kvmb Chapter 553 Absolutely Not!
Chapter 553 Absolutely Not!
Even though his body kept sending hunger signals to his brain, Yang Zheng still retained a sliver of rationality and did not choose to break into the brightly decorated landlord's house.
Because he knew that those exquisite and delicious foods were not prepared for a lowly person like him, but for other landlords of equal status.
As for lowly people like Yang Zheng... the landlord would rather throw away the food or feed it to the chickens and ducks at home than give it to someone like Yang Zheng.
But why?
Yang Zheng, leading his ox and standing quite a distance away outside the landlord's gate, felt the disdainful looks from the landlord's steward and servants, and his heart ached.
His father had told him that hard work would ensure he had enough to eat, and Yang Zheng agreed with this principle. He always believed that as long as he worked hard and was diligent enough, he could fill his stomach. But...
Why is it that those landlords, who clearly didn't have to do anything, could live in luxury and even have their servants look at them with disdain?
Nearly thirty years old, Yang Zheng, with his strong sense of self-respect, stood outside the landlord's house for a long time, feeling as insignificant as an ant.
He had met the landlord's son when he was a teenager. Apart from having fair skin, the son was useless and could not lift anything. He was like a cripple.
However, such a useless person can live a life of comfort and ease, while I, on the other hand, wear patched clothes and eat barely edible bran and chaff.
In comparison, Yang Zheng deeply felt the unevenness of this world.
The same age, the same gender, but the landlord's son can live a life of luxury simply because he was born into a wealthy family, while I, on the other hand, will go hungry my whole life because I was born into a poor family...
Others might take this for granted, but Yang Zheng felt that the world shouldn't be like this.
Those who put in the effort and sweat should reap greater rewards than those who reap the benefits without sowing.
However, this was just Yang Zheng's unrealistic fantasy.
Coming to his senses, he glanced once more at the brightly decorated landlord's house, then returned the ox and went back to his own drafty home.
Upon returning home, the first thing Yang Zheng did was ask his father, "Dad, we work so hard herding cattle for the landlord, why can't we even get enough to eat?"
Upon hearing this question, Yang's father remained silent for a long time without answering Yang Zheng.
In fact, Yang Zheng already had the answer in his heart.
The reason they can't even fill their own stomachs is not because they don't work hard enough, nor because of the cold disaster, but because some people are taking far too much.
Liangzhou was barren and cold, with very little arable land to begin with. In addition, the land was annexed by powerful families and landlords, which resulted in the vast majority of Liangzhou people not owning any land themselves, and most of them being tenant farmers of landlords.
Even those who owned only a few acres of poor land still had to endure exploitation from the imperial court and government officials.
In peaceful years, people can barely make ends meet, but with the onslaught of cold disasters, self-cultivating farmers, who are already vulnerable to risks, will immediately go bankrupt, either having to borrow money to make ends meet or selling their land to landlords and becoming tenant farmers in the landlords' households.
Yang Zheng's grandfather lost his land due to a natural disaster and could only herd cattle for landlords, barely surviving on their charity...
In some ways, Yang Zheng's family was lucky because his grandfather started herding cattle for landlords at a young age, and he and his father also got the job. So when the cold disaster swept through Qingzhou, their family was still able to barely make ends meet and did not starve to death.
In contrast, the other people in Liangzhou, after the cold disaster struck, didn't even have the chance to graze their cattle for the landlords. They either became refugees or ate tree bark and eventually starved to death...
"child."
Yang's father patted Yang Zheng's head, just as he had taught him when he was a child: "Don't think about so much. What we should be thinking about right now is how to survive."
Survival, seemingly a simple matter, is the greatest hope in the hearts of the people of Liangzhou.
"Ah."
Yang Zheng nodded, but he did not agree with his father's statement. He felt that the world should not be like this, and that the landlords who enjoyed the fruits of others' labor should not live a better life than the common people.
Of course, at that time, Yang Zheng had no intention of rebelling.
After all... the Xia Kingdom ruled the Nine Provinces for three hundred years, and the concept of imperial power had long been deeply rooted in people's hearts. Even when many people were starving to death, they probably would not have the idea of rebellion.
Yang Zheng's determination to rebel stemmed from the tax increase incident a year prior.
That tax increase incident even made the villagers of Chenjia Village want to violently resist the tax, but because of Chendao's guarantee, the villagers of Chenjia Village eventually gave up the idea of resisting the tax.
Unlike the villagers of Chenjia Village, Yang Zheng truly put his resistance to taxes into action!
After the tax increase decree was issued, the entire Liangzhou was in dire straits. The people couldn't even afford to eat their fill, and the imperial court still wanted to increase taxes by two taels of silver each time. Wasn't this going to force them to their deaths?
As for not paying taxes... the consequences are even more terrible; the whole family will be conscripted into the army...
When Yang's father heard the news, he was struck dumb. His family worked hard herding cattle for the landlord, and the harvest was barely enough to feed the three of them. How could they possibly come up with two taels of silver to pay taxes?
But the thought of the consequences of not being able to pay taxes filled Yang's father with despair.
What does it mean for the whole family to be conscripted into the army?
This means that everyone in the family, regardless of gender or age, will have to be sent to the army. If it were just oneself, it would be fine, but if one's wife and son were also sent to the army, then one's entire family would likely be wiped out, without even the chance to continue the bloodline...
"Heavens! The imperial court is leaving us no way to survive!"
Yang's mother felt a sudden darkness before her eyes, and she almost fell to the ground.
She and her husband were already exhausted just trying to make ends meet, how could they possibly afford to pay taxes with two taels of silver?
Yang Zheng quickly caught his mother and looked at the two old people who were utterly despondent and their faces were ashen. He made up his mind: Since the court will not let us live, then I will fight them to the death!
So, after comforting his parents, Yang Zheng went straight out of the house and found his familiar friends from the same village, such as Yang Erlang, to secretly discuss the time to rebel.
When Yang Erlang and the others first heard about the rebellion, their eyes widened in shock.
It wasn't that they were cowardly, but rather that the very fact of rebellion was terrifying.
This is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's family; everyone should consider the consequences.
"Brother Yang, you absolutely mustn't!"
Yang Erlang lowered his voice and said to Yang Zheng, "Rebellion is punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's family. This is absolutely not something we can do!"