Lai County, Shandong Province.

Magistrate Abe posted a notice at the county office requiring all residents to pay a monthly property deed tax. This meant that anyone who owned a home was obliged to pay this fee. Even if you didn't own a home, you still had to pay it as long as you were staying in a hotel.

The entire Lai County had been almost completely plundered, but Magistrate Abe had the ingenuity to come up with this plan.

The monthly house deed tax is 200 coins, which poor families cannot afford. No problem, we will demolish your house and leave you homeless.

For a time, there was widespread resentment in Lai County, and the people were living in dire straits. Coincidentally, Lai County was hit by a severe drought, and the farmers had no harvest.

Crown Prince Zhao Chen, acting in the name of the imperial court, issued a decree exempting Lai County from taxes for three years. Abe ignored the imperial tax exemption policy and continued to impose heavy taxes. Even children were sold in Lai County, leading to a tragic scene.

In Wangjia Village on the western outskirts of Lai County, Wang Xiaohu and his friend Pan Fengzi sat under the old locust tree at the entrance of the village and sighed.

Wang Xiaohu's family was poor, with an ailing mother. Crazy Pan's ancestors were immigrants, and by the time he was born, he was a bachelor. He was lazy and gluttonous, and didn't even have a name. Because of his madness, the villagers called him Crazy Pan.

Crazy Pan and Wang Xiaohu were childhood friends. Wang Xiaohu sighed, "It's time to pay the head tax at the beginning of next month. It hasn't rained yet, so it's hard to grow crops. We're so hungry we can't even get the next meal. How can we get the money to pay the tax?"

Crazy Pan slapped his thigh and said, "I heard that the imperial court exempted Lai County from taxes. Why does this bastard magistrate still dare to collect taxes?"

Wang Xiaohu snorted, "The government has been making up excuses, claiming they won't collect grain taxes. But then County Magistrate An introduced a house deed tax, a fire tax for cooking, and a clothing tax for wearing clothes. It's even more than before. We ordinary people have no way to survive."

Crazy Pan punched the old locust tree hard and said, "Grandma Zhang from our village hanged herself last night. This is the eighth one."

"What else can she do if she doesn't hang herself? Not only is she blind, but she can't pay the house tax and her house has been demolished by the government. She doesn't even have a place to stay, let alone eat. If this continues, I'll have to find a rope too."

Crazy Pan said angrily, "Those dogs of the yamen runners, if I hadn't been unable to defeat them last time, I would have killed a few of them to vent my anger."

He was talking about the last time when the yamen runners came to demolish Grandma Zhang's house, and Crazy Pan went up to stop them, but ended up getting beaten up.

"Oh, it's time to go home. There are still some grains at home. I will go to the north end of the village to pick some elm leaves to cook some porridge for one meal. I don't know where to get food for tomorrow." Wang Xiaohu patted his butt and stood up.

"That old elm tree has been picked clean a long time ago, so there's no fruit left for you to pick." Crazy Pan stopped him.

"What?" Wang Xiaohu turned around and asked.

Crazy Pan leaned against the locust tree with his arms folded. "The whole village is starving. Every household can't afford to eat. Is there anything left of that old elm tree? It's been stripped of its bark."

Wang Xiaohu looked up at the sky and sighed softly.

"Huzi, Huzi, something bad has happened. Your mother has hanged herself!"

Wang Xiaohu's neighbor, Aunt Zhao, ran over in a panic.

As soon as Wang Xiaohu heard this, he ran away, and Pan Fengzi followed him and ran towards Wang Xiaohu's home.

As soon as I entered the house, I saw an old man hanging on the beam of the dilapidated thatched house.

Wang Xiaohu ran over and hurriedly carried his mother down. When he checked her breath, he found that she had already died.

"Mom!" Wang Xiaohu was heartbroken.

Crazy Pan punched the wall and said, "This corrupt official is going too far. Let's rebel!"

Wang Xiaohu's eyes were red with anger. "If the officials won't give the people a way to survive, then we'll rebel! The emperor takes turns, and next year it's my turn. I'll be the one calling the shots in this world!"

