Yang Ning and his two men led their horses to the entrance of the village, and saw a large group of people gathered in front of them, including men, women, old and young. There were at least hundreds of them. The village was in chaos for a while.
Yang Ning and Gu Qinghan tied their horses aside and then stepped forward, only to see the villagers looking angrily at the few people in front of them.
The difference between those few people and the villagers can be distinguished at a glance. They are all wearing short clothes and strong figures. Five or six big men are clustered behind a middle-aged man in gray clothes. The middle-aged man has a bandage wrapped around his head. He has a gray belt and is about forty years old. He has a sinister face. Just by looking at his fierce appearance, you can tell that he is not a good person.
Behind this group of people, there were also several horses, obviously riding horses.
Yang Ning knew that horses were a rare commodity in the Great Chu Kingdom. It was impossible for ordinary people to own horses. The origins of this group of people seemed to be quite good.
"What, are you going to fight or kill?" The man in gray glanced at a group of villagers holding farm tools, and said with a joking smile: "If you really want to kill someone, you can't do it with the hoes in your hands."
Standing at the front of the villagers at this time was a tall, dark-skinned man who was nearly forty years old. Yang Ning could only see his back and had no idea what he looked like. Beside him, there were more than a dozen strong laborers. Holding farm tools in hand, he formed a confrontation with the group of people opposite.
Yang Ning and Gu Qinghan were crowded in the crowd. Although some villagers looked at them strangely, everyone's attention was mainly on the group of strong men at this time, and no one paid attention to them.
"Steward Luo, they all just came back from the fields and have no other intentions." The strong man at the front of the villagers said loudly: "But the request you made has been discussed by everyone. I'm afraid we can't do it according to Steward Luo's wishes." , everyone wants a way to survive, and cannot be forced to die."
"Wait a minute." The man in gray was obviously Guanshi Luo. He raised his hand to stop and said: "Han Yi, you are from King Lu Village. You should understand that the so-called request is not what I, Luo Changgui, mean. This is the Marquis of Jinyi Mansion. It means." After saying that, he arched his hands to the right and said, "The whole country is saddened by the death of Jin Yihou. He is the pillar of the country, and the funeral is unusual for ordinary people. The expenses are huge. The Marquis of Jinyi is the face of our Jiangling, and we all rely on the Marquis to live our lives. Now that the Marquis has passed away, if you have a little conscience, you should know how to be filial and filial, but you guys are good at it. Shame on the Marquis?"
Yang Ning didn't want to think that Manager Luo mentioned Jinyihou as soon as he came up. He thought that the news of Jinyihou's death had already reached Jiangling.
Gu Qinghan, however, had a cold face and said nothing.
The swarthy man Han Yi immediately said: "Manager Luo, we will never forget the kindness that the Marquis has shown to us. But this time we ask for one stone of food per household, which we really can't afford." He turned around and pointed at a group of people behind him. The villager said: "Manager Luo, take a look. Although the villagers in Luwang Village are not thin and emaciated, they are all very thin. Although the food has just been brought in, these rations will last for next year. Many households simply do not have enough food. If each household gives out one stone of grain this time, I dare to ask Manager Luo, will they still be able to survive?"
"According to what you say, Marquis Jinyi's face is not important?" Manager Luo sneered: "Marquis Jinyi is upright and upright. The income of the Marquis Mansion depends on us. At this time, if we don't contribute, then who will? , who will support the face of the Hou Mansion? For your little food, is it possible for the Hou Mansion to lose face in front of all the officials? "
Yang Ning frowned and couldn't help but look at Gu Qinghan beside him. Gu Qinghan naturally understood Yang Ning and shook his head slightly.
Suddenly a villager nearby said loudly: "Manager Luo, has King Lu Village ever paid less than a grain of grain in these years? You said that the Marquis is fighting in the front and the country is in trouble. We have to pay 40% of the tax. We have no dispute. . You still have to pay a small tax per person per person on a dou of grain, and we didn’t say anything. As for the daily corvees, you took your time off to work and didn’t even care about the food. We still didn’t say anything. In the final analysis, it’s all It's for the sake of the Marquis. Everyone knows that the worry-free life we had in the past was all thanks to the Marquis. In difficult times, it is right for us to suffer along with the Jinyi Marquis." His voice became excited: "In the past few years, Everyone’s rations have dropped sharply, and eating is a problem, but you have come up with clever excuses again and again, and taxes are getting heavier year by year. If this continues, how can we survive?”
The surrounding villagers were filled with indignation. Someone said loudly: "When the old Marquis passed away, I didn't hear that I had to pay more food. Now that the Marquis has passed away, why have the rules changed?"
Yang Ning's expression was stern, and Gu Qinghan's pretty face was frosty, and her pink fists were clenched.
