In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

Chapter 500 Sword Sect

"..."

Jiang Changye was struck dumb, frozen in place.

His hobby of peeping at widows bathing was his biggest secret. How did Jiang Weiyu find out about this secret?

It would be one thing to know, but to say it in front of outsiders...

Jiang Changye, whose face was already slightly flushed from drinking, blushed even more, feeling a sense of social death and shame that made him want to disappear into the ground.

Especially after noticing the strange looks from Chen Dao and the others, Jiang Changye's face became even hotter, and he was even seriously considering whether to kill Jiang Weiyu to silence him!

"No nonsense!"

Jiang Changye glared at Jiang Weiyu and said, "I have always been an upright person, how could I do such a despicable thing?"

"Is it?"

Jiang Weiyu said innocently, "But I heard from Widow Li in the village that you often peep at her while she takes a bath."

"This is slander, defamation, fabrication, and malicious slander!"

Jiang Changye blushed and argued vehemently: "That widow Li is big and strong, and her buttocks are bigger than Xue Qi's head. How could I possibly covet such a woman!"

"If you hadn't been peeking, how would you know that Widow Li's buttocks were bigger than your senior brother's head?"

"This...this was told to me by someone else."

Jiang Changye stammered and tried to justify himself, and the atmosphere in the room suddenly became cheerful.

"I never expected the old man to be this kind of person."

Xue Qi added insult to injury at the opportune moment, saying meaningfully, "At such an advanced age, you still have such a filthy hobby."

"..."

Tired, destroy it.

Jiang Changye really didn't want to explain anymore, so he simply shut up and drank alone in silence.

Chen Dao and the others watched the three masters and disciples engage in a heated debate with smiles on their faces. Although Xue Qi and his two disciples were clearly masters and disciples, their way of getting along was more like that of an extremely close family.

Teachers in this era were often extremely strict with their students, which often resulted in a very strained relationship between them.

The disciples didn't even dare to speak loudly in front of their master, let alone tease their master or reveal his shameful secrets like Xue Qi and Jiang Weiyu did.

This incident also shows that Jiang Changye, as an elder, must be the kind of person who is rather unconventional; otherwise, Xue Qi and Jiang Weiyu would not have dared to be so presumptuous in front of him.

After Jiang Changye stopped talking, Xue Qi and Jiang Weiyu lost interest in teasing him and turned to chat with Chen Dao and the others.

Through their conversation, Chen Dao learned roughly about the origins of Xue Qi and his two disciples.

According to Xue Qi, the three of them came from a sect called Zhangjian Sect in Yuezhou.

The establishment of the Sword Sect dates back to the early years of the Zhou Dynasty.

The founder of the Sword Sect was a scholar named Zhang Zong from the early Zhou Dynasty.

Zhang Zong was born into a wealthy merchant family. His family was well-off, and he loved reading. So he buried himself in his studies from a young age, hoping to become an official through the imperial examination and change his family's awkward status as a merchant.

In the early Zhou Dynasty, the political situation was relatively stable. Even ordinary people without power could pass the imperial examinations and change their social class if they studied well.

However... Zhang Zong was clearly not a gifted scholar.

After burying himself in his studies for over a decade, he repeatedly failed the imperial examinations and finally had to admit a fact:

He had absolutely no talent for literature; in fact, one could say he was dull-witted.

At the age of eighteen, Zhang Zong, who had not even been able to obtain the title of Xiucai (a scholar who passed the lowest level of the imperial examinations), finally became disheartened and decided to abandon his literary pursuits and turn to martial arts.

As the saying goes, when God closes a door, He will surely open a window.

Zhang Zong, whose talent for studying was questionable, was extremely talented in martial arts.

Zhang Zong, who started learning martial arts at the age of eighteen, broke through from an ordinary person to the peak of the seventh rank in just two years.

Breaking through three realms in two years is nothing compared to Chen Dao's speed, but compared to the general public, Zhang Zong's rate of advancement is already astonishing.

Of course, this is also related to the wealth of Zhang Zong's family. Coming from a merchant family, he does not need to worry about cultivation resources and can focus on practicing martial arts without distraction.

This led to Zhang Zong's extremely rapid progress in martial arts. He reached the seventh rank in two years and successfully broke through to the seventh rank in three years, becoming a mid-third rank martial artist.

Once he reached this level, his family's wealth was no longer sufficient to support Zhang Zong's continued cultivation.

So Zhang Zong simply bid farewell to his parents, left his hometown, and traveled to various parts of Kyushu.

During his travels, Zhang Zong, who had always secluded himself to study and practice martial arts, gained a broader perspective. The diverse people he met along the way also enriched his experience.

This made Zhang Zong realize even more the hardships faced by ordinary people.

At the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty, the world was newly settled, and there was a large population but little land. The conflict between people and land was far less severe than that in the Xia Dynasty at that time.

But this does not mean that ordinary people are living a good life.

The imperial court's taxes, the landlords' oppression and exploitation, the gangsters' bullying...

All of this is a mountain weighing down on the people, causing them unbearable suffering.

The harm caused to the people by corrupt officials was especially heartbreaking for Zhang Zong.

The harm a thug can cause to ordinary people is limited to one household, or at most a dozen households.

But the harm that one corrupt official can cause to the people can affect an entire county!

When Zhang Zong was young, he had fantasized about what kind of official he wanted to be. He hoped to be a truly good official who would bring benefits to the people and earn their heartfelt praise. He naturally assumed that all scholars who became officials in the world should be like him.

However, when he traveled through Kyushu, he saw a completely different situation.

There were very few good officials like he imagined; instead, there were many mediocre officials.

Incompetent officials are not the most terrifying; the most terrifying are corrupt officials!

That year, Zhang Zong, who had already advanced to the fifth rank, traveled to Yuezhou and witnessed firsthand the harm a corrupt official had caused to the people. The corrupt official was named Jin Huai, the magistrate of Jin'an County in Yuezhou.

During his tenure, he allowed his subordinates to plunder the people's property. The imperial court's grain tax was 30%, but the people under his rule had to pay 50% of it!

As for the extra 20% grain tax, a small portion went into the pockets of the county clerks as a reward for their hard work, while the majority went into Jin Huai's pocket.

In addition, Jin Huai devised various pretexts to impose a large number of exorbitant taxes on the people, causing widespread resentment and misery throughout Jin'an County.

When Zhang Zong arrived in Jin'an County, Jin Huai had already been in office for three years. During these three years, the people of Jin'an County, who had been wantonly plundered and exploited, were all pale and sickly, and there were even beggars everywhere.

As for why the people of Jin'an County did not file a complaint...

All I can say is that they are too far from the capital and too far from the prefecture, but very close to Jinhuai.

Through alliances with local powerful families and landlords, Jin Huai had long since firmly grasped control of the entire Jin'an County. It was virtually impossible for ordinary people to leave Jin'an County unscathed and file complaints with higher authorities.