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Xinlongli, Xinlong Township, is twenty-five miles away from Hanming Temple and thirty miles away from Anyuan County.

Wu Zongrui and Liao Wenru left Hanming Temple early in the morning and headed to Xinlongli.

After the sworn vows, Liao Wenru walked briskly and looked relaxed, but Wu Zongrui was worried and thinking all the way.

Although he is quite familiar with the history of the late Ming Dynasty, the situation is completely different after he has truly traveled through time. For Wu Zongrui, when he traveled to this era, his eyes were completely dark, and there were too many unknowns.

This feeling has gradually emerged during the journey.

Xinlongli is to the west of Hanming Temple, and it is desolate all the way to the west.

The two of them were walking among the hilly slopes. The road was rugged, full of potholes, and filled with mud and rocks. They needed to be careful when walking, as they might fall if they were not careful.

There was almost no human habitation along the way. Occasionally, I saw people on both sides of the road. Regardless of whether they were old, young or young, they all had expressionless faces and numb expressions.

The few people Wu Zongrui saw were all wearing dirty coarse cloth single clothes and their clothes were not covering their bodies.

At the end of winter and the beginning of spring, the weather was still a bit cold. Wu Zongrui was wearing cotton clothes and could not bear the mountain wind that blew from time to time.

Hanming Temple is located on the outskirts of the city, only five miles away from the county seat. According to Wu Zongrui's understanding, there should be many families in this area, but the reality was far beyond his expectation. There were almost no families visible along the way.

"Wenru, do you come to this area often?"

"Many times, my senior brothers from the temple often took me out to beg for alms, and I passed by here every time."

"This is a suburban area, why can't we see many people?"

"It's always been like this. My senior brother used to take me out to beg for alms. We mostly went to the county town or to the market town. We didn't stop on the way. There was no place to beg for alms nearby."

"I remember it wasn't like this before."

"Oh, the elder brother was talking about it many years ago. There used to be some families around here, but I heard from my senior brother that there have been too many famines in recent years. Many farmers have no food to eat and cannot survive, so the whole family has left.

..”

Before Liao Wenru finished speaking, a word popped into Wu Zongrui's mind: refugee.

The flood of refugees in the late Ming Dynasty was due on the one hand to natural disasters and bad climate, and there was not much food harvested in the fields, which was not enough to eat. On the other hand, it was also due to the epidemic. Farmers suffered disasters and had to bear taxes. They really couldn't survive, so they had to leave the whole family.

Wandering, going out to beg for food, hoping to survive.

"The county government doesn't care. Aren't there charity warehouses set up in various places? They have to help the people when disaster strikes."

"I'm not sure about this, but I've never heard of the government providing food relief to the people."

Wu Zongrui nodded slightly. He wanted to know more and continued to ask.

"Wenru, you have been in Hanming Temple for ten years, so you must be very familiar with the surrounding situation."

"I can't say that I'm very familiar with it. I mostly heard it from my senior brother. The temple sets up a porridge shed every spring to help the people around it. However, there isn't a lot of food in the temple. It can't take a long time to set up the porridge shed. I remember seven years.

When the porridge shed was set up in the past, a lot of people came, but then the number of people gradually decreased, and there were even fewer people coming last year and the year before."

A flash of lightning flashed across Wu Zongrui's mind, and he suddenly thought of something. Ming history recorded that on April 11th, the first year of Chongzhen, peasants rioted in Ganzhou, Jiangxi.

Shen Kefeng escaped, and Jiangxi Governor Hong Zhanzu reported it. The imperial court dispatched a large army, which took two months to completely suppress the peasant uprising in Ganzhou.

In November of the first year of Chongzhen, the peasant uprising in Shaanxi broke out in full force. Wang Er of Baishui County, Wang Jiayin of Fugu, Wang Zuogai of Yichuan, Gao Yingxiang of Ansai, Wang Daliang of Hannan, etc. all raised their flags. The peasant uprising in the late Ming Dynasty kicked off.

Wu Zongrui's expression became solemn. He vaguely felt that by the first year of Chongzhen, the situation in some parts of the Ming Dynasty had fallen into an uncontrollable situation. However, these difficult and chaotic situations were not recorded in detail in the history books.

Thinking of this, Wu Zongrui spoke again.

"It's late winter and early spring now, and Hanming Temple should be setting up a porridge shed soon."

"That may not be the case this year. The temple cannot maintain itself. Yesterday, I heard from the abbot that he wants all the senior brothers to leave the temple and go outside to beg for alms. If you don't go out to beg for alms, the abbot and all the senior brothers will have nothing to eat..."

"How did it get to this point?"

Liao Wenru looked at Wu Zongrui with a strange look in his eyes.

"Brother, don't you know these things?"

"I'm not sure. My mind has been a little confused these days and I can't remember many things clearly. But I think the temple can still be maintained. After all, there are more than ten acres of farmland and there are donations from pilgrims every year. There should be no problem in eating."

"The temple encountered difficulties two years ago. The weather was bad. The crops planted on the more than ten acres of land did not yield much harvest, and there were always people stealing the crops. The abbot said they were all desperate farmers. Don't report it to the official.

