One day in early August 1633, outside the city wall of Lin'an County, Hangzhou Prefecture, there were lifeless desolate scenes everywhere, without the chirping of livestock and poultry, and without the laughter of people. During the day, the villages were lifeless and empty. Occasionally, some elderly people and children were all covered with vegetables and listless. Men and women worked hard for a day in the scorching sun, exhausted, and had to carry a basket of vegetables to pick wild vegetables to satisfy their hunger. However, fewer and fewer wild vegetables were and almost picked.

Summer grain is about to debut, but the grain reserves of each household have already reached the peak, and the prices of grain are getting higher and higher day by day. Farmers who have barely supported the drought last year began to struggle for their livelihoods again.

The relief grains issued by the government have been eaten up, and the price of raw silk cocoons in spring plummeted, completely destroying the hope of some silkworm households to breathe. Seeing that the summer grain has not yet appeared, people are about to starve to death. Selling green seedlings does not count, but they have to sell land, houses, and children... A poor man has done everything he can do to survive. Although this year it seems to be quite good, the shadow of famine is getting stronger and stronger on their heads. In fact, many families have left the cooking, and the number of tenants who throw away the land and flee into the porridge sheds in the city has begun to increase again. There are more roads on the roadside.

In front of the rice shop in Dongguan Town outside the county town, there were now villagers with quail clothes and knots. On the door frame of the rice shop, there was a water plate hanging on the rice shop. The price of rice and the prices of various grains marked on it had been changed many times. Since the beginning of spring, each dou of rice was sold for three cents, and then it fell back for a while. After the summer, it rose for more than ten days, and it was already three cents and eight cents.

Teahouses and wine shops are still packed. The skyrocketing food prices are like a bolt from the blue for the rising and fighting people, but they have no effect on the rich - many of them have more or less benefited from this catastrophe, some have used the means of lending money to gain land and houses, and some have bought cheap slaves. The sound of shouting and clamoring and smug laughter, from the window of the shop to the street, mixed with the begging of hungry people outside, and the cry of the separation of flesh and blood sold as slaves.

The villagers gathered at the entrance of the rice shop, each carrying a small pocket. The blue-gray faces of the wild vegetables and gray were filled with sorrow. The stockpiles filled with rice and grains were piled up, making them feel a tingling burning sensation of their stomachs that had been empty for a long time.

Although they wanted to have rice every day and night, they had to take out the last little brown rice in their homes to exchange for mixed grains.

"I really have no way to live." A man hesitated for a long time and handed a bag of rice in his hand. Everyone rolled their eyes impatiently and said, "You old guy, do you think we are beggars in the store? What do you want you to do with this liter of rice?"

"Please be fine!" The person who took the rice in bowed and begged. He finally asked the other party to collect the rice in and exchanged a bag of miscellaneous grains.

"This is too little exchange..." Someone was muttering.

"If you think there is too little, don't change it." The guy glared at the cow's eyes and looked disdainful. "Our shopkeeper is kind enough to exchange your rice. If you don't change it, don't block the door and interfere with our business."

The people around outside muttered for a while. Although the amount of grain exchange in this store was a bit ruthless, only this store nearby was willing to receive their liter and half a bucket of brown rice. If it were a shop nearby, they wouldn't even bother to look at the rice they brought.

In desperation, the people who came had to go to the rice shop one by one to receive the "gift" and took bags of miscellaneous grains. They could not help but curse the store's greed in their hearts.

It was the last one, but a half-old woman in rags. Then when you approach her, you can see that she is not old, but her long-term malnutrition and overwork have made her skin gray and loose.

In her hand, she was holding a wooden stick like a beggar. Judging from the way she took a few steps and was about to breathe, she probably wouldn't have been able to walk here without relying on this wooden stick.

Because she had no strength, she was the last one to go to the counter and took out a small rag pocket from her arms and handed it over.

This rice is only half a half. The guy was reluctant to connect at all. He curled his lips and smiled at everyone, "Look at it, this rice has not even been exchanged for grains. Although our store does good deeds, we can't do this. Sister-in-law! You should take this rice back and feed it to everyone."

"Please be kind-hearted by the shopkeeper-" the woman begged, saying that her land and house had just been collected by the creditor, and the whole family lived in a dilapidated temple, without even a pot. The man at home died again, only the elderly and children, and they were too hungry to bear, and only this little rice could be taken out for mixed grains...

The guy just refused, the woman cried and begged, and finally knelt down and begged. Seeing that more people were watching, the guy got so angry that he raised his hand and threw the bag of rice on the counter out.

It was said to be a rice bag, but it was just a piece of rag wrapped in rice. It fell to the ground and immediately fell to the ground. White rice splashed all over the ground.

