Can the people live in misery no matter what?

Changzhou is a long way away. When the prince and Xu Yanmo arrived, it was already June.

"The first destination! Let's go eat first!"

The prince took the strategy he had prepared in advance and was very excited: "The clay of Huishan and the rice of Changzhou are known as the top local products in Jiangnan! May and June are also the time when river fish are the freshest! Let's go! Yangzi River, eat puffer fish!"

The prince's servants who were accompanying him: "!!!"

One by one, they "slapped" and rushed to hug the prince's thighs: "My dear! Please have mercy on us! The puffer fish is poisonous! If the poison takes effect, we will be beaten to death if we don't take good care of it!"

This made it difficult for the prince to insist. He also thought their little thoughts were cute and adorable, so he stretched out his legs and kicked them lightly, pretending to be impatient: "Get up! I don't want to eat puffer fish anymore, I'll eat other fish, and a plate of spiced radish will be fine!"

The prince's servants burst into laughter: "Your Highness is kind and considerate of us!" They immediately let go of their hands, patted their robes and stood up.

Xu Yanmiao next to him was stunned.

[I remember it wasn't like this before, when did it evolve? ! ]

The prince's servants smiled politely, but when they heard this, their hearts ached.

Wuwuwuwuwuwuwu, they didn't want this either! But other methods may not be able to persuade the prince, this trick is the most effective!

The prince coughed and said to Xu Yanqiao: "It seems that we can't eat puffer fish anymore - do you like puffer fish?"

Xu Yanqiao shook his head quickly.

He would not dare to eat puffer fish in modern times, let alone ancient times.

"That's great!" The prince's eyebrows were smiling: "Let's go eat spiced dried radish! And fish from the Yangtze River! Let me tell you, the dried radish in Changzhou is particularly delicious! The skin is thick and tight, crispy and not spicy! It tastes juicy! When my father broke my leg, it was this dried radish that coaxed me!"

Xu Yanqiao was immediately interested - it was the dried radish that could coax the prince into doing it when he broke his leg!

So the two happily stepped on the pedal and got into the carriage. With the sound of a whip, the horses neighed, and the carriage started slowly and disappeared into the sunlight.

"Let me tell you, the names in Changzhou are very interesting. They call grandfather 'Adie' and father 'Daddy'."

The prince lifted the carriage curtain, looked at the street outside and said with a smile: "The last time I came to Changzhou, I didn't understand this and made a joke. I called the grandfather of a person of the same age uncle - when I heard him call 'Adie', I thought it was his father."

[Hahahahahaha——]

The prince turned around and glanced at Xu Yanmiao, who was sitting upright and seemed to have no reaction, and said speechlessly: "Laugh if you want to laugh, no need to hold it in."

Xu Yanmiao couldn't help laughing.

The prince pretended to be angry and suddenly stood up from the carriage: "Okay! You Xu Yan - Ouch!"

The carriage bumped, the prince's center of gravity was disrupted, and he sat back on the soft cushion. Xu Yanmiao was originally laughing and almost died of laughter.

The prince stared at him with wide eyes, and then he also laughed. He called out: "Xu Lang, come and see!"

Although Xu Yanmiao didn't know what the prince wanted him to see, he also went to the window and saw the bustling crowd.

The well-dressed girls walked happily, as if they were passing on the bright smiles on their faces to the pedestrians and animals on the road.

As long as a child has a corn cob hanging in front of his sternum, he will hold his head high and chest out like a crab when walking, especially showing his majesty.

The old man held up the cage containing the kingfisher and put his fingers into it to tease it. The farmer walked hurriedly with two bushels of rice tied between his legs. He stopped in front of a stall selling pear paste candy. After hesitating for a moment, he bought a strip of pear paste and cut it into small cubes. He watched the vendor carefully wrap it in jute paper.

The birds on the Yangzi River flew up with cries, the fishermen's singing and the splash of water from the oars were intertwined with the reflection of the city tower on the water.

