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 recounted his entire experience to Jiang, even mentioning the beard, but told her 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 didn't explain why they suddenly had to recruit more laborers. But if the family hadn't split up, even though the Xia family had many branches, the number of people they needed to contribute wasn't that high.
However, now that they had separated, Xia Youtian's family could no longer avoid the conscription of laborers. Wulang wasn't even an adult yet, so Xia Youtian had to go himself. If he didn't want to go, he had to pay.
Xia Youtian was deeply shocked by this.
I always feel that if I had insisted a little longer and tried harder to persuade the old couple when we divided the family property, it would have been better.
But Zhou was too strict with the money, which made everyone feel 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 falling 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 the Beiguan County government was conscripting laborers spread quickly, and every household was filled with worry.
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 to do it in winter. After all, we should not miss the farming season.
But soon, the news Xia Youtian brought back was confirmed.
The officers who came to Beiguan Village to recruit laborers appeared with the head of the village, and brought a few subordinates with them. They beat drums and gongs and went from house to house to select people.
The principle of selecting people is very simple.
Priority was given to families with many sons. Families without sons were exempt from selection but had to pay a fee of one or two taels of silver. If they could not pay, they had to find someone to serve in their place.
A family living alone must provide a laborer.
Therefore, those families who did not split up their family 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 carefully pack their luggage was mainly because they were afraid that some of them would desert the army.
After all, being a laborer is very hard work, and one is often beaten, scolded and bullied.
Moreover, if an 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 missing 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 officers soon arrived at the Xia family.
Behind the officer was a group of laborers carrying simple luggage.
The Xia family members' faces turned ugly.
The village head smiled very kindly, even with a hint of flattery, a stark contrast to his usual air of pretension.
The officer had a stern face from beginning to end, his head held high, looking down upon everyone. His aggressive attitude, as if he was using chicken feathers as a token of authority, was infuriating to watch.
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 considered 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 taxation.
But you have to pay 500 coins as a substitute for labor service.
Xia Youcai's family, Xia Dalang is a scholar and can be exempted from taxation.
But Xia Dalang had not yet started 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 one is too useless!
As a father, the second son was reluctant to endure such a hard job 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 turned adult, had to pay a total of one or two taels of silver as a substitute for labor service.
Xia Youxi, the third wife, had only two daughters, so they were exempt from the tax, but they 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 so hard that she almost knelt before the officials.
Although the official's attitude was arrogant, when he looked at Xia Youtian's family, he realized that except for Wulang, all the relatives were women, and Xia Youtian was the only man who could support the family. Jiang was crying so pitifully, so he nodded and agreed to make some concessions.
The prerequisite is that the fourth room must pay two taels of silver as a substitute for labor service.
Originally, Xia Youtian was so distressed when he had to pay one tael of silver that he even felt extremely regretful about the division of the family. But this time, he was asked to pay two taels of silver, and he immediately became intolerant:
"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 commissioner's fee was set by the county magistrate!
You are not a scholar and you have a son who is about to grow up, 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 the whole family grabbed him and held him tightly. Jiang hurriedly went to get some silver and paid. 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 cloth. She chased them for a long distance and stuffed the bulging bundle of cloth into Xia Erlang's hands.
Xia Erlang's somewhat vicissitudes of life expression cracked, he smiled at Xia Daohua, took the bundle, touched her head, and followed the official away.
Xia Daohua watched Xia Erlang's back, secretly hoping that he would return safely.
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