Chapter 89 Corvée
Zhou Lizheng was full of joy, holding a roll of notice in his hand, as if he was holding an imperial edict.
Sang Luo was surprised to see a bit of the "Eunuch Zhou" temperament in him.
The people who rushed to the drying yard were also puzzled by Zhou Lizheng's expression.
Zhou Lizheng smiled and said, "Everyone, you all know that His Majesty has been touring the country in recent years, right?"
The villagers of Shili Village looked indifferent. Of course they knew that if the emperor did not like the tour, they would not have to perform so much military service over the years. How could this be considered a happy event?
Zhou Lizheng really treated this as a happy event. After all, if the reception was good, everyone from top to bottom would be able to be promoted. Although the probability of him being a small Lizheng was extremely low, who knows what will happen when the fate is like this.
He smiled and raised the notice in his hand: "The emperor has often traveled south in recent years. Our county magistrate estimates that he will come to our side in one or two years. Regardless of whether the emperor comes or not, we must make preparations first. So everyone, in order to welcome the emperor, we must repair the road this winter. Each family will contribute one man for one month's labor."
The construction of the annex palace will be a matter for later confirmation, but the construction of the road can be prepared first.
Zhou Dalang and Zhou Erlang's faces fell. It was corvée labor, corvée labor again. They were not given any leisure time at all. They were treated like animals and worked themselves to death.
No, they are not even as good as animals. Nowadays, if a family has an animal, they will take good care of it and love it very much. Who would be willing to use it to death?
While Zhou Dalang and Zhou Erlang were thinking this, Zhou Lizheng had already unfolded the notice and started reading it. The villagers of Shili Village below looked numb.
When the government needs to recruit people, it just issues a conscription notice, and they will not tolerate any resistance. Year after year, they have become accustomed to it.
They were even thankful that it was just road repair and would only take a month.
At least it's not like seven years ago, when people were conscripted to dig sand from the river for three years. The only male member of a family in the village who died was killed while carrying sand on the way.
It was not the same as the time four years ago when civilians with some carpentry skills were conscripted to repair the warships requisitioned by the court in the south. That time, because the court was under great pressure, those who were conscripted to repair the ships had to work day and night. Some died of exhaustion beside the boats, and some were soaked in water day and night, and their thighs or waists below were rotten and maggots were born①.
Chen Youtian was conscripted during that time. He was luckier and came back half alive. His family did everything they could to treat him, and after a year of recuperation, he was finally able to survive.
It took a month to build the road. When the villagers heard this, they all breathed a sigh of relief.
There was a man in the crowd who was extremely excited: "Zhou Lizheng, how many meals a day do you provide?"
Sang Luo was surprised by the excitement in the voice. She looked in the direction of the voice and saw a woman next to her whispering, "Zhou Laizi's family paid taxes this year, and they may not be able to afford food next year. Although the food is not good during military service, at least they are still given food, and this can save export rations."
It turns out this is Zhou Laizi.
When Zhou Lizheng was notifying people of their military service, he always had sad faces, sarcastic expressions, or numb and expressionless faces. It was rare to meet someone so supportive.
He smiled and said, "Of course I will take care of it. I will take care of two meals."
When Zhou Laizi heard that there were only two meals, the excitement on his face froze. Military service meant heavy physical labor, and only having two meals would definitely be a heavy punishment.
But then I think about it, how could the corvée labor cover three meals?
It's good to have something to eat, at least I can save up a month's worth of food.
He rubbed his hands, and a gleam of hope still appeared in his dark, wrinkled face.
Zhou Lizheng took in everyone's expressions, paused, and then said, "This time is a little different from the past. In the past, only one male over 18 years old was required to serve in the corvée. Families without males of the right age did not need to serve. Although the time is not tight this time, the task is heavy. Our county magistrate sympathizes with everyone's hard work and also for fairness, he decided that if there are no males in the family, the women will serve, regardless of gender, age, and in the end, one person will be required from each household."
Before he finished speaking, the crowd started to make a noise.
"How can a woman do such heavy work as road repair?"
"There are only old people and children left in our family. Should I, an old man, go? Or should one of my young children go?"
Shen An and Shen Ning also became nervous, and Shen Ning had unconsciously held Sang Luo's hand.
Sang Luo closed her eyes. She never imagined that one day she would have to serve in the military at the age of fifteen.
What kind of world is this?
