Li Zheng is brought here to collect taxes. In fact, Li Zheng is the same as the village chief, but in this book, Li Zheng manages the village chief.
Three clerks, two of whom were carrying swords, were pulling an oxcart. The children happily chased the oxcart.
The gong is beating loudly, and the autumn tax is mainly on rice, with 20% per mu.
In good years, the yield per mu can reach 300 kilograms, and in poor years, the yield of more than 100 kilograms is enough.
This year, only three of Li Yunlan's five acres of land are paddy fields, with an output of 260 kilograms per mu. The dry land consists of peanuts, beans and undigged sweet potatoes.
After paying the tax, you have to eat the next summer's harvest. The main reason is that the human tax is too high. The land tax is collected twice a year, and the human tax is also 120 yuan per person at a time. This does not include women. It is said that women are still collected in the south. Poll tax.
In comparison, the magistrate of Songjiang County is fairly honest and upright.
Li Yunlan watched the clerk weigh the rice, took the money, and made a note in the household book, indicating that the family's tax had been paid in full.
After all the village chiefs and minor officials had left, Qiu Degui looked at the sunken hole in the grain circle in the west room and said, "I'll take it to you tomorrow and sell it and bring it back in exchange for grains."
Li Yunlan doesn't really want to eat cereals, but with such a large family, it won't be enough for next summer's harvest.
"Why don't you sell it and keep it to eat? There are many children at home, and it is not good for their health to eat cereals all the time. The peanuts are sold, and we are going to the mountains to look for medicinal herbs. If there is not enough food, we will buy some grains."
Qiu Degui somewhat disapproved of it, but his father was newly deceased this year, so he didn't dare to refute his mother's words too much, for fear that she might do something bad.
Also, selling herbal medicine last time gave him some confidence.
"Mom, when the land is plowed and wheat is planted, my second brother and I will go up the mountain with you."
Li Yunlan nodded. At noon, Li Yunlan asked Mrs. Liu to take two bones from the jar and make soup, and she carried the basket on her back and went up the mountain.
Mrs. Liu stewed the bones and carried the basket to the vegetable field.
Mrs. Chen went to the main room to get a stool. Seeing that the door to the west room was unlocked, she pushed the door open and went in. The rice was circled on the mat, the peanuts were packed in the basket, there were two bags of soybeans, one bag of various dried vegetables, and the most important thing were two bags of soybeans. There was a jar of meat that had just been opened, and the smell of the meat wafted out, enchanting her heart.
She didn't dare to touch the meat before, because the lard was sealed and it would be obvious if she moved it, but now there is a jar that has been eaten, and there is no mark even after taking it.
She covered her chest, looked at the yard, then at the door of the yard, took a cloth bag from the room and a large bowl from the kitchen.
Then she quietly entered the west room again, put a bag of peanuts, and gently opened the lid of the jar. The smell of meat came to her nose. She swallowed, not sure whether it was because she was nervous or because of the smell of meat.
She didn't dare to take more. Two ribs and two pieces of meat were half missing at once, but she was too nervous to notice.
After covering the jar, she left the west room, closed the door, and quickly returned to her room. She sat on the edge of the bed to catch her breath.
He took a small round basket, put the things in it, covered it with a piece of cloth, and shouted outside: "Baoyu? Baoyu?"
Qiu Baoyu came out of his aunt's room when he heard his mother's shout.
"What's wrong, mother?"
"What are you standing there for? Come back quickly and look at your brother. Mom needs to go out for a while."
"oh!"
Chen was successfully fed and let Baoyu watch before walking back with the basket in her arms.
With a heart in mind, she walked quickly towards her parents' house.
When I arrived at my parents' house, I was the only one at home with my nephews Shuan'er and Shitou. Everyone else was out, including the two little nieces.
"Mistress, my sister-in-law is back."
Youshi heard the cry of Xiao Shitou and poked his head out of the pig pen.
I saw the little daughter carrying a basket towards the pig pen. Although her clothes were old and unpatched, her face was white and rosy, her skin was much more delicate, and she had gained weight. It looked like she was living a very good life. .
"Why are you here now?"
"Look what mom said, I can't come and see you. Just let the sisters-in-law clean the pigsty. Come out quickly."
Mrs. Chen opened a corner of the basket and showed it to her mother. Youshi's eyes widened instantly: "Where did it come from?"
"I brought it from home. I should have taken it a long time ago. I was delayed because I was busy at home. This is the meat from wild boar hunted in the village. It weighs about thirty kilograms."
