The Ming Dynasty took an unconventional approach

The child's face was pale, his breathing was shallow, and he was about to disappear.

Pan Yun gently carried her out: "She's hungry!"

Tao Yanbai immediately took out a medicine bottle from his sleeve, opened it, pinched her mouth open and dripped a drop of medicine into it.

Pan Yun also took out the ginseng beard that he had nibbled on, cut off a piece and stuffed it into her mouth.

Pan Jun picked up the child. The child was so light that only bones were left in his clothes.

After feeling her pulse, Miao He thought of the deserted Fenshui Village and was somewhat incredulous: "How could Yushan County be in such a state after a natural disaster?"

Pan Yun said in a deep voice: "I'm afraid it's more than just a natural disaster."

Pan Yun carried her to the yard, let her come into contact with the outside air, then drew spiritual energy to surround her and supplied her with vital energy.

Tao Yanbai hurried out: "I'm going out to buy rice soup!"

That potion is for replenishing essence, and ginseng can replenish qi and keep people alive, but it is not enough.

When people are extremely hungry, rice soup is a treasure.

It can quickly restore people's vitality.

It takes too much time to cook it now, so it’s better to buy it on the street.

The usually bustling streets of Yushan County were now deserted with few people walking around.

But some shops were still open, and Tao Yanbai rushed into a restaurant.

The shopkeeper smiled, and before he could say anything, Tao Yanbai immediately took out a handful of copper coins and asked, "Do you have rice soup? Thick rice soup."

The shopkeeper was stunned for a moment and then nodded.

"Give me a jar, it's for life, quick!"

When the shopkeeper heard this, he immediately went to the kitchen to prepare a bowl of porridge for him. Knowing that he needed help, there was more soup and less rice. However, the porridge in the store was very thick, so even the soup was very thick.

Tao Yanbai took it and left.

The shopkeeper stood at the door and watched him leave. When he saw him heading to the slums, he immediately closed the door and quietly ran to the next door: "Master Wang's disciples are back."

"A Taoist priest from Mount Sanqing?"

"Yes, like Taoist Xiao Tao who often comes to the county town to buy medicinal herbs. There is no one at my home. Quickly and quietly ask someone to tell Abbot Wang. Don't let him foolishly run to the county government office."

"I will go to see Master Wang in person. Where is Taoist Priest Tao?"

"The slums. I remember that Taoist Priest Pan from the mountain had been sponsoring the orphans there to eat and study. Maybe he went to look for them."

The shop owner next door immediately handed over the shop to his clerk and walked out with his head lowered.

He was unlucky. He was spotted by patrolling soldiers not long after he walked out and was immediately stopped and questioned.

In comparison, Tao Yanbai was very lucky. As soon as he went out, he ran with the basin in his arms and came back in a short while.

Miaozhen picked out the ginseng from her mouth and carefully fed her rice soup with a spoon.

The child was hanging on to his breath. The rice soup overflowed when he first drank it. His head was drooping limply and he looked as if he was dead.

But she took two gulps, and she seemed to feel the food, her mouth moved slightly, and she slowly sucked the rice soup...

The rice soup entered her lower abdomen, and she sucked faster and faster. As more and more rice soup was fed into her, her head slightly raised up, and the dead look on her face disappeared at a speed visible to the naked eye, replaced by blood color.

The four of them breathed a sigh of relief, which meant that the person was alive.

Pan Jun touched her belly and nodded slightly to Miao Zhen: "It's okay. She hasn't eaten for a long time, so feed her less."

Miaozhen stopped moving.

The child sucked the corners of her mouth, but didn't get any more rice soup. She hummed twice in dissatisfaction and tried hard to open her eyes.

When she saw Pan Jun and the other three people holding her, her face was blank and a little dazed.

Pan Yun touched her head, put her hair behind her head, and said softly, "You are Xiao Shiyi, right? Do you still remember us?"

The child whispered, "You are the fairy sister."

Pan Yun touched her face and said with a smile: "Then tell Sister Fairy, Granny Yu, and your brothers and sisters?"

Child: "My grandmother went to heaven, Uncle Yu wanted to drive us out, my brothers and sisters went to sell their bodies, and then a lot of bad people came, and my brothers and sisters disappeared. Sister Xiaoliu asked me to wait for her at home while she went to find something to eat. I waited and waited, but Sister Xiaoliu didn't come back..."

Pan Jun frowned. She was only five years old and her words were unclear.

But for the mother-in-law's son and daughter-in-law...

Pan Jun looked next door and frowned.

There was no one next door, and the yard was a mess. I had no idea where anyone had gone.

The child stared at the rice soup in the basin, swallowed his saliva, and took the initiative to point and said: "Porridge!"

Pan Yun picked her up and comforted her softly, "Eat later. You ate a lot just now."

The child immediately put his hands down and stopped clamoring for food. He was very well behaved, but his eyes were still staring at the bowl unwillingly, not moving at all.

Even when Pan Jun was holding her in her arms, she would still look over her shoulder.

Pan Yun carried her out, and just as they stepped out of the door, they met the sight of the person walking towards them. Pan Yun was surprised: "Big Brother!"

Miao Zhen and the other two were extremely surprised: "Master Uncle!"

Wang Feiyin took a step forward and arrived in front of the four people. He lowered his eyes to glance at the child in Pan Yun's arms and sighed: "I came here eight days ago and there was no one here at that time." Pan Yun: "She should have come back after you left. We checked and she was probably hungry for six or seven days."

Wang Feiyin reached out and touched her head: "She was not destined to die. She met you at the last moment."

