In the fourth year of the Jiashi era during the reign of Emperor Lizong of Song, famines struck one after another, and in the capital Lin'an, grain was as precious as gold. Some starving families starved to death entirely, while others, unable to survive any longer, had no choice but to throw themselves into the river together.
Corpses of the dead filled the roads across western Zhejiang, and refugees flooded the area. In eastern Zhejiang, the tragic scene of people abandoning their homes due to hunger and dying scattered along the roadsides even appeared.
During the Chunyou and Lizong eras, people were living off future earnings, borrowing in advance up to the seventh year; they also used unreasonable means to confiscate private property in order to increase financial revenue. During the Baoyou period, fiscal and monetary revenues fell short of expenditures.
Chapter 267