Chapter 266 They still have a choice

There were two meat dishes and one vegetable dish on the table, including snake meat stew, dried wild boar braised with fungus and chestnuts, and a plate of wild vegetables.

There's even a pot of fragrant pheasant chicken soup with yam, matsutake and mushrooms.

If it weren't for the crowds coming and going at the city gate for fear of attracting others' attention, using mushrooms to make chicken soup would be so delicious!

The table was too small and there were no chairs or stools. Everyone carried rice bowls and vegetables and ate while standing, squatting or sitting on mats on the ground.

The little ones were already full after eating snacks while shopping. No matter how delicious the food was, they could not finish it after only a few bites. After wiping their greasy mouths, they ran out to play with other friends. .

There were only a few adults left in the tent, eating and chatting.

Everyone asked about Qiao Ran's subsequent events, and Qiao Ran told everyone what happened after she and the government officials arrived at the government office.

She did not describe how she fooled the government officials and drugged Tong Xuan and his nephew to scare them, for fear of scaring her family.

She only said that she had observed the corruption beneath the prosperous surface of Luoyang City, and then threatened Tongsuan with it, and Tongsuan had no choice but to let her back.

After everyone heard this, they all sweated for her.

Since ancient times, people have not fought with officials. When ordinary people enter the yamen, they will have to shed their skin even if they do not die.

However, Qiao Ran was able to confront the high-ranking official of the government in such a tit-for-tat manner and escape unscathed. People really have to admire her courage and resourcefulness.

The old village chief keenly grasped the key point of Qiao Ran's words: "Are you saying that Luoyang City is not as good as we see on the surface?"

Qiao Ran nodded.

"Luoyang Fucheng is so lively just because it occupies a superior geographical location, closest to the capital, with a vast area, sparsely populated areas, and flat roads. Therefore, many people from other places and even other countries come here to purchase Dai Viet specialties or spend money for entertainment. , so it seems very lively. But the officials here are greedy. Not only do they not make decisions for the people, but they also rob the people of their wealth, making the people here miserable."

The old village chief stroked his beard and thought thoughtfully: "It seems like we can't stay here. With such corrupt and ignorant officials, the people's lives must be very miserable."

Qiao Ran also said: "Since we are already here and it is not far from Zhongzhou, let's just go to Zhongzhou and have a look! After all, we are under the emperor's feet. Zhongzhou officials should not dare to be so blatantly corrupt."

The old village chief nodded: "Well, you are right. Ran Yatou, fortunately you are careful and have observed the truth that we cannot see. Otherwise, we will be ruined by the prosperity of Luoyang City and the city guards. I was confused by what I said. If I were really resettled here, wouldn’t I become a slave held captive by these vampires and would be enslaved by them for the rest of my life?”

Although they had to pay various taxes every year when farming in Qingshui Village, the county magistrate was not too greedy and did not dare to levy additional miscellaneous taxes.

As long as you work hard, you can still have enough to feed your family after paying taxes every year.

Save some food, pick more wild vegetables and so on, and save some food to sell.

If it hadn't been for the successive famines this time, which resulted in no harvest from the fields and no water to drink, it would be impossible to survive in the village, so they had to leave their homes and flee the famine with the whole village.

But if they stay in Luoyang Mansion and are resettled somewhere to open up wasteland and grow food, they are afraid that the exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes will overwhelm them. They have to work hard for a year and cannot even provide food and clothing for their families.

Once they are resettled here and have registered residence in Luoyang Prefecture, ordinary people like them cannot move to other places at will unless there are special circumstances such as natural disasters or man-made disasters.

In that case, they will continue to be squeezed by corrupt officials until the Luoyang government office replaces new honest officials.

But, who would be willing to gamble on such a slim chance?

While they haven't settled down yet, they still have a choice.

Zhongzhou is their final destination for this escape.

Now that he had made up his mind, after eating, the old village chief called together the heads of each family for a meeting again and explained to them clearly what Qiao Ran had experienced in the city and the problems he had discovered.

Most of them had already entered the city, but none of them had the keen reconnaissance power of Qiao Ran. They only saw the excitement in Luoyang City, and they had the idea of ​​​​just staying in Luoyang.

However, after hearing Qiao Ran's analysis, they thought about it carefully, and it seemed that that was really the case.

The people with smiles on their faces in Fucheng are all those from out of town. Although some local shops and vendors are smiling to welcome customers, more people have a kind of numbness on their faces, as if no matter whether the business is good or not, they are making money today. Whether they make money or not, it has nothing to do with them.

If what Qiao Ran said was true, and the people in this government office squeezed the merchants so much, they would certainly not give much preferential treatment to the people farming in the countryside.

Moreover, judging from Qiao Ran's conflict with the government officials this time, it can be seen that the officials in this city allow their relatives to dominate the city, and the people who have been wronged have nowhere to redress their grievances.

This Luoyang City is really not a good place, it is even a dirty place that they can't wait to leave now.

In the end, everyone unanimously decided to continue to Zhongzhou.

Anyway, after passing Luoyang, we reached the border of Zhongzhou.

Zhongzhou is so big, you can always find a suitable place to live, right?

Where the emperor is, officials dare not mess around.

Although I was anxious, it was already completely dark and it was impossible to hit the road tonight.

Everyone went back to their tents to rest, and only waited until the next day to pack up and continue on their way.

Early the next morning, when the people of Qingshui Village were packing up and preparing to set off, a small sedan came out of the city gate that had just been opened and went directly to the camp of the people of Qingshui Village.

When everyone saw the sedan coming directly to the camp, they all thought it was an official from the city who came to settle a score with Qiao Ran. They were worried and stopped packing their things. Everyone gathered around.

This small sedan was not followed by a large group of government servants, only two servants.

Qiao Ran signaled everyone to be calm and went to greet them.

The sedan door opened, and Master Tongpan's chubby body rolled out of the sedan.

He really rolled out. As soon as he got out of the sedan door, before the servant next to him could step forward to help him, Lord Tongpan fell straight forward and fell like a dog.

The two servants and the bearers hurriedly stepped forward to help him. After Master Tongjian was helped up, Qiao Ran saw his face clearly and couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.

Lord Tongpan, in the government office last night, looked pampered, idle and arrogant.

But now, although he looked excited, the thick dark circles under his eyes showed that he must not have had a good rest last night.