Manager Luo's eyes became stern and he sneered: "It seems that the Marquis was too good to you in the past and raised you in a bad way. The land you are growing is the food granted to the Marquis by the Holy One. Don't say how much food you need to show your filial piety." , even if all your land is taken away, you must hand it over honestly."
"Guanshi Luo, this makes no sense." Han Yi said in a deep voice: "I heard scholars say that all the land in the world belongs to the king, and all the land in the world belongs to the emperor, but I have never heard of the imperial court confiscating it at will. Land. The land in our village has been passed down from our ancestors. It has been cultivated by our family for generations. We have a lot of taxes to pay. Even if the Marquis comes now, he is not qualified to take away our land. "
Manager Luo chuckled, stared at Han Yi, and said: "Han Yi, it seems that you are toasting instead of eating the fine wine. Let me ask again, do you want to hand over the food for the funeral of the Marquis Mansion?"
Han Yi said loudly: "I have already said that everyone needs to live, and to survive, we need food. We have already paid the food we should pay. If anyone makes a clever excuse to collect more food, we will not get a single grain."
"Okay, he's a man." Manager Luo gave a thumbs up, "Han Yi, don't think that I don't know that someone went to the capital and complained to the Marquis Mansion, saying that the food towns collected taxes indiscriminately. Are you responsible for this? Aren’t you also involved?”
"I don't understand what you are talking about." Han Yi sneered, "But if you are really pushing people too hard, Han will really go to the capital and ask the Hou Mansion face to face why the taxes have been so heavy in recent years. "
"You can enter the Marquis Mansion just by yourself?" Manager Luo said calmly: "The one who went to the capital to complain last time had his hands and feet broken by us just after he came back. He has to live in bed for the rest of his life. Haven't you heard of this? ?”
Han Yi laughed and said, "Of course I've heard of it. Could it be that Manager Luo wants to break my legs today?"
The villagers around him immediately raised their hoes and poles.
Yang Ning couldn't help but get close to Gu Qinghan's ear and asked in a low voice: "Is someone going to the capital to complain?"
Gu Qinghan's face was frosty and she still shook her head slightly.
"Han Yi is not going to pay the grain. Is that what you mean?" Manager Luo glanced at him and said, "He doesn't want to be in this position anymore. Have you not thought about it for days?"
"I won't hand it over." Someone on the side immediately said: "We won't hand over a grain of food this time."
Other villagers also shouted.
Manager Luo sneered, raised his hand, pointed at someone, and said in a deep voice: "Come out, what did you say?"
The man was a little frightened when Manager Luo pointed at him, but he still mustered up the courage to take two steps forward and said: "I... I said I won't pay the food, but the food I should pay...!" Before he could finish his words, Someone rushed out from behind Manager Luo and raised his hand to grab the villager's neck.
The villager was surprised. He was thin and thin, far different from the strong man who rushed over. He raised the pole in his hand reflexively. The strong man had obviously practiced. He reached out and grabbed the pole in his hand and pulled it hard. , he pulled the pole over, without saying a word, raised the pole and smashed it down on the villager's head.
Just a scream was heard, and the pole hit the villager in the forehead. The villager staggered and fell to the ground, with a bloody head. The villagers were all shocked. Some people showed anger, but more people He looked frightened.
"Stop." Han Yi shouted sternly: "What are you going to do?" He rushed over to see the villager's injuries. Several young people behind him just thought that Han Yi was going to go up and fight for his life, and their blood surged, and they all shouted to follow. Han Yi rushed over, and several strong men behind Guanshi Luo also rushed over.
Yang Ning frowned. He could tell at a glance that these people brought by Manager Luo had more or less practiced. Although they didn't have any superb martial arts, they were definitely good at fighting. There is no way these villagers are opponents.
Sure enough, although those strong men were at a disadvantage in numbers, they were like wolves among sheep, using their hands and feet together. A burst of screams was heard. In a moment, five or six villagers had been knocked to the ground, and some even more His arms and legs were broken, and he lay on the ground screaming in pain.
Although the other villagers were full of anger, seeing the ferocity of those strong men, not many of them dared to rush over.
Han Yi was tall and powerful. He never thought of fighting with those people at first, but when both sides started fighting, there was nothing they could do. When he saw a strong man rushing towards him, he could only meet him and grab him at the same time. They grabbed each other's hands and entangled them together. A strong man on the side knocked down the two villagers. Seeing that Han Yi was still entangled, he grabbed the pole in his hand and wanted to hit Han Yi on the head from behind.
He raised the pole high, but before he could drop it, he felt the pole tighten. Before he could react, the pole in his hand was pulled away by a strong force.
The man was startled and thought that other villagers were coming. He turned around and saw a young man of sixteen or seventeen years old standing behind him. His clothes were very different from those of ordinary villagers. It was he who had taken away the pole. , the strong man was surprised, seeing that the young man looked very frail, and he didn't expect that he had the strength to snatch the pole from his hand.