please make me king

Chapter 717 Three hundred and forty-eight outside the city (Part [-])
"Sowing in spring, growing in summer, harvesting in autumn, and storing in winter!" Zhao Yutou murmured after hearing the words, "The people plow according to the time, so don't go against the time."

"If you don't plant in spring, you will have nothing to grow in summer, nothing to harvest in autumn, and nothing to hide in winter. People will die if they have nothing to eat for a year!"

"In the event of a military disaster again, the thieves pass like a comb, and the soldiers pass like a grate. Two out of ten people will die!"

"Some of these people were starved to death by drought and locust plagues; some were killed by soldiers and humiliated to death; some were eaten by others due to human disasters!"

Only then did Zhang Shun understand why Henan, which has always been a large agricultural province, has so many dead bones.

In the fifth year of Chongzhen, he passed by near Luoyang.At that time, the wheat had just been harvested, and the cultivated fields on both sides of the road were covered with stubble.There are also some wheat ears left in the fields, which are being picked up by old people and children with a basket on their shoulders.

Although the Tao may not be the same way, and the people may not be those people, but they must have been as happy and joyful as those people at that time!
"What's the matter with this field?" Zhang Shun asked again after being silent for a while.

"Some died, and became landless. Some borrowed seeds to cultivate cattle, but they had no harvest last year. They couldn't repay the loan, or hanged themselves; or fled with their families."

"Some of them couldn't bear the tax for a long time, and fled to Song County, Lu's and other mountain lairs. Some had to go out because they were killed by the army, or lost their young adults, or the young crops were eaten up by cattle and horses. Went to beg for food."

Zhang Shun drooped his eyelids, and said in a low voice, "Let's go, look elsewhere!"

Seeing that Zhang Shun was in a bad mood, Ma Yingniang and Gao Guiying didn't dare to laugh anymore.

After a long while, Ma Yingniang asked in a low voice, "What's the matter, Master?"

"Out of the city and heading north, the barren grass and the fields are gone. The skeletons go with the wind, and the corpses are thrown into the ditch." Zhang Shun sighed, and continued to chant, "The jackdaws sing in the wild, their eyes are full of ferociousness!"

Although Zhang Shun has some literary skills under the perfect education in his previous life.

In order to write a poem to pretend to be forceful, he also thought about it for a long time before he reluctantly came up with a poem.

But now he doesn't have this intention, but he blurted it out naturally.

The sentence is very simple, but it gives people a sense of sadness that "the bones are exposed in the wild, and there is no chicken crowing for a thousand miles".

Everyone was in a heavy mood when they heard the words, as long as Gao Guiying resolutely said: "What is this, Daddy is so sad? Anyway, grass can grow in this field, and our Mizhi area has been suffering from severe drought year after year. Even the grass is withered..."

"Don't say a few words!" Seeing Zhang Shun's expression, Ma Yingniang couldn't help interrupting Gao Guiying's words.

After walking for a while, they saw the village ahead.

As the land of the Central Plains, Henan is densely populated, and the villages are one by one. There are everywhere, and it is easy to meet one.

Zhang Shun led the crowd in to have a look, and happened to see two people lying there in a half-open shack at the entrance of the village.

He hurriedly took a closer look, and saw an old man and a young man, dressed in rags, with gray and pale faces, lying there with blank eyes, motionless, with a few straws stuffed in their mouths.

Zhang Shun couldn't help asking: "Old man, where is this?"

As a result, there was no response from the two of them, and Zhang Shun asked a few more questions, but it was still like a stone sinking into the ocean.

Wukong stepped forward to take a look, and couldn't help muttering: "Dead?"

"Not... dead", a weak voice came soon after.

Everyone was taken aback by this, it turned out that the voice came from the old man's mouth.

"So you're not dead? Why don't you answer my master's question?" Wukong couldn't help being furious.

"I haven't eaten for three days, so I can't talk anymore!" The old man replied like a mosquito snorting.

