After a long silence, everyone drove their horses forward. Thinking of the poor refugees just now, Sun Ce felt as if there was a stone in his heart, and he was bored to death.

Finally, he could no longer hold on, so he walked up to Li Yi and asked: "Zizheng, how did the world become so rotten? We were almost constantly homeless along the way. There were countless people lying down and starving to death. Why did the government not care about it?"

?This matter is really unimaginable."

He had too many questions in his mind.

Li Yi looked into the distance, let out a long sigh, and said: "It's nothing unimaginable. There have been serious disasters in the northwest for many years, but the government has been unable to provide relief. The people were so miserable that they sold their acres to wealthy gentry at low prices in an attempt to survive the disaster years, but failed

They are no longer able to live. Since they have no land, they will die if they stay. They can only turn into refugees and travel around trying to find a way to survive. That's all."

"Why don't the government help them?" Sun Ce said angrily.

"The government has no food." Li Yi turned his head and looked at the furious Sun Cerium, with a sneer on his face and said: "After years of disaster, no amount of food can withstand the consumption. Just once, but several times

When a natural disaster strikes, the granaries in various prefectures and counties have long been empty, but the imperial court has no money to mobilize food for disaster relief, of course."

The imperial court has no food? Sun Ce was stunned for a moment, then looked at Li Yi blankly, and said doubtfully: "How could the imperial court have no money? Although the border has used troops in recent years, the annual taxes and taxes have also amounted to millions of taels of silver.

No matter how hard we are, we can’t even come up with money for disaster relief.”

Sun Ce glanced at Li Yi with some dissatisfaction, seeming a little angry, thinking that he was lying to him.

"Senior brother, how much do you think the imperial court pays in taxes each year?"

Sun Ce was well-educated and made a reserved estimate: "Two capitals and thirteen provinces, the taxes alone should be over one million taels of silver, plus the annual income of the Weaving Bureau, it may also be one million taels, and the mines

The income from gold and silver is estimated to be between eight million taels."

"Does senior brother really believe that the imperial court has so much money?" Li Yi frowned.

Sun Ce hesitated and said: "This is just an estimate. I see that the wealthy people around me are well-dressed and well-fed, their daily expenses are luxurious, and the companions around me are also romantic people who spend a lot of money. I think the tax should be no less than this figure."

Li Yi nodded, with a little disappointment on his face: "So, senior brother really doesn't understand the people's conditions and the country's conditions."

After hearing this, Sun Zhen looked a little ugly, but did not refute. He didn't understand why Li Yi was uncharacteristically rude and said something very rude. He didn't like to argue with others, but was willing to hear why Li Yi had such a change.

Zhang Mingde, who was standing next to him, saw this in his eyes and laughed: "The Sun family of Gaoyang is also a master who has been passed down for hundreds of years. How can it be that he only knows how to read the books of sages, but he doesn't even know what the taxes are and what happens to the refugees?"

Upon hearing this, Sun Ce raised his eyelids and glanced at Zhang Mingde: "We are scholars. Studying and learning is our duty. How can we care about such trivial matters as taxes and taxes?"

In words, he was extremely contemptuous of money and food, thinking that talking about these things was really cheap and would make people laugh.

"I have a lot of poems and books, but they are of no use." Zhang Mingde smiled arrogantly, "A scholar like you is the most useless."

The corners of Sun Cerium's eyes twitched, but seeing Zhang Mingde's majesty, he couldn't help but put away his contempt, cupped his hands and said, "Does it mean that you, a warrior, just know this?"

Hearing this, Zhang Mingde said slowly: "I don't know anything about the imperial tax. But before, I could make a living by farming three out of ten. It's just that the petty officials are the most evil-minded. They fight for food and pay taxes, which is equivalent to

Four out of ten, I am really nervous. It is difficult for a family with many people and little land to make ends meet, so many people hide their population and refuse to pay food. If there is a wealthy village with a very high prestige as a grain grower, it would be okay. If not,

I’m afraid I won’t even be able to harvest the food, so I’ll have to pay for it.”

"Can taxes be paid in arrears?" Sun Ce couldn't help but hold his breath and his eyes widened.

