Chapter 210 Twists and Turns
The Xia family had just held a funeral and then a wedding. Although they were two separate branches of the family, this kind of arrangement was still somewhat new to outsiders.
Xia Dalang became more silent.
He knew that Zhou Yunniang had laid her cards on the table with Erlang for the sake of this status, and he shouldn't blame Erlang for getting married at this time.
But after all, he had just lost many relatives. Not only did his mother and father die one after another, but his wife and sister were also in danger of death, and most of them were in grave danger.
Even if Zhu was still alive, what fate would await her if she fell into the hands of the barbarians?
Whenever Xia Dalang thought of these things, he felt as if his heart was being cut by a knife.
Although everyone was congratulating Ji Lang, he knew that his heavy expression would spoil the mood, but he really couldn't put on a happy face.
When everyone was drinking the wedding wine, Xia Dalang did not drink a single glass. Instead, he stood up and left the table.
He was very upset.
But he also knew that Erlang would not blame him.
Jilang is a kind man.
If Xia Ji had not decided to move the whole family away without a formal status, Zhou Yunniang would not have been willing to follow Erlang, and Erlang would not have held a wedding at this time.
Erlang's wedding was very simple.
Most of the dishes on the dinner table were home-cooked vegetarian dishes. Only a dish of pork belly stewed with beans, a dish of cabbage stewed with fish, a dish of kelp stewed with tofu, and a dish of pheasant stewed with wild mushrooms were considered outstanding dishes.
However, the not-so-extravagant red color still hurt Xia Dalang's eyes.
His eyes were red, and he hugged A Liu tightly, coaxing her to drink some millet porridge with the rice grains filtered out.
Li Gan was also a little depressed.
Unexpectedly, one of the three waves of assassins he had received news of had not arrived yet!
It was not someone else, but my stepmother.
Li Gan was worried for several days. Almost ten days later, his subordinates finally got the exact news:
That group of assassins somehow got lost while walking towards Beiguan Village and ended up in Tonghua Village under the jurisdiction of Huazhi County.
By chance, he also met Xiao Silu's subordinates.
They were so frightened that they fled hastily into the forest to the west, not caring about killing Li Gan.
The Xia family in Beiguan Village repeatedly encouraged their close relatives and friends to move to the interior of the country, but basically no one was willing to listen to them.
The Xia family planned to leave after the Chinese New Year, after all, it was difficult to travel in the cold winter. If they missed their place to stay, they would have to sleep in the open and suffer a lot.
However, things like disposing of property have to start now.
Now that the land was sold, they felt much more at ease - but they were so used to working on weekdays that they felt uncomfortable when they had nothing to do.
The house cannot be sold for the time being, so it is just right for my family to live in.
Wait until the beginning of next spring, after the second day of the second lunar month, and the whole family will set off.
Before that, we need to buy a few mule carts.
The carriage was too expensive and not worth it.
Ox carts are too slow and not suitable for traveling.
Mule carts have strong load-bearing capacity, are cheaper than horse-drawn carriages, and are faster than ox-drawn carts, making them perfect for moving.
After all, the Xia family has elderly and young people to take care of. If they just rely on their own feet to walk slowly, they may not be able to reach the destination and will have to reduce the number of people on a large scale.
The whole family moved away, just like they had fled to Bohai County to escape famine, just to seek a way to survive. Of course, they were unwilling to let their family members die in vain due to insufficient preparation.
Grandpa Xia sold the cow in tears. In order to keep the cow, he even dug a tunnel in his home that was more than one person high and two people wide.
Oxen are very valuable, and young and strong oxen are especially valuable.
But right now, this cow is only enough to buy a car.
After selling the cow, Old Man Xia felt empty inside. He couldn't sleep for several days and got up in the middle of the night to smoke his pipe.
As the Xia family was reluctant to leave, they disposed of their belongings one by one, gradually gathered money, and prepared to spend the winter frugally. When the spring came and the weather got warmer, they started their journey.
The Xia family consulted Li Gan's advice and decided to move to Ping'an County near the capital.
The biggest advantage of Pingan County is that it is surrounded by mountains on three sides, and the remaining side faces the capital. Pingan Prefecture, the capital of Pingan County, is only a day and a night away from the capital.
Li Gan suggested that they go to Jixiang County, which was under the jurisdiction of Ping'an County and Zhili County in the capital. Jixiang County was stable and prosperous, with flat land and much less taxes than other places.
The governor of Ping'an County was a capable man, and the magistrate of Jixiang County was the governor's confidant, and had learned seven points of the governor's skills. He managed Jixiang County in an orderly manner, and never locked the doors at night.
Moreover, the cities in the entire Pyeongan County have a common feature, that is, the city walls are high and thick, and the moat is also deep. There is also a water source in the city. However, no matter which direction you look from, Pyeongan County is the hinterland, not the front line, and war will not easily break out.
But it is not easy to move to this place and settle down.
The land price there is more than double that of Beiguan Town. The houses there are also much more expensive than those in Beiguan Town. Even if you build it yourself, the cost of hiring people and buying materials is much higher than the cost in Beiguan Town.
But the Xia family has made up their minds.
Xia Daohua also asked him to help buy land in Jixiang County. Her requirements were not high, the fertility of the land did not need to be too good, as long as it could feed her family and build a workshop and a house.
However, although the Xia family had good ideas, things did not go so smoothly.
First, the tax collectors who collected the autumn taxes went to the countryside.
Beiguan Village had experienced war, and many families' houses were not repaired, so they just temporarily dug cellars to live in.
But the tax collector turned a blind eye to all of this, including the ruined fields.
Villagers were only required to pay taxes according to the booklet.
The Xia family was actually fine. Whether it was paying grain, silver, or cotton, linen, and silk, they paid it in full, neither too early nor too late.
But other families in the village did not have it so easy.
Although the villagers escaped the disaster by hiding underground, many of them had their houses and fields destroyed and their belongings burned.
When the tax collectors came to urge them to pay taxes, they naturally could not pay.
Not to mention paying taxes, we don’t even know where our food for this winter will come from!
However, the tax collectors were more arrogant than anyone else, and they were accompanied by runners from the county government. Although the villagers were dissatisfied, no one could do anything to them.
Although the tax collectors did not dare to be too arrogant in front of Li Gan and others when they saw that they were staying overnight in the village, it was their job to urge the villagers to pay taxes. Although Li Gan had a wide range of responsibilities, he could not control them.
Xia Daohua had the ability to teach them a lesson, but there was no need to do so.
Since the Xia family has already decided to move away, they naturally don't want to delay their own business over these trivial matters.
The tax collector stayed in the village for nearly a month before leaving.
After the tax collectors left, the village did not calm down. A new wave of military service and labor service arrived in Beiguan Village about four or five days after the tax collectors left.
Chapter has been replaced. Good night, sweet dreams, see you tomorrow.
(End of this chapter)
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