Section38: Beheaded?

In the morning, the sun showed its awe-inspiring might as soon as it came out. The hottest season in Chang’an had arrived. There was no wind, only a heat wave. Even in the morning, there was no hint of coolness. The gates of the various neighborhoods were wide open, and the residents of Chang’an were about to start another day of life.

The Huang family dog, the moment the gate opened, jumped out of the market and arrived at the intersection of Duliu Street in a few seconds. After chasing away a large group of flies, it stuck out its red tongue and licked the blue stone slabs on the ground.

A stench came from the dog, causing passers-by to cover their noses and flee.

A stone flew over and hit the yellow family’s mangy dog. The old dog let out a mournful cry and quickly scurried home with its tail between its legs.

“This dog of the Huang family is going to die. It eats bad food and licks people’s blood.” An old neighborhood watchman came out of the door with a broom, followed by a young man carrying two large buckets of water.

He endured the stench and used a dipper to pour water. The water splashed on the stone slab and before it could soak in, it became red sewage that spread along the cracks in the stone slab.

“Uncle Liu, when will the blood be washed clean? The smell of blood is unbearable. It’s been three days since the blood was washed away, but it still stinks. My shoulders are sore from carrying the water.” The young man complained while sprinkling water.

“What are you talking about? What’s wrong with a young man doing some work? Be careful that the ghosts hear you. One hundred and sixty-four people, I heard, were the sons of wealthy families, all delicate and delicate, all scholars. It’s a pity. How can scholars not understand the truth and have to rush into the knife themselves? What can be bigger than beheading? “The old neighborhood guard was a little regretful.

“What’s wrong with the educated? Even if they are beheaded, they will still bleed and stink after two days. Didn’t you say that the bodies should be left out for three days? How come they disappeared overnight?”

“No matter how great the law of the country is, it is not as great as the word ‘etiquette’. Throughout the ages, whenever a prisoner was exposed to the public, except for those who were lonely ghosts with no roots, as long as they were not killed, at night, their relatives and friends would secretly carry the bodies back for burial. The government would also turn a blind eye and let it pass, and no one would care.” Lao Liu had been in Chang’an for decades and knew these ways of doing things very well.

Yun Ye was released from the palace. Although he heard from Cheng Qian that the senior officials were meeting in the Taiji Palace to discuss how to control the locust plague, he was still a little scared, thinking that a group of old guys were waiting at the palace gate to capture him.

Fortunately, there were no outsiders, only Lao Zhuang and Liu Jinbao. What a good opportunity!

The three of them and their three horses left Chang’an City in a flash. Yun Ye was greatly relieved, as if he had escaped from the gates of hell.

“How is the family? I was locked up in the palace and didn’t know anything. I don’t know if Grandma and the others can handle this plague.”

Lao Zhuang pulled on the reins, slowing the horse down and said to Yun Ye, “The family is doing well. While you were away, Grandma led the housekeepers and servants, as well as all the farmers in the village, to divide into several groups to catch the insects day and night. The chickens, ducks, and geese in the house were all let out , and they are all eating straight and swaying. This has saved 60% of the family’s grain, and 40% has been fed to the locusts. If it weren’t for our many poultry, and the above-mentioned Hu Village and Liang Village, I heard that several villages have even had their wheat straw eaten by locusts.

When talking about this, Old Zhuang would unconsciously puff out his chest, proud of himself. All the Zhuangzhuang near Chang’an had grain in their fields, while others’ fields were a miserable sight, with people crying and wailing.

“It’s still the Lord’s wisdom to say that. When you asked the farmers to raise chickens and ducks, they didn’t want to. I knew they were a bunch of idiots. When have you ever done anything unreliable, Lord? And a prodigal son? For this, I didn’t beat those idiots who were talking nonsense. Now no one says you’re a prodigal son. The one who was beaten went to the house to kowtow to Grandma and admit his fault.”

“Are the peasants still at ease? Have they not fled?” Yun Ye recalled that several locust plagues in history had created a large number of refugees, dragging their children and women in miserable conditions.

“No, no one has fled. We have 60% of the grain in the village, and the landlord has exempted the rent. We have livestock and poultry at home, which is better than the previous year. Why flee? Besides, the whole province is like this, where can you flee?”

Yun Ye finally let his heart settle down. If there were no refugees, it meant that he was a qualified landlord. It was really nothing for him to spend 200 strings of cash to buy livestock and chickens and distribute them to the farmers. The Yun family did not rely on the little grain in the fields to survive. The output of the entire Zhuangzi field would not necessarily be 200 strings of cash if it was exchanged for money. Besides, he had not only gotten 10,000 strings of cash back, but he also did not care about spending 1,000 strings of cash to keep the population of the Zhuangzi.

“I won a bet with someone the other day and won 10,000 kuan. Has the money been returned?” Counting the days, Li Er should have finished off those big families, right? The confiscation should have been thorough, right? Old Lu Jiang promised me 10,000 kuan? Hahaha, next time I see that old Lu, the spendthrift, I’ll make him angry again. Who let him take the lead in bullying the teachers at my academy? But if he hadn’t bullied me, I wouldn’t have been able to get such a large group of talented people. Old Lu, you are really my lucky star!

I’m so happy to think about it. After all, the Lu family has enjoyed a good life for hundreds of years. It’s better to fall at the feet of Li Er than at the hands of Wu Mei. After all, he is the only emperor in history.

“My lord, the money hasn’t arrived yet, but the government has said that all the male members of the Lu family have been beheaded, and they are asking if we want to buy the many female relatives and servants who are being sold. Zhuang San stopped and said, ”

Yun Ye suddenly felt as if he had entered an ice cellar. He felt cold all over and felt dizzy and unsteady. He was too weak to get off the horse.

Lao Zhuang, Liu Jinbao hurriedly dismounted and helped Yun Ye up. In the meantime, he was soaked in sweat and his face was as pale as if he had a serious illness.

“How many people in the Lu family were killed?”

“I heard there were 164.”

“Back to Chang’an, back to Chang’an, let’s go back to Chang’an.” Yun Ye struggled to stand up and tried to climb onto the horse.

Zhuang San stopped, and Liu Jinbao dared not persuade him, so he had to help Yun Ye onto the horse. They walked on the ground, carefully taking care of their own marquis, afraid that he would fall off the horse again.

“He’s actually dead, he’s actually been beheaded? His whole family has been beheaded?” Yun Ye muttered over and over again, as if he was asking someone else, or as if he was asking himself.

The weather was gloomy, and the fields on both sides of the road were full of dead crops that had been bitten by locusts. There were also farmers working hard to catch locusts in the fields, and after they were dried, they could go to Yun’s village to exchange them for money. No one paid any attention to the three servants on the road, all of whom were busy with their own affairs and working hard to fill their stomachs in the future.

Why am I running around like this? Why did I climb onto the roof and risk being struck by lightning?

Yun Ye’s mind was in a complete mess.

I have no sin except for liking to fool around with Li Er and fooling around with his inflexible ministers. Besides, these things are not sins. Maybe they are good things. I just picked up some bad habits from Niu Jinda, who likes to save people. I just want to save a few people from starving to death. I don’t want to kill anyone’s whole family. In the past, I just wanted to have fun and talk about it. Why did so much blood have to be shed for something that was clearly a good thing?

Is the conflict really irreconcilable?