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

Chapter 476 A Spark

These conscripted laborers were essentially forced into corvée labor and did not receive any wages.

Not only did they not receive wages, they also had to bring their own food to work.

At this moment, in the muddy riverbed, a man seemed somewhat tired. He put down his tools and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Snapped!"

The man had just wiped away his sweat when a whip lashed out.

The official in charge of overseeing the work lashed the man's back with a whip, tearing the skin and flesh from his back.

The man winced in pain, turned to look at the officer, his eyes filled with a bloodshot glint.

"What are you looking at?"

The official glared at the man and scolded, "You damned lazybones! You dawdle even when you're doing a little work. Dredging the Yujing River is an order personally given by the Prime Minister. If you don't finish it within the stipulated time, you'll all die!"

After saying that, the officer raised his whip again and lashed the man.

"Snapped!"

The whip struck the man's face, leaving a hideous, bloody welt.

Feeling the excruciating pain in his back and face, the man finally lost his temper!

"Go to hell."

Driven by malice, the man pulled out a small knife from his pocket and plunged it into the officer's heart.

After stabbing the officer once, the man seemed still not satisfied and stabbed him several more times, turning the officer's chest into a sieve.

"Uh……"

Looking down at his chest, from which blood was continuously flowing, the officer's eyes were filled with astonishment.

He never expected that this lowly laborer would be so audacious, not only possessing weapons but also daring to attack him.

"You...you're dead! The imperial court will surely exterminate your entire family."

As his strength gradually waned, the officer's vision went black, and he collapsed headfirst into the muddy riverbed.

"call!"

The man, who was killing for the first time, seemed extremely uncomfortable, breathing heavily.

Meanwhile, the nearby laborers noticed what was happening and gathered around, their eyes filled with panic.

"Brother Zhou, why did you kill the officials?"

"It's over, we're all finished!"

"Brother Zhou, how could you do such a thing? Killing a government official is punishable by death!"

"..."

Looking at the bloodied corpse of the official lying in the riverbed, the laborers were filled with terror. Killing an official was tantamount to rebellion, which would result in the extermination of nine generations of one's family. How could they not be afraid?

"brothers!"

Looking at the panicked crowd, the man called Brother Zhou shouted, "We work hard to farm, but we have to hand over 70% of our harvest to the imperial court. Our own families can't even get enough to eat, and we have to endure the enslavement of the imperial court and be bullied by these officials. Do you want to live like this?"

Upon hearing this, the laborers fell silent.

Are they willing?

Of course not.

They toiled for half a year, sweating profusely, only to reap a meager harvest. In addition, they had to perform corvée labor for the imperial court and endure the bullying of these officials. Even the most honest person would find it hard to tolerate such exploitation.

"I don't want to!"

The laborers shouted in unison, their seemingly numb hearts now brimming with boundless rage.

"The imperial court wants to collect 70% of our grain tax, and the remaining 30% is not enough to feed us. We're going to starve to death anyway, so what if we rebel?"

Zhou Ge'er raised his arm and shouted, his words seemingly igniting the anger in the hearts of the laborers.

"That's right! We'll die whether we rebel or not, so we'll just have to rebel against the hell."

"I've had enough. We can't even get enough to eat, and we still have to do corvée labor. This is outrageous!"

"That's outrageous!"

"..."

The crowd shouted in unison, which finally attracted the attention of the other officials.

"What are you doing?"

Several officers carrying whips walked over, raising their hands to lash out with them.

At this moment, Zhou Ge'er shouted loudly, "Brothers, if the imperial court won't give us a way out, then we'll rebel! Follow me and kill these officials!"

"Kill them!"

Hearing the commotion, the crowd moved quickly, surrounding the officials and raining blows upon them.

"I'll beat you to death if you try to whip me."

"You dog of an official, you bully me every day."

"You lackey of the imperial court, I'll beat you to death!"

"..."

Fists seemed to become the tools for the laborers to vent their anger. They ruthlessly poured their anger on the officials, and soon beat them all to death.

When the laborers, who had long suffered oppression and exploitation, finally erupted, each of them resembled the most ferocious thugs.

After venting their anger, a sense of fear immediately overwhelmed them. Killing an official was a capital offense; how could they not be afraid?

"Brother Zhou".

One of the laborers swallowed hard, completely bewildered, and said, "Are we...is this considered a rebellion?"

"Of course!"

Brother Zhou nodded and said, "Killing the officials is tantamount to rebellion. We have no way out now, and rebellion is the only path we can take!"

"This……"

The laborers looked at each other in bewilderment. They were just honest, simple farmers who had never even considered rebelling!

But now that things have come to this, it's clearly impossible for them to back down.

So, one of the laborers mustered his courage and asked, "Brother Zhou, what should we do next?"

Zhou Ge'er thought for a moment and said, "To start a rebellion, you need food and weapons. We have nothing right now, so..."

Zhou Ge'er looked westward and said, "We must take over a county town."

"Brother Zhou, are you referring to Yujing County?"

“That’s right! We can disguise ourselves as civilians and enter the city, then kill the city guards and take over the entire county. Once we take over the county, we will have food to eat our fill, and we will also have enough money and grain to manufacture weapons.”

"Brother Zhou, we'll listen to you."

"Alright, now follow me!"

As thousands of laborers surged toward Yujing County, a rebellion naturally began.

In just one day, Zhou Ge'er led his laborers to occupy the poorly defended Yujing County, and then, using Yujing County as a center, continued to capture other counties.

A single spark can start a prairie fire.

Under the imperial court's policy of increasing grain taxes, the people who had been exploited finally awakened.

They broke their silence and expressed their discontent with anger.

Besides Yuzhou, large-scale rebellions also broke out in places like Haizhou and Qiongzhou. For a time, the entire land of Kyushu was engulfed in flames of war, and the local governments and armies were exhausted from suppressing the rebellious people everywhere.

It is obvious that rebels cannot be killed off. As soon as one rebel force is eliminated, another rebel force will immediately emerge. Under such circumstances, even if the local government armies are strong, it is difficult to suppress them all!

As more and more people rebelled, the territory that the Xia Dynasty could control became smaller and smaller.