If Yan Xiwen had not heard it with his own ears, and if he had still stayed in the imperial court in Chang'an, he would never have believed that there were still a group of people living in such poverty in Daxia today!
Just as he was standing in the yard looking at the dilapidated thatched house, a child about five years old ran out from the side room.
"Grandpa," the child ran towards Li Erniu, "Today, Huahua and the others went to the back mountain and picked up a lot of mushrooms and bamboo shoots."
Li Erniu picked up the child. Only then did the child see Yan Xiwen and the others. He was startled and put his face close to Li Erniu's, asking in a low voice, "Grandpa, who are they?"
"Tiedan, they are guests from outside the mountain. Where are your parents?"
"They went to the mountains and haven't come back yet."
Li Erniu was stunned for a moment, "Who has entered the mountain?"
"Uncle Zhao, and Uncle Two, Uncle Three, and so on, there are five or six of them."
Li Erniu then breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that his son and daughter-in-law had gone into the mountains to hunt. With Zhao Dajiao around, there wouldn't be too much danger.
He put Tiedan down and said, "Go help grandma light the fire. I'll go clean up the room for the guests."
This is a row of three earthen-walled thatched houses. The middle one is the main hall, and there is a room on each side for the old couple Li Erniu and his son and daughter-in-law to live in. Now the problem is, this brother Yan has more than a dozen people, how should he arrange them?
Yan Xiwen walked over and said, "Brother Li, don't bother cleaning up. This yard is nice and spacious. We brought a tent with us and will set it up soon. We can sleep in it tonight."
Li Erniu didn't know what a tent was, he only knew that doing this was disrespectful.
"How about this... you can stay in the room my wife and I share, and we can just lie down in the main room."
"No, we still have to stay in Xiashan Village for a few days. We are already bothering you, so how can we let you live in the main hall?"
Having said this, Yan Xiwen turned to Zhang Qishan and instructed, "Qishan, tell them to set up the tent. Also... give 100 kilograms of rice to Brother Li, and ask my sister-in-law to help us cook."
Li Erniu's eyes widened immediately—one hundred kilograms of rice?!
This, this is a rare thing!
This Brother Yan is indeed from an important background. He always carries rice with him when he travels. He is really particular.
Zhang Qishan directly picked up a basket and came to Li Erniu. "This is definitely more than a hundred kilograms of rice. There is no need to weigh it. Please cook the rice a little drier."
Li Erniu almost cried as he looked at the white rice. "This...Originally, you are guests, so I shouldn't accept it. But if I don't, my family will have no food for you to eat."
"I won't be polite with you. I'll ask my wife to stir-fry some bamboo shoots and mushrooms for everyone to go with the rice."
Li Erniu took the shoulder pole without any pretense. He carried the load of rice into the main room and placed it in the room where he slept.
There was a voice coming from inside, it should be him calling his wife. After a while, there was a woman's scream. It seemed that his wife was extremely shocked to see so much rice.
Yan Xiwen took a deep breath and said to Zhang Qishan, "The Emperor once said that when a country prospers, the people suffer; when a country perishes, the people suffer. I didn't understand the meaning of this sentence before. I thought that if the country is prosperous, how can the people suffer?"
"But now I understand."
"The rise of a dynasty usually leads to large-scale construction projects, which in turn leads to a waste of money and labor. The emperor clearly understood this. Although he built the city of Chang'an, such large-scale construction projects were built on the basis of the prosperous commerce of Daxia."
"So the suffering of the people isn't necessarily due to the massive construction projects, but more likely because it's difficult to oversee the prosperity, which is a breeding ground for corruption!"
"Those corrupt officials, seeking their own personal gain, have exploited the common people. They don't share in the benefits of national prosperity, but instead become the victims of exploitation... This is especially true in remote areas, and even more so in impoverished areas!"
"Then how can we prevent this situation?" Zhang Qishan asked curiously.
"His Majesty once said that the best oversight is the spontaneous oversight of the people, so he granted the people this power in the Constitution. The people in the wealthy areas of Daxia are aware of this power because they have access to information and are literate."
"But in places like Xiashan Village... the people are illiterate, and the government deliberately avoids promoting it. How would they know what the Constitution is? How would they know they hold such great power?"
"That's why Your Majesty said that education is the most important aspect of a century-long plan. This is to enlighten the people of Daxia and remove the cages that have shackles on their heads. Your Majesty's original intentions were undoubtedly excellent, but when implemented in places like this, it completely changed the situation."
Just when Yan Xiwen admired Fu Xiaoguan's foresight and hated these local officials for deceiving their superiors and subordinates, Li Erniu came out.
He looked around and whispered again, "Brother Yan, you must take good care of your things! If this man is desperately poor, he will most likely risk his life!"
"Thanks for the reminder, brother. My guards are quite skilled and are not afraid of being robbed."
"That's good. If, if someone really comes to rob us, please show some mercy, Brother Yan. They... they are not bad people by nature, they just have nowhere else to turn."
Yan Xiwen was silent for a moment, then nodded and said to Zhang Qishan, "If there are bandits at night, just teach them a lesson. Don't hurt them. They might be the pillars of the family."
"Brother Yan, thank you for your kindness. Erniu thanks you so much!"
Eleven tents were set up in the yard, and Li Erniu's wife had cooked the rice. It was fragrant porridge, but it was a bit watery.
She served eleven bowls to Yan Xiwen and the others. This was the rice that was scooped out, and the rest was soup.
Tiedan was not happy about this and started crying loudly, "Grandma, grandma, I don't want to drink this soup, I, I want to eat rice...!"
"My dear grandson, this is the rice given by the guests. This rice soup is much better than the vegetable soup. Drink it quickly and go to sleep!"
“I don’t…I…”
Yan Xiwen walked over, handed over the bowl of porridge in his hand, and said with a smile: "Tiedan, here, this bowl of rice is for you. Uncle is thirsty, so I'll just drink this bowl of rice soup."
"Brother Yan, you absolutely cannot do that. You, you are a precious person... Tiedan, be obedient. When the millet is harvested in the fall, we will have rice to eat!"
Tiedan rubbed his eyes and said, "Grandpa, you lied to me. You said the same thing last year. Where's the rice?"
Where is rice?
Yan Xiwen patted Li Erniu's shoulder and said, "The child is still growing. I'm really not hungry yet. Stop talking. This bowl is for Tiedan."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
