Originally, selling children and women is not the most miserable thing, the most miserable thing is that they can't be sold and can only starve to death!
These days, there are at least three or four hundred million poor people in the world. Who doesn't need one? Even if there are some who want to buy a son to inherit the incense, or buy a child bride to solve their son's marital problems, it's impossible to digest such an overabundant population supply!
For many poor adults, "Nothing but chains" is not the most hopeless thing, the most hopeless thing is that they have no chains at all... there is no one who wants to lock them up and exploit them ruthlessly.
In fact, the most unsolvable problem of the Qing Dynasty today is that there are too many people, which has exceeded the carrying capacity of agriculture in the Han area of eighteen provinces. Moreover, there is no industrialization or colony to absorb these people.
The contradiction between the people and land of the Qing Dynasty is about to explode!
Oh, maybe it has already exploded!
It's just that the flames of the explosion have not yet ignited the majority of the poor, who are on the brink of despair and explode at the slightest touch...
Qiao Xiu is a poor fellow who has lost both his land and chains, and has nothing at all. He is a former tenant living in the nearby villages of Yetao Town for generation after generation.
He was a "former tenant" because he rented two acres of irrigated land from Huang Master last summer when it rained heavily and was flooded, resulting in no harvest, so he couldn't pay the rent or high-interest loans. He even couldn't afford the family's food supply. In order to keep his family alive, he gritted his teeth and decided to pledge his thirteen-year-old sister Wang Xier as a concubine maid to Master Huang.
But little did he expect that Master Huang wouldn't take her... It wasn't because Master Huang was so morally upright from studying the classics, but rather because last year's flood didn't just affect the land rented by Huang Huoxiu; it flooded a large area along both sides of the Xiao River!
There are too many tenants and poor farmers who want to pledge their daughters or sisters to Master Huang. Even if Master Huang wanted to help, his physical condition wouldn't allow it!
However, Master Huang was kind-hearted and didn't make things too difficult for Wang Huoxiu. He only asked him to withdraw his tenancy, stopped pressing him to pay the overdue rent, waived his debts to the "Yan Wang" (Yam King), and even returned half of the deposit he paid when renting the land...
Huang Shijie's actions put him above 99% of landlords in the Qing Dynasty, making him an absolute benevolent man among the landlord class.
But what can you do?
With the half of the deposit he got when he withdrew his tenancy, Wang Huoxiu's family struggled to live for a few more months, but now they have run out of food again - there's really no other way!
Now, he can't afford the deposit to rent land, can't borrow the usury loans, and can't find work on boats either. The water transportation on the Xiang River and Xiao River is in a complete downturn, and there's no hiring of new workers. Even if he wanted to go to Da Prefecture to mine, people there would reject him because he's too thin and weak from hunger, and he's not a member of the Tiandihui sect; they wouldn't take him at all!
As the family faces the imminent danger of starvation, Wang Huoxiu has no choice but to lead his starving daughter, who is thin and weak, to the embankment street to peddle and beg for food.
His "firewood sister" saw Master Huang, who was tall and handsome and riding a glider through the streets, her eyes lit up with excitement. She kept inching closer and pleading softly, "Master Huang, buy me. Please, I'm very obedient..."
If Master Huang buys me... then we'll have food!
But Master Huang really doesn't want to buy any more people. His own family is also becoming poorer and poorer every year!
So he also has to spend less, otherwise he will become like the Jia family in "Dream of the Red Chamber" sooner or later.
However, Master Huang, the benevolent man, sighed and told his old steward, "Huang Fu, bring the money bag!"
"Yes, master!"
"Yes, master!" The old steward, Huang Fu, took a heavy bag from a nearby servant and brought it to Master Huang. Huang Shijie reached out and pulled the string that tied the bag, then opened it to reveal the golden copper coins inside.
For this period, Huang Shijie would go out every day with a fully armed group of enforcers to patrol the embankment street where beggars gathered, intimidating the poor who were going hungry. Then he would throw out a sack of copper coins — actually not much, just a few thousand, not enough to solve an emergency or alleviate poverty, but just to show a gesture. And by doing so, give everyone a sliver of hope to live on.
"One coin per person, then forget about it... let's go," Huang Shijie instructed. "Send someone to set up a soup kitchen on the embankment street... cooking two stone of rough rice per day."
