Tai students. They They didn't know that the soil was inedible, so they died. They didn't know that some wild fruits were poisonous, so they died from the poison. They didn't have the strength and martial arts to fight against the wild beasts in the mountains, so they buried themselves in the teeth of the beasts. Down."

Xun Yu murmured, "That's too cruel."

Cruel?maybe!But who is it that caused all this?Officials don't care about governance, and people are forced to not be able to farm. If they don't farm, there will be no food. The consequences of having no food will be reflected on the government itself.If things go on like this, it will affect the operation of the entire country. What is even more frightening is that the former official left the post, and the latter accepted the mess after taking office.What's more, most of the "relationship households" appointed by the eunuchs are "hustlers" without great talents, and even fewer people can manage the local area with their hearts.Even if the eunuch wants to rectify, the officials under him are unwilling to cooperate and do some things to deceive the upper and lower, and even the eunuch can't do anything about it.

Early the next morning, Cao Man was woken up by the screaming and howling outside. He rubbed his eyes and came to the window, and lifted the window up. The warm sunshine in the morning shone on his face and body. good weather.

There were crying and howling one after another, and Cao frowned slightly when he saw a group of officers and soldiers escorting many people out of the city.

"What happened? Are these officers and soldiers oppressing the people?" Cao Mo left the supplies and ran to the lobby.

"The prisons in Xingyang City are full, and there is not enough food in the official granary!" The officials said one after another: "The prefect ordered that the villagers in the nearby villages be sent back, and only those with household registration in Xingyang City will stay in prison. "

Xun Yu has a serious expression. He graduated from elementary school with solid theoretical knowledge. After being exposed to the actual situation, he always has a lot of questions. He caught Cao Man and asked him in a low voice: "There is a plague in Xingyang, and the harvest has not been good in recent years. Why don't you ask the nearest city for grain adjustment? Could it be that the nearest city is also in disaster?"

Cao Man didn't know about this question, so he guessed: "Maybe