"In the ninth year of Yuanxi, there was a severe drought in Yingzhou, and the autumn harvest was only 20 to 30%. The winter was extremely cold, and many people and animals froze to death." - "Qinghe County Chronicle".
boom!
boom……
In the woods on the southern slope of Mount Paektu, a boy of fifteen or sixteen years old, wearing a worn-out cotton-padded jacket, was swinging a hoe vigorously and shoveling hard into the ground.
It was freezing cold and the soil was as hard as stone. It took him a long time to dig out a small hole less than half a meter deep.
There were a few pine cones scattered in the pit.
"found it!"
The young man bent down to pick up the pine cone, wiped off the loose soil on it, and put it into his arms with great care.
When he raised the hoe again, he suddenly felt dizzy.
He quickly propped up his body with the hoe, rested his chin on the handle of the hoe, and rested for a long time.
"All the hardships I endured in my previous life will be eaten up in one month in this life!"
Zhao Lin sighed, and the hot breath he exhaled turned into a cloud of white mist, making everything in front of him a little blurry.
He actually comes from another world.
In his previous life, he was an ordinary office worker who lived an ordinary and simple life. He didn't like sports or play games. His only hobby was reading novels.
Unexpectedly, as soon as I woke up, I would be transported to this world inexplicably.
The original owner of this body was Zhao Lin, an ordinary farmer from Sanjia Village in Paektu Mountain. He died of a cold a few months ago.
Unlike many time-traveling predecessors, Zhao Lin is not an orphan. He has both parents and an older brother.
But my family is poor, my mother is blind, and my father was gored by a wild boar last year when he went to the mountains to collect medicine, puncturing his chest and lungs. Although he survived by luck, the root cause of the disease was caused and he lost the ability to work.
His elder brother, Zhao Shan, was ten years older than him and was the mainstay of the family. Because this year's grain harvest was poor and he could not deliver autumn grain, he was arrested by the government three days ago and sent to hard labor to offset taxes.
As a result, the entire burden of the family falls on him.
Zhao Lin had just recovered from a serious illness. Seeing that his family was running out of food, he picked up a hoe and went into the mountains to look for food.
"Normally, Yingzhou does not belong to Northern Xinjiang. Why is it so cold in winter?"
Zhao Lin thought as he rubbed his hands that were red from the cold.
At the beginning of the time travel, he thought he had arrived at the end of the Ming Dynasty and caught up with the Little Ice Age.
But the country name and the era name didn't match up. This dynasty was called Dai Viet. It was a dynasty he had never heard of, and the customs and customs were also very different.
Although it was not the end of the Ming Dynasty, the situation was not much better.
Not having enough to eat and having a poor family is a true reflection of his current life.
"Let's survive first!"
Zhao Lin cut off his thoughts and continued digging the ground with his hoe.
When he entered the mountain, he saw a squirrel in the snow. He chased it for a few steps. The squirrel disappeared, but he accidentally discovered a cave.
Zhao Lin guessed that this was where the squirrels had hidden their food for the winter, so he decided to dig it up and have a look. It was as he expected.
After digging for more than an hour, a small pile of pine cones, hundreds of millet, beans, and a few unrotten wild fruits finally appeared at the bottom of the cave.
"This guy is really good at taking orders!"
Zhao Lin was very pleased that the food was enough for the whole family to eat for two days.
Seeing no one around, he took out his bag and put his things in it.
After turning over the soil several times to make sure that not a grain of grain had been missed, he tied the bag around his waist and covered it with an old cotton-padded jacket.
He looked up at the sky and carefully walked back along the way he came.
At this time, the heavy snow cover had filled up the original deep and dangerous ravine, making it impossible to see it from the outside. If someone accidentally fell in, he would either fall to death or freeze to death.
I heard that Zhang Niuer from a neighboring village fell into a snow nest and died.
…
Sanjia Village is located at the southern foot of Baekdu Mountain, with hundreds of families living sparsely.
Zhao Lin returned to the village and saw a dozen men, women, and children standing at the end of the village, gathering together and whispering.
"Brothers from the Zhao family, have you heard about the Hu Laowu family?"
After passing the crowd, Liu Dazhu next door called Zhao Lin.
"What's wrong with Hu Laowu?"
Zhao Lin glanced towards the east end of the village and heard a faint cry.
Hu Laowu is a hunter in the village. He married a widow from the East Village last year and gave birth to a pair of fat boys two months ago.
Twins were a rarity in this era, and my predecessor even went to see them with his father.
Liu Dazhu lowered his voice and said: "His parents got into the mountain kiln."
Zhao Lin was taken aback and thought he heard wrongly, "What did you say?"
"Hu Laowu's parents went into the mountain kiln yesterday. When they were found this morning, they hugged each other and froze to death."
