In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

Chapter 816: Weird Things

"lets change a topic!"

Jing Cong timely ended the topic and asked Chen Dao and the others, "Young brothers, are you looking for a place to stay in the village for the night?"

"Yes, village chief."

"Then come with me! We may not have much else in our village, but we do have some empty houses."

Jing Cong led the group toward their home. Along the way, Chen Dao and his group saw many villagers from Jingming Village. Without exception, all of these villagers were pale and thin, emaciated, and looked like they were malnourished.

"Village chief, who are these people?"

"They are guests from out of town who would like to stay overnight in our village."

Some people greeted Jing Cong and asked Chen Dao about the identities of the strangers, which Jing Cong answered one by one.

While answering, Jing Cong also said to Chen Dao and his group, "I have two empty rooms in my house. If you don't mind, you can squeeze in! If you do mind, I can talk to the other villagers and make room for you in two more rooms!"

"No need, village chief, we can just squeeze in!"

"Row!"

As they spoke, the group arrived at Jing Cong's home. Looking at the environment inside, Chen Dao and his companions gained a deeper understanding of the poverty in Jingming Village.

The phrase "bare walls" perfectly describes Jing Cong's house!

Old, worm-eaten tables and chairs, drafty walls, a thatched roof...

It's no exaggeration to say that the living conditions of the village chief's family are worse than those of the chicken farm in Chenjia Village!

If even the village chief, the highest-ranking person in Jingming Village, lives in such a state, one can only imagine the living conditions of the other villagers.

"Old Jing, you're back?"

Hearing the commotion, an old woman peeked out from the kitchen. Upon seeing Chen Dao and the others, she exclaimed in surprise, "Old Jing, who are these people?"

"They're from Liangzhou and want to stay overnight in our village!"

After explaining for a moment, the village chief turned to Chen Dao and the others and introduced, "This is my wife! You can just call her Aunt Niu!"

"Hello, Aunt Niu!"

Chen Dao and the others hurriedly greeted the old woman.

Seeing this, the old woman beamed and said, "Oh! They're all fine young men, so strong and robust!"

As she said this, Aunt Niu's gaze remained fixed on Chen Cheng. The reason was simple: Chen Cheng was so strong and robust that he looked like a very powerful young man and was definitely a good farmer!

"Dad, have we had guests?"

At this moment, a man and a woman came out of another room and asked Jing Cong a question.

"Yes! A few guests from Liangzhou have come to stay the night."

As the village chief answered, he introduced the man and woman to Chen Dao and the others: "This is my son Jingyu, and this is my daughter-in-law Mengjie."

"Hello!"

Chen Dao hurriedly greeted the two of them and introduced himself.

However, when introducing themselves, Chen Dao and Chen Cheng used their real names, while Yang Zheng and Li Qiao used the pseudonyms Yang Tian and Li Yuan, respectively.

"Please have a seat!"

The village chief's son, Jingyu, seemed to be a scholar. He performed the usual courtesies among scholars to Chen Dao and the other three, and then invited them to sit down. Jingyu's wife, Meng Jie, sat down next to him.

"Yu'er, you and your wife entertain the guests. Your mother and I will go cook!"

"it is good!"

After giving Jingyu some instructions, Jing Cong followed Aunt Niu to the kitchen to get busy.

After Chen Dao and the other three sat down inside, Jing Yu said somewhat apologetically, "My home is simple, I hope you won't mind!"

Unlike the village chief Jing Cong, Jing Yu had some education and had studied in the county town, so his knowledge was much broader than that of other villagers.

Therefore, the moment he saw Chen Dao and his group, he realized that the four of them were extraordinary.

This is not only because of the clothes the four of them wore, but also because Chen Dao and Yang Zheng both had a unique aura of those in positions of power.

Although Li Qiao and Chen Cheng did not possess that kind of temperament, the powerful aura they exuded was unlike that of ordinary people.

Therefore, Jingyu treated the four of them with extreme politeness.

"It doesn't matter!"

Yang Zheng waved his hand. The Jing family's environment was indeed a bit simple for him, but Yang Zheng was never one to care about such things. Back when he was a cowherd, his family's conditions weren't much better than the Jing family's.

"Judging from your conversation, Brother Jing, you seem to be a scholar?"

Yang Zheng asked curiously.

"I have read some books."

A look of bewilderment flashed across Jingyu's eyes as she slowly said, "Back when the harvest was good, our family had some surplus grain. My father used that surplus grain to exchange for money and sent me to study in the county town. It's just a pity..."

Jingyu sighed: "I am not good at studying. I have studied for several years but have not achieved any official rank! On the contrary, because I am good at studying but not good at farming, I have made the burden on my parents even heavier."

Yang Zheng and the others could sense the disappointment and guilt in Jing Yu's heart.

This is probably the mindset of the vast majority of poor scholars in the Xia Kingdom. Supporting a scholar is by no means an easy task for ordinary people.

This is not only because education is expensive, but also because supporting a student means the family loses a member of the workforce.

Therefore, the vast majority of scholars from poor families feel guilty towards their parents.

"Brother Jing, there's no need for that!"

Yang Zheng comforted him, "Although you failed to pass the imperial examinations, you have learned about the ways of the world through your studies, so you are not living in a daze, are you?"

"maybe."

Jing Yu remained noncommittal, then asked, "Brother Yang, you come from Liangzhou, do you know what Liangzhou looks like now?"

What does Liangzhou look like?

After pondering for a moment, Yang Zheng finally chose to tell the truth: "The imperial court's rule in Liangzhou has now been overthrown by King Yang. After King Yang took power, he abolished a series of exorbitant taxes and levies imposed by the imperial court, making the lives of the people much better. Now, the people of Liangzhou only need to hand over 30% of their earnings from farming, and the remaining 70% belongs to them!"

Seventy percent goes to him?

Upon hearing this, both Jing Yu and Meng Jie's eyes flashed with deep envy.

For the people of Youzhou, who were required to hand over 80% of their grain, the idea of ​​keeping 70% for themselves was something they never dared to dream of.

Therefore, when they heard that the people of Liangzhou only needed to pay 30% of their grain tax, the two were extremely envious and wished they were from Liangzhou.

but……

Jing Yu seemed to have thought of something else and said, "As far as I know, most of the land in Liangzhou is in the hands of landlords and powerful families, right? If King Yang implements such policies, won't that just enrich those aristocratic families?"

Upon hearing this, Yang Zheng couldn't help but give Jing Yu a deep look.

From Jing Yu's words, he could sense Jing Yu's disgust for aristocratic families.

However, after thinking about it carefully, Yang Zheng understood Jing Yu's feelings.

Living in Youzhou, Jingyu undoubtedly had the most direct experience of how powerful clans exploited the common people. Under such circumstances, it would be quite strange if Jingyu could develop a liking for the powerful clans.