The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 459: Is Shu Kingdom the same?

The group set out from Jiangling and was now approaching Xiangyang.

It was dawn, the cold had not yet gone away, and mist continued to come out of Luo Xian's mouth.

This official road was built very flat and had almost no bumps. Compared with the Shu Road, it was indescribably comfortable.

In the distance of the official road, there are endless farmlands. The distance is shrouded in fog and cannot be seen clearly, but a few figures can be seen, who have already started to work busy on the farmlands.

Luo Xian still agreed to the request of Jiang Wei and Chen Qi and came to assassinate the Emperor of Cao Wei.

In fact, it was not Luo Xian's turn to choose. After Chen Qi and Jiang Wei spoke, he had no choice.

What else can I do if I don’t agree?

Reject them?

Not to mention whether they would really not blame him as they said, even if they didn't blame him, his official title would be over.

After all, in their eyes, they are just afraid of death and unwilling to sacrifice themselves for the government.

Luo Xian had no choice but to escape with the cooperation of Chen Qi and others. He ran all the way to Wang Ji and surrendered to him.

When Wang Ji learned that a new governor of Shu Kingdom came to surrender, he took it very seriously and immediately sent people to investigate the situation.

Later, Wang Ji received the emperor's edict and sent someone to Luoyang.

Luo Xian felt extremely desperate.

He hadn't considered the possibility of success.

He is the king of a country. How can he be assassinated just like that?

He is not the Xianbei Hu King Kebineng, so how could he be easily killed by an assassin?
Back then, Ke Bineng was able to threaten the borders of Wei State. He gathered a large number of Han people to assist him, mastered advanced technology, and his strength continued to increase. The then Youzhou Governor Wang Xiong directly sent assassins to kill him.

It is worth mentioning that this Wang Xiong was the grandfather of Wang Rong.

Wang Xiong was of the same generation as Wang Xiang. He had two sons. One was Wang Hun, the former governor of Liangzhou, who died of anger over his son's affairs. The other was General Wang Yi.

The descendants are getting more and more advanced with each generation.

Wang Xiong's act of assassinating the enemy king could only be used against the Hu people, who did not have a similar sense of vigilance, but in the Central Plains, this was almost impossible.

Ministers were not allowed to bring weapons to see the emperor. When the emperor traveled, not only the roads he was going to take, but also the entire city had to be under martial law, and no one was allowed to go out.
As a surrendered general, being able to see the emperor was already a great achievement, but he wanted to bring weapons? And he wanted to assassinate him?
Luo Xian had no idea at all.

He didn't know that this was the only thing Jiang Wei could think of doing.

Luo Xian looked around and suddenly someone stood beside him.

"I remember that the general is also from Jingzhou, right?"

Luo Xian looked at the person next to him. This was a scholar, and he called him Wang Qiao.

He was Wang Ji's cousin and did not have any particular talent. Wang Ji's father died early and his family fell into poverty. It was his uncle Wang Weng who brought him to his side and took care of him as his own son.

Wang Ji never forgot his uncle's kindness, so he brought his uncle's son to his side and asked his cousin to help him with things.

Hearing Wang Qiao's question, Luo Xian nodded, "I'm from Jingzhou."

"Then you must take a good look. Jingzhou is very different from Shu."

Luo Xian didn't say anything. He was in a low mood at the moment and really had no mood to wait and see his hometown.

This look was normal in the eyes of others. After all, Luo Xian was ostracized by the "eunuchs" and was forced to leave Shu.

The persecution of eunuchs was considered politically correct in the Three Kingdoms.

Wang Qiao pointed to the distance and said, "The fertile farmland of Xiangyang stretches for thousands of miles, stretching endlessly as far as the eye can see. Look at those farmers in the distance. They're already working before daybreak. Does Shu have such vast farmland? Does it have such hardworking people?"

Luo Xian shook his head, "No."

Just as a hint of pride crossed Wang Qiao's face, he heard Luo Xian say, "The land of Bashu has always been based on benevolence and righteousness. They don't force men and women to separate, point crossbows at them to open up the land, and then force them to stay in the area and remarry, completely disregarding whether they originally had any property."

"Therefore, there isn't much cultivated land in our area, and the people there own their own land. They are not forced to cultivate it for the temple, so we don't see scenes of people cultivating the land early in the morning."

When Wang Qiao heard what Luo Xian said, he was not angry at all.

He laughed heartily, tilting his head to look at Luo Xian beside him, "So this is how everyone in Shu talks about our Great Wei?"

He looked very curious, without any displeasure.

Luo Xian originally thought that he had said too much, but when he saw Wang Qiao's reaction, he felt a little strange.

Wang Qiao said, "First of all, the forced reclamation you mentioned happened during the reign of Emperor Taizu!"

