Little Fuyuan stood next to the white wooden board, leaning against him, and asked with her big watery eyes: "Dad, what is corvee?"
Bai Banban touched his daughter's head and sighed: "Everyone is asked to work hard for nothing. No money is given, and they have to bring their own dry food."
So that’s it!
Then she doesn't want her father and brothers to do hard labor.
"Old Bai, you don't have to worry, your son is a scholar and can be exempted from the corvee." Uncle Li sighed and said enviously.
No matter how much he complains about Bai Erzhuang spending so much money to study, he can only become a rural private school teacher, but at the critical moment Bai Erzhuang is more useful than ordinary farmers.
When I get back, I will urge my grandson to study hard and strive to become a scholar like Bai Erzhuang.
Village Chief Zhao listened to the discussion below, waved his hands to everyone, coughed a few times, and said: "Everyone has misunderstood, it is not a corvee, it is not a corvee."
"What is that? Is it possible to go mining and pay back the money?" Xia Qingpi asked angrily.
The corvee is not afraid, but he is afraid that he will face spring plowing immediately, which will delay the crops in the field and delay the harvest of the year.
"Qingpi was right, the court will definitely give you money for mining." Village Chief Zhao couldn't hide his joy.
"Really or fake?" Everyone seemed not to believe that there was such a good thing.
"With Mr. Liu Hong as guarantee, how can it be fake? The documents are all here." Village Chief Zhao said.
"Iron ore has been discovered in that mountain, and it is said to be high-quality iron for making weapons. We are not mining for nothing. The court will give money and rice, and it will not delay everyone's spring plowing and autumn harvest."
As soon as these words were said, the villagers exploded.
On weekdays, everyone makes a living by farming. In recent years, the imperial court has been recuperating and everyone has enough to eat, but there is no extra money.
As soon as they heard about mining in the mountains and getting money and rice, everyone was excited.
Anyway, it's all labor, and some of it is strength. If you exchange this strength for money, that would be great.
"Is what the village chief said true or false?" someone asked.
"Of course it's true. When have I ever deceived everyone? The last time I went up the mountain to hunt tigers and gave them rice, I didn't deduct one tael from everyone. Then I gave it to everyone when I came down the mountain. It's the same this time, just how much money was given. Qian Mi, the paperwork hasn't come down yet. Let me give everyone a heads-up. According to the rules, every family must provide male labor." Village Chief Zhao said.
"These days are spring plowing. When the spring plowing is over, we will organize everyone to go mining in the mountains. We can make money by farming."
The crowd was in an uproar.
The village chief felt relieved.
Seeing little Fuyuan clinging to the white wooden board, Village Chief Zhao burst into laughter. Thanks to little Fuyuan, he could have found a mine even if he was abducted. If it hadn't been for her, how could such a good thing have happened to Shenshu Village? .
No, the whole village must know about this.
Village Chief Zhao said: "Everyone should thank Xiao Yuanbao."
Everyone looked at Village Chief Zhao, wondering what he meant.
Is it possible that Xiao Fuyuan's influence is so great? Can it affect the imperial court?
Village Chief Zhao knew that everyone had another misunderstanding, and said cheerfully: "Originally, this mine was closer to Xiashan Village, but I reported to Mr. Liu that this mine would not have been discovered if Xiao Yuan Bao had not been abducted. Xiao Yuan Bao is We are from Shenshu Village, so it should be our turn to mine this mine."
Of course, Village Chief Zhao exaggerated the facts. It was indeed Xiao Fuyuan's credit for the discovery of the mine, but it was not Village Chief Zhao who fanned the flames of handing over the mining to Shenshu Village.
It was determined by the superiors and informed him directly.
Village Chief Zhao looked at Bai Banban and Xiao Fuyuan and his daughter with a guilty conscience.
Baiban held Xiao Fuyuan in his arms without a smile on his face, thinking that this was not a good thing.
His daughter was almost kidnapped, and the price was a bit high.
"Thanks to the girl from Lao Bai's family."
"Xiao Yuanbao, thank you, brother. I will buy you cakes when I make money from mining in the mountains."
"Little Yuanbao is amazing. The prosperous family returns to the prosperous village."
The villagers thanked Xiao Fuyuan one after another, and Xiao Fuyuan felt quite embarrassed.
She really didn't do anything!
No matter what, the credit for discovering the mine was pinned on Xiao Fuyuan's head.
Providing money and rice for mining has aroused the enthusiasm of the people in Shenshu Village.
So everyone rushes for spring plowing, just to finish the plowing as soon as possible and go to the mountains to make money as soon as possible.
This year's climate seems a bit unusual compared to previous years.
There are often several heavy snowfalls in the Nanguan Mountain area in winter. In spring, the snow melts, and the snow water nourishes the farmland, and the winter wheat quickly turns green and leaves.
In spring, before and after the rain, the pattering spring rain falls on time to relieve the thirst of the crops after absorbing the snow water.
Good weather and abundant harvests have gradually become the mainstream tone in the Nanguan Mountain area.
But there was almost no snow this past winter. The weather was dry and cold. Even if there was snow, it was only a thin layer and disappeared without a trace as soon as the sun came up.
Since the beginning of spring, not a single spring rain has fallen.
At first no one took it seriously.
Perhaps it was because life had been so smooth these years that it numbed everyone. It was not until spring plowing that the soil was harder than in previous years that the villagers were shocked to realize that it had not rained for a long time.
Many years ago, droughts often occurred in the Nanguan Mountain area.
The memories of people like Bai Dazhuang and Bai Erzhuang are accompanied by the tragic scene of failed crops.
But when it comes to Xiao Fuyuan, there is no memory of the drought, because since she was born, it has always been a beautiful scene of peace and prosperity.
The wilting winter wheat and stiff soil remind the villagers of Shenshu Village of the terrible memory of drought.
The wild vegetables have been dug up, the bark of the trees has been stripped off, the whole village is lifeless, no one makes a fire, no one cooks, everyone is swollen, and you can even meet someone dying of starvation within a few steps.
"The crops in our village are still green, but I heard that the crops in several villages have dried up."
The white wooden board came back from outside and sighed.
Xiao Fuyuan and A Zhen were sitting on the porch of Bai's house, playing the willow flute.
Due to the lack of moisture from the spring rain, the willow trees were wilting than in previous years. Bai Zhaomei picked several of them before she found a green one.
"Uncle Bai, are the crops outside really that serious?" A Zhen asked.
"Yes." Bai Banban shook his head and said, "Oh, Zhen, you have never been hungry. Once a drought happens, it is the common people who are affected. In previous years, severe droughts killed people."
A Zhen's heart sank.
"Dad, where are you from?" Xiao Fuyuan asked.
"Come from Shangyang Village." Bai Banban said.
Shangyang Village is the village where Xie Chuntao's mother's family lives, and Xiao Fuyuan has a hilltop there.
"Dad, how is my mountain?" Xiao Fuyuan asked.
When Bai Banban heard this, his face turned slightly brighter and he said, "It's strange that the seeds you asked your elder brother to scatter on that mountain last time were actually greener than other places."
After hearing this, A Zhen looked at Xiao Fuyuan and asked, "What kind of seed is it?"
Xiao Fuyuan didn't say anything, but pulled A Zhen to the edge of the white test field in the southeast corner of the yard. He pointed at a patch of green seedlings and said, "This is the crop. My elder brother said it was Yan millet. We were taken to the temple by An Xiucai last time. Here, I saw a few ears and brought them to my eldest brother, who likes to collect all kinds of strange seeds and plant them in the ground."
(End of chapter)
