activa-t Chapter 630 Yang Zheng's Shock
Chapter 630 Yang Zheng's Shock
"Indeed, it has been a long time since we last corresponded."
Tang Qing's face flashed through Yang Zheng's mind. He had to admit that this scholar, whom he had personally invited from the countryside, was indeed a true talent. Not only did he govern Yongliang County very well, but he was also honest and upright, and had never embezzled a single penny. This was why Yang Zheng felt at ease entrusting his hometown to Tang Qing's governance.
"I wonder what Mr. Tang's letter is about? Could it also be about the weather?"
Yang Zheng looked puzzled as he unwrapped the sealing wax, pulled out the letter inside, and began to read its contents.
Soon, a look of surprise appeared on Yang Zheng's face. Contrary to his expectations, Tang Qing's letter was not about the snow, but focused on a place called Chenjia Village.
According to Tang Qingxin, Chenjia Village was like a paradise on earth. Everyone in the village had clothes to wear and enough to eat. In fact, everyone in Chenjia Village could even receive several hundred coins a month as wages.
Looking at the description of Chenjia Village in the letter, Yang Zheng felt as if it were a fantasy.
Yang Zheng, who came from a rural background, knew the situation in the countryside very well. To say nothing of anything else, just take Yangjia Village, where Yang Zheng was born. Even in the best years, the villagers' tables were mostly filled with staple food and some wild vegetables.
As for meat... villagers with more farmland might be able to eat some during festivals, but for families like Yang Zheng's, it's something they can only dream about.
However, the Chenjia Village described in Tang Qingxin's letter was completely different from the rural area that Yang Zheng had in mind.
According to Tang Qing's description, the people of Chenjia Village not only had three meals a day with plenty of white flour steamed buns, but also had meat every few days...
Before the rebellion, this kind of life seemed like the life of his dreams.
Even now, as the ruler of Liangzhou, he still feels a sense of unreality.
What kind of life did the people of Liangzhou lead?
They were starving, emaciated, and even had to share clothes among several family members. In contrast, everyone in Chenjia Village was well-dressed, ate white flour buns three times a day, and could eat meat...
If Yang Zheng didn't know Tang Qing's personality, he would have suspected that Tang Qing was telling him a fairy tale.
Even knowing that Tang Qing wouldn't lie to him, Yang Zheng still found it incredibly unbelievable. He couldn't help but turn to Yang Erlang and ask, "Erlang, have you ever heard of a place called Chenjia Village?"
"Chenjia Village? It seems vaguely familiar, but I can't quite remember it!"
Yang Erlang frowned. He felt like he had heard the name Chenjia Village somewhere before, but he couldn't find a place called Yangjia Village anywhere in his memory.
"Take a look at this letter."
Yang Zheng handed the letter to Yang Erlang.
Yang Erlang took it, and because he had only recently learned to read, he read very slowly, almost word by word.
A moment later, Yang Erlang, who had not yet finished reading the letter, showed the same shocked expression as Yang Zheng.
"Everyone gets three meals a day, everyone has meat to eat, and everyone receives several hundred copper coins every month—how is that possible?"
Yang Erlang stared at the letter in his hand in disbelief, as if it contained something astonishing.
"I also think it's impossible."
Yang Zheng said, "But you should know Mr. Tang's personality; he wouldn't joke about something like this."
"This……"
Yang Erlang looked at Yang Zheng, then at the letter in his hand, and felt a bit confused.
Mr. Tang doesn't lie, but the contents of the letter are so bizarre that he's unsure whether to believe it or not.
Under normal circumstances, Yang Erlang would definitely be willing to believe Tang Qing, after all, Tang Qing is his teacher and an elder whom he needs to respect, and he should not doubt Tang Qing.
But what Tang Qing described in the letter was just too outrageous!
In the Xia Kingdom, even the people of prosperous cities cannot live the kind of life described in the letter. How could Chenjia Village, a mere small village, possibly achieve that?
Yang Erlang lowered his head and continued to examine the contents of the letter word by word, and then...
His expression grew increasingly shocked: "General, the letter says that Chenjia Village has a population of nearly 20,000. Is that still a village?"
"..."
Yang Zheng was speechless. The contents of the letter were increasingly bizarre, to the point that he didn't know whether to believe it or not.
What does a population of 20,000 mean?
There are many towns south of the Great Wall. A town is a geographical concept between a county and a village. However, even among towns that are larger than villages, very few have a population of more than 20,000.
"General, I remember now!"
But at that moment, Yang Erlang suddenly snapped to attention and blurted out something out of the blue.
"What did you remember?"
Yang Zheng frowned and asked.
"I remember hearing about Chenjia Village somewhere before!"
"Oh? Where is it?"
"According to the information we gathered about Qingzhou."
As Yang Erlang recalled, he said, "Didn't we send out quite a few spies to gather information about Qingzhou before?"
"That's what happened."
Yang Zheng nodded. Qingzhou could be considered Liangzhou's neighbor, and Yang Zheng, who occupied Liangzhou, would naturally keep a close eye on the situation in Qingzhou. Of course, the main thing was to understand the movements of the Qingzhou army so that he could respond at any time.
Therefore, as early as after defeating the Liangzhou army, Yang Zheng sent many scouts to Qingzhou to find out news from there.
"Among the messages sent back by those spies, besides the information about the Green King and the Qingzhou Army, the name Chenjia Village was mentioned many times. However, at the time, I didn't think that a village was worth paying attention to, so I didn't take it seriously."
"The spies mentioned Chenjia Village multiple times in their reports?"
Yang Zheng fell into thought. For Chenjia Village to attract the attention of his spies, there must be something unusual about it. Otherwise, a village would never have attracted the attention of his spies.
After all... these days, the strategy of encircling the cities from the countryside is not popular, nor does such a strategy exist. For the Yang family army, occupying a county town is far more useful than occupying a village.
Only weak bandits would choose to occupy those small villages, because their strength was simply insufficient to shake the county town, and they could only survive by plundering villages outside the town.
"That's right!"
Yang Erlang nodded and said, "I absolutely cannot remember wrong. The name in that message is definitely Chenjia Village. If you don't believe me, Commander, I'll find those letters for you right now!"
"no need!"
Yang Zheng waved his hand. Yang Erlang might not be very literate, but he had an excellent memory. Since he said that the messages sent back by the scouts mentioned Chenjia Village many times, then he must be right.
Based on this, Yang Zheng could roughly confirm the authenticity of Tang Qing's letter. It wouldn't be surprising if a village that could attract the attention of his spies was truly as wealthy as the letter described.