To be honest, Xie Xin was quite disappointed when he set off from Nanyang and arrived in Xinye via Fancheng.
Although the world is peaceful now, Xinye is a small place after all. There are only thirty thousand residents in the city, and the city wall is only more than three and a half meters. To put it simply, it is about the same size as the ancient city.
Presumably, the population of Xinye later became slightly larger and the city walls were slightly smaller due to Liu Bei's continuous expansion. But even so, the Battle of Xinye burned down the city that had been built with great difficulty.
Today, the governor of Jingzhou is not Liu Biao, and he did not experience the Yellow Turban Rebellion. A large number of scholars from the Central Plains have no need to seek refuge in Jingzhou, so the academic style here is not actually strong.
In terms of population, Northern Jingzhou is not bad, at least Xiangyang and Jiangling are still very prosperous; Southern Jingzhou is much worse. Not only is the land barren, the population is insufficient, and barbarians live together, but they also occasionally encounter Yue people who come down from the mountains to plunder.
After looting in Jingnan, they fled into the mountains and forests.
All in all, in Xie Xin's eyes, it can be said that Jingzhou's ultimate development was indirectly driven by the Yellow Turban Rebellion and the struggle for hegemony among the princes.
Yangzhou also benefited. A large number of people from the north fled south. They brought a large number of talents and craftsmen of all kinds, making the originally poor and backward Jiangnan area slowly become prosperous.
Later, as Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty began to develop Jiangnan, and continued to develop it through several dynasties, Jiangnan eventually became the money bag and grain bag of the imperial court. Its importance was attached great importance to every subsequent dynasty and generation.
But in essence, the development of Jiangnan was the result of the invasion of the Hu people in the north and the country's inability to resist.
In Xie Xin's view, this is the luck of the Jiangnan people, but it is also the misfortune of China.
Along the way, Xie Xin saw that although many people were still living hard, he could tell that the people living at the bottom were malnourished and even a little underfed.
Xinye City is small, so naturally there won't be anything good for sale. Perhaps the consumption level is not very high, so Xie Xin even saw sesame seed cakes that cost two cents for one and two for three cents.
There was no such thing as steamed buns these days. It wasn't until Kong Ming's man made a human head out of flour and stuffed it with beef and mutton in order to sacrifice to the river. This was the most original steamed bun. Later, some people were lazy and didn't put meat filling in the steamed buns.
So there are white flour steamed buns.
But even so, few people passing by would buy them, and occasionally they would buy two at a time.
Seeing the common man placing the two sesame seed cakes close to his body as if they were treasures, Xie Xin couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
The imperial power fell away, and the eunuchs and relatives took turns to be in power. Under the day-to-day fighting, it was the people who suffered.
Both sides continued to cultivate their direct lineage, but sought loyalty rather than virtue. In the later period, as long as they had money, they could buy official positions at will, and the positions of the three princes could be purchased with money.
At that time, these officials will inevitably further plunder the people to make up for the expenses of buying an official position. After saving enough money, they will buy a higher official position, and new officials will come here to plunder.
How can the people not be angry when the cycle repeats itself? At the end of the Han Dynasty, natural disasters continued, and taxes will not come down, how can the people not rebel?!
Therefore, the Yellow Turban Uprising was just Zhang Jue's coincidence. Even without Zhang Jue, when the people could not survive, as long as someone stood up and shouted, the uprising would still occur.
Perhaps, if the leaders were more capable and clear-minded, the peasant uprising in the late Han Dynasty might have brought down this great country.
"If Heaven wants him to perish, he must first make him crazy! Heaven is a 'profit' Heaven, and everything is freely arranged. Those rebels are just puppets in the hands of Heaven." At this thought, Xin couldn't help but smile slightly.
Sighed.
"Xinlang, what did you just say?!" Wang Rong asked from the side.
"It's nothing, I just feel that the people of Han Dynasty have a hard life..." Xie Xin said casually.
