With Yu Pian, it only took two days to go. Xuan Shaoning arrived outside Pingzhou City in the evening of the next day. Pingzhou is located directly behind the capital, in the valley among the three mountains. The land is barren, the transportation is inconvenient, and it is not a strategic location. The people have always been quite poor. The female wall on one side of the wall of Pingzhou City has collapsed, and the city gate is also dilapidated, shaking constantly in the cold wind, like an old man in his twilight years. On the low-high wall, you can see two city guards dozing listlessly, without knowing the arrival of Xuan Shaoning.

Alas, Xuan Shaoning couldn't help but sigh, jumped off his horse, raised his head and shouted loudly at the city wall: "Personnel of Xuanjia Military, please open the city gate!"

This inspiring shout woke up the two sleeping soldiers. They jumped up and looked down at the city in a daze and unexpectedly.

"Who? Say it again!"

"Xuanjia Military Captain Xuan Shaoning!" At the same time, he took out the token in his arms and raised it high so that they could see more clearly. When the copper token engraved with the word "Xuan" reflected slightly under the refraction of the sunlight and shone with a striking light, the two of them woke up as if they were dreaming. One blew the horn, and the other was busy opening the city gate.

Ah, the mottled city gate let out a bitter wail, and Xuan Shaoning led Yu Pian to slowly walk into the city. In front of him was a straight bluestone road, but unlike the capital, the road was full of dilapidated houses, some could barely maintain the complete shape of a house, while others collapsed more than half, as if they had just experienced war; there were also few pedestrians, most of them were dressed in patched clothes, and some even had no clothes to cover themselves. Everyone saw Xuan Shaoning with a strange and scared look.

Although I had already learned about the situation in Pingzhou before coming, I was shocked by the declining scene when I was really in it. Thinking about how prosperous and immersive the capital was, it seemed like a forgotten land, which was simply apart. The people here looked pale and thin and lacked in anger. Maybe it was not easy to have a full meal. Did the Yicong really come from here? Xuan Shaoning already doubted the authenticity of the legend, and at the same time hesitated for his hasty decision. Could it be that the old man was playing tricks on himself? However, even the princess supported it. King Yu and Commander Pei did not explicitly oppose it. It was basically impossible for them to make mistakes at the same time. It seemed that they had to continue to investigate.

Just as Xuan Shaoning walked and pondered, a man who looked like a yamen runner appeared in front of him. This man was of medium age, although his face was yellow and thin, he was stronger than the people. The yamen costumes on his body had faded. He saw him clasping his fists and asking with a serious face: "Look at your clothes, I think they are from the capital, I don't know what to call them?"

Xuan Shaoning also clasped his fists and replied: "I am Xuan Shaoning, the captain of Xuan Jia Military Academy!"

Hearing the three words "Xuanjia Army", the yamen runner's eyes shone brightly and said in a little surprised: "That is Captain Xuan, then follow me!"

Xuan Shaoning followed the yamen runner for a while and arrived at the Pingzhou Prefecture. It turned out that the end of the bluestone road was the government office. No matter what, the prefecture of Pingzhou was also of the fourth rank, but this government office was really not worthy. Broken and missing green tiles can be seen from time to time on the eaves, and a lot of thatch grew on the walls. The two wooden doors were red painted off and the door rings were copper rust. If it were a little imposing, the government office had three floors in total, which was considered the highest building within the range of Xuan Shaoning's vision.

"Sir, Master Captain" called out, and Xuan Shaoning turned around and realized that a guard had come to take the reins from his hand, so he handed Yu Pian to the guard.

"Sir, please, please, the prefect is waiting." The yamen runners introduced Xuan Shaoning into the inner courtyard. You can imagine that the so-called inner courtyard is just an open space like a patio, with a few trees sparsely planted, all covered with heavy snow. Xuan Shaoning could not tell which tree species it was. The government office was directly behind the patio. At this time, a person was standing at the door and looking around. It was not until he got closer that he found that this person was wearing an official, and at the age of fifty years old, he was Teng Hui, the prefect of Pingzhou!

Xuan Shaoning was surprised that the prefect of the fifth rank would stand at the door to greet him. Even if he was ruined, the prefect of the prefect should be like a prefect.

"Xuan Jia Military Captain Xuan Shaoning meets with the prefect!" Xuan Shaoning immediately saluted, knelt down on one knee, and clasped his fists to show his respect.

