Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 602 The Twenty-ninth Year of the Daoguang Emperor
"Whoo~"

"A bare mountain~"

Standing on a barren mountain with hardly any grass, Lin Dao looked down at the harvested fields below and said, "This world is worse than I imagined."

The timeline of Anxi's white-haired soldiers has been properly arranged.

As the threat of war gradually disappeared, the white-haired soldiers began to enjoy their retirement.

They only need to wait for Princess Xian'an's child to grow up before they can reclaim the inheritance.

As expected, Lin Dao obtained another new portal to another time and space.

This time portal is green, which has no requirements whatsoever.

Before entering, he had considered many scenarios.

But without a doubt, what we are seeing now is the worst possible scenario.

There are many mountains nearby, but without exception, they are all barren.

As far as the eye can see, there is almost no green.

"The environment here."

Having traveled to almost every part of the Central Plains, Lin Dao quickly concluded, "It must be the South."

In the south, there are no trees.

There are fields at the foot of the mountain, and smoke rises from the village.

All of this foreshadows a possibility: this time, the worst of times has arrived.

After calming his breathing, Lin Dao began to descend the mountain.

The few remaining fields were also bare, as the straw had all been harvested.

The water conservancy facilities are visible to the naked eye, the dirt roads are dry, and there is a village with about a few dozen households.

As they got closer and saw the villagers, Lin Dao's last doubts were dispelled.

The men, dressed in patched and tattered clothes, had dark complexions, short and thin statures, and dull, lifeless eyes.

The most striking thing is that each of the men has a pig's tail trailing behind their head!

This hairstyle has only existed in the darkest periods of China's five thousand years of history.

At this time, people gathered in the village, and almost everyone was concentrated in the threshing ground.

Among the crowd, a dozen or so people dressed in dark blue robes with four-slit sleeves and square magpie insignia were shouting loudly.

The attire of these people can be summarized as that of public servants.

"Imperial grain and national taxes are a matter of course."

"Anyone who dares not pay is going against the imperial court!"

"All of you, get over here and pay your taxes! Anyone who's short a single grain of rice, you'll all be dragged to the yamen!"

In ancient times, after the harvest of grain, the next step was to collect taxes.

Summer taxes and autumn grain harvests are the only standard for measuring the performance of local government offices.

The more you receive, the better your reviews will be, and a promotion and raise will be just around the corner.

If they received too little, they would be scolded, reprimanded, or even stripped of their official hat and plume.

If you don't receive anything, then losing your head is only to be expected.

Especially during the Qing Dynasty, the high and mighty colonists didn't care whether you were a scholar or not!

To stand up for the people?

You're telling a story!
Bags of grain were poured into a measuring vessel and weighed.

The menacing tax collectors used all sorts of methods, putting on a very entertaining performance.

First, kick the container with your foot to make the rice grains sink densely through vibration, making room for more filling.

Then, after the bushels were filled, they were piled up into a pointed cone shape, using gravity to cause the surface grain to slide off naturally, resulting in an actual collection amount exceeding the standard.

This is the famous Linjian Tihu.

"Keep pretending!"

The tax collectors shouted loudly, urging the people to continue filling the grain into the bushels.

Anyone who delays will be immediately threatened with arrest.

As everyone knows, government offices are places that devour people without spitting out their bones.

Good people don't want to be locked up in the government office, so they can only grit their teeth and suffer in silence.

The bushel, which originally had a capacity of only five dou, was harvested with an extra two or three dou.

The extras were naturally not handed over to the imperial court; they were distributed among the officials and their subordinates.

In addition, local government offices used various methods to exploit the people, such as accepting bribes and falsely reporting land reclamation.

The grain that the people worked so hard to grow was almost entirely plundered by these evil people.

He's farmed grain his whole life, but he's hardly ever eaten white rice!
Lin Dao, standing amidst the crowd, observed coldly.

After a moment, he withdrew from the crowd to observe the surrounding houses.

Brick and tile houses are extremely rare, with only a few households in the village.

Most of the houses were built with mud mixed with straw.

To describe it in one word, it's dilapidated.

The ground was covered in soil, with very little garbage and no feces.

The reason is simple: it's important fertilizer, and we can't just waste it.

Looking through the mud wall, one can see dried sweet potatoes and other similar items.

Large livestock are extremely rare, poultry are only a small number, and even dogs are few in number.

We are so poor, so incredibly poor.

As Lin Dao walked past a dilapidated courtyard, he even spotted several naked children playing inside.

It's not that I don't want to wear clothes, but I'm so poor that I only have one set of clothes at home, and whoever goes out wears it.

Lin Dao's brows furrowed even more.

He knew mites were associated with darkness, but this was just too dark.

Ordinary people cannot even meet their most basic survival needs.

The colonizers' exploitation was utterly ruthless, like sucking the marrow from the bone.

"This master."

Finally, someone noticed Lin Dao's presence and came forward to greet him, "Are you looking for someone?"

Lin Dao certainly wouldn't have a braid, neither on his head nor in his heart.

He had just gotten a buzz cut not long ago.

In this place called Manqing, all men must wear braids, with the exception of Taoist priests and Buddhist monks.

Lin Dao's hairstyle naturally makes him look like a monk.

"Passing by this place."

Upon hearing the inquiry, Lin Daozhan smiled and said, "Can I have a drink of water?"

The person who came to ask the questions was the village chief.

After all, Lin Dao was tall and imposing, with vigorous blood and energy, and his clothes were strange yet bright and beautiful, making him clearly no ordinary person.

Ordinary people didn't even dare to go up and greet them.

