Do you want to live or do you want braids?
Zhu Lingye's loud voice entered the ears of every refugee.
Hearing this, everyone fell silent. For a moment, other than the bubbling sound of the porridge in the porridge bucket, the world was terrifyingly quiet.
In this era where the imperial power was supreme, rebellion was a profession that required the execution of nine families. It was indeed a little difficult.
The refugee looked at the porridge bucket and scratched his head. He was extremely conflicted!
If he didn't cut his braids, he would starve to death sooner or later. This was because there had been two floods this year, and the crops had basically been harvested.
Summer and autumn were still fine. At least they could eat some tree bark and wild vegetables to satisfy their hunger, barely not starving to death.
What about winter?
Last winter, the temperature was even lower than during the Chongzhen period of the previous dynasty. There were more than ten blizzards in the north and south of the Yangtze River.
It was freezing cold, and millions of people across the country were frozen to death.
Without winter rations, most of the people would not be able to survive this year.
Cut the braids?
That wouldn't do either. Cutting the braids was equivalent to rebelling. If the government found out, the whole family would be executed if it was light, and eighteen generations of ancestors would be implicated if it was serious.
"Mother, I'm hungry!"
A malnourished child whose head was completely out of proportion to her body looked like an alien. She raised her head and looked at her mother who was as thin as a human skeleton. Her voice was weak.
This was a child who had been starving for a long time. Looking at her naked back, one could clearly see her ribs. From the child's skeleton, she was about 10 years old, but she should weigh less than 20 pounds.
Many children in the refugee group were like this. Malnutrition caused their bodies to be small and their stomachs to be big.
Tears welled up in the child's mother's eyes as she looked down at the one-year-old child in her arms.
The child cried because he had no food, but he did not make a sound because he had no strength left. He just opened his mouth and waited for the moment the food arrived.
In the end, the woman could not help but wail.
"Oh my god! I'd rather take the child to eat a full meal than watch the child starve to death!”
The mournful cries made Zhu Lingye's nose ache. The three million netizens in the live broadcast room looked at the child's miserable state and felt even more heartbroken.
[F * ck! [This damn world!]
[Wild boar skin should be extinct. Qianlong is really heartless!]]
[Host, save them. The children are innocent. Sob, sob]
[Definitely. The reason why the host cooked porridge in front of the refugees is to break the last line of defense in their hearts. They will starve to death even if they don't cut their braids. It's better to cut their braids and become a hungry ghost!]]
[Eat it, don't be stupid. It makes my heart ache!]]
The woman wiped her tears and resolutely walked out of the crowd with her child.
She was a mother. How could she watch her child starve to death?
However, he had only taken a few steps when an old man with gray hair and beard who was in a good mental state stepped forward and shouted,"Wang Tie, stop! Are you trying to kill our entire village on purpose?”
"If the emperor punishes us, the entire village will die!”
Harm people?
The woman stopped in her tracks and turned around in despair, crying,"Cunzheng, it has been five years since the great famine. What has your emperor done besides levying heavy taxes? Have you thought about disaster relief?"
"Last year, our Wang Family Village had 1,400 people, but this year, we have less than 800 people left. Without food, these 800 people won't be able to survive this winter!”
"Rather than starving to death, so what if we rebel?”
With that, the woman took the child to Zhu Lingye without looking back and knelt down.
" The commoner Queen Chen kowtows to the king and is willing to follow the king…"
King?
Zhu Lingye's mouth twitched slightly as he reached out to help the woman up.
"I'm not some king of the knockoffs. Just call me Commander-in-chief. Take the child to eat porridge.”
Wouldn't he be hungry?
The woman looked at Zhu Lingye's handsome face in a daze, then turned to look at the pile of rice bags, and tears flowed out of her eyes.
" Thank you, Your Majesty! Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Zhu Lingye was speechless.
I'm really not a king!
Forget it, if he couldn't explain it, then he wouldn't.
Zhu Lingye gestured for the two soldiers to bring the girl over to have some porridge. He then strode over to the village chief who had just advised him.
When the old villager saw the tall rebel Great Dynasty walking over, he was so frightened that he hurriedly retreated into the crowd.
Zhu Lingye glanced at the refugees coldly.
"Tell me, is your life more important, or is your braid more important?”
The crowd was silent. They lowered their heads and did not speak.
However, Zhu Lingye found that many people were stealing glances at the old village chief.
Hence, he grabbed the old man and asked,""Tell me, is your life more important than your braids?”
The old villager was dumbfounded. He looked at Zhu Lingye's eyes for three seconds and said in a trembling voice.
"The Imperial Court…"
Pa!
The slap landed on his face, sending his teeth flying a few meters away.
Zhu Lingye turned him around as if he was carrying a chick and pointed at the refugees who were all skin and bones.
"Imperial court?"
"What Imperial Court?"
"They starved to death. Did the imperial court open a granary to provide disaster relief?”
"Bullsh * t Imperial Court! That dog Emperor Qianlong and his dog servants don't care about the lives of billions of people!”
Bang ~
Zhu Lingye threw the old villager away and lost his patience. He didn't want to be gentle anymore.
"Guard platoon, come over and cut your braids one by one. Whoever dares to resist will be shot on the spot!”
"Leave the head, leave the braid, leave the debate, leave the head!”
……
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