PNB Chapter 250: About the Development of the Fiefdom (8)
Chapter 250: About the Development of the Fiefdom (8)
Five days later, a group of people set out from the capital and headed south.
This team had about two hundred people in total. In addition to the emperor, empress and crown prince, there were also palace maids and eunuchs who served them personally, as well as imperial guards and bodyguards who were responsible for their security.
There were thirteen courtiers in total, each with an attendant and several bodyguards.
Of course, if more than 200 people walked together, the target would be too big, so they split up into small groups.
Those guards and imperial guards were disguised as passing tourists and seemed to have nothing to do with the emperor and his group of masters, but in fact they were near the emperor, ensuring that no matter what happened, they could arrive as quickly as possible.
And so they went all the way south.
After leaving the capital, they will see different customs and cultures, and different cultural features, which are very different from the capital.
At first, people in the vicinity of the capital lived relatively better and were wealthier. Because it was close to big cities, there were more ways to make money.
But later, the farther they went, the more they could see the real lives of the people.
The farmers faced the loess and worked with their backs to the sky. Everyone carried a hoe and worked hard to cultivate the land. Some people carried a shoulder pole with two large buckets of water hanging on it, which they carried to the fields to water the crops.
In some places, heavy rains flooded farmland and damaged the crops; but in other places, it didn't rain for a long time, which dried up the crops and killed the food.
There were only a few places with good harvests, and most farmers had sad expressions on their faces.
Everyone was worried that after paying taxes, there would not be enough food left, and there might not even be enough food to survive the winter, so they had to find other ways.
The children we saw on the street were also very pitiful.
There were many children wearing clothes that were too short and had patches on them. They were also skinny and small, and it was obvious that they had never had enough food and did not get enough nutrition.
The emperor looked at this scene with deep emotion in his heart:
"I pride myself on being a wise ruler, and I am relatively magnanimous and benevolent, but I never expected that there are still so many people suffering all over the world. Although agricultural taxes have been reduced again and again, the land yield is not high. Even if they are reduced or exempted, it still cannot meet their basic living needs."
"That child looks about the same age as Qi'er. Qi'er is white and plump, and all the food he eats is exquisite. He is even picky about food. He doesn't want to eat this or that. But that child probably has never had a full meal."
After hearing the emperor's self-blame, the court officials could not help but advise:
"Your Majesty, farmers rely on people for 30% of their crops and nature for 70%. Even if Your Majesty is magnanimous and formulates policies that benefit them, they can only accept their fate when they encounter extreme weather and natural disasters."
"Forget it, let's keep going." The emperor shook his head. "I want to see with my own eyes what the Princess Zhenguo's fiefdom looks like. Although she has described it several times in her memorials, I have never seen it with my own eyes, so it still feels unreal."
When a large group of 200 people is on the road, especially when there are distinguished people in the team, they do not rush or speed up, but walk and stop at will, and pursue speed only after ensuring stability and comfort.
Therefore, every time they arrived at a town, they rested for a night before continuing on their journey.
Although the cement road shortened the travel time from the capital to the fiefdom, due to such a delay, it still took the emperor and his entourage more than half a month to reach Shi Lidie's fiefdom.
The emperor did not send anyone to tell Shi Lidie in advance, but continued to choose to make a private visit in disguise.
They came from the north and their first stop was Pingcheng, which was the largest city in Shi Lidie's fiefdom. After entering the city, they saw that the streets of Pingcheng were particularly lively.
The streets were bustling with people, and the population was surprisingly no less than that of the capital. On both sides, small vendors were setting up stalls and shouting, selling a wide variety of goods, including many novelties.
The young prince Gu Xiuqi pointed at a few vendors and clapped his hands excitedly:
"That's a Rubik's Cube, my sister once gave it to me! That's checkers, and that's a toy car..."
At this time, a man wearing a gray short coat and a red armband on his right hand came over, stopped not far from the emperor and his group, saluted, and said:
"Gentlemen, are you from out of town?"
"Did you guys also hear that Pingcheng is going to hold a food competition, so you came here to watch the fun?"
When the emperor heard this, he was immediately curious:
"Food Contest?"
"You don't know?" the man was surprised.
"Oh, we are from the capital. We heard there are many new and interesting things here, so we brought our children here to have some fun. We never expected to encounter a food competition." The emperor said, "Young man, could you tell us about it?"
The young man in the gray coat nodded immediately, pointed to his red armband, and said:
"Even if the gentlemen don't say anything, I will still tell you."
"See this armband? The princess said that if we wear it, we will be the local tour guides, explaining everything about Pingcheng to tourists from other places."
"Whether you want to inquire about food, accommodation, entertainment, or other information, you can find me. By the way, let me introduce myself. My name is Zhang Bing."
When the emperor heard this, he immediately laughed and said:
"That's interesting, Brother Zhang Bing. I'd like to ask you to recommend a house for us to live in. We're going to stay here for a while. After we're settled, please take us out for a walk."
"Okay, sirs, how many people are living here?" Zhang Bing asked.
"About twenty or thirty people," the emperor said.
The emperor, empress, crown prince, several eunuchs, palace maids, and a dozen guards lived in one house. As for the rest of the court officials and guards, they lived in separate houses.
After all, there is no house that can accommodate two hundred people at the same time.
After Zhang Bing heard this, he immediately spoke:
"There is a house with three entrances on East Street. The owner has moved to Qingping County. The house is now vacant and he has entrusted a pawnshop to rent it out. Why don't I take you there first?"
"Let's go." The emperor nodded.
The remaining court officials and guards naturally followed. They had to make sure that the emperor was settled before they could find a place to live for themselves.
They also didn't want to be too far away from the emperor, so after the emperor was settled, they found a place to live nearby so that no matter what happened, they would have time to take care of each other.
Led by Zhang Bing, the group walked towards East Street.
After walking for a while, they seemed to be blocked by some people. The emperor and others went closer to take a look and saw that it was a little girl beating an adult man.
The girl punched and kicked the man, knocking him to the ground in a few moves. Then she grabbed his arm and held it back:
"You're from out of town, right? How dare you steal things in Pingcheng? And you don't even ask about our female patrol team!"