When Ji Han and his men traveled to the Three Kingdoms crew

Chapter 18 Heaven is dead, Huang Tian is here to stand

The heavy taxes and corvee labor every year weighed like a mountain on the shoulders of the lower-class people, and the epidemic also hit. Even this small village with less than a hundred households in Qingzhou had lost half its population.

However, a hemp rope always breaks at the thinnest part, and misfortune always finds the unfortunate.

It seemed as if God was playing a joke. After the epidemic, there was a severe drought. The crops planted in the spring died completely in the cracked and dry soil before autumn.

However, not only did the taxes not decrease, they actually increased.

The man who had managed to survive saw that the officials showed no mercy at all and completely ignored his mother's pleadings, and in the end he could only reluctantly leave a little food for planting.

He was so angry that he wanted to smash the official's head.

But
How can the people possibly defeat the officials?
He was just a hungry peasant, how could he deal with the powerful officials?
His mother hugged his shoulders and whispered, "Son, just bear with it and it will pass."

Yes, it will all pass if you just bear with it. Isn’t that how we have endured all these years?

The man closed his eyes. His surname was Zhang, but he had no given name. Because he was quite tall, everyone called him Qi Chi. Later, even his parents called him Qi Chi Qi Chi.

He actually likes this name very much. Other people in the same village are either called Quandan or Xiaozhu.

Seven feet sounds better than dog and pig, right?

Zhang Qichi's biggest dream was to eat a bowl of steaming corn rice on New Year's Eve, but no matter how hard he worked, even in a good year, the harvest was barely enough to fill his stomach. If it was a drought, he would have to sell his land, his children, and his daughters to pay taxes.

This drought was more severe than previous ones. His family’s small piece of land was sold early, and he did not get married. After all, which girl would be interested in him?

The long-term hunger brought severe abdominal cramps, forcing him to stop thinking.

As if she could see what Zhang Qichi was thinking, her mother said gently, "Qichi, there is an elm tree on the hillside above. You stay at home and I will go pick some elm leaves and bark."

Zhang Qichi replied weakly, "Okay."

Zhang Qichi was lying on the tattered mat, feeling tortured no matter how he lay there. He was expecting his mother to bring back elm leaves and he began to imagine the feeling of filling his stomach. However, his mother never came, and he prayed in his heart, Taiyi, please protect my mother.

After a long time, there was still no sign of my mother.

Zhang Qichi's heart couldn't help but skip a beat, thinking to himself that this was not good.

Suddenly, he felt a surge of strength in his body. He struggled to get up and left a mark in the house. If his mother came back and didn't see him, she would be worried to death.

Zhang Qichi, who was looking for his mother, walked unsteadily, his head felt dizzy, his eyelids were drooping, and the scene in front of him became increasingly blurry.

Finally he couldn't bear it anymore and fell on the side of the road.

When he was half asleep, Zhang Qichi felt a pair of large hands holding up his head, and warm rice soup poured into his mouth through his cracked lips, just like rain water pouring into the earth and giving it vitality.

Zhang Qichi was pulled back from the gates of hell. He slowly opened his eyes and saw a Taoist with a gentle face.

"Are you a god?" Zhang Qichi asked blankly without reacting.

The Taoist shook his head, "No, I am just an ordinary follower. We are all disciples of the great and virtuous teacher Zhang Jue."

'Great and Good Teacher.' Zhang Qichi repeated this name in his mouth. He came to his senses, knelt down in front of the Taoist priest and was about to kowtow.

The Taoist grabbed Zhang Qichi and said in a gentle voice, "No need to bow."

"Do you want money for the food you give me? I don't have a single penny on me." Zhang Qi Chi looked at the Taoist nervously.

The Taoist smiled awkwardly, "No, you don't need to. As long as you become a member of my Taiping Dao, you can always have this kind of food if you come to my place to listen to my or my disciples' sermons."

Zhang Qichi was stunned. This was such great news!

He then asked, "Can my mother come too?"

'Can. ’

Zhang Qichi thought of his mother's hunched back and her hungry search for food, and his eyes became red. He looked at the Taoist priest as if he had found someone to complain to, and said in a pleading tone, "My mother is starving, can I bring her a bowl of porridge?"

"Alas," the Taoist sighed and told his disciple to give Zhang Qichi a full bowl.

Zhang Qichi thanked him profusely and said that he would definitely bring his mother with him next time.

But when Zhang Qichi returned home, he called out "Mom" several times, but there was no response. He looked at the mark again, but there was no sign that she had been moved.

A huge feeling of fear surged into his head, and he ran to the place his mother mentioned, but didn't find anyone. He desperately rushed to the place where the Taoist priest was staying. Under his tearful cries, a group of tenant farmers and Taiping sect members who were also half-naked began to help find Zhang Qichi's mother.

The sun was about to set, but there was still no sign of Zhang Qichi's mother.

Only a piece of rag was found.

Zhang Qichi knew at a glance that this was the fabric of his mother's clothes, and he burst into tears holding the rag.

