Chapter 91 The evil star is at work
After the officials left, the villagers were all worried.
The village chief raised his face full of wrinkles and suppressed his anger: "Two thousand kilograms of rice, even if we take out all the surplus grain at home, we can't get that much."
"We can't even eat enough ourselves, do we have to sell our pots and iron to donate to the granary? What should we eat then? We'll starve." Old Li was so angry that he kept hitting his walking stick.
Although the price of rice in the city has dropped now, it is still unaffordable for farmers like them.
Thanks to the gifts from the Jiang family before the New Year, the whole village can barely survive until now.
Everyone can barely fill their own stomachs, so how can there be any surplus to donate.
Besides, Daliu Village grows corn. Asking them to donate more expensive white rice is too much to ask.
At this time, Zhang Xiucai wondered, "From what the official said just now, each village has to donate different amounts, and our village seems to have to donate the most, right?"
Yang Tianmei was about to leave the village, "I also heard that. I have to go out and ask around to see how much other villages have to donate. It doesn't make sense for us to donate so much."
At this moment, the order to donate grain has been passed to all villages.
The villagers are complaining.
They are searching the grain jars that are cleaner than their faces, shedding tears, and lamenting that the government is really inhumane.
After Yang Tianmei went out to ask around, she came back even more angry.
It turns out that Xishan Village only needs to donate 500 kilograms of rice, and Qiaotou Village needs to donate 700 kilograms of rice.
The rest of the donations are no more than 800 kilograms, but Daliu Village needs to donate a full 2,000 kilograms!
Isn't this bullying?
Everyone couldn't stand it anymore and slammed the table in anger.
Old Li cursed in a rough voice: "Tian Zhixian, there are only 30 households in Daliu Village, which is 3 households less than Xishan Village. Why do they let us donate the most?"
Mrs. Liu sighed and said, "Did the official say that because our village escaped the bandits and no one died of plague, they let our village donate more."
Mr. Zhang has seen the world in the city after all. He thought about it and shook his head.
"Why do I feel something is wrong? Our village is not the only one that has never been harassed by bandits. It sounds more like it is targeting our village."
The village chief smacked his cigarette pot and had the same guess.
But their Daliu Village never caused trouble, and they always paid the autumn tax and grain on time, and they had never offended the government.
Everyone didn't know what to do. They looked at each other and only thought of one backbone.
That was Xiao Nuobao.
"Let's go to Jiang's house and talk to Nuobao." The village chief ran away.
"For such a big matter, Nuobao still has to give the order." Yang Tianmei also sighed solemnly.
At this time, Xiao Nuobao was rummaging through the boxes and cabinets at home, asking Feng and the second sister-in-law to find some tattered clothes.
When everyone arrived, Xiao Nuobao patted her dusty hands and staggered to the door.
"No, because of the evil star, our village was indeed targeted." Xiao Nuobao hugged her arms like white lotus roots and answered everyone's doubts as soon as she opened her mouth.
The village chief scratched her hair in shock: "Who is the evil star? Why does he want to target our village?"
Xiao Nuobao waved her fingers: "In three days, we will know the truth."
After saying that, she pouted her lips in disdain, and her chubby cheeks tilted to one side.
"After all, he is just a low-class villain. You don't have to worry, village chief. He is nothing to be afraid of."
The village chief felt relieved.
At this time, he bowed and asked again: "What do you think about the food issue, Nuobao? Do we have to sell iron and steel to get these two thousand kilograms of rice?"
Mrs. Feng turned her head to look at the daughter, hesitantly grasping the corner of her clothes.
There is plenty of food in her cellar, and she can take out two thousand kilograms of rice. If it is really not enough, she can pay for the whole village, but she is reluctant to do so...
Little Nuobao seemed to guess her mother's thoughts and held her big hand.
Don't say that mother is reluctant to do so.
Even if mother is willing, she will not agree.
The food for her family is all earned by her as a little baby with eighteen skills, and she wants to keep it for herself!
Facing the gazes of the villagers, Xiao Nuobao raised his eyelids and hummed in a baby voice: "Give? Give him a big head! We won't give a penny of our village's things to the black-hearted government!"
It is impossible for all the donated grain to enter the granary, let alone benefit the people.
I'm afraid that the government is just using this as an excuse to seek personal gain.
