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

Chapter 183 Li Hu's Expectations

Just as Xu Zhiwen was lost in his memories, Li Hu suddenly spoke up: "Brother Xu, it seems that there are more refugees outside the city now. Why is that?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Zhiwen sighed and said, "Liangzhou is getting more and more chaotic!"

After saying that, Xu Zhiwen continued, "I learned from the official gazette that Liangshan County in Liangzhou has now been completely occupied by Yang Zheng. The entire Liangshan County is engulfed in flames, and the people have no way to survive, so they naturally have to flee to Qingzhou."

"its not right!"

Li Hu frowned and said, "I remember you once said, Brother Xu, that Yang Zheng is a heroic figure who only punishes corrupt officials and local tyrants, and does not harm the common people in the slightest. Why can't the common people live?"

"Yang Zheng is indeed a heroic figure."

Xu Zhiwen nodded and said, "But what about his men? His generals and soldiers can't be as virtuous as he is in protecting the people. Liangshan Prefecture is such a vast territory that Yang Zheng himself can't possibly oversee everything, not to mention..."

Xu Zhiwen paused for a moment, then said, "Although Yang Zheng pities the people, he doesn't know how to govern a place. Moreover... the impact of the cold disaster on Liangzhou is far greater than that on Qingzhou. No crops can be grown in the entire Liangzhou, so the people of Liangzhou naturally have to go to Qingzhou to find a way to survive."

Because of Yang Zheng's actions of killing officials and gentry, very few scholars joined him. Without scholars, Yang Zheng was unable to govern the region and could only let his illiterate soldiers manage it...

As for the common soldiers, their ability to govern the local area is questionable; the entire Liangshan Prefecture is now practically in a state of anarchy.

Of course, if it were just anarchy, the people could still survive, and might even live better, since... many people were forced to their deaths by the imperial court.

What truly made it impossible for ordinary people to survive was the terrible cold disaster.

Liangzhou was already a harsh and cold place, and it became even colder after the cold disaster. People who lacked food and clothing could only starve or freeze to death if they stayed in Liangzhou, so they naturally had to go to Qingzhou, the nearest city, to find a way to survive.

"Has the situation in Liangzhou deteriorated to this extent?"

Li Hu asked in astonishment, "Even if the land can't grow grain, shouldn't the wealthy families in Qingzhou have stored grain? Yang Zheng slaughtered so many officials and gentry, yet he couldn't plunder any grain?"

"Actually... even wealthy families in Qingzhou might not have that much grain stored up!"

Xu Zhiwen said, "The cold disaster has lasted for several years. For years, Liangzhou has suffered from a complete crop failure in autumn and winter, and even the grains planted in spring and summer have suffered from a significant crop failure. Under such circumstances, Brother Li, how much grain do you think the wealthy families in Liangzhou have stored up?"

Li Hu fell silent. Even for wealthy families, grain didn't come out of thin air; it had to be grown from the land. With such a harsh environment in Liangzhou, wealthy families naturally lost their source of grain.

At this point, Li Hu finally understood why there were more and more refugees outside the city. It was because Liangzhou was suffering from both war and famine, and the people... could no longer survive.

"In fact, Yang Zheng and his gang of rebels are not the only ones in Liangzhou!"

Xu Zhiwen continued, "Yang Zheng is just the one who caused the biggest commotion. Although the other rebels are not as powerful as Yang Zheng, they have had a significant impact. Moreover... these rebels have no discipline whatsoever. Every time they capture a city, they loot it, not even sparing the last bit of food left in the homes of the poor!"

The phrase "soldiers pass by like combs" is used to describe the armies of feudal society, isn't it?

Even the Xia Kingdom's army was of questionable quality, let alone the rebelling peasant armies, whose harm to the people was even greater than that of bandits and thieves.

“In addition, there is Minnesota.”

Xu Zhiwen added, "Mingzhou, which belongs to the three northern prefectures along with Liangzhou, is also rife with rebels and is in complete chaos."

"How is Youzhou?"

Li Hu subconsciously asked, "Youzhou is also one of the three northern states, bordering Mingzhou, Liangzhou, and Jingzhou."

"Youzhou is alright!"

Xu Zhiwen thought for a moment and said, "Because of the presence of the Great Wall Army, only a small rebellion has occurred in Youzhou, which will be suppressed quickly and will not amount to anything!"

The Great Wall Army, as the name suggests, is the army that guards the Great Wall and is responsible for resisting the barbarians outside the Great Wall. This army is the most powerful army in the entire Xia Kingdom, without exception!

Because the entire northern border of Youzhou borders the grasslands, the Great Wall Army is mainly responsible for guarding the northern part of Youzhou. With the Great Wall Army present, Youzhou is destined to remain stable, after all...

The commander-in-chief of the Great Wall Army, General Wang Pingman, was a man of great military achievements, far beyond the reach of those rebels formed by displaced people.

"This world..."

Li Hu sighed softly, feeling extremely fortunate to be in Qingzhou. If he had lived in one of the three northern prefectures, he probably would have had a very difficult time. Even in Youzhou, although the rebels could not cause any trouble, the lives of the common people would not have been much better than in Liangzhou and Mingzhou.

Xu Zhiwen also sighed. In this world, chaos continues to spread, and it's unclear when it will end.

"Brother Chen?"

Just as the two were feeling sentimental, Li Ying's voice came, and they immediately came back to their senses and looked towards the door.

Then a young man walked in. Judging from his handsome appearance, who else could it be but Chen Dao?

Behind Chen Dao followed Chen Cheng, who was as strong as an ox, carrying several chicken coops in his hands.

"Young friend Chen has arrived!"

Li Hu immediately stepped forward enthusiastically, asking with great anticipation, "What breed of chicken did you bring this time, young friend Chen?"

Ever since Chen Dao mentioned that there would be a new breed of chicken, Li Hu had been looking forward to it, because after entering the seventh rank, Li Hu's martial arts cultivation had almost stagnated.

His talent for martial arts wasn't particularly outstanding. After reaching the seventh rank, he needed external assistance to continue improving, and the medicinal herbs used by seventh-rank martial artists...

In Taiping County, it was almost impossible to buy them. Therefore, Li Hu placed all his hopes on Chen Dao, hoping that Chen Dao could bring a new, better breed of chicken that could be effective against seventh-rank martial artists!

"This time we've brought Bloodfeathered Chickens again!"

Chen Dao replied with a smile, "Besides the Blood Feather Chicken, there is another new breed of chicken."

"A new breed of chicken?"

Li Hu's eyes lit up. His gaze fell on the chicken coop that Chen Cheng was carrying. He saw that in addition to the Blood Feather Chicken, there was another kind of chicken with crimson feathers, and even its claws and beak were red. It was the Crimson Blood Chicken that Chen Daoxin had bred.

This chicken was named the Red Blood Chicken.

Noticing Li Hu's gaze, Chen Dao explained, "The blood and meat of this chicken are more beneficial to martial artists than those of the Blood Feather Chicken. They also have an excellent effect on nourishing the blood and qi of seventh-rank martial artists!"

Before coming, Chen Dao had already tried the effects of the Crimson Blood Chicken, so his tone was very confident.