Chapter 123: Cattle and Cannon Fodder
Passing through the layers of mountain forests, a village suddenly came into view.
It was a bleak winter day, but Xue Xuan felt a little excited.
Ever since parting with Chen Xinli and her group, Yun Gu took him to a county town they passed by to recuperate. After Xue Xuan woke up, he felt the change in the aura in his body.
Although he still lost some memories, the image of the little girl was still clearly in his mind.
.
Bear Village.
"Li Zheng, tell me, what should we do now?"
"We all listen to you."
"That's right, that's right. Uncle Yu, why don't you go to the county and ask the county magistrate what we should do? Should we run away?"
Yu Lizheng was surrounded and scolded by the villagers when he realized that the Rong people were very quick in their actions.
But we should confirm the news first.
So Yu Lizheng hurried to the county town the next day.
The county magistrate's words made him completely panic.
Because he had received the imperial edict from the King of Shu, the family was already packing up and preparing to flee.
After all, the King of Shu intends to wipe them out in one fell swoop this time!
All males between the ages of fourteen and fifty-five must participate in this battle against the Rong people. All prefectures, counties, and villages must not delay and must immediately recruit soldiers to rush to Jiannan Pass for reinforcement.
Along with the imperial edict to recruit soldiers, there was also an order to collect grain.
This year's autumn grain has been collected, and the tax rate is three-tenths of the output.
This was a temporary conscription, and their Gouxiong Village was allocated 100 shi of grain.
One stone of grain is 120 kilograms. There are 34 households in Gouxiong Village, plus the newly arrived Shen family, so the total amount of grain they have to pay is 12,000 kilograms.
When Yu Lizheng heard the amount, he was shocked.
The tax is shared according to the number of people in their village. Families with more tax can pay four shi, and families with less tax also have to pay one shi.
Oh my God!
The prince is simply trying to kill the people!
This requires both lives and food!
There is no way out for the common people at all.
There are hardly any fat and strong men in the village, and everyone lives frugally.
After paying the tax this year, the food rations of each household were already not enough to survive the winter. Now if another 120 dan of grain is collected, everyone will starve to death.
Yu Lizheng is already in despair!
He didn't remember how he returned to the village.
As soon as Yu Lizheng returned, he was in a daze for most of the day before running to the rice fields. It would take more than half a month to harvest the regenerated rice.
what to do?
When the villagers learned that he had brought back the news, they all gathered around him, hoping that he could show them a way out.
When everyone learned about the conscription and grain collection, they were immediately shocked!
Looking at everyone's indignation.
A vague idea came to Yu Lizheng's mind.
As the head of a small mountain village, he did not dare to disobey the order of the King of Shu.
But if they obeyed the imperial edict, they would die. Now, even the county magistrate has fled, so why should these common people stay here?
But where to go?
Yu Lizheng, who had never left Liangshuizhou in his life, decided to go find the hope of the whole village.
Old man Yu, leaning on his crutch, kept waving to the villagers passing by, and staggered to the thatched cottage of the Shen family.
I saw that the Shen family’s courtyard was filled with a wide variety of dry goods.
There are freshly dried chopped wild vegetables, sliced dried radish, dried mushrooms...
There is even rice, which looks like it was steamed and then dried.
In the yard, Shen Jinshan and several children were busy chopping firewood, and neatly stacked piles of dry firewood were placed there.
Old man Wu was back to his old business, weaving straw sandals.
Yu Lizheng couldn't help but ask curiously, "Brother Wu, what are you doing?"
"Hey, the village head is here."
When Shen Fugui and Shen Xinli walked in from outside, they saw Yu Lizheng standing there in surprise, so they stepped forward to greet him.
The father and daughter were transporting things into the stone house.
After Chen Xinli and Wu heard the news from Aunt Zhou that day, they hurried home to discuss it with their family.
Finally, Meng Yun suggested: "Why don't we take shelter in the stone house?"
The whole family suddenly woke up.
Yes! The whole family looked in the direction of Chen Xinli.
After all, the only people who entered the stone house were her, Shen Jinlin, Meng Yun, and the old ghost doctor.
But the old ghost doctor has been talking nonsense these past two days, and has been studying some mysterious prescription.
Just ignore them.
Meng Yun did say something, but nothing more happened.
I also devoted myself to the weird research over there.
The old man looted all the medicines and prescriptions in the stone house.
The old man now only sees them, nothing else.
"That stone house is so big, it should be livable!"
Chen Xinli looked at the two doctors, one big and one small, fiddling with herbs in the corner of the courtyard and said uncertainly.
She always felt that the stone house was not as simple as it seemed.
Moreover, she was really fed up with this sudden war.
"Then let's go take another look."
Shen Fugui made the final decision.
The next day, the two brothers followed Chen Xinli to explore the stone house again.
After a careful inspection for most of the day, Shen Fugui concluded that the stone house was long and narrow.
It seems to run through the entire mountain leading to the village, and is connected to the valley deep at the end of the village.
It can be said to be a unique hiding place.
Chen Xinli and her family hurriedly packed up their things.
As for whether or not to discuss it with Yu Lizheng, the Shen family unanimously decided to wait and see what news Yu Lizheng brought back first.
Therefore, Chen Xinli and her family began to transport some simple things into the underground stone house.
The villagers saw them carrying large luggage and belongings up the mountain and thought they were going to hide in the mountains.
They also started packing up.
It’s just that this is where their ancestors have lived for generations, and they don’t want to leave until the last moment.
"Mom, why don't we follow the Shen family and go up the mountain."
Xiu'er, the daughter of Widow Zhou, looked at the Shen family's cart transporting things up the mountain and asked her mother.
"Let's wait and see what the headman says."
Widow Zhou's face was full of worry.
The villagers were in a panic, and everyone wanted to escape to the mountains.
Their Gouxiong Village is backed by a mountain, so even if the soldiers send people, they won't be able to find them as long as they hide well enough.
Other families might be able to do it, but they are a family of orphans and a widow. If they encounter wolves, tigers, leopards or something like that, the whole family will be eaten by them.
Therefore, following the villagers is the wisest decision.
The Shen family heard Yu Lizheng finish talking about the conscription and grain collection.
The whole family fell silent.
Chen Xinli was even more filled with emotion.
There is a saying: No matter what era, the lives of the lower-class people are like cattle and horses in prosperous times and cannon fodder in troubled times. They are squeezed dry in peacetime and their lives are used up in wartime.
How can one word "miserable" describe it!
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