The west of the seventh year of Wanli was a relatively calm period, and the life of the common people was a little better than other things, but it could not guarantee food and clothing for all people. Shanxii is a relatively barren place, and the grain crops here are mainly wheat, with some sweet potatoes, corn and so on. The fertile land is either in the hands of the government or in the hands of the wealthy gentry. Even if the people have some good land in their hands, they will be snatched away by these people and the government, and even their lives will be threatened. Ordinary people have no choice but to cultivate some relatively bad land, or directly become tenants of large households, maintaining a half-starved life. The kind-hearted common people didn't complain too much, and used the time of farm work to create some proverbs. For example, "Eat dry when you are busy, eat thin when you are free, eat dry when you are not busy, half dry and half thin." "Wait. This proverb was later known by Mao Taizu, and he often read it in his mouth, and it was repeatedly mentioned in many film and television works, and it was widely known by everyone.

It is good that the common people in Shanxi can live this kind of half-starved life, and some elderly people even often lament the miserable situation of the past disaster years. During the reign of Emperor Jiajing, every two or three years there was either a drought or a flood in Shanxi, and the common people really couldn't survive and had to leave their hometowns to flee. If you can't walk and can't escape, you have to eat tree bark or "Guanyin soil", or even eat the dead. Bark refers to the outer bark of those trees on the side of the road, and some people are very hungry to eat leaves or some branches that are not too old, which is collectively called eating bark.

"Guanyin clay" is a white clay that is a bit like china clay but a little softer than china clay. Legend has it that one year, a scholar went to Beijing to take the exam, but on the way, he not only missed the place to stay, but also stole money and dry food. Hungry and hungry, he collapsed at the door of a dilapidated temple, as if he had seen Guanyin Bodhisattva in a daze. When he woke up, he realized that this was a Guanyin temple, and he immediately made a wish to Guanyin Bodhisattva, asking Guanyin Bodhisattva to help him through this difficulty. The scholar found a kind of white soil under the statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva, and took this unusual soil as a reward for Guanyin Bodhisattva. First, white soil is really rare, and second, because scholars are not farmers, so it is relatively rare and strange. This kind of soil is not too unpalatable, and it is full after eating a little bit, which immediately solves the problem of hunger of scholars. Later, when the scholar arrived in the capital, he told this story, and the imperial court needed to set this kind of example at that time, so he was deliberately arranged to be the champion. The story of the scholar who met the Guanyin Bodhisattva to help the champion was immediately known to everyone, and everyone also called this kind of soil "Guanyin soil". When encountering a disaster year or food difficulties, everyone eats "Guanyin soil" one after another, so that they can not starve and second, they hope that Guanyin Bodhisattva will bless themselves. But nine times out of ten, the people who ate the "Guanyin soil" died, and everyone said that these people had no fate, and Guanyin Bodhisattva did not bless them. They are not as far as scholars, nor are they as blessed as scholars.

In fact, the truth is not like this, it is not the scholar's luck, nor is it a question of whether Guanyin Bodhisattva blesses or not, but that there is a problem with this soil. This soil is not easy to digest and swells when exposed to water, so it cannot be eaten with water. When the scholar came to the Guanyin Temple, he was very hungry but not thirsty, and he did not drink water when he ate "Guanyin soil", and he did not eat much "Guanyin soil". "Guanyin soil" did not meet the water, so the swelling was not bad, so the scholar ate a little bit and was full and there was no accident. The victims were the same, they ate more, and they ate too quickly and became thirsty, so they ate dirt and drank water at the same time. By the time they had eaten their fill, the soil in their stomachs had already swelled with water, and they could not immediately drain the soil in time, and the soil was swollen and hard in their stomachs, and the victims died of swelling. Although everyone knows that eating "Guanyin soil" not only does not solve the problem and will kill people immediately, everyone is still willing to eat the soil. The only explanation seems to be one, it is better to die of bloating than starvation.

