New Trickster

  The severe drought in Shaanxi has been lasting all summer, with hardly any decent rain. Standing at the village entrance and looking far away, the distant mountains are a dull gray, under the scorching sun, waves of hot air are rising, making the thousands of mountains and rivers seem like an illusion. The trees on the mountain and the weeds by the roadside have all turned dry and yellow, with a gust of hot wind blowing, rustling sounds can be heard, as if a spark could set them ablaze. Where is the lush green vitality of midsummer?

  In the distant fields, not a single grain of crops remained, nor was there any wild grass that had survived. Looking out at the cracked earth, those large cracks seemed like venomous snakes, as if they were going to swallow up everything that might contain water. One step down and you would sink several inches, stirring up a cloud of dust and dirt. Apart from this, there was no sign of life anywhere.

  But fortunately, the water of the Sha Jia River still flows day and night without haste or delay. Looking around, other fields far from the riverbank are all cracked and barren, with not a single blade of grass growing. Only Zhang Lao Shi's thousands of acres of land surrounding the platform have wheat that is thriving, like a sea wave rolling in the wind. Seeing this expanse of green wheat, Lv Shi's heart couldn't be more delighted. This was also one of the benefits of his transmigration advantage.

  Walking through the lush and dense fields, from time to time, I would pluck out one or two ears of wheat with my hands, rub them in my palms, put those nearly full grains into my mouth and bite them, savoring the fresh wheat fragrance, feeling very accomplished.

  Looking from afar at the three children busily weeding and ridging in the fields, Lü Shi's heart was even more delighted. This could also be considered as repaying the kindness of Zhang Laoshi's family for taking them in.

  When the sun was setting, Zhang Lao Shi's aunt came to the ridge to fetch water and prepare dinner. Lv Shi hurried forward to help, facing Zhang Da Niang said: "Sister-in-law, this year's sunshine is sufficient, the water is good, looking at this year's wheat growth, I'm afraid it will be better than last year. I think it will be more than three or five dou per mu, so the children won't have to eat bran cakes anymore, and their bodies will become stronger." Then he smiled to himself, with a sense of pride in his own achievements, like a child waiting for an adult's praise.

  Zhang Lao Shi's wife straightened her waist, used her hand to prop up the awning and looked at the distant gray fields, then looked at the dilapidated farm house and sighed: "Yes, this year we have Master's windmill, irrigation is timely, now one mu of land will yield more than three or five dou compared to last year."

  Although that's what he said, his tone and expression didn't show a hint of joy, but rather a deeper sorrow on his old, dark grey face.

  Lü Shì was puzzled, why did the harvest increase but the worry became even more severe?

  "Just then, Zhang's wife seemed to be muttering to herself and also speaking to Lü Shi: 'The day before yesterday and yesterday, several households in the west of the village that had nothing left to harvest, took their children and daughters and fled to other places as refugees. When they left, they grabbed a handful of soil from their courtyard, which was also a way of having a connection to their hometown. The desperation was unbearable, let's not mention it. Look at them, this time, who knows if they will starve to death in some ditch and can't be buried in their ancestors' graves, becoming wandering ghosts and wild spirits. They dug up the soil from their courtyard and scattered it on their faces, as if returning to their roots. Looking back, since the beginning of the year, more than 30 households in our village have abandoned their homes and fled to other places. Only a dozen or so households like ours have some harvest left. But even for us... ' She said this much, looked at Lü Shi's bewildered face, let out a long sigh, hunched over and walked away slowly. The evening wind carried her long sigh: 'Alas, this world is still livable.'"

  "It's the same." Lü Shi expressed sympathy in a low voice, and usually saw those who covered their doors and cried as they left their hometowns. His heart was also sorrowful, but he was powerless. In this era of natural disasters and human suffering, one person's power was still too thin to change anything, and could only watch them leave with a helpless gaze.

  "But we're not like them, we don't have to flee in a hurry. Our harvest is good, and after collecting the water fees from other households and Zhang's land, we'll have more than enough to eat and still have some left over. It won't hurt for you to take care of others who are struggling, either." Looking at the heavy wheat ears swaying in the wind, Lv Shixin smiled reassuringly.

  With our current income and the upcoming harvest, it is impossible to support the entire village. However, we still have the confidence and ability to help some of our neighbors.

  "You don't understand, you don't understand." Zhang Danni listened to Lü Shi's comfort and just shook her head lightly, picked up the water bucket and walked away with a limp, leaving Lü Shi stunned on the ridge, "Is it bad to harvest more wheat?"

  Waited till nightfall, carrying a belly full of confusion and 3 little ones back home, after eating wheat wild vegetable rice, with a belly full of questions, consulted Zhang Laoshi under the tree in the courtyard.

  Zhang Laoshi put down the farming tool he was holding and let out a long sigh, saying: "Master, don't you understand? In our great Ming dynasty, there's an unwritten but legitimate rule. Because our family has collected more than three to five dou of grain, while other families have abandoned their land and become refugees, those refugees will be the first to suffer, and we might be next."

