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

Chapter 772 The Nian Family

After all, as the old saying goes, a dynasty lasts for a hundred years, while a noble family lasts for a thousand.

Throughout the land of Kyushu, countless emperors have ruled this land, yet many powerful families have endured for a long time!

The reason is that emperors die when dynasties change, and royal families perish when dynasties change, but aristocratic families do not have to be buried with the old dynasty. They can change their allegiance, pledge allegiance to the new ruler, and easily obtain a status that is almost the same as that of the old dynasty!

Of course, although they thought this way, relatively few officials actually took action. After all, the court was far from running out of supplies, and they did not need to make a choice immediately.

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"This Yang Zheng is truly not to be underestimated!"

Youzhou.

Today, Tian Yu, who was not on duty at the Great Wall, sighed with emotion in his own mansion.

Although Tian Yu had never met Yang Zheng, he had had some contact with the Yang family army in Liangzhou, because the Great Wall was not only in Youzhou, but also in Liangzhou.

This short section of the Great Wall was previously defended by the Liangzhou army stationed in Liangzhou.

After Yang Zheng rebelled, Tian Yu considered that there might be gaps in the defense of the Great Wall in Liangzhou, so he sent people to Liangzhou, hoping that Yang's army could take on the responsibility of defending the Great Wall.

The Yang family army responded very positively to this. After consulting with Yang Zheng, they readily agreed to Tian Yu's request and declared that it was their duty to resist the barbarians.

It was precisely because of this encounter that Tian Yu developed a very good impression of Yang Zheng. In his view, Yang Zheng was a person with a strong sense of national righteousness. Even though the Yang family army was in a difficult situation, he still took on the responsibility of resisting foreign invaders. For this reason alone, Yang Zheng was a hundred times better in Tian Yu's mind than those petty officials in the court who only cared about their own interests.

It was precisely because he had a great liking for Yang Zheng that Tian Yu made such a remark when he saw Yang Zheng, the rebel leader regarded as a traitor by the court, capture Qingzhou.

Being stationed at the Great Wall year after year did not mean that Tian Yu was unaware of the situation in other states. He knew very well that under the heavy taxes levied by the imperial court, the people of each state were already overwhelmed. Coupled with the exploitation by local officials, the people of the nine states could be said to be living in dire straits.

Even without Yang Zheng, there would have been Li Zheng, Wang Zheng, and Wu Zheng who would have started a rebellion.

Simply put, the imperial court has completely lost the support of the people, and a change of dynasty is just around the corner.

Tian Yu didn't think anything of it.

Having studied history extensively, he knew very well that no dynasty had ever lasted for more than three hundred years. Since the founding of the Xia Dynasty, three hundred years had passed, and it was time for a change of dynasty.

Some might say that it's inappropriate for Tian Yu, as a court official and the commander of the Great Wall Army, to support a rebel instead of the court.

In fact, the imperial court had issued orders many times, requiring Tian Yu to lead his troops to suppress the rebels in various prefectures, but Tian Yu remained unmoved.

Because in Tian Yu's mind, resisting the barbarians was far more important than protecting the imperial court!

The destruction of a dynasty is merely a change of dynasty, and this land simply has a new ruler. But when barbarians invade the Nine Provinces, they bring destruction!

Tian Yu had personally witnessed how cruel the barbarians were to the Xia people. Wherever they went, men, women, and children were either killed, became food, or captured and taken back to the grasslands to cultivate the land for the barbarians...

The White Lotus Cult rebels have done bad enough things, but compared to the barbarians... they can all be considered kind.

Therefore, Tian Yu would rather watch the court perish than lead his troops back to suppress the bandits, because if he left, the barbarians would take the opportunity to invade and cause widespread suffering throughout the land!

Fortunately, Tian Yu had established enough prestige in the Great Wall Army over the years, and the soldiers of the Great Wall Army trusted him greatly. Even though he refused the court's order to send troops, the court could not dismiss him from his position as commander of the Great Wall Army, so as not to cause turmoil in the Great Wall Army.

In short, Tian Yu now has a somewhat detached air about him, sitting atop the Great Wall in the northernmost part of Kyushu, watching as heroes rise up across the land.

Of the nine provinces in the world today, seven have broken away from the rule of the imperial court. The court can only control Jingzhou, where the capital is located, and Youzhou. Tian Yu estimates that the day when the rule of the imperial court is overthrown is not far off!

"If Yang Zheng can seize the world, it might not be a bad thing!"

Looking at the letter in his hand, Tian Yu murmured to himself.

He had learned about the situation in Liangzhou and knew that Yang Zheng was a kind person who treated the people well. Under Yang Zheng's rule, although the people were not rich, they were at least much better off than under the imperial court. If Yang Zheng could seize the world, it might be a good thing for the people of the Nine Provinces.

This is also a good thing for the Great Wall Army. Although they have never met, Tian Yu knows that Yang Zheng is a man with a strong sense of national righteousness. If Yang Zheng ascends the throne, the Great Wall Army's pay will certainly not be withheld!

"Commander!"

Just as Tian Yu was muttering to himself, footsteps came from outside the door. Soon after, Tian Yu's adjutant, Chang Yong, hurriedly walked in, saluted Tian Yu, and said, "Yesterday, our army intercepted another batch of supplies being transported to the north!"

Upon hearing this, Tian Yu frowned.

The Great Wall stretches for thousands of miles, but the Great Wall Army only numbered 300,000, which obviously could not cover the entire Great Wall and could only guard some key positions.

This situation naturally gave the northern barbarians an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

Although the barbarians were muscular, they were not all brains. Some of them were also clever and would take advantage of the areas not guarded by the Great Wall army to send small groups of troops to infiltrate Youzhou and burn, kill, and plunder.

This is how the barbarian armies that previously entered Youzhou came.

Of course, this was all the barbarians could do. Small groups of troops could sneak in and fool the Great Wall Army, but if a large army attacked, the commotion would be enormous, and the Great Wall Army would not be able to remain completely unaware.

In addition to sending small groups of troops to infiltrate Youzhou and harass the area, the barbarians also used these unguarded sections of the Great Wall for trade!

That's right, it's a transaction!

The barbarians and the Xia people did indeed have a blood feud spanning thousands of years, but that doesn't mean everyone will remember it!

On the contrary, many people were willing to trade with the barbarians for profit!

They would trade with the barbarians for resources they lacked, such as salt, grain, and tea, in exchange for various precious herbs from the barbarians!

Perhaps these people think that exchanging ordinary resources like food for precious medicinal herbs is a way to make a fortune, but little do they know that their actions are helping the barbarians and aiding the enemy!