"If you don't allow it, you don't allow it. You are my daughter. I don't allow you to marry anyone, so why do you need any reason?"
Liang Shidao.
Liang Siqi's eyes widened, "Then why don't you dare to tell the emperor that I am not allowed to marry that Jiang Jiaping! Why don't you allow me to marry the person I like?"
"presumptuous!"
Seeing Liang Siqi like this, Liang Shi couldn't help but slap the table.
The chill at that moment seemed to be much colder than the chill outside the pavilion.
Liang Dong sat beside him and opened his mouth, but his heart was so frightened that he still didn't dare to speak.
Tears filled Liang Siqi's eyes and she said stubbornly: "My daughter just doesn't understand why the father wants to say that even though Lu Fang asked the emperor to take back his life, he still doesn't allow his daughter to marry him!"
Liang Shi stared into Liang Siqi's eyes with a cold expression.
After a long while, he said quietly: "Because I don't like him."
Then he got up and walked towards the main hall.
Liang Siqi looked at Liang Shi's back, suddenly thought of something, her eyes suddenly shrank, and then said: "If the father kills him, then the daughter... won't be alive either."
Liang Shi paused for a moment, without turning back, and then continued walking towards the main hall.
Until his figure disappeared into the dark hall, Liang Dong looked at Liang Siqi with complex eyes, "Sister, father, he...will kill Lu Fang?"
Liang Siqi smiled sadly, "What other way is simpler than this..."
She knows her father too well.
Liang Dong whispered, "Then should I tell Lu Fang to be careful?"
Liang Siqi shook her head slowly, stood up, and shouted into the palace: "My daughter will leave for Kyoto tomorrow. If we never see each other again in this life, I hope my father is well!"
After that, he covered his face and ran towards the outside of the courtyard.
She just wanted to tell Liang Shi that if Liang Shi really sent people to kill Lu Fang, then she would really choose to die.
"This... belongs to his uncle!"
Liang Dong looked inside the main hall, then at Liang Siqi's running back, and cursed angrily.
…
The next day.
A large group of people including Lu Liang, Lu Fang, Ou Hongsheng, Han Feihong, Wang Shouxing, etc. gathered at the gate of the Jiedushi Mansion and prepared to go to Tongchuan County.
There were nine carriages, all of which were full.
Many officials from the Jiedushi government office came to see Lu Liang off.
Nowadays, Lu Liang can definitely be regarded as a big shot. Even if his position as Jiedushi is just a false position.
After all, it is true that the two counties are recruiting envoys.
Not surprisingly, if Lu Liang can successfully suppress the bandits in Tongchuan and Chengdu counties, he will soon become a real official in the border area.
Such a good fortune is enviable.
Naturally, these colleagues in the Tanzhou Jiedushi Mansion did not mind having a good relationship with Lu Liang at this time.
That's what officialdom is like.
Not all connections may be used, but if you don't build connections, it will be too late when you need to ask for help in the future.
Led by He Wenshan, more than a dozen high-ranking officials in Jingnan County who were sent to the governor's office came forward one by one and said goodbye to Lu Liang.
Then, he watched Lu Liang and his carriage leave.
The convoy left the north gate of Tanzhou City and headed straight to Dongting Lake in the north.
These days, the waterway is more convenient and faster than the land route. From Dongting Lake along the Minjiang River, you can go directly to Kuizhou Prefecture in Tongchuan County. Then take the land route to Tongchuan Prefecture in Tongchuan County.
That evening, the motorcade arrived at the Dongting Lake.
There is an official waterway station here.
The coachmen who brought Lu Liang and others here helped move their luggage to the inn, and arranged food and accommodation at their own inn.
Dongting.
This is an inland lake of great significance to the people of Jingnan and Jingbei counties.
The irrigation area formed by Dongting Lake also makes Jingnan and Jingbei counties a land of plenty after the two major irrigation areas of Panyang and Taihu Lake.
The flower boats on Dongting Lake are naturally also very famous.
During Liang Hanmin's two tours to the south, he personally went to Dongting Lake to meet the fragrant lady, which was widely circulated among the people. I don't know how many versions have been made up.
From this inn on the shore of Dongting Lake, looking far away, you can see the flower boats with all kinds of colorful lanterns hanging on Dongting Lake.
The scene was much more shocking than that at the riverside in Tanzhou City.
Compared with the flower boats here, which are often several stories high, the flower boats in Tanzhou City are really insignificant.
Lu Fang and others had dinner upstairs at the post station. Chen Youxi saw Lu Fang put down his bowls and chopsticks and went to the window to look at Dongting Lake. He couldn't help but asked with a smile, "Don't you plan to go and have a look?"
Lu Fang shook his head, "What's there to see?"
"You say that, but you really want to do it in your heart, right?"
Chen Youxi said with a smile, "Can I still understand your thoughts? Don't you want to meet that floating lady?"
Lu Fang raised his eyebrows and whispered into her ear.
Chen Youxi suddenly blushed and spat slightly.
Just now this guy actually said that he likes the original ones.
And Lu Fang returned to his serious look and murmured, "Shang girls don't know the hatred of losing their country, but they still sing as flowers in the backyard across the river..."
This made Chen Youxi stunned on the spot.
Then he gently nestled on Lu Fang's shoulder, comforting him silently.
From this half of the poem, she suddenly understood that this guy who always seemed cheerful was actually suppressing too many emotions inside.
And the next day.
Everyone boarded the official ship at the inn and headed towards Kuizhou.
Looking from the river to both banks, the scenery is generally pretty good.
The fields are vast.
The sky is clear and the clouds are vast.
But the further west you go, the more desolate it becomes.
Jingbei County is good, but when you go to Kuizhou, it's a different scene. In the vast wilderness, there are almost no human beings in some places.
This is the real Dayu.
Apart from the prosperous scenes of Tanzhou and other places, there is Dayu on the other side.
Two days passed by in the blink of an eye, and Lu Fang never saw anything as prosperous as Tanzhou again.
Occasionally, people can be seen crossing the river bank, and they are also in ragged clothes. Their backs have long been bent by the weight of life.
An old illness has taken hold.
The agricultural productivity of this era cannot guarantee that everyone can fill their stomachs as long as they work hard and plant well.
In addition, the bureaucracy occupies most of the land, making it even more difficult for the people to survive.
In good years, people can barely make ends meet. In bad years, few people can make it through on their own.
The previous emperor was obviously aware of this and wanted to completely eradicate the erosion of land by the bureaucracy. But unfortunately, the matter failed to be accomplished, and Liang Hanmin usurped the throne.
And Liang Hanmin obviously failed to cure this problem.
He ascended to the throne relying on the support of those nobles, which means that those nobles still have considerable constraints on him to this day.
Being able to levy half of the land tax on private land from those official lands is the ultimate that he can achieve.
But Lu Fang once heard Yu Yuanwei say that this so-called official land taxation was actually just a show on the outside.
Because there is still such a rule in the Chongqing Dynasty, those who are famous are exempted from food tax.