Ding Ling was moved.
He could not believe that the people here had already reached the point where even eating was a problem.
No.
They had nothing to eat at all!
He had already imagined the situation here to be very bad, but clearly, at least in this mountain village before him, some people were living in extreme hardship.
The village was practically on the verge of extinction.
Ding Ling swept his gaze over the area with the Divine Meditation Technique. Although he could not sense everything clearly, he could still roughly tell that most of the people remaining among these fifty households were children, elderly people, and women. There did not seem to be a single able-bodied man.
Ding Ling asked about the reason.
The old man said with tears of helplessness:
"Because we live near the mountains, bandits have been raiding us year-round. The soldiers who come to suppress the bandits also come here every so often to extort us. Not only that, both groups recruit men from our village. All the able-bodied men have been dragged away. Anyone who dares refuse is killed by them. No one dares resist."
Ding Ling asked a few more questions.
He could not help letting out a long sigh, finally understanding the root of the problem.
The Imperial Court was corrupt.
As a result, throughout the Nine Provinces, there were mostly people who were insatiably greedy, blinded by money, and never satisfied.
Some were selfish bandits who murdered and robbed;
some were magistrates who borrowed from tomorrow to pay for today, took every last advantage, and bought and sold official positions.
Some were wealthy merchants who indulged in extravagant pleasures and hoarded goods to manipulate the market.
Some were great landlords who devoured the farmers' land.
The village before him