This spring of the ninth year of Taixing was incredibly cold.
It was already March, but the sky was gloomy and the thick clouds were like a heavy lead plate, weighing down people's hearts and making it hard to breathe.
The spring wind should have been gentle, but now it is still biting and biting, as if even the flowing blood can be frozen. The grass and trees have withered, and the green spring has disappeared, leaving only the current one.
In a withered state, lifeless.
There were few pedestrians on the street, and occasionally there were a few travelers in a hurry, all wrapped up in their robes and hunched their necks to resist the cold wind. Their faces were full of exhaustion and helplessness, as if the cold
The weather also reflects the desolation in their hearts.
In the distant fields, farmers struggled to fight against the hardened soil with hoes, their eyes full of despair and confusion. They were somewhat aware that this late spring cold would not only destroy their harvests, but also put their lives in dire straits.
Occasionally, a few lone birds fly over in the sky, making shrill calls, as if telling the story of the suffering and helplessness in this world.
Spring plowing has been seriously delayed.
The land of Jizhou and Yuzhou was originally the most suitable land for farming in China. It was also the area with the largest number of cultivated fields and the most concentrated area. Due to the prosperity of agriculture, this land also gave birth to a large population. At one time, it gave birth to the entire Han Dynasty.
Nine times out of ten agricultural value.
For farmers, the lean period is already difficult enough, but now coupled with the malicious nature of nature, this is tantamount to the future for farmer families who usually struggle to have enough food and clothing.
Starving, or...
The family was broken up and people died.
But when faced with such a threat, the farmer still didn't know what he should do...
Well, actually it's not like they're not doing anything, they're working.
The farmer's solution to facing his own disaster and terrifying future is to work.
Very, very, very much life.
The hardship of farm work in the Han Dynasty was beyond the imagination of later generations.
In later generations, there are often scenes of mechanized harvesting and large-scale planting in the Central China Plain, which makes people feel relaxed and happy, and realize the strength of the country and the well-being of the people. But if the machinery and iron tools are removed, the people will only be left with simple
It is not a comfortable thing to cultivate such a vast field with only wooden or a few iron tools.
In the land of Yingchuan, a land that originally belonged to the emperors of the Eastern Han Dynasty, after a day's work, a family of civilians sat exhausted... or paralyzed on the muddy ridge at the edge of the field, sweating profusely,
His clothes were soaked, his eyes were dull, he was panting hard with his mouth half open, his hand rake was thrown aside, and his hands and feet were shaking.
The hands and feet of the three people were shaking quite rhythmically.
An old man is the father.
The two young ones are brothers.
Because they have been repeating this quite rhythmic action all day long.
Rake...and rake...and move one step...
Then rake...and rake again...and then move one step...
This is what they did all day long.
No drinks, no snacks, no breaks, no laughter.
There is no such thing as life being so hard, why can’t I just lie down and have a good time?
There is no way I am not spending money to suffer the wrath of this crime, because they really have no money, no money at all. They even borrowed the money for the seeds for farming.
Green crop loan.
Before the implementation of the Green Crops Law in the Northern Song Dynasty, in fact, such loans were already available on a large scale in the Chinese feudal dynasty. The reason why Wang Anshi failed to implement the Green Crops Law was due to many so-called reasons that can be explained on the stage.
There are two reasons behind the shadow, one is naturally due to interests, and the other is the long-standing "God-given monarchy".
In the feudal dynasty, when people encountered overwhelming disasters and pains, they would cry "God". In fact, it did not really refer to the gods and emperors, but the government court of the feudal dynasty.
In the hearts of the people, the government courts of these feudal dynasties should originally represent their most fundamental rights and interests, and the Green Crop Law should not be implemented for profit. After all, the people already have to bear taxes, and they also have to pay taxes in addition to taxes.
You have to bear additional loans, but in fact this hope is just a beautiful lie, just like the constitution of later capitalist countries expressing freedom and equality, which is cold and without much warmth.
It's like the cold spring weather right now.
Farmers who were supposed to be busy with spring plowing were helpless due to the sudden cold.
The ground was frozen as hard as iron, making it difficult for the plowshare to reach the ground and seeds unable to be sown.
Even those seeds that have been sown have difficulty growing in the cold, and those that do grow are frozen to death in the fields.
What can a farmer do?
They could only work hard to plow the fields again, holding back tears and burying the frozen seedlings under the soil again, as if this way they could bury their sorrow and usher in hope.
The hope of a whole family.
Speaking of which, they were lucky, because in the land of Yingchuan, the war did not last too long, and because Cao Cao's core focus in the mid-term was on the Xu County area, the surrounding agricultural areas were
Recovery as soon as possible. Therefore, compared to the people in other areas, the farmers here will suffer relatively less losses from military disasters and man-made disasters.
What's more, their family has three workers.
One big and two small.
