Daming: Mixed in Dangzhi County, Beiping

Chapter 504 The real suffering life of the people of Ming Dynasty

From a distance, Guo An, Zhu Di and others saw muddy huts scattered at random, sometimes with tattered or half-remained earthen walls, pitch black, desolate and silent.

Among the hundreds of thatched huts, there was only one clean brick house, standing alone on the edge of a pond, which stood out.

It's already noon.

However, in this cold season, there is almost no human habitation in this village, and there is only some smoke coming out of a few houses.

Seeing this, Zhu Di walked directly towards the outermost hut.

However, as they approached, Zhu Di and Guo An couldn't help but frown.

Around this hut with a fence that is only half a person's height away, there is still a thin layer of snow covering it. The snow is white and flat, and there are no traces of anyone moving around.

Even inside the courtyard, except for two swept paths, there were no traces of cleaning around. You could even see piles of leaves and weeds buried under the snow.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaochi on the side didn't think much. Instead, he felt that the white snow in the courtyard was a bit pleasing to the eye and walked straight in.

Behind him, Jiang Hu and several chamberlains were worried about some thieves appearing in the house, so they quickly followed Zhu Gaochi.

Perhaps hearing the sound of someone approaching outside the courtyard, the small door of the hut slowly opened, revealing an old woman with unkempt hair and a face looking expectantly towards the outside of the courtyard. There was a small head underneath, with a timid face.

However, they saw Zhu Gaochi, Zhu Di and others outside.

Immediately, the old woman realized something and hurriedly tried to close the door of the hut.

Seeing this, Jiang Hu hurriedly stepped forward and held the door open, surprising the old woman.

"My master is passing by here and wants to come in to have a look. Why are you, an old woman, so hasty and turning away people?"

Zhu Di glared at Jiang Hu, who was a bit rough, but his face was gentle.

"Don't be afraid, old woman. We were about to go to Jiangjun Mountain. When we were about to pass this place, we felt a little hungry, so we came in to ask for some food to fill our stomachs. Don't worry, I'll give you money!"

Realizing that Zhu Di was the person in charge among the group of nobles in front of her, the old woman hurriedly saluted and said a little timidly: "Masters, the food we have here is just chaff. I'm afraid it's not suitable for these nobles!"

Zhu Di said cheerfully: "No problem, I'll be very satisfied if I can satisfy my hunger when I'm out!"

After hearing this, the old woman was still a little hesitant. As for her grandson, she was a little frightened and curious as she looked at Zhu Di, Zhu Gaochi and others who were all dressed in brocade clothes, with deep envy in their eyes.

On the side, Jiang Hu had already taken out two treasure notes from his arms, with the denomination of two taels of silver.

"This is four taels of treasure. You, this old woman, take it and hurry up and cook for my master!"

"This……"

When she saw the treasure note, the old woman's eyes lit up, and then she looked embarrassed again.

"Take it!"

Jiang Hu directly put the treasure banknotes into the old woman's hands. The old woman took a serious look, her dry black hands were trembling, and then she thanked him profusely, opened the door, and invited Zhu Di, Zhu Gaochi and others to come in.

"It's still warm inside!"

After entering the house, Zhu Di mumbled subconsciously and began to look around at the situation in the house.

However, as they looked at each other, Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi's brows furrowed again.

The inside of the hut is very simple. Apart from a bed, there is only a table, a few crooked stools, a dilapidated cabinet, a stove, and a few earthen pots and other objects piled in a corner. Inside.

As for the bedding on the bed, it was just a thin layer of linen spread on the bed, with a bloated quilt on top. It looked very thick, but as the grandson got into the quilt, Guo An, Zhu Di and others could There was obviously a sound of huffing and puffing.

But at this moment, the old woman was already hunched over, lighting a fire for the stove.

As the fire in the stove started to burn, the room became brighter and gradually warmed up.

"You don't have any shoes on your feet?"

Suddenly, Zhu Gaochi on the side stared at the old woman's feet, eyes wide open, full of surprise.

When he first entered the house, it was dark inside and the old woman's feet were also pitch black, so he didn't notice the condition of the old woman's feet.

