Chapter 377: Nine out of Ten Houses Are Empty
Happy days are always short-lived. The next morning, Xie Zhuoning and Xiao Jinxuan got up early and prepared to set off for Xichuan together.
This was the result they came to after discussing for a whole night. Xie Zhuoning was now officially dead, so it was not a wise move for him to return to Beijing at this time.
Moreover, ever since Ye Wuque took her away, Xiao Jinxuan was afraid that something might happen to her again, so he always had to keep her by his side to feel at ease.
She also wanted to follow Xiao Jinxuan to Xichuan to see what Huo Wei and the Yin family were up to.
Yang Lie took Wen Yan to the door to see them off. "I will have Wen Yan on standby at the Nanyang border. If Your Highness finds anything unusual there, you can send a message to Wen Yan to bring people to help immediately!"
"Okay." Xiao Jinxuan nodded and was about to give the order to prepare to set off.
Then I heard a loud shout from inside the mansion, "Sister Zhuo Ning, wait for me!"
Song Yuqiu drank some wine last night and slept too deeply. When he woke up, he found that he was almost late, so he hurried out with his bags.
Fortunately, I caught up.
She climbed onto the carriage using her hands and feet. She had no idea what she was carrying, and her clothes were rattling all over. The huge carriage instantly became cramped.
Xie Zhuoning was surprised and amused when he saw her expression. "I thought you changed your mind and didn't want to leave."
Song Yuqiu yawned, still a little sleepy, "How could that be? I'm a stubborn person, once I make a decision, no one can change it."
Besides, there was nothing in this place worth her staying for.
Outside the carriage, Yang Lie smiled bitterly, thinking that he had not seen her come out just now, and that his joy at having changed her mind and decided to stay seemed really ridiculous at this moment.
He raised his hand and bowed to Xiao Jinxuan, "Then I wish you, my Lord and Princess, take care on your journey."
And Song Yuqiu, I hope that after this farewell, we can live happily for the rest of our lives.
"Let's go!"
Ling Xiao raised his hand and the team set out.
After a few days of rushing, we finally arrived at the border of Xichuan.
Xichuan is mountainous, with dangerous terrain and endless undulating mountains.
Beneath the majestic and beautiful scenery, there is a desolate scene.
As the carriage passed, it came across many houses, but none of them were inhabited, with only ruins left everywhere.
Even the land and farmland were covered with dense, dry and yellow weeds.
"Where did this person go?" Xie Zhuoning frowned, feeling strange.
Could it be that he was fleeing from famine?
But Xichuan has not encountered any disasters or wars in recent years!
Xiao Jinxuan called Ling Xiao over and said, "Go ask around to find out what's going on."
"Yes." Ling Xiao nodded and rode away.
Not long after, he left and came back.
He replied, "Master, Princess, I've been to the area and it seems to be the same everywhere. Nine out of ten houses are empty, and nine out of ten places are barren. It's hard to even see a living person."
It's like a ghost village.
It was not until he ran a little further and arrived at a town that he stopped a person and asked the reason.
But the other party seemed to be very sensitive about this topic and kept waving his hands and saying he didn't know.
He took out the silver ingot, and the man told the truth.
"He said that the villagers nearby were not dead, nor did they escape. Instead, they went up the mountain to become bandits!"
"Become a bandit?" Xie Zhuoning and Xiao Jinxuan looked at each other, somewhat surprised, yet also felt that it was reasonable.
Xichuan is mountainous and the land is barren. Many people were hungry and cold, so they went up the mountain to become bandits, specializing in robbing passing merchants.
The imperial court repeatedly banned the bandits and allocated a large sum of money every year to the Xichuan Army, which was used specifically to suppress the bandits.
Song Yuqiu leaned over the carriage window, pointed at the land outside, and asked curiously, "But these fields are all empty. If everyone in the family works harder, they won't be hungry, right?"
"Besides, instead of using that money to fight bandits, it would be better to solve the problem from the root, exempt more taxes, and reduce the burden on ordinary people, wouldn't it be better?"
Xiao Jinxuan explained: "It's not that the imperial court didn't send special people to govern, but the people here are tough and it's hard to educate them. Three imperial officials were killed by bandits on the way."
Not to mention the big and small officials in the government, who have been working here with their heads on the line all these years.
We can’t and dare not control those mountain bandits.
Only the Xichuan Army can compete with those large and small strongholds.
Xie Zhuoning nodded thoughtfully, "I remember that Uncle Yin was given the title of Duke of Zheng for his merits in suppressing bandits, right?"
After Empress Dowager Yin ascended the throne from a young concubine, she began to promote people from her own family.
She stuffed her younger brother Yin Huan into the Xichuan Army and gave him a vacant position, but in the end he was ranked first in merit in every battle.
Gradually, he was promoted to higher and higher positions, and his power grew. In the Xichuan Army, he frantically cultivated his confidants to power.
Later, after Emperor Zhaowen ascended the throne, he was jealous of Duke Zheng's great prestige in the Xichuan Army, so he gave him a bunch of empty titles and recalled him to the capital in a demotion.
However, Duke Zheng's power in the Xichuan Army was already mature, and even if others were not there, important positions were held by his confidants.
Song Yuqiu held his chin in his hand, his face full of confusion, "Why didn't the emperor replace them?"
"Because I don't dare." When Xiao Jinxuan mentioned the reason, he just felt mocked.
He once recommended himself to take over the Xichuan Army and completely solve the problem of banditry.
However, Emperor Zhaowen was jealous of his former reputation in the army and was afraid that after he took over the Xichuan Army, the Xichuan Army would only know Prince Xuan and not the emperor, so he found a reason to reject him.
As for other outstanding generals, Emperor Zhaowen was equally worried.
After all, Xichuan is a long and mountainous area with many roads. Once he gathers his own troops and becomes powerful, he will not obey orders from foreign troops and will become a local emperor.
Therefore, the people he sent over were all absolutely loyal to him and had no ambitions.
But either they were killed by bandits on the road before they arrived, or they simply did not have the strength to suppress the generals of the Xichuan Army.
Coupled with the obstruction of Prince Yong and Queen Mother Yin, the problem here was not solved for a long time.
The imperial court still had to rely on the Xichuan Army to resolve banditry and resist invasions from Western Chu, so it naturally did not dare to change generals easily.
Xie Zhuoning leaned against the soft lilac-colored pillow, as if realizing something. "No wonder the emperor suppressed the Huo Wei case and didn't allow you to investigate it."
From the looks of it, he was probably afraid that if he continued the investigation, he would find out that Huo Wei was colluding with the Xichuan Army, which would force Prince Yong to take desperate measures and directly lead the Xichuan Army in rebellion, right?
That's why Emperor Zhaowen was so eager to seize the military power from her father, probably just to be able to compete with the Xichuan Army!
"There is another possibility," Xiao Jinxuan raised his eyebrows and thought, "He wants to get the list of officials who are in collusion with him from Huo Wei, and then eliminate them one by one!"
Regardless of the possibility, or whether all of them are true, it shows that Emperor Zhaowen was suspicious and jealous of the Xichuan Army.
If they can find evidence of Huo Wei's collusion with the Xichuan Army this time, they can use Emperor Zhaowen to naturally eliminate Prince Yong's last trump card!
Once Prince Yong is no longer a threat, their only opponent will be the Crown Prince.
In order to investigate the Xichuan Army, we naturally have to first find out why those villagers did not cultivate their land and instead became bandits.
"Oh, that's really interesting." Xie Zhuoning raised his eyebrows with a smile, "Huo Wei, the Minister of War, allocates so much money every year to suppress bandits, but why are there more and more bandits?"