Seeing Granny Liu go to collect grain, Lu Heng wanted to follow her, but Xu He stopped her and said, "I am a farmer in my village collecting grain, what are you doing there?"
Lu Heng muttered: "Why don't we go and have a look?"
Xu He looked her up and down and said, "That place is full of men. Where do you see a young woman?"
As soon as these words came out, Lu Heng's oval face turned red. Although he still raised his head to look, he didn't mention joining in the fun.
The table in the middle of the drying area.
He Liangchang said to the official dressed in green shirt beside him: "Qiu Hushu, Wang and Liu are also here. Do you want to start?"
The county clerk surnamed Qiu glanced at these country people, snorted, and drank tea nonchalantly.
When He Liangchang saw this, he quickly smiled and said: "I understand!"
After saying that, he turned to the commander on the side and said: "Lao San, under the bright sun, hurry up, don't let Qiu Hushu get the heat."
The chief named Lao San came to He Liangchang and whispered: "Liangchang, which book should I collect according to?"
He Liangchang glared at him, and the third elder there was startled. He quickly took out a booklet from his arms and placed it respectfully in front of Qiu Lishu in the Yamen: "Qiu Lishu, this is the upper, middle and lower third-class household registration verified by our village this year. !”
Qiu Lishu, who had always been lazy, finally regained his energy. He flipped through the book for a while and said with a mocking look on his face: "He Lao Er, He Lao San, you guys are quite ruthless this year. Just glance at it and you will..." Why don’t you have any subordinates? The thieves are gone and you want to make up for the past two years?"
It turned out that the grain chief and the li chief were actually brothers, the second eldest son in the same clan and the third eldest son in the other.
He Liangchang laughed at the side and said: "Lishu Qiu, you have wrongly blamed me! Think about it, although the bandits have been wiped out by the court this year, the county has also said that in order to fight against the Japanese in Zhejiang, our county associate Food and grass, we also raised the household level in order to complete the tasks assigned by the county!"
"What?"
"Has the household waiting list been increased?"
"He Lizhang, why was there no news before?"
After hearing the conversation between the two, the people around them all started to quarrel.
Before He Liangchang could speak, his brother He Liangchang slapped the table, glared at everyone and said, "Shut the hell up!"
After saying that, he stood up, looked at the people around him and said: "In the past, the court wanted to cause bandits in our area, and the money and food were reduced for a few years. What? Now that the thieves are gone, the court is in trouble, and if I ask you to collect more, you will start to quarrel. , What are you doing? Is there any more royal method?"
One of them, a bold young man, said: "Uncle He, you can't say that. Although the money and food required by the court in the past few years have been less, we still have to pay a share to the thieves. What kind of life is it like? You know best!"
Hearing this, Chief He Liang picked up a bamboo branch from the table and whipped the young man. While whipping, he cursed: "You still have the nerve to say that, if Nian Zai hadn't met your father, I would have tied you up and sent you away right away." County government, you damn girl actually handed over food to the bandits, isn’t this an improper act of collaborating with the bandits?”
The young man screamed after being whipped, but he said reluctantly: "In the past few years, among the people on the edge of Qin Lake, who didn't pay food to the bandits? Is it possible not to pay food?"
He Liangchang heard this and whipped the ground even more fiercely. As he whipped, he said: "Lock this guy up and ask Qiu Hushu to take him to the county later. If he is in the shackles for a few days, he will be honest!"
When Qiu Hushu saw this, he sneered at the corner of his mouth. He had been in the county government office for so many years and had seen countless scenes every year. He had long been used to this kind of drama. He was not even willing to pay attention to it, and allowed the two parties to come. Once upon a time, it was like performing a monkey show.
Finally, when the young man heard that he was going to be arrested and taken to the county, he panicked. While blocking the bamboo branches with his arms, he shouted: "I will hand it over to you."
The leader was defeated, and the rest of the people remained silent, with the sun on their heads, and their hearts felt cold.
There was a lot of movement here, and Xu He and Lu Heng had already heard the movement.
