Chapter 42: Bag
Jiang's expression changed suddenly.
Xia Youtian hurriedly held Jiang's hand and said, "I'm not saying this because I don't want to split up the family. It's really..."
He told Jiang about his experience today from beginning to end, even mentioning the beard. He just told Jiang not to tell anyone else, especially not to mention it to his younger sister Xia Yujiao.
The most important of these was the notice he saw at the city gate.
Beiguan Town is going to conscript laborers, and the number is twice that of previous years.
The government did not explain why they suddenly had to recruit more civilians. But if the family had not split up, even though the Xia family had many branches, the number of people they needed to send was not that many.
However, now that they have separated, Xia Youtian's family can no longer avoid the conscription of laborers. Wulang is not yet an adult, so Xia Youtian has to go in person. If he doesn't want to go, he has to pay.
Xia Youtian was deeply shocked by this.
I always feel that when the family was divided, I should have insisted a little more and tried harder to convince the old couple.
But Zhou was too strict with money on a daily basis, and everyone felt uncomfortable.
When they first saw the opportunity to start their own business, they were so excited that they couldn't contain their excitement. How could they even think about conscripting laborers?
Xia Youtian and Jiang sat facing each other in silence, feeling depressed for half the night before they fell asleep exhausted both physically and mentally.
The next morning, the couple had a simple breakfast and discussed for a while, then quickly passed the news to the old couple and several other families.
Afterwards, he went to the village head's house and Xia Pingkang's house to pass on the news.
When I meet familiar folks, I will also mention it.
The news that Beiguan County Government was going to recruit civilians spread quickly, and every household became worried.
Mr. Xia and Mrs. Zhou were still a little bit incredulous.
It’s spring now!
Even if we have to conscript laborers, we should choose winter as we should not miss the farming season.
But soon, the news Xia Youtian brought back was confirmed.
The officials who came to Beiguan Village to recruit laborers appeared with the head of the village, and brought a few subordinates with them. They went from house to house to select people, beating gongs and drums.
The principle of selecting people is very simple.
Families with many sons were given priority, and families without sons were exempt from the selection, but had to pay a tael of silver as a substitute. If they could not pay, they had to find someone to serve in their place.
Each family living independently must provide a laborer.
Therefore, those families who did not split up their families were very grateful at this time.
The conscripted laborers had to bring their own luggage, dry food and money and follow the officials who were selecting the men.
The reason why they were not given two days to pack their luggage carefully was mainly because they were afraid that some of them would escape from service.
After all, being a laborer is very hard work and one is often beaten, scolded and bullied.
Moreover, if any accident occurs on the road, there are many cases where no one is found, alive or dead.
Even if one is lucky enough to return home intact without any broken limbs, there are precedents in every village where one may still fall seriously ill and lose all his health and family assets.
The village head and the police soon arrived at the Xia family.
Behind the officer was a group of civilians carrying simple luggage.
The faces of the Xia family members all turned ugly.
The village head smiled very kindly, even with a hint of flattery, which was quite different from his usual arrogant look.
The officer had a stern face from beginning to end, his head held high, looking down at people. The arrogance of the officer, who was using chicken feathers as a token of authority, was infuriating.
But everyone just gritted their teeth secretly, and no one dared to take the lead.
Even Zhou, who always had a bad temper, suppressed her temper and was unwilling to argue with the officials.
Now that the Xia family has split up, they can no longer be treated as one family this time.
The old couple has a daughter, Xia Yujiao. Mr. Xia is over the age limit, and Xia Yujiao is not a male, so she is exempt from tax.
But you have to pay 500 coins as a labor service fee.
Xia Youcai's family, Xia Dalang is a scholar and can be exempted from tax.
But Xia Dalang had not yet entered school, so he could only be exempted from his own share, but could not exempt the entire family from labor.
If Xia Youcai didn't want to be a laborer, he could only pay the money honestly.
He could also ask someone to intercede for him.
But if you use this method, it only looks good on the surface, but you actually end up spending more money.
Xia Yougui's family has already discussed and decided to let Erlang serve in the army.
Xia Erlang was nineteen years old, and would be twenty after the New Year. He was a young and strong man, and the officer was very satisfied with him.
But both Mr. Xia and Mrs. Zhou's faces turned dark.
The second child is too useless!
As a father, the second son was unwilling to endure this kind of hardship himself.
Not only did he not protect his son, but he let Erlang take the lead!
However, Xia Yougui's family had many people, including many males. Xia Yougui and Xia Sanlang, who had just become an adult, had to pay a total of one or two taels of silver as a substitute for labor.
The third wife, Xia Youxi, had only two daughters, so they were exempt from the tax, but had to pay one or two taels of silver.
Xia Youtian, the fourth wife, was reluctant to part with the money and wanted to serve in the army himself. However, Jiang Shi stopped him. Jiang Shi cried and almost knelt down before the official.
Although the official's attitude was arrogant, when he looked at Xia Youtian's family, who except Wulang were all women and only Xia Youtian was the only man who could set up a household, and Jiang was crying so pitifully, he nodded and agreed to be flexible.
The prerequisite is that the fourth room must pay two taels of silver as a substitute for labor service.
Originally, he had to pay one tael of silver, and Xia Youtian was so distressed that he jumped up and down, and even felt extremely regretful about the division of the family. This time, he was asked to pay two taels of silver, and he could no longer bear it:
"Oh, why is it so expensive for me?"
The officer rolled his eyes impatiently and raised his head a little higher:
"What are you talking about? The money for the military service was set by the county magistrate!
You are not a scholar, and you have a son who is almost an adult at home, so you cannot be exempted from taxation.
If you don't want to pay this money, just follow me!"
Xia Youtian wanted to follow the officer, but was stopped by the whole family. Jiang hurriedly took out the silver and paid the money. The officer sneered at Xia Youtian and walked away.
Cheng from the fifth room was very decisive. Before the fifth son could do anything wrong, she had already paid the money for the labor service without hesitation.
When the officials and the head of the village left the Xia family, they only took Xia Erlang with them.
Xia Erlang remained silent and said nothing.
Seeing the group of people walking away, Xia Daohua couldn't help it. She quickly ran into her room and rushed out with a bundle of clothes. She chased them for a long distance and stuffed the bulging bundle of clothes into Xia Erlang's hands.
Xia Erlang's somewhat weathered expression cracked. He smiled at Xia Daohua, took the bundle, touched her head, and followed the official.
Xia Daohua watched Xia Erlang's back, secretly hoping that he would return safely.
(End of this chapter)
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