I will not be king in the Spring and Autumn Period

Chapter 52
The Ji clan's determination to chase and kill Li Ran can be said to be as firm as a rock.When Li Ran was about to enter the Zheng Kingdom, the most powerful wave of warriors was about to launch a final attack on Li Ran!

This is a piece of woodland with no village in front and no shop in the back. It rained suddenly at night, with lightning and thunder.

Sun Wu had just set up a tent to shelter from the rain, but he vaguely noticed that the black-clothed warriors of the Ji clan around him had already hidden in the rainstorm.

Because at night, you can only see things when the lightning is flashing, so Li Ran can't see how many people are coming. He can only feel Ji's chasing warriors in all directions outside the tent, densely packed, deafening roars. The sound is endless, even the thunder and vibration cannot drown it.

"gentlemen!"

Li Ran huddled in the tent and didn't dare to move. At this moment, he had no other way out, he could only watch Sun Wu and Chu Dang guarding in front of him, blocking wave after wave of warriors for him.

And those black-clothed warriors obviously saw the strength of Sun Wu and Chu Dang after a charge, so they chose to outflank and consume their physical strength, instead of continuing to rush blindly.

Sun Wu knew the opponent's plan, and immediately asked Li Ran to rush out with him.

He knew that if he continued to be dragged here, he would have to be slaughtered.

Li Ran also understood what he meant, and immediately stood up, ready to break out with him.

But at this moment, Chu Dang got a halberd out of nowhere and placed it in front of the two of them:

"My lords, you go first, swing to the rear!"

Li Ran and Sun Wu saw that he was so arrogant and dry, they were taken aback immediately, and were about to persuade him to hear about it together, but unexpectedly he rushed into the crowd of Ji clan warriors without saying a word.

This time, even Li Ran was dumbfounded.

I saw Chu Dang holding a halberd, sweeping and provoking. After waving it, dozens of warriors of the Ji family were killed on the spot. , his legs were broken, and he screamed again and again.

"Hahaha, come on! Is this all you can do?! You gangsters, use whatever you have!"

Then Chu Dang picked up a tree trunk as thick as an arm from the ground, and with one hand a halberd and the other, he beat the densely packed warriors of the Ji family until they ran away with their heads in their arms.

Seeing this, Li Ran and Sun Wu were both amazed at the power of creation.

Although Chu Dangnaozi didn't look very smart, there was nothing to say about his brute strength.

As the saying goes, one force can be reduced to ten times, and any skill is powerless in the face of absolute power.

So, taking advantage of the precious opportunity that Chu Dang created for them, the two immediately drove towards the west, and along the way, Sun Wu left Chu Dang with a mark unique to the country of Ju.Considering that Chu Dang is illiterate, if there are these marks, he will not be confused.

But what they didn't know was that just after they escaped from the forest, many warriors appeared from the dark night to assist Chu Dang.

In the same way, the inside and the outside cooperated, destroying the last wave of dead soldiers who came to chase and kill Li Ran.

It's just that this time it happened in the dark night. After Li Ran and Sun Wu ran out and looked back, they could only see a dark forest. They didn't know those people who were helping him in the dark.

So after the two ran forward for ten miles, they finally found a farm house. As soon as they sat down, Chu Dang rushed up from behind, but saw that the halberd in his hand had been broken into two pieces.

"fierce!"

Li Ran saw it with his own eyes tonight, and immediately gave Chu Dang a thumbs up.

"hey-hey!"

Chu Dang touched the back of his head and said shyly:

"The main reason is that others helped me, otherwise I wouldn't be able to deal with them so easily..."

Li Ran and Sun Wu heard the sound, and then they remembered the person who had been secretly helping them, and they nodded slightly immediately.

It was raining heavily, and it was unrealistic to continue on the road, so the group immediately asked to stay in the backyard of the farmer's house for one night before leaving.

The farmers didn't know the situation, they only knew that these people must not be offended by themselves, so they did as they wanted.

The next day, the rain stopped and the sky cleared.

Li Ran thanked the farmer, left some money as money, and then led Sun Wu and others to continue on their way.