"Looks good, doesn't it?" The prince felt in his money bag and took out a few copper coins. He asked the prince's attendant to buy some pear paste candies. Looking at the attendant's back, he smiled and said, "Xu Lang, now ordinary people can buy a few kilograms of candies to eat. Do you know why?"

Xu Yanmiao shook his head honestly.

The prince looked out the window and said slowly, "Because of the existence of potatoes, corn and sweet potatoes. These new grains are certainly not as filling as wheat and rice, but if there are one or two more sweet potatoes in the wheat porridge, the wheat grown in the field can be sold for one or two more. If a little accumulates into a lot, you can occasionally afford to sell candies."

Xu Yanmiao looked at the flow of people outside seriously.

Someone was carrying firewood and selling water. There seemed to be the sound of grinding flour behind the wall, or maybe someone was pounding rice. A young boy was riding on the wall, looking around. There were naughty children chasing each other in front of and behind the house. The slingshot made the birds fly in all directions.

"The mountains and rivers are still there..." the young man murmured, "the country is peaceful and the people are safe."

"Yes, the country is peaceful and the people are safe." The prince sighed and said, "In fact, it was not like this at the end of the previous dynasty."

The prince recalled very slowly and spoke very slowly -

"I had just turned fifteen that year, and Changzhou still belonged to the previous dynasty and was being attacked by another rebel army. Although the previous dynasty was corrupt, the generals defending the city of Changzhou loved the people like their own children, and the people climbed the city to help defend. The rebel army was unable to break through the city for a long time, and their morale was low. They even slaughtered all the people outside the city of Changzhou."

- I can't beat the enemy, but can't I beat the people?

When Xu Yanmiao heard this, he felt that he was hit by a wave of disgust, and his brows wrinkled deeply: "This is too much. Fortunately, they didn't take over the world."

The prince nodded.

Apart from other things, he thought that their Xia army never massacred the city, which was much better than other armies in the chaotic times.

"And the massacre of the people this time is also my fault."

The smile on the prince's face slowly faded.

Xu Yanmiao looked surprised: "Why do you say that, Your Highness?"

The prince: "My father's original strategy was to take advantage of the uprising army attacking Changzhou, and the Xia army conquered Wuxi and Zhenjiang, and then rushed straight to Zhenglu Bridge, outflank the uprising army's rear, and block it outside the gate of Changzhou." Xu Yanmiao

's eyes widened slightly: "Could it be..."

The prince lowered his eyes slightly: "Yes, because I underestimated the enemy and advanced rashly, the Xia army could not conquer Wuxi. Failure The Xia army had the upper hand, and Changzhou fell into the hands of the rebel army. The enemy turned around and went back to protect Wuxi and Zhenjiang. At that time, Changzhou, Jiangyin, Wuxi, Zhenjiang, Gaochun, Lishui and other counties all fell into the hands of the enemy. The Xia army had to stop advancing westward and find another way. The people of Changzhou also fell into dire straits. "

Xu Yanmiao didn't quite know how to comfort him-and it had been a long time since the incident.

After thinking about it, she decided to offer a flower to the Buddha. She took the pear syrup candy from the attendant who had just returned and handed it to the prince: "Your Highness, would you like something sweet? Sweet food can make you feel good."

The prince tilted his head and looked at Xu Yanmiao: "Thank you." He took the pear syrup candy, ate a small piece, and felt much better. He continued: "However, half a year later, my father fought back."

The prince: "After breaking Changzhou City, we captured the enemy. The people originally avoided the army, and when they heard that they were captured, they all wanted to kill them. I don’t know what kind of dirty deeds they did in those six months. After hearing that my father was coming, the people in other states ruled by the rebels spontaneously rebelled against the rebels. Several places surrendered their cities. In less than a month, Suzhou, Kunshan, Taicang, Qingpu, Jiading, Xinyang, and Songjiang all fell into our hands. "Xu

Yanmiao listened carefully, holding the finger-sized pear paste candy in his mouth, the taste of peanuts, sugar and sesame burst out all at once, and the taste was not greasy or sticky.