Zhang Qichi, who lost his father in the severe drought and now his mother, wiped away his tears silently. Even though he had encountered such hardships, he still wanted to live.

From then on, Zhang Qichi would go to the place where the Taoist preached every day.

Zhang Qichi had no interest in the Taiping Dao and was skeptical about the effectiveness of talismans and water in curing illnesses. He just wanted a bowl of hot rice porridge every day.

Only when he drinks rice porridge does he feel alive.

One day, Zhang Qichi came to the Taiping Dao's dojo as usual.

But this time he heard someone singing an unfamiliar song.

"Hair is like leeks, cut and then grow again; head is like a chicken, cut and then crow again."

"Officials need not be feared, but the common people should never be looked down upon"

Zhang Qichi just felt it was strange. If a person's head was cut off, he would die. How could it be possible for it to grow back?

He shook his head and did not think any further. For the sake of a mouthful of porridge, he listened hard to the Taoist's sermon.

Perhaps because of his tall stature, the Taoist immediately spotted Zhang Qichi in the crowd and warmly invited him.

"Good man, can you come up and tell me about the Taiping Jing that I talked about yesterday?"

hero?

Zhang Qichi pointed at his own silly face.

The Taoist nodded with a smile on his face.

Zhang Qichi had never attracted so much attention before, and he felt a little embarrassed and wanted to find a hole to crawl into.

Until the Taoist said, "If you can answer it, you can get a bonus later."

鸡子
A chicken is an egg laid by a hen.

Thinking of the delicious chicken, Zhang Qichi's saliva couldn't help but flow out.

For the delicious chicken, he decided to go all out!
Standing in the sight of everyone, Zhang Qichi felt like he was on edge. He gritted his teeth and recited yesterday's scripture, "The immortal asked the divine man: I want to make the emperor achieve peace immediately, how can I hear it? The divine man said: Just follow the way of heaven and earth, and don't lose a single gram, and you will achieve peace immediately."

Zhang could not even recognize large characters, let alone the contents of the Taiping Jing, which took a lot of effort to memorize.

Fortunately, hard work pays off. The Taoist took the lead in applauding, and everyone looked at Zhang Qichi with admiration. The applause was not stingy at all. He felt a little elated.

The Taoist kept his word, and when drinking porridge, Zhang Qichi really got a cooked egg.

When you peel open the shell, it's snow-white. Just a slight smell will make you salivate.

The civilians' eyes were full of heat, and they swallowed their saliva one after another. Zhang Qichi looked at them vigilantly and took a big bite.

good to eat!

He nearly ate his tongue.

Time passed day by day. Zhang Qichi hoped that he could just hold on this year and wait until the spring of next year to plant new seeds. As long as he cultivated the crops well, he would be able to eat corn on New Year's Day and redeem his own land one day.

However, God did not fulfill his wish.

One day, Zhang Qichi was preparing to go to the Taiping Dao dojo as usual.

The sudden neighing of a horse broke the tranquility of the village.

'All villagers, come to the village entrance immediately!'

A drake's voice sounded.

Zhang Qichi arrived at the village entrance nervously.

He found that most of the living people in the village were present, and each of them was as thin and sallow as he was.

Surrounded by county soldiers was a man in official uniform. He was fat, had big ears and a greasy face.

'This is Lieutenant Li, I have come to inform you that the Taiping Dao is a heretical cult. The imperial court has issued an order to arrest the leader Zhang Jiao. You should not get bogged down in the quagmire. If any of you know the whereabouts of the Taiping Dao members, report it to Lieutenant Li at this time and you will be rewarded handsomely!'

A thin middle-aged man took out a document in the shape of bamboo slips.

Even though the villagers were illiterate, the weight of the imperial documents was enough to make them kneel on the ground, unable to raise their heads, but they could not stop discussing

"Is this true? How could the Great Sage be a traitor?"

"The Great Sage is a good man, is this a mistake?"

Zhang Qichi clenched his fists. The Great Sage Master is a good man. How could he be a traitor? Rebellion means losing one's head. Something must have gone wrong. Taiyi, please protect the Great Sage Master.
"quiet!'

"You won't tell me?" The fat and big-eared Lieutenant frowned.

Suddenly the big horse under his crotch began to become restless.

Lieutenant Li's expression suddenly changed, and all his dissatisfaction disappeared instantly. He quickly dismounted from his horse and quickly ordered his attendants to feed the horses. He took the reins and led the horses, without avoiding the villagers at all, to the trough that had been prepared at the beginning.

The food brought out by both sides made Zhang Qichi's eyes almost pop out and his teeth almost broke. They were chicken eggs!

Precious eggs are fed to horses for free? ? ? ! ! !

Facing the villagers, Li Xianwei became ferocious and threatened that if there was no news about the Yellow Turbans within three days, they would either be exiled to Liangzhou to quell the rebellion or hand over food to support the suppression of the rebellion.

