Reborn as Murong Fu: This time I am the protagonist

Chapter 556 Qingzhou Prefecture

Along the way, there were three parts natural disasters and seven parts man-made calamities.

Huge bonfires roared, the air thick with the acrid stench of burning corpses. Some people stuck straw markers on their heads, hoping to sell themselves into servitude to buy a meager coffin for their loved ones. Others wept for their deceased relatives, while many more, ragged and destitute, pleaded for a bite to eat to survive. The eyes of the old and weak stared blankly at the sky, occasionally shifting slightly to signal their existence; despair shrouded this land.

Aguda walked along, his eyes filled with shock: "This, the Song Dynasty is so wealthy, how can there be so many homeless vagrants? What about the government? Why don't they provide relief?"

Murong Fu sneered, "The government? Sorry, the government is the mastermind behind all this. Countless officials have colluded with local gentry and wealthy families, waiting to make a fortune!"

Aguda, who grew up in the land of Changbai Mountains and Heilongjiang River, was greatly shocked. His simple mind could not comprehend all of this: "The common people are starving to death, how can they get rich?"

Looking at the simple and honest Aguda, Murong Fu decided to give the Jurchen man a little taste of the power of the Song Dynasty: "The flood came, submerging crops and destroying fields. Small families didn't have much grain stored up, so they had to sell their land to get food to survive. Tenant farmers who used to work for wealthy families lost their harvest, but still had to pay rent, so they had no choice but to sell their children. Meanwhile, grain merchants who traded large quantities of grain could take advantage of this wave to inflate grain prices and buy up land at low prices, profiting from the people's savings. For officials, it was just a matter of reporting a few more figures. At worst, the ancestral laws of the Song Dynasty stipulated that civil officials would not be executed. Even if it meant risking their official robes, if they could earn enough wealth to last ten lifetimes, how many officials would be willing to do it!"

Agu was speechless after hearing all this, and it took him a long time to finally say, "Damn it, the officials of the Great Song Dynasty are even more ruthless than the White-browed Mountain King! The Mountain King eats people but still spits out the bones, but when the officials and merchants of the Great Song Dynasty collude, they really eat people without spitting out the bones!"

Murong Fu said, “The Song Dynasty is indeed wealthy, but not in the sense of wealth for ordinary people. At least 40% of the people in the Song Dynasty do not own an inch of land. 90% of the people own less than 20 mu of land. The extent of land annexation has reached an unbelievable level. Such wealth is nothing more than a sandcastle built on the beach. It looks impressive, but it can be easily breached. Even with a million-strong army, the Song Dynasty will collapse with a single push when invaded by foreign enemies.”

Their conversation was interrupted by a quarrel: "Where did this quack come from? Trying to make me bleed with just a few sweet words? Get out of here, get out of here, get out of the way!"

A middle-aged Taoist priest, who looked to be around forty years old, grabbed a thin man who looked to be around thirty years old. The priest was so angry that his hair and beard stood on end: "You think you can exchange a broken wooden board worth two taels of silver for a teenage girl? People like you who do such heinous things will be punished by heaven!"

Behind the gaunt man stood a dozen or so girls in tattered clothes, all around fourteen or fifteen years old. Although they were thin due to chronic hunger, they were all clearly beautiful. The Taoist priest was arguing fiercely with the slave trader.

The Taoist priest angrily retorted, "This dynasty has clearly decreed that the buying and selling of people is forbidden. Even so-called indentures are merely agreements for a fixed term, which expire upon maturity. Your intentions in buying these girls at such low prices are obvious. Haven't you considered the consequences?"

The gaunt man sneered, "Retribution? Let me tell you the truth, these girls were all bought and given to Huang Renbiao, the prefect of Qingzhou, as his courtesans! In Qingzhou, Huang's words are law! Master Huang is the god!"

Murong Fu frowned: There are many disgusting things in this world, and he can't manage them all, but now that he has seen them, there is no reason not to ignore them.

So he gestured towards Tong Guan and said, "Eunuch Tong, could you please go and check on the situation?" Tong Guan had been sullen the whole way, having had no chance to show off his power. But this incident immediately perked him up. He rolled up his sleeves, put on a high-pitched voice, and stepped forward, saying, "You disrespectful dog, tell me, who is the ruler of Qingzhou Prefecture?"

Unexpectedly, the gaunt man glanced at him sideways and let out a sneer from his nostrils: "What kind of scrap were you found out of somewhere? You dare to meddle in my business?"

Tong Guan was so angry that his face turned pale and then red. As the saying goes, don't talk about a bald man in front of a monk. Tong Guan was a disabled person. Hearing the other party say this, the nameless anger in his heart burned high. He was a minor figure in the palace, but outside the palace, he was an imperial envoy representing the emperor!
Without a second thought, Tong Guan swung his arm and slapped the skinny man hard across the face, then kicked him hard in the stomach: "You dog, who are you trying to bully?"

Murong Fu clapped his hands and laughed, "Eunuch Tong, what skill you have! That kick has the style of a master of the Imperial Guard!"

Tong Guan rarely heard Murong Fu praise him. Although he knew that the other party was joking rather than sincere, he couldn't help but feel proud: "That's right. Back in the day, my family also worked in the Imperial City Guard. We have some martial arts skills!"

The skinny man, used to being arrogant, had never been slapped for a mere disagreement before. He immediately roared, "Break the legs of these damned fools!"

At a single command, the dozen or so thugs who had been stunned by their leader's beating immediately reacted and swarmed over.

Tong Guan's face turned deathly pale: "Young Master Murong!"

Murong Fu smiled and waved his hand: "Brothers, let's stretch our muscles!"

The twenty-odd strong Imperial Guards had been watching with itchy hands, and when they heard Murong Fu say that, how could they restrain themselves?
Unsurprisingly, the twenty elite Imperial Guards utterly defeated a group of scoundrels who usually only knew how to swagger around and bully the good.

Tong Guan was overjoyed, happily practicing Taipingquan (a style of Chinese martial arts), occasionally kicking or punching someone, keeping himself very busy.

The emaciated man who had been beaten shouted, "Who are you? How dare you! You dare to cause trouble in Qingzhou Prefecture! Do you know that I am a servant of the Prefect of Qingzhou!"

Murong Fu smiled and said, "We're just about to go find the Prefect of Qingzhou! Since you're his servant, it's perfect, let's go together on the way!"

"Break one of his legs, and take everyone to the Qingzhou Prefectural Government Office. We'll go and meet this so-called Prefect Huang of Qingzhou. Let's see just how high and how hard he thinks he is!"