"Big Brother, where are the people from Fenshui Village? What happened in Sanqing Mountain?"

妙真
Wang Feiyin withdrew his hand, turned around and said, "Come with me."

The four followed Wang Feiyin.

Wang Feiyin took them around the county town and finally arrived at a house near the county government office.

There were quite a few people inside and outside the house, all of whom looked sick.

As soon as they arrived, a middle-aged man in royal blue silk clothes came up with his men and said, "Wang Feiyin, you dare to go out without permission, are you trying to escape?"

Wang Feiyin smiled and bowed: "Master Wu, please don't misunderstand me. I am going to pick up a few disciples from the sect."

He turned sideways and introduced to Master Wu: "This is my junior sister, Pan Yun. She is currently studying martial arts at the Longhu Mountain Academy. This time, she was ordered by the Tianshi Mansion to go out to sea to suppress the bandits..."

"You don't need to tell me all this. Whether it's Longhu Mountain or Sanqing Mountain, they're all lowly jobs," he said with his chin raised arrogantly, "I've also heard about the court's ban on sea travel and the suppression of bandits in Jiangnan. I heard that it was the Wulin League and the Tianshi Mansion that did it privately. Going to sea violates the court's laws. Even if I arrest people now, it's in accordance with the laws of Emperor Taizu."

Wang Feiyin quickly responded: "Yes, yes, the children did act recklessly, but they are just disciples of the academy. They went to sea on orders. The Tianshi Mansion is the culprit. Please ask Master Wu to speak a few good words for us in front of the county lord. Don't misunderstand the children.

You see, they are still young and look innocent, so they are not evildoers."

Pan Yun: …

Miao Zhen and the other two: ...

Master Wu stood there with a sullen face, not moving.

Wang Feiyin looked at Pan Jun with an embarrassed look on his face.

Pan Yun held the child in one hand and reached into her sleeve with the other hand, pulling out a dime.

Wang Feiyin snatched the dime and stuffed it into Master Wu's hand, smiling: "Thank you, Master Wu."

Master Wu pinched the dime, and although he thought it was too small, he still let them go, and snorted, "The county magistrate asked you to stay here to appease the people in the county and provide free medical treatment to the people in the city. You are not allowed to leave without orders. If you do it again, I won't be so easy to talk to!"

Wang Feiyin quickly responded, stepped aside, and respectfully saw him off.

Seeing Pan Jun standing there without moving, Wang Feiyin pulled her.

Pan Yun then stepped aside, and Miao Zhen and the others stood behind Pan Yun with constipated looks on their faces, allowing Master Wu to pass by them.

Master Wu snorted coldly as he passed by them.

Pan Yun looked at Wang Feiyin, and Miao Zhen and the other two immediately looked at Wang Feiyin as well.

Wang Feiyin straightened up and said, "Do you think I'm servile?"

Pan Yun frowned: "Are you afraid of him?"

"I'm not afraid," Wang Feiyin said slowly, "I just think it's unnecessary. There's no need to confront him. There's no need to cause more trouble for him."

He turned around and said, "Come in, let's talk inside."

The shop owner who was standing far away couldn't help stamping his feet when he saw Wang Feiyin leading people into the house.

He ran to tell Wang Feiyin, hoping that Master Wang would ask several of his disciples to run away quickly, but he didn't expect that Master Wang would bring them here directly. Isn't this sending one to his death from a thousand miles away?

It's not like they are sending themselves to death thousands of miles away. No one can catch them. Wang Feiyin doesn't leave because he just doesn't want to leave.

Wang Feiyin asked someone to take the child downstairs to rest, then he turned around and closed the door, sighed and asked, "Why are you back?"

Pan Yun had a blank expression on his face: "Such a big thing happened in Yushan County, how could we not come back? Senior Brother, why didn't you tell us?"

Wang Feiyin: "Why else? Of course, it's to prevent you from getting involved in this mess and making the situation even more chaotic."

Pan Jun sat down at the table, picked up the teapot and poured four bowls of tea: "Tell me what you want to say."

Wang Feiyin sat down opposite her: "I don't even deserve tea?"

Tao Yanbai immediately presented his tea bowl.

Wang Feiyin then hummed, took the tea bowl and took a sip, then sighed: "Wang Xiaojing and several young people in the village joined the rebels. The court found Fenshui Village and directly locked up all the villagers in the city and imprisoned them."

The four of them opened their mouths in disbelief: "Wang Xiaojing?"

Wang Feiyin nodded, his head aching: "A lot of things have happened since the beginning of spring this year. Where should I start?"

Pan Jun looked serious: "Let's start with the most fundamental reason."

Wang Feiyin: "Then we have to talk about our new county magistrate..."

"After the Ming County Magistrate was promoted, the new County Magistrate, Cai Sheng, took three actions upon taking office. He abolished several of the Ming County Magistrate's decrees. Among them, he restored the labor service items that the Ming County Magistrate had abolished and increased the number of laborers.

For example, the county magistrate had not recruited men to carry sedan chairs for two years and abolished this miscellaneous labor. However, after Cai Sheng took office, he not only recruited men again, but also changed the number of men from eight to sixteen.

During the Ming Dynasty, the bearers who carried sedan chairs for officials were all forced to perform labor. They were paid very low wages and had to pay for their own food, accommodation and clothing. The little money given by the government was barely enough to support themselves, let alone their families.

Oh, when Emperor Taizu set the military service money, it was enough for him to support himself and still have some money left to support his family.

But it has been eighty years since Emperor Taizu was emperor, and the rule has been set for eighty years, and the poll tax for this service has never increased.

How have prices increased? (End of this chapter)