If calculated according to the age of future generations, of the two and a half young men, one should still be in high school and the other should be in junior high school at most. However, according to the standards of big men, they are already "Ding".
Therefore, the women in their family can still be taken care of at home, otherwise they would like to be like the ones in the fields next door...
The farmers in the fields next door are still plowing the land.
In the cold wind, the farmer next door just wrapped a roll of cloth around his waist whose original color could no longer be seen. There were holes in the cloth. It looked like it should have been a short shirt. Later, because it couldn't be repaired, he
It is used as a crotch cloth to cover up shame.
His body was exposed to the wind, and his ribs were clearly visible. He was breathing heavily, and his legs and feet were shaking, but he was still working hard to plow the fields. His body, face, and limbs were covered with large and small stains.
of mud.
A woman followed behind the farmer, wearing a short jacket with at least a dozen patches, holding a wooden shovel in her hand, and was reprocessing the ground that the man had dug up.
She was barefoot, and her feet were covered with calluses and sores.
At one end of the field, an older child was holding a younger child and looking blankly at his parents.
The child continued to cry during the day, but soon became exhausted.
Crying, depression, cursing, and complaining all require a certain amount of physical strength. When you are extremely tired, you will have no emotions at all, only numbness.
"Our family is fine... not bad..."
The older farmer sitting on the muddy ridge muttered something, and seemed to get some comfort from the farmer in the field next door. He stood up, packed his tools, put on his short robe, and said, "Let's go home."
』
The two and a half young men also responded, stood up, and shook the dirt off their bodies. They did not have outer robes, only short jackets. Only the head of the family was qualified to wear outer robes.
Then the three people, in silence, dragged their tired steps towards their homes in the sunset.
The pain of others may not make you happy, but at least it can let you know that you are not as painful as others.
The paths in the fields are difficult to walk.
In order to free up more land for growing crops, the fields in the manor are kept as narrow as possible.
The old farmer walks in front, and the young farmer follows behind. Not only are the steps consistent, but even the shadows of the hunched backs carrying farm tools are similar.
Their home is not near the fields.
Because their fields do not belong to their family, they are just tenants, so they need to walk through a long stretch of flat land, cross two single-plank bridges, and then climb over a small hill before they can see their home.
They need to spend at least an hour walking every day.
From the place of work to the home of rest.
This happens every day.
The land they cultivated belonged to the manor owner, and the land on which their house was built also belonged to the manor owner.
Therefore, the manor owner will never allow them to build a house on the edge of the field, even a simple shed, because that would be equivalent to usurping their means of production, just like companies in later generations will never allow employees to live in
It's the same in the company. Although they say that employees should treat the company as their home, in fact they just want the employees to bleed, sweat and shed tears. If there are really stupid employees who treat the company as their own home, what will the capitalists let the employees know?
That's called the Iron Fist of Freedom.
Their home is beside a stream, surrounded by gravel and rocks, which is not suitable for farming, so it became a gathering place for these tenants.
The surrounding environment is the most primitive and far from civilization. Even the moss on the shacks can prove this. Such a scene will surely be envied by many future generations who are tired of the fast-paced life in the city...
Those who lived near tenants were also tenants.
They are even refugees who are worse than tenants.
The tenants still have one or two shacks, while the refugees live in huts without even shacks.
Dig a pit in the ground, and then use a few wooden sticks to create a small space in the pit, which is where these refugees will stay. Such pits are naturally shabby without exception.
, looks shaky, as if a strong wind could bury these refugees directly in the dug pits.
So sometimes it seems like these refugees' dens are more like the graveyards they dug for themselves.
However, even if these refugees really die, they will not be able to own the pits they dug with their own hands. Most of them will be carried away, burned, and turned into a handful of ashes, so that they will not encroach too much on the manor owner's property.
land.
When passing these dens, the farmers, young and old, kept their eyes straight and held their heads high.
There are often some envious or longing eyes projected into the underground nest...
In fact, neither the three farmers nor the people in the diwo realized why the manor was so big and why the manor owner, who usually talked about benevolence, justice, morality, truth, goodness, and beauty, would deliberately put tenants and refugees together.
After passing these huts and walking a little further ahead, some shacks will appear one after another.
This is the living area of the tenants.
The tenant's house at least looks like a house. Although most of them are still made of stone, yellow mud, logs and straw, it can be seen that most of them have been carefully tidied up, and some houses still have a few spots on them.
The vegetation color is obviously lighter than the new wood repair marks.
The people around the house were dressed more or less normally, with most wearing wooden clogs and straw sandals, and traces of occasional cleaning could be seen on their heads and faces.
If it were a normal day, these people would probably greet each other, but in today's weird and abnormal climate, no one seems to have the intention to say hello, and they look at each other in silence, or even numbly.
Everyone lowered their heads and went about their own business.
The waist that was originally straightened in the Diwozi area unknowingly stooped again.
Their home has arrived.