A man puffed up his skinny chest and asked Li Xianwei: "The last time was to suppress the rebellion, and the time before that was when the emperor was repairing the stele. This is the third time. My mother has starved to death, and there is only a little grain left at home. I don't know what Taiping sect followers are, and I am not strong enough to go to Liangzhou. Li Xianwei, can I wait until next year's harvest to make up for it?"

Li Xianwei was furious after hearing this. "Your mother is dead, and you are not staying at home to mourn. You are still thinking about other things. I don't care what method you use, you must gather all the food within three days!"

After hearing this, the man used a bamboo pole to prop up his shaky body and barely stood up. He stared at Li Xianwei with red eyes and asked: "When my mother died, there was no place to bury her. She was taken away by jackals and eaten until only a piece of bones was left. Where can I go to mourn? !"

It seemed like it was the first time that Lieutenant Li heard a lowly person dare to refute like that. Without saying a word, he drew the long sword from his waist and swung it down. The man's head was raised high, fell to the ground, and rolled several times before rolling in front of Zhang Qichi. His eyes were as big as copper bells.

Zhang Qichi's face was filled with shock. He had killed a person so easily.

He looked up at Li Xianwei in a daze, and saw Li Xianwei said smugly: "Hey, a mere lowly person dares to contradict me, how do you know how powerful I am!"

"Hair is like leeks, cut and then grow again; head is like a chicken, cut and then crow again."

"Officials need not be feared, but the common people should never be looked down upon"

Zhang Qichi's whole body was shaking, and he suddenly remembered the nursery rhyme he had heard before.

Are our lives so worthless?! Can we be bullied at will?! Do we have to eat worse than horses?!
Why, why, why?

He suddenly remembered the Taoist who personally fed him rice soup that day. People like him became traitors.

Oh my God, are you dead!!!
A few days later, the officials rudely took away the last bit of crops from Zhang Qichi's home.

Zhang Qichi, who had been fasting for several days, was so hungry that his chest was sticking to his back and stars were appearing in his eyes.

The bark of all the trees in the village has been stripped clean, and some people even eat the loess. However, that stuff can only satisfy your stomach; eating too much can still kill you.

Zhang Qichi drank spoonful after spoonful of cold water, trying to fill his stomach, but how could he fill his stomach by just drinking cold water?
He walked out of the house, leaning on a bamboo pole, and the whole village was filled with groans of pain.

I don't know who said it, but the Taoist who gave out rice porridge at the beginning came back.

The lifeless people seemed to be injected with vitality, and there seemed to be a light of life in their eyes.

Zhang Qichi took a step forward and caught up with the team.

Sure enough, there was no mistake this time. Zhang Qichi followed the team and met the Taoist priest he met for the first time. The Taoist priest looked a little haggard and he brought some food with him.

It’s a pity that there are not so many people who need food this time.

Zhang Qichi saw the Taoist kneeling on the ground, holding up the yellow earth and crying bitterly.

Lieutenant Li rode a big horse and galloped on the official road. He was not worried that anyone would dare to block his way. There were only untouchables around, and what could the untouchables do?
Suddenly, the horse's legs were tripped by something.

Lieutenant Li fell off his horse and landed flat on his face.

He got up and saw the villagers coming out. He was furious, "What do you want to do, you idiots? You can't even afford one leg of my horse even if you have ten lives!"

The villagers did not stop because of Lieutenant Li's words. Instead, they picked up their hoes and rushed forward.

Lieutenant Li had a look of disdain on his face, but suddenly he realized something was wrong. These untouchables were increasing in number, one, two, three, ten, a hundred!

Like an endless wave.

Even if the county soldiers behind Lieutenant Li caught up with knives, it would be of no avail. One hoe and a carrying pole could not defeat a county soldier, but what about ten or a hundred of them?

Lieutenant Li was so frightened that his face turned pale and his mouth was trembling. He turned around and ran away in embarrassment.

Didn't run long.

He bumped into Zhang Qichi who was holding a stone.

Zhang Qichi threw a stone without hesitation. Li Xianwei's legs stiffened and he fell to the ground.

Zhang Qichi looked at the angry farmers and laughed, a laugh more hearty than ever before, and the ballad popped up in his mind.

"Hair is like leeks, cut and then grow again; head is like a chicken, cut and then crow again."

"Officials need not be feared, but the common people should never be looked down upon"

We are not as lowly as dogs, we are human beings, we cannot be bullied, and officials are not scary!!!
After killing the county lieutenant, the people gathered around the Taoist priest.

The sky became terrifyingly gloomy, and the wind was howling wildly, as if thunder was brewing.

However, the thunder in the sky did not appear for a long time. Instead, a shocking thunderbolt broke out from the crowd, and the thunderbolt went straight into the sky, as if it would shatter the national destiny that had lasted for more than four hundred years.

The slogans that we only dared to shout in private in the past are no longer shackled.

The crowd shouted in anger: "The blue sky is dead, the yellow sky should be established, the year is Jiazi, and the world is blessed!!!'

(End of this chapter)