Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 189: A Stone-like Person Asking for Directions

On August 25, Dian Lun, with extremely complicated feelings, rode the mule, carried two bags of dry food, and pocketed gold, silver and copper coins, and headed towards Yishui County along the mountain path.

On the other side, Guan Chongyan also set off, but in a swaggering manner, running all the way north along the official road, and arrived at the plain area south of Yishui County before noon.

At this time, there were still traces of Liu Huai's disturbance yesterday, and even the bloodstains in some places had not been completely buried. However, after Zhu Tianshou took control of the county government, he sent out his trusted farmers and set up checkpoints along the road, which had blocked the entire Yishui County.

You must know that among Zhu Tianshou's farmers, there are armored cavalrymen, who are not comparable to ordinary soldiers, archers and yamen runners. Moreover, they are well-trained and have gained actual combat experience in daily battles with bandits. Although they cannot be compared with the Loyal Army, they can be said to be qualified militia.

"Stop!"

Seeing Guan Chongyan riding towards them, several farmers shouted loudly behind Lu Jiao.

After Guan Chongyan reined in his horse, several farmers armed with spears approached from all sides, and one of them even stepped forward and grabbed the reins of the warhorse.

"Who is coming?"

Guan Chongyan answered in a clear voice, "I am a guest of Mr. Zhu Tianshou, the Third Master, and I have something important to discuss with him."

The farmer looked him up and down, then softened his tone and said, "Could you please leave your name or a token of your gratitude so that we, the humble servants, can go and report back?"

Guan Chongyan said to the leader, "We don't have any names or tokens. Just tell Mr. Zhu San that we are old friends from Menglianggu who are visiting."

The leader called a smart man and asked him to remember a few words about his old friend from Menglianggu, then let him ride a horse and report back quickly.

Afterwards, the leader saw that Guan Chongyan was unmoved and his face was calm, so he couldn't help but feel relieved. However, he immediately realized that if this was really Zhu Tianshou's distinguished guest, it would be inappropriate for him to be so neglectful. He quickly waved his hand for the others to put away their weapons, and still holding the reins of the warhorse, he said, "Sir...sir, you see, it's not a good idea to wait in this sun. We have a shed up ahead. How about going there to have a bowl of tea?"

Guan Chongyan, however, showed impatience: "I came to see Master Zhu San for an urgent matter, so I don't have the heart to drink tea. If you really want to, you can take a few cavalrymen and take me directly to Master Zhu San. You can even hold my reins the whole time. If you are still worried, I won't hesitate to give you my knife."

As he said that, Guan Chongyan went straight to take off the sword on his body.

The leader looked embarrassed and quickly waved his hands, "You are joking, sir. How could I possibly remove your sword? We simply didn't pick up on the Third Master's words, so how could we have dared to lead you directly to him? Please forgive us."

Guan Chongyan grew increasingly impatient. "You're such a fool! You took me outside the manor and waited for me, and you could have gone in and reported. If I were lying, you could have just beaten me to death outside the manor, and I wouldn't have been able to resist. But now you're arguing with me here. If I really had an appointment with Master Zhu San, and you delayed it, wouldn't we have offended both of our masters for nothing?"

The leader was already 90% convinced at this point, and also felt that what Guan Chongyan said did seem to make some sense, so he hurriedly called on his companions to bring the horses, but still held Guan Chongyan's reins tightly in his hand.

Guan Chongyan naturally said nothing, and was even happy to let the four cavalrymen sandwich him in the middle and head towards Dazhuzhuang along the official road.

After walking only a mile, Guan Chongyan frowned and asked, "You...what's your name?"

The leader said, "Your Excellency, please call me Qian Er."

"Qian Erlang," Guan Chongyan said, pointing to the civilians strung together on the official road, their hands bound with ropes, struggling to move forward. "What's going on?"

Qian Erman said nonchalantly, "The county government wants to recruit laborers. The autumn harvest has passed and there is no work in the fields. The government wants to get them out to work, give them a meal, and prevent them from wasting their own food at home. How great a favor is this?"
But I don't know who's instigating these unruly people to refuse to apply, so I have no choice but to use this method. "Bah, they're all just unruly people who only care about food and not punishment." At the end, for some reason, Qian Er suddenly became irritable and spat bitterly.

Guan Chongyan looked at the people stumbling and crying as they walked forward, then looked at Qian Er, who was holding the reins of his warhorse. His face twitched a few times, "Sure enough...Sure enough, these thieves and these troublemakers."

Qian Er seemed to have met a bosom friend, and his voice became excited: "Isn't it? Your Excellency, you may not know that a few days ago, when it came to renting the land, our Master Zhu San was fair, charging 150 catties per mu. But a few unruly people insisted on bargaining, saying that the harvest was reduced this year and asked for forgiveness.

My eldest brother searched every household, even splitting open their beds and floors, only to discover that they were covered in yellow millet. A madwoman, realizing her crimes were exposed, stabbed my eldest brother with a pair of scissors. Although he chopped the woman to death, he was also injured and is now recovering in bed.

My dear guest, what are these unruly people if not thieves?"

Guan Chongyan laughed again: "He is indeed a thief."

In those days, the millet yield per acre was about 200 to 300 kilograms. In fact, the Jin Dynasty's water conservancy facilities were in disrepair, and there were years of unrest. How could it have been possible to cultivate the land intensively?
In fact, if one mu of land can produce 170 to 180 kilograms of millet, it is considered a good harvest.

And Zhu Tianshou actually wanted to collect 150 kilograms of rent per mu!
This is forcing those tenants to death!
What a thief!

Thief!!!

Guan Chongyan, who usually has a cold face, now smiles even brighter.

The two of them walked another two miles while chatting and laughing, and happened to meet the farmer who had gone to report the news to Zhu Tianshou before. He said that Mr. Zhu San was waiting for the distinguished guest at Dazhu Village.

At this point, Qian Er finally completely trusted Guan Chongyan, let go of the reins, and apologized repeatedly.

Guan Chongyan waved his hand magnanimously.

In just a quarter of an hour, the group arrived at Dazhuzhuang. Guan Chongyan met Zhu Tianshou in the lobby in the center of the manor.

Zhu Sanlang was surprised and delighted. He stepped forward and shook Guan Chongyan's hands. "Good brother, you're finally here. I've been feeling very restless these past two days."

Guan Chongyan said respectfully, "Don't blame me, Master Zhu San. We were originally planning to camp on the south side of the narrow road. If we want to change our strategy now, we must consult the Marshal and not act on our own."

"Yes, yes, yes." Zhu Tianshou patted his forehead and laughed, "I was just too anxious to pay attention."

As they spoke, the two of them sat down.

It was Zhu Tianshou who spoke up again, "Guan Qilang, you've been a bit too arrogant today. How could you come so carelessly from the official road and directly say you were looking for me? If someone noticed, we would both be in danger."

Guan Chongyan said sincerely, "This is actually a test. If Master Zhu San can't even resolve this matter and cover it up, then this deal will be impossible to do, and the commander-in-chief will not believe that you can be a good accomplice."

Before Zhu Tianshou could reply, Guan Chongyan continued, "And if I can't go back, whether it's because Third Master Zhu has fallen out or because Third Master Zhu is incompetent, the Commander-in-Chief will never risk sending troops and will only guard the mountain pass. At that time, we will have to fight tooth and nail."

　Fuck that ghost!!!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)