Surviving the famine: I made my fortune by helping others

"Grandpa, just tell me. I am just a country girl who wants to learn something new."

Ye Chuyi dropped the waiter in his hands and simply lay down on the examination table.

The old man shook his head helplessly, "Forget it, forget it. I am just a dirty thing that some people thought up."

Their current country is called Yunhua, a name derived from the royal family's surname. It is neither big nor small, neither strong nor weak compared to the other surrounding countries. Everyone who sees it wants to bully it, so there are many wars.

When the previous emperor was alive, he was brave and good at fighting, and he was a rare good emperor. He fought against enemies on the border all year round. When he inherited the throne, he taught all the surrounding enemies a good lesson, buying the country a chance to breathe. Finally, he would not be looked down upon by others.

I thought things were getting better, but the previous emperor passed away. Now the new emperor is a man with no plan in his mind. The government affairs are controlled by the queen's mother's family, making the court a mess.

Seeing that nothing could be done internally, people outside started to make new plans. The new emperor of Yunhua had been in power for only three years, but the country's territory had shrunk by a whole circle.

But this emperor not only did not defend against the enemy, but instead started a civil strife.

In order to bring glory to their own families, the imperial relatives in the court submitted a proposal to classify people into different levels, which led to the emergence of identity cards.

Of course, the big shots don’t need this ID card, it is mainly used to distinguish ordinary people.

People who did not live in the county town were collectively referred to as untouchables and naturally had no identity tags.

The status of the untouchables is naturally the lowest. Although they cannot be beaten or killed at will, they still have many rules.

These include not buying and selling things at will, being whipped before seeing an official regardless of whether one is right or wrong, children in the family are not allowed to study for the imperial examinations, and are not allowed to learn skills at will.

But the most difficult thing is still the taxes.

Anyone who cultivates the land must pay 50% of their harvest to the capital as tax; another 50% is given to the prefectural capital Zhifu as prefectural tax; and another 10% is given to the county as county tax.

The remaining 20% ​​did not belong entirely to the people. Another half was set aside and stored in the granary as relief grain in times of famine. In the end, only a mere 15% actually fell into the hands of the people.

If they were tenants, they would not even have enough food to eat.

Ye Chuyi sighed just by hearing this. After reading all the history and even various online novels, she had never seen a country with such heavy taxes.

Isn't this forcing the people to die?

"More than that." The old man smiled bitterly and shook his head.

In addition to farmers, ordinary people in the county town have a small identity card that can be used as a certificate to enter and exit the county town without paying the city entrance fee. In addition, the children in the family can read and write and become apprentices.

Then there are the people who run shops and do business. No matter they are the shop owner, a clerk, or a skilled craftsman like the old doctor, they all need a corresponding identity card to do anything.

Depending on the type of shop, the identity card is different. The best ones are those that sell grain, medicine, etc., which are secretly controlled by big shots. A county only needs to have one, and then there are other types of shops.

If you don’t have an ID card, you can’t do these things. Otherwise, once you are discovered, you will be thrown into jail and punished with beatings at the very least and beheading at the worst.

"It's hateful that those who came up with these rules are not affected by them."

The old man sighed and stood up carrying a small package.

"Old Zhang, what are you doing? Have you forgotten the rules again?"

The guy came over with a sneer and waved his new badge.

"See? If you don't obey me, you will lose the badge on your body."

"Hmph, it's better not to."

After the old man said this, he pulled off the sign on his body and threw it on the ground.

"You are so shameless. Just wait for me to return to the shopkeeper and I will take away your signboard and make sure you can no longer be a doctor."

The guy turned around and left angrily, picking up the wooden sign on the ground before leaving.

Ye Chuyi clearly saw the intense greed in his eyes.

"He wants this brand too?"

"Who wouldn't want this in order to climb up the social ladder in this shop?"

The old man smiled and looked at her kindly, "Come on, girl. I'm leaving my life to you."

“Is it that serious?” Ye Chuyi touched his head guiltily.

She originally just thought that there was a more reliable doctor on the street, but she didn't expect that this society would be so dangerous!

If they flee famine in such a large group, won't they be caught and beheaded by someone with ulterior motives?

"Master, I want to ask you something."

I am really conflicted. Should I ask? What if the consequences are really serious?

"What do you want to ask, girl? Are you fleeing from the famine secretly?"

The old man seemed to have noticed something and spoke first, "Of course this is not allowed. If you don't have the relevant documents, you may not be able to settle down in the future."

"What do you mean?"

Ye Chuyi was stunned. Since the people of Xiahe Village dared to leave the entire village in such a high-profile manner, they must have something to rely on, right?

No one told her this? She wouldn't really become an illegal resident, would she?

"Don't be afraid, girl. If it's from the Zhaojia Village area, then there is a reason for it. The bandits have been slaughtering villages for a long time. It's not a big deal to go and get some paperwork now."

The old man said a few words of comfort, then turned around and asked the people behind the curtain to leave.

"You even know about the bandit incidents, so why doesn't anyone do anything about it?"

Ye Chuyi didn’t understand. Could it be that this was really what she thought?

Officials and bandits collude.

"You have already made up your mind. If you need to complete the paperwork, go quickly. You may still make it in time today."

Disasters have occurred frequently in the past two years. The county magistrate would like to see more people disappear in order to gain credit in the future. If he doesn't help them, he will be in trouble even if he wants to die.

Ye Chuyi was a little shaken. She had never heard of anyone from the village coming to handle paperwork or anything like that. Of course, she did not rule out the possibility that her original body did not know either.

But what if there really isn’t one?

Will they be sentenced to death in the end?

After hearing about the ridiculous things the new emperor has done in recent years, it’s possible.

"Grandpa, what if there is no one in our entire village?"

Ye Chuyi was so upset that she wanted to cry. If she needed the help of the village chief or something, what would she do?

She also doesn’t know where all the people in Xiahe Village have gone!

"Has the whole village left?"

At this time, several people had already walked out of the clinic. The old man couldn't help but almost shouted out, and even Miao Ying and Yaya looked over.

"You know, the bandits came, and everyone had to leave first to survive. We didn't know this."

Help, I really can’t continue this story, wuwuwu.

"Is the village chief here?"

Ye Chuyi shook his head, he was going to die, something fatal was about to happen.

"Huh, let the old man think about it."

The little old man walked forward with his head down, his little heart beating fast.

How could he be fooled by a few words from a little girl? Why was he so impatient and talking nonsense?

Now I’m afraid I can’t be a barefoot doctor anymore, and I don’t even know if I will still have my own head tomorrow.

It is a serious crime to flee from your registered place of residence without permission, let alone an entire village defecting.