Chapter 253: Collecting Taxes

When the people from the Household Department arrived, Su Zhongyan took the children to help with the accounting and collecting taxes.

On the dam of the vermicelli factory, the children were divided into several groups. In just an hour or so, the tax grain was collected, the accounts were settled, and the money was loaded onto ox carts and taken away.

In previous years, all the villagers, young and old, would go out together to carry the grains to the county town to be delivered to the household department, but they would not necessarily take all of them away, and the unripe grains would not be accepted.

If Cao Li kicked him again, he might have to pay three or five more buckets.

Now Cao Li has taken the initiative to come to collect the confiscations. The road to Huanggou Village is easy to travel and can be reached directly by car or horse.

They took what was due and stopped making any more mistakes. After collecting the grain, Cao Li took the grain, Su Zhongyan and the boys to other villages to collect the confiscations.

Su Ying's team of girls will meet at the intersection of Jinfengzhai at the end of Mao time and the beginning of Chen time tomorrow and go to Jinfengzhai together.

"The silkworms are growing so fast!" Mrs. Du, Mrs. Wei, Su Lu and Su Ying were feeding the silkworms with mulberry leaves in the silkworm room.

Su Laoer has already built a mountain of straw for use.

Yang Chunhua wanted to come to work, but was persuaded by everyone to take good care of the baby and avoid getting hurt, as there was no shortage of manpower.

Gao went to the Su family twice a day to visit her daughter. People who came by had vague guesses about it, but they didn't say anything.

Su Ying calculated the time and realized that she would have to come back in six or seven days at most, as it was almost time for the silkworms to spin silk.

After discussing with his second brother Su Zhongyan, the task of collecting grain and settling accounts fell mainly on him, after all, it was much more convenient for a boy to go out.

The girls only go to Jinfengzhai and Nangou Village.

Jinfengzhai looks close, but it is actually not. It takes two or three hours to walk in from the fork in the road, and it takes a whole day to go in and out.

Nangou Village is in the other direction of Heifeng Township, and it takes a day to get there.

The roads are all mountainous and you have to rely on your own two legs to walk. I wonder if the girls can endure the hardship?

"Mom, the family depends on you these days!" Su Ying said worriedly.

"Don't worry! There are still so many people in the village!" said Mrs. Du.

"As for you, take the girls out, be careful! It's not like here outside, so be careful when you go to Nangou Village!"

Xiao Qinshi and Su He are there, who knows if these two will cause any trouble.

"No need for that! Xiaotao can stay at home, and I will take Atang away!" Su Ying arranged.

To get to those places, she had to walk. Xiaotao was too small to walk, and she couldn't let Atang walk or carry Xiaotao on his back. It was too weird!

"No! Sister, I want to go!" In the evening, Xiao Tao found out that she was left at home, and her little mouth pouted.

She has been preparing for so many days and is ready to show her skills. Why doesn't her sister let her go?

"Be good, Xiaotao. The mountain road is difficult to walk on. I can only carry one of you!" Su Ying coaxed her sister.

If Su Ying didn't want to take the girls out to see the world, she wouldn't want to move at all. The mountain road was too difficult to walk on!

"No, sister, if Atang can walk, Xiaotao can walk too!" Xiaotao's eyes were filled with tears.

Zhaoyan, Bingyan, Huzi, Amu, Asang, Ahe and the others have all left. Tomorrow, her sister will take Qingyun, Atang and the others away. She will be the only child left in the village. It will not be fun at all.

"Little Tao, be good. Sister really can't take care of so many things. They are all girls!" Su Ying held her forehead.

"Sister, let Xiaotao go!" Atang and Xiaotao are inseparable, and she feels bored when Xiaotao is not around.

Ajie is always busy, and only Xiaotao plays with her.

She is average at using an abacus. She can figure it out, but she doesn't quite understand some things.

Su Ying brought her with her hoping that she would summon Xiao Hei, Hua Hua and Bai Jia Wolf to protect the girl at night.

"Let Xiao Tao go!" Su Lao Er interceded, "The rocks along the road to Jinfeng Village have been blasted, and the road has been widened. You can go in on horseback."