Now, as the firelight shone and the old woman subconsciously wanted to get her feet closer to the stove, Zhu Gaochi finally saw it.

Zhu Di and Guo An also subconsciously looked at the old woman's feet.

So far, the old woman is standing barefoot, her feet are full of dry cracks, and some swelling can still be seen vaguely. She has no idea how she can survive in this freezing weather?
In addition, the clothes on the old woman's body were all shabby fabrics that had been patched up piece by piece, and the original pattern and color could no longer be seen after washing.The old woman said vaguely: "This noble man is laughing at me. My family is poor and we don't have much cloth."

Zhu Gaochi opened his mouth, not knowing what to say. He had known for a long time that the people of the Ming Dynasty lived in hardship, but he never expected that they would suffer to such an extent.

It's such a winter, but there are no shoes to wear, the mattress is made of hay, and the quilt is filled with leaves and weeds?

Is this more than poverty?Thinking about it makes me shudder!

On the side, Zhu Di seemed to remember something and asked again: "Where is your man?"

While filling Zhu Di's bowl with hot water, the old woman replied: "Go dig the river!"

Zhu Di frowned, looked at Lao Ou's face up and down, and couldn't help but ask again: "Is your man going too?"

The old woman seemed unwilling to say more and said simply: "As long as the adult men in the nearby villages have to go!"

Zhu Di's face had darkened. According to the old woman's age, her man must be too young and there should be no need to go. However, these matters were considered by local officials and it was not easy for him to interfere.

On the side, Zhu Gaochi nodded slowly, "It's good to do corvee work. During this slack time, not only can you earn some food rations, but you can also earn some money to subsidize your family!"

The old woman looked at Zhu Gaochi with a strange look on her face, then thought of something, quickly looked away, picked up the bowl, and prepared to cook.

However, in the end, he couldn't hold it back and said helplessly: "If you go to serve in the corvee, you won't get food there, so you have to bring it yourself."

Zhu Di: "..."

Zhu Gaochi: "..."

At this moment, the two of them finally remembered that in the Ming Dynasty, only Beiping Prefecture served as corvees, not only responsible for food, but also paid.

Thinking about it, he couldn't help but glance at Guo An beside him.

Guo An just smiled and said nothing.

Over the years, Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi have seen too many beautiful scenes, which will require them to see the real miserable life of the people of the Ming Dynasty!
Zhu Gaochi wanted to ask something else, but looking at the poverty-stricken situation of the old woman's family, he didn't know where to start.

At this time, Guo An saw the old woman holding a bowl of dark stuff, which she seemed to be putting into the pot without even washing it. He was startled and stopped him immediately.

"Old woman, stop it quickly!"

The old woman was also startled and asked with a panicked expression: "I wonder what this noble man's orders are?"

Guo An asked: "This is the only food you have at home?"

Hearing this, Zhu Di, Zhu Gaochi and others also subconsciously looked at the bowl in the old woman's hand.

Both Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi couldn't help but frown slightly. There was only some broken rice in the bowl, and even half of the rice bran was mixed in.

Zhu Di had seen some of these directly.

However, for Zhu Gaochi, he had never seen them before, but he also knew that these were not good food.

On the side, Jiang Hu glared angrily, stared at the old woman, and reprimanded loudly: "How dare you, you cunning old woman, I gave you four taels of silver, but you only gave us these pig food?"

The old woman's face suddenly filled with fear, and she hurriedly explained: "I dare not... dare not deceive you nobles, but... this is the only food in my family, and on weekdays, we are reluctant to eat it!"

Jiang Hu didn't believe it, so he turned around, walked to the rice vat, opened it, and looked inside.

Suddenly, there was silence.

Seeing this, Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi couldn't help but walked over and couldn't help but look weird.

In the Nanuo rice vat, there was only half a vat of rice that had bottomed out, but it was all rice bran and broken rice mixed together.

As for the pots and jars on the side, they were all empty. It looked like a mouse would starve to death if it fell in!
Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi suddenly lost their defense!

"Do you and your grandson eat these on weekdays?"

"These are already considered good!"

At this moment, the old woman seemed to realize that the noble people in front of her were not so arrogant and unreasonable. She became a little bolder and spoke a little louder.

……

(End of this chapter)