  But what's the reason? Lv Shi didn't understand, and after asking carefully, Zhang Laoshi said a few words.

  After listening to Zhang Lao Shi's chatter about the situation, Lv Shi understood what had happened but was completely speechless.

  But in fact, from the beginning of Tianqi in the Ming Dynasty, there was an endless extortion and forced labor, forcing a large number of peasants to flee. Local officials, in order to meet the quota of donations and taxes set by their superiors, adopted the method of "one household fleeing, nine households sharing the responsibility", and even "when able-bodied men fled, they searched for young children to bear the tax burden". This led to a situation where entire towns and villages were often deserted.

  In the seventh year of Tianqi, Wu Yingji, who was then serving as the governor of Shaanxi, wrote to his good friend in a letter about an incident he witnessed while passing through Zhenyang, Henan:

  From dawn till now, I have traveled 20 li outside the city and another 40 li. Today's weather is very clear, so I raised my curtain to take a look. Among the 40 li of fields I saw, all were overgrown with yellow grass and white weeds. Upon closer inspection, it appears that they are all abandoned farmland. The boundaries between plots still exist, but there is no sign of crops anywhere. It seems that farming has been abandoned for a long time.

  I asked a woodcutter, "Is the situation in this county as bad as what I've seen so far?" He replied, "About 80-90% of it is like this. Only Xi County is slightly better, but even there, about 40-50% of the land is abandoned."

  I found his words strange and asked him to explain further. When we arrived at the post station, I saw some officials and asked them, "What about the abandoned fields we saw along the way? Don't they have any taxes to pay?" Several people answered in unison, "The fields you saw were all fertile land before, how could there be a lack of taxes?"

  I pressed on, asking, "Why aren't they farming?" They replied, "There are no oxen." I asked, "Why are there no oxen?" They said, "Many have been stolen and sold outside the county. Without oxen, there is no one to farm the land. When people leave, their fields become ownerless, and without owners, they are not farmed. Even if someone wants to take over the field, they would still have to pay taxes on it, which would be a burden for them."

  I asked further, "Why don't those who abandon their fields sell them instead of just leaving them like that?" They replied, "The corvée labor required for landowners is so harsh that even if someone wants to give up their property, they can't. And what about those who take over the field? The taxes would still be levied on their household, and if they can't afford it, they would have to abandon everything."

  I asked again, "Don't you report this situation to the county magistrate?" They replied, "The county magistrate is only concerned with collecting taxes and is not interested in hearing about our problems. The officials are corrupt and only care about meeting their quotas, so they just use force to collect taxes without caring about the people's suffering."

  I asked once more, "Is this a major thoroughfare? Do officials often pass through here?" They replied, "Yes." I asked again, "Do provincial officials also come through here?" They replied, "Yes."

  This passage is indeed a very important historical material, but it convincingly reveals why Zhang Lao Shi, despite having collected three to five more dou, still looked worried and unhappy.

  In the past, when the year was still passable, other neighbors could barely make a living by struggling to survive, although there were many taxes and levies, but they could still manage to get by. After all, it's hard to leave one's hometown, and once you flee, you'll likely starve to death in a foreign land, and even if you're lucky enough to die with your body intact, you won't be able to return to your ancestral grave to rest in peace.

  Recently, however, things have not been going well. For nearly two years, there has been a severe drought with no rain, and the crops have yielded nothing. Rebellions and uprisings have erupted everywhere, and the people are struggling to survive. Yet, the imperial court has not provided any relief, while imposing numerous taxes that keep increasing. The practice of "lianpiao" (a type of tax) and "liaopiao" (another type of tax) has been added, and the annual stipends for officials at all levels have been reduced to the lowest level in history. With their meager salaries, they must feed their families, servants, and retainers, as well as pay them wages. They also need to bribe their superiors in the capital and make offerings to them. As a result, the burden on the people has increased exponentially, with officials at all levels embezzling funds and extorting money from the people. Those who refuse to comply are arrested, their houses are demolished, and they are subjected to corporal punishment. In this desperate situation, who can still think about the importance of staying in their hometown, where the soil is precious and the ancestral graves are located? The thought of leaving one's hometown and family behind is unbearable. However, for those who remain, it is certain that they will be ruined and killed. Therefore, young people have taken to the mountains, resorting to banditry to survive, while the elderly, weak, women, and children have fled their homes in search of a glimmer of hope for survival.

  It seems that the taxes and levies of those households that fled will now fall on these few dozen households that have not yet gone bankrupt, and it's likely that due to this excessive collection of three to five dou, other families will abandon their homes while Zhang Laoshi's family is left destitute.

  Zhang Da Hu? Since the Ming Dynasty, it has been a symbol of identity for scholars and officials not to pay taxes or serve as officials. This is the fundamental interest of the ruling group of the great Ming Dynasty. Even some nominal things have been passed on to the common people through various excuses.

  Lü Shidai was dazed, and didn't even notice when Zhang Laoshi returned to the room. After a long time, he suddenly slammed his palm on the table: "Damn it, what kind of era is this? What kind of policy is this? Isn't this just forcing the people to rebel against the officials?"