"Person Xuan is so polite, please get up quickly!" The prefect hurriedly ran to the front a few steps and helped Xuan Shaoning up, took his hand and walked towards the inner room. "My government office cannot be compared with those elsewhere. It's really cold outside. Captain Xuan should go into the house to rest."

"Thank you, Lord Gong!"

"Can I give the token a look?"

"Of course!" Xuan Shaoning immediately reached into his arms and took out a bronze plaque. The bronze plaque was engraved with the word "Xuan" on the front, and on the back was a goshawk with a sharp wings with sharp eyes, and a purple tassel tied below.

Teng Hui took the bronze medal presented by Xuan Shaoning with both hands, held it carefully in his hand, and observed it carefully, with a meaningful expression. After stroking the goatee, he handed the bronze medal back to Xuan Shaoning and said, "Person Xuan, please don't blame him."

"I don't dare. It's okay for the prefect to be so careful!" Xuan Shaoning, who had just sat down, immediately stood up and replied.

"Person Xuan, please sit down. There is no need to be so polite here. There is no need to be called "Prefection and Prefection". Just call me Teng Hui directly. I wonder what the lieutenant came to Pingzhou this time?"

"No, the general of the Mo should call him Lord Teng. That's right. The general of the Mo came to Pingzhou this time to recruit soldiers." Then Xuan Shaoning ordered Emperor Liang to grant the imperial edict to the Xuanjia army to expand the army and to explain in detail the failure of recruiting soldiers in the capital, but the strange old man and princess were hidden.

"I have heard of this. The Xuanjia Army is my pillar. It is also a blessing for Pingzhou to be able to help Captain Xuan with its own strength. I just don't know if Captain Xuan has a plan?"

"I thought about it a little and asked Lord Teng for advice: There are six counties in Pingzhou. First, I asked Lord Teng to help send people to each county to post notices, vigorously announcing the recruitment of Xuanjia Army. As for the documents, I have already prepared them; second, I hope Lord Teng can send someone to accompany me."

Teng Hui was about to listen to Xuan Shaoning’s big talk, but he didn’t expect that it would end in just a few words, which surprised him a little. However, he did not reveal it at all, but instead asked with a smile: “That’s it?”

"Yes, Lord Lauten!"

"Where is it? It is also a blessing for the people of Pingzhou who can help Captain Xuan to help Captain Xuan. I have arranged a wing room. Captain Xuan has a short rest, and the chef is preparing lunch..."

Before Teng Hui finished speaking, Xuan Shaoning interrupted: "It's so much trouble. Lord Teng's kindness is finally understood, but the matter is urgent, so I will set off now."

A strange thing flashed in Teng Hui's eyes, and he seemed to want to comfort him: "Person Xuan is really going to set off right away?"

Xuan Shaoning nodded firmly and heavily.

"Since that's the case, then OK. Yue Yunfeng!"

"I'm here!"

"I ordered you to follow Captain Xuan and do your best to assist in recruiting soldiers!"

"Subordinate to obey the order!"

Xuan Shaoning left his seat and stood up to look at the half-kneeling person in front of him: he was wearing a black guard suit, with white clouds on his cuffs and the edges of his clothes; his official boots had turned yellow, and the black on his face had obviously faded a lot, slightly white; his sword sheath was worn in many places; he raised his head and a square face, and the subtle wrinkles at the corners of his eyes revealed his age, and a circle of light green stubble marks on the corners of his mouth.

Teng Hui saw Xuan Shaoning keep looking at Yue Yunfeng and said, "The guard Yue is my personal guard. Not only is his skill good, but more importantly, he is a native of Pingzhou, who is born in Yijun." Teng Hui deliberately increased the volume of the last two words and extended the tone. But what surprised him was that Xuan Shaoning had no reaction and seemed to be completely unaware of it.

"Then I would like to thank Lord Teng. If I have nothing else to give, then I will set off." Xuan Shaoning bowed and said.

"I wish Captain Xuan all the best!"

Seeing Xuan Shaoning and Yue Yunfeng leaving the government office with their horses, a man with the appearance of a master came behind Teng Hui and whispered: "This person's purpose is obvious. Do you think he will be different from the previous one?"

"It's too early to make a conclusion now. Let's see how he did it. "Ask the righteousness..." After Teng Hui sighed, the dawn of hope flashed in his eyes.

It was almost winter and snow began to fall in the sky. Xuan Shaoning roared his hands, which were slightly frozen, turned his head and saw Yue Yunfeng. The other party was riding seriously on the horse, looking straight into the distance, holding the reins tightly with both hands, as if the cold wind had not blown on him.