Xiao Nuobao put his hands on his waist and gave an order: "Everyone listen to what I say. From today on, you all do this... Gurgle... Just give the rest to me. I promise that nothing will happen if the village doesn't give grain!"
Hearing Nuobao's grumbling, everyone's originally uneasy hearts suddenly felt as if they had taken a reassurance pill, and they felt confident.
They nodded vigorously and went home to prepare.
"Let's go, listen to Nuobao!"
...
Three days later, a gorgeously decorated carriage passed through the village road, creaking slowly, followed by a group of officials.
It was Tian Zhixian who personally led people to collect donations from each village.
With the Zhixian coming in person, the villages did not dare to resist. Those who could not afford rice had to use silver and belongings as collateral.
Every village they passed was sobbing. They
were about to reach Daliu Village. At this time, a soft female voice came from the carriage, which made the officials feel itchy in their hearts.
"Sir, the damn Daliu Village is ahead. It's full of a bunch of unruly people. You have to help Liu'er vent her anger."
After saying that, the woman with cheap powder fell on Tian Zhixian.
Tian Zhixian smiled on his fat face.
This woman was the daughter-in-law of Zhang family from Taoyuan Village, Bai Liu.
Bai Liu touched the scar on her finger, her eyes full of hatred.
That day, she, Yunmei, and her mother-in-law, Aunt Zhang, went to Dalui Village to make trouble but failed, and were reported to the police. So, she was tortured in the street for the crime of stealing, and her fingers were cut into pieces.
Fortunately, she was outstanding in appearance, and after being tortured, she was favored by Tian Zhixian and had the opportunity to serve him for a few days.
At present, Bai Liu has pretended to be pregnant and was able to enter the mansion as a concubine.
After hearing about the grain donation, she immediately instigated Tian Zhixian to make things difficult for Daliu Village to relieve her hatred.
So Bai Liu held her forehead and continued to instigate, "When the bandits were making trouble before, Liu'er saw with her own eyes that a rich young man saved their village and brought several large boxes of food to give to someone in their village. Anyway, if their village dares not to donate the full amount, they must be hiding it from you."
Tian Zhixian was half-believing and half-doubting her words, but still touched her hand and smiled. Anyway,
it was just a village, and it was not too much to make things difficult for the concubine to make her smile.
"Don't worry, Liu'er. I'll ask Daliu Village to bring out 2,000 kilograms of grain, which will surely make them exhausted. Isn't this just giving you some vent? Just give birth to the baby, and you'll be rewarded handsomely after the birth!"
Bai Liu felt a pang in her heart as she touched her belly, but she still faced Tian Zhixian's wretched face.
Soon, the two of them were making slurping sounds in the carriage.
The officials outside could hear them.
In fact, they all knew that no matter how much grain they collected, it would eventually go into Tian Zhixian's pocket.
Previously, Tian Zhixian wanted to take advantage of his lung blood disease to make some money from dirty medicine, but who would have thought that his financial path would be cut off by a "magic baby".
So now, he came up with this new idea.
After the grain is in hand, Tian Zhixian will sell it to the major rice shops. With the current grain price in the city, it will be no problem for him to earn a few thousand taels.
By then, let alone white willows, he can afford to raise countless red, green, and yellow willows.
Some officials who still had consciences secretly gritted their teeth and spit. They exerted force with their hands and deliberately hurt the horses' necks.
Tian Zhixian was feeling proud when the carriage suddenly jolted and almost threw the two people who were still chewing.
"What's going on!" Tian Zhixian pressed Bai Liu's head and climbed back into his seat.
Bai Liu's eyes were full of stars: "..."
The officials hurriedly said: "Oh, sir, don't blame us, there was a hole suddenly on the ground, and the horse sprained its ankle."
"I think there is a hole in your brain. Don't you know how to choose a good road? OK, OK, stop talking nonsense and hurry into the village." Tian Zhixian was so angry that he wiped his mouth and cursed.
When the carriage arrived at the entrance of the village, Tian Zhixian took a breath.
He was about to move his fat body to the ground, but as soon as he lifted the curtain, he was shocked by the scene in front of him.
The villagers of Daliu Village were all wearing tattered clothes and holding broken bowls. The whole village looked like beggars and were walking out of the village collectively.
Tian Zhixian was confused.
How come everyone in their village has become beggars? What are they doing!
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