From a son-in-law to a favorite of the empress

Chapter 697

"Come in and sit down! Haha! Brother Li Song, you have brought a unique treasure to our Baihua Village!"

Mu Rong warmly invited Zhou Yuan and others into the house and poured them tea. The smile on his face never stopped.

He sighed with emotion in his joy: "When Bai Niao A Mei got into trouble, I was not the village chief. Otherwise, how could I let Bai Niao A Mei suffer such a great injustice? Those brothers are jealous, and can they blame A Mei?"

"What hurt people, what killed people, are all Miduo's own problems. As a result, those elders insisted that Bai Niao A Mei bewitched everyone. I think it is clear that they did not want to take responsibility, so they pushed Bai Niao A Mei out to take the blame."

Li Song nodded and said: "The incident was indeed a big deal back then, and Bai Niao A Mei was indeed too popular. Alas, in the end, Bai Niao A Mei walked out of the Miao village and ended up dying of illness."

Mu Rong slapped the table Li Song smiled and said, "Brother Murong, you have seen Cai Ni. Her singing voice is so beautiful. She is also the best in Shuixi in terms of beauty. If the Mountain Flower Festival is as sensational as it was back then..." Mu Rong glared and said, "So what? Are you going to have another fight? Are you going to drive Cai Ni out too? I don't think it's that easy!" "Cai Ni is generous and likable, which is different from Bai Niao. Bai Niao is shy and She is a little shy and introverted, otherwise there should be more people speaking up for her.

"Whoever wants to touch Bai Niao Amei now, please ask the four thousand villagers of Baihua Village whether they agree or not."

Li Song couldn't help laughing and said, "Brother Mu Rong is still as hot-tempered as he was back then, but young people nowadays have bad tempers and are difficult to discipline."

"All the Miduos who went to the war this time will come back. I'm afraid that Sister Cai Ni will be fascinated by them."

Mu Rong said, "I think no one of this generation of young people is worthy of Sister Cai Ni. They don't do their work every day, their fields are abandoned, and they are still fighting outside, saying that they want to live a good life."

"They can't even do the things in front of them well, How to do great things? The Han people have a saying, "If you can't clean up your own house, how can you clean up the world?" They just don't understand this truth. "

Speaking of this, he looked at Zhou Yuan again, frowned, and said, "Where is this brother from?"

Zhou Yuan smiled and said, "Grandpa Mu Rong, I am a Han Chinese, and I came here to protect Cai Ni."

"Han Chinese?"

Mu Rong immediately raised his eyebrows, glanced at Ye Qingying, and said, "You are unfamiliar, are you also a Han Chinese?"

Ye Qingying smiled and said, "Grandpa, I am indeed a Han Chinese, but I have lived in Huaixi Village for two years, and I have many Miao sisters."

Mu Rong felt that something was a bit strange, so he cast a puzzled look at Li Song.

Li Song sighed and said, "Brother Mu Rong, Master Ye is indeed a Han Chinese. He came here to protect Sister Cai Ni. Otherwise, how could a weak woman like Sister Cai Ni walk such a long way?"

"These days are not peaceful. There are bandits everywhere on the road."

Mu Rong frowned and said, "Is that all?"

Li Song didn't know what to say, so he could only look at Zhou Yuan.

Zhou Yuan said lightly, "Grandpa Mu Rong, I am not only a Han Chinese, but I am also an official of the court, a not small official."

Mu Rong stood up suddenly, and his face changed immediately.

Li Song quickly held him down and said with a wry smile: "Brother, calm down. We are sitting at the same table. How can we do anything bad? We are just chatting."

Mu Rong shouted: "Brother Li Song! What are you doing? Are you colluding with Han officials and betraying the Miao village?"

Li Song quickly said: "That's not the case. They just want to see you and say a few words."

"Now that we have finished talking, leave now!"

Mu Rong's face was gloomy, and he said coldly: "Leave now, otherwise don't blame me for being rude!"

Zhou Yuan smiled and said: "As soon as I left, Cai Ni followed me. . "

"Then wait a minute..."

Mu Rong swallowed his saliva, suppressed his impulse, and said calmly: "Do you have something to say? Come on! If you want money, we can give you some. After all, you sent Cai Ni here, which is a credit. We should thank you."

Zhou Yuan shook his head and said: "I don't need money. I just ask a few questions."

Mu Rong said: "Then ask, and leave quickly after asking!"

Zhou Yuan smiled and said: "The first question, Grandpa Mu Rong, may I ask if the life of Shuixi Miao Village is good now?"

The soul asked, and Mu Rong was silent.

He glanced at Zhou Yuan and said:"Not as good as before."

