“The people are hungry: it is because those in authority eat up too much in taxes”
* Lao Tzu
For the twenty days it took for the journey, Li Ming had barely any interaction with the Liu brothers, other than exchanging a few pleasantries, the two sides had barely made any contact.
The greatest exchange of words would be the first night they had camped outside, the Liu brothers had thought Li Ming as a certified sheltered young master, yet Li Ming showed no complaints. This certainly raised the opinions of them towards Li Ming by quite a few levels, they showcased a little admiration at this feminine looking boy who had yet to mature’s ability to tolerate the wilderness.
Naturally, Li Ming did not spend her time idling away, during the entire journey, she had squeezed every information he could gather from Xu Xiaomeng, from whom she had learnt that the history of the Khanate that had originally inhabit the lands, along with the name of its current regional capital, Bingjiang, named after it history as the Northern frontier of the empire, naturally, the name no longer applies, as the borders had been expended.
Soon, the eighteen days have passed, with Li Ming spending the majority of her time conceiving a plan for the grand aspirations of overthrowing the Great Sui Dynasty, naturally, as a revolution cannot happen overnight, she has to focus on building up a powerbase strong enough to rival the imperial government.
Yet before any of this can happen, Li Ming has to convince the peasants to revolt, that in itself would not be difficult if she was in her former male body, however, her body is currently one of adolescence, not to mention it’s also one of a woman, the two factors would make it far more difficult to gather attention from the common masses.
“Why don’t sir simply admit to being a woman?” Xu Xiaomeng’s voice rang out.
“Lady, it is far too difficult to do so, the current society favours men, to be a woman would cause people to dismiss the ideas I am promoting,” Li Ming replied as if a matter of fact.
“That is not the case sir, our NorthEastern neighbours is run by a matriarchy, after centuries of extensive trade and contact, it has influenced much of our ideas,” Xu Xiaomeng corrected Li Ming.
“Lady, how come I had never seen any foreigners?” Li Ming asked.
“That is due to the isolated nature of ChangHe province, foreigners rarely arrive at our city, instead they would much rather head to the Imperial Capital.”
“Yet despite the lack of their presence in Xuchang, their thinking had spread to much of the Zui people, tales about vaillant widows and their struggles have long reached the commoners, it is especially popular among mothers, who will then teach it to their children.”
“Moreover, we could reveal our silver hair and proclaim we are in truth an old sage that had remained in the body of a child, perhaps it would be beneficial to the cause.”
“However, sir must remain cautious, as those in court, such as the nobles and bureaucrats has remained opposed to these ideas, it is will certainly garner antagonism among them.”
“Lady, the opinions of nobles who had lived comfortably matters little to me, the peasants can do without nobles, yet the nobles cannot exist without peasants, as long as the peasants are supporting us, we shall not be stopped by these reactionaries.”
While the two were continuing their discussion, Liu One came up to Li Ming.
“This young master, we shall soon arrive at the areas affected by the famine, I would advise this young master to avert his eyes during the remaining duration of this trip.”
“No, that is not necessary,” Li Ming replied, by now, Liu One had long gotten used to Li Ming’s stubbornness, and did not press further, and returned to his group.
The moon rose and fell, and another day had shone upon the vast lands.
This is the second last day until the arrival of the Liu brothers to the capital.
As they advanced, the effects of the famine would be seen, fields lay barren, yet no sign of human life appears before them, only the dead remains had been left behind, their lips blue while their bodies are left to decay, bones could be seen left along the road, while stray dogs dig holes in search of food.
It appears the Liu brothers had become immune to this scene, as well as Li Ming, who had seen this back in her past life.
Yet it seems Xu Xiaomeng could not bear this scene. Li Ming, who had taken control of Xu Xiaomeng’s body could feel her stomach twisting.
Rushing off the makeshift carriage, Li Ming expelled contents from her stomach.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
“This young master, people would call you wasteful for this,” one of the Liu brothers offhandedly remarks.
Li Ming who had experienced this seven years ago, see this as nothing more than a common occurrence, it appears this is a reaction from the other person residing in this body.
“Lady, are you fine?” Li Ming concerned, asked Xu Xiaomeng,” I know little about comforting others, but I can say from my own experience this is something we strive to put an end to,” pausing for a moment, Li Ming continued,” when I had begun in revolutionary activities, I had seen countless scenes similar to the one in front of us, once, I saw a man consuming the flesh of another man.”
“Yet famines happen not only due to draughts and locusts but also incompetence and greed on the part of the government, we saw the abundance of food in ChangTian province and the inns alongside the road, if they could send aid, the consequence would be far less severe.”
After Li Ming had returned to the carriage, each of the Liu brothers had offered words of condolence, before continuing onward, after passing through another li, Xu Xiaomeng’s voice, which now appears to be a little hoarse, spoke.
“Why,” she began,” why did father not sent aid, on the night before I had left, I saw a large amount of grain stored in our private storage alone, it would not harm our family in any manner even if we sent all of it here.”
Shaking her head, Li Ming said in the gentlest voice possible,” lady, the nobles see those below them as nothing more than how men see livestock, nothing more than property, they would only worry about revolt, but certainly not the lives of these people, for you father to send aid is to empower, something completely unwanted in his eyes.”
Xu Xiaomeng had nothing to say and thus remained silent.
Yet the silence did not last long, soon, they saw a group of people lying by the side of the road, hold blades of grass.
“What are they doing,” Li Ming asked the Liu brothers.
