"Thank you, brother!"
Er Ya was overjoyed to finally have a name.
Before falling asleep, Gao Lezhen lit three sticks of incense and inserted them into the clay pot, muttering words of blessing from the God of Fire.
Time flew by, and several days passed in the blink of an eye.
In the past few days, Gao Yan has been going into the mountains to hunt every day, and he has had a good haul each time. As a result, some villagers have approached him and asked if they could go into the mountains with him.
Hunting is not as easy as one might imagine, because the Kingdom of Gods has very strict control over ironware, which means that the villagers use wooden bows and bamboo arrows for hunting.
The crudely made bows and arrows could only hit small animals; when they encountered wild boars, they couldn't even shoot through their hides.
In addition, the mountains and forests are quite dangerous, and hunting is illegal, so people only risk going into the mountains and forests to try their luck when they really can't take it anymore.
But Gao Yan had a good harvest for several days in a row, which naturally stimulated the villagers!
They knew that if they went into the mountains alone, it would probably be the same as before: if they were lucky, they might catch a pheasant or a rabbit; if they were unlucky, they wouldn't catch anything at all.
Gao Yan did not refuse the villagers' requests.
Life was tough for every household in Kaoshan Village.
Three years ago, there were about 300 people in the village.
However, since the Divine Court adjusted the grain tax to 70% three years ago, coupled with the drought the year before last, the village's population has plummeted to about 220 people.
Gao Yan approached the village chief, Gao Yougen, and proposed the idea of forming a hunting team for Kaoshan Village!
After hearing Gao Yan's suggestion, Gao Yougen was somewhat tempted, but also somewhat conflicted.
Forming a hunting team involves a certain amount of risk!
Seeing this, Gao Yan spoke up again: "Uncle Yougen, actually, whether or not I form a hunting team doesn't affect me. My hunting skills have improved a lot recently, and my family will definitely not lack meat in the future. But I can't be the only one eating meat, so I had the idea of forming a hunting team to try to make sure everyone in the village can eat meat. Besides, the Divine Court increases taxes every three years. If they increase the grain tax to 80% this year, how many people will starve to death if they don't find other ways to make a living?"
The grain tax in the Vulcan Kingdom began to increase nine years ago.
Nine years ago it was only 50%, six years ago it became 60%, and three years ago it was adjusted to 70%.
The harvest is almost here.
When the tax collectors arrive, they'll find out how much to collect. Following the pattern of increasing taxes every three years, this year they might really collect 80% of the taxes.
"Okay, let's set it up!"
Gao Yougen finally made a decision. Just as Gao Yan said, if the grain tax this year rises to 80%, many people will starve to death if no other way is found!
Take their own family as an example. There are 10 people in total, including the elderly and children, but they only have 20 mu of land.
If one mu yields 200 jin of grain, that's only 4,000 jin in total. If 3,200 jin of grain tax is paid this year, will 800 jin of grain be enough to eat for a year?
That definitely won't work!
Gao Yan is a skilled hunter. With him leading the hunting team, they can not only eat the prey themselves, but also secretly sell some of it to exchange for food!
Gao Yougen is also a decisive and efficient person.
Once the plan was set up to form a hunting team, he immediately sent his three sons out and had the villagers hold a meeting at the threshing ground.
When Gao Yougen first proposed forming a hunting team, many villagers present expressed their opposition!
After all, they still feared the laws of the divine court deep down.
If the priests find out, wouldn't everyone be in trouble?
But at this point, Gao Yougen raised the possibility that this year's grain tax would continue to rise.
Upon hearing this, the villagers present all changed their expressions drastically.
Paying 70% of the grain tax would allow them to barely survive, but paying 80% would surely lead to starvation!
Seeing everyone's expressions, Gao Yougen asked for their opinions again, and sure enough, he received support from more than 90% of the people!
To prevent leaks.
Gao Yougen took out a piece of paper covered with writing and asked everyone to put their fingerprints on it.
By pressing our handprints, we can share both good times and bad.
Most people pressed their fingerprints, but a few refused. At this moment, Gao Yougen said coldly, "What, are you planning to betray our Kaoshan Village, or are you planning to leak secrets?"
Upon hearing this, all the villagers who had pressed their fingerprints glared at them with hostility.
Those few people couldn't withstand the pressure from the crowd and immediately stepped forward to put their handprints on the paper.
Gao Yougen put away the document with his fingerprint on it, and then announced the hunting team's rules.
First of all, Gao Yan was appointed as the captain of the hunting team, and no one had any objections to this.
After all these years, the number of villagers who have hunted wild boars can be counted on one hand.
In recent years, Gao Yan is probably the first one.
Moreover, he has had a good harvest these past few days.
Secondly, the hunting party consisted of six people.
The village funded the manufacture of a batch of bows, arrows, and swords for hunting.
At the same time, everyone needs to donate a batch of grain to support the hunting team's training.
Once the hunting team officially enters the mountains, 70% of the game they hunt will be distributed to the village, while the remaining 30% will be distributed to the hunting team.
Upon hearing that money and food had to be donated, some people expressed their dissatisfaction.
Gao Yougen glared and shouted, "If you don't hone your skills before going into the mountains, do you think you can hunt anything? You're dreaming!"
Immediately, everyone burst into laughter, while the person who had raised the question blushed deeply!
that's all.
A hunting team was formed in Kaoshan Village.
Gao Yan then began to teach the six members of the hunting team how to shoot arrows and how to temper their bodies!
Therefore, Gao Yan gave them a slight advantage.
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