Qin Yao coughed twice, and for a rare moment she felt guilty.

But only for a moment.

He handed the letter on the table to Awang and said, "Go to Lin County and help me deliver the letter."

Awang took it and nodded in agreement. Out of professional habit, he saw the address and the recipient's name on the envelope. He didn't even bother to ask why. He stuffed the letter into his arms and turned around to pick up the fat fish in his hand.

Qin Yao quickly called him back and told him, "Make sure the letter is delivered to the person in question, and don't reveal your identity. Also!"

Awang waited quietly for her next words.

"be safe."

Awang's eyelashes trembled rapidly a few times, and he nodded, "Okay."

Qin Yao took out the prepared travel expenses and handed them to him. It was a small purse, and inside it were two hundred coins and the [Smiling Half-Step Madness] and [Seven-Step Fall] that he had prepared for her when she was going on a long journey.

"Maybe you can use it." Qin Yao said jokingly.

Awang's mouth twitched slightly. He took out the two bottles of essential medicine for home and travel and placed them in front of the windowsill. He only took the purse, turned around and told her with his stubborn back: Dear, don't insult his strength!

Qin Yao shrugged amusedly and said, "Forget it if you don't want it." She put it away herself.

"After lunch, you can set off on your horse. I will drive the ox cart to pick up Dalang and the others in the afternoon."

Awang knew that she was in a hurry, so he quickened his pace in killing the fish, and in less than fifteen minutes he had a pot of fresh and spicy fish on the table.

He quickly finished two large bowls of rice, put down his bowl and chopsticks, went back to the attic to tidy up for a while, and then rode away.

Qin Yao suddenly remembered something and looked up at the sky which had just cleared up and turned cloudy again. She sighed helplessly, "It's going to rain tonight."

Not even mentioning bringing a raincoat.

But the person had already run away, and Qin Yao could only wait for the person to come back and educate him.

It was not Awang who came to pick them up in the afternoon, so Dalang and his two siblings were not used to it. But they were still very surprised to see A Niang.

Qin Yao drove the ox cart through a muddy path, and then a wide and flat new road appeared in front of him. The ox cart ran smoothly and quickly.

Two-thirds of the road leading into the village has been built, with only the last section left. It is expected to be completed in October, by which time the time required to travel from Liujia Village to Jinshi Town will be shortened by one third.

It used to take three hours to walk back and forth, but after the road was repaired, it only took two hours.

It would be even faster if you drove or rode a horse.

Now that two-thirds of the road has been repaired, Qin Yao feels that the time it takes to drive is much less than before.

When we arrived at Liujia Village, it was the end of the You hour (around 6:30).

The workers had gone off work two quarters of an hour ago and the main gate of the stationery factory had been closed, leaving only a small side door for the workers on duty guarding the warehouse to enter and exit.

The convoy has set off again to deliver the second batch of book boxes.

There has been no news from Bai Shan during the autumn harvest period, perhaps he is too busy, and I don’t know how the pencil cases are selling.

Qin Yao was thinking about things at the factory as she slowed down her car. When she arrived at the village well, she saw that all the villagers were gathered there. The village chief was informing everyone to prepare to pay the grain tax.

"The officials who are going to collect grain will be here in a few days. Each household should hurry up and send the grain tax to the ancestral hall in the next two days. I have asked Liu Gong to calculate the grain tax that each household needs to pay. If you are not sure, go and ask him. Don't make a mistake in the account, so as to avoid trouble later."

After giving these instructions, the village chief caught a glimpse of Qin Yao and her two children on the ox cart. He walked over and pointed at Dalang and said,

"Your family should remember to pay more tax. Dalang is already ten years old. From now on, he will have to pay two hundred coins of tax every year."

The age limit for this population tax varied in different dynasties. Some people paid it at the age of twelve, some at the age of fifteen or eighteen, but there were also those who were counted as people at the age of eight or nine.

It was a bit early in Sheng State, but according to the population, when Dalang turned sixteen, he could go to the government to get thirty acres of land to farm.

Among them, there are ten acres of mulberry fields, ten acres of grain fields, and ten acres of mountain forest land. After receiving it, you have to start paying taxes.

However, this situation is constantly changing, and the quotas vary from year to year, often related to population.

In the early days of the founding of the country, the land was vast and the population was sparse, so there was such a high land quota.

In the middle stage of development, this quota will no longer exist.

You can also choose not to receive it. If you don’t receive it, you don’t have to pay taxes, and you can also keep a labor force in the family.

Since the villagers of Liujia Village refused to accept the offer, Liu Fei did not go to accept it either. He was scared just thinking about cultivating so many acres of land by himself.

Moreover, once the land was acquired, it would become an independent household, and the corvée and taxes in the future would be calculated separately. Most people felt that this was not worthwhile.

This is also one of the reasons why people in the village are very reluctant to split up the family.

If someone is separated from the family, he or she will be looked at with strange eyes by the villagers for the rest of his or her life.

Dalang had never thought that he would have to pay the Ding tax. He was shocked and felt that he had brought trouble to his family, so he remained silent all the way.

After returning home, she immediately called Erlang, Sanlang and Si Niang into the room and asked Erlang to take out all the pocket money they had saved.

Erlang knew what his elder brother was thinking, and although he was usually stingy, he did not hesitate and immediately poured out all the copper coins in the money box.

The copper coins fell onto the mattress with a crash, and Saburo couldn't help but let out a cry of exclamation.

Si Niang looked at her second brother in surprise and asked curiously, "How much money have we saved?"

Erlang remembered the account clearly and replied, "Three hundred and eighty-one coins."

"If we hadn't bought so many lanterns last time we went to the city, we would have saved 400 coins by now." Erlang said regretfully.

He found lanterns fun to play with at first, but now he is tired of them. They are just placed on the corner of the table and lit at night. He has to cut the candles into small pieces in advance before putting them in. He finds it troublesome and has not lit a lantern for a long time.

Now that I think about it, it would have been better if I hadn’t spent that money before.

Sanlang thought of his trip to Fucheng, and his mentality was completely different from his brother's. He said, "But if we didn't buy it, we would still miss it now and want to buy something else to replace it. The money would still be spent. Even if we bought the same lantern, it would not be the lantern of Fucheng."

Si Niang nodded in agreement, and the twin brother and sister laughed and decided that they would light the lights and sleep tonight!

Dalang asked them to stop arguing, choose 200 coins, and ask for their opinions.

"I want to use this money to pay Auntie Yao's adult tax, and when Erlang and Sanlang become adults, they can take it from their pocket money. Do you agree?"

Si Niang asked curiously, "Brother, shouldn't I pay it?"

Dalang shook his head. He didn’t know either. It seemed like there was also a head tax or something.

Si Niang said that she would go to school tomorrow and ask the teacher if she also had to pay taxes, then everyone would be even.

If she doesn't need it, she can ask her brothers to give it to her.

Erlang looked at her, thinking she was a little stingy.

Si Niang glared back unwillingly, what a stingy person!

But now that her brother wanted money, she nodded to show her agreement.

Erlang and Saburo also agreed because they would have to pay it in the future.

So, when Qin Yao was struggling with today's dinner in the kitchen, Dalang walked in with money. Without saying anything, he handed the money to Qin Yao and started working.

Awang was not at home, and he knew that his stepmother could not cook a decent dinner by herself, and he did not want to make her stomach suffer, so he decided to do it himself.