According to Xu He's arrangement, everyone should find a shady place to go fishing in the afternoon.
But after finishing the meal, Lu Heng refused to leave and chatted with the old man at Granny Liu's house for a long time.
Xue Yongzhi and others felt bored, so they took the children on the boat for a ride, leaving only Xu He, two women, and Wu Decao and other entourage.
During the chat, Xu He found out how Granny Liu's son and daughter-in-law died.
It turned out that just three years ago, the bandits headed by Lei Jun occupied Qin Lake.
Because there are many sandbanks and islands in Qinhu Lake and endless water and grass, it is difficult for the government to clear them out.
Later, even the tax collector’s office refused to come.
At this time, all the villages around Qin Lake became the domain of bandits.
In summer and autumn, as soon as the food came in, bandits would drive boats to visit villages.
The thieves also know the principle of fishing from the lake, so every time they come to grab food, they still leave enough food for everyone to survive.
But even though the county government clerks no longer go to the countryside, they still have to pay a lot of taxes every year.
Seeing that the bandits and the government all had to pay for food, even the rich households in the village couldn't bear it.
So three years ago, when the grain was about to fall into the fields, Chief He Liang got anxious to discuss it with the villagers, old and young, and said that all the young and old in Baojia would be released. This year, when the thieves came, everyone would fight to the death, or even fight.
Grandma Liu's son also joined the young team, but who knows who leaked the news in the end.
One night, thieves came to the house and killed all the young men who were defending themselves in the village. Grandma Liu's daughter-in-law was also insulted by the thieves that night. Later, she fought the thieves with scissors, but was chopped up with a knife.
From then on, no one on the village dared to challenge the bandits. Until the bandits came out in force and were wiped out, every summer and autumn harvest, the villages near Qin Lake had to hand over two portions, one to the thieves and one to the government. .
"I cried a lot during those days. When the stalls were dry in the spring, everyone was so hungry that our eyes watered when looking at the seeds, but we didn't dare to eat them. We were afraid that if we ate the seeds, we would starve to death next year."
"I don't know how many families on the farm ate the seeds because they couldn't bear the hunger. As a result, the whole family starved to death before the summer harvest!"
Lu Heng said in surprise: "Then why don't you go somewhere else to make a living?"
As soon as she said this, everyone looked at her in disbelief. Among them, Xu Hexin said, this female member of the British government family is too ignorant of the world.
The state was very strict on household registration management.
In order to prevent the flow of people from causing instability to society, the Wei Dynasty strictly prohibited people from leaving their hometowns at will.
If you want to go out to do business or something, it is very troublesome these days. Not only do you need a bond document issued by the local Lijia, but you also need road guides issued by the government.
If it is found out that this person does not have a bond document and a road guide, and that he is dead and deceased, Baojia will be jointly and severally responsible. If this person commits adultery and commits a heinous crime, and his neighbors are sitting at home, disaster will come from the sky the next day. Maybe he will be taken away by Tiesuo and exiled to the border!
After talking about this, Granny Liu saw that it was getting late, so she said apologetically: "Dear guests, please rest at home. I went to the drying yard to pay for the food and came back. You will have dinner at my house in the evening!"
Naturally, everyone would not disturb him anymore and stood up in unison.
At this time, Lu Heng said to Xu He, "Shall we also go to the drying field? I haven't seen the villagers pay food yet."
"What's so good about paying grain?" Xu He immediately objected.
Lu Heng's face suddenly fell when he heard this, and for the first time he begged Xu He unexpectedly: "Just go and have a look!"
Hearing this, Xu He couldn't help but want to laugh when he saw her trying to act pitiful and holding her airs awkwardly, so he nodded and said, "Okay, let's go and have a look!"
Anyway, although the Xue family's servants only followed from a distance, today they all showed their faces in front of the grain chief and the li chief. The other party also knew that his group was not easy to mess with and would never cause trouble.
Why is Xu He worried about this?
It's because the scene of receiving food in ancient times was the dirtiest and most disgusting. You must have studied "Three or Five Dou More". There are so many tricks in it. A novice like Lu Heng who doesn't know the sufferings of the world will probably be angry at the sight of it. Exploded.
So Xu He made a three-part agreement with her before setting off: "You can go, but I have something to say first. If you see anything unpleasant, please don't force yourself to come forward!"
Seeing that Xu He had agreed, Lu Heng nodded repeatedly and said, "No, no, I'll just take a look from a distance!"
Gu Hengbo naturally knew Xu He's worries. She was also very tired of this kind of thing, so she said out of sight, "Xiao He, take Mr. Lu to have a look. I'll read here for a while!"
When Xu He heard this, he thought it would be better if you didn't go, so when he saw that Granny Liu was ready, he asked Wu Decao to help push the wheelbarrow and load the grain to the village drying ground.
Although Wu Decao was a scholar, he always believed in the words of his benefactor. He did not care about his status as husband-in-law. He lifted up his robe, tucked it around his waist, bent down and held the wheelbarrow and followed Granny Liu out.
But he was not working hard and could not distinguish his grain. He had just pushed two steps and was panting. He was not as strong as a seventy-year-old man.
Lu Heng's venomous tongue fired again: "Xu He, you are so useless. You just took two steps and you became a dead dog from exhaustion!"
After finally arriving at the drying area, he saw a group of people gathered around the area. A table was set up among the crowd, and several officials dressed in green shirts were sitting around it. Xu He knew that these were officials and officials from the county government office. Bai Yi, and the people sitting next to them all looked familiar to Xu He. Aren't they the same people as Chief He Liang who kicked in the door at noon today?
The so-called grain chief was in the early years of the dynasty. Taizu was worried that when taxes were paid in summer and autumn, corrupt officials would take the opportunity to exploit the people, so he came up with a good idea... to govern good people with good people.
What does that mean?
That is, a county will be divided into several grain areas. Among them, the wealthy households with the most fields and the best reputation are the grain chiefs, who are fully responsible for collecting taxes and grains.
Note that it is collection, which means that these grain chiefs are not only responsible for collecting taxes, but also delivering the taxes in kind to the location designated by the court.
In the past, it was delivered directly to the capital, but in recent years, the summer and autumn grain from South Zhili only needs to be delivered to Changyingcang in Huai'an Prefecture.
One more word, since Emperor Yingzong moved the capital to Beijing, the Grand Canal has become a golden waterway for water transportation. All grains from the southeast region are transported to the capital through the canal.
Since Huai'an, Xuzhou, Dezhou, and Linqing have smooth waterways, grain was first concentrated in these four places and then transported to Beijing.
Huai'an, Xuzhou, Dezhou, and Linqing were the four transfer stations along the canal where the imperial tribute was collected. They played a very important role and were called the "four major warehouses" by people at the time. In particular, Changyingcang and Xuzhou Guangyuncang in Huai'an Prefecture are the largest, with one ambassador and one deputy envoy. "
Closer to home, next to the group of people, there was also a [Dendrobium] used by various officials to weigh grain.
These dendrobiums have a standard weight. When the grain is put in, there is no need to weigh it. As long as the top of the pile is full, it will be the standard weight of the dendrobium.
At this time, Granny Liu stopped the car and said to Wu Decao, who was out of breath and almost collapsed: "Thank you, sir. I can go and weigh myself. You guys wait under this big tree for a while. When I get back, I will make you some bean soup to cool down!"
