In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

Chapter 568 He seems to be a high-ranking official

"People's lives are so difficult!"

Looking at the deserted market, Li Mingyuan sighed deeply. The cold disaster and the war had left nine out of ten houses empty in Liangzhou. Now, in Liangzhou, as many as 80% of the people were starving, and many had died of hunger or freezing. Li Mingyuan had seen many skeletons on the wilderness along the way, all of which were the corpses of people who had died of hunger or freezing.

“This Liangzhou region is so different from what it used to be.”

Li Qiao also expressed the same sentiment. He had been to Liangzhou with Li Mingyuan before. Although the people of Liangzhou were poor at that time, they were not so poor that everyone was starving.

But now, with the impact of the cold disaster and war, the people of Liangzhou... are truly struggling to survive.

Fortunately, Liangzhou is now ruled by Yang Zheng.

Li Mingyuan suddenly laughed. When he passed through Liangzhou Prefecture, he had visited Yang Zheng and had a detailed conversation with him.

Yang Zheng, who came from a peasant background, spoke somewhat rudely, but he showed great respect for Li Mingyuan, the former prime minister. He even extended an invitation to Li Mingyuan, hoping that Li Mingyuan could help him govern Liangzhou, and expressed his willingness to fully support Li Mingyuan.

Unfortunately... Li Mingyuan is already old; he is now nearly seventy years old.

It is said that few people live to seventy. In the Xia Kingdom, where the average lifespan is less than forty years, Li Mingyuan is, to put it nicely, a long-lived old man.

To put it bluntly... Li Mingyuan doesn't have many years left to live.

At sixty, Li Mingyuan might still have the energy and the conviction to govern the country, but now…

He just wanted to take a walk and see the land he had devoted most of his life to governing.

Although Li Mingyuan was unwilling to serve Yang Zheng, he recommended some of his former "disciples" to Yang Zheng. These were poor scholars who had been frustrated and unsuccessful after Li Mingyuan was dismissed. They were capable, but because of their poor background, they could not be given important positions in the court. If they could come to Liangzhou and work under Yang Zheng, they might have a chance to realize their ambitions.

"Uncle Li, you seem to think highly of Yang Zheng?"

Li Qiao looked at Li Mingyuan and asked.

"Of course!"

Li Mingyuan said, "Those who win the hearts of the people have always won the world. Those who plunder the people like the White Lotus Sect will never sit on the throne. On the contrary, it is Yang Zheng..."

Li Mingyuan paused for a moment and then said, "Yang Zheng treats the people well and has never harmed them. He even shares some of the captured grain with them to help them. This makes Yang Zheng extremely popular. In Liangzhou, Yang Zheng is even more trusted by the people than the imperial court. Therefore, I can basically conclude that Yang Zheng is one of the most likely people to seize the world!"

"I have also read some history books."

Li Qiao thought for a moment and said, "For thousands of years, every person who has been able to sit on the throne has had the support of powerful families behind them. Yang Zheng has already offended the powerful families to the death. How can he expect any powerful families to support him?"

Yang Zheng's massacre of powerful families and landlords in Liangzhou had already spread throughout the land. Now, all the powerful families in the world regard Yang Zheng as a monstrous threat. This means that Yang Zheng cannot gain the support of any major family. In fact, there are very few scholars willing to serve Yang Zheng. Otherwise, Yang Zheng would not have invited Li Mingyuan to serve him.

"That's a problem."

Li Mingyuan frowned. The powerful clans controlled most of the resources in the Nine Provinces. Without the support of these powerful clans, it would be difficult for Yang Zheng to sweep across the world.

Some might say that Yang Zheng confiscated the wealth of all the landlords and powerful families in Liangzhou.

Yes, Yang Zheng did indeed acquire the wealth of a prominent family in Liangzhou.

Don't forget that Liangzhou was poor to begin with, and the powerful families in Liangzhou were far less wealthy than the families in the three lower prefectures, let alone the much wealthier Jingzhou.

"who cares."

Li Mingyuan shook his head and smiled, "I'm getting old, so let's leave these things to the young people like Yang Zheng."

After saying that, Li Mingyuan walked to a vegetable stall and bargained with the vegetable vendor like an ordinary old man.

Standing behind Li Mingyuan, Li Qiao looked at Li Mingyuan's already hunched figure and felt extremely complicated.

Although he claimed to be Li Mingyuan's servant, he actually regarded Li Mingyuan as his family member, or even his father.

When he first met Li Mingyuan, Li Mingyuan was a vibrant young man, but now…

Li Mingyuan is already an old man, his body is hunched and his hair is gray, but his concern for the people has never diminished in the slightest.

Unfortunately, Li Mingyuan, who devoted most of his life to serving the people, was unable to complete the reforms and realize his lifelong dream.

"Let's go, little bridge."

After buying the groceries, Li Mingyuan raised the basket in his hand to Li Qiao and said with a smile, "I bought some groceries. We'll cook something tonight."

Li Qiao glanced at the bright green basket of vegetables, which contained not a trace of meat, and his face turned a little green: "Uncle Li, when will I be able to eat a bite of meat?"

High-level martial artists like Li Qiao usually expend more energy and have higher requirements for food, but following Li Mingyuan... he was almost starving three meals a day.

The reason was simple: Li Mingyuan was too poor to afford meat. He could only afford some vegetables, and the two of them would eat rice or steamed buns with the vegetables.

"We don't have much money left."

Li Mingyuan said with a smile, "I have to be careful with my spending. Besides, I'm getting old, and for the sake of my health, I can't eat too much meat."

"..."

Li Qiao paused for a moment, then said, "Uncle Li, haven't we had meat for half a year?"

As he spoke, Li Qiao's stomach rumbled loudly, as if it were protesting.

"It's alright, my cooking skills have never been bad, and the dishes I make are no worse than meat dishes."

"..."

The two left the market chatting and laughing.

Behind the two, an elderly vegetable vendor stared at Li Mingyuan's retreating figure, frowned and pondered for a moment, then said, "Why does that old man look so familiar?"

"Old Li, why do you find everyone so familiar?"

"This guy looks so familiar! I feel like I've seen him many years ago."

"How many years is that?"

"Around when I was forty years old."

"Then who is he?"

"I don't remember! I only remember that he seemed to be a high-ranking official?"

"Old Li, what are you talking about? Why would an official come to the market to buy groceries himself, and only buy vegetables, not meat!"

"It seems so."

The vegetable vendor, known as Lao Li, was lost in his memories. His hazy recollections told him that he must have seen Li Mingyuan before, but he couldn't recall Li Mingyuan's name or identity.