According to what Zhou Lizheng said, if she was not in this family, and there were only the siblings Chen An and Chen Ning, would one of the siblings have to be picked out to serve in the army?
How ridiculous!
Zhou Lizheng let the crowd chatter for a while, then raised his hand to calm them down and said, "Be quiet, listen. The county magistrate has also said that if women and the elderly and children serve in the army, they will naturally be assigned relatively light tasks, such as fetching water and cooking. Even if they are repairing roads and carrying sand, they will be assigned less work. There is no need to worry about these."
He said there was no need to worry, but how could the families who were forced to perform corvee labor for no reason stop complaining?
The complaints never stopped.
But after the last incident of early taxation, Sang Luo was also very clear that no matter how much people complained, cried and got angry, as long as they could still survive, they would just complain and cry, and would eventually obey the government.
Everyone's wishes and demands are very low, so low that they are in the dust; all they want is to be able to survive.
Live in peaceful times, even if you live like a dog.
Sang Luo looked at herself, wasn't she the same?
As ordinary people, unless we are forced to live without any chance, what can we do if we can just take a breath?
Therefore, this commotion would not affect anyone at all. It would neither affect Zhou Lizheng, who was not very tall standing in the crowd, nor the county lieutenant, county magistrate, and county magistrate above him, not to mention the levels above them.
Zhou Lizheng followed the old rules and concluded by telling them that if one did not want to serve in the army, they could find someone to serve on their behalf or pay to be exempted. Then he waved his hand and prepared to go to the next village.
Zhou Cunzheng spoke up at this time and called him to stop.
He walked closer and told Zhou Lizheng about the matter of Shen San and his wife. Zhou Lizheng raised an eyebrow. Normally, he would have to interrogate them three times, question them six times, and push them nine times, but today, he could settle it with just one sentence.
"That's not easy. Aren't they just short of laborers? Just fine each of them one month of labor, plus the labor they already have to serve, for a total of three months, it's up to the couple to decide who will serve."
Li Zheng Zhou was clear about the situations of the hundreds of households under his command. Shen San and his wife had four children at home. It was unrealistic for two of them to serve in the army together. Who would take care of the children?
Hence the sentence below about the total service period. In the end, the road construction will not be completed in half a year or a year, it’s just that the villages take turns to serve in staggered periods of time.
As for reporting to the higher authorities, Zhou Lizheng didn't benefit from anyone, so he was unwilling to do such a thing. If there were too many such things, it would ruin the evaluation of the headmen and village heads in charge. If it could be resolved privately, it would be resolved privately.
He waved his hand and left. There was no point in even bringing Shen San and his wife out for interrogation. Zhou Cunzheng directly helped them to receive the fine.
Can Shen San refuse to accept it?
Yes, if you report it to the county and follow the law, you will only be fined more severely. It’s your choice.
Sang Luo had heard everything. When Zhou Cunzheng turned around and saw her, she smiled and nodded, indicating that she had no objection to the punishment.
After three months of hard labor, Shen San and his wife would be exhausted and would no longer have the strength to jump in front of her. With the experience of Shen San and Li as a lesson, the villagers would not do anything rash as long as they were not starving to death.
As for subsequent matters, whether it was negotiating with Shen San and his wife or warning the villagers, Zhou Cunzheng would naturally handle them, and Sang Luo did not need to get involved.
She had to deal with the corvée that now weighed upon her.
Sang Luo had never thought about serving in the army. She made a lot of money making tofu and sour jujube cakes every day. How could she give up her business here and go build roads?
Seeing that Zhoucun was surrounded by people asking about the situation, Sang Luo thought about asking the three families of Chen, Shi and Lu about the military service. If she remembered correctly, Gan had set up her own household with her two sons and also needed to provide a laborer.
The three families were standing together. When Sang Luo went over, before she could ask anything, Gan had already pulled her aside to talk in private.
"Are you looking for a substitute for this service?"
Isn’t this the exact question?
Sang Luo asked: "Auntie, do you have a candidate?"
Gan nodded and pointed at the father and son standing with Old Man Chen and Old Man Lu, saying, "That's Zhou Laizi and his eldest and second oldest sons. Their family is short of food this year, and when they knew I was setting up a stall, they took the initiative to ask if I could do the work for them. I'll just give them one stone of millet a month."
One stone of millet costs 1,500 coins at the current price.
Sang Luo didn't quite understand the situation, so Gan said, "If you pay the government to exempt you from military service, you