All eyes beheld a crowd clad in homespun tunics, their waists cinched with pale cloth belts. Both men and women sported long hair, styled into loose topknots atop their heads. The faces of the elder men bore etchings of hardship deeper than the yellow earth itself.,However, this was also an era of serious social problems. In the south, there was the threat of Japanese pirates, in the north, the Mongol invasion, and natural and man-made disasters plagued the land. Although Emperor Jiajing was a wise ruler, he squandered the national treasury on Taoist practices, leaving the country in a precarious state.,It wasn't because the sky was getting dark, but he...his stomach rumbled again.。