Chapter 214 Starving People and Starving Corpses of Wanggang Army
Shang Ruyi was startled. Upon closer inspection, she saw two guards with grim expressions. They asked, "What are you doing here?"
"I...I've come to take a look."
"Who gave you permission to come?"
"I--"
Seeing that she was stammering and unable to speak, the two guards became even more aggressive and said, "Go now, or we'll make things difficult for you!"
As soon as she finished speaking, a calm, smiling voice sounded behind Shang Ruyi: "I gave her permission to come."
The two guards were startled and bowed respectfully, saying, "Master."
Shang Ruyi hurriedly turned around, only to find that Xiao Yuansui had already walked up behind her and was smiling at her. Shang Ruyi immediately felt a little guilty: "Young Master Xiao."
Xiao Yuansui did not respond to her immediately, but waved to the two guards, who immediately stepped aside.
He then looked down at Shang Ruyi and said with a smile, "It seems that after enjoying that three-foot bed and one table of food, the young mistress still wants to go through this door and take a look."
"..."
Shang Ruyi hesitated for a moment, then looked at the flat road again: "Where...does it lead to?"
Xiao Yuansui laughed and said, "Go and see for yourself, then you'll know."
After saying that, he didn't say anything more. He walked past Shang Ruyi with his hands behind his back and went forward. Although Shang Ruyi was a little uneasy, she immediately followed him.
Soon, the two reached the end of the straight path. Shang Ruyi then discovered that after turning a corner, a wide open space opened up before them, a platform nearly a hundred feet deep. A flat road ran straight ahead, and at the end of the road was a huge warehouse. The two large wooden doors on the front were ajar, and in the dim light inside, one could vaguely see some tall, mountain-like black shadows.
Xiao Yuansui asked, "Do you know what that is?"
Shang Ruyi did not answer this question. Instead, she slowly squatted down, picked up a handful of small stones from the roadside, and scattered them in front of her.
Immediately, all the birds that had been pecking at the ground took flight with a whoosh.
Despite it being the dead of winter, with the scenery almost frozen in time, the sudden flight of these birds brought the place to life. Shang Ruyi smiled, then turned to Xiao Yuansui and said, "Is there any need to ask?"
In the dead of winter, and in this earthen hilly area, how could there be so many birds?
However, it was because the ground was covered with rice grains.
However, it wasn't intentional to spill the grain here to feed the birds. It's just that during the grain transport route, no matter how neatly the grain was loaded, some grain was bound to spill. Therefore, the birds living in the trees near the large granaries and grain transport routes were always plumper than those in other places.
And this place is Xingluo Granary City.
What lies before us is the Xingluo Granary, the world's premier granary capable of feeding all people!
Speaking of which, she and Yuwen Ye had been mentioning this granary from time to time for a long time, but it seemed that neither of them had ever seen the granary, or even imagined it.
I really didn't expect that this granary would look like this.
As the door opened, a gust of hot air rushed in, carrying a scent that was both fragrant and slightly foul. The heat forced her body, which had been feeling a bit chilly, to break out in a sweat. Shang Ruyi raised her hand to shield her eyes from the sudden cloud of dust before slowly raising her head.
Everything was laid out before my eyes.
Before her was a huge warehouse, even larger than all the tall palaces she had seen when she entered the Ziwei Palace. The dark, towering shadows she had just seen were stacks of grain arranged in this warehouse.
These grain stacks are cylindrical, about six or seven zhang wide and high, and more than four or five zhang high, like a small house. But when you get closer, you will find that the grain stacks do not rise from the ground, but have a section buried deep underneath. In total, they are nearly ten zhang high!
Isn't this Liangshan?
And there was more than one such grain mountain in this warehouse. Shang Ruyi slowly walked into the warehouse and took a closer look. There were dozens of tall and majestic grain mountains arranged in seven vertical and eight horizontal lines. They were densely packed like chess pieces placed by the gods in the human world. Each piece could make people flock to it, even go crazy!
Shang Ruyi couldn't help but tremble. Looking at the grain, she didn't know why, but her heart was filled with overwhelming emotions.
After a long pause, he murmured, "Grain...this is the grain stored in Xingluo Granary."
Although he had seen this place countless times, Xiao Yuansui was still shocked when he walked in and saw it again. His surging emotions were not much different from Shang Ruyi's. He stood beside her and slowly said, "Yes, this is the grain storage of Xingluo Granary."
"..."
“We transported grain to Wanggang Village three times before, each time with more than a dozen truckloads, enough to feed the brothers who stayed in the village for more than half a year.”
"..."
"Even so, we didn't empty a single grain stack."
Shang Ruyi took a deep breath.
