Zhao Hao's grandson left Beijing in early May, and he did not walk along the way when he encountered wind and rain. The weather was too hot and there were scenic spots and had to stop to visit... As a result, it took a full month to walk, and it took him a full month to arrive in Zhengzhou Prefecture, Henan in early June.

Since entering Henan, Zhao Hao has been in a very heavy mood.

Usually, he went north and south to the Grand Canal. Although he could see the exhaustion of people's livelihood and the gap between the rich and the poor, it was along the canal and the economy was relatively developed. As long as the people were willing to work hard, they would always have a meal without encountering major disasters.

This time he went deep into the inland, he finally confirmed with his own eyes that the living hell mentioned by the refugees really did not have any exaggeration.

Under the blue sky, most of the prefectures and counties passed by are penniless. Even in the county town, the houses are still old, the streets are narrow and dirty, and the air is filled with an indifference of stale smell that makes people unable to breathe.

On sunny days, the streets are dusty, and the ground is muddy when it rains, and the wheels are deep. Beggars are everywhere along the street, or people are no different from beggars, they are the same ragged clothes, withered faces, the same food is not enough, and they are poor.

They chased Zhao Hao's convoy and asked for food to fill their stomachs. If it weren't for the Jinyiwei and fully armed guards, they would have been robbed.

Next to the official road outside the city is a large area of ​​abandoned land, covered with tall weeds, like a field. The originally scattered villages, large areas of houses collapsed and turned into ruins. Only half of the villages are still crowded, but they are also depressed and dilapidated and breathless.

Against this gray and lifeless background, the fat-hearted vassal royal family members seemed particularly dazzling.

The palaces of those princes and princes were built with magnificent palaces. They were invited to Kaifeng and received entertainment from the King of Zhou. They witnessed the scene of the beautiful maids in the palace, bells and cauldrons, and even surpassed the emperor's, and their extravagance was no less than that of the salt merchants in Yangzhou.

Even the generals of the auxiliary state, Lieutenant of the Feng Kingdom, and the like, lived in a large house in the city, and there were fertile manors outside the city, each wearing silk and satin, and was full of fatty hearts. They were completely different from the poor people.

Henan currently has more than 6,890 descendants of the vassals, including five princes, eighty princes, generals, lieutenants, county lords, Yibin, etc. The expense of supporting these rice insects alone has exceeded Henan's annual fiscal revenue.

In addition, these vassals were rampant, greedy, and annexed the land and house industries of the people. In Kaifeng City, more than half of the industries belonged to the Zhou Wang family; all the fertile land in Nanyang Prefecture was annexed by the Tang King; most of the land in Luoyang, Zhangde, Huaiqing, Yuzhou and other places also belonged to the vassals.

The land and slaves of the royal family of the vassal kings did not have to bear taxes and labor. Therefore, all the burdens of the government were transferred to those poor peasants who had no way to escape. Naturally, the people could only go bankrupt and escape without any possibility of living and working in peace.

This is still Henan Province, which has a fertile wilderness. If it continues to penetrate into the same vassal kings, but has constant border troubles, and the situation in Shanxi and Shaanxi, which has been severely drought for years, will probably be even worse.

A sense of powerlessness always enveloped Zhao Hao, and he finally knew that he was not omnipotent.

There are always things in this world that he cannot do, such as saving the people of Henan in dire straits. The five princes and eighty princes in Henan are hard nails that he cannot pull. Even those generals and lieutenants, who can easily surround him, could make him lose his skin.

In addition to abolishing the vassal system and sending all these rice insects to labor camps, Zhao Hao could not think of any way to save Henan.

And this is far from the worst moment in Henan. The fat man in Wanli will seal his younger brother and son to Henan. In a few decades, the number of royal family members in Henan will expand from 6,700 to 50,000 or 60,000!

As soon as he thought of this, Zhao Hao understood a little. The old man often talked about the "Ming Pills". It would be strange if there were countless such Ming dynasties...

Since you are powerless, you can't stop someone from coming out of the mountain and saving the nation.

~~

With this awareness, he finally brought the old man to Xinzheng.

Shao Daxia and his son-in-law Chen Yingkui, who took the lead, welcomed the belated grandparents and grandchildren outside the county town.

"Haha, the old man and the young master have worked hard all the way." Shao Fang's face was full of spring breeze, and there was no irritation on her face for several days.

In fact, he wanted Zhao Hao and the others to be slower, and he had a little more time to improve his comradeship with Gao Huzi... Gao Gong saw that he kept his promise, worked hard for his comeback, and was effective. Naturally, he looked at this person in the world with admiration, regarded him as a guest of honor, and was attracted by his confidant. He talked with him during the day and slept at night, and was already called brothers.

"Well..." Zhao Liben looked constipated, and then went back to the car and lay down. He had done psychological construction all the way, but it still didn't work well.

It is easy to change the country, but difficult to change one's nature. It is so painful for the old man who has been with him for a lifetime to bow his head with his mortal enemy.

"The old man hasn't figured it out yet?" Shao Daxia asked Zhao Hao in a low voice.

"Why can't you figure it out?" Mr. Zhao whispered: "But it's inevitable that you will be unhappy."

