Ming Dynasty: Traveling through the harem, Zhu Yuanzhang was dumbfounded

Chapter 164 Extraordinary Status
"Chi Lin!"

From the Imperial City to now, Yang Chen has indeed seen many people living in misery along the way.

He knew very well that he could save one person but not everyone.

You must know that, let alone the Ming Dynasty, even in the world hundreds of years later, in the technologically advanced modern society there will still be many poor people. No matter what, there will always be such a small group of very miserable people in the world.

There is no so-called utopian world in the world, at least from Yang Chen's knowledge, he has never seen one.

Faced with these suffering people, Yang Chen chose to pretend not to see them.

He could calmly watch people starving to death on the roadside, but he could not allow someone to fall on his way and be pushed into the abyss by him.

Being in a high position, he deeply understood the saying that the cold-bloodedness of capital is never born alive, but rather transformed.

If he chooses to ignore it now, it means that he has changed and is unable to maintain his original intentions.

Chi Lin originally planned to throw this woman back to where she belonged, but was suddenly frightened by Yang Chen's cold snort.

"Grandpa, what do you want?"

He hurriedly got off the horse, lowered his eyes to the ground and spoke to Yang Chen.

Looking at Chi Lin who bowed his head to him, Yang Chen questioned him in an extremely cold tone:

"This woman's identity is different from other refugees. Why do you want to leave her to death without caring?"

He thought he had made a mistake and was ready to be scolded, but he didn't expect that it was the master who misunderstood him.

Chi Lin quickly explained:

"In reply to the master, this is a helpless choice for me. There are refugees everywhere along the way. If we stop to save one person, the rest will flock to us. By then, even if we are capable, we will not be able to save all the victims. We will not be able to do good things, but will become the target of public criticism. This is not a good choice, so I let her return to her own position. Whether she lives or dies, it depends on her luck."

Upon hearing this, Yang Chen did not speak immediately, but wondered in his heart whether what Chi Lin said made sense.
From their current position, this was not a mistake. Looking up, they could see that many of the refugees walking around were looking at their team with greed. If Chi Lin and others had not looked at them vigilantly with knives and held the handles of the knives to remind them, any slight movement would result in blood.

I'm afraid these refugees would have rushed up and taken away all the valuables on them, leaving nothing behind.

He glanced at the time.

It was just after the beginning of the You period, which was three o'clock in the afternoon. He was only a short distance away from Zhenjiang Prefecture and could arrive there in an hour. He saw that some of the victims were coming from the direction of Zhenjiang Prefecture.

After making the decision, Yang Chen said in a tone that could not be refused:
"Stop and rest for an incense stick of time. Chi Lin, go and do the security work and don't allow anyone to get close. If the victims can't be driven away, give them some dry food and water. As for her, bring her to my carriage. I have something to ask her."

Yang Chen suddenly had the idea of ​​getting news about Zhenjiang Prefecture from a woman who might be from a wealthy family.

Without investigation, there is no right to speak. Previously, the intelligence about Zhenjiang Prefecture was obtained from his subordinates. Now that he is close to Zhenjiang Prefecture, he must understand the situation of this place.

The team sat down to rest for a while. At Yang Chen's instruction, Aiguli and Jiang Juan quickly helped the woman to lean against the wheel of the carriage.

After being fed some water and supplemented with energy from a mixture of fried and pounded dry food powder made from grains such as rice, wheat, and sorghum, the woman slowly woke up.

The moment she regained consciousness, she didn't care what was happening around her. She took the glass water bottle, put the mouth of the bottle to her dry mouth and poured the water into it.

With the nourishment of the water, the woman recovered from her life-threatening condition in an instant.

Only then did she look around. Many people's eyes fell on her, including Yang Chen.

Yang Chen walked over to her and squatted down. He took a look at the piece of Suzhou embroidery on her body and asked:

"My lady, your life experience seems to be different from others. Why did you end up like this?"

Yang Chen knew that under the current circumstances, it was impossible for him to spend time gaining the other party's trust. Instead of wasting time communicating, it would be better to ask directly. After all, he was at home and the other party had to listen to his arrangements for the future.

The woman looked around for a long time. She was also a person with a keen eye. After looking for a long time, she found that Yang Chen was wearing extremely gorgeous clothes, with a sachet and jade pendant on his waist. The exquisite workmanship was far better than those so-called "big shots" she had seen before.

"My Lord, the reason why I ended up like this is a long and tedious process. It's better not to mention it. My Lord saved me before, and I have nothing to repay you. This is my family heirloom jade, which is worth a lot of money. I hope you can accept it."