After seeing Chu Dang's bravery with his own eyes last night, Li Ran was even more confident in his heart. With Sun Wu and Chu Dang guarding him by his side, he could rest easy during his trip to the Kingdom of Zheng.

However, Li Ran was also very curious about the person who had been helping him secretly.

It stands to reason that the uncles and grandsons don't seem to have such great ability and financial resources to deal with the Ji family here.After all, Li Ran couldn't be more aware of the retainers that the Uncle Sun family can support, and they are much inferior to those of the Ji family.

What's more, this group of killers is definitely not limited to Ji's family.Therefore, Shusun Bao is beyond his reach and powerless.

So it is definitely not the person sent by Shusun Bao.

Besides Uncle Sun Bao, the next thing Li Ran could think of was sheep tongue gills.

But Yang Tongue didn't know his itinerary, let alone his situation, how could he send someone to protect him every time he was attacked?

Furthermore, even if Yang Tongue wanted to recruit him, it wouldn't take so much trouble, right?Just ask Han Zhongjun for a scout escort, isn't that all right?Why is it so secretive?

"Could it be Zheng Guo's Zichan doctor?"

Sun Wu asked.

Li Ran shook his head and said:
"Although I have a one-time relationship with Dr. Zichan, it is only a one-time relationship. Logically speaking, it is unnecessary."

"Who else could it be? Could it be... a girl offering sacrifices?"

When Sun Wu talked about the festival music, he obviously paused, and suddenly two strange lights appeared in his eyes.

Li Ran was thinking about it, but he didn't pay attention. He was shocked when he heard him mention the festival music.

"Could it really be her?"

If anyone can care about him so much, except for Shusun Bao, there is only Ji Le.

"It's just...but why is it so mysterious?"

This is what Li Ran hasn't figured out yet.

……

Li Ran was thinking about it, but suddenly there was a burst of singing in his ears.

He looked up to find the reputation, and saw a dozen farmers working in the paddy fields not far away, singing in unison.

"I have children, and Zichan works for them. I have fields, and Zichan takes them away. Whoever kills Zichan, I will give them."

"Whoever kills Zichan, I will go with him...Doctor Zichan's reputation in Zheng Guo is so unbearable?"

Sun Wu, who was brought back to his senses from the reverie of the sacrificial music, couldn't help frowning when he heard this burst of songs.

The lyrics of this ballad are easy to understand, and anyone can hear the dissatisfaction of these common people and savages with Zichan.

And this is obviously quite different from what Sun Wu got from Li Ran, the description about Zichan.So, quite inadvertently said:
"In my opinion, it's probably because someone is behind the scenes!"

The corners of Li Ran's mouth were slightly raised, and there was a slight arc.

Sun Tzu was even more puzzled.

Li Ran didn't respond, and went straight into the field, pretending to ask the farmers for a bowl of water.

When the farmers saw the clothes of Li Ran and his entourage, although they were stained with dust, they couldn't hide the extravagance of this outfit.

"Okay, lord, please stay longer."

After a while, the farmers brought them some bowls of water.

While drinking, Li Ran asked:
"Old man, I don't know who the fields here belong to?"

"Oh, our place belongs to the Feng family."

"Oh? Feng's?...Could it be Gongsun Duan, one of the six ministers of Zheng Guo?"

"Exactly, exactly."

Gongsun Duan, Feng family, named Duan, styled Boshi.He and Zichan belong to the "Gongsun" generation, both grandsons of Duke Mu of Zheng, and are currently one of the six ministers of the State of Zheng.

"By the way, old man, we are new here, so we don't know what Zheng Guo is doing now. But I heard that old man seems quite dissatisfied with Dr. Zichan. I don't know why?"

"Hey, to tell you the truth, according to our master. This property. A few days ago, we were asked to reclaim the wasteland! But how can the wasteland be so easy to reclaim? What's more, right now our public lands are all It’s too late to plant, how can I have time to open up some wasteland? Isn’t this nonsense?”

"Hey, it's really the officials who talk about it, and it's not us ordinary people who suffer in the end!"

