Chapter 51: Entering the Town

The three of them felt that this matter absolutely had to be discussed with Old Yan.

After listening to his younger brother's words, Yan Huaiwen immediately said, "Find a few people and go scout the situation again. It would be best if you can get into the town."

Yan the Second nodded and prepared to leave, but his brother called him back: "Tianyou, be careful. If things look bad, come back immediately."

Li Xuemei clenched her hands tightly by her side.

Yan Yu went to find those little companions who carried ropes to let the chickens out.

Since the families were reluctant to feed grain to the chickens, they let them out to forage for themselves, with long ropes tied to their feet held by children to prevent them from getting lost.

Yan Huaiwen convened the village elders for a meeting.

Yan Xiangheng and several boys from the village were sent out to look for people.

Fortunately, everyone knew not to wander too far; they stayed in the vicinity, picking up firewood and pulling weeds, and returned before long.

Yan the Second recruited Qi Si, Qi Wu, and Santie.

The Qi brothers were physically strong, providing a sense of security, and Santie was quick-witted.

Why not call for Qi Da?

One had to leave a male behind to look after the household.

The group moved swiftly, a result of their recent training.

After about an hour's walk, they could see the town Yan the Second had mentioned from a distance.

It was already the hour of the Monkey (around 3–5 PM). Although the hottest part of the day had passed, it remained oppressively muggy.

Yan the Second noticed that fewer people were entering the town, while more were leaving.

Just as they had suspected, these people were in a hurry, their faces etched with misery. Entire families, some driving carts and others pushing them, carried bundles on their backs, all heading in the same direction.

The four of them watched for a while, and seeing that the bailiffs truly didn't care, they emboldened themselves to approach. With hearts in their mouths, they blended in with the crowd entering the town.

Once inside the town, the four were even more terrified.

More than half of the shops on the streets were closed.

At a grain shop crowded with people, the workers were putting up the shutters. While closing the doors, a clerk shouted impatiently, "Move! Everyone move! I told you, there's no grain, no grain! Why can't you understand?"

Someone pleaded from outside, "Shopkeeper, shopkeeper, please, I beg you, sell me some grain! My family is waiting for this food!"

"I'm willing to pay a high price, a high price!"

"Me too! Don't close the doors, don't close them! Just the day before yesterday, I saw so much rice and flour in your shop..."

The clerk snapped in frustration, "If you saw it the day before yesterday, why didn't you buy it? Were you complaining it was too expensive? Today, no matter how much money you have, there is no grain. Now move, all of you, don't delay me from closing up!"

"Your shop must have grain!" someone said indignantly. "Every grain shop in town is closing; how could that be such a coincidence? You profiteers, are you hoarding grain to sell at high prices?"

Upon hearing this, the clerk stopped putting up the shutters. "Come, come, come inside and see for yourselves! If there is even a single grain left, I'll eat this wooden shutter!"

"The harvest was bad this year. Our shop is only selling previous stock. Why are all the grain shops closing? Because it's all sold out! If there's only outflow and no inflow, when would it ever be sold out? The disasters in various regions are severe, and our owners can't move grain around either. If you want to buy grain, our owners want to buy it too! Now scatter, all of you! Standing here won't help; if we say there's no grain, there's no grain!" Taking advantage of their daze, the clerk moved quickly to finish boarding up the remaining sections.

The crowd surrounded the grain shop for a long time before eventually dispersing in helplessness.

Having overheard the gist of it, the four of them moved toward another area.

Further ahead, they saw another large crowd gathered.

They hurried over.

To their surprise, it was at the government office.

The sight terrified the four of them, and they hid within the crowd, not daring to show their heads.

They could hear people crying out in anguish, pleading with the Great Lord to waive taxes and open the granaries.

Yan the Second listened and stole a glance.

Whoa! These people were clearly not ordinary commoners.

The leaders were well-dressed and looked spirited; most importantly, they were stout.

In these times, anyone with such a physique was basically wealthy.

Looking at those making the most noise, they were all wearing similar short tunics.

Clearly, they were household servants or guards.

A commotion broke out.

The Great Lord put on his official airs and stepped out.

As soon as he appeared and cleared his throat, the entire area fell silent.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen gentry, listen to this official."

Yan the Second took another quick glance. Oh, so that's what the Great Lord looks like; nothing particularly surprising.

"This official has already submitted a request to the Prefect to waive taxes and open the granaries for relief, but there has been no response! Without an official order, how would I dare to release grain privately? Go back, everyone. If there is good news, this official will certainly open the granaries for relief at the first opportunity. Please rest assured."

"Great Lord, please be discerning! Although we possess some small assets, the villagers have come to our doors repeatedly begging for grain, and we truly cannot bear it!"

"Great Lord, it is not that we do not know etiquette, but life is truly becoming unbearable. Our fields have seen reduced yields; if we pay the taxes, we will starve. If we do not pay, we will be punished with labor according to the law. If all else fails, if all else fails... we beg the Great Lord to show mercy and help us delay for a while. Can we endure through this summer and make up the payment in autumn?"

"We beg the Great Lord for mercy!"

"We beg the Great Lord for mercy!"

...

Yan the Second understood. These people had two requests.

First, to open the granaries to help the villagers. If the granaries weren't opened, they couldn't heartlessly turn away those who came to them; they would have to give up some rice and grain, but with such a bad harvest, even the landlords had no surplus!

Second, to delay the grain tax, allowing them to pay in autumn to get through this period of disaster.

Both were quite reasonable.

However, regarding the first point, the Great Lord had said he could not release grain privately and had requested instructions from his superiors without receiving a reply, so it might not happen. Therefore, everyone focused on the second point: begging the Great Lord to let them delay until autumn.

"You... you are... making things difficult for this official!" The Great Lord wore a face of grief, and without a follow-up, he simply walked away!

Yan the Second: What's the situation?

Did he agree or not? He didn't give a straight answer.

Yet, the people gathered at the government office seemed to have understood and dispersed.

Yan the Second felt he had heard enough and hurried back.

He wanted to ask Old Yan to see if he understood.

His own brain was simply not suited for such convoluted matters...

...

When he returned and asked, Old Yan indeed understood perfectly.

Yan Huaiwen let out a long sigh. "Even if they allow them to pay in autumn, it will be of no use."

The drought in Qishan Prefecture had lasted for two whole years.

The grain sent by the various offices under the prefecture could not be distributed fast enough.

Large numbers of refugees were fleeing to the prefectural city. The city itself could barely sustain itself, and the refugees continued to spread to surrounding prefectures like locusts, devouring everything they could find to satisfy their hunger.

Those who left early were lucky; those left behind were truly miserable.

Grass roots and tree bark were considered delicacies; some died eating soil, and others resorted to eating their own children...

He closed his eyes, unwilling to recall that heavy report on the disaster.

The imperial decree for tax exemption only arrived belatedly during the autumn harvest. Even if the local gentry survived this year, it was uncertain if they could make it through next year.

Yan the Second let out an "oh": "So, when that Great Lord turned around and left, it meant he agreed?" Then why didn't he just say so instead of being so mysterious?

Yan Huaiwen patiently explained to him, "In officialdom, most people seek to protect themselves. By neither speaking nor granting, if someone tries to use this matter against him in the future, he can simply shrug it off."