Supreme Golden Palace

Chapter 154 Taking Office (Part 2)

What Yang Lin was worried about was not Lü Shang, who was about to be stationed in Liangzhou, but the common people under his rule.

Lü Shang was appointed governor because of his military achievements. Yang Lin was worried that Lü Shang had the merit of expanding the territory, but did not know how to govern the people, and would therefore implement harsh policies to harm the people.

After all, the common people already suffer enough. If they were to encounter a harsh and tyrannical official, they would likely be squeezed dry of even their last breath.

In fact, whether it was the Southern Dynasty or the Northern Dynasty, the people were all living in a chaotic world, just like living in fire and water.

The government's oppressive policies were like tigers, and the powerful and ruthless were like wolves. Natural disasters and man-made calamities struck one after another, leaving the people impoverished, forcing them to sell their wives and children, leaving the old and weak to die in ditches, and the young and strong to become beggars.

Over the course of three hundred years, taxes levied by various countries were countless. In many cases, they were more like plunder and extortion than taxes.

The earliest Northern Wei dynasty had a system of "nine ranks of mixed officials," where each household had to contribute two bolts of silk, two catties of cotton, and twenty shi of millet. Later, this system was similarly increased to three bolts of silk and thirty shi of millet per household.

In the Northern Qi dynasty, men were required to receive land at the age of eighteen, paying rent of two shi of millet and two zhang of silk. They also levied "charitable rent" under the guise of collecting grain and millet to prepare for famine, but in reality, it was all used to fill official granaries.

During the Southern Dynasties of Song and Qi, in addition to household tax, there were also taxes on "pond laborers", "city repair money", "firewood and straw", and even geese and ducks that had nests together had to pay taxes.

The situation was even worse in the Southern Liang Dynasty, where there was a "taxation based on savings." People who had saved ten coins were all killed, leading to countless people having to sell their wives and children.

Not only were taxes exorbitant, but the corvée labor in both the Northern and Southern Dynasties was extremely heavy. Men aged fifteen to sixty were subject to corvée labor every year. When the Northern Wei built the Great Wall and repaired palaces, hundreds of thousands of laborers were mobilized at once, and the dead lay piled up on the roads.

During the Northern Qi dynasty, Gao Yang conscripted 1.8 million people to build the Great Wall, and seven or eight out of ten of them died.

The Southern Chen dynasty imposed the harshest corvée labor, excluding the young, the weak, and the elderly. The poor were forced to sell their sons and daughters. During times of war, many able-bodied men from farming households were conscripted into hereditary soldiers, with sons succeeding fathers and the conscription system continuing. Farmland was left to fall into disrepair, and the elderly and weak struggled to continue farming and weaving.

In such a world, even someone as hard-hearted as Yang Lin would find the plight of the common people pitiful and lamentable.

It's no wonder that Shakyamuni of West Jambudvipa said that Jambudvipa was a land of greed, lust, and strife, full of killing and conflict.

At this time, Jambudvipa was indeed a sea of ​​right and wrong.

In Journey to the West, Lion Camel Mountain is described as a mountain range of skulls and a forest of bones. Hair is matted into felt, flesh rots into mud and dust, tendons are entangled in trees, and corpses pile up for eight hundred miles. Even monkeys feel their hair stand on end at the sight of it.

However, there was only one Lion Camel in Xiniu Hezhou, but now, in the Central Plains, there is Lion Camel everywhere.

When Lü Shang bid farewell to Yang Lin and left the Prince Kao Shan's residence, the sun was already setting in the west.

He boarded the carriage and said to the driver, "To the Northern Expeditionary Camp at Guanghua Gate."

"Yes,"

The driver responded.

"drive,"

The carriage rumbled along the stone-paved road as dusk deepened, heading towards Guanghua Gate.

Lu Shang's trip to the Prince of Kao Shan's mansion yielded more than just the admonition from Prince Yang Lin.

When Lü Shang bid farewell, Prince Yang Lin also gave him a generous gift.

After exiting Guanghua Gate, Lü Shang's carriage arrived at the gate of the Northern Expeditionary Army, where people were already waiting.

"General Xiao Ji,"

"General Yan Rui,"

"General Huo Xiao,"

"General Ling Yue,"

Xiao Ji and the others, with solemn expressions, greeted Lü Shang, who was in the carriage.

These four men were Yang Lin's grand gift to Lü Shang. Lü Shang was about to be stationed in Liangzhou, and according to regulations, he should have the ceremonial guards and personal troops of a governor.

These four men were the personal guards that Yang Lin had prepared for Lü Shang. In addition to these four men, Yang Lin also gave Lü Shang three hundred elite troops to serve as his personal guards.