As soon as Li Ran heard it, he had a bottom line in his heart.Although he still doesn't know what Gongsun Duan is like.But right now the resistance to property reform is already clear at a glance.

Immediately, after chatting casually with the farmers for a few more words, he bid farewell to them and continued on the road.

Along the way, Sun Wu became curious again.Seeing that Li Ran had time to spare, he couldn't help asking:

"Mister hasn't said a word since he came out of the farm. I wonder if he has any thoughts?"

Li Ran smiled slightly, and then said:
"Master, you know that these fields are all owned by the nobles of Zheng State, and these ordinary people are just their tenants."

Sun Tzu naturally knew this.

Now the princes entrusted the nobles, and the land belonged to the nobles. Slowly, the common people became the tenants of the nobles.

"But what does this mean?"

Sun Wu continued to ask.

Li Ran smiled faintly when he heard the sound, pointed to the fields with a radius of several miles and said:
"Look at these fields, which are close to the mountains and forests, winding and stretching. There are no rules at all, and there are no farmers working in the fields. It seems that they are newly reclaimed fields that have not had time to fertilize."

"When I was in the state of Jin, I heard my uncle talk about Zichan to the doctor. I heard that he was carrying out land reform in the state of Zheng, encouraging farmers to reclaim wasteland and wasteland, but only collecting a small amount of tax per mu. Such a measure that is beneficial to the common people is naturally necessary. Offended a lot of Zheng Guo nobles."

"You think that the land of the nobility is completely dependent on the cultivation of the tenants. Now that Zichan implements the New Deal, the tenants go to reclaim wasteland in order to implement the New Deal. Naturally, there will be fewer tenant farmers in the noble fiefdom, and the income of the nobility will naturally decrease. So, how can they have a good face towards Zichan?"

After hearing this, Sun Wu couldn't help but nodded, and then asked again:
"Could it be that these tenant farmers were bewitched by their masters, so they sang such songs?"

Zichan's land reform is beneficial but not harmful to the common people. Logically, they should be grateful to Zichan. How can they still sing such songs cursing Zichan?
If it weren't for these nobles who were offended by Zichan to secretly spread rumors, satirize and slander Zichan, why would these tenant farmers be like this?
Hearing this, Li Ran also nodded and said:

"Throughout the ages, those in power are most likely to have conflicts with the powerful. Since Zichan wants to protect the interests of the office, he must limit the privileges of the powerful. Therefore, Zichan must not be the same as those powerful people.

Moreover, such reforms are obvious and have seriously damaged the interests of the powerful.Although the dignitaries did not dare to do anything to Zichan on the surface, it is not impossible to instigate some rumors and slander in private to weaken Zichan's prestige. "

As he spoke, Li Ran couldn't help frowning slightly.

When he was in the state of Lu, he had already seen clearly the main theme of the contradiction between the rulers and the powerful in the Spring and Autumn Period.

Whether it is the former prince Ji Ye or the current Marquis Lu, if they want to take power and safeguard the interests of the public office, a series of frictions with the powerful and powerful is almost inevitable.

In the final analysis, Uncle Sun Bao's righteousness is willing to bind his own interests with those of the public office, in order to unite the monarchy and check and balance the Ji family.However, as the ruling minister, Zichan still upholds such righteousness, which is truly commendable.

But what about the other high officials of Zheng State?Naturally it is impossible to act like this.Therefore, as a rich man against a powerful man, such actions require such a strong belief.

Looking at the rumors of these peasant households, it is as if the Ji family wanted to sacrifice to heaven on behalf of the king, and wanted Luhou to be their puppet.How similar are the behaviors of Shang Zichan in their spreading rumors to that of Ji's?It's almost the same.

It can be seen that in the current state of Zheng, the government and the opposition are also dark and turbulent.

"Hehe, it seems that our trip to Zheng Kingdom may not be so easy."

"Let's go, we must always be careful in the future, and don't let people take advantage of the loopholes."

The so-called "walk on the frost and know the hard ice".

Li Ran, who heard these malicious words that hurt Zichan, couldn't help but become more vigilant.

(End of this chapter)