Chapter 68 One Hundred Coins a Day
Zhao Ergou and Zhao Sanniu were covered in sweat.
The two men's trip to Hekou Town and Ping'an Town went very smoothly. They collected a total of 1,010 copper coins, which filled their waist pouches. After walking around the streets, they felt that everyone was staring at their waist pouches. It was too dangerous. What if they were stolen or robbed?
The two discussed it and went to the money exchange to exchange a thousand copper coins for a silver ingot.
The snow-white silver was something the two boys had never seen before.
Although their father's pension was twenty taels, it was held by the original owner of the body and was sent to the Cheng family before it was even warmed up.
It's fair to say that they've never carried so much money on them before.
One tael of silver was placed in Zhao Ergou's arms, and the remaining one hundred coins were in Zhao Sanniu's waist bag. The two sat on the oxcart hill, barely moving, and were sweating profusely from nervousness.
Cheng Wanwan: "..."
His naiveté made her both laugh and feel sorry for him.
In the future, she will let her four sons go out more often. The more they see, the less likely they will make such a fool of themselves.
Outside, the village head, sweating profusely, spoke to the county magistrate: "Look how exhausted these two children are, they can barely walk. This family is truly poor. Your Honor, look at this, there's a huge hole in the roof and they haven't even had time to repair it. The whole family of six is crammed into this dilapidated mud-brick house, it's so pitiful..."
The magistrate examined it carefully and sighed.
It wasn't just this house; the houses next door, and the houses right next door, were all made of adobe and thatched with straw.
If there's a heavy rain, this thatched roof won't hold up at all.
The villages under his jurisdiction had become so poor.
"If you find a water source, reward me with three ounces."
"What?"
The village head stared wide-eyed.
Three taels of silver!
Is there something wrong with his ears?
Master Yuan opened his mouth, but said nothing.
If a water source can be found and the grain harvested, the county can collect more taxes. The grain collected from a village can be exchanged for more than three taels of silver. In any case, this money doesn't come out of the county magistrate's pocket, so it has nothing to do with him.
A short while later, Cheng Wanwan came out of the house with her two sons.
Zhao Ergou and Zhao Sanniu knelt down on the ground with a thud: "We were just now and did not see the magistrate. Please punish us."
The county magistrate waved his hand dismissively, then looked at the village head: "Didn't you say there were four or five people? Call them to come along. They might not be back for three or four days."
The village headman quickly went to fetch people.
The village head was alone, Zhao Ergou was alone, the village head's son Zhao Anjiang was alone, and there were two other men who had put in extra effort while digging the ditch.
When they went to fetch someone, no county magistrate accompanied them, but a group of village women surrounded them.
"Village head, what's wrong?"
"Why did the magistrate go to his mother's house in the mountains? What happened?"
The village headman kept it brief: "The magistrate is looking for someone to help him with something. It's one hundred coins a day. Wang Yongcheng, Zhao Yougui, Zhao Anjiang, you two come with me right away."
Wang Yongcheng is the father of Mudfish, who lives next door to Cheng Wanwan.
Zhao Yougui is Zhao Shagen's father, and Zhao Shagen is the one who got together with Sun Shuiqin.
The villagers were green with envy.
“You’re doing something for the magistrate, why don’t you call my husband?”
“My husband is strong, so he can come along too.”
The village head scolded irritably, "When we were digging the ditches, you weren't the first to respond. You were complaining while you were working. I wouldn't dare lead you. Just patrol the village properly. Whoever does a good job, I'll think of them first when there's another good opportunity like this."
Several women in the village curled their lips. Not only was there no pay for patrolling, but it also interfered with their own fields. They didn't want their men to go at all.
However, a few women listened to the village head and went back to tell their husbands to be more careful when they patrolled and not to be perfunctory.
The magistrate's carriage was neither too big nor too small, with enough space for six people to sit inside and three more on the outside. It sped along the road to Lijia Gou in the east.
On the way to Lijia Gou, we passed through Guihua Village.
