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

Chapter 691

As a village chief and an old man in his sixties, Li Song is certainly not a fool.

He saw the killing methods of Xiong Kuohai and Wang Ang. They were not simply good at fighting. Their movements were clean and neat. Every move went straight to the vital point. Not only did they kill people, but they also did not bleed. This was obviously professional.

The only woman among the four was skilled in martial arts. She only needed one hand to kill a strong man with a knife, and the other party could not react. This skill was definitely not that of an ordinary person in the martial arts world.

So it can be judged that Zhou Yuan was definitely not the son of a businessman. He must have a great background.

What can a person with a great background do here by hiding his identity? Except for the officials, who would come to such a poor place?

So Li Song knelt down. His heart was sad. The Miao people had been recuperating here for thousands of years and had never lived so miserably.

Every household could not make ends meet, and even had to sell silver jewelry to pay taxes. Good fields were abandoned and wasteland was uncultivated. Seeing that the clan was about to be exterminated, what was the point of fighting?

Zhou Yuan killed someone, but Zhou Yuan seemed to be his only hope.

"Grandpa Li Song, get up. I can't stand you kneeling like this."

Zhou Yuan didn't feel the pleasure of playing the pig to eat the tiger. He just helped the old man up and looked at the world.

Green water and green mountains should be their wealth. Why is it like this here?

"I asked about this place before I came here."

He held Li Song's hand and walked slowly down the mountain.

Along the way, there were green grass and flowers, and hundreds of birds flying. His voice was very low.

"There are beautiful mountains, rivers and scenery here, and there are endless wild fruits and fish. The Miao people are simple, kind and hardworking. They cultivate the land, plant fruit trees, cast nets and catch fish, and are self-sufficient."

"This place is like a paradise on earth."

At this point, he whispered: "Grandpa, do you think the Miao village is a paradise on earth?"

Hearing these words, Li Song's eyes were full of tears and he choked up and said: "This should be a paradise on earth. We Miao men and women all work in the fields and try our best to live a good life."

"It's a pity that there is no way. The taxes are too high. The court doesn't treat us as human beings. Most of our annual harvest has to be handed over. In some years, even all of it has to be handed over."

"In addition to the basic taxes, there are also taxes on levies and taxes on suppressing riots. Even repairing bridges and repairing roads has to be paid. Collect taxes."

"How can we afford such a toss!"

Zhou Yuan smiled coldly and said indifferently: "Old Xiong, tell him how the court collects taxes."

Xiong Kuohai said: "Grandpa Li Song, the taxes in Dajin are far less than this, and they never collect taxes from Miao villages. In the past few years, there were taxes on levies and taxes on suppressing riots, but they were limited to individual provinces in the north, mainly Shandong, Jizhou and Shanxi. In the past two or three years, these taxes have not been levied. "

"Your taxes are heavy, but the court did not take a penny of this money. The court only accepted the tribute from Guizhou Xuanwei Division, which was not a large amount, and in the past two years, the chieftain has refused to pay tribute."

"Your money was taken away by your chieftain, and the court did not take a penny."

After saying this, Li Song stopped where he was and looked at Zhou Yuan in horror.

He seemed to be unable to accept it, and trembled, "Master Ye... this... all of this... is it true?"

Zhou Yuan said: "The chieftains have been rebelling for many years, and the annual tribute has been unable to be collected. Your money has been taken away by the chieftains. They use your money to cast weapons and armor for rebellion."

"Both you and those ordinary Miao soldiers think that the court has oppressed you and can't live anymore. In fact, the chieftains took your money and used your name to satisfy their own ambitions."

"At the same time, they also want your gratitude and support, and they call it fighting for you."

Li Song almost couldn't stand steadily.

His lips kept trembling, and he choked and said to himself: "How could this happen... How could this happen... This shouldn't be the case!"

He raised his head and shouted: "They are also Miao people! They are also Yi people! How could they do this! How could they treat the villagers like this!"

Zhou Yuan sneered: "Fellow villagers? The chieftain never treats you as fellow villagers, but only as pigs, dogs, cattle and sheep, as fools who are at the mercy of others under his rule."

"If you Miao people want to live a good life, what you really need to do is to overthrow the chieftains who suck your blood and eat your flesh."

"Without the chieftain, no one will oppress you, and you can live a good life relying on this green mountain and clear water."

Li Song sat down on the ground with his head buried in his arms, as if he was about to collapse.

Zhou Yuan did not interrupt, but just looked at Xiong Kuohai and walked forward.

"Sir, should we move? If these more than ten people are gone, it will definitely alarm the chieftain county."

How much is Xiong KuohaiSome worry.