As he spoke, a round-shaped jade pendant made of Hetian jade with the word "Cui" engraved on it appeared in front of Yang Chen.

He reached out and took it and played with it in his palm. The jade was warm and nourishing, and it was a good piece of material.

A whole piece of white material is carefully carved and would be worth a lot of money if sold. However, as the saying goes, in the desert, a bottle of water can be worth the same area of ​​gold.

Yang Chen just saved this girl's life. She didn't follow the conventional way of asking for her life in return by offering her body. Instead, she directly took out the priceless jade from her body in exchange for her life. This made Yang Chen look at her differently.

"Your surname is Cui? If you come from Zhenjiang Prefecture, shouldn't the Cui family be a local noble family in Zhenjiang Prefecture? As a member of the Cui family, how did you end up in this situation? Why don't you tell me how it works? If you tell me, I won't want it. If you don't tell me, I'll take it and give you some silver and food later. From now on, you and I won't owe each other anything. How do you do that?"

After he finished speaking, the woman could only watch as Yang Chen hid the precious jade that she valued so much in the secret pocket of his arms. She could only watch in despair but could do nothing.

After a fierce ideological struggle, the woman finally sighed, looked up at Yang Chen again and introduced herself.

"Sir, you must be of a distinguished status. Yes, I did leave the Cui family in Zhenjiang Prefecture, but the former Cui family is gone, and I am just a refugee. From now on, my life or death depends on God's will."

The woman's answer was filled with despair. Yang Chen smelled something unusual from it. It seemed that something extraordinary had happened in Zhenjiang Prefecture during the time when he had not been asking for information.

He quickly asked:

"The wealthy family can actually disappear in an instant. It seems that there is a lot of involvement behind this. Why don't you tell me about it?"

The woman's muddy face was somewhat surprised that Yang Chen was still asking questions. After hesitating for a moment, she said bluntly:
"In the past, we had to start from half a month ago."

Fifteen days ago, Zhou Shizhong, the prefect of Zhenjiang Prefecture, suddenly announced the emperor's decree in Zhenjiang Prefecture and the three surrounding counties, saying that the prince wanted to collect all the land and increase taxation, especially for the wealthy Cui family, who were required to hand over all their land, including plowing tools and livestock, and even the money hoarded at home had to be handed over to the court.

Faced with such an order based on bandit logic, the Cui family of Zhenjiang naturally chose to refuse to hand it over.

When the news of Cui's refusal spread, the prefect of Zhenjiang Prefecture, Zhou Shizhong, immediately sent people to search her house. When the woman talked about these things, her eyes were full of tears, and her red eyes were particularly pitiful. Even the people around her were very surprised when they heard it.

I didn't expect that the local prefect actually spread a false imperial edict and used the court's means to rob and plunder in order to make profits for himself. This is even worse than robbery.

"So, who are you to the Cui family? Are you going to the capital to seek justice?"

Seeing that the woman couldn't help feeling sad every time she mentioned the word Cui family, everyone knew that her identity must be unusual.

As the woman talked with Yang Chen in detail, her guard against him gradually lowered, and she then revealed her identity.

"My name is Cui Shulan, and I am my father's sixth child. When the corrupt official Zhou Shizhong sent people to confiscate my home, my father led the servants to provide cover. My mother, Xiao Fengxian, and I left through the back door.
But there were too many disaster victims on the road, and I got separated from my mother Xiao Fengxian and the others. Now I am alone."

After all, she was just a poor little girl. This seemed to be the drawback of the Central Plains dynasty. Whether in the era of advanced technology or in the ancient times of feudal ideology, the power of local officials was too great, and they were far away from the capital.

Even if the emperor's order is beneficial to the people, once the officials are vague, it is impossible to know what the imperial edict specifically says, and people's behavior of pursuing personal gain is vividly demonstrated.

Even the 800-li Lion Camel Ridge, with its skulls and bones like a forest, could survive for several years at the foot of Lingshan Mountain, not to mention this dirty world. Yang Chen knew that he might not be able to change it alone, but he would never allow such a thing to happen before him and do nothing.

"Since you have no one to rely on now, what can you do by going to the capital?"

Yang Chen's eyes were calm, as if he had no emotions at all because of Cui Shulan's experience.

However, when Cui Shulan heard Yang Chen say that he had no one to rely on, his eyes suddenly became very determined.

She opened her dry lips and said:

"I will take the Great Edict to the capital to explain this matter to His Majesty! My eldest brother holds an important military position in the fiefdom of His Majesty the Prince of Qin. If His Majesty knew that the family members of his military subordinates had been wronged, His Majesty would definitely seek justice for my Cui family!"

