In the evening, the sun is about to set, and the sky is full of red.

Zhao Sheng and his party got off the boat and walked on the village road in Jianglong Town.

The boundary here belongs to Yangzhou, but it happens to be at the junction with Jinling, so it is considered a three-no-thing zone.

As the group walked along, everyone fell into silence except for the adults who were used to the suffering of the world.

It was supposed to be the harvest season, but the rice fields on both sides of the village road were no longer golden, and some were just a mess.

Poor people don't dare to waste food like this. There is only one reason for this.

The government is robbing food.

They rode their horses and held knives, cutting as they walked.

The common people complained, but there was nothing they could do.

Who told them that they can’t come up with money to pay taxes?

But they only paid the last tax a few months ago.

Just because the court wants to fight, money is needed everywhere.

So you don’t care whether they live or die?

Forget it, there are bandits in Jianglong again.

The government swept it once, but the bandits came to plow it again.

This group of evil people don't care about benevolence, justice or morality when doing things, they just want to have fun.

When you have fun grabbing it, you can just set it on fire.

What was a gentle rice town has turned into a purgatory on earth today.

The people who had no way to survive had no choice but to drag their families to the messy fields to pick up wheat.

Zhao Sheng walked on the road, silent.

Wen Lan hugged Zhao Ling, feeling equally depressed.

Suddenly, the child Zhao Ling exclaimed.

"Sister Wen, look, there are good fields there."

Zhao Sheng and Wen Lan looked at it at the same time, and they saw a large field of golden wheat ears, swaying in the wind and making a rustling sound.

"That must belong to some official family. Officers, soldiers and bandits don't dare to mess with them."

Zhao Da, who was sitting on the carriage, said in a buzzing voice.

He has been used to the sufferings of life since he was a child, so he naturally knows the reason for such a scene.

Zhao Sheng and the other three became even more silent.

They looked at a burned-out field. A woman was holding a child in her arms and carrying a child on her back. She was seriously searching for ears on the ground.

Her face has lost its appearance, and the child on her body is so hungry that she cries.

There was a child next to him who couldn't bear it anymore and wanted to run to the rich man's field, but was beaten out by an evil servant holding a stick.

Not only that, he chased him out, punched and kicked him. The woman rushed over to beg for mercy, but was also beaten to the ground.

When Zhao Sheng saw this scene, he couldn't help but clenched his fists.

Just when he couldn't help but take action, a thin man ran over from a distance, nodded and bowed to the evil servant, and was extremely flattering.

The evil servant was so happy with the beating that he spat at the mother and son on the ground before leaving with satisfaction.

The man helped the mother and son up and couldn't help but complain.

The child's nose was bruised and his face was swollen. He covered his dislocated hand and cried loudly.

Even the woman, who has always been resolute, has red eyes.

The man looked up to the sky and sighed.

Zhao Sheng passed by on horseback and heard him whispering something.

I will sell the field to the Xu family tomorrow and the family will have a full meal.

Without the land, we can only work as tenant farmers for wealthy families.

The days to come will be even more difficult.

But life is still going on right now, and if we don’t sell our fields, we won’t be able to survive this winter.

Those who have land are getting more and more land.

Those without farmland will only become more and more miserable.

Land annexation, rites and music collapsed.

Symbols of the end of the dynasty.

Zhao Sheng had lived in Yanjing for a long time, and only now did he realize that the Dali Dynasty had collapsed into this state.

If I were like them, a defenseless mortal, would I have to suffer like this?

Zhao Sheng didn't know clearly, but he already had the answer in his heart.

He was walking silently when the sound of horse hooves sounded in front of him.

When I looked up, I saw a group of robbers running towards me on horseback with machetes, followed by dozens of young men waving flags and shouting.

"Pay the money and spare your life!"

The robber shouted, and Zhao Sheng stopped and protected the two carriages behind him.

He looked around and saw the people who were already struggling to survive being beaten and killed by the robbers.

I am old, weak, sick and disabled, and I have not had enough food for several days. I have no strength to run, so I can only let myself be slaughtered.

"What are you looking at? If you have money, pay for it; if you don't, pay for your life!"

One of the robbers on horseback led a team to stop Zhao Sheng.

Zhao Sheng was so angry that he wanted to kill someone directly.

His ears moved slightly, his eyes changed, and he turned his head sharply.

The family who originally said they wanted to sell their land and have a good meal were all killed by the robbers.

The messy rice fields, the speechless corpses, and the bloody knives.

The woman hugged her child tightly and fell in a pool of blood. The thin man had his head missing.

The setting sun soaks the sunset, like blood.

The autumn wind blows, rolling up the lush rice waves nearby, and it seems that only red and yellow are left in the sky and earth.

Speechless, the rice fields rustled.

Zhao Sheng turned around, lowered his eyes, and handed over a large sum of money.

"Hey, you know you're scared, right?"

The robber said with a cruel smile.

I don’t know if I was afraid of offending someone I shouldn’t offend, but when I saw Zhao Sheng obediently paying the money, I let him go.

The carriage rattled and the people in the carriage hugged each other tightly.

Zhao Sheng led the team and walked in front, listening to the suffering of the world.

He also saw the evil servant guarding the rice fields of a wealthy family chatting and laughing with a robber.

The robber also threw his knife to him to play with.

As they waved their swords, the two groups seemed to be one.

Zhao Sheng rode over and no one could see his expression clearly.

It was night, and the group finally arrived at Jinling City.

You can still enter the city before the curfew.

Zhao Sheng first found an inn, arranged for everyone to rest, and then returned to his room.

In the room, there was dim candlelight, but no one could be seen.

One person walked out of Jinling City.

Inside Longshan, the lights are brightly lit.

The robbers are having a carnival.

They stole food and money.

They also snatched men and women!

Tonight, the boss is happy and lets the younger brothers do whatever they want.

They cheered and dragged the woman, and some even started fighting.
To be continued...