bestfiction Chapter 419 Children
Chapter 419 Children
"Uh."
Chen Dao was speechless for a moment. In his opinion, Yang Zheng of Liangzhou, who was now known as the "King of Liangzhou" and the "Great Bandit of Liangzhou," was definitely a greater threat than the White Lotus Army.
Because Yang Zheng did not plunder everywhere like a bandit, but instead seriously governed Liangzhou and consolidated his base.
In contrast, based on Zheng Qiuyan's description, Chen Dao could roughly imagine that the White Lotus Sect was not much different from most of the rebellious forces he had seen in history. They would not, or rather, were unwilling to, peacefully govern the land they had conquered. Instead, they plundered everywhere, constantly attacking and seizing cities and territories. Every time they broke into a city, they would plunder it.
Rebels like this cannot win the hearts of the people, let alone have a stable base of support.
Therefore, Chen Dao believed that Yang Zheng of Liangzhou posed a greater threat than the White Lotus Sect.
However... the imperial court and Chen Dao clearly had different ideas. In the imperial court's view, the White Lotus Sect, with its strong desire for expansion and constant attacks on cities and territories, was obviously a greater threat.
On the contrary, Yang Zheng, who was like a bandit sitting on the ground, did not receive the attention of the imperial court. In other words, the degree to which he was valued by the imperial court was far less than that of the White Lotus Sect.
Of course, Chen Dao did not voice his thoughts. After chatting with Zheng Qiuyan for a few more minutes, Zheng Qiuyan left.
The next day, Chen Dao and Zheng Qiuyan, along with Chen Cheng and Qing Ying, set off southwards.
Two days later, the four of them successfully entered Taiqing County. Zheng Qiuyan, who was riding on horseback, looked a little tired. She looked back at the direction of Taicang County and said, "The sun is about to set. Let's find a place to rest first."
"can!"
Chen Dao nodded. After two consecutive days of intense travel, even with his strong physique as a fifth-grade martial artist, he felt somewhat fatigued.
So the four of them rode forward and soon saw a stone tablet standing by the roadside with the words "Qingshui Village" engraved on it.
"Let's go to the village and ask a villager for lodging for the night!"
Zheng Qiuyan rode into the village first, followed by Chen Dao and the other two.
Qingshui Village was not much different from the villages Chen Dao and his group had seen along the way; it was deserted, with no one in sight on the dirt roads, a scene of decay.
"There's a sound."
Suddenly, Chen Dao's ears twitched. To avoid alerting the villagers, he immediately dismounted and walked towards the direction from which the sound came.
Soon after, Chen Dao stopped and looked ahead.
But then they saw a thin child holding a rough wooden sword, hacking at the scarecrow in front of him.
"Cut you to death, chop you to death!"
The child's eyes were filled with hatred as he looked at the scarecrow. Even though he was panting, he continued to chop at the scarecrow with all his might, as if he wanted to kill it.
Chen Dao and Zheng Qiuyan exchanged a glance, then Chen Dao stepped forward and asked gently, "Child, what is your name?"
As they got closer, the boy's figure became clearer in Chen Dao's vision. The boy was extremely thin, his clothes hung loosely on his body, and his cheeks and eye sockets were sunken, giving him a malnourished appearance.
However, the boy's eyes were extremely bright, forming a stark contrast with his thin body.
"Who are you?"
The boy was startled and raised his wooden knife at Chen Dao and the others with a wary expression.
Chen Dao quickly raised his hands to indicate that he meant no harm and said gently, "We are merchants from Taicang County."
"Taicang Prefecture? Is it the Taicang Prefecture in the north?" the boy asked, still looking wary.
"Yes."
"Oh."
The boy carefully examined Chen Dao and his companion, seemingly concluding that the four of them didn't appear to be bad people. He then put away his "weapon" and answered Chen Dao's earlier question: "My name is Lü Xiaoyi. What are your names?"
"Chen Dao".
"Zheng Qiuyan".
"Chen Cheng."
"Qingying."
Chen Dao and the other three gave their names, then asked, "Child, why did you cut down this straw figure?"
"Because I hate it!"
Lu Xiaoyi gritted his teeth and said, "He stole our family's grain and my sister! I wish I could kill him!"
"Who is he?"
Chen Dao couldn't help but ask.
"Of course it's the Azure King!"
"..."
Chen Dao and the other three looked at each other in bewilderment. Who was the Green King?
That was a prince of the Xia Kingdom, second only to the emperor in status. How could such a person have any dealings with a child from a remote village?
"Once I've mastered martial arts, I'm going to kill him!"
Lu Xiaoyi was still not satisfied and spoke with a look of longing in his eyes when he talked about martial arts. He even waved the wooden sword in his hand, as if that would allow him to master martial arts.
However, Chen Dao and the other three knew that it was impossible for Lü Xiaoyi to become a martial artist through such haphazard practice.
Of course, none of the four said anything to hurt Lü Xiaoyi.
"Xiao Yi."
Zheng Qiuyan moved closer to Lü Xiaoyi and asked, "Why do you hate the Prince of Qing so much?"
"Humph!"
Upon hearing the name "King Qing," Lü Xiaoyi snorted coldly, his eyes filled with hatred: "Because King Qing stole our village's grain and also took my sister away..."
Although Lü Xiaoyi was young, he spoke very clearly, and soon Chen Dao and the others learned the cause and effect of the matter from his account.
It turns out that the reason why Lü Xiaoyi hated the Prince of Qing so much was not because the Prince of Qing had any dealings with him, but because of... the tax collection and the fact that the servants of the Prince of Qing's mansion had taken away his sister.
Because of the stream that runs through the village, Qingshui Village was originally quite wealthy, and the land yielded very good harvests. After handing over the grain to the imperial court, the remaining grain was enough to feed the villagers of Qingshui Village.
However, this situation came to an abrupt end after the King of Qing arrived in Taiqing County.
The state army of Xia State was not supported by the imperial court, but by the finances of the state where it was stationed. In the past, when Taiqing County was managed by the prefect, the prefect was still a person and would not choose to increase the burden on the people to support the Qingzhou army.
But when the King of Qing took over the Qingzhou army, the situation immediately changed.
To ensure the fighting strength of the Qingzhou Army, the army's money and food were distributed in full. However, with the entire Qingzhou affected by the cold disaster, the province's tax revenue was greatly reduced. The tax revenue from Qingzhou alone was simply insufficient to support the Qingzhou Army, not to mention that the Qingzhou government also had to pay a portion of its taxes to the imperial court.
If the original tax revenue alone could not support the Qingzhou Army, how did the King of Qing guarantee the army's pay?
The obvious answer is to raise taxes!
Since the arrival of the King of Qing in Qingzhou, taxes across the entire province have risen repeatedly, though the impact is not yet as noticeable in counties like Taicang County, which are far from the prefecture capital.
However, the local people of Taiqing County were suffering greatly. Due to the impact of the cold disaster, they did not even have enough food for their own families, but the government kept increasing taxes. Wasn't this going to kill them?