, and don’t pursue it. At that time, I was still surprised that this was theft, how could I let it go, but the abbot said that I, the Buddha, are compassionate, and farmers would not steal food from the fields if they were not trying to survive..."

Wu Zongrui looked at Liao Wenru and let out a long sigh. Even Hanming Temple can't maintain it. There is no need to say more about what farmers are like.

"Boom, boom, boom..."

"Listen up, neighbors from all over the countryside. Under the orders of the county magistrate, land tax collection will begin on the first day of April. Every household must pay on time and must not default, otherwise the government will severely punish you..."

Before we actually entered the town, the sound of gongs and shouts could be heard.

The land tax of the Ming Dynasty was collected in two seasons, the spring tax was collected in the spring and the autumn tax was collected in the autumn. The spring tax accounted for about 40% of the land tax. It began to be collected in April and lasted for two months.

There are great disadvantages to levying taxes in spring for the South. The so-called "lack of harvest" refers to the period in spring when the first year's food is basically used up. The next year's food has just been sown and cannot be harvested until July.

, many farmers will fall into the dilemma of food shortage.

Due to different geographical and climatic conditions, the south and north of the Ming Dynasty have different planting methods. In the north, winter wheat and spring wheat are mainly planted, and winter wheat begins to be harvested from February to March. In the south, rice is mainly planted, generally.

Harvest begins in July.

During the Wanli period, after Zhang Juzheng implemented reforms, all land taxes were collected in the form of currency, and grain was rarely collected.

"Wen Ru, does Hanming Temple need to pay land tax?"

"No need. Fortunately, we don't pay land taxes, otherwise we would not be able to maintain it long ago."

"Wouldn't it mean that farmers are even more unsustainable?"

"I haven't thought about this. Brother, you are a student and have a good reputation, so you don't need to pay land taxes."

Wu Zongrui was silent again. Although there were not many scholars with honors in the Ming Dynasty, the number would not be too large. The court valued and relied on scholars and exempted scholars with fame from land tax. However, there were policies from above and countermeasures from below. Some farmers listed their land as

In the name of a scholar or official with a good reputation, the land tax was exempted. More officials and gentry annexed land on a large scale and did not bear the land tax.

The total amount of land tax will not change. The less land for which land tax is paid, the more land tax needs to be paid per acre of land, resulting in farmers' land tax becoming increasingly heavy and unbearable.

Wu Zongrui, who was slightly familiar with the history of the late Ming Dynasty, knew that the land tax in the Ming Dynasty was not very heavy. Even if Liao rates, suppression rates and training rates were added, the amount did not reach the level of anger and resentment. However, the late Ming Dynasty was in the Little Ice Age, and natural disasters

Frequently, grain harvests fail or even end, and farmers have no food to eat. At this time, even the low and pitiful land tax is a huge pressure and the straw that breaks the body of farmers.

Seeing Wu Zongrui fall into silence, Liao Wenru spoke again.

"Brother, up ahead is Xinlong Market Town. I heard from the abbot that your home is not far from the market town..."

"Yeah, I'll be home soon. It's been three months since I left home, and I don't know what the situation is like at home."

"There should be nothing wrong. Big brother goes to Hanming Temple to practice on his behalf. It is the winter month."

"Stop talking, go home, Wenru, and put on your hat. You have returned to secular life, and you need to grow your hair."

"I know, the abbot has told me a long time ago that this is my identity document, and I will have to report it to the county government office when the time comes."

Wu Zongrui and Liao Wenru walked for more than two hours from Hanming Temple to Xinlongli, a distance of twenty-five miles. They set out at 3:30 in the morning, and it was already past noon.

Wu Zongrui has already felt that his body is a bit weak. It is probably because he was immersed in studying before and lacked exercise. Maybe his life is not very good and he looks weak. It is said that for twenty-five miles, even if the road conditions are not very good, he will not be able to do it.

It takes about five hours to walk.

He became a student member at the age of fourteen, and he was also a member of the Linshan family. This is very remarkable.

If you want to obtain the title of student member, you need to pass the county examination, government examination and hospital examination. Only after passing the hospital examination can you become a student member.

Students are divided into three categories, namely Linshan students, Zengguang students and attached students. Among them, Linshan students have the best test scores and have the highest status. They can receive rice, flour, etc. allocated by the court every month. Zengguang students

Students and affiliated students do not have such qualifications.

Of course, no matter what type of student it is, for scholars, it has just started. The most important thing is the provincial examination, the joint examination and the palace examination. After passing the provincial examination, you become a scholar, you have the qualifications to be an official, you pass the joint examination, and you become a tribute student.

Being able to be directly appointed as an official, as for passing the palace examination and becoming a second-ranked Jinshi, it is certain that he will become an official.

This concept has penetrated into every corner of society, and remote mountain villages are no exception. If they are not able to study, then the children of ordinary people will not have the opportunity to leap over the dragon's gate.

The gentry and officials are the privileged class of this society. They are at the top of this society. They are almost entirely composed of scholars and enjoy privileges.
Chapter completed!