Emperor Chongzhen was too extreme.

Chapter 64 The Crouching Dragon and the Young Phoenix of the Ming Dynasty
Hear this.

Qiao Yingjia's face immediately turned ashen.

He had lived for sixty years, and his long political experience had taught him what it meant for the emperor to kill so many people at Tongguan.

Kill the chicken and the monkey!
Since the emperor has chosen to make an example of someone, he certainly won't stop after killing just one small chick.

He'll probably be next chicken soon!
What could be more effective at intimidating officials than the head of the Shaanxi governor?

Not only that.

Qiao Yingjia himself knows exactly what he has accomplished in the two years he has been in Shaanxi.

To be honest, he deserves to be beheaded ten times over.

But it was precisely because he had allies in the court protecting him that he was able to act recklessly and without restraint.

But Qiao Yingjia never dreamed that such an unexpected and unpredictable event as the emergence of a new emperor would occur out of nowhere.

Two months! The new emperor has only been on the throne for two months!

He was merely an emperor.

How did they manage to enter and exit the Forbidden City at will?!
But Qiao Yingjia was destined not to understand this point; at this moment, he was completely enveloped by fear.

The intense fear nearly made him faint.

Fortunately, the servants who were with him caught him in time, preventing him from falling to his death.

Seeing the governor's loss of composure, the informant who came to report dared not be negligent and continued:
"Your Excellency, the Emperor also sent people to distribute the heads of the officials and gentry of Tongguan County to the surrounding counties, and ordered the surrounding counties to provide immediate disaster relief."

"Why don't you also lead the group to the most severely affected areas to provide relief to the victims?"

"In that case, things might still turn around."

Hear this.

As Qiao Yingjia was helped to a grand chair by his servants and continued to soothe his chest, he seemed to have caught his breath again.

He pointed tremblingly at the informant kneeling before him: "Good...good...a reward!"

The servant immediately took out a silver note from a Shanxi bank worth five hundred taels and handed it over.

The informant accepted the silver note, thanked him verbally but cursed him inwardly.

Fuck your mother, you old bastard!

What's the point of giving money now?

You're all those beasts, raised by servants! You can't even spare a single grain of rice for those lowly people.

Otherwise, would things have gotten this bad?

You have powerful backers, and you're a provincial governor. Even the emperor can't kill you without your permission. At worst, you can just pack up and go back to retire.

But we've lived in Shaanxi for generations, where can we run to?!

Now everyone is in trouble because of you, you old bastard, and your family could be wiped out at any time.

I'll fuck your mother to death!
Human nature is what it is.

When people collude to make money, they're so close they'd share a pair of pants.

If something goes wrong.

He then began to think about how to strike first and send his former loved ones to their doom.

If they weren't all in the same boat, this informant wouldn't even have bothered to deliver this intelligence.

After offering a perfunctory thank you, the subordinate quickly followed suit:

"Your Excellency Governor, I still have matters to attend to regarding the disaster relief work ordered by His Majesty in the county. I shall take my leave now."

After saying that, he left without looking back.

After the informant left.

Qiao Yingjia gradually calmed down with the constant reassurances from his servants.

The fear of death amplified his sense of侥幸心理 (a gambler's mentality).

original.

Qiao Yingjia's extensive political experience allowed him to discern from the emperor's trip outside the capital that this new emperor was definitely a man with ruthless methods.

In that case, I'm sure I'll die.

But now Qiao Yingjia has new concerns.

The Emperor caused a bloodbath at Tongguan simply because Tongguan was his first stop.

His main purpose in killing people was to intimidate officials and make them gather the displaced people.

The actions of the counties that sent the first message to the emperor serve as evidence of this.

Having grasped this crucial point, Qiao Yingjia no longer hesitated and immediately instructed his household servants:
"Quickly gather all our people in the prefectural city, and head to Yan'an Prefecture tonight for disaster relief!"

"Immediately send a secret letter to the capital explaining the reason!"

Yan'an Prefecture.

Mizhi County. Li Zicheng sat on the dilapidated threshold of his house, staring blankly at the stars in the sky, looking half-dead.

Today during the day.

He failed to get his wages again.

He knelt down and kowtowed several times to the official in Yinchuan Post Station, but in the end he only managed to get a little bit of millet to barely fill his stomach.

Is there really no food in Mizhi County?
There may not be many, but there are still some.

While the county officials weren't all fat and bloated, they were all healthy and their families were well-fed and clothed.

They looked so different from the starving people in the county.

They are practically two completely different species.

But what could Li Zicheng do?

Although he was very dissatisfied with this, he ultimately dared not do anything extreme.

no way.

Although I am currently experiencing both mental and physical torment, I am still able to survive.

Compared to the many starving people who had already died, his life was relatively good.

For Li Zicheng

Having a job in the imperial court and being able to survive, he couldn't really muster any more ambition.

Simultaneously.

He has been pondering a question these past few days.

He was debating whether or not he should marry Han Jin'er, who came from a gentry family in Mizhi County.

These days...

The Han family has sent people again to urge me to marry Han Jin'er.

It's not that they particularly wanted to marry their daughter to them.

However, Han Jin'er's reputation has been completely ruined in Mizhi County and even the surrounding counties.

The Han family just wanted to get rid of this hot potato as soon as possible.

This can be seen from the attitude of the Han family when they came to propose marriage for him.

Did Li Zicheng want to marry Han Jin'er?
Of course I don't want to!
Who would want to marry a slut like that?!

But the initial surge of passion was quickly suppressed by reason, or rather, servility.

Li Zicheng didn't know how much longer he could hold out under the current circumstances.

The idea of ​​carrying on the family line was deeply ingrained in his mind, and he didn't want to die without ever having touched a woman.

the most important is.

The Han family told him that if he married Han Jin'er, they would give him some food.

With this food, we should have no problem getting through this winter.

Li Zicheng was very hungry.

He was so hungry that he couldn't sleep at night.

But he dared not eat the millet that he had begged back today, the millet that rightfully belonged to him.

Because the weather will get colder in a few days, he was afraid he wouldn't survive the winter.

Thinking about this, coupled with the intense hunger emanating from my body.

Li Zicheng wished he could go to the city at the crack of dawn the next day to ask the Han family to agree to the marriage.

But for no reason.

He suddenly recalled the soul-stirring connection he had experienced some time ago and couldn't help but sigh.

Let's wait a few more days.
After all, we haven't reached the point where we can't survive yet.

But what if I really can't survive?
Li Zicheng hadn't seriously considered this issue.

Where there is a sleeping dragon, there will surely be a phoenix chick.

When Li Zicheng was so hungry he was practically vomiting sour water.

Zhang Xianzhong was enjoying a barbecue in a deserted wilderness outside Mizhi County.

As for where the meat came from, and what kind of meat it was specifically...
I understand everything I understand.

……

P.S.: I didn't expect to climb to third place on the new book chart. I'm a little overwhelmed.

I earnestly request that you, dear readers, help me keep reading and maintain the ranking. Also, please help me by voting with your monthly tickets or 2 tickets.
There's also the update issue that many readers are concerned about. During the new book period, due to recommendation issues, there will be about two chapters and four thousand words per day.

I'll be updating like crazy after it's released, and I'll try my best to update daily!
Thank you again or 2
　As mentioned in previous chapters, based on their life experiences, Li Zicheng was an honest man from Guinan who was driven to desperation and turned to the dark side.
　　Zhang Xianzhong was a pure outlaw madman.
　　PS: This is just my personal opinion.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)