Sun Zhen is very knowledgeable and knows a lot about the classics and Confucianism, but he doesn’t know much about these human facts. He has never heard of the allusion of three out of ten tax being kicked out and four out of ten. He can’t believe that someone dares to default on the court.

He was shocked and angry, and his expression also changed a little.

What happened to the Ming Dynasty? Even Sun Ce could not help but have doubts about that ideal world.

Seeing Sun Cerium so shocked, Li Yi laughed and explained: "The government is incompetent, and the petty officials are treacherous and cunning. They use labor to coerce the common people, and they are the most capable of bullying and corruption. Everyone knows these things. As for the court tax

Fu, Liaodong has been at war in recent years, and money and food have been spent like water, but they have been defeated repeatedly. There is an urgent need to expand troops, build weapons, and repair cities. The military situation is correct, and money and food have been spent continuously. But on the other hand,

On the one hand, natural disasters are continuing and refugees are everywhere. Many ordinary people are struggling to make a living. Their land is occupied by large gentry and purchased at low prices. These large households have preferential treatment by the gentry, and they pay very little grain tax on their acres, which makes the court tax

It’s really strange that the endowment does not increase but decreases.”

"It is also normal to hide the population and evade taxes. In the southern provinces, nearly half of the counties defaulted on taxes under various excuses, which greatly reduced the court's income. Putting the two factors together, where can the money come from to help the people?

"

Sun Ce listened blankly to the meaning of Li Yi's words. After a long time, he shook his head in confusion, expressing disbelief.

"Senior brother, you said you would assist the country and secure the people, but you don't know what kind of people you are providing for and what kind of country you are assisting. How can you do this?" Li Yi smiled: "Assisting the country and securing the people.

Reviving the mountains and rivers is a great ambition, and I admire it very much. However, natural disasters, refugees are everywhere, and suffering is everywhere. If you want to achieve those four words, you have to go out and see what they are like and what they want.

What, only in this way can we not remain stubborn and useless."

Listening to these words, Sun Ce felt that the depression in his chest was even more serious. He felt a little stuffy and almost suffocated.

He had only heard about the natural disaster, and had only seen the refugees a few times in the county. He thought they were weak and pitiful, so he rewarded them with some copper coins. Originally, in his opinion, although the Ming Dynasty was slightly turbulent, it was only a temporary disaster due to natural disasters.

The matter is not too serious. What I am determined to do is to rescue the refugees and propose countermeasures to the court to help the country and the people.

But now I just feel that everything is wrong. The Ming Dynasty suffered repeated defeats during the slave-building campaigns. Natural disasters continued, and the people were displaced. The treasury was empty and unable to provide disaster relief. Officials were corrupt, and the people were miserable. Local control was weakened, and taxes were difficult to collect.

In recent years, some large households have usurped acres of land, resulting in the destruction of people's homes and lives.

The shortcomings appeared naked in front of him like blood holes and wounds, so Sun Cerium had to face these horrific wounds head-on and figure out how to solve them.

Assisting the country and safeguarding the people was not only a young man's ideal, but also a huge burden that weighed heavily on his heart.

The dry and cold wind howled across the wilderness, along with the dust, emitting a faint stench.

A dense flow of people meandered from the distant wilderness. The shabby and messy clothes were obviously unable to withstand the body and exposed a large area of ​​skin. But now their faces were numb and they had no sense of shame. They were hugging, carrying, and squeezing.

They are squeezed together to form an irregular strip pattern.

There are about three hundred of them, all dressed as unkempt refugees, and they are slowly leaving the messy temporary camp. Most of them have gone a long way, and only some are as thin as firewood.

The refugees, with eyes burning with hunger, were rummaging around for abandoned debris, hoping to find something useful, and then they staggered and followed the chaotic footprints, slowly catching up.

Some people succeeded in following up, while others didn't even utter a cry, and just lay straight on the ground. Their branch-like arms struggled to get up, but they had no strength to support their whole bodies, so they could only stare blankly.

Looking at his companions who were gradually walking away, he finally buried his head with eyes of despair and relief.