…

Abe was counting money in the yamen, and the silver flowed into his pocket like water.

"Sir, the villagers of Xia Village are causing trouble." A yamen runner ran in in a panic.

Abe hurriedly put away the silver, straightened his clothes, and angrily said, "Which unruly person wants to cause trouble again?"

"The villagers of Xia Village refused to pay the fire tax and gathered together to cause trouble," said the bailiff.

Abe was furious: "Catch! Arrest these troublemakers for me!"

"But, but the yamen jail is full. There are so many prisoners locked up in there and they have to provide them with food, this..."

Abe pondered for a moment, then pointed at the yamen runner and said, "You're doing this. These unruly people are about to rebel. Take your men and execute the villagers who are leading the riot on the spot. Behead them. Anyone who dares to cause trouble again will be executed!"

"Sir, if the court blames us..."

Abe glared at him and said, "What are you afraid of? I am suppressing the rebels. If I report this to the court, they will only praise me greatly. Tell the yamen runners that if anyone resists again, they will be charged with treason!"

…

Zhao Chen asked in a childish voice in the Purple Palace: "Master Bai, you said that the people in Lai County are rebelling. What exactly is the reason?"

Bai Shizhong bowed and said, "Your Majesty, someone must have instigated the people to rebel. I believe we should send a large army to suppress them."

Li Gang frowned and said, "Master Bai, this is wrong. Mizhou Governor Guan Qun has just sent a letter stating that there is a severe drought in Lai County. I believe the people are starving and unable to survive, which is why they are rebelling. I believe the court should send people to appease them and allocate grain from Qingzhou and Haizhou to provide relief to the victims."

Bai Shizhong turned and looked at Li Gang: "Sir Li, the court has already issued an edict to exempt Laizhou from taxes and has sent grain, yet there are still people rebelling. They are clearly being bewitched!"

Chen Guoting said: "This old minister thinks what Lord Li Gang said is absolutely right."

Bai Shizhong was somewhat frustrated. Whenever he discussed government affairs, Li Gang, He Jin, and Chen Guoting would often gang up on him. Fortunately, He Jin claimed illness and did not attend court, otherwise he would have joined forces with these two.

Fortunately, other ministers in the court agreed with Bai Shizhong's advice and urged the court to send troops to suppress the rebellion to prevent it from growing larger. Others agreed with Li Gang and suggested sending high-ranking officials with food to appease the people. For a while, everyone debated endlessly.

"The Emperor has arrived!" Gao Qiu's voice was heard outside the Zichen Palace.

Zhao Ji brought Gao Qiu and Guo Jing to the Purple Palace.

All the ministers, including Zhao Chen, knelt down and saluted: "Long live the Emperor!"

Zhao Ji walked straight to the dragon throne in the main hall and sat down carelessly. Zhao Chen hurriedly stood aside.

Zhao Chen was only the crown prince and could not sit on the dragon throne. During court sessions, Zhao Chen simply stood beside the dragon throne with his hands hanging down, acting as regent.

The moment Zhao Ji sat on the throne, he didn't want to get down. It seemed as if his former majesty had returned.

"I had originally stopped caring about government affairs, but the Emperor has personally led the army. You ministers can't even carry the weight of the Song Dynasty. You even caused a stir when refugees from Shandong rebelled. The Emperor has entrusted you with the heavy responsibility of serving as regents, and you can't even handle this?"

After hearing these words, everyone was speechless, even Li Gang and Chen Guoting felt guilty.

Zhao Ji sat on the dragon throne and looked at his ministers: "The refugees are rebelling and endangering our Song Dynasty! The court should send troops to suppress it. There is nothing to say!"

This feeling is really good, as if he is back to the days of imperial power with all officials paying homage to him and being the supreme ruler. Zhao Ji really misses the feeling of having power in his hands.

Bai Shizhong was overjoyed upon hearing this. He bowed and said, "The Supreme Emperor is wise! If the rebellion is not suppressed, it will grow stronger. The court should quickly assemble a large army to wipe out the rebels!"