Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!
Chapter 241 Trouble_1

Chapter 241: Chapter 241 Trouble_1

Zhou Laoda returned with a smile, "No one died in the village; only a few people were bitten by wolves."

Zhou Laoer took over the conversation, "However, almost all of the chickens in the village are gone, and a few families had low fences, so the pigs they were raising were killed and eaten by wolves. The remaining ones were carried away. A cow in the village also died; not much of it was left. Whatever could be carried away had been, leaving only the cow’s head and bones."

Almost all of the poultry raised in the village had been decimated.

Yang Dayong asked, "Didn’t you kill any wolves?"

Zhou Laoer shook his head, "No, this time the wolves came down the mountain targeting the poultry. They didn’t break doors or windows to get inside houses. Those injured were bitten while trying to save their poultry."

Zhulan knew that wolves have strong cooperative abilities, especially obedient to command, and are very shrewd. She truly hadn’t expected to witness this in ancient times—it was premeditated!

Yang Dayong, smoking, said, "The wolf pack listens well to the alpha wolf, and this alpha is very intelligent, targeting only the livestock. This is not a good sign. Once they have the experience, wolves learn quickly. They will continue to do this. The good news is that with the poultry in Li Family Village gone, the village is safe."

The bad news, other villages would suffer.

The rest went unsaid, but everyone understood.

In the following days, as there was no snow, the roads were clear, and news could be exchanged. Indeed, as speculated, the wolf pack had swept through several villages in succession, and the poultry had been almost entirely wiped out. Zhou Family Village had not escaped this fate. However, as fierce as they were, wolves died in considerable numbers, and there were human casualties too, including the death of elderly people living alone.

About seven days later, snow began to fall again, coming down heavily. In the face of nature, humans seemed particularly insignificant, especially in ancient times, with no technology to predict and defend against such events.

The heavy snow stopped after two days and did not fall again, with the roads clearing nine days later.

Zhulan liked to stockpile supplies. She had already bought a good amount of salt and other items for the winter, and after the last heavy snow, she had purchased even more. Once the roads cleared, Zhulan asked Zhou Laoer to go back to Zhou Family Village to check on Xue Mei, bringing ten jin of meat, several large bones, and a chicken since three of their own hens had frozen to death.

The meat was pork from Zhulan’s own home. After Zheng Yang left, Zhulan had both pigs at home slaughtered. She hadn’t sold a bit of the meat, saving it all for family consumption and for use at next year’s wedding feast.

Zhou Shuren had gone to the county to gather news, and he didn’t return until the afternoon, along with Zhou Laoda.

Zhulan asked, "Did you find out any news?"

Zhou Shuren said, "Our area suffered minor damages. The areas near the capital were hit hard, but relief measures are already underway."

What Zhou Shuren feared most was severe disasters in Dongbei and among the foreign clans. The Dongbei Border was already unstable in the winter. If they truly faced a severe disaster, the foreign clans, to survive, would certainly wage war. In such a case, the stability of the situation in Dongbei would be jeopardized. The new dynasty was just being established and was not yet fully secure, focusing mainly on stabilizing the domestic situation and perfecting its rule. It didn’t have the spare capacity to completely resolve border issues, which had been unstable since the founding of the dynasty.

Zhulan said, "How will the disaster be addressed? The dynasty was established twelve years ago, and since then, there have been droughts and floods, constant disasters. Just when we’ve had a few good years, now we have this snow disaster. And with the borders unstable year after year, the expenditure on grain is enormous. The national treasury can’t have much silver left, can it? Nor can there be much grain. How will relief be provided?"

Zhou Shuren shrugged off the chill and, shuffling in his slippers onto the kang, said, "I don’t know who came up with the idea to distribute the disaster relief grain to every prefecture, specifying the amount of grain each should give, and then transporting it for disaster relief."

Zhulan replied, "It definitely wasn’t opening the granaries in the Prefecture City to provide disaster relief. The city allocated to each county, each county to each village, and each village to each household. When it comes down to it, it’s still taking food from the mouths of the common people."

Zhou Shuren said, "The County magistrate just received the official document indicating that there hasn’t been an increase in taxes for some years, and these past few years have seen timely winds and rains. Farmers are to pay grain according to the size of their own land, one jin of grain per mu of land. As for Scholar Candidates, who have enjoyed the privilege of tax exemption, not only must they pay the grain for their own land, but Scholars have to pay an extra fifty jin of grain, Graduates two hundred jin, and officials are all treated equally, and must all pay."

Zhulan frowned, "What about the merchants in the county and those without land?"

"That, I do not know. I’m only aware of these details. The grain payable by merchants is probably not going to be less, but there shouldn’t be many without land."

Zhulan frowned deeper, "This precedent doesn’t bode well. If they get a taste for this, wouldn’t they do the same whenever there’s a disaster in the future? Ultimately, it’s the lower classes who will bear the brunt."

Zhou Shuren sighed, "The Emperor must have been compelled to act, having just collected taxes. Though the annual expenditure is barely being met, levying grain has been done by dynasties past. Our dynasty is still relatively decent, having not increased the land tax despite years of conflict. The levy this time cannot be considered excessive."

Zhou Shuren continued, "I have analyzed the Emperor, a rare enlightened monarch. The policies in recent years have been good. After the snow disaster, the tightly controlled trades, suppressed for over a decade, are expected to relax. I guess the Emperor intended to leave these generous policies for the new monarch, but due to natural catastrophes and persistent conflicts, was forced to roll them out sooner. Moreover, easing policies for merchants implies that military campaigns to resolve issues at the Dongbei Border loom on the horizon."

Zhulan’s mind was quick to connect, "The Zheng and Yang families have caught the opportune moment. Now, in the small-scale chaos, they accumulate military achievements. When the time comes for a full-scale campaign, Wu Chun and the others under the care of the Zheng family won’t be mere foot soldiers, at least they’ll be safer. And, if they do distinguish themselves, they won’t fear others stealing their thunder."

Zhou Shuren calculated the grain his family was to pay, one hundred and thirty jin, "Thankfully, this year’s grain hasn’t been sold yet. Next year’s grain is sure to increase in price."

Zhulan lamented the difficulty of survival in ancient times, "For the next few years, grain won’t be cheap."

The next day, the Lizheng organized the grain donations. After making their contributions, they waited for the government office to come to collect it. Thanks to the favorable weather, although there were complaints, they weren’t excessive. However, the Emperor’s hard-earned public favor dropped considerably.

Not everyone is driven by righteousness; most common folks care only about their own households and never concern themselves with the nation’s woes.

Fortunately, no further heavy snowfall occurred. The disaster area in the capital was resolved. Half a month later, Lizhengs in various villages read the thank-you letters from the Emperor, issued by the county government, expressing gratitude to the tens of thousands of citizens for donating grain to alleviate the disaster. The subtlety of this approach was profound; the mere letter, whose writing by the Emperor himself was questionable, significantly boosted lost public sentiment. The people were excited; it was a thank-you letter from the Emperor, thanking them!

Upon hearing the letter recited by Zhou Shuren, Zhulan commented, "Our Founding Emperor really knows how to play the hearts of the people."

Zhou Shuren laughed, "No Founding Emperor is simple."

Zhulan thought about it, agreeing. Those capable of founding a nation were indeed extraordinary, especially the ones who came to power through rebellion.

Time flew swiftly. Zhulan had a comfortable winter, free from vexing people. Nesting during the winter turned out to be the most comforting, which might have made Zhulan and Zhou Shuren overly contented. Just as the New Year approached, big trouble came knocking on their door.