Creation Color Master

The old woman's reminder made Chu Mo alert and more certain that there was an unknown secret here.

So Chu Mo picked up a wooden stool, walked to the old woman and sat down, and slowly said: "Grandma, we are new here and don't know anything about the situation here. I wonder if you can tell us something."

The old woman drooped her eyelids, glanced at Chu Mo, and then let out a low sigh.

"Young man, for the sake of your kindness, please ask whatever you want to ask."

The old woman seemed to have no interest in anything in the outside world, her eyes were calm, like a pool of stagnant water.

Seeing that the old woman agreed to explain his doubts, Chu Mo asked the question in his mind: "Yuzhou is a place with outstanding people and beautiful scenery, but why do I find this place a bit desolate when I walk along it? There is no one living for miles around, and there are wastelands everywhere on the roadside. What's going on?"

The old woman heard this and slowly said, "All this is due to the cannibalistic world. In the final analysis, it is because the court has collected too much tax, leaving the people with no hope of survival."

"Don't you know why this place is so desolate? And why no one has reclaimed the wasteland on the roadside? It's not that they don't want to, but they don't have the ability to do so."

"The various taxes demanded by the court are not enough for us farmers to pay even if we don't eat or drink for a year. How can we survive? Reclaiming wasteland is even more troublesome. We need to pay official taxes, land taxes, reclamation taxes, grain taxes, etc. Reclaiming wasteland is even more troublesome."

Chu Mo was stunned when he heard this. Is this the same court as his? How come he has never heard of the names of these taxes?

But Chu Mo asked in confusion: "This doesn't seem to meet the court's tax standards at all. The law states that when farmers reclaim wasteland, they only need to report it to the government and then hand over a certain amount of grain produced from the wasteland every year, which will gradually decrease. After ten years, the wasteland will completely become the farmer's own land."

"This is the standard recorded in the law. Why is it different here?"

The old woman took a deep breath and said, "Haha, here, the governor's words are more effective than the emperor's. These heavy taxes were also set by the governor. Who dares not to obey?"

"Now, people in the surrounding area are either leaving or fleeing, and those who argue with them will be imprisoned. My two sons died in prison."

After saying this, the old woman burst into tears.

The pain of losing a child is hard to describe in words. I think only those who have experienced it will understand the pain.

For a moment, Chu Mo didn't know how to comfort this white-haired old man.

After a long while, the old woman raised her head with tears in her eyes and said to Chu Mo with red eyes: "I heard that the governor has the royal family behind him. Young man, you should leave here as soon as possible."

Chu Mo did not expect that General Jingyu Shen Moqian would dare to do this, increasing various miscellaneous taxes, causing the people to be displaced and live such a hard life.

The desolate scene when he came here was still vivid in his mind. Chu Mo was immediately furious and puzzled. Why didn't the secret guards here report such a big event? What were the shadow guards who monitored all the officials doing?

Thinking of this, Chu Mo took a deep breath, suppressed the rage in his heart, and said to the old woman: "Mother-in-law, everything will be fine. The emperor will not let this matter go. Don't worry, good days will come."

The old woman looked at Chu Mo's determined eyes, opened her mouth but no sound came out.

Chu Mo originally wanted to find out more information from the old woman, but he didn't know much. After comforting the old woman, Chu Mo said goodbye.

Before Chu Mo left, he left her a few pounds of food and meat, so the poor old woman no longer had to rely on mountain spring water, wild vegetables and fruits to fill her stomach.

After leaving the old woman's house, Chu Mo took out a memorial. He wanted to report the situation here to Shadow, Ghost and the Emperor. Chu Mo was sure that General Jingyu Shen Moqian was not the only one involved in this matter.

At least the secret guards here and the shadow guards who monitor this place are responsible for losing their power.

What Chu Mo has to do is to find out all the people behind the scenes and make them receive the punishment they deserve.

A golden-feathered eagle spread its wings and flew high, soon disappearing into the clouds.

In Jingyu City of Baiwei County, there is a manor with pavilions, towers, mountains, flowing water, famous flowers and beautiful bamboos. It can be said to be very magnificent and exquisite.

If Chu Mo were here, he would find that the area of ​​this manor is in no way inferior to the Shenwei Marquis Mansion bestowed upon him by the emperor.

In front of the gate, several soldiers wearing fine light armor and carrying quivers stood solemnly. No one within a hundred meters dared to approach.

Inside the mansion, an energetic old man was sitting on a throne drinking tea. He was wearing a gorgeous blue robe with rusty snakes and pythons on it, and on the wall behind him hung a precious bow that emitted a faint cold light.

Guo Ziming was half-kneeling on the ground, reporting everything that happened in the forest bit by bit.

However, Shen Moqian, who was sitting high up, looked normal and was blowing the hot tea slowly.

After taking a sip of tea, Shen Moqian slowly put down the cup and said, "How come a kid who came out of nowhere accidentally tamed a demon dragon and scared you like this?"

"Why, even if he is very powerful, can he still be better than the one behind this general?"

"However, I didn't expect that a small snake demon could successfully transform into a dragon, and has already recognized that boy as its master. What a pity."

Guo Ziming raised his head cautiously and said, "General, how should we deal with that kid and the demon dragon? Do you want me to take some troops back and capture them?"

Shen Moqian waved his hand and said, "That's not necessary. A third-level demon dragon is still a third-level demon dragon after all. The Jingyu Guard has other things to do now, so let's leave this small matter alone for now."

"There is nothing for you to do here, you can go down first."

Guo Ziming nodded, said goodbye, stood up and walked straight outside.

Shen Moqian looked at Guo Ziming's leaving back, his eyes flickering, not knowing what he was thinking.

Chu Mo was walking on the road when he met a man driving a carriage. The carriage was pulling a number of bamboo baskets covered with a sheepskin. From the exposed corner, he could vaguely see a snake crawling slowly.

Chu Mo was very curious, so he said to the man on the road: "Brother, I finally met someone I can talk to after walking all the way. How about I treat you to a drink?"

The man looked at Chu Mo and his group vigilantly, put one hand into his arms, and the sound of a dagger being unsheathed came from his arms.

Seeing this, Chu Mo waved his hands and said, "Brother, don't do it. I am a student from Yunzhou, and these are my followers. We have no ill intentions. We just came here in a deserted place, and I wanted to ask you something."

The man looked everyone up and down, then smiled and said, "Oh, so you are a Confucian scholar. Why are you here in Yuzhou instead of studying in Yunzhou Academy?"

Chu Mo smiled and said, "Brother, you don't understand this. Read thousands of books and travel thousands of miles. I heard that Baisong Mountain in Yuzhou is unique in the world. Many people live in seclusion there. I want to go there and take a look."

The man clasped his fists towards Chu Mo and said, "You guys are still living a comfortable life. My name is Chen Shan, so you don't have to call me brother anymore. Just call me Old Chen."

Chu Mo nodded in response and threw a small jar of ordinary green bamboo wine to the other party.