Chapter 9: The Imperial Estate 5

After Chongzhen and his party left the estate, the tightly shut doors of every household in the village opened one after another, though many still dared not come out, merely craning their necks to peer outside.

In the courtyard of one farm household, the tenant farmer Liu Dachun was sharpening a hoe, while his wife Liu Li-shi was feeding a dozen or so chicks from a clay basin filled with chopped vegetable leaves. Their seven-year-old son Shitou was holding the hand of his younger sister Xiaohua, who was sucking her fingers, as they followed behind their mother.

The courtyard was not large—three main rooms with a thatched shed on each of the two sides, serving as the kitchen and the latrine. Beside the latrine sat a chicken coop, and next to it was a stack of dry firewood.

Liu Li-shi wore a skirt jacket covered in patches, but it was washed very clean, and her appearance was that of an ordinary household woman. While feeding the chickens, she spoke up: "Husband, I heard from Village Head Li that the noble visitor who came to our village is someone from the palace. Yesterday I peeked through the crack in the door and saw a young nobleman wearing a dragon robe. Tell me, could he be a prince?"

"Nonsense—a prince's body is far too precious; why would he come to our poor village? In this hot weather, nobles are all cooling off in big houses. In my view, the one who came is probably a eunuch steward in charge of affairs. Look at our village's Liu Fengyu—how impressive he is! The one who came must hold an even higher office than him!" Liu Dachun analyzed with an air of authority.

Liu Li-shi nodded repeatedly and said, "This time the palace eunuch isn't coming to press us for rent, is he? Even if he is, so be it—we've already paid everything we owe!" At this she sighed and continued, "Alas, the harvest gets worse year after year. This year, after we paid our grain levy, our rations are considerably less than last year's! Shitou is growing bigger by the day and his appetite has grown a lot too—who knows how long this remaining grain will last?!"

Hearing his wife's words, Liu Dachun stopped sharpening and was silent for a long while. After a moment he spoke: "When the slack season for farming comes, I'll go into the capital and see if any noble household is hiring laborers. If I'm lucky enough to meet a kind family and can get steady work, I'll earn some silver by year's end—then we won't have to worry."

Liu Li-shi shook her head, grief welling up silently in her heart.

In past years her husband had also gone to the capital to work during the slack season, but in recent years she'd heard the realm was not at peace, and more and more refugees were flooding into the capital, making work even harder to find. Many times her husband returned empty-handed, and even when he did find an employer, the pay was in iron coins and poor-quality currency. At this rate, how were they to get by in the days ahead?

Just as she was fretting, suddenly the sound of a gong rang out from outside, accompanied by someone shouting loudly: "Hear ye, fellow villagers! The head of every household is to assemble at the threshing ground to the south—Liu Fengyu has important matters to announce!"

Liu Dachun was taken aback for a moment, then said to his wife: "Could it be that the palace thinks we paid too little grain and the noble visitor has come to levy more?" Liu Li-shi shook her head in bewilderment. Liu Dachun set down his hoe, wiped his hands on his short jacket, and said, "I'll go listen. You stay home and watch the children." With that he went to the door, opened the courtyard gate, and headed for the threshing ground.

When he arrived at the threshing ground, quite a few people were already there. Those who knew each other were murmuring in hushed discussion, and every guess they arrived at pointed to something bad—each person's heart was filled with unease.

Gradually everyone assembled. After a while, Liu Chao arrived at the threshing ground, followed by a Squad Leader of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the village heads.

Liu Chao mounted a small earthen platform at the south end of the threshing ground, clasped his hands behind his back, surveyed the crowd below, and gave a light cough—at once the crowd fell utterly silent. He nodded in satisfaction and spoke in a shrill voice: "I have summoned you all here to make known several important matters. These matters are all good news—tremendously good news! They are favors granted to you by His Majesty!" At this, he clasped his hands and bowed toward the north.

A buzz of murmuring rose from below as people whispered to one another, all eyeing Liu Chao on the platform with looks of suspicion.

Seeing this, Liu Chao was somewhat displeased. He cleared his throat loudly again, and once more the crowd fell silent. Liu Chao continued: "Do you know which noble visitor came yesterday? The very telling will scare you to death—it was His Majesty the reigning Emperor! It was His Majesty the Emperor himself!" On the final words, Liu Chao's voice suddenly shot up, the shrill sound piercing straight into their eardrums.

The crowd below suddenly erupted in clamor. Hearing that His Majesty had come to the imperial estate, some were afraid, some doubtful, some trembled all over with excitement, some glowed with ruddy faces, and some stood frozen on the spot. Some wept bitter tears, some fell to their knees—the scene descended into chaos, the noise growing louder and louder. Had these people been indoors, their voices would surely have lifted the roof off.

Do not doubt whether the scene the author describes is exaggerated. In any society where imperial power reigned supreme, not to mention common folk, even the vast majority of officials would never have a chance to see the emperor in their entire lives. Even in the later age of information explosion, though people saw national leaders on television every day, if they suddenly encountered a leader in real life, the vast majority would still be immensely excited—it would be no exaggeration to call it cheering and leaping for joy. So when they heard Liu Fengyu say that the noble visitor yesterday was His Majesty the reigning Emperor, though most had not seen him, they were still struck as if by lightning.

Seeing the scene getting somewhat out of hand, Liu Chao shouted: "Silence! Silence!" The Embroidered Uniform Guard Squad Leader and the two village heads also joined in shouting.