Lü Shang lifted the carriage curtain, looked at the four men, and nodded, saying, "Enter the camp."

“Yes,” Xiao Ji and the others immediately replied.

As Lü Shang's carriage passed the gravel road in front of the camp gate, upon entering the camp, he saw gray banners neatly lined up on both sides of the passageway.

Every ten steps there was a banner, and the two characters "Conquering the North" on the banner fluttered in the wind.

At the end of the passageway was the drill ground, with a command platform built of rammed earth. In the center stood a flagpole three zhang high. The embroidered pattern of the character 'Yang' on the black banner had faded to dark gray from the sun, but it still fluttered proudly in the wind.

Lu Shang's carriage stopped at the drill ground. The twilight was as dark as ink, gradually seeping into the barracks. He stepped off the carriage shaft.

"The general raises his banner at the command platform."

Xiao Ji and his three companions immediately dispersed, each leading a squad of personal guards to organize the ranks. Suddenly, lanterns lit up the watchtowers at the four corners of the drill ground, and in the orange-yellow glow, three hundred personal guards and palace guards were already lined up in square formations according to their flags.

"This humble general greets Your Excellency,"

The four men knelt on one knee in front of the stage, their armor clashing and making a rustling sound.

Lü Shang leaned on the flagpole at the edge of the command platform, his gaze sweeping across the crowd below.

Lu Shang was well aware of the abilities of these four men. Although they were not as capable as those with auspicious destiny as Shang Silang, they had joined the army during the Northern Zhou Dynasty and had experienced countless battles, large and small. They were all ruthless men who had crawled out of piles of corpses.

"You all should know who I am. Many of you were once elite soldiers in my vanguard, fighting alongside me in the northern frontier."

He said in a deep voice, "Now that I have been ordered to take up my post in Liangzhou, I am deeply grateful for the kindness of the Prince of Kaoshan, who has given me three hundred personal guards to serve as my ceremonial guard. You will all come with me to Liangzhou, and I will certainly not treat you poorly."

"We will set off at dawn three days from now. Each person should bring enough dry rations for five days, and the horses should be fed black beans. We will accompany you to Liangzhou."

"Yes,"

The crowd responded with a thunderous roar, the sound so loud that the ropes on the flagpole beside the drill ground vibrated.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye. At the beginning of the hour of Mao (5-7 AM), the sound of the clapper rang out on the city wall of Daxing. Lü Shang, dressed in a black brocade robe, stood in the main hall of the Duke's mansion.

“Father, your son is about to depart for his new post,” Lü Shang said softly to Lü Yongji’s retreating figure.

Lu Yongji turned to look at his only son, paused for a moment, and said, "Go, an eagle is meant to soar in the heavens."

As I stepped out of the mansion, the east was already turning white, and Fang Zian, the military advisor, was already waiting in front of the mansion.

"My lord,"

Fang An, who had long since acknowledged Lü Shang as his master, silently held Zi Dian Han Shuang's hand and waited for Lü Shang to leave the mansion.

Lu Shang glanced at Fang Zi'an, then mounted his horse and gently stroked the mane of Zi Dian Han Shuang.

He looked at his mount, a divine steed with muscles all over its body, sharp and angular like cast iron, its fur as white as snow, gleaming with a satin-like sheen.

"Walk,"

At 3:45 AM, before the morning mist had completely dissipated over Daxing City, Lü Shang, accompanied by Fang Zi'an, left Daxing through Guanghua Gate and headed straight for the Northern Expeditionary Camp.

Before the main camp for the Northern Expedition, three hundred personal guards were already in formation outside the camp, and the newly sewn "Lü" character flags fluttered in the morning breeze.

As the hour of Chen approached, the morning mist lingered like gauze. Lü Shang stood on his horse before the gate of the Northern Expeditionary Camp.

Three hundred guards stood in imposing armor, with Xiao Ji and his three companions riding on either side. Lü Shang looked back at the walls of Daxing City, where the eaves and brackets gradually became silhouettes in the morning light.

Behind him, Fang An, a soldier, whispered, "My lord, it's time to set off."

"Set out,"

With a light flick of the whip, the horses' hooves shattered the thin mist, and the procession surged out of the gate like a black torrent.

Three hundred personal guards, fifty of whom were elite cavalry, and two hundred and fifty of whom were elite infantry, all of whom were battle veterans.

Xiao Ji and his three companions reined in their horses and patrolled the formation. Dust rose a foot high as the group passed by, but no one made a sound. Only the sounds of iron blades rubbing together and leather belts swaying gently could be heard, like a torrent of iron rushing forward. Every step they took made the earth tremble.

(End of this chapter)