Liu Two replied,” they’re selling their children for a bowl of rice, this young master, don’t think about saving them, it’s impossible with the thousands of others waiting in the front gate, these days, men can only look after themselves.”
Li Ming, grabbing her pouch still with a couple of coins, walked towards the Liu group,” I wish to buy all the spare grain you possess.”
“Young master, have you not heard what we said? It is impossible to feed all of them if it were not for our family’s history as hunters, we too would be starving,” Liu Two refuted.
“I care not, as I have said before, I have a few dozen coins in this pouch, I shall use it to purchase all your spare grains.”
The brothers looked at each other, before finally agreeing, after all, money is something everyone desires, and they could always hunt for their food, the deal would not affect them negatively.
Li Ming, now having acquired the grain, approached the group and began to speak.
“I shall give you grain, but in exchange, you must follow me until I reach the regional capital, if we encounter any other group, tell them to follow, with the same promise I had made with you.
Their heads nodded like a chicken pecking grain, after receiving a share of the grain Li Ming had given them, they obediently followed behind the cart. This continued to the next day, by the end of it, Li Ming had amassed a massive line of followers behind her, by then, the regional capital came into sight.
The city has a wall six meter-tall, with towers scattered throughout its walls, with several soldiers on top, yet they appear to be mentally exhausted, their eyes dull from all the death around the city.
The city’s main gate to the South had been sealed off after the initial wave of refugees, with people constantly dying of malnutrition surround the city walls.
The Liu brothers showed pity in their eyes, before turning the other way.
“I shall be leaving here,” Li Ming said to the Liu brothers.
“This young master, are you sure, the city is not accepting anyone at the moment,” Liu Three spoke out.
“Do not worry about me sir, it has been a pleasant journey, if fate wills it, we may see each other later.”
After saying her goodbyes, Li Ming and the Liu brothers separated, after walking into a secluded area, Li Ming changed from the male clothes she was wearing back into her servant uniform, before he had no time to admire the clothes, but now that she was properly observing it, she endorsed,” truly the lavishness of a noble, to be able to spend so much on servants clothing.”
Though it appears to be servant uniform, it seemed more like those worn by minor nobles it appears full of colour, with vivid imagery, combined with her silver hair which once again shorn, she appeared as if a celestial. Li Ming after changing appears to be an otherworldly fairy, separated from the aura of death around the city, taking a deep breath, Li Ming expressed a smile on her face, before approaching the crowd around the city.
By the city, the situation seems even worse than along the road people are forced into eating blades of grass along the ground, while boiling bark as soup, infants, who had the weakest bodies are dying in mass. The smell of decay seeps into the air.
“Is lady alright?” Li Ming inquired Xu Xiaomeng.
“Naturally,” she replied in a usually determined voice, it seems the last two days had greatly strengthened her resolve.
Li Ming, stepped forward without hesitation in front of the crowd, clearing her throat, her melodious voice rang, yet this time, it contains a voice of authority.
“People of the Great Sui Dynasty, you are ill-fed and dying, you have fled from your home, leaving with nothing but your children, you have fled to the city in desperation, yet they turn you away, despite your toils that produce the very city they currently hide in, enjoying a decadent life. The nobles within the city owes their everything to you, yet had given you nothing back, no food and no shelter, for neither you, nor your children, you have nothing to lose except your offspring, yet you have the world to gain in your hand, within that city is storage of grain enough to feed each and everyone of you, will you wait for your life to burn away or to stand up and fight!” (please be gentle, I never have written something like this before).
Much of the crowd shows burning desire in their eyes yet did not move thinking the person in front of them is a celestial creature appearing before their death, but the crowd that followed Li Ming to the city showed no delay, after all, they had been fed the last two days, to go back to starving is unacceptable.
As they rallied behind Li Ming, others joined, soon, nearly all of those that could still stand are storming the main gate. The soldiers were clearly shocked, they had not expected this group of dying peasants to begin attacking the city gate and promptly began firing at the crowd using their crossbows, however some soldiers showed hesitancy, ultimately leaving the tower.
As the crossbow bolts were fired and people fell, it appears that morale had not dropped by the slightest, so what if a few dies, had they not been dying already, they crowd thought to themselves. As the crowd continues their assault the city gate, the bodies soon piled up.
Li Ming during this time, had gone around other sections outside the city and rallying support there, soon, the entire city was being besieged, and the soldiers who already had low morale were soon overstretched.
As the ground became dyed red, the Southern Gate was suddenly opened by a rebelling group of soldiers, and the crowd flooded into the city over the bodies of their fellow countrymen, the majority began heading straight towards the food warehouse, while some others began heading towards the manor of nobles.
It appears the nobles themselves were hoarding grain amongst themselves, which furthered the already angry crowd and were soon killed.
Soon, the entire city descended into chaos, yet the ordinary citizens seem to have not been targeted by the crowd, instead, all of the nobles within the city except a few who had managed to escape were beaten to death.
Yet the chaos arrived as soon as it disappeared, Li Ming, leading the group that had followed her towards the city, who were already fed and showed much less desperation, had begun to put an end to the pillage of the city.
Before long, the crowd were forced into lines in front of the grain storage, extending all the way out of the city, with each man and woman receive enough grain to last for a week before they are sent away.
Li Ming action portrayed no traces of fear, despite that she had just overthrown a noble a capital crime, before long, she had rounded up the bureaucrats around the city. After executing a few that had actively influenced the famine, she began making reforms to alleviate the famine.