There are some stones of different sizes at the bottom of this building, and the gaps are filled with mud. There is a beam on top, without tiles, and the bedding is bundles of hay that have been selected and bundled. The building
It's not high, and even the door requires bending down to get in, but compared to the previous underground nest, it's already excellent.
In the middle of the house is the firepit.
According to usual custom, when the three farmers return home, the hostess at home has almost finished cooking the food, tidying up while there is still some light, and then resting when night comes.
But today, it seems that the hostess by the fire pit has not finished cooking yet...
"What happened?"
the male host asked.
The hostess looked at the two children beside her.
The male host turned around and asked the two and a half young men to fetch water and chop firewood from the surrounding area.
After the two and a half young men walked out of the house, the hostess said: "The old Wang family next door is here... He said he wanted to borrow some food..."
The male host immediately became nervous, "What? You didn't borrow them, did you?"
Lao Wang has been a neighbor for many years and has an old friendship. Normally, there is no problem in borrowing a morsel of food, but now...
Not usual.
"No... all the wild vegetables around have been harvested. I walked a long way to pick these... I dare not borrow them..." The hostess was silent for a moment, and then said, "I heard that food prices... have risen again...
…』
The hostess didn't mention how miserable the old Wang family next door looked when they came to borrow food.
The hostess still shudders when she thinks about it, like a zombie.
The male host was silent and sat down by the fire pit. He looked at the wild vegetables and the pitiful rice in the pot. After a while, he sighed, "It's not that we are cruel...it's just that if Lao Wang can't survive, his family will
That's it... We borrowed it last time, and we have fulfilled our duty of friendship. Let's borrow it again... to our house..."
Food prices have risen, which is never a good thing for ordinary people.
Although they are people who produce food, they cannot enjoy the benefits brought by the increase in food. Instead, they will become increasingly poor because of the heavier burden of life. Just like the construction workers of later generations, the profits from housing prices will never be eliminated.
As for those workers who are laying bricks and laying dust, even if they build tens of thousands of houses, none of them belongs to them. The rising cost of living caused by excessive housing prices will not be late at all.
Will not be absent.
The late spring cold not only caused serious disasters to the crops in the fields, but also caused damage to the vegetation in the wild. Wild vegetables that could have been used as supplementary food in spring were also very scarce, which made many poor people's already shaky
Life has suffered a heavy blow.
At the same time, due to the late spring cold, the weather suddenly turned warm and then became cold, which also caused many farmers who did not have much warm clothing to get sick.
In winter, because there is no need to go to the sky and the earth to farm, even if it is cold, you can withstand it. But when spring comes, the fields must be plowed, otherwise the whole family will not eat or wear anything for a year? But who would have thought
Will this damn climate suddenly change its face?
After working for a day, you must be sweating all over, and then the cold wind blows...
Some people can bear it, and some people can't.
In the current Han Dynasty, there is no specific medicine. The cold weather has also led to the outbreak of many diseases. Due to the lack of adequate cold-proof clothing and heating facilities, many people have suffered from wind cold, cough and other diseases. The backward medical conditions make these diseases difficult to treat.
Effective treatment was obtained, which further aggravated the panic...
Just like Lao Wang next door.
"Two days ago, for medical treatment... Lao Wang and the others sold Erya..." The hostess's voice was low, "I originally wanted to marry the eldest son..."
In the event of a natural or man-made disaster, human traffickers are extremely attentive and can even come to inspect the goods. The seller will never feel inconvenienced at all, and the money will be paid in person without default.
But even so, the money from selling the children still can't buy much food.
The voice of the male host was also muffled, "...It's all about fate... What are you talking about? Is it cooked? Let the eldest and second son come back. Eat early and rest early. We have to prepare the ground tomorrow..."
The two and a half-year-olds who were called back seemed to know something. They were not as lively and active as teenagers at all. Instead, they were silent like their parents, sharing the small amount of wild vegetable rice soup in the pot, and then
Just lie down and rest silently.
In the middle of the night, perhaps before dawn, suddenly a burst of sad crying broke the silence.
The sad voice is not pleasant at all, nor is it euphemistic like a cuckoo cries for blood, only a wail of extreme pain.
The whole family was woken up, and then the man of the house got up, went out, and then came back quickly.
"Old Wang is dead..."
The family was a little surprised, but also a little expected.
"No..." The male host's lips trembled. After a moment, he whispered: "It's not because of illness... Yes, it's Lao Wang... He committed suicide..."
"Why..." The younger son seemed to want to ask why, but as soon as he said the words, he understood and swallowed the rest of the words.
If someone kills himself, it will not be counted as death from illness, and will not trigger the disease alarm of the manor owner.
"Come on, help me if you can, before dawn..."
The male host said, then turned around and went out.
They can only help before dawn.
Because after dawn, men have to work hard in their own fields, and women have to go to the wild to collect wild vegetables...
The poor are not qualified to get sick, they only have life and death.
They don't even have the right to be sad for one more moment.
