In the 21st year of Qianlong's reign, on the fourth day of the lunar month, I visited relatives.
Populus euphratica village, Chenzhou, Hunan.
The sky rarely clears up and there is no snow
The mountains and fields were covered with white snow, and many people in the village took advantage of the snow to clear the snow from the roofs of their straw houses.
In a simple straw house at the south end of the village. The cold weather caused the family to build a large firewood pile in the room, and a circle of people gathered around the firewood pile to warm themselves up.
Men and women, old and young, it turned out that relatives came to this family.
The cold weather prevents active children from going out to play. After all, the clothes they wear cannot resist the cold invasion. It would be a big deal if you catch a cold while playing outside.
At this time, none of them wanted to go out and get cold. Instead of going out and getting cold, it's better to stay warm by this fire. And you can put some small sweet potatoes in the fire and cook them to eat, which will also satisfy your craving.
Unlike children who are bored, adults are engaged in household chores.
"Have you heard?" said Xu Lida, who was reaching out to light the fire. The red firelight illuminated his somewhat dry face, which also looked a little red.
"What?" Sitting next to Xu Lida was Wang Daniu, the male owner of the family. At this time, he was a little dazed by Xu Lida's headless question.
"I heard that there is a rebellion in Guangdong." Xu Lida suddenly said in a low tone.
"How could I not have heard of it? A few days ago, I heard from people who bought and sold in Guangdong that almost the entire Guangdong was defeated by the bandit suppression army." Wang Daniu also lowered his voice and replied:
"You don't know, now it has spread throughout our area. It's just that everyone only spreads it privately. After all, if the government finds out, they will be beheaded."
After hearing what Wang Daniu said, Xu Lida nodded in agreement. He had experienced such a thing personally.
There was a scholar in his village in Murakami who cursed a few words against the government in private, but was later reported by others. In the end, the scholar was beheaded and his family was ruined. I heard others say this is a literary prison or something. Xu Lida didn't understand it very well anyway, but it was always good to be careful when speaking.
"Yes, just talk about these things in private with relatives and familiar people. Never say it when you meet someone outside, as it can easily cause trouble." Xu Lida said affirmatively.
"Of course, that's what you said to me when you asked me." Wang Daniu replied: "But why did you start talking about it all at once?"
"Didn't I hear that the people over there are doing very well now! I heard that every household over there can allocate fields, at least five acres of land, and each acre only costs two buckets of grain. It's particularly good. After these two measures of grain, there is no other land tax, and all corvées are exempted." Xu Lida said with a look of anticipation on his face.
"Is there such a good thing?" After hearing Xu Dali's words, Wang Daniu's face became a little uneasy, and his voice was actually much louder.
"Li Da, are you telling the truth?" At this moment, not only Wang Daniu was not calm, but even Wang Chen, who was chatting with Mrs. Xu Lida next to him, couldn't help but ask.
"Of course, sister-in-law, I can still lie to you. I can't do this even if I want to!" Xu Lida answered affirmatively to Wang Chen's question.
Then Xu Lida seemed to have come to his senses again, and asked with a proud tone: "You haven't heard about this?"
"We really don't know about this. The businessmen who came back only said that there was a rebellion in Guangdong and didn't say anything else. I guess he was also afraid that the government would cause trouble for him!" Wang Daniu replied with some amusement.
"Whatever you say is right. After all, this official belongs to the dog. If you ask him to do good things, he will do nothing, but he is the best at finding crimes to make money." Xu Lida said with contempt in his tone.
"That's it. As long as those henchmen set their sights on you, they will almost shed a layer of their skin even if they don't die. So not many people are willing to cause trouble." Wang Daniu sighed and agreed.
"Li Da, if what you say is true! If we could have five acres of fields and harvest two bushels of grain from each acre, then we wouldn't have to starve anymore. And there would be no corvee. You can find more work and earn more money.”
"Yes, Brother Daniu. If we follow their division method, your family can be allocated nine acres of land. The land can be used to grow rice and the land can be used to grow vegetables. In the future, the excess grain produced in the field can be used to add some chickens, ducks, and pigs. I'm not afraid that there won't be any meat at home." Xu Lida looked forward to the future and followed Wang Daniu's calculations without any concealment.
"Yes, I eat meat. I haven't eaten meat for a long time. After the grain harvested at home, the land rent paid, the official tax grain from the court, and other miscellaneous tax money are barely enough to make ends meet. As for raising things, it's really hard. I dare not think about it." Wang Daniu sighed again.
"I think if there was always meat to eat, Xiaobao and the others would be able to grow taller and stronger!"
As Wang Daniu spoke, he looked at his youngest son next to him with regret. At this moment, he was peeling off the sweet potatoes hidden in the red charcoal under the fire, and he was very happy to see the ripe sweet potatoes.
I saw that this little guy didn't care about the hot sweet potatoes that had just been cooked, and tossed them left and right in his hands. After it cooled down a bit, I quickly peeled off the skin and ate it.
"Yes, after working for a whole year, the rations that can be left for us are barely enough to survive. This has to be good weather. If there is a drought or flood, many people can only borrow money or even sell their children. She's a girl. We have a lot of people like this over there." Xu Lida looked at Wang Daniu and said with emotion.
"Hey, when people are poor, their lives are miserable. I don't know how to change my destiny. It's okay if I suffer a little. Our children can't continue to suffer like this with us." Wang Daniu sighed and said
"Perhaps if the anti-bandit army can come over this time, it's time for poor people like us to change our destiny." Xu Lida said
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"Hey, when people are poor, their lives are miserable. I don't know how to change my destiny. It's okay if I suffer a little. Our children can't continue to suffer like this with us." Wang Daniu sighed and said
"Perhaps if the anti-bandit army can come over this time, it's time for poor people like us to change our destiny." Xu Lida said
"Hey, when people are poor, their lives are miserable. I don't know how to change my destiny. It's okay if I suffer a little. Our children can't continue to suffer like this with us." Wang Daniu sighed and said
"Perhaps if the anti-bandit army can come over this time, it's time for poor people like us to change our destiny." Xu Lida said