Zhou Yuan shook his head and said, "It's not that it's not as good as before, it's just that it's never been so bad. In the past, even if there were wars or fights between villages, it never delayed farming and production, and it didn't affect the harvest. The conflicts were only during the slack season."

"But now, farming has been delayed, the fields are barren, the harvest is gone, and the food is unaffordable. Even... a large number of Miao people starved to death."

Mu Rong's face turned pale, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Just ask this!"

Zhou Yuan smiled and said, "The second question is, the Miao village has unique resources, with mountains and water, fruits and fish, fertile land, and hardworking people. Why do they live so miserably?"

Mu Rong gritted his teeth and said, "It's all because of you Han dogs! Dog officials! Can you scare me? Do you think you can scare me just because you are an official? I dare to scold you in front of you. If it weren't for the cruelty of your Han court, how could we be so miserable! "

Zhou Yuan nodded and said, "Of course, I even know why you think so, because the Jin court collects too high taxes and too many taxes, which has forced you into a desperate situation and forced you to rebel. The men went out to fight, and naturally the fields were barren. "

Mu Rong panted and shouted, "Then you dare to come! Do you know! The whole Shuixi is looking for you! Are there two Han people hiding? Three men and one woman, this is one man and one woman!"

"If it weren't for Cai Ni's sister, I would have handed you over!"

Good guy, this guy swapped Ye Qingying and Cai Ni.

Zhou Yuan was silent for a moment, and suddenly said: "One last question, I will leave after you ask it."

Mu Rong said: "Okay, ask!"

Zhou Yuan's eyes became sharp, and he said in a deep voice: "Three years ago, the Guizhou Xuanwei Division began to rebel and stopped paying tribute to the court, which means that the court has not collected taxes from Guizhou for at least three years."

"During these three years, have your taxes decreased?"

This sentence directly silenced Mu Rong.

He was stunned for a long time before he trembled and said, "What did you say? The court hasn't collected taxes for three years? You're talking nonsense!"

Zhou Yuan said calmly, "Grandpa Mu Rong, I came all the way to Shuixi and risked my life to see you, not to say a word of panic."

"You have been isolated from the world for too long, don't you know anything about the outside world? The court has been busy with disaster relief, suppressing rebels and bandits, and resisting foreign races over the years, and has not taken care of Guizhou at all."

"There is no tribute here at all, not a penny or a stone of grain has been paid to the court."

"But as far as I know, you are still paying high taxes, even more than three years ago!"

Mu Rong's lips trembled. He was impatient by nature. When he suddenly heard this, he didn't know whether to believe it or refute it. He was confused for a while and looked at Li Song in a hurry.

Li Song sighed and whispered, "Brother Mu Rong, do you believe Master Ye? I believe him."

"I believe he is telling the truth. I believe the Jin court has not asked us to collect taxes. I believe it is the Tusi who are taking our hard-earned money."

"Not only did they take ours, they also intercepted the relief grain given to us by the Jin court."

Mu Rong couldn't accept it for a moment and couldn't help but yelled, "Impossible! Tusi are all fellow countrymen, all from Shuixi. How could they harm each other!"

Ha, Mu Rong, you are obviously ignorant. You don't know the principle that strangers earn three points and acquaintances earn eight points.

Zhou Yuan said: "Well, let me ask you, if all your money is eaten by the Jin Dynasty, where do the chieftains' swords, swords and armor come from?"

"Where do they get their military rations for the war?"

"How do they pay the soldiers when they are so poor?"

"Can they make money out of thin air?"

Mu Rong's face became even paler, and he sat down on the chair, losing all his strength.

Zhou Yuan said calmly: "Obviously, they took your money and used it to make swords, armor, buy food, and pay military pay."

"While taking your money, they can also force you to rebel with them, so they have people, the best of both worlds!"

"Grandpa Mu Rong, I can answer the previous question, why is life in the Miao village so miserable?"

"Because the chieftain above you has long treated you like pigs and dogs! Slaughter you at will!"

"And I came here to uncover this truth and give the elders and villagers of the Miao village a way out."

Mu Rong did not speak, he just sat there blankly, Zhou Yuan's words kept echoing in his mind.

He firmly grasped the most critical sentence - the chieftain was so poor, where did the military rations, weapons and military pay come from?

Facts speak louder than words! Why didn't they think of this before!

No, maybe there isPeople thought of it, but they didn't dare to say it, because they would die if they said it.

Perhaps some people thought of it but didn't want to believe it, and didn't want to believe that people of the same ethnic group could still oppress each other.

Mu Rong didn't know yet, oppression or not, it's not the ethnicity, but the class.

The chieftains had too much power, and their class determined that they could do anything to the people under their rule.