Eating tree bark is not enough, eating "Guanyin soil" will swell to death, and the victims who really have nothing to eat have to eat the dead have to eat the dead. More and more people are dying in the disaster area, and the bodies of those who have relatives are buried on the spot, and the bodies of those who have no relatives have to be discarded casually. The victims were so hungry that they had to eat corpses in order to survive. The first time you eat a dead person, everyone will have a sense of guilt in their hearts, but if you eat too much, you will become numb, and even fight with other people to eat more. Some people eat the flesh of dead people almost every day, and even secretly dig up dead people who have been buried for a short time. Later, there were fewer and fewer dead people, and everyone had to eat some people who were dying, and some sick people who were abandoned by their relatives. This is equivalent to the living eating the living, and the guilt in everyone's hearts is even heavier. Some children and kinder people are afraid or unwilling to eat it, and they would rather starve to death than eat the flesh of other living people. But some red-eyed people didn't care about this, and not only ate the flesh of the sick, but also began to steal children everywhere to eat alive. In some places, there are even scenes of children changing and eating, because the families on both sides are so hungry that they can't stand it and can't eat the meat of their relatives, so they exchange food with children or old people who can't survive.

According to statistics from Shanxi, there were seven floods, 13 droughts, and five locust plagues in the 42 years during the reign of Emperor Jiajing. On average, there is a disaster once a year and a half, and after the disaster, there will be plagues and food shortages, so the life of the people in Shanxi during this period is really difficult. Emperor Longqing was even more unhappy during the period, the Longqing Emperor had a locust plague in the western half of the province in the first year, the drought in the whole west of the mountain in the second year of Longqing, the harvest in some places in the west of the mountain in the third year of Longqing, the large-scale plague in the second half of the flood in the fourth year of Longqing, the flood and plague in the west of the mountain in the fifth year of Longqing, too many people fled abroad, the grain harvest in the local desert was less than 30% of the harvest year, and there was a grain shortage in various places. As a result of the five-year famine, the population of the people in western Shanxi has not increased, but has lost a lot of people. However, in the past few years after the little emperor Wanli ascended the throne, although there have been several disasters in Shanxi, the scale is not large, and the lives of the common people have begun to settle down. At least everyone is living a half-starved life again. There is no need to worry about cannibalism or mass starvation, and some young children do not know the tragic experience of everyone in the past.

Although this kind of life cannot completely free everyone from hunger, the kind and simple people are already grateful. They are very kind and kind to blame God and the court for this kind of life, so there have been fewer grievances and fewer troublemakers in various places over the years. In fact, the requirements of the common people are not high, as long as they are allowed to have a stable life, as long as they are not pushed too hard. However, the imperial court and local officials did not seem to fully understand this truth, and did not seem to like this kind of scene for a long time. When some so-called insiders boasted about themselves in private, everyone also understood some of the mysteries.

It turns out that there are some mysteries that ordinary people don't know, as long as they understand the tricks, everyone can understand the feelings of these officials. The bigwigs of the imperial court, like Emperor Laozi, like Guotai and Min'an, but the officials below are not of the same mind as these bigwigs. The so-called subordinate officials are mainly divided into three categories: Beijing officials, local officials, and military officials.

Jingguan refers to the officials who serve as the six yamen in Beijing, and their main responsibility is to be in charge of the specific affairs of each yamen and assist the local government in handling civil affairs. If the place is peaceful, the six yamen will have relatively few things, and there is no need to go to the local area often to assist the local officials. Originally, this was not only peaceful and trouble-free, and everyone should be happy, but because of this, they had fewer opportunities to travel and have fun, and even less economic income, so of course they were not happy. Almost every time the officials of the six yamen went out of Kyoto, it was an opportunity to make a fortune, and it was also a good opportunity for them to travel at public expense. When they left Beijing, they were empty-handed, and when they went back, they were all big bags and small bags, and even the cars were full. Even if you can't get a good errand out of Beijing, you will have a lot of gifts to bring back when you come back from Beijing, which is better than having nothing in Beijing. The officials of the Ming Dynasty were generally relatively low, and it was not enough to support themselves by relying on these dead and dead people, how to feed a large family? Who doesn't have seven aunts and eight aunts? Who doesn't have a family member? What to feed so many people? There is no way to survive without a little extra income. Besides, the country and the people are safe, and there is no need for the officials of their six ministries to allocate materials outside, where does their oil and water at all levels come from? Every time they do something, they have to be deducted layer by layer, where do their exploitation and deduction come from if there are fewer things? The materials from the local government to the central government are clearly written, and it is best if the local officials can pay a little less, and there will definitely be no redundant filial piety to the officials of the six ministries. Therefore, all the benefits can only be done in the transfer of materials from the capital, and there will be oil and water. In recent years, there have been no major disasters and famines in the local area, which is simply a disaster for Jingguan. Even when some officials' wives worship the Buddha in private, they pray that God will send disaster to the place, otherwise their Beijing officials will starve to death.