"Nonsense! My old grandson has heard of people who can't work or walk, but I haven't heard of people who can't talk. Let me slap you twice. If you say the word "pain", you must be cheating." Wait, my old grandson wants you to look good!" Wukong couldn't help scaring him.

"Wukong, don't be rude!" Zhang Shun hurriedly stopped him, and asked Gao Guiying to take out a piece of cake from the package and hand it over, comforting him, "Don't be as knowledgeable as him, old man, he's a fool. Just eat it This cake, I have something to ask you."

It turned out that this cake was left over from eating last night, Gao Guiying knew that Zhang Shun used to eat three meals a day, so she brought a few pieces for him to satisfy his hunger at noon, but he didn't expect it to come in handy at this time.

When the old man saw the cake, his eyes lit up immediately, like a wolf, he was about to grab it.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Yutou snatched it away first.Without waiting for Zhang Shun to ask, he explained: "This cake is hard and dry. He looks like he hasn't eaten for a long time. He needs to soak it for fear of hurting his stomach before he can eat it."

After speaking, Zhao Yutou searched for a half-rotten black clay pot in his hut, borrowed some drinking water from the soldiers, and tore open the cake to soak it.

The old man didn't dare to go forward to snatch it, but stared at the cake with green eyes like a wolf, afraid that something might happen.

Seeing his pity, Zhang Shun couldn't help complaining: "How pedantic is the old man? He's almost starving to death, so why should he pay attention to the principles of health and stomach?"

As a result, Gao Guiying heard it, and explained to him: "It's not like you eat on weekdays, it's soft and hard, it's just that your stomach feels a little uncomfortable."

"He has been hungry for a long time, and there is nothing in his stomach. If he is scratched, there may be no cure."

Well, Zhao Yutou was wrongly blamed, Zhang Shun quickly apologized to him.

How could Zhao Yutou afford it?I almost knelt down to him, so I gave up.

At this time, the cake was almost soaked, and with Zhao Yutou's consent, the old man rushed forward, picked it up with one hand, stuffed it into his mouth, and handed it to the child beside him.

The two of them were so choked that they just rolled their eyes, and Zhang Shun was so frightened that he did something bad with good intentions this time.Finally, after they picked up the jar and took a few sips of water, they sent the food down.

The two fished for a long time and ate up the cake before giving up.

The old man hugged the broken pot into his arms, and said to the child overjoyed: "Son, let's save some of this soup for tomorrow's meal, and it will be settled!"

Zhang Shun looked at the clear water that was somewhat cloudy because of soaked cakes and the earthen jar was not clean, and didn't know what to say for a while.

With food in their stomachs, the two seemed to be alive and a little angry.

Seeing that he was well dressed and had a lot of power, the old man didn't dare to renege on his debt.He had no choice but to ask: "I don't know what the master wants to ask me? I will tell you everything I know!"

In fact, Zhang Shun had obtained enough information at this time, and it made no difference whether he asked or not.

Since the old man took the initiative to mention it, Zhang Shun couldn't help asking: "How many people are there in the village? Where have they all gone? How many people are still without food?"

"Thirty to four out of ten have already gone to the village." The old man replied, "There are about ten families who can't live. They can't live because they have no harvest in summer and autumn. Those who starve to death starve to death. Begging is just begging, and some steal. He robbed others of food and was beaten to death on the spot.”

"Several households suffered from military disasters, and their legs and feet were slow. Some women were insulted, some men were captured, and some were wiped out by the army. The whole family, young and old, did not stay!"

"There are also people who can't pay back the landlord's rent, went bankrupt, and fled. Some became bandits, and they robbed people of life-saving food."

"The rest are either landlords and rich people, who have food and people, and no one dares to move. Or they are like us, either old or young. They can't move, so they can only lie down and wait for death. Live a little longer. After a while, if you meet a noble person, you can live for two more days!"

(End of this chapter)