"Alright, alright~" The village chief dared not delay and hurriedly reached out to lead the way, "Master, please follow me."

Following the village chief, they arrived at a brick house. The village chief opened the door and warmly invited Lin Dao inside.

In the courtyard, a woman was cutting grass.

Upon seeing a man enter, she hurriedly covered her face and ran inside.

"Please come in, Master."

"No need," Lin Dao waved his hand. "A drink of water is fine. I also have some questions for my elders."

"No, no, I wouldn't dare." The village head, with a goatee and wearing a melon-shaped hat, bowed even deeper.

He called out to the people inside, "Honey, we have guests. Bring us some bowls!"

The old woman hiding behind the door hurriedly came out with a bowl to greet him.

The one who ran into the house earlier must have been the daughter-in-law.

As expected of the neighborhood chief's family, at least everyone has clothes to wear.

Lin Dao glanced at the chipped bowl and shook his head slightly.

He stepped forward, picked up the wooden ladle, and scooped water directly from the water vat to drink.

The village chief cautiously observed Lin Dao.

Even when he went to the county town or entered the government office, he had never seen such a magnificent and extraordinary person.

Lin Dao's confidence and composure are out of step with this era.

After drinking some water, Lin Dao pulled up a bamboo stool and sat down, inviting the village chief to "sit down and talk."

"Yes yes~"

The village chief sat down cautiously to the side, even hesitant to look up and meet her gaze.

"Which emperor is currently ruling, and what era name is being used?"

That's a very strange question.

Under normal circumstances, who wouldn't know the emperor's reign title?

The village chief dared not delay and quickly responded.

"Replying to the Master, the current reign title is Daoguang, and today is the fifteenth day of the tenth month of the twenty-ninth year of Daoguang's reign."

This is the lunar calendar.

"The 29th year of the Daoguang Emperor's reign."

"Emperor Xuanzong."

Lin Dao's soliloquy nearly terrified the village chief, who had been to school for a few years.

These titles, such as "Zong" and "Zong," were posthumous honors bestowed upon the deceased.

If a government official were to hear Lin Dao's words, it would be considered extremely disrespectful!
Since he began his journey, Lin Dao has frequently consulted various historical documents and materials.

He knew about the Daoguang Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, and he also knew that the Daoguang Emperor would pass away early next year.

So next year will be the 30th year of the Daoguang Emperor's reign, which is also the first year of the Xianfeng Emperor's reign.

Next year, there will be a major event that will be prominently recorded in history books.

Jintian Uprising!

The death knell for the Qing dynasty was tolled by the Jintian Uprising.

The first relief on the Monument to the People's Heroes depicts the burning of opium at Humen, which marked the beginning of the strongest anti-opium campaign in Chinese history.

The second picture is of the Jintian Uprising!
Lin Dao nodded, the timing was now clear.

He asked again, "May I ask, where is this place?"

"Oh, oh," the village chief hurriedly replied, "This is Jiling Village."

Lin Dao asked again, "To put it more broadly."

"It's Jintian Town, Jiling Village."

Lin Dao frowned. "A little older, from what you know."

"Yes, yes." The village chief's heart skipped a beat when he frowned, and he hurriedly replied, "It is Guangxi Province, Xunzhou Prefecture, Guiping County, Jintian Town, Jiling Village."

"Jintian Town." Lin Dao suddenly realized that this was the place where the Jintian Uprising took place.

Do you know where Kindaichi Village is?

"I know, I know," the village chief hurriedly replied. "It's right next to Niushitang. Just walk along the river from our village, past Xiapingshan, it's about ten miles away."

Having ascertained the time and place, Lin Dao stood up, took out a piece of silver, and handed it over.

"Thank you~"

The village chief never expected that he could earn a silver dollar just by saying a few words!
This is silver!
He wanted to decline, but he couldn't bear to.

Lin Dao smiled, tossed over the loose silver coins, thanked him, and turned to leave.

They left the village, but did not leave.

Instead, they waited quietly by an unnamed river nearby.

Sure enough, not long after, the group of tax collectors drove their carts, loaded with grain, away from the village and headed for the county town.

Lin Dao didn't waste any words and followed along.

The imperial grain and national taxes are utter nonsense; they're just the colonizers sucking your marrow dry.

Lin Dao wants to collect all these things and use them for the benefit of the people.

Now that we've entered the era of mite removal, there's no doubt that we need to use a drill bit on our buttocks!

Lin Dao followed along the way, and along the way, tax collectors who were collecting grain kept gathering.

They transported the looted grain all the way and arrived in the county town before nightfall.

Unsurprisingly, there were soldiers in tattered uniforms and carrying rusty weapons guarding the entrance to the county town.

Rather than guarding the gate, their main job was actually collecting taxes.

City entry tax.

In this era, you have to pay to enter the city.

Lin Dao stepped forward. The soldiers were about to stop him from collecting the money, but one glare from him frightened them so much that they stood still and dared not utter a sound.

There was no way around it; his presence was just too intimidating.

The soldier felt his heart pounding and his breathing becoming rapid.

Forget about asking for money, they wouldn't even look me in the eye.

Once the forest path led into the city, several soldiers finally dared to approach and speak.

"Hey, what's going on?"

"Could it be some high-ranking official?"

"Traveling incognito?"

"You've heard too many stories about people traveling incognito, haven't you? Where do so many people come from?"

"I feel like a warrior who has just come from the battlefield."

The emaciated soldiers were talking amongst themselves, but no one dared to stop them.

Upon entering the city, Lin Dao didn't waste any words and headed straight for the county government office.

(End of this chapter)