The strong men had to stay in the village for a few more days, plow the fields, plant beans, and then go to Jinfengzhai to build the road.

"Sister!" Xiaotao looked at Su Ying eagerly.

"Okay!" Su Ying had no choice but to agree.

The next day at dawn, the girls gathered at the entrance of the vermicelli factory, chattering.

Su Ying came over leading the horse, on which sat Atang and Xiaotao. They were the youngest children and neither of them thought they were spoiled.

Su Laoer, Yang Erlang and others brought their own ox carts.

Now that we are wealthy and the roads are accessible, we can carry more people with us if we have cars.

The village elders were worried about so many girls going out, so each family sent a laborer to drive the ox cart to accompany them throughout the journey.

There are only five or six people, which does not affect the busy farming work in the village.

This is good, with someone to share the burden, Su Ying suddenly felt the pressure relieved.

At 7:15 AM, we arrived at the Jinfengzhai intersection. Two clerks and Niu Er and several yamen runners from the county government came, all driving ox carts.

The ox cart carried us forward, but after only a few miles, the remaining road had not been rammed yet and was very bumpy and full of potholes.

When they were halfway there, they saw Ade leading the villagers to greet them. They had received the news a few days ago and thought that the girls were not safe, so they specially came to pick them up halfway.

When they arrived at Jinfengzhai, the girls looked around curiously.

This was their first time to visit a village other than the town and county seat, and it was a Li village at that, so they were full of curiosity.

The houses in the Li people's village are different from those of the Han people. They are built with wood and bamboo. The shape of the houses is also different from those in the village. They are two-story stilt houses.

The wheat in the village has been harvested, but the wheat stubble in many fields is still golden yellow.

There are many paddy fields, and the rice grows similarly to that in the village.

Only the sugarcane fields, with patches of sugarcane more than two feet high, are neatly arranged in rows and lines, as if they are growing according to a mold. The scene is shocking.

Before entering the village, I saw large areas of dry land covered with sugarcane, even more than the paddy fields and wheat fields combined.

The few sugarcanes in their own vegetable garden were only enough to satisfy their cravings as snacks, so Jinfengzhai was determined to not let go of any wasteland around it.

"Sister, you're here?" Diexiu came forward with a few Slang girls to welcome her.

The girls that Su Ying brings will be arranged to stay in these girls' homes.

The girls on both sides looked at each other, especially the girls from Jinfeng Village. Seeing Xie Qingyun and the others' abacus, they couldn't help but reach out and touch it, feeling extremely envious.

It turns out that girls can be just as capable as men! Look at Huanggou Village, the girls all come out to help the people in the government office!

In the evening, we held a bonfire party on the big dam in the middle of the village, eating all kinds of exotic Li food, barbecue, and Li rice wine.

It was the first time for Cao Li, Niu Er and others to have close contact with the Li people. At first they were unfamiliar and hesitant, but after drinking a few sips of rice wine, they became active and easy-going.

The girls were much more reserved, eating quietly and enjoying the bonfire party.

By then, Su Laoer and his men will be arm in arm with the Li people, without any distinction between you and me.

The villagers came early in the morning to pay their grain. The girls were divided into several groups and cooperated with Cao Li and Niu Er. In just one morning, they collected the tax grain from more than a hundred households in Jinfeng Village.

The most troublesome thing about the Li people’s village is that they have to collect the grain several times each time before they can collect it all. But this time it was done in just half a day.

The Cao officials had never had it so easy before. Similarly, Ade and his men in Jinfengzhai had never thought it would be so easy. It was really good to collect taxes and grain at the door, which saved them a lot of trouble.

Both parties were very satisfied, and the villagers treated everyone to lunch.

After lunch, ox carts carrying tax grain came out. The household department did not have enough ox carts, so they borrowed some from Su Ying and her friends.

The girls all walked and it took them more than two hours to reach the fork in the road.

It was already dark when they arrived at Heifeng Township. The girls rested in the inn, and Su Laoer and others helped deliver the tax grain to the county town.