While watching, Lu Heng pulled Xu He and asked, "What do those people mean? Why did they suddenly start fighting?"
So Xu He told Lu Heng three rules about the nine grades: "It should be because the household grade has been raised, these families will have to pay more taxes!"
Lu Heng said angrily: "Then you can't just slap me in the face. Can't you just talk it over?"
Xu He smiled bitterly in his heart, please tell me? It's really useless to talk about it these days.
Officials are like wolves and tigers, and they are as cunning as oil. The common people have long developed the wisdom of life at the bottom.
If you take a step back, they will dare to bully you into taking a step back.
To be honest, the reason for today's situation is also related to Xu He's teacher Li Zhijie.
He raised grain in Yangzhou and sent it to Zhejiang to meet the urgent needs of Lu Budang and Shi Bona.
"Hey, when things prosper, the people suffer; when they die, the people also suffer!" Xu He shook his head and sighed secretly.
The weigh-in finally begins.
He Liangchang flipped through the pages of the album, pointed to the text above and said: "The first household in Linhu Village is the first one. The head of the household is Xu Wangfa. He is of average rank. He pays three dou and eight liters of rice and seven taels and eighty cents of silk!"
This Xu Wangfa is none other than the young and strong father who just shouted the most fiercely.
When Qing Zhuang heard this, he was unhappy again: "Second uncle, our family has been in the lower-middle level in previous years. You have suddenly transferred our family to the lower-middle level. How will our family live?"
"If you can't pass, if you shout again, I won't be polite!"
Seeing that things had come to this, the young man could only hang his head and go to pay the food.
There are two weighing places. He Liangchang read again: "Household No. 3A-B in Linhu Village, the head of the household is Wang Liu, middle-to-lower. Pay three dou or eight liters, and seven taels or eighty cents for silk!"
As soon as He Liangchang's voice fell, the people around him suddenly exploded.
"What? Grandma Liu's family is also average!"
"Why? Grandma Liu has been taking care of her grandchildren all these years. It's hard for her to have enough to eat. How come she pays so much food?"
"Will this government allow people to live anymore?"
Grandma Liu, who had been so worried just now, almost fainted when she heard this. She calmed down and came to the table. She said to He Lizhang, who had evasive eyes: "Li Chief, didn't we agree at the beginning of spring? Well? Why don’t you judge our family’s situation like this! Why do you keep changing your mind?”
He Lichang secretly glanced at his brother He Liangchang and said awkwardly: "This year's situation is special. Didn't He Liangchang tell you just now?"
Grandma Liu heard this and said in a loud voice: "Xu Wangfa's family has three boys and two mature women. They farm the same land as my family. Why are they middle-class and lower-class and our family is also middle-class and lower-class?"
"Yes, this is too dark. It's not easy for Granny Liu, dragging her grandson by herself!"
"These brothers from the He family are all evil-hearted. Their son and daughter-in-law are both dead. Isn't this bullying?"
He Liangchang saw this and cursed: "The rules of the imperial court..."
Before he finished speaking, Granny Liu said: "Okay, I will abide by the rules of the court, but Mr. He..."
Speaking of this, she turned to He Lichang and said: "Master He, if I pay this year, I won't even have enough seeds for the next year. When I go to your house, can you give me some for the sake of sending fish every time?" Let me order some food so that my grandson can eat!"
He Laosan used to take the fish and shrimps from Grandma Liu every month, but now he turned his back on her and secretly raised her household level. He was really shameless, but he was reluctant to pay for the grain to the grandma.
While I was struggling in my heart, I saw Qiu Hushu on the side who had already been waiting impatiently: "I don't want to take care of your bullshit things. Can you still pay the tax? If not, I will leave. You go and talk to the great master and The second master will tell you!"
He Liangchang had already cursed Qiu Hushu to death in his heart, but he did not dare to show it on his face, so he could only pick up a bamboo branch and chop it at Granny Liu's face.
Grandma Liu was struck and she was unprepared, and a streak of blood was drawn on her face.
