GBP Chapter 617 The No.1 Poorest County in the Ming Dynasty
Chapter 617 The No.1 Poorest County in the Ming Dynasty
It wasn't until they actually arrived in Ningyang County that Xu Da and Lan Yu truly understood what a poverty-stricken county meant.
It was an ordinary small county town with city walls that were five or six zhang high. The roads inside the town were interconnected, and almost every one of them was about ten zhang wide. It looked much more impressive than a typical prefectural city.
What's most infuriating are the residential houses in the city.
Every household was built with blue bricks and blue tiles, and willow trees were planted along the irrigation ditch in front of the door, with clear water flowing through it. It looked better than many of the residences in the capital.
Thinking back on what he had seen and heard along the way from Yanzhou Prefecture to Ningyang County, Xu Da felt even more uneasy.
The cement road from Ningyang County to Yanzhou Prefecture was only ten feet wide, but apart from the villages, both sides of the road were covered with dense forests.
According to the villagers, although Yang, the madman who ran the village, only built a road one zhang wide, he also reserved a roadbed nine zhang wide, saying that he would widen it when there were more vehicles and horses in the future.
Yes, it's an impoverished county, so they've reserved a roadbed nine zhang wide.
Is this something a normal person would do?
What's even more infuriating is that, according to the people outside the city, every household in Ningyang County now owns an ox and has seventeen mu of land per adult. In addition to farming, people can also work in workshops to earn money.
Although we can't eat meat at every meal, we can still eat meat three to five times a month.
People are no longer like before, where some families are so poor they only have one set of clothes to wear when they go out.
They no longer need to go to the fields naked in the middle of the night to do farm work, as they used to do when the moonlight was bright.
Yes, this is what some prince consort calls an impoverished county.
Tsk.
If this is still a poor county.
What about my hometown?
kennel?
Or is it even worse than a doghouse?
Compared to Xu Da, who was internally ranting and raving, Lan Yu clearly had far fewer reservations.
Lan Yu directly expressed her dissatisfaction by cursing and swearing.
"Yang the Madman is no good."
"There aren't any good people in Ningyang County."
"Listen to what they're saying, is that something a human being should say?"
"They asked me if I was an imperial censor, and told me to hurry up and go to other counties to arrest corrupt officials, and not to go looking for trouble."
"You bastards, are you all blind? Do you think someone like me, Lan Yu, looks like one of those pretentious, pedantic scholars?"
This is absolutely outrageous.
The people of other counties and prefectures would hide as soon as they saw the army, but the people of Ningyang County actually stood on both sides of the road watching the spectacle with great interest, and even brought water from their homes for the soldiers to drink.
The idea that thieves pass by like combs and soldiers like fine brushes seems to be completely foreign to the idiots of Ningyang County.
The thousand-household garrison stationed outside Ningyang County was also a complete failure.
The dog wasn't properly trained and actually ran off to the fields to help the farmers plow the land.
The question was given by the Prince Consort.
But looking at their smiling faces, there wasn't a trace of reluctance on their faces.
"unusual."
"Yang's epilepsy was abnormal to begin with."
“These people in Ningyang County are not normal either.”
Lan Yu cursed and said, "Even the Ningyang Thousand Household Garrison is acting abnormally now."
Xu Da frowned slightly and scolded, "What nonsense are you spouting?"
Lan Yu shrank back, and Xu Da snorted coldly, "That village we just passed by, if I give you a thousand soldiers, can you raze that village to the ground?"
"Or to put it another way, if I give you a thousand soldiers, can you completely wipe out the Ningyang Thousand-Household Garrison?"
As Xu Da finished speaking, Lan Yu fell silent.
Xu Da's question was not a simple military one.
Or rather, once something becomes related to the Ningyang Thousand-Household Garrison and the villages of Ningyang County, even a simple military issue will become complicated.
A thousand soldiers to raze a village?
It sounds easy, but it's not so easy to raze a village before the Ningyang Thousand-Household Garrison arrives.
After all, these villages in Ningyang County are damn rich.
To raze a village is to destroy their brick houses, their stored grain, and their chickens and ducks.
Wouldn't these ordinary people have to pick up hoes and fight to the death?
As for completely annihilating the Ningyang Thousand-Household Garrison?
Laugh to death.
Judging from the way those swindlers from the Thousand Household Office chatted and laughed with the common people while tilling the land, if these swindlers were to hide in the village, they would probably be hard to find.
Even people from the surrounding villages might come to help the Ningyang Thousand Household Office's slaughterers.
Thinking of this, Lan Yu couldn't help but spit and said, "Damn it, a county's thousand-household garrison and a few villages are so difficult to deal with."
……
Yang Shaofeng was still unsure whether Chang Heitan would do anything to him.
But looking at the smiling Xu Da and the insincere Lan Yu, Yang Shaofeng deeply understood what a smiling tiger was.
Zhu Chongba's old tricks made Yang Shaofeng deeply understand what it means to rely on a mountain only to have it crumble and to rely on a river only to have it dry up.
Since Xu Da and Lan Yu arrived in Ningyang County, Emperor Zhu only personally entertained them once, then left them to Yang Shaofeng to handle.
As for Old Deng himself?
Zhu Chongba, that old tyrant, said that he knew the suffering of the people before he became emperor, but after becoming emperor, he rarely had the opportunity to truly see the suffering of the people, so he had to take advantage of this trip out of the capital to see it for himself.
Yang Shaofeng thought to himself, "If you had said that somewhere else, I might have believed you."
But when you say these things in Ningyang County, ask yourself honestly, do you believe it?
At that time, Jiangnan was still in the stage where five families shared one cow, while Ningyang County had already taken the lead in reaching the level where each family had one cow.
With this level of understanding, you can't possibly see any suffering at all!
Not to mention that Ningyang County also has all sorts of random workshops, where people can earn money in addition to farming.
But there was nothing he could do. Old Deng was clearly just looking to see him make a fool of himself. Apart from secretly making a note of it in his notebook, Yang Shaofeng really didn't have any other good ideas.
Just as Yang Shaofeng was mentally ranting, Xu Da said with a smile, "Don't worry, Your Highness. I came to Ningyang County this time only to check out the alcohol. Besides, Lan Yu won't stay in Ningyang County. He'll set off after the alcohol and other things are loaded into the car."
Yang Shaofeng chuckled and cupped his hands, saying, "The supplies have already been prepared. I will take Minister Xu and Vice Commissioner Lan to take a look now."
Xu Da smiled and said, "No rush, no rush. I also want to try the roast goose from Ningyang County, as well as the authentic Ningyang noodles."
As a native of Huainan, I guess I'd also be considered a victim here.
Now that the victim has come to your door, let's see what excuses you, Yang the Madman, have left!
You crazy Yang, you stole Taihe Banmian from my hometown!
After a slight pause, Xu Da added sarcastically, "Furthermore, this time I have truly had my eyes opened, to witness the poorest county in our Great Ming Dynasty."