"Early after Emperor Wen came to power, he stopped forcibly conscripting the people to cultivate the land. Moreover, given the situation back then, all the farmland in the country was destroyed, and the people were displaced and had no means of livelihood. Although Emperor Taizu's policies were somewhat harsh, didn't they help the people survive?"

"As for the farming for the imperial court you mentioned, oh, you haven't heard yet, have you? The current emperor has already issued an order to lease the public land to the people for cultivation. It's forbidden to buy or sell it, and only a very low land tax will be collected. The rest can be left to the people themselves."

"This is why they come out to farm at this time." Luo Xian was not stupid. When Wang Qiao said this, he immediately understood why they had to rent instead of dividing it.

This is because they are afraid of being annexed by the big families.

He asked suspiciously, "Why have I never heard of this?"

Wang Qiao said proudly, "It just started this year. Currently, it's only being implemented in Jingzhou, Jizhou, and Qingzhou. The government said they'll see how effective it is before rolling it out to other areas."

"When we first arrived in Jiangbei, the people were terrified and some fled. But when they learned that we were going to distribute the public land among the people, even the refugees from Jingnan started running towards us!"

Wang Qiao smiled and said, "Look at the people of Jingzhou again. Do they look any different from the people of Shu?"

At this moment, the thick fog gradually dissipated, more and more people came and went, and the people in the distance gradually appeared.

Luo Xian immediately saw the farmers who were laughing and chatting. He didn't know what they were talking about, but their faces were full of smiles and they were dancing with joy.

Luo Xian suddenly fell silent.

When he was very young, he had seen such a scene in Shu State, but as he grew up, he never saw it again.

I don't know when the people's happy expressions turned into people's sad expressions. In Shu County, you can no longer see farmers laughing like this. They all hang their heads, look listless, and their eyes are full of deep fatigue and numbness.

Wang Qiao probably felt that he had the upper hand at this moment, and began to brag incessantly.

"The current Holy Emperor has ascended to the throne, and his benevolent policies have earned him the sincere admiration of all people throughout the world. Since he took power, he has never built a palace, nor has he recruited women from the common people to serve in his harem. He has also issued several orders to reduce his clothing consumption and reduce the expenses of the imperial palace. Frugality and simplicity are the most valued values in Luoyang today."

"I wonder what the king of Shu is like?"

Luo Xian closed his eyes, obviously unwilling to continue talking about this issue.

Wang Qiao raised his head proudly like a winner.

The carriage quickly drove into Xiangyang City.

Xiangyang was extremely prosperous, which showed that Wang Ji, the farming general, was truly worthy of his title.

Although Luo Xian did not chat with his companions, he was always observing the situation around him.

When he was in Shu, he heard many rumors about Wei, most of which were not good.

But after coming here in person, he felt that the situation was a little different.

It wasn't as bad as I heard.

He saw merchants queuing skillfully, with carts carrying them in, and the officials did not maliciously stop them or make them wait on the side.

Many of the things that merchants carry cannot be kept for too long, and the market has time limits. It is very easy for officials to extort money. As long as they deliberately leave them outside the checkpoints and do not check them, the merchants will be forced to pay money in exchange for passage.

But here, that doesn't seem to be the case.

Along the way, you can see many officials, who are coming and going in a hurry and look exhausted.

Luo Xian was even more shocked.

Wang Qiao smiled again and asked, "Is there such an official in Shu?"

"Since ascending the throne, the Holy Emperor has instituted examinations to recruit officials. Regardless of rank or background, talented individuals are welcome to participate. Those who pass the examinations on classics, agriculture, law, mathematics, and so on, can become civil servants."

"We also emphasize the law and discipline. Those who violate the law, exploit the people, and neglect government affairs will be investigated and punished."

"What's the situation in Shu?"

Luo Xian was so angry at Wang Qiao at the moment. He knew you were powerful, but you wouldn't keep talking about it all the time, right?

But Wang Qiao had no self-awareness.

On the way from Xiangyang to Luoyang, whenever Luo Xian dared to show the slightest bit of surprise, Wang Qiao would jump out and give him a long lecture.

That kind of complacency, that kind of self-satisfaction, and repeated questioning made Luo Xian unable to control himself, and he almost wanted to change the target of the assassination.

But Luo Xian couldn't deny what Wang Qiao said.

Along the way, he saw scenes that were completely different from those in Shu Kingdom.

Comparing these with Shu, he suddenly understood why Shu and Wu had always been defeated by Wei in recent years.

This is not just a matter of treatment of soldiers.

It was not simply a matter of national strength. While Shu and Wu were still rolling down the hill, Wei had a strong man who held on to the country and pulled it up bit by bit.

Luo Xian sighed.

His face was filled with melancholy.

(End of this chapter)