Sky Curtain: My Great Qin must have an aircraft carrier!

Even if you're lucky enough to escape the flood and happen to find a resource-rich mountain forest or lake, you should be able to fish and hunt, right?

"I think so?"

As Lu Li chewed on the braised pork, he felt unsure of himself as soon as he spoke.

It seems... quite unlikely.

Are you saying everyone else is blind?

Land that was cultivated thousands of years ago has become unclaimed wasteland when you are starving.

There's no such thing as a free lunch.

In ancient times, all the easy-to-walk places had owners.

It could be a landlord, a powerful family, an official, or even the emperor himself.

How could they possibly let anyone into their territory?

Forget about hunting or fishing; they'll even demand compensation from you for losses caused by natural disasters.

The more severe the famine, the more the government forbade people from gathering on both banks of the river, let alone fishing in the river, for fear of affecting the grain transport to the capital.

Which despicable emperor did this? That's right, it was Emperor Kangxi, hailed as a benevolent ruler throughout history.

"Outrageous! Nonsense! When did I ever forbid the people from fishing?"

Emperor Kangxi slammed his fist on the imperial desk in a fit of rage.

He prided himself on being a benevolent ruler, so how did he become known as a morally bankrupt emperor in the eyes of later generations?

If disaster victims are allowed to gather by the river to catch fish, blocking the waterway, what will the officials in the capital eat?

The canal transport is related to the livelihoods of millions of people. Isn't it only right to let those disaster victims get out of here?

But Kangxi himself knew that it was not unfair to hold him accountable for this.

If the imperial court had provided effective disaster relief, would there still be so many disaster victims?

Kangxi sat back down in his chair and remained silent for a long time.

The Minjiang River flood victims were so hungry they looked like skeletons, and even the babies in their arms starved to death.

They watched as schools of fish thrashed about on the surface of the water, but no one dared to go in and catch them.

Because they were afraid of being seen as traitors, and afraid of being shot dead by soldiers from both sides of the strait.

Do you know who did this?

This is the mess that Chiang Kai-shek and the four major families made.

The common people ate Guanyin clay and grass roots, knowing that eating them would cause their stomachs to swell like drums and that they would eventually suffocate to death.

But this is the safest way to survive.

If you want to eat fish and hunt, that's a death sentence!

If you go out and catch a few fish today, no one will bother you. Why?

Because you are one of the people, you enjoy the common property that belongs to the people.

Why are natural disasters and man-made calamities always put together?

Because after natural disasters, man-made disasters always follow!

"Because...I am one of the people?"

On the edge of the field, the hunched old farmer muttered these words, two lines of tears rolling down his cheeks.

He farmed his whole life, and no one ever told him that the land beneath his feet should belong to him.

there has never been.

"Why should those landlords and powerful families just stand by and watch us die?"

"Why is it that 70% of the grain I grow goes to rent, while I can only drink thin porridge?"

"Why is it that the landlord doesn't have to work, lives in a big house, and eats white flour buns, while my five-year-old daughter has to collect cow dung to burn as fuel?"

Countless people in the fields, mines, workshops, and construction sites are repeatedly murmuring these words.

It started as a whisper, then turned into a question, and finally into a roar.

I don't know who shouted the first time.

"Are kings and nobles born with a special destiny?"

At first, it was just a low murmur in every corner.

Gradually, the murmurs turned into an uncontrollable questioning.

Finally, the questions coalesced into a deafening roar!

In every era, in every dynasty, on every piece of land, there are people who have stepped forward.

He was neither a hero nor a great man, just an ordinary peasant, a peasant whose name no one even remembered.

They shouted until their throats were hoarse, until their veins bulged, until the ground beneath their feet trembled.

Starving to death is death, dying from illness is death, and even dying from bloating after eating clay is still death!

Since death is inevitable anyway, why not drag those high and mighty lords down to hell with us!

They dropped their hoes, picked up machetes and pitchforks, and gathered from all directions.

"If they won't let us live, we'll find our own way!"

-

Ji Province during the late Han Dynasty.

Mr. Zhang was reclining in a rocking chair, leisurely sipping his finest Maojian tea.

The finest Mengding Ganlu tea, last year's new tea, cost the steward three strings of cash to acquire.

He didn't care much about what Tianmu was talking about; it was all about things hundreds or thousands of years in the future anyway, so what did it have to do with him?

What he was concerned about was the current chaos and the fact that the imperial court's control over local areas was practically non-existent.

Taking advantage of the chaos to acquire land is the real business.

Master Zhang cleared his throat, opened the account book in front of him, and became more and more satisfied as he looked at it.

This year, we harvested another 300 mu of high-quality paddy fields, bringing our total to over 2,000 mu when combined with our existing reserves.

As for the rent from tenant farmers, we used to collect 50%, but now we'll collect 60%.

Not too high, not too low. The Li family next door takes 80% of it.

As for next year's rent, Master Zhang has already decided to pay it ten years from now.

Since the world is in chaos anyway, money will depreciate if you keep it in your hands, so it's better to hold onto food first.

Tenant farmers can't pay? Then use land, people, or daughters as collateral.

As for whether the tenant farmers will run away?

If you don't plant it, there are plenty of people who will. In this great Han Dynasty, the one thing that is never lacking is people!

Master Zhang blew on the tea foam, his face full of contentment.

"Master! Master!"

The servants tumbled and crawled in from the courtyard gate, their faces filled with fear and panic.

Master Zhang slammed his teacup on the table, his expression displeased: "What's the panic? Is the sky falling down?"

"Sir, there are many people outside!"

How many people?

"Tens of thousands! All refugees! They've completely surrounded our village! They're demanding that the lord hand over the land deeds!"

Upon hearing this, Master Zhang was so angry he almost jumped out of his chair.

"Rebellion! Rebellion! These unruly people!"

"They think they can just take the land my Zhang family has accumulated over generations? Is that even possible?"

"Close the gate. We've stored three years' worth of grain in our village. Let's see how long these peasants can last."

Mr. Zhang walked to the window with his hands behind his back, peeked out through the crack, and his heart sank.

The dense crowd stretched from the village entrance all the way to the horizon.

Tens of thousands of eyes, glowing green, stared at the high-walled compound.

Master Zhang forced himself to remain calm, turned around, and continued drinking his tea.

He'd seen this kind of thing many times before; it'd caused quite a stir several times after the show aired.

They always complain for a few days, and then they go about their business as usual.

After all, how could unarmed refugees possibly breach the fortified village he had spent a fortune building?

They'll leave when they're too hungry to continue.

If you can't walk, just bury it in the ground; it will fertilize the land next year.

But I hadn't even taken a second sip of tea yet—

"Boom!"

The entire back hall shook, and dust fell from the beams in a flurry.

Then came a deafening roar, shaking the paper windows.

"The door is broken!!"

A servant burst in screaming, "They're ramming us with logs—we can't stop them! There are too many of them!"

The teacup in Master Zhang's hand fell to the ground and shattered into pieces.

He stood there, watching the tide of refugees fill the courtyard, his face drained of color.

Outside the courtyard, more refugees were pouring in, walking towards him step by step.

Meanwhile, in Luoyang, a thousand miles away, Zhang Jiao solemnly handed a drawn talisman to the believer kneeling before him.

"The Blue Heaven is dead; the Yellow Heaven shall rise."

"In the year of Jiazi, great fortune will befall the world."