The monks descended from the mountain, the royal teachers went on patrol, but the unrest in Chaochang had not abated.
For the freemen of Chaochang were unlike those elsewhere in Longzhou. In other places, freemen were mostly peasants with their own fields and land, at the very least working as tenants.
The cause of their rebellion was nothing more than the oppression by the gentry, or a disaster year with no harvest to speak of. There were also a few young men who had lost sight of their future and went mad, but most were honest and compliant.
However, the freemen of Chaochang were different; they had neither land nor a business. Once they lost their jobs, they lost everything.
What made matters worse was that the farming lands in Chaochang were all private properties of clans. These freemen could not even steal some food to eat, let alone rob a grain depot or granary—it was a pipe dream.