The sun quietly climbed into the carriage. The prince looked at the sun, then at the people outside, smiled, and gently touched his lame foot: "The world of peace and prosperity is really hard-won. I really hope that the world can be peaceful forever, and the people can always have enough food to eat and have money to buy candy."

Xu Yanmiao nodded: "The world has been peaceful for less than forty years, and it can't withstand any more turmoil."

[So the Dragon Slaying Technique must be tightened up, no matter whether it is normal or reverse training, it can't be practiced. Fortunately, only I know about this - anyway, I don't plan to get married and have children here, so I don't have to worry about talking in my sleep at night and being heard and told. ]

[Hey wait... the old emperor's Jinyiwei will not be so stupid as to eavesdrop on other people's dreams, right? ]

[Fuck! Gao Jianyi, you stupid! Pervert! The Imperial Guards really eavesdropped on other people's dreams!】

From the Crown Prince to the Crown Prince's attendants, and then to the Imperial Guards, everyone looked straight ahead and turned a deaf ear.

Didn't hear it! We didn't hear anything! We didn't hear Xu Yanmiao scolding His Majesty by name at all!

【But did I actually talk about the three-year plan and the five-year plan in my dreams?】

【Then I didn't say anything else, did I?】

Xu Yanmiao's pupils trembled.

Suddenly, he heard the familiar sound of the fishing boat singing in the evening, which interrupted his train of thought.

The prince's attendant knocked twice on the carriage: "My dear, Mr. Xu, we have arrived at the Yangzi River."

"

Vegetable cakes, hemp cakes, steamed buns with crab, rice dumplings brewed with wine, vegetarian ham, spiced radish - ah? This is made in the last month? All right. Then give each person a bowl of porridge, and a portion of scallion tofu. What river seafood do you have today, fish, shrimp, crab, pick the fresh ones, and a mutton hotpot - that's all, do you have anything else to order?"

The prince is indeed a gourmet. As soon as he sat down, he started ordering dishes, as if he was a native of Changzhou. The dishes he ordered were so authentic.

After ordering, he asked the store owner if there was a mulberry field nearby where he could pick mulberries.

——They didn’t have any mission this time, they just came out to have fun.

After asking around and ordering dishes, Xu Yanmiao couldn't help but sigh after the shopkeepers left, "Changzhou is indeed much more prosperous now."

The prince casually said, "Changzhou is located in the south of the Yangtze River. Most of the time, the south of the Yangtze River is very prosperous and wealthy."

He glanced at Xu Yanmiao and seemed to introduce her casually, "In recent years, many guild halls have appeared in the south of the Yangtze River. They are all formed by the common people in order to work without being exploited by rich businessmen and to avoid having their wages withheld."

Xu Yanmiao's eyes lit up, "That's great! Unity is strength!"

"That makes sense!" The prince praised with a smile, then shook his head, "But things are not as good as you think. The guild halls do protect workers from being exploited by rich businessmen, but there will be exploitation within the guild halls."

Xu Yanmiao's eyes widened.

The prince talked about the inside story he learned during his time in the guild: "Workers must pay a membership fee to join the guild, and they also have to pay dues every month. The guild will help workers find a job, but will extort a large commission from the workers."

"Then..."

The prince saw what Xu Yanmiao wanted to say at a glance: "You can't not join. If you don't join the guild, you won't be able to find a job at all. They know where in the whole city there is a need for hired workers, and they can always provide workers first."

Xu Yanmiao was silent.

[Ah... is that so, I thought it was...]

What was it, he didn't continue to say in his heart.

The prince took a short break, drank two sips of the cold boiled water on the table, and chatted idly -

"The common people have no choice. Even if they try to find a job, their lives will only become more difficult. The masters know that these people have no guilds behind them, which means they have no backing." "

Either they are exploited by the government, or by merchants, or by the guilds..."

"It's possible that all three are involved."

"I don't know how to make the people live a good life. I have been thinking about this problem for decades and I still can't figure it out."