"It's really hard for the old man." Shao Daxia sighed and whispered: "Grandpa Gao repeatedly asked, will the old man really come here in person? It can be seen that his sacrifice is very necessary."

"Mr. Gao won't do anything to my grandfather, right?" Zhao Hao, who was escorting Zhao Liben all the way, finally remembered that it was his grandfather who came.

"Don't worry, the so-called 'Is it a good idea to have friends coming from afar', and he said 'The prime minister can hold a boat in his stomach', and he said 'I have to pay one foot of my respect, I have to pay one foot of my life'." Shao Fang and Zhao Hao walked together, and gave him a reassurance first and said:

"The young master has proved his strength. Although Gao Xianggong is heroic, he is definitely not a person who is ignorant of importance. This time he will 'show his long-cherished wishes and eliminate his grudges with a smile'."

After saying that, he said a little guiltyly: "Of course, the old man should still endure it and let the old husband relieve the fire. Although it may be uncomfortable at the beginning, it will be comfortable in the future."

"That's natural, it's all for the Ming Dynasty." Zhao Hao nodded generously and said seriously: "But you must not be in front of the third person. My grandfather is so shameless."

"That's it, that's it, people live a life of a face." Shao Fangshen agreed and said: "When the time comes, they can leave and let them chat alone."

"Well, that's good." Zhao Hao was relieved. As long as no one saw it, he could pretend that nothing happened. This was the trick he and Mr. Xu learned.

While speaking, I saw Gaojiazhuang, southwest of the county town, from afar.

Although the village is not big, it is surrounded by mountains and rivers and connected by fields. Green willows are planted outside the village, and the stream flows long, like a paradise.

"This old man is quite good at enjoying it." Zhao Liben snorted. When he came out of the car again, he was calm and his face was normal. I don't know what kind of comfort Ye gave him just now.

Having said that, he was still ashamed to see Gao Gong, the imperial teacher, retired and assisted, living in this countryside without even a garden.

Nowadays, officials of the Ming Dynasty were very simple when they were officials in the court, but their families were as rich as gardens and mansions. The fertile land shops were worth millions, each of which was richer than the other... Well, he was no exception.

It is indeed rare to be consistent in appearance and inside like Lao Gao.

However, Gao Gong actually sent a butler to greet him at the village entrance, which made Zhao Liben very upset.

Isn't this too unfamiliar?

As soon as I entered the Zhuangzi, I saw a brand new golden archway with four big characters written on it: "Good Teacher and Virtuous Minister". This was written by Emperor Longqing.

Through the imperial archway, civil servants get out of sedan chairs and military officers get out of horses.

Zhao Liben had no choice but to get off the car with everyone and walk to the village. He saw a dome-shaped two-story eaves tower on the street in the middle of the village, with a blue plaque hanging on it, saying 'Baomo Tower'.

The housekeeper Gao Fu introduced that this was because the three generations of the Gao family had received the love and reward from the ancestors and the current emperors. The imperial edicts, gold, silver, silk, jewelry, jade and other items that were granted many times were not dared to enjoy without authorization. Because they had accumulated more and had no proper place to store them, they were also disrespectful to the emperor. Gao Ge Lao specially asked for an order to build this Baomo Building, store the imperial gifts, and educated the King of Saints for future generations to admire.

Today, the emperor approved the construction of the emperor, and gave silver and nominated the "Jianzhong Hall" by himself.

"The emperor is even extremely kind to my third master. I have sent imperial edicts almost every month and are rewarded during festivals. The Baomo Building has just been built and is almost full. It will definitely be expanded in the future."

Hearing Gao Fu's proud look on his face, Zhao Liben couldn't help but feel sour. Indeed, his grandfather was not as good as Gao Gong, and his father was not as good as him, and he still couldn't compare to...

"I have to take a good look." Zhao Liben held his hands behind his back and looked at Baomo's corridor carefully with sunglasses: "In the future, when my home is built, I will strive to be in one step and no longer struggle."

Fortunately, my son and grandson must be better than him. There is absolutely no doubt about this, because he doesn’t even have a son...

"Hahaha." Zhao Liben laughed three times, and walked into the Gao family mansion with his head held high.

Seeing that the program arranged by the third master for Zhao Liben did not work, but instead made the other party full of fighting spirit. Gao Fu couldn't help but secretly squeeze Gao Gong. This old man is not a soft persimmon that is easy to squeeze...

~~

Zhao Hao followed his grandfather silently and went into the Gao family mansion. Looking at the courtyard that was no different from the ordinary landlord's house, it felt difficult to remind people of the prime minister's mansion that had been famous for three generations.

At the entrance of the flower hall, he saw the tall bearded man who was terrified of the entire Ming Dynasty officialdom for the first time.

I saw that although Gao Gong was wearing a half-old green sermon robe and a Zhuge scarf, he dressed like a country teacher.

But he had a wide mouth and a big chin, and was very majestic. He also had a big beard like a steel needle and a pair of sharp eyes like a falcon. He stood there with a very imposing aura.

Two years of hiding did not waste his spirit, but instead made him more and more powerful.

The sword is thundering and is about to be unsheathed!
Chapter completed!