At this time, cries broke out in the crowd. Madam Liu and her family of three had originally fled here from the north. After experiencing a hard life, they finally bought land here and gave birth to a fat son, Qijin. After going through countless difficulties, they finally lived a stable life.
Now it is very similar to the situation back then.
Sadness spread among them. They had originally thought that this year would be a good harvest, and they would have a prosperous year at least. Now they could only hope not to starve and would be lucky to get through this winter.
After explaining the current situation, Patriarch Li asked everyone to go back and not rush to sell the grain. He planned to visit a few more towns tomorrow to check the situation and notify everyone then.
Li Yan was in Li Erlang's room at this time, flipping through history books.
This is a fictional dynasty in history, and its system is closer to the Ming Dynasty.
After the death of Emperor Chengzu, Emperor Jianwen went to war with his uncle, Prince of Yan, just as he had done in his previous life. However, in this life, Emperor Jianwen was the victor. He stabilized the rear and moved the capital north to strengthen his control over the north.
At this time, the Rouran, the Mongols, and Temujin were ready to make a move. To consolidate the north, Emperor Jianwen personally led his troops north and fought several battles against the northern barbarians, ultimately severely weakening them and forcing them to flee. To prevent a resurgence of external forces, he stationed 300,000 troops in the northwestern fortress of Rongcheng.
Due to years of war, the national treasury was empty, so someone proposed a new tax policy.
The original two-tax system was changed to a single-whip system. The payment of grain was changed to silver. This simplified collection and reduced transportation costs.
However, there were countermeasures to the policies. Taxes had to be paid in silver, and the common people could only convert their own crops, such as millet and sorghum, into silver, which gave the wealthy gentry an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.
When paying tax silver, the common people had to exchange it with them. The rich took the opportunity to lower the price of food and raise the price of silver. The common people were busy for a year, but in the end they might not be able to raise any tax silver.
In Li Yan's view, the Jin Dynasty was on the verge of decline.
The rich and powerful controlled silver, and in order to pay taxes, the common people had to exchange most of their grain for silver, just like they are doing now. Those with little land had to sell their children directly, and selling their land was not enough to pay the taxes.
If this continues, the only result will be a large number of people fleeing, thousands of miles of land will be desolate, and nine out of ten houses will be empty.
The atmosphere at home was really bad. The little cousin carefully found Li Yan and sat down next to him. The little guy seemed to be infected by this heavy atmosphere.
Pulling Li Yan's sleeve, he said to her anxiously, "Second sister, I don't want to eat buns anymore. Do you think my parents won't have to sell me off?"
Li Yan looked at him in surprise. The little guy said to Li Yan, "Just now, Xiao Niu and I were playing outside and heard Qi Jin crying and saying that his mother was going to sell his sister. Second sister, I will eat less from now on. I don't want my sisters to be sold!"
Li Yan touched her cousin's head with some heartache. The child was frightened.
Li Yan thought about the countermeasures for a long time and wanted to buy all the food in the village with her own money.
He shook his head again, denying it. There were sixty-three households in Lijia Village, and the little property his family had received was simply not enough. Not to mention whether his father would support his idea, he still had no idea what his grandparents meant.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