Because the carriage was crowded, the curtain was lifted, and the village head could see at a glance that the mountainside on the other side of Dadong Mountain in Dahe Village was full of people.
Zhao Anjiang asked in surprise, "Wasn't it that the ditch digging project in Guihua Village couldn't be organized?"
Master Yuan sneered, "The water source is right on the mountain. This rabble is not united at all. We can only send the yamen runners to supervise the work."
The problem that Guihua Village could solve on its own is instead being handled by the yamen runners. In the end, the county magistrate can use this as an excuse to collect more taxes from Guihua Village.
For example, the normal tax is one-tenth of the land area, but Guihua Village might have to pay two-tenths. Villages that need the county's help to find water sources will pay three-tenths of the tax. If some villages are short of manpower, the county will help to transfer men from other villages to help, and the county will pay the labor fees. In that case, these villages will pay at least five-tenths of the tax...
Before the carriage had even completely passed, the sound of cursing and swearing came from the direction of Osmanthus Village.
It turned out that they encountered a large rock while digging the ditch, which blocked their path. The group of people couldn't continue and decided to stage a collective rebellion.
Zhao Lizheng was very familiar with this matter. He immediately stopped the carriage, jumped off, and went over with Zhao Ergou. Fortunately, the village head of Guihua Village was reasonable, and since the county magistrate's carriage was parked some distance away, he didn't dare to act rashly. Zhao Lizheng gestured and talked a lot in front of him, and the village head of Guihua Village didn't refute him. He quickly sent people to gather firewood, start a fire, and fetch water...
Back in the carriage, the village head received an approving look from the county magistrate.
The village head coughed and said, "This idea came from Er Gou's mother. If it weren't for Er Gou's mother, we wouldn't have been able to dig this ditch in Dahe Village."
The magistrate nodded; the woman was clearly a well-informed person.
Zhao Ergou remained silent.
He really wanted to say that the method of finding the water source was actually his mother's idea, but she wouldn't let him tell anyone else.
His mother really loved him and gave him all the credit.
He will definitely take good care of his mother in the future and make her the most envied woman in the whole village.
The carriage sped away from Dahe Village.
The village suddenly became lively.
A crowd of people crowded around the entrance to Cheng Wanwan's courtyard, most of them inwardly shocked. They didn't even dare to look at the county magistrate. Who would have thought that Da Shan's mother could speak to the county magistrate without batting an eye! Da Shan's mother was indeed a fearless person, not even afraid of the county magistrate! No one knew what she said to the county magistrate.
Cheng Wanwan smiled and said, "As a local official, the magistrate couldn't bear to see so many rice plants wither and die in the fields, so he wanted Er Gou to help find a water source and dig ditches."
The villagers scoffed, saying that finding a water source was no easy task, and Er Gouzi certainly didn't have that kind of ability.
“Helping other villages is actually helping ourselves,” Cheng Wanwan said. “If only our village has a bumper harvest while the other villages have nothing, do you know what the consequences will be?”
The crowd that had gathered immediately fell silent.
What are the consequences? The consequences of having your food stolen.
Aunt Wang gritted her teeth and said, "Don't we have a patrol team in our village? We won't let those people succeed."
“The patrol team was set up to protect the grain, but there’s no reason to guard against thieves for a thousand days. We can’t beat people who are starving to death,” Cheng Wanwan said slowly. “Even if no one steals the grain, the town may still collect our grain and then distribute it equally to each village… In that case, we’ll only be able to eat wild vegetables and thin soup every day.”
The villagers understood.
Today, Guihua Village suddenly started digging ditches to draw water from the Dadong Mountain in their village. Most people had a lot of complaints, but with the yamen runners guarding the area, they didn't dare to cause trouble.
Only when Cheng Wanwan spoke did they realize they had almost done something wrong.
Guihua Village must have water, and other villages should also find water. Ditches must be dug, otherwise, on the day of the bumper harvest in Dahe Village, who knows how many people will be jealous and resentful.
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