The moment Cui Shulan mentioned the King of Qin, all eyes turned to Zhu Chong, who was riding on a horse not far away with a dog's tail in his mouth.

The sudden change in the surroundings made Zhu Chong feel something was wrong. When he looked in the direction of Yang Chen and Cui Shulan, Yang Chen waved at him:
"Zhu Chong, come here, I'm looking for you."

"Zhu Chong? Isn't this the name of His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin? Could it be that they have the same name and surname?
Impossible! My brothers and sisters have told me that Zhu is the national surname, and anyone with the same name and surname is guilty of capital punishment. I must have heard it wrongly just now."

Yang Chen's words shocked Cui Shulan greatly. She felt her mind being constantly impacted by the deep ringing of the ancient bell. When she came to her senses, Zhu Chong had already walked not far in front of her.

The King of Qin first bowed to Yang Chen and greeted him:
"Brother Yang, I wonder why you called me here?"

Earlier, when Cui Shulan was telling the story of her experience, Zhu Chong was sitting on horseback away from the crowd, watching the setting sun in the distance, and did not hear anything.

That's why I'm asking.

Yang Chen raised his hand and pointed at Cui Shulan with a gentle expression and said:
"She told me that her brother works under you. Do you have any impression? Oh, by the way, her name is Cui Shulan."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Chong looked thoughtful, and his mind was frantically thinking whether there was such a person among his subordinates. He soon remembered that there was indeed a commander named Cui.

"Among the three guards in Xi'an, there is indeed a commander named Cui, Cui Zhengfeng."

The highest military position in each guard is the commander. As his own subordinate, Zhu Chong would not have any errors in his memory in this regard.

Before Yang Chen asked Cui Shulan if she was familiar with the name, Cui Shulan, who was leaning on the wheel, couldn't help but jump up from the ground.

He looked at Zhu Chong with horror and said hesitantly:

"You are the King of Qin! You really are the King of Qin! Your Highness, the Second Prince of the Ming Dynasty!"

"Sit down, don't get excited. He is indeed the second prince of the Ming Dynasty, the Prince of Qin that your elder brother serves."

Yang Chen openly introduced Zhu Chong's identity, and Cui Shulan's original suspicion of Yang Chen rose to a higher level.

You know, she originally thought that Yang Chen might just be a powerful person, but now it seems that he must be a member of the royal family. Gradually, in Cui Shulan's eyes, Yang Chen's identity is vaguely approaching that of the prince.

There was no way. There must be many people in the entire Ming Dynasty who could make King Qin so polite. In addition, Yang Chen was so young. Apart from his identity as the crown prince, Cui Shulan really couldn't figure out who he was.

Cui Shulan's chest started pounding when she heard Yang Chen's words, and for a moment she didn't know what to say.

Three breaths later, Yang Chen's voice rang out:
"You are undoubtedly a member of the Cui family. Let me ask you, since the prefect of Zhenjiang Prefecture, Zhou Shizhong, forged the decree of His Majesty to seize your family's land, then according to the imperial decree, shouldn't the decree be to collect all the land and distribute it to the people?
Why are there so many disaster victims and refugees on the roadside? "

Upon hearing this question, Cui Shulan's expression became extremely solemn, and the look she gave towards everyone became extremely disgusted, as if they had offended her.

"Huh? How dare you disrespect us!"

Being treated like this, Zhu Chong's temper instantly surged up and he subconsciously scolded.

The voice woke Cui Shulan up and made her react quickly, but she still refused to accept the situation.

"Zhou Shizhong did collect the land according to the order of His Majesty, but he did not distribute the land to the people. The reason was that the distribution had to wait for the order of the court. Otherwise, the land would be controlled by the local government."

"What a bold man who abuses the imperial power for personal gain. Is Zhou Shizhong really annoyed by the itchiness on his neck? How dare he oppress the people without telling the emperor! When I get to where he is, I will skin him alive with a knife first!"

The moment he learned the truth, Zhu Chong was furious and clenched the knife handle in his hand, as if he was about to draw the knife and chop it down in anger.

Fortunately, he didn't do that.

"All the land will be reclaimed by the government? That won't leave the people hungry, right? Many people along the way have even abandoned their children, and it's not uncommon to eat their own children. Doesn't this guy know that food is the most important thing for the people?"

Yang Chen continued to dig deeper, wanting to know why Zhenjiang Prefecture was in such chaos, with different changes occurring one after another in a short period of time.

This problem is not only his problem, but also the inner confusion of everyone.

Especially Zhu Chong, as the King of Qin, after this period of seclusion and reflection, he knew very well that once the people went crazy, they would only be able to overthrow the regime.

(End of this chapter)