The woman let out a scream of exhaustion and stumbled over to pick up rice. However, the rice was rarely seen, and it was thrown everywhere after being thrown. The woman cried while stuffing the rice particles into her arms, with tears mixed with grey soil, like a mad woman. Everyone on the side couldn't bear to look at it.

"This is so bullying..."

Someone finally couldn't stand it anymore and muttered.

"Bully? Who said that you have the will to stand up and don't lock it behind you as a turtle!" The guy shouted with wide eyes.

The owner of this rice shop is a bully in the town - except for him, no one in the town dares to open a rice shop. The shop's men are used to being so arrogant. He glared at him, and no one who was watching the fun dared to talk more.

An old man came out to smooth things over: "Shopkeeper Liu, please show your compassion. For her orphans and widows, you can exchange some miscellaneous grains for her, but it won't be given in vain anyway-"

The boss who had been sneering and picking teeth probably felt that the noise at the door of his store was too great and was unpredictable, so he got up impatiently and took out a few pieces of bran cakes from under the counter and threw them out.

"Chancake..." A dissatisfied voice sounded in the crowd.

"What's wrong with the bran cake?" The shopkeeper widened his eyes, "I guess you all are rich and powerful. They eat and drink rice and white flour every day, and look down on this bran cake?"

The woman quickly picked up the bran cakes one by one and stuffed them into the basket.

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "Look at it - you dislike the bran cakes, but people don't dislike it. This is how you look like you sue for the gang. If it weren't for the villagers, I would have kept these bran cakes at home to feed the pigs."

"What a fellow villager in the country, you're a fool!" A low voice sounded in the crowd, "You're just a bastard who eats people and doesn't spit out bones!"

The shopkeeper's whole body was shaking, and his mouth was opened in surprise. Over the years, he has been domineering in the town, monopolizing the rice shop business, lent loans, bullying men and women, and doing all kinds of bad things. No one dared to say a word. In addition to the gentry masters he could not afford, even if the county comes, the head of the troupe was polite to talk to him, let alone scolding him in front of him.

"What are you? Get out and let me see!" The shopkeeper roared.

The crowd retreated, but someone stood up. He was about twenty-seven or eight years old. He was tall, pale skin, a little hunched, and had a circle of legs. He looked like a silk weaver sitting in front of a silk machine. He looked average, had a calm face, and looked very steady.

"Who are you? You dare to be so arrogant to Mr. Liu!" The guys in the shop also reacted from surprise and shouted.

"Hao Yuan." The visitor spoke very calmly and had no intention of picking up the situation.

A guy suddenly jumped out from behind the counter. His fleshy face was tilted from the right corner of his forehead to his left cheek. This was the mark he left when he followed Manager Liu to his "standing plate" here. He said he was a guy, but he was Manager Liu's thug.

He looked up and down at the other party, as if he was estimating the opponent's weight. He said nothing, and punched Hao Yuan in the chest. The opponent immediately fell out ten steps away and fell to the tea shop table opposite.

The guys in the rice shop immediately burst into laughter: "Good fight! Let him see how much he has!"

The guy proudly took his hands and stood leisurely in the store, showing a smile on his twisted face, appreciating the effect of his punch.

At this moment, Hao Yuan shook the ground and struggled. His face was cut by the fragments of the tea set, and a trace of blood flowed out. The people around him suddenly became quiet. In the silence, a sudden burst of a high-speed cannon sounded. A strange atmosphere suddenly surrounded the scene, and many people had the same feeling--there was no end.

The footsteps on the street rushed for a while, and it seemed that many people were rushing here. In a moment, the door of the rice shop was surrounded and it was blocked.

Hao Yuanyi turned around and stepped onto the bench in front of the tea shop. He shouted loudly to the people gathered below: "Everyone has seen it--we are poor and we have no way to survive. Even a bastard selling rice wants us to die! I don't want to see the family starving to death, everyone follows me!" He waved his arms:

"I don't want to die, I'll steal rice!"

Hao Yuan's shouting sounded like a thunderbolt falling from the clear sky, awakening those people in a ignorant state! They are all people living in the lower class. The disaster year has made their already difficult days worse. They can only make a living by betraying everything they have little by little. Now they have fallen to the point where they can't even ask for a little so-called grace.

Now someone suddenly woke them up: Since you can’t get it while kneeling, then use your fists to grab it!

Several people who looked like mechanics shouted together:

The crowd suddenly became turbulent: "I don't want to die, so I'll rob the rice!" One sentence turned into ten sentences, ten sentences turned into one hundred sentences, and everyone started to roar like a demon. (To be continued, please search Piaotianwen, the novel is better and faster!
Chapter completed!