"Yue Guard" Xuan Shaoning called out softly, "We have been leaving Pingzhou Prefecture for two days. Pingzhou is not big, but wherever we pass, it is deserted."

Yue Yunfeng looked at Xuan Shaoning and lowered his head, looking very respectful, and replied: "Pingzhou can be regarded as the poorest of the eight southwest states. The land is poor, the people are in poverty, and the population is sparse, so what Xuan Zhengwei saw is reasonable."

"The land is destined to be poor. Haven't the past prefectures ever thought of changing?"

"As far as I know, the prefect always does its best, and it can only be said that it is to do its best to do its best."

"The guard Yue Xinshi's order? Is it the same for the prefect?"

"It is hard to disobey the destiny of heaven, so how can human power change it? It is just a personal choice if Magistrate Xuan does not believe in destiny."

The dialogue was difficult to continue at this point. Xuan Shaoning knew that he could not ask anything after asking, so he had to change the topic and said, "It should be Wolong County ahead, right?"

"What Master Xuan said is that it is Wolong County, where there are still some people who settle down, so we can release the results there."

Wolong County, when he heard the name, he was quite imposing, but when Xuan Shaoning entered the town, he felt a huge gap: dilapidated houses, messy streets, and dilapidated signs creaking in the wind. In this winter, there were no pedestrians on the street, and basically all the shops were closed. The two of them dismounted and walked slowly on the street, seeing the depression. In such a scene, even if the list was posted in the center of the town, no one would read it. Could it be that they would knock on the door from door to door? This obviously would not work, but how should the people be brought together?

Xuan Shaoning couldn't help frowning slightly. At this moment, Yue Yunfeng asked, "Person Xuan, look, there is a store in front of him!" Following the direction of Yue Yunfeng's finger, Xuan Shaoning saw that there was indeed a very small door with the store door open, and some heat came out inside as if it was not there.

"Go and go and have a look!"

When he walked to the store, Yue Yunfeng stepped forward and gently pushed the door with his hand, and asked, "Is anyone here?"

An old man with white hair turned around, widened his turbid eyes, and looked at the visitor in horror. "Are you?" As soon as he said, the old man immediately saw the person's clothing and the sword he was wearing on his waist, and hurriedly changed his words: "Two officials, I'm sorry, I'm so dizzy!"

Xuan Shaoning looked at the old man in front of him, with a vicissitudes of face, a ravine on his face, and patches were everywhere on his cotton coat. His exposed hands were rough and dark, and he was still trembling slightly. Xuan Shaoning smiled and said, "Don't panic, old man, we are indeed from the government. We happened to pass by the town and felt hungry, so we wanted to ask for something from the old man."

After saying that, the old man seemed to have taken some defense, but the uneasiness in his eyes still did not escape Xuan Shaoning's eyes. "Two officials should sit casually. I'm cooking porridge. If the officials don't dislike it, please wait for a while." After that, he turned around and held the spoon in his hand and stirred it in a small pot. The slight heat I saw on the street before was produced when cooking porridge.

Xuan Shaoning looked at the small room: a brown long table with a length of one person and a half-height was facing the door. The long table was a bit mottled, and the back was also empty; two wooden chairs were placed on the right side of the long table, which were imitated by the Taishi Chair, but now the colors on the chairs have faded, and one of them was missing a foot. You can also find that the chairs were covered with dust. On the left side of the long table is where Xuan Shaoning is located, and there is a square table with a black body. Compared with the long table and chairs, the square table is much cleaner. Xuan Shaoning and Yue Yunfeng sat on both sides of the square table, and a small iron pot was placed on the other side of the square table. Under the barbecue of charcoal, the pot was emitting the aroma of grain.

With a "date", a porcelain bowl with a gap on the edge was placed in front of Xuan Shaoning. "There is no other food reserved in my home, only this porridge made from brown rice is the only one. I hope the officials will not dislike it."

Although the porcelain bowl was quite full, Xuan Shaoning saw that the so-called porridge was basically water, and the small amount of rice had been cooked and scattered at the bottom of the bowl. The same was true for the bowl in front of Yue Yunfeng. Xuan Shaoning looked back at the iron pot, and it seemed that it was empty inside. It seemed that all the porridge was already in the two porcelain bowls in front of him.

"Old man, you gave us all the porridge, what would you eat?" Xuan Shaoning asked.

The old man held the spoon tightly with both hands, swallowed a mouthful of saliva and said, "I am old and can't eat much. Don't dislike me, both officials. This is really all the food in my family." After speaking, the old man actually vaguely said in a pleading tone.

Xuan Shaoning did not take the pair of slightly stained chopsticks, but instead smiled and said to the old man: "Old man, all the way he saw was ruined and deserted. You are the first family to meet, but because Pingzhou is too barren, all the people have moved elsewhere?"

"Hey, what this official said is... Pingzhou has been losing more than a day over the years. Although it was poor, our civilians could still grow some food so that they would not starve to death. But later, the fields were deserted, and the neighbors and villagers could not survive the hunger and fled... If this were thirty years ago, how could such fields be......" When talking about the sadness, the old man couldn't help but burst into tears.

Although Xuan Shaoning was moved, he was touched by that sensitive time and asked: "Old man, what do you think of thirty years? How did you say thirty years ago?"

"Ah..." The old man was about to speak, but he glanced at Yue Yunfeng standing behind Xuan Shaoning, and quickly changed his words: "I'm old and confused..." After that, he turned around and raised his hand to scoop the only soup left in the pot.

Seeing this, Yue Yunfeng took over the conversation and said, "Person Xuan, why don't we finish drinking this little porridge and rush on the way."

"Okay" Xuan Shaoning stood up, and did not look at the Qingzhu on the table and Yue Yunfeng beside him walked straight to the horse and turned over the horse. Yue Yunfeng could only follow closely when he saw this.

The two people who continued to go on the road had no conversation anymore. Xuan Shaoning frowned all the way. After nearly an hour, he was suddenly attracted by the traces of ruts on the mud road in front of him. Liang State set up official roads in each state, paving the road with Yungang stone. It was flat and rough, which was very suitable for walking. The wealthy states would expand official roads to county roads. However, as poor as Pingzhou, even the official roads were dilapidated, and many sections of the road were already completely dirt roads.

Now Xuan Shaoning is walking on a dirt road. The traces of ruts on the dirt road are not unfamiliar to him. This is left by the wheels of the ox cart, and it is also a disrepaired ox cart. Therefore, the traces on both sides are different in depth. It seems that the wheels on one side are almost at the edge of disintegration. Following the rut, he can't see the edge. Xuan Shaoning rode his horse slowly along the traces and suddenly ran wildly. This shocked Yue Yunfeng, and before he could shout, he had already fallen far behind, so he had to chase after him. The two chased each other for more than half an hour, and a continuous dilapidated tent began to appear in front of Xuan Shaoning. This time, he accelerated his speed even more.

When I arrived, I could see clearly that this area of ​​refugees was like a residential area where people were breaking firewood to cook; some were making up for the patched clothes; and some were driving the ox cart, walking deep and shallowly... Almost everyone was gray, with disheveled hair, ragged clothes, withered and lifeless. Although Xuan Shaoning dressed simply, being among these people was already considered a gorgeous dress, which naturally attracted everyone's attention.

Xuan Shaoning walked slowly on the muddy road, looking at the uneasy crowd on both sides; and accordingly, the refugees also stared at the uninvited guest with wide eyes. In addition to accidents, they were more frightened and anxious. What made Xuan Shaoning feel strange was that everything they saw was all men of different ages, and they could not see an old, weak, and women and children. The surroundings, which were originally a little noisy, became strangely quiet, and Xuan Shaoning didn't know how to ask, and at this moment a coolie broke the deadlock.

"Dare you ask who you are?" The speaker spoke with a careful tone, low voice, and very restrained. Although he was covered in dust, messy hair and dirty clothes, he could vaguely see that he should have been a handsome man and was young. However, the most obvious thing is that there is a word "power" on his right cheek.

"This young man is the lieutenant under the Xuanjia Army. My surname is Xuan, who comes from Xuancheng. Can you see him... Longchang?" Longchang was originally the lowest-level chief executive among the counties of Liang Kingdom and the villages who manage a ridge of villagers. However, at this time, there were all refugees and no one in the township to speak of, but I couldn't think of any other title for a while, so I had to do so.

Most of the refugees did not understand the title of the lieutenant, but they heard that they were from the capital, so they started to whisper.

"We have no ridges here, only strong heads, I can take you there." After saying that, the young man turned sideways and told Xuan Shaoning to follow him.
Chapter completed!