Li Yi and others stood on the hill, watching the refugees slowly advancing and looking at the dead and skinny bodies. Everyone had expressionless faces and said nothing.

"Little benefactor, there are so many people in this group, and there are still a few people with weapons. They must be difficult to mess with. Do we want to go over?" said the old man behind.

Although he said that these refugees were not easy to deal with, there was no trace of fear in his expression.

They are all old men who have followed Li Yi all the way, and they know best the terrifying power of the young boy at the front.

"Act according to the opportunity, let's go..."

Li Yi knocked the horse's belly, and the strong horse led him slowly closer to the team.

He could see that this team had formed an organization, and several men with weapons were patrolling back and forth to ensure safety.

The approach of the four riders did not seem to cause much commotion. Li Yi was a little confused, but he also carefully slowed down.

Sun Ce stepped forward in despair, looked at the group of refugees, and suddenly turned to Li Yi and said: "I was wrong before. Everything about Fuguoshe was created by us, just to satisfy our pursuit of fame and fortune.

.But I don’t want to be a slut, nor a dandy. I want to be a person who can truly help the country and the people.”

He patted his horse and walked forward, taking out the pancake in his arms.

The team of refugees suddenly fell silent for a short period of time. All the refugees looked at the piece of dough blankly and stared blankly at Sun Cerium. No one moved.

"Come and eat some noodles. If you can't survive, go to Anxin and Li Yi. He will help you. You must go to Anxin." Sun Ce shouted awkwardly, raising the noodles in his hand.

Bing. He just wanted to do his best to fulfill his wish. Although he knew that he might be stupid and risk some risks, it was no longer important.

Li Yi felt something was wrong and wanted to go forward and call Sun Cerium back.

At this moment, a group of thin figures in ragged clothes slowly came from a distance. Almost most of them were children. Their small faces were stiff and frozen, and their skin was as dull as stone. They could only stare.

He looked at Sun Cerium with innocent eyes and timidly wanted to get closer.

The leader was an old woman with a kind smile on her face that was different from that of a child. She looked at Sun Cerium and then at Li Yi and others behind her, as if she suddenly felt relieved and walked at the front. The shabby dress

The cotton-padded clothes had been opened because of the stuffy heat, revealing skin that was as dirty as black mud and covered with gray and dirty skin. Judging from the two aging and shriveled breasts on the chest, which were slumped on the belly like leather bags, it was obvious that

Already getting older.

Sun Zhen had never seen such a dirty woman, but thinking about the ideal in his heart, his whole mind seemed to be filled with blood, and he was already hypnotized in his heart, thinking that he was a saint.

The woman's clothes were like dirty rags randomly wrapped around her body. On her skinny and scaly body, you could clearly see her ribs clinging to her skin. What made people feel even more pitiful was that a piece of her hair was already gone.

It was torn off, and a piece of scalp with hair attached to it was also torn off. Now there is only a large pink scalp.

For such a woman in front of him, Sun Ce tried his best to calm down. Looking at the pair of pleading eyes with a hint of ferocity, he slowly stretched out the noodles in his hand.

But the old woman seemed to be completely numb. She didn't seem to pay attention to Sun Cerium's intention. She just subconsciously took the dough with her black and dirty palms, stuffed it directly into her dirty arms, staggered toward

The horses moved straight and woodenly.

Sun Cerium seemed to sense a hint of danger and shouted to the old woman not to come close. At this time, Li Yi had already pulled out the Yanling knife from his waist.

In the midst of the electric light and flint, the old woman stretched out her hand as thin as a firewood from her arms. The loving expression on her face immediately became as ferocious as a demon, and her mouth full of stench was opened wide, like a madman.

They rushed over as well.

Followed closely by the young children behind him, almost at the same time, they all drew out their hidden weapons and rushed over with screams.

The scene was chaotic. Sun Ce was so frightened by the scene in front of him that he couldn't take any action. He couldn't understand why a weak old woman suddenly turned into a madman. He also couldn't imagine why those cute and pure children would change in the blink of an eye.

Became a demon in hell.

This was a premeditated attack, using children and the elderly as bait to take advantage of the prey's pity and contempt to carry out a killing. It was a very clever and cruel method.
To be continued...