The pork butcher is smoother than a pig butcher!

Chapter 325 The Dragon Turns Over, the Nation's Fate Declines!
They raided a famous temple, and the grain they harvested alone was equivalent to the entire granary of a prefecture.

Not to mention the considerable sums of money donated for incense offerings.

How could this possibly stop the leaders of the Jingjun (a group of people who have been convicted of plundering temples) from continuing their raids?

Those troublemakers who wanted to evade grain taxes could hide their grain in the mountains and stay away from home for months with just a bundle.

But the temple couldn't be moved, and the monks inside couldn't run away either.

The Jingjun (a group of people who were involved in the anti-Jingjun movement) simply targeted temples of all sizes.

Those who are proactive in handing over incense money and grain will at least be given some food to live on.

Those monks who, like stinking stones, refused offerings and were not afraid of death, also met a bad end when they encountered the firearms in the hands of the Jingjun.

These eunuchs fired without hesitation, without any hesitation.

In a famous temple guarded by thousands of warrior monks, and enshrining the relics of a great Tang Dynasty monk.

The opposing monks were quite skilled, and in a few moves they captured a number of the Jingjun's firearms.

Enraged, the leader of the purification corps issued an ultimatum to the abbot:

If they don't provide a certain amount of grain and incense money, they will burn down this thousand-year-old temple.

What would it be like if 10,000 Pure Army soldiers each threw a fire into a temple?
The abbot really didn't dare to gamble!
In the end, they had no choice but to back down.

Let's make offerings!
Having overcome the toughest obstacle, there were no other temples in the vicinity to stand in their way.

Amidst the leader of the Jingjun army's shameless and outrageous actions, tens of thousands of bushels of rice and flour, along with a huge amount of incense money, were successively transported back to Shangdu.

Those eunuchs who handled these cases made a fortune.

You asked what the imperial city's attitude is?
Of course, I wholeheartedly agree!
With the emperor and empress dowager starving to death, who would care about the source of the grain and incense money?
The regent made even more outrageous remarks in court:

"If Buddha is to blame someone, then blame me! If I, a eunuch, don't go to hell, who will?"

Of all the civil and military officials, who dared to offer advice?
If they weren't allowed to raid temples, the Regent would order the imperial guards to raid their homes!
In comparison, let's just let these eunuchs wreak havoc on the temples.

Anyway, Buddha is merciful!
No matter how wicked a person is, they can be saved as long as they lay down their butcher's knife!
In no mood.

Just as the eighteenth temple was being looted by the Qing army.

A strong earthquake struck the imperial mausoleum, located 300 li east of Shangdu, that very night.

The underground palace of Emperor Taizu of Bei was plunged into a deep abyss.

That's the strange thing.

Despite the massive earthquake that struck the imperial mausoleum, it did not affect the surrounding prefectures and counties.

Those that are close by.

At most, the house just developed cracks.

No innocent civilians were injured or killed as a result.

A few days later, a nursery rhyme written by a high-ranking monk before his death spread throughout several prefectures near Shangdu.

The nursery rhyme goes like this:
The imperial city is high, but the people's hearts are low, and taxes pile up like mountains.

Laughter echoed in the imperial palace, while tears streamed down in the fields.

The temple is quiet, the incense is cold, and the Buddha's light cannot shine on the suffering.

Monks beg for alms in the streets and alleys; where can one find the Emperor's boundless grace?
The dragon rises, the nation declines; when will the turmoil end?
Nursery rhymes resound throughout the world, hoping that dawn will shine upon the entire land.
Listen, listen.

When the dragon rises, the nation's fortunes decline!
This means that the fate of the State of Bei has come to an end!
Did no ministers in the entire capital really hear this nursery rhyme?
Even if we hear it, what can we do?

There are currently only three proper masters in the palace: the Empress Dowager, the young emperor, and the regent.

The old emperor's hundreds of concubines either went to the ancestral temple or had their families pull strings and spend a lot of money to "fake death."

With the money and food sent back by the Qing army, the more than one thousand people remaining in the palace after the layoffs were living a more comfortable life than ever before.

The earth dragon turns over?

There were no civilian casualties, were there?
Wouldn't it be better if the underground palace of Emperor Taizu of Bei were buried in the abyss?
To prevent tomb raiders from eyeing the burial goods inside!

No official would be so blind as to allow a little emperor, not even a year old, to issue an edict of self-reproach for the earth dragon's reversal at this critical juncture.

In short, the high-ranking officials and nobles in the inner city continued to enjoy themselves with singing and dancing.

The people in the outer city, however, were filled with fear and anxiety.

The nursery rhyme resonated with everyone.

Many people started discussing it:
"When the dragon turns over, the nation's fortunes decline! It seems that Heaven is giving us a warning; otherwise, why would the dragon's turn over only bring disaster to the imperial tombs?"

"No dynasty lasts a thousand years, and more than two hundred years of national fortune is not a short time! I just don't know who will be next."

"I don't care who sits on that chair in the imperial palace. We really can't make ends meet these days! The grain shops that sell fine grains have been closed for months, and there's no coarse grain for sale in the vegetable market. We don't even get a little meat every day! What's worse, they dare to sell a pumpkin with a head as big as a penny for one tael!"

"Who says otherwise? My family has been eating pumpkin porridge and eggplant with dipping sauce for half a month now. When are those grain stores finally going to reopen?"

"No hope! I heard that the grain tax collectors have been in the countryside for more than half a month and still haven't been able to collect any grain tax."

"Impossible, right? A few days ago, there were more than a hundred carriages outside the city pulling things into the inner city. Judging from the depth of the ruts, it was undoubtedly grain."

"Heh, didn't you hear the first half of that nursery rhyme? Those eunuchs forced that high monk to beg for food on the streets! They're heartless! They even dared to plunder the temple's incense money and food!"

"Don't say it, don't say it! Could it be that those eunuchs were disrespectful to Buddha, and that's why the dragon turned over and buried the tomb of the founding emperor as punishment?"

"That makes sense. Heaven is watching what people do!"

"Then who will care about our lives and deaths?"

"There's nothing we can do! There's no hope until at least next autumn's harvest."

"why?"

“My cousin’s uncle, who is also a grain official, said that five or six out of ten villages in the area are deserted! With no one around, who will farm? This autumn, I estimate that less than 40% of the fields will yield a harvest!”

"hiss!"

Will there be any grain left to sell if 40% of the farmland is used for farming?

Even if they are for sale.

How many months can a fortune last with prices like these?
"I heard that the border army has utterly routed the Tatars in the north and the Hu people in the northwest. Those who want to live should hurry and leave before large-scale wars break out in various places."

"Mr. Jin, do you mean there will still be chaos before the end of the year?"

"The common people right here in the capital are starving to death. Are they doing any better in other prefectures? Listen to me, take all your wealth and head north. You can go to the northwest, or even to Youzhou."

Mr. Jin was the most learned person among his neighbors.

His words spread like wildfire.

Those who know his character have no doubt about it.

then.

Following the refugees who fled in abject poverty, even those with some property in the outer city of the capital began a new wave of migration.
(End of this chapter)