Chapter 288

First Volume, Chapter 288: Chaos Erupts

Speaking of this, the old woman's heart grew bitter, and her expression darkened: "It's not just famine—recently, I even heard horrifying rumors that in villages to the east, people have been swapping children to eat."

What?!

Swapping children to eat?

Qin Feng's heart sank—he knew Pingyao County suffered, but never imagined it was this bad.

Under Qin Feng's persistent urging, the old woman gradually revealed the truth.

Pingyao County is not short of water, does not receive excessive rainfall, suffers no drought, and experiences no flooding. Yet for years, floods have ravaged the south, inundating the region with refugees, while county officials have repeatedly failed to assume their posts, leaving the County Yamen abandoned, unregulated, and swarming with countless starving peasants.

"Though they're all miserable souls who understand each other's plight, their arrival brought disaster: anything edible was seized without mercy. Fields were ruined, vegetation destroyed, even fish and shrimp from rivers and Chi Tang were all caught clean. Pingyao County was once prosperous, yet within three short years, it was reduced to ruin."

Hearing this, Qin Feng wanted to rage—but found no grounds to do so, for the starving peasants were driven by desperation.

Qin Feng sighed: "So the famine and chaos are why grain tax can't be collected?"

The old woman suddenly grew furious: "Collect it? How could it not be collected? The Thirty-Six Counties of Jingdu are so wealthy—just a few years ago, the tax rate was one in thirty. Only because of continuous border wars did they raise it to one in fifteen. Young Master Qin, do you know Pingyao County's tax rate? It's one in five—and collected every year, without fail!"

Qin Feng had always been stoic and believed himself resilient, but hearing the old woman's words, he was utterly enraged.

One in five means one-fifth of all grain goes to land tax. Add other levies, and there's barely enough left to seed next year's crop, let alone eat!

Even during Liang's hardest times, the tax rate never exceeded one in fifteen.

Pingyao County's tax rate is three times higher than anywhere else!

Worse still, the starving refugees from the South destroyed farmland, leaving families already unable to make ends meet—yet the grain tax was collected every year without fail. And yet the County Yamen's grain coffers were deeply depleted—surely all that collected tax ended up in Zhou Yufu's pockets?

No—it ended up in Gao Ming's pockets!

Strong Purchase taxes, combined with the flood of starving refugees, turned Pingyao County in just a few years into a land littered with corpses.

Had he not seen it with his own eyes, Qin Feng would never have believed such a thing could happen in the vicinity of Jingdu, beneath the Son of Heaven's feet!

Qin Feng took a deep breath, suppressing his fury, and gently placed a hand on the old woman's shoulder, speaking solemnly: "I now understand Pingyao County's suffering. One final question: why are there so many women and so few men here?"

Whether in the County City or the countryside, seven out of ten people Qin Feng encountered were women; the remaining men were all elderly, weak, or sick.

This might be understandable on the Border, where invading Enemy Armies often kill only men and spare women.

It's not that the Enemy Armies are merciful—they merely view women as livestock, to breed offspring after conquering territory.

In times of chaos, both men and women suffer equally—men lose their lives, women lose their dignity and rights.

But Pingyao County lies deep within Liang's Rear Area—how could such a gender imbalance exist here?

At this question, the old woman erupted in righteous fury: "Zhou Yufu claimed Pingyao County's suffering stemmed from poor water management, so he ordered all able-bodied men to build irrigation works. But the men who returned said it wasn't irrigation—they were forced to plant Raw Sugarcane! Word is Beijing Sugar Industry yields enormous Profit Margin, so Zhou Yufu set his sights on the sugar trade…"

This finally pushed Qin Feng past his limit.

A mere Grand Commandant's Servant dared to be crueler than a tyrant—daring to conscript forced labor!

Between the flood of starving refugees, the horrific one-in-five tax rate, and the forced conscription, layer upon layer of oppression, Pingyao County was reduced to ruin.

And yet…

Zhou Yufu had stolen Qin Feng's business—invaded the sugar industry?

Qin Feng gritted his teeth, each word deliberate: "Good. Good. Good. I understand everything."

As Qin Feng turned away in fury, the old woman called out: "Young Master Qin, when will you punish Zhou Yufu? In a year or half a year? Three months? Five months? I need something to hope for."

Qin Feng took a deep breath, each word deliberate: "No need for that long—one night is enough… Tomorrow morning, let the people go to the City Gate to admire Zhou Yufu's head!"

The old woman, overjoyed, was about to kneel and kowtow in thanks—when a cold laugh echoed from afar.

"Hahahaha! No wonder you're Young Master Qin—your words truly carry weight."

"My master has operated in Pingyao County for years—do you really think you can destroy it all in one night? Hahaha, what audacity!"

"Do you still think this is Jingdu, where you can command wind and rain at will?"

Turning toward the voice, Qin Feng saw a middle-aged man in black, riding a tall horse, slowly entering the village. Around them, fire torches flickered—Zhou Yufu's men had already surrounded the village in three layers, inside and out. The number was impossible to count, but easily over a hundred.

These men dressed as Servants, yet their Weapons were all standard imperial issue.

Clearly, Zhou Yufu had emptied the County Yamen, arming his own servants with government arms.

I've seen bold men—but never anyone this bold.

Qin Feng sighed inwardly. Compared to Zhou Yufu, even he—the so-called "First Ruthless Man of Jingdu," fearless of heaven or earth—felt like he had to step back.

It was strange: the higher the GovernmentPosition, the more cautious one became, terrified of a single misstep leading to utter ruin.

Yet the Country Gentlemen entrenched in the counties grew more ruthless by the day.

Was this what the old saying meant: the King of Hell is easy to deal with—it's the Little Ghosts who are hard to shake?

The old woman had never seen such a scene—her face turned deathly pale.

Qin Feng, unfazed, murmured: "Old auntie, go hide inside. I'll handle this in a moment."

Though she didn't know how Qin Feng would handle it, she had no other choice—she quickly grabbed her daughter and ran back inside.

Meanwhile, Shu Feng and Li Lang had already taken battle stances, ready to fight to the death.

The middle-aged man gripped the Reins in one hand, strolling forward calmly. Seeing Qin Feng still composed, he sneered: "Qin Feng, I know you hold power in Jingdu—even the Minister of State fears you. But this isn't Jingdu. Making you vanish is just a word away…"

"Even if all Six Ministries gathered, and Dali Temple sent every Mingtang and imperial hunter—they couldn't find a trace! Kneel now, pledge loyalty to my master, and I might spare your dog's life."

Hearing this, Qin Feng laughed aloud, hands on his hips, utterly calm despite the life-or-death stakes: "You speak with great bravado! May I ask, sir, who exactly are you?"

Qin Feng called him "brother"? The middle-aged man's head nearly lifted off his shoulders—he smirked triumphantly: "I am the Manager of Gao Fu!"