Become a feudal king from today - #887 - Chapter 901: Visit

“Xu Lie, the changes in Yancheng are getting bigger and bigger. Read М”

After reining in his horse and sitting down, Zhao Xu tilted his head and said to Xu Lie.

This personal guard traveled from south to north and from north to south. He was as low-key as an invisible man, but he was always protecting him.

If Chang Wei had not sent him to his side back then, he would have become a general like Qin Shan and Guantong.

However, he will not treat Xu Lie badly, and the general will definitely compensate him.

“This is all the grace of His Highness. Nowadays, Yanzhou has undergone earth-shaking changes. When we first came here, most of the people on the street had sad faces, but they were not as happy as they are now.” Xu Lie felt a sense of pride in his heart.

After all, he personally witnessed the changes in Yanzhou by the side of King Yan.

Zhao Xu nodded, feeling happy in his heart.

Just like planting crops, after hard work and sowing, we finally see seedlings growing in the fields.

The process is satisfying.

But for him, this is just the beginning.

The seedlings will continue to thrive and eventually grow into golden fruits.

“It’s been a long time since I visited. Please prepare yourself. I will pay a visit in the next few days to find out the real situation.” Zhao Xu said.

This is his annual routine.

The time and place are uncertain. We will visit some people privately incognito to understand the real sentiments of the people.

Otherwise, if he just stayed in the palace and listened to the officials’ reports, wouldn’t he become the canary in the cage just like Zhao Heng?

Only by going deep into the people can we understand whether officials really implement the court’s policies and the living sufferings of the people.

After explaining the matter, the two returned to the palace.

The next day, Zhao Xu was dressed in casual clothes, and Xu Lie and the guards were also dressed in casual clothes.

After leaving the palace, they disappeared into the crowd of people on the street like merchants.

Going down the street to the southwest corner, they stopped at the former Ankang Fang location.

The poorest people in Yancheng used to live here.

Nowadays, due to the development needs of Yancheng, the walls of the folk square have been demolished, and the houses and alleys in the square can be directly seen from the street.

Entering the alley, Zhao Xu looked at the houses and found that seven of the ten houses had their doors closed.

Seeing a house with an open door, he was about to walk out when a little black dog suddenly rushed out and yelled “woof” at him.

Xu Lie and other guards were startled and almost drew their swords.

But an old woman rushed out immediately after, kicked the black dog, and drove the black dog into the yard.

She turned around with an apologetic look on her face. She was about to apologize, but was stunned.

“Oh my god, Yan…His Royal Highness King Yan.” The old woman covered her mouth in surprise.

Now it was Zhao Xu’s turn to be surprised. He said, “Do you recognize me?”

The old woman’s hands were restlessly pinching the hem of her skirt, “There is no old resident in Yan City who has never seen His Highness.”

After saying that, she just smiled, looking even more embarrassed.

Zhao Xu also smiled, and the old woman looked very talkative.

It’s just that maybe because of his status, he is a little reserved.

So he said: “Grandma, can you let me go in and sit down and have a chat.”

When the old woman heard this, she was startled for a long time. When she came to her senses, she hurriedly retreated into the courtyard and said, “Of course you can. Your Highness, please come in. Don’t dislike it.”

Zhao Xu nodded and followed Xu Lie into the courtyard.

The remaining guards were guarding the door.

This is a very simple courtyard with three walls and a main house with three rooms in the middle.

The main room is in the middle, and the bedrooms are on both sides.

There is also a woodshed under the east wall, and water is being heated on the briquettes stove in the woodshed.

He led Zhao Xu to sit down on the bamboo chair in the main hall.

Next to the bamboo chair is a willow table.

The old woman hurriedly went to the woodshed to bring a kettle, took a white porcelain teacup on the table, squeezed tea leaves from the jar next to it, sprinkled it on, poured water, and brought it to Zhao Xu.

Afterwards, the attendant stood aside and said, “Your Highness, drink tea.”

“Thank you.” Zhao Xu took the tea cup and said to the old woman, “Grandma, don’t be nervous. I am just checking on the public sentiment. You sit down.” He pointed to the chair opposite the table.

“Your Highness is noble. This old woman does not dare to overstep her bounds. How can she sit with His Highness?” The old woman was startled.

Zhao Xu smiled and said, “From the imperial court, to the government, and to the people, I have already banned kneeling, and officials and common people are treated equally and can sit at the same table. Grandma, don’t be polite.”

When Zhao Xu said this, the old woman hesitated for a moment, and then saw King Yan motioning for her to sit down again, with a friendly expression.

When she became more courageous, she sat down.

At this time, Zhao Xu got to the point and said, “Grandma, how is your family’s life now?”

“It’s okay.” Hearing this, the old woman suddenly started talking.

King Yan just said that he was here to check on the public sentiment, and his attitude was easy-going, so she couldn’t help but relax a lot.

After a pause, she continued, “When Your Highness first arrived in Yanzhou, my house was bare except for this courtyard and this room. In addition to a wooden board used as a bed, there were six broken pottery bowls wearing They wear patched linen clothes and eat rice chaff and wheat rice.”

Then, she patted the table lightly, “But it has been different in the past few years. My house has added a big poplar wood bed with quilts, bought a briquette stove, and purchased wardrobes, boxes, tables, and chairs. In order to be more decent, I also bought a white porcelain tea set, which I couldn’t even think of before.”

“As for food, let alone food. In the past, we can also eat white flour steamed buns and white rice that only wealthy people could eat. We can also cook some vegetables at noon and evening. If we are greedy, we can buy some chicken, fish, meat and eggs to try. Taste, giggle…” At this point, the woman couldn’t help laughing.

Zhao Xu and Xu Lie looked at each other and couldn’t help laughing.

In ancient times, poor people could only eat rice and wheat without shelling.

Because processing grain into fine grains is very cumbersome.

The most important thing is that there is little food. Even rice bran and wheat bran are precious, so it is better to eat them with the skin on.

But things are different now. In terms of processing, due to the promotion of steam engines, there are steam engine mills that specialize in processing rice and noodles.

Due to the one-in-ten tax on food, every family was rich.

What was left uneaten was sold.

“Not bad, not bad.” Zhao Xu laughed.

At this moment, the guard at the door suddenly shouted.

The old woman looked over and said hurriedly, “Your Highness, my old man’s surname is Zhou. This is my dog ​​Zhou Xiaoer. He carries cloth in the textile mill. He may have suffered a lot. He can earn a thousand yuan a month.”

“Oh?” Zhao Xu nodded, showing a satisfied look.

One thousand Songyuan is equivalent to the previous two taels of silver.

This income is not low.

My family has a farm, and I can earn a living in the workshop during my free time.

The people living in Yancheng do have unique conditions.

But people living in the countryside may not have this kind of treatment.

Thinking of this, he frowned, stood up and said goodbye to the old woman, preparing to go to a nearby village with Xu Lie.