Chapter 221 (1/2)



221 Killing the enemy (1)

According to Dafeng’s geographical records, Yunzhou spanned 60000 miles and was rich in produce, such as Mulberry, porcelain, herbs, and so on. Before Emperor Wu Zong rose to power, Yunzhou’s wealth could be ranked in the top five of all the other provinces in the great Feng.

The official road was long and winding, leading to the horizon. On both sides were black soil and fields, and in the distance were rolling mountains.

The sun had just risen, and the air was still cold from last night. The team of more than a hundred people slowly advanced on the official road.

The clattering of the horse’s hooves was mixed with the clattering of the wheels.

“In the first year of the yuanjing era, the total population of Yunzhou reached five million. After that, the Yellow Book was compiled once every ten years, and the population gradually decreased. In the year 30 of yuanjing, the population of Yunzhou was more than 3.5 million. It’s the 36th year of yuanjing, and in four years it’ll be the year of the Yellow Book. I wonder how many people are left in Yunzhou?”

Governor Zhang lifted the curtain and sighed with emotion.

It was terrifying that the population would decrease by 1.5 million in 30 years, and the actual population reduction would only be more. Yunzhou’s soil was fertile. As long as there were no natural disasters, there was no need to worry about famine.

In other words, the population would be able to grow steadily in 30 years.

…. From 5 million to 3.5 million, it was not a simple subtraction. The actual population reduction was at least doubled … Xu Qi ‘an cursed, “”What the hell is this place?”

Provincial governor Zhang took a glance at him and continued,”This loss of population, half of it is because the taxes are too heavy. They abandoned their fields to become refugees, or entered the city to find another way to survive, or they became bandits. These people are not recorded in the Yellow Book.

“Then there’s the serious banditry, burning, killing, and plundering, adding to the already bad situation. Sometimes, in order to replenish their manpower, the mountain bandits would take the initiative to go down the mountain and Rob the people. Ha, of course, mountain bandits are not included in the Yellow Book.”

Xu Qi ‘an looked into the distance silently. He was listening to the words of provincial governor Zhang, but he was analyzing the situation in his heart.

…. In the first year of yuanjing, there were still five million people. In the 10th year of yuanjing, the population was still shrinking. By the 30th year of yuanjing, there were 1.5 million people gone. The number of people was even more … Yunzhou had taken a sharp turn in the past twenty years, and it was almost the beginning of Emperor Yuan jing’s cultivation.

Was it because the Emperor of Da Feng was obsessed with cultivation that the witchcraft cult felt that they had an opportunity to take advantage of him? The witchcraft God religion had been plotting this for more than twenty years. They would definitely not cause a small ruckus. Da Feng and the various countries under the control of the witchcraft God religion would definitely have a war.

As he thought about it, he tilted his head and almost fell asleep.

“You’re not in a good mental state.” Governor Zhang examined him and frowned, “”What’s wrong?”

The provincial governor remembered that Xu Qi ‘an had been well-behaved all the way and did not linger in the education workshop. He should not have been so exhausted.

Xu Qi ‘an turned his head and smiled bitterly at the provincial governor.”Nothing much, I just became a time management master.”

This was the eighth day of his sleepless night. His head was throbbing with pain, and his blood vessels felt like they were about to burst. When he was eating this morning, he even had a slight illusion that Xu lingying was snatching his meat buns.

His eyes were bloodshot and his eye circles were dark blue. This reminded Xu Qi ‘an of the 996’s society where he had to experience 007 occasionally. He was just as miserable.

“Two more days. I should be able to advance to the spirit-refinement realm after these two days. I can’t let myself fall asleep, or else all my efforts will be in vain … Why do I feel like my heart is beating so badly …”

Xu Qi ‘an took a deep breath, took off the water bag, and poured it on his head to stimulate his body and cheer himself up.

….

A caravan of 300 people trekked on the official road. Flat carriages were pulling goods, and under the waterproof cloth were silk, tea leaves, porcelain, and Rouge and gouache that Yunzhou produced.

There were also some specialties of Yunzhou, such as snake spit inkstone and Yellow Crystal Stone.

The owner of the caravan was a fierce-looking man called Zhao long. He was a famous hero in Yunzhou’s Jianghu in his early years and was involved in both the underworld and the underworld.

He was tired of the days of bloodshed and relied on the reputation he had built up in his early years as well as his connections to start a caravan business.

He could always manage the villages along the way, leave Yunzhou safely, and distribute the goods to various places, making a lot of money.

As time passed, many merchants were willing to spend a lot of money to join Zhao Long’s caravan to seek peace.

Zhao Long’s caravan had evolved into a half-merchant, half-escort caravan.

Yang Yingying was one of the people hiding under the tree. However, she had left Yunzhou as an independent person and had spent twenty taels of silver to ask for the protection of the caravan.

After all, it was impossible for a weak woman like her to leave Yunzhou on her own. Who knew when she would be kidnapped by bandits on the official road and become the wife of a Bandit chief?

With her beauty, she was more than enough to be the wife of a Bandit chief.

Yang Yingying was originally a woman from Yunzhou’s education square. When she was young, she was also a courtesan. Later, she was lucky enough to meet a good man who redeemed her body. She was then raised in the courtyard and became a mistress.

She was over 30 this year, but her beauty had not decreased. Instead, her figure had become more plump, which added to the charm of a mature woman. She had a pair of bright almond-shaped eyes, which were full of tears when she looked at people.

Yang Yingying, who was riding on the back of a horse, sensed the burning gazes of the bodyguards around her. She couldn’t help but tighten her cloak and lower her head even more.

At first glance, her hands seemed to be protecting her full chest to avoid being blasphemed by some men’s gazes, but in fact, she was protecting an object in her arms.

It was this item that forced her to leave Yunzhou.

One of the bodyguards drooled as he looked at yang Yingying’s back. Riding on the back of a horse with her long dress sticking to her body, the outline of her tight buttocks was really attractive.

The muscular bodyguard squeezed his horse’s belly and caught up with yang Yingying. He grinned and said, “”Beauty, play with me tonight. All the silver that I’ve earned from this trip will be yours. It’s ten taels of silver.”

Yang Yingying turned a deaf ear to his words. She neither responded nor rejected him, pretending that he didn’t exist.

The bodyguard said a few more words, but when he saw that the beauty was ignoring him, he left while cursing.