AD 1627, the seventh year of the Apocalypse, Chengcheng County, Shaanxi Province.
Zhang Yaocai, the county magistrate of Chengcheng, was sitting in the lobby of the county government office. He was looking at the account books handed over by his master. His brows were furrowed and he looked unhappy: "Have the taxes owed by each village not been collected yet? The higher-ups are urging them to do so. Very urgent.”
The master quickly put on a smile and said: "Your Excellency, there is a severe drought in Shaanxi. The land is thousands of miles away and the people are in dire straits. The people are really out of food and they can't collect it no matter how hard they push. This is called [helpless]."
He said the four words "helpless" heavily and forcefully, and coupled with the exaggerated expression, it looked quite funny.
Zhang Yaocai knew that this master always liked to add incomprehensible summaries at the end of sentences, so he didn't care. He just hummed and said: "They don't have food? The bastards have plenty of food in their hands. They just hid it. No." I’m just willing to use it to pay the rent.”
The master said awkwardly: "What about the drought..."
Zhang Yaocai: "There was a drought the year before last, and there was a drought last year. How could we still harvest grain, but this year there was a drought and we couldn't harvest it?"
Master: "In the first year of the drought, everyone still had food in reserve. In the second year of the drought, they sold pots and iron to sell their property and could barely pay the taxes. In the third year, the drought continues... that means people are going to lose their lives. How can there be money and food to pay?" Come up? This is called [Things can only be done three times]."
Zhang Yaocai squinted: "What's the matter? You actually help those cheap guys to speak up for you? How many benefits have you received from them, and you dare to spread rumors in my ears?"
The master was startled: "This is your honor, sir, the villain has confiscated any benefits from them, and they can't live anymore. How can they have money to take care of the villain? It's really... the villain... I have to say something for them." .This is called [Discovery of Conscience].”
Zhang Yaocai said "hum" and ignored the master at all. He rolled his eyes and said to the government servant next to him: "You guys, organize a team to collect taxes... Well... Let me see, Gaojiacun , Wangjia Village, Zhengjia Village...these villages have paid the least taxes this year. Divide yourself into several teams and go to these villages for a walk. Remember, those cheap people like to cry about poverty, even though they clearly have food hidden in their homes. But he refuses to pay taxes, so if he encounters such a cheap guy, he will be beaten to death."
The officials agreed with a bang.
The master was shocked, hugged Zhang Yaocai's legs, and cried loudly: "Lord County Master, you can't do it, you can't do it. The people are already suffering a lot. If you force them again, you will only force them to rebel against the good people. This is It’s called [officials forcing people to rebel].”
"Get out of here, I've had enough of your lunacy." Zhang Yaocai kicked the master in the trousers, and the latter fell to the ground, holding his trousers and shrinking into a ball.
(PS: Zhang Yaocai is a historical figure, not a fabrication by the author of this book. Historical records record: Ding Mao of Tianqi, a severe drought in Shaanxi. Zhang Yaocai, the county magistrate of Chengcheng, was very cruel and the people could not bear the poison.)
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The sun sets, and the earth turns yellow.
Gao Yiye dragged his tired body back to Gaojiacun.
The bamboo basket contained the fruits of her day's hard work, including bark, grass roots, and wild vegetables.
These, plus the boiled eggs left over from the day, will definitely fill your stomach tomorrow.
It gave her a little spring in her step.
Other villagers were also returning to the village one after another, each carrying a basket of weeds and bark. When they saw Gao Yiye, many people waved to her and said hello, thanking her for the big eggs she brought to everyone.
While Gao Yiye responded to the villagers' greetings, he walked to his door and opened the door bolt.
With a "boom", the door opened, and a large oval-shaped white rice with a diameter of more than half a meter rolled down towards her.
But Gao Yiye was startled. She only had time to take half a step back before she was caught up by the huge white rice. Seeing that she was about to be submerged, a big hand stretched out from the sky and gently blocked her in front of her. The sliding tendency of the big white rice was temporarily suspended, but Gao Yiye was still tripped by the big white rice that leaked out from the fingers of his big hand and fell to the ground.
She was stunned for a moment and looked around her stupidly.
Rice!
What a big rice.
Each grain of rice is more than half a meter long. Just one grain of rice may weigh more than a hundred kilograms.
She was at a loss and didn't know what was happening, when she saw the face of Lord God faintly appearing in the sky above her head. There was a smile on that face, and it disappeared into the clouds in an instant.
Gao Yiye realized that Master Tianshen had made a little joke on him. He filled his house with huge gods rice and waited for him to be shocked when he opened the door.
After she figured it out, she couldn't help laughing.
Being submerged in so much snow-white "big" rice is what I have been dreaming about since the drought in the past few years. I didn't expect it to be realized in such a way. It's hard not to be happy. Even the grief of my mother's death was temporarily gone. Dispersed.
However, she was surrounded by big white rice and couldn't climb out at all.
Gao Yiye had no choice but to shout loudly: "Grandpa village chief, brother Chu Wu, fellow villagers, come and help me."
As soon as she shouted, the neighbors immediately gathered around.
Then came their exclamations: "Rice, so big rice."
The young and strong Gao Chuwu rushed over, pushed away the large white rice around her, and pulled her out of the rice pile.
The village chief also rushed over immediately, and then the whole village of 42 people gathered in front of Gao Yiye's house.
Everyone looked at the big white rice, which was as huge as a millstone, and fell into confusion, and the whole person was in a brief state of panic.
After a while, the village chief said: "This is also a gift from the gods, right? There is no such big rice in the world."
Gao Yiye nodded: "Master Tianshen made a little joke with me. He deliberately piled up big white rice in my house and drowned me when I opened the door."
Village Chief: "I really hope he makes such a joke with us once a day."
The fifth-year high school student was silly and happy. He reached out and picked up a big white rice on the ground. This thing weighed a hundred kilograms and was very difficult to hold. But he refused to let go when he held it in his arms. He smiled stupidly: "This rice How to divide it? Should our family share ten pieces?"
The village chief was angry: "Stop! Put it away. We don't know yet whether the rice is given to just one leaf or to all of us. If it is only given to one leaf, you take it randomly and anger the gods." Sir, do you want to be photographed like a bandit?"
Gao Chuwu was startled, his hands froze, and the rice fell to the ground.
The village chief turned to Kazuye and said warmly: "Kazuye, you are a good boy. Since Lord Tenjin has chosen to only appear in front of you, we can only ask you to talk to Lord Tenjin. Please ask him. , these rice...can we take advantage of you and enjoy some..."
Just as he was speaking here, a arrogant voice suddenly sounded from the direction of the village entrance: "Untouchables of Gaojia Village, come out, don't hide in the house one by one and pretend to be dead. When will you pay the taxes you owe the court?" ?”
As soon as this sound came, the faces of all the villagers turned dark. Even the ignorant children were so scared that they covered their mouths and did not dare to cry.
Gao Chuwu said in a low voice: "Oh no, the county government officials are here."
The village chief didn't think twice and said immediately: "Yiye, Chuwu, and those young people, you should start immediately, get all the rice back to Yiye's house, and close the door. I will go to the entrance of the village to deal with the government officials. Remember, everyone, don’t let them see the rice in this house.”
