Chapter 489 A Dream of Youth 21
Xie Ning listened intently to the sounds outside. It seemed that Madam Chen was scolding Xie Qi. After a while, the sound stopped, leaving only the patter of rain.
Just as the sweet potatoes in the stove were covered with charcoal, Xie Qi quietly poked his head in, glanced around the room, and then subtly beckoned Xie Ning to come out.
Just then, Xie Ning felt the smoke inside was a bit choking, so she ran out, making Xie Wangzhi shake his head in disapproval.
"Baby, look what this is?"
The small yellow pouch was filled with a thick layer of white leaves, still damp with a few raindrops.
"have no idea."
Xie Ning honestly shook her head; she truly didn't recognize this thing.
"It's tea cake. I specially picked it for you to eat. Try it!"
The white tea cake is placed to the lips, and a slight bite is taken. A refreshing sensation instantly fills the entire mouth, and at the end, there is endless sweetness, along with the fragrance of tea.
"Isn't it delicious?" Xie Qi said with a hint of pride, having picked the best ones!
Xie Ning noticed that Xie Qi's hair was a little wet and that he had changed his clothes, so he asked, "Brother, did you get caught in the rain?"
"Ahem—" Xie Qi glanced cautiously into the room and said to Xie Ning, "Bao'er, please don't tell your father that your mother just grabbed my ear and scolded me for a long time."
Chen, who happened to be carrying ginger soup, overheard this and pulled Xie Qi over to give him a lecture. Xie Qi looked miserable; what he feared most was being nagged by his mother and being slapped on the hand by his father.
Xie Ning took a piece of tea cake and gave it to Chen Shi, saying, "Mother, have some."
"Oh dear, Bao'er loves his mother so much, unlike your brother who's such a good-for-nothing." After eating two pieces, Madam Chen went back to her work.
Xie Qi, who was being used as a pretext, didn't mind. Instead, he winked at Xie Ning, cupped Xie Ning's little face, and rubbed it, saying, "Baby, how are you so clever!"
After the two laughed and joked for a while, Xie Qi smelled a sweet fragrance and couldn't help but look towards the main room. "Bao'er, what were you doing in there just now?"
"The roasted sweet potatoes should be ready now." Xie Ning continued to stuff tea cakes into Xie Qi's mouth. She couldn't eat that many; she needed to save room for other things.
The two ran inside, and the sweet potatoes in the stove had already been pulled out and were being dried on the side. The whole room was filled with their fragrance, and the children were all looking at them longingly.
When Xie Wangzhi saw the two of them, he stopped talking, waved to them, and handed them a roasted sweet potato wrapped in green leaves.
Xie Qi and Xie Ning obediently greeted the people before accepting the sweet potato with both hands.
Xie Ning couldn't get her hands on it. Although it was wrapped in leaves, the sweet potato was still a bit hot. Xie Wangzhi waited until it cooled down a bit before peeling off the wrinkled skin and giving it to Xie Ning to eat.
The peeled roasted sweet potatoes look like they're coated in honey, with golden flesh that looks incredibly sweet. It's a perfect time for spring, and the steaming hot roasted sweet potatoes are a comforting treat to hold in your hands.
One bite is like biting into cotton; the texture is warm, soft, and glutinous. It melts in your mouth without much chewing, leaving only a sweet taste.
Xie Qi is at an age where he has a big appetite. He just ate some tea cakes and now he has eaten two sweet potatoes.
If Chen hadn't forbidden him from eating more, he would have eaten even more!
He could only suck a few bites of the flesh from the skin of the last sweet potato, looking very reluctant to part with it.
Li and her family brought over four large square tables: two for the women and children, and two for the men. Farmers don't have many formalities, so they didn't use screens to separate them.
Besides, everyone usually eats at the same table.
However, since there were outsiders present today, the men and women were separated.
The food was pretty much the same everywhere, except that there were two jars of wine on the men's table. They could warm it up with the stove next to them before drinking, or some people who preferred it cold would just pour it out and drink it directly.
Xie Wangzhi picked up a piece of food with his chopsticks, and the clan elder opposite him asked, "Wangzhi, I heard that the imperial court has introduced a new conscription law. We only need to pay 'conscription fee' and don't have to perform conscription anymore. I wonder if it's true?"
"Yes, the county government will issue a notice in a few days. The government will pay for the service itself. However, the cost will be shared by the households according to their social standing. Even female households and temples that were not originally required to pay service will have to pay half of the service fee."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and they drank even more heartily.
"I'm worried about the county government conscripting laborers this year. It's the busy farming season, and not only will my family be missing one or two people, but going to serve is also a tough job, and people might not even come back..."
The crops in the fields can't be taken care of, and people can't come back. Even if they did come back, their health wouldn't be good.
We're all this age now. Apart from Xie Wangzhi, who hasn't served in the military? We all know how tough it is. The imperial court has regulations that allow people to pay for their service, but that money is far beyond what poor families can afford.
The current system of distributing the costs equally among households is considered a good solution by everyone.
Xie Wangzhi felt that this method would not last long. He believed that the corvée system was good because the people who formulated it had considered the suffering of the people and knew that they could not afford the heavy taxes and corvée labor and the money to pay for it.
However, this law... even those who have the privilege of exemption from service still need to pay fees, and the fees they pay are even higher, considering that those who have the privilege of exemption from service are usually in high positions.
If those people are unwilling, this law will certainly not last long.
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