It was quite a while before the crowd's emotions finally calmed down. Once quiet was restored, Liu Chao spoke: "His Majesty, pitying the hardship of your survival, has specially decreed that your grain levy be reduced from seventeen to fourteen, effective from this summer's harvest!" The moment the words fell, clamor rose from below once more. Led by someone taking the lead, the crowd fell to their knees one after another, kowtowing repeatedly. With rents reduced by three-tenths, every household would be much better off—some households with high yields could even eat their fill. This was truly a heaven-sent grace.

Seeing the crowd kowtowing, Liu Chao hastily stepped aside to avoid their bows and continued in a loud voice: "Rise first—this is His Majesty's favor, and I am not worthy of your grand salutes! I have not finished speaking—there is more good news, more!"

The crowd rose and stopped their murmuring, all gazing at Liu Chao on the platform with expectant eyes. That long, beardless face before them had never looked so kind as it did today.

"His Majesty has also said that I am to purchase chicks and ducklings and distribute them free to every household. When they lay eggs, the imperial household will purchase them at market price with ready cash! He also instructed me to buy piglets and build a pig farm. Those households that previously raised pigs will serve as the farm's Bureau Secretaries, hiring hands and passing on their pig-raising experience. When the pigs are fattened, the imperial household will also purchase them at market price, sparing you the hardship of traveling about to sell them!"

This time, after he finished, there was no clamor below—it was so quiet not a sound could be heard. After a moment, from the front of the crowd, an old farmer with a grizzled white beard asked tremulously: "May I ask, Fengyu, is everything you just said true? You're not deceiving us, are you?"

Liu Chao shot him a sidelong glance and said impatiently: "I am a busy man—do I have leisure to deceive petty folk like you! These are His Majesty's own golden words and jade utterances; I am merely relaying them to inform you all!"

The old farmer fell to his knees with a thud, raised his clasped hands above his head, his lips quivering: "This old man has lived over fifty years and has never seen such a sage sovereign! We are all creatures no better than ants, yet His Majesty has deigned to keep us ants in his heart. Even if this old man died this very moment, I would smile in the Nine Springs! A sage sovereign indeed!" With that he kowtowed with audible thuds, and the crowd followed him to their knees—a chorus of kowtowing rose up, dust flying everywhere, mingled with sobs, and some even burst into loud wailing.

Liu Chao was moved by the sight, and spoke: "Rise, all of you—I still have matters to announce!" The crowd then stifled their weeping and stood up.

"From this day forward, the able-bodied young men and strong women of the village must seize the time to turn over the fields. Once the soybeans and miscellaneous grains are planted, all able-bodied laborers are to gather together and build the village's surrounding wall! Workshops are also to be built, and in due time the Ministry of Works will send officials to supervise! His Majesty has specially instructed that building the workshops and wall is not corvée labor—every participant will be provided two meals a day, and they will eat their fill!"

The crowd below had already gone numb from shock. With the village wall built, their safety would be greatly improved; once the workshops were completed, they would surely need to hire laborers—which meant that during the slack season they would no longer have to trek dozens of li to the capital for work, no more exhausting journeys; and what's more, it wasn't corvée labor and meals were provided. In the past, such tasks required every household to contribute men and effort while eating their own food—earning not a single coin and even having to subsidize the cost themselves.

"His Majesty has also said that after this summer's levy is changed to fourteen, any household with surplus grain beyond its own rations may sell it to the palace at market price for ready cash! But on this matter you must think carefully—do not covet silver and sell off all your household's rations!" The crowd nodded one after another, and several households with considerable grain stores secretly rejoiced.

After finishing, Liu Chao waved a hand toward the crowd below and said: "That is all. You may disperse! Go home and get your affairs in order, finish the field work as quickly as possible—do not delay the great matters His Majesty has commanded!" Hearing this, the crowd made bows of salute to him one after another and departed.

Liu Dachun trotted all the way back home. Liu Li-shi looked at her husband, whose face was brimming with excitement, in astonishment. In all the years since she had married him, she had never seen him so overjoyed. She asked: "Husband, was it not an additional levy from the palace?"

"Wife, tremendous good news! Do you know who the noble visitor yesterday was?" Liu Dachun replied with a grin splitting his face.

Before his wife could answer, his face flushed red and he declared in a loud voice: "It was the Emperor—it was His Majesty himself!"

Liu Li-shi's eyes went wide with shock, and she asked repeatedly: "Husband, what are you saying? The visitor really was His Majesty? Truly?"

Liu Dachun laughed heartily with a wide grin: "Truly His Majesty, truly! His Majesty has also reduced our annual levy, and he's going to give us chicks and ducklings—free of charge, every household gets some, every one!"

Liu Li-shi was stunned speechless, and it was a long moment before she recovered her wits. She hurriedly said: "Husband, has His Majesty truly reduced our grain levy? Is it real? Is it?"

"Reduced from seventeen to fourteen! With the autumn miscellaneous grains added, even if I don't go to the capital for odd jobs, our Shitou and Xiaohua won't have to go hungry!" Liu Dachun was as delighted as a child. Once his wife had recovered her senses, he told her everything he had heard, one item at a time. Liu Li-shi wept as she listened, and by the end she was sobbing uncontrollably. Liu Dachun drew his wife into his arms, his own eyes reddening, and gently patted her shoulder. He understood his wife's feelings—if all these things came to pass, his wife and children would never again have to worry about their two daily meals, and a better life beyond their imagination was already beckoning to them.

Similar scenes played out all over the village. Even the children could feel the adults' joy, and the whole village was filled with laughter and cheerful voices. Everyone seemed imbued with strength—this must surely be the immense spiritual power that longing for a better life brings.