The autumn wind was bleak, and the willow tree behind Cui Fangzheng was covered with yellow leaves. The branches swayed in the wind, making a creaking sound.
Cui Fangzheng waited for the villagers to quiet down, cleared his throat and spoke.
"Fellow villagers, we've gathered you here today to make an important announcement. We've received orders from above that since building bridges and houses requires a large amount of timber, our sole mission this autumn and winter is felling trees!"
Cui Fangzheng's voice was filled with an unquestionable majesty. Having said this, he paused and continued.
"The higher-ups demanded that each felled tree be thicker than an adult man's head, and that the branches be cleaned after the trees were felled. They also demanded that each household hand in at least 5,000 logs, and that the felling be completed before the spring."
Before he finished speaking, everyone started talking anxiously.
"Five thousand of them, isn't this going to kill me?"
"Five thousand! That's five thousand! This is an impossible task."
"I heard that other villages have been asked to cut down trees before, but the workload wasn't as heavy as ours. Five thousand trees per family? How can we possibly complete it?"
"Yes, it is said that a skilled lumberjack can only cut down five to eight trees a day at most. Even if you include the elderly, the weak, women, and children, even if the whole family goes to the mountains to cut trees, they still can't cut down that many trees."
"Some families have many male children, and if they work hard and put in the effort, they might still have a chance of completing the task. But for those families with few male children and a sick person, what can they do?"
"If I don't finish it, I'll definitely be punished. What should I do?"
"Alas, it's a good thing we made some money selling mountain products recently, otherwise we would have a hard time getting through the winter. Life is really hard."
"The money we earn is enough to get us through the winter, but what will we do next spring? They're just going to fine us whatever amount of silver we want. The little money we earn might not even cover the fine, and we might even owe them some."
"Oh my goodness! What's the point of us getting up early and working late to collect mountain products? In the end, we still have to give away the money we earn. It's so hard, so hard."
…
For a moment, some people sighed, some frowned, some couldn't help cursing, and some cried softly.
Everyone's emotions were broken. After talking and discussing for a long time, all that was left was helplessness.
Given their identities, even if they don't want to, they still have to work obediently in the end.
Even though they had accepted their fate long ago, they still couldn't help feeling sad every time they encountered something like this.
I can't help but sigh that there are too many hardships in this world and it is really difficult to live.
As a good official who cares about the people, Cui Fangzheng could fully understand why the villagers were so devastated, because he was also devastated when he heard about these situations.
This is an impossible task. In the final analysis, the higher-ups just want to see that the villagers of Fengtou Village have money, so they set up an impossible task and then justify fining the villagers.
It is precisely because he knows the truth behind this matter that he feels so powerless now.
He was very naive before, thinking that as long as the people of Fengtou Village became rich and lived a good life, people from other villages would naturally not dare to bully the people of Fengtou Village. The officials at the top would also look at Fengtou Village with admiration, and would consider Fengtou Village for any good things in the future.
But in the end, Fengtou Village became a piece of fat meat in the eyes of those officials, and they all wanted to take this piece of fat meat for themselves.
During this period, he was often called over by his superiors, and he didn't know how many people hinted at him to give some silver as bribes. Naturally, he didn't want to do anything that would harm the interests of the villagers, so he pretended to be stupid and got away with it.
I didn't expect those people to come up with such a shameless method, they were just short of robbing us openly.
It was precisely because he knew why the higher-ups were making such a fuss, and he also understood that no matter what the villagers did after hearing the news, it would be excusable. So even though they started talking before he finished speaking, he had no intention of blaming them.
Cui Fangzheng just stood quietly on the big rock, his eyes sweeping across everyone's faces. After everyone's emotions calmed down a little, he spoke again.
The voice was much deeper than before.
"The government has said that if we fail to complete the task, we will be fined at the very least, flogged at the worst, and even executed in the most serious cases."
As soon as these words were spoken, the scene fell into dead silence.
The villagers seemed to have agreed upon this. They stopped crying and making a fuss, but just stared at Cui Fangzheng blankly as if they were dead.
That was an expression of despair towards life, and Cui Fangzheng didn't dare to look anyone in the eye.
Because he also felt that the task was too heavy and the punishment was too severe.
As a village head, he felt that the higher-ups were pushing the villagers into a desperate situation.
He absolutely couldn't understand what his superiors were thinking, but there was nothing he could do. He had argued back and pleaded for the villagers, saying it was unreasonable, but it was no use.
A higher-ranking official can crush a lower-ranking one. Those high-ranking officials probably don’t know how long it takes to cut down a tree, and they also have to remove all the branches, which takes even more time.
But things have already happened, there is no point in complaining, and we can only think of ways to help the villagers solve this dilemma.
So he suppressed the pain in his heart, cheered himself up and spoke to everyone.
"Fellow villagers, things will work out when the time comes. We can't do anything about the above regulations. We can only do our best to fulfill them. After all, they are the ones who make the regulations. Don't you agree?"
"In my opinion, we should just roll up our sleeves and do our best. If we really can't finish it in the end, I will do my best to speak up for you. I hope we can get through this difficult time together."
"Don't think the worst of things. I asked my superiors for forty saws and fifty axes. When the time comes, our villagers will take turns using them. It's better to have them than nothing."
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