Liu Dazhu said his eyes were red.
Zhao Lin was stunned for a long time, unable to say a word.
There are more than a dozen cave dwellings under a cliff in the outer ridge of Baekdu Mountain. They are built like earthen pots. The locals call them "Ji Si Cao".
I heard people say that during times of war and famine, life was difficult to survive, and elderly people who had lost their labor force would move in on their own in order to reduce the burden on their families.
From then on, the family delivered a meal every day and brought a few bricks with them. After ten days and a half, the cave entrance was sealed...
Zhao Lin always thought that the death kiln was just a legend, but he didn't expect it to happen in front of his eyes.
He felt something was choking in his throat, and there appeared in front of him two old men holding their grandchildren, smiling from ear to ear.
"Why, didn't you just hold a grandson?"
Liu Dazhu shook his head, "Lao Wu, Mrs. Hu, has bad legs and feet and can't do heavy work. Two more boys have been added to the family. Can he feed six people by himself?"
Zhao Lin still felt unbelievable, "No matter how difficult it is, you can survive the winter by eating grass roots and tree bark. Why are you seeking death?"
"The poll tax will be collected in the spring next year. His parents count as two heads. Is it possible that Hu Laowu will also be dragged into hard labor?"
Liu Dazhu lowered his eyelids and refused to look at him, "Besides...his parents are almost sixty."
Zhao Lin clenched the hoe tightly, his fingers turned white when pinched, "Do you deserve to die at sixty?"
Liu Dazhu sighed: "If they don't die, the children will die!"
Zhao Lin was silent for a long time, glanced in the direction of his home, frowned more and more, and finally cursed: "This world!"
…
"Is it Lin'er?"
When Zhao Lin returned home, an old woman in her fifties walked out of the kitchen. She held her hand on the door frame and looked over with empty eyes.
The old woman was Zhao Lin's mother in this life. Her eyes were originally good. When she was young, she did sewing and mending work for others. She often worked in the dark to save lamp oil. Over time, her eyes were worn out.
"Mom, it's me." Zhao Lin responded, walked over and grabbed his mother's hand.
"I went up the mountain and saw a squirrel nest with a lot of winter food hidden in it."
As he spoke, he handed the bag to his mother's hand.
"Lin'er is really capable!"
The wrinkles on Zhao's mother's face unfolded and she gently stroked Zhao Lin's forehead, "You are recovering from your illness, are you not tired?"
Zhao Lin smiled and said, "I'm not tired, I'm just hungry."
"Come and eat." Father Zhao walked out of the back room, slightly stooped as he walked.
The three of them sat around the table, each with a bowl of porridge, a plate of pickles in the middle, a few pieces of steamed buns, and an extra black-faced steamed bun on Zhao Lin's side.
Zhao Lin picked up the steamed bun and broke it open, "Mom and dad, you guys eat too."
Father Zhao waved his hand and said, "Your mother and I have had lunch at noon. Just drink some porridge."
Zhao's mother also said: "Lin'er, don't give in. We can't change at home and we're not hungry."
Zhao Lin sighed in his heart, knowing that he couldn't be persuaded, so he just started eating.
During the dinner, the two elders were in a low mood and did not speak much. Zhao Lin guessed that they had heard about the affairs of Hu Laowu's family and couldn't help but feel worried.
"They don't have any ideas."
When he first traveled through time, he didn't have any deep feelings for his family in this life.
But when he was bedridden for more than half a month, his family took turns taking care of him. His brother went out to work part-time to support the family, his mother took care of him in bed, and his father was busy with other tasks...
Family love is everywhere, and his mentality slowly changed, and now he truly regards himself as a member of the family.
Born into such a poor family, Zhao Lin carefully considered how to use his advanced knowledge to change the family's economic situation.
However, according to the information learned, things are not easy.
First of all, the literary route is blocked.
There was no imperial examination in the Dai Viet Dynasty, and the talent selection system was similar to the recommendation system of the Han and Jin dynasties. Aristocratic families recommended people with good reputations to serve as officials.
To put it bluntly, it depends on one’s background, and this road is hopeless.
The same goes for doing business.
Without the support of the government, wealthy families or gangs, it would be impossible to do it.
Besides, he has no capital.
As for inventing soap, sugar, etc., that was not something that a humble citizen like me could touch.
"Are you saying that Zhou Laowang has lost his mind? A good cattle is going to be killed."
"It's not just to collect the gift money..."
After hearing what his parents were talking about, Zhao Lin raised his head and asked, "Killing cattle? The government doesn't allow it, right?"
"Zhou Laowang's cattle are old and have many problems, so the government agreed."
Father Zhao explained, perhaps thinking of his own situation, his expression was a little sad.
"Kill the cow..."
Zhao Lin muttered, and a flash of lightning suddenly flashed in his mind.