The old steward, Huang Fu, whispered a reminder: "Master Huang, there are a lot more beggars today than usual. Two stone of rough rice might not be enough..."
Huang Shijie sighed, "There's still time. I can't afford to give more than that... Let's just do this."
Also, hire some stronger poor people and give them a few more coins, so they can bury the starved bodies in the wilderness outside the town. Alas, I don't know how many more will die of hunger today. It's truly a disaster!"
Huang Shijie and Huang Fu both knew in their hearts that the soup kitchen was not set up for the living, but rather to slowly starve to death the poor who had no food. They couldn't be starved to death all at once. If they were still strong today and would starve to death tomorrow, they might rebel immediately!
There needs to be a process. First, they should be starved thin and weak. Once they have no strength left, naturally, they can only become peaceful starving bodies.
And setting up a soup kitchen, where the strong and able poor can get a bowl of food that will help them "lose weight" and continue living on it is very important.
This is a method used by the benevolent people to maintain local governance... Of course, Master Huang has no other way.
"Yes! Master," Huang Fu replied, then raised his voice, "Master Huang, the Benevolent Master, is distributing relief supplies! Master Huang wants to hire ten strong men to bury the starved bodies... and he'll pay ten coins each!"
As soon as his shout fell, the crowd below immediately expressed their gratitude with praises.
"Thank Master Huang for saving our lives!"
"Master Huang is truly a benevolent person!"
"Master Huang, may you live a thousand generations!"
"At least one more day of life..."
"Master Huang, I still have strength!"
"I, I can still work..."
Listening to the thanks and requests for employment from the poor on the streets, Huang Shijie's heart... it was really cold and numbing.
When he was young, he read historical books and always felt indignant at the descriptions of the end times, such as "the wine and meat stinking in red gates" and "bones frozen to death on the road." Why couldn't the rich take out some of their wealth to help alleviate disasters, so that everyone could survive?
But little did he expect that when his own "red gate" encountered the end times, he found that there was no rotten wine and meat in the house at all!
Even if he spends all his wealth, he can't save the poor people in Yetao Town, Liancai Town, Shuangpai Town, and the surrounding eight or nine villages.
But if he doesn't give a dime, pretending to be a benevolent man, he will be torn apart by the poor around him sooner or later... This is probably what the end times look like?
As Master Huang was silently sighing over the group of "grateful" poor, a bell ringed with a "ding-dong" sound and the sound of hooves clattering together came from a distance.
This is quite unusual!
Besides the Lün Camp troops in Yongzhou Town, there are not many people who keep horses here!
And there are no Lün Camp troops stationed in Yetao Town. There is a garrison of Lün Camp troops in the north at Lingtan Town, and he has a good relationship with the commander Zhang Dingxiang of Lingtan Garrison.
It's not the Long Bandits, is it? Master Zhang has sent someone to report the emergency at Lingtan Town, is it?
As Master Huang was thinking about this, he could hear Master Zhang's voice in the distance: "Ziying...... Brother Ziying, something terrible has happened. The Long Bandits have attacked us!"
Upon hearing "the Long Hair bandits are attacking," an indescribable fear surged towards Huang Shijie from all directions!
Upon hearing "the Long Hair bandits are attacking," Wang Huoxiu, who had just taken a few coins from Huang Fu to help bury the starved bodies, suddenly saw light in front of him... The Taiping Army has come! To kill the rich and help the poor, to save those who are on the verge of starvation!
Whether they have "God" protecting them or not doesn't matter, as long as they can let Wang Huoxiu have a few more good meals before he dies, that's worth it!
The taste of having a full stomach... it's all forgotten now!
Poor people long for a rebellion!
This thought must not be unique to Wang Huoxiu alone!
The embankment street, which was filled with thanksgiving voices just moments ago, had suddenly become much quieter.
The grateful eyes of the poor have also gradually disappeared...... Fire and light have appeared in their eyes!
Under this ominous atmosphere, a stout man dressed in a military coat of the Lün Camp and with a full beard had already galloped up to Master Huang's side, wailing, "Ziying, the Long Hair bandits have attacked......"
Huang Shijie, his voice trembling, asked, "Where have they reached?"
The stout man pointed to the back, "Master Huang, listen......"
Huang Shijie, Wang Huoxiu, and others who didn't know who else were all ears, then they heard the sea-like voices of women: "Kill the Qing demons! Go to heaven......"
