Qiu's face looked grim, as if the sky was falling.
He was leaning against the door frame, one hand still tightly grasping the door frame, as if he was frightened.
“Conscription, the court is conscripting soldiers.
It's over, it's over, two grown men in our family."
Qiu murmured to herself, and suddenly thought of the second house. She was so scared that she looked up at Wang and said, "And you, Qingmu and Qingshan are all adults, and there are three adult men in your family!"
Wang, Lin Chunfang!
“Does the imperial court have to recruit soldiers by force?
Some time ago, I saw a notice in Taichuan Prefecture that just issued a conscription notice, but it was all voluntary.
At that time, Prince Ling also proposed that if anyone voluntarily joined the army, he would be subsidized with five taels of silver.
Auntie and second auntie, don't worry for now. Our Yun family is no longer the same as before.
If it can be solved with money, everything will be fine."
“No, in the past, King Ling’s conscription was always voluntary, and he would only post notices in the county or town.
This time, the village chief came to summon everyone to the threshing ground, so it must be compulsory.”
Qiu thought about the forced conscription her family had experienced ten years ago. At that time, in order to avoid the fate of being forced into service, the whole family sold their land to raise enough tax to avoid the men of the Yun family from going to the battlefield.
Because everyone knows that if you go there, there is a high chance that you will not come back alive.
That time, there were more than forty people in the village who could not escape, and only three came back alive. One had a broken arm and one had a broken leg.
"Don't panic, sister-in-law and second sister-in-law. Let's go and take a look together."
At this time, Yunhai and Yunhe had disappeared. As the man of the family, Yunchang had to calm his two sisters-in-law down first.
"Well, Qingli, you take the child and look after him at home first."
"Chunfang, you take Shitou and Qingmei and stay at your aunt's place first. We will be back soon."
Chaoge followed them to the threshing ground in the center of the village. This was the first time Chaoge returned to the village and appeared in the sight of all the villagers.
She came out of the main room in such a hurry that she didn't even put on a cloak.
Even though her clothes were very baggy, standing in the crowd, one could tell at a glance that she was pregnant.
But how could the whole village focus on her at this time? Nor would they focus on Yunchang's making a fortune by relying on his daughter.
What everyone is concerned about now is the court's conscription of soldiers.
When we arrived at the threshing ground, there was a large square table in front.
A middle-aged man in a brocade robe sat at the top, with two armored officials sitting on both sides.
On the table were three large cups of tea, a gong, and a rolled-up scroll.
Watching the three people talking in low voices, Chaoge also felt vaguely uneasy.
This situation does not seem like voluntary enlistment. If it were voluntary, the higher-ups would definitely convey the message to the village chief, and the village chief would just announce it to the whole village.
Today, even the officials came...
"Dad, who is that man at the top?"
"Our village headman comes here with the officials every year when he pays taxes."
"Don't we have a mayor?"
Chaoge didn't know much about the officials of this dynasty, so he couldn't help but ask another question.
Yun Chang looked at her strangely: "What is the mayor?"
"The one who manages Jiangdian Town?"
"No, hey, you don't need to understand this."
Yunchang didn't explain too much. In his opinion, Chaoge would never be able to access these things.
After a while, the village chief came back.
It was winter, and I jogged all the way back to the threshing ground, my forehead covered in sweat.
“Everyone, I have already notified everyone one by one.
Even if there were no men at home, there were women who came.
The man sitting in the middle nodded, picked up the gong on the square table and stood up!
"Clang!" A gong sounded, and the villagers who had been talking below suddenly shut their mouths and looked towards the head of the village!
"Okay, now that everyone is here, I'll make today's announcement as quickly as possible."
After saying that, the headman put down the gong, picked up the scroll in front of the table and opened it.
"The Emperor, in compliance with the Will of Heaven, proclaims:
The world has been at peace for a long time, but then evil foreign races invade.
God has issued a decree to raise 200,000 soldiers from heaven. Wherever the troops go, they will wipe out the enemies and burn all the jade tiles to ashes!
For a single household with two male adults, one tael of tax will be levied; for a household with four male adults, two taels of tax will be levied; for a household with five male adults, three taels of tax will be levied. If there are no male adults, thirty taels of tax will be used to offset the levy.
Gu recruited 200,000 heavenly soldiers, offering them a generous monthly salary. These brave and courageous men joined the army bravely and were loyal to the court, so as to sweep the world and purge the world for our emperor.
So ordered.
Taichuanzhou Ling Wang Jun Hongyi announced to the whole state that the northern enemy had invaded and now recruited heroes from all over the world to fight against them.
As soon as the head of the village finished speaking, a burst of shouting and crying suddenly rang out in the quiet threshing ground, and the sorrow was hard to conceal!
Chaoge frowned!
Three out of five men have to be taken away. How urgent is the war situation in the north?
But fortunately, I can use silver to pay for it.
In this way, their family doesn't have to pay the money, and the eldest wife should be able to afford it as well.
The second house has three adult men, so only one needs to be offered. I think they can afford the money.
"Thirty, thirty taels, this is going to cost us ordinary people our lives!"
Wang's eyes were dull as she murmured softly.
And in the threshing ground there were more cries of despair.
"Let's go back first."
Chaoge had a cold face, pulled Wang and Qiu and led them out of the crowd.
After returning home, Chaoge asked someone to close the door quickly.
"Haha, I finally earned some money, but now I have to pay taxes.
Thirty taels! How many people in this countryside can afford thirty taels?
This imperial court is simply forcing people to death."
“Perhaps the court’s ultimate goal is to get people.
"Eldest aunt, second aunt, do you have this silver?"
"Yes, never mind, the money is gone.
The whole family is lucky to be together.”
Wang's face was filled with frustration. No one could treat such a thing with a normal attitude.
Mrs. Qiu's expression was even uglier: "Alas, our Dachuan is just fifteen years old. If he was fourteen, we wouldn't have to pay the thirty taels.
I wonder what’s going on at Qingxia’s home?
There are five brothers in total, and they have never split up.
Including my father-in-law and Qingxia's child's uncle's eldest son, there are seven adult males in total!"
Mrs. Qiu was completely exhausted. She was not worried about her family, but she was also worried about her daughter.
“Dad, I think it’s almost time for us to leave.
There are so many people in the village, hundreds of strong laborers, what if they all come to us to borrow money... "
Chaoge is not stingy, but in this kind of situation, if she lends everything out, she might just make more enemies.
Yunchang had never thought of this, but after Chaoge reminded him, he finally reacted.
He could help one or two people, but the whole village...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