"After the ranking of scholars, farmers, industry and commerce was established, industry and commerce were at the bottom. Scholars studied civil and military classics, but how many of them learned the skills of industry and commerce? Politicians cannot properly use industry and commerce as two powerful tools. In the end, the main tax burden has to be tacked on to farmers.
It's just on the head..." Mao Jie echoed from the side.
This guy, I don’t know when, inherited the two inheritances of Wang Zuozhicai and Caiye. Now he not only has great experience in governing the place, but also has unique insights into ways to increase economic income.
"Speaking of which, it reminds me of my hometown." Dianjie interjected, "Farmers need to pay a lot of taxes and perform corvee labor. But craftsmen and businessmen like my father were once beaten by petty officials.
This time I came to your door for extortion? If I hadn’t deducted the cost, I would still have made some profit, but I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to survive this life either.”
"Then why not move somewhere else?!" Li Yan couldn't help but ask.
"Although a big man is big, where is the place where he can be happy and worry-free? Rather than leaving his hometown, it is better to stay there. At least the folks in the hometown can help him if there is anything he can do." Xie Xin answered for him.
Although Li Yan is from a side branch, his family environment is good and he has a bit of the temperament of a child of an aristocratic family. His understanding of the various behaviors of the common people is not comprehensive enough.
"I heard that Wang Rui, the governor of Jingzhou, is from the eunuch clan and is also known to be greedy for money. With him serving as the governor of Jingzhou, the people here will have no trouble at all." Ji Ling agreed casually.
After three years of study, he has become less reckless and more wise. Although he cannot be considered an all-rounder in both civil and military affairs, he can at least be regarded as a rare warrior.
"Let's not talk about that anymore. Let's have a good rest tonight and set off for Shuijing Villa tomorrow!" Xie Xin announced loudly to the people behind him.
Not long after, everyone had arrived in front of the Xinye branch of Yuelai Inn. Because Xinye's spending power is not high, there are enough rooms for everyone to stay, and at most twenty students can squeeze in.
After a night's rest, the group set out again, and three days later arrived in front of the legendary Shuijing Villa.
But at first glance, the so-called Shuijing Villa is actually similar to a first-class private school, just a thatched house.
Of course, strictly speaking, it is a group of thatched houses, because at least five to six thatched houses are closely connected together to form a whole.
After handing over the name card, the doorman quickly announced the entrance.
"I said that I saw the magpies chirping before, and I secretly thought that something good will happen today. I bet my nephew is here!" Not long after, a middle-aged man came out. Who was it if it wasn't Sima Hui?
"My nephew is busy with his family affairs and has been unable to come to visit me for a long time. I hope my uncle will forgive me!" Xie Xin finally heard Sima Hui's blame and couldn't help but apologize.
"Haha, my nephew is a busy man, but I have to come and see my uncle when I have time, right?" Sima Hui said with a smile.
"Definitely!" Xie Xin nodded and replied.
After some polite greetings, Xie Xin entered the villa under the leadership of Sima Hui.
In the main hall, there were about thirty students studying. And right in front of the main hall, there was another middle-aged man sitting.
"Good nephew, this is my good friend, Mr. Pang De of Xiangyang, and he was also a famous person for a while! He also has a different experience in education, at least it is better than my uncle!" When he came to the middle-aged man, Sima Hui first gave him a letter of thanks.
introduced him.
Then he turned to the middle-aged man and said: "This is my good nephew, Nanyang Xie Xin. I guess his name is familiar to Brother Ziyu?"
"So it's Nanyang Xie Xin who would rather train talents for the Han Dynasty than accept the conquest? It's indeed a great talent, but it's a pity that the Han Dynasty can't use you..." Pang Degong saw Xie Xin. He was a little happy at first, but then he couldn't help but feel a little sad.
.
His behavior made Xie Xin a little confused.
"Haha! My dear nephew, Pang Degong has a lot of knowledge and is also proficient in the art of fortune-telling!" Sima Hui explained at the side.
The art of telling people?
Xie Xin couldn't help but feel enlightened, but he was also wondering, how could he see on his face that he couldn't be used by the big man?