The disgraced official I took care of was actually Zhu Houcong's childhood friend.

Zhou Chu traveled back in time to the Ming Dynasty.

He became one of the lowest-ranking members of the Ming Dynasty.

The family consists of seven members, including five siblings.

This is the result after we separated from my grandparents.

In fact, Zhou Chu didn't even have a proper name.

Although this family also shares the surname Zhou.

But children from poor families often don't have proper names.

A family of seven was allocated less than three mu of land.

It's not exactly fertile land yet.

Half of them are very barren land.

Yet they have to pay taxes for seven people.

After all these years, Zhou Chu finally understood one thing.

I was most likely born during the Zhengde era.

The agricultural tax system of the Ming Dynasty was inherently problematic.

Or rather, this problem has remained unsolved for thousands of years in China, not just during the Ming Dynasty.

Land consolidation.

Just like Zhou Chu's family now.

The whole family is struggling to find their next meal.

Zhou Chu's younger brothers didn't even have the strength to cry.

Agricultural tax was levied per capita.

No matter how much land you have.

For most lower-class families, the only way out was to voluntarily give up their land to those powerful and influential families.

These families usually have members who serve as officials in the imperial court.

No taxes are required.

After giving the land to them, they would then rent it out to the original owners of the land.

The rent collected is significantly less than the tax paid per capita.

Only in this way can they barely make ends meet.

Zhou Chu's father was looking worried as he considered whether to give his family's land to the Wang family.

The Wang family was one of the most prominent families in the area.

It owns tens of thousands of acres of land.

Many people in the surrounding area became their tenants.

Although Zhou Chu was a time traveler, he only felt a deep sense of powerlessness after he traveled through time.

In the more open and enlightened environment of later generations, where class distinctions were less rigid, most people would have had the opportunity to rise above their circumstances.

As long as you have enough ability.

No one can stop you from standing out.

But things are different now.

To sum it up in one sentence: You can only eat as much as your pot can hold.

Taking resources that don't belong to your social class will only lead to disaster.

In this day and age, becoming an official requires connections and flattery.

Young people with ideals and ambitions cannot get ahead.

Even a notorious traitor like Yan Song, who still harbored ideals of governing the country, was suppressed to the point of being unable to raise his head.

This does not mean that Emperor Zhengde, Zhu Houzhao, was a foolish ruler.

It's just that the problems have accumulated over the years and are difficult to reverse.

Emperor Zhengde also intended to reclaim power from the civil officials.

That's why he eventually drowned.

But what does this have to do with Zhou Chu?

Zhou Chu can't even afford to eat now.

Zhou Chu has ways to make money, in fact, quite a few.

But Zhou Chu was only eight or nine years old at this time.

Moreover, he comes from such a family.

If you rashly make a lot of money.

They probably don't even know how they died.

Class is an insurmountable mountain.

In their class, the money they earn doesn't actually belong to them.

"Sell me to a slave trader."

Zhou Chu ultimately made this decision.

Zhou Chu had been thinking about this problem for a long time.

If Zhou Chu stays here, there's nothing he can do.

The family will only continue to suffer from hunger.

It's hard to say how many will survive in the end.

If you are sold to a wealthy family, you might be lucky enough to find a good family to live with.

It can also earn some money to help support the family.

If you're unlucky and end up selling to a bad family, just bear with it and it will pass.

It's better than starving to death.

Moreover, one of Zhou Chu's cousins ​​worked in the brokerage business.

Having this connection increases the chances of marrying into a better family.

Although Zhou's parents were reluctant to part with him.

But the current situation doesn't allow them to make a choice.

In the end, Zhou Chu was sold for five taels of silver.

Zhou Chu's mother slipped a piece of silver into the hand of the broker who had come to buy Zhou Chu.

"Third brother, you must find a good family for my eldest son."

She couldn't help but wipe away tears after she finished speaking.

The slave trader took the silver and sighed.

"Don't worry about that, I have a way."

After saying that, he took Zhou Chu and left.

They boarded the brokerage firm's carriage.

It was different from the TV series Zhou Chu had watched before.

This carriage has no roof.

There was an old horse ahead.

Behind it was a flatbed cart.

Zhou Chu's bones ached from the bumpy ride.

At least we can eat now.

Under the extra care of his cousin.

Zhou Chu could barely eat about 70-80% full at each meal.

The other children who were bought at the same time were lucky to get half a full meal.

For the brokerage firm, Zhou Chu and his ilk were people they had to deal with.

If I weren't afraid of getting too hungry and losing my energy, which would lower the price of my goods, I probably wouldn't even be half full.

The human traffickers, carrying this cartload of people, endured a bumpy ride for two or three days before finally arriving in the capital.

In fact, Zhou Chu's home was only about 200 li away from the capital.

But the carriage was too slow.

Soon, Zhou Chu arrived at the brokerage firm in the capital.

At this time, besides Zhou Chu and his group, there were countless men and women waiting to be sold in the brokerage.

Most of them were children from poor families.

Some were family members of officials who had been convicted of crimes and sold off.

This can be easily distinguished by their clothing.

For brokers, only those with a clean background and young age, like Zhou Chu, can fetch a high price.

Many families wouldn't buy the belongings of the relatives of officials who had been convicted of crimes.

Even servants sold off by convicted officials are no match for someone like Zhou Chu.

After all, servants raised at home from childhood are the most loyal and the most trustworthy.

Many servants who have been sold multiple times have their own problems.

Soon, people came to buy servants.

This was a woman dressed in extremely gorgeous clothes, with a bewitching and charming look in her eyes.

There's also a mole on the corner of his mouth.

As soon as she entered the brokerage, the woman couldn't help but frown and cover her nose with a handkerchief.

They seem quite unaccustomed to the smell of dental clinics.

"I heard you received a new batch of goods today?"

The woman glanced at Zhou Chu's cousin and said.

"It's thanks to your excellent connections that I've arrived."

Zhou Chu's cousin bowed and scraped.

After he finished speaking, he led the way and arrived in front of Zhou Chu and the others.

The woman held a handkerchief in one hand and a lady's fan in the other.

The lady used a fan to lift the chins of one child after another.

It is mainly composed of men.

And so we continued choosing.

Soon it was Zhou Chu's turn.

When Zhou Chu's face was lifted, his face wasn't very clean.

But his handsome face still startled the woman.

"how much is this?"

The woman looked at Zhou Chu's cousin and asked.

When his cousin saw that it was Zhou Chu, he was also taken aback.

“My lord, this is not expensive at all, it’s very cheap, but he is not in good health.”

As he spoke, he subtly winked at Zhou Chu.

Zhou Chu immediately understood and began to cough.

The woman immediately withdrew her fan, her face full of disgust.

"Turns out he's a tuberculosis patient, what bad luck."

The woman quickly chose the buyer and left.

After she left, Zhou Chu's cousin immediately relaxed.

"This is the concubine of the Shen family. The Shen family has a complicated situation, and this woman is notoriously mean."

The uncle looked at Zhou Chu, seemingly explaining why he hadn't wanted the woman to buy Zhou Chu earlier.

He didn't need to explain.

After all, explaining these things to an eight or nine-year-old child would be superfluous.

But Zhou Chu just showed great insight.

Having worked in the brokerage business for so many years, he knew very well that someone like Zhou Chu, who was quick-witted and resourceful, could easily rise to the top.

It can be considered leaving a good connection.

“Every so often, a servant in the Shen family would be beaten to death.”

As my uncle was talking, another noblewoman walked in through the door of the brokerage.

He hurriedly went to greet them.