Then Xiao Yuansui continued, "And there are more than forty such granaries."
"What?!"
Shang Ruyi could hardly believe her ears. She turned around and stared at him in astonishment: "This, this is just—"
Xiao Yuansui said, "That's right, this is just one of the warehouses."
"..."
“My brothers and I entered this granary city, and to this day, no one has explored all the granaries.”
"..."
Shang Ruyi was speechless. She stared at him blankly for a long while, then turned away and slowly walked towards a stack of grain. She looked up at it for a moment, then walked towards another. Looking at those silently standing stacks of grain, which had no feelings or thoughts, yet stirred up the lives, deaths, joys, and sorrows of so many people in the world, she felt an indescribable cruelty.
Xiao Yuansui also came forward and walked with her.
The two walked side by side in the middle of these tall stacks of grain, without saying a word, yet it seemed as if a thousand words were echoing in this tranquil space.
After an unknown amount of time, Shang Ruyi asked, "Why did you bring me to see this?"
As Xiao Yuansui walked forward, he said, "Do you know how long the grain here can feed all the people in the world?"
"..."
"The people of the world can live on the grain here for several years without farming or planting."
"..."
"But even with so much grain here, the imperial court still levies exorbitant taxes, and the people still bear the heaviest corvée labor. Do you know how many innocent people have died in the past few years because of hunger, cold, and war?"
Shang Ruyi choked up and didn't speak.
Xiao Yuansui walked slowly with his hands behind his back and said, "You said yesterday that Lu Yong was a scoundrel. Indeed, he is a scoundrel. But I want to tell you that there are many people like him in the world. They just haven't appeared in front of you. You haven't seen them. They only have one name—starving people."
"..."
"If they starve to death, they will only have one name—starving corpses."
"..."
"If you don't starve to death, but don't want to starve to death, then you have another name—Wang Gangjun."
These three words felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, settling heavily on Shang Ruyi's heart. Her breath caught in her throat, and it took her a long time to recover before she looked up at Xiao Yuansui: "What exactly do you want to say?"
Xiao Yuansui smiled and looked at her, saying, "Although I have only met the young mistress once before, based on my understanding of her and her character, we should not be enemies."
"..."
"If the young mistress had pity on me back then, how much more so on the poor people of the world?"
Shang Ruyi lowered her head and pondered for a long time before saying, "Even if I once pitied Young Master Xiao and all the poor people in the world, it was just my own opinion. What impact could it have on Young Master Xiao's great cause? It's a bit of a waste of energy for Young Master Xiao to bring me here for a stroll today."
"That's not necessarily true,"
Xiao Yuansui smiled and said, "I believe I have the ability to judge people. Young Madam, your path is definitely not limited to what you have just seen."
"..."
"What's more, you have a husband who is capable of stirring up trouble!"
Upon hearing this, Shang Ruyi understood that the reason he had gone to such lengths to bring her here and say so much was all for Yuwen Ye's sake.
Shang Ruyi asked, "You're still looking for him?"
“That’s right. Last night, I sent out several groups of men to search along Huangtuling again.”
Still haven't found it?
"No."
"In that case, shouldn't you be relieved? Maybe he really, really won't come back."
At this point, Shang Ruyi herself felt a pang of pain, but Xiao Yuansui shook his head, his eyes gleaming with suppressed brilliance, and said, "It is precisely because he has no trace that I have been unable to put my mind at ease."
"..."
"The deployment of a 10,000-strong army without leaving a trace is highly unusual. If, as those in the imperial court claim, he fled after a defeat, he should have been in a very disheveled state, and there would be no need for him to deliberately conceal his whereabouts. I know very well that he has something to do with his current state!"
As he spoke, he turned to look at Shang Ruyi: "He will definitely come back!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Shang Ruyi stepped on a dead branch that had fallen to the ground at some unknown time. With a cracking sound, although the sound was not loud, it sounded particularly jarring in the empty and quiet warehouse.
She suddenly turned around, looking at the gate that was already far behind her: "Someone's coming!"
Xiao Yuansui glanced at her, his expression seemingly dazed.
Just then, the half-open door was pushed open again with a heavy, low, and long hiss, and a tall figure stormed in angrily.
But just before that person rushed in, Xiao Yuansui suddenly grabbed Shang Ruyi's arm and pulled her behind a grain stack next to him!
Caught off guard, Shang Ruyi's back was suddenly pressed against the grain stack. Before she could struggle, Xiao Yuansui stepped forward and pinned her down against the tall grain stack.
She exclaimed in surprise, "You—"
Before she could finish speaking, Xiao Yuansui reached out and covered her mouth, lowering his head to say, "Don't speak!"
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