"Oh my god, there are so many, but the girl is considerate. She thinks about her mother's family when she eats. It's not a loss for me to have you in this life. We haven't seen meat in our house for a few months, and your nephews will be greedy." Youshi said with eyes. He kept staring at the basket without moving.
"Mom, stop sweeping away and come out quickly. I emptied the bowl and I have to go back?"
"Okay... okay, my grandson can't live without you. Your mother-in-law is being generous this time. She still has to give birth to a son, otherwise she will not be able to hold her head high in her husband's family for the rest of her life. My girl is capable and considerate. My heart is sweeter than honey." Woolen cloth."
Mrs. Chen was still a little nervous, but she was soon overwhelmed by my mother's compliments.
I suddenly felt in my heart, yes, I gave birth to a son for your old enemy, shouldn't I get some meat? Do you have to sever ties with your parents when you get married? How can parents be ungrateful for their upbringing?
When Li Yunlan and Chengcai arrived home, Ms. Liu was pacing in the yard with Chenggong in her arms, while Chenggong's child was grinning and crying heartily.
"Where's Mrs. Chen? Why are you coaxing me?"
Ms. Liu was already sweating: "Baoyu said that her mother went out and didn't say where she went. She managed to fall off the bed."
Li Yunlan stepped forward and saw that there was a dove egg-sized bump on Chenggong's forehead that was already bruised.
She remembered that when she was a child, when she knocked or fell on her head, her grandma would touch some lard on it, saying that it would disappear quickly, so she also picked up some lard and successfully touched it.
Mingyue hugged Baoyu, and Pearl called her sister. Baoyu's eyes had turned into peaches from crying.
This Mrs. Chen really turned a deaf ear to her words.
Little Chenggong slowly fell asleep from exhaustion as his mother-in-law and daughter-in-law took turns coaxing him. He was still twitching when he fell asleep. He was so pitiful.
Baoyu was also tired from crying and slept next to Chenggong.
The two brothers also came back for lunch. The yard was quiet. Qiu Degui went into the kitchen to see Mrs. Liu cooking: "Why are you still cooking now? Where is mother? Are you back?"
"She's back. She's in her own room." Then she told her the story.
Qiu Defu also entered the kitchen: "Sister-in-law, where is Baoyu Niang? Where are the children?"
Mrs. Liu said that the child was in her mother's house. He was about to leave after hearing this, but Qiu Degui stopped him: "My brother and sister are out, do you know where they are? She is the only one who can take care of a three-year-old child." , be careful what you say, my mother will definitely be angry."
Qiu Defu agreed and went up to the inner room.
He said softly: "Mom? Are the children asleep?"
Li Yunlan waved her hand to him and asked him to go out. She also left the house and closed the door: "Your wife is getting more and more excessive now. She left the child behind and left without saying a word about where she was going."
The mother and son walked to the main room and sat down.
"I will tell her when she comes back. She is probably anxious about something, so she didn't say hello."
"I told her last time, but she didn't listen to a word. You can't do it. No matter what, it's wrong to hit someone." After Li Yunlan said this, he saw that the door of the west room was unlocked.
Because there is food inside, the door is usually locked for fear of rats getting in.
"Both of these are trouble-free." As she said that, she got up and locked the door. When she walked to Qiu Defu, she turned around and unlocked it again.
"What's wrong, mother?" Qiu Defu asked, watching my mother's movements.
After saying that, he also followed. Everything was placed as it was, and there was no change. Qiu Defu saw the peanut pocket and said, "Who has touched this pocket?"
Li Yunlan looked at him and asked, "How did you know?"
"I tied this bag, and now it has changed. Someone must have stolen it." After saying this, his mind exploded, no way.
Li Yunlan looked at the jar of meat again. One jar was fine and untouched, while the other jar was half missing.
"The eldest daughter-in-law... belongs to the boss's family?"
Mrs. Liu came out of the kitchen after hearing the shouting, and Qiu Degui followed after hearing that the voice was not right.
"What did mom call me for?"
"Go and look at the jar."
Mrs. Liu opened the lid with a puzzled look and saw that half of it was missing. She immediately said, "Mom, you told me to get two bones, so I took two. I didn't take more. Why is there so much missing?"
Qiu Defu's face flushed with shame: "Sister-in-law has nothing to do with you. It must have been taken by my family. On the day when the meat was divided, she asked me to ask my mother to give the meat to the child's grandma's house. I didn't agree. I didn't know she would steal it. .”
Just when Li Yunlan was about to say something, Cheng Cheng in the back room to the east started crying again.