Zhou Yuan shook his head and said, "No, Li Song is a good person. He is an anti-war faction and is worth winning over. Only he can lead us to find other anti-war factions and then unite."

"Besides, if the other party can't find us, they will definitely search all the villages. We are outsiders and have nowhere to hide."

"We must stay and let Li Song cooperate with us to temporarily delay time."

Xiong Kuohai said, "But I'm worried that this old man won't cooperate..."

Before he finished speaking, a heavy voice suddenly came from behind: "Mr. Ye!"

Zhou Yuan and Lao Xiong turned around at the same time.

Li Song's face was full of grief. He knelt down straight, knocked his head on the ground, and said loudly: "I don't know who Mr. Ye is, but I beg Mr. Ye to save my life, save us Miao people, and give us a way out!"

Zhou Yuan walked over quickly and helped him up.

He looked at the old man with tears in his eyes and said solemnly: "Grandpa, since ancient times, both the Miao people and the Han people have been compatriots living on this land."

"We are originally a family, and we are close relatives who are connected by bones. Both the Han and Miao need a way out."

"If Grandpa is willing to help me, I can help my fellow Miao people find a real way out."

Li Song said in a trembling voice: "Mr. Ye Fan, are you serious? Can you really... overthrow the chieftain?"

Zhou Yuan looked up and looked at the vast sky.

The strong wind blew, his hair moved without wind, and his voice became deeper: "I am the emperor of heaven, and I should kill all enemies in the world."

So, except Zhou Yuan, the other four people were stunned.

"Ahem!"

Zhou Yuan coughed twice and said: "Grandpa Li Song, let's go down the mountain. I want to explain to you about what will happen next."

The few people returned to Li Song's home. It was getting dark, but they didn't dare to sleep at all.

Li Song prepared black grass balls and glutinous rice cakes. The latter tasted better, but the former was sour and astringent, which made people frown.

Even Wang Ang couldn't help but ask, "Grandpa Li Song, do you usually eat this kind of food?"

Li Song smiled awkwardly and said, "I don't eat it often. I only take it out when distinguished guests come to visit."

Everyone looked at each other and couldn't help sighing.

The family was penniless, and they ate this kind of food, and they could only afford it when distinguished guests came to visit. This was the village owner's family...

What kind of life did other ordinary Miao people live!

Everyone was not in a good mood.

The boatman during the day, Li Song's son, had already hurried over to report the news.

"Miao soldiers are coming! There are at least fifty or sixty of them! They are not from our village!"

Zhou Yuan stood up and said in a deep voice: "Grandpa Li Song, according to our plan, relax and don't let it get out of hand."

He took Cai Ni and went out with Xiong Kuohai and Wang Ang and ran towards the back mountain.

Li Song quickly packed up his things and just lit up his pipe when the door was pushed open.

Five or six Miao soldiers rushed in, and dozens of them surrounded the area outside.

Li Song stood up slowly and frowned, saying: "What are you doing?"

The leading Miao soldier didn't say anything, but just winked.

The other Miao soldiers searched the room and strode out when they found nothing unusual.

"Grandpa Li Song, you are an old man in the tribe. We don't want to embarrass you. Tell us where Qingshan and the others went."

This Miao soldier was about thirty years old, strong and healthy, with a turban wrapped around his head, and murderous intent in his eyes.

Li Song asked in confusion: "Why are you asking me where Qingshan went? Just look for him yourself. I'm responsible for helping you find him!"

The Miao soldiers saw that he was a little arrogant and asked: "What happened today, don't you know? Your son brought four Han people over, but someone saw it."

Li Song said: "Yes, they came to look for their relatives, and they happened to be seen by Qingshan and his men. They beat them up, robbed their money, and drove them out."

"Seven or eight hundred taels of silver, but they didn't give me any money."

As soon as these words came out, the faces of the Miao soldiers in the room changed, and they stared at each other with vicious eyes.

"What did you say? Seven or eight hundred taels of silver were robbed!"

The leading Miao soldier trembled with fear.

Li Song gritted his teeth and said, "Who said it wasn't true? I saw it with my own eyes. The four Han people were merchants from Yunzhou. They had a lot of money on them. Qingshan made a fortune this time."

"There were more than ten of them. They were very happy and their faces were broken from laughing."

The leading Miao soldier stamped his feet fiercely and shouted, "No wonder they can't see anyone! So much money, I don't know where it went!"

He didn't care about Li Song and ran out with his men.

After knowing that all the people had dispersed, Li Song exhaled heavily and collapsed on the stool, sweat on his face.

He murmuredSaid: "I have had enough of this kind of life."