PDLP Chapter 878 Farm Work
Chapter 878 Farm Work
Cheng Liang knew these people. Needless to say, Prince Rui was imprisoned alone in a prison van with only his head sticking out from the roof. Although he tried his best to cover himself, he could not turn around or lower his head like the others.
Fortunately, he has been badly damaged by the sun and rain these days. Not only is his beard untidy, but his face is also very dark. If you are not very familiar with him, you really wouldn't recognize him.
When Cheng Liang came closer to look at him, Prince Rui could only close his eyes and pretend to be dead.
There were also General Zhao Wentian and the Minister of Revenue Lin Cangshi, who were very familiar to Cheng Liang. These two people were arrested and imprisoned by him personally.
Now that I have become a prisoner again, I wonder how I feel.
Cheng Liang looked at them one by one, and they all had their eyes closed, covering their heads and faces with their messy long hair. They were quiet and lifeless.
Cheng Liang walked among the prison cars for a long time, but no one spoke to him.
Despite his appearance, he is still a person of status and position. Face is very important and he must keep up appearances.
Cheng Liang sneered and turned to leave.
"General Cheng, wait a minute."
Finally, someone couldn't hold on any longer and shouted.
Cheng Liang turned around with a smile and looked at the person in the prison van.
This person was also held alone in a prison van, and it was obvious that his identity was very important.
Of course Cheng Liang knew him. It was Ma Buxuan, the commander of the Imperial Guards.
Ma Buxuan was still thick-skinned enough. Although his face turned black and he didn't dare to look Cheng Liang in the eye, he still spoke stubbornly.
"General Cheng, can you please let us out first?"
Cheng Liang strolled up to Ma Buxuan's prison van and looked at him carefully twice, making his evasive gaze finally have nowhere to go.
The prison van was modified and made very crudely. The people were detained inside, half standing and half squatting, with their necks stuck in the wooden yoke and unable to move. It was very painful.
"Commander Ma, do you know how much you are worth to the Taisho Imperial Army?"
"General Cheng, the Zhenxi Army is our main force. How can we offer a reward for the rebels?"
"Commander Ma, that's real silver... no, it's gold. Three hundred taels of gold. With that much, you probably know how many houses you can buy with that amount of money, right?"
"General Cheng, there is no hatred between you and me. Please let Ma go. I will definitely reward you handsomely one day."
Cheng Liang sneered: "How can you repay me? In your current situation, you have nothing."
"me..."
"Alright, we will all treat you equally. In the Zhenxi Army, there is no distinction between high and low."
After Cheng Liang finished speaking, he glanced at the princes and ministers who seemed to be motionless but were listening to their conversation with their ears perked up.
This place is the closest to Jinggao Prefecture.
After two days of sorting and registering, the crowd, having eaten dry food and drunk water, began to get up and walk towards Jinggaofu.
The two thousand imperial guards stationed in Jinggao Prefecture had already received orders from Qiu Jie to evacuate the city and head north.
Jinggao Prefecture has become an empty city, just enough to accommodate these 20,000 people.
Wen Cheng has already sent officials over, and Cheng Liang is temporarily in charge of the garrison in the city.
All systems are ready-made and can be applied directly.
The houses within the city and the land outside the city were distributed according to the registration list, including grain seeds, farming tools, household furniture, etc.
The autumnal equinox has just passed, and there is already a chill in the wind.
Prince Rui Zhao Xun was wearing a coarse cloth short jacket and holding an iron hoe with a missing corner in his hand.
He looked at the cracked ground and weed-covered ridges beneath his feet with a sad face. His palms had been rubbed red and he didn't dare to use force.
But the land in front of me needs to be turned over, otherwise I can't plant seeds.
Lin Cangshi squatted on the edge of the field, pinching clods of earth with his hands.
"Your Majesty, the soil is too hard. I'm afraid the seeds won't germinate."
As the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, he knew a little about farming.
"Master Lin, do you have any other ideas?"
The commander of the Imperial Guards, Ma Buxuan, stood not far away, holding an iron hoe and weakly smashing large clods of earth in the field.
"Your Highness, please send a message to the Emperor. If this continues, we will starve to death."
Lin Cangshi said crying.
"The Emperor is busy taking care of himself, how can he care about us?"
Prince Lu sat on the weeds, biting some grass roots in his mouth, and his hair was covered with a lot of grass debris.
"If not, let's run east, cross Jinjiang, and go to Jingnan Prefecture. It is said that there are still many officials from our clan there."
Ma Buxuan also sat down on the ground.
"Not to mention crossing the river, just the journey is a thousand miles. Even if you don't die of starvation, you will die of exhaustion."
"Are we just going to wait here to die?"
Lin Cangshi was desperate.
Prince Rui Zhao Xun used the iron hoe in his hand to pound a piece of dirt hard.
"If everyone works more on the farm and doesn't cheat, then we won't starve to death."
Everyone stopped talking and remained silent.
After a while, Ma Buxuan said in a low voice.
"I'm afraid Lord Tang won't live long. If you have time, you might as well go and take a look."
Tang Bingqian, the Minister of Military Affairs, was Ma Buxuan's immediate superior, so he was closer to him.
Due to days of fatigue and poor health, his condition worsened and he fell into a coma for many days without waking up.
Everyone felt even more sad, thinking that they were not as lucky as Tang Bingqian, who died of illness early.
They were all allocated land, but the soil was poor and there was a lack of water, so they couldn't expect a good harvest.
The only way to make up for the shortfall in production is to reclaim more wasteland and plant more seeds.
But this is not a job for these people. It would be better to let them die.
If you choose to commit suicide, you will definitely feel unwilling.
However, if, like Tang Bingqian, God doesn't want you to live, then there's nothing to say.
They had received news that the families of the people who Wei Ming insisted on taking the Kancheng line had been rounded up by the Zhenxi Army and sent to the eight prefectures of Zhenxi.
He was not captured by the rebels and suffered less.
King Rui knew that he had made the wrong choice again, so he simply stopped talking and tried hard to use the hoe in his hand to chop the clods of earth, trying to do more farm work and use the hard work to offset the guilt in his heart.
Feeling ashamed, he wondered whether his son Zhao Shuo had returned to Lin Feng.
If he really went back, Zhao Shuo would definitely come to rescue his father soon.
As I thought about it, my heart was filled with eager expectations.
But the others, facing the biting cold wind and looking at the endless fields, were filled with despair.
Lin Qiaomei led 20,000 troops from Tianzhi Prefecture through Jingxi Prefecture, along the edge of Jinjiang River, and marched south. After crossing the river and passing Xuncheng, they entered the territory of Jingnan Prefecture.
Lin Feng’s plan was to keep her from going too far from Jinjiang, as the entire Jinjiang River would be the supply line for her 20,000 troops.
Lin Qiaomei's troops bypassed Jingnan Prefecture, and further south was Jinhao Prefecture.
However, Jinhao Prefecture has been occupied by pirates, and it is also the first prefecture that Lin Qiaomei wants to clear out on this trip.
The population density of towns in the southern part of the country was originally greater than that in the north, but after years of war, the population became increasingly sparse.
Most of them have fled to the eight prefectures in Zhenxi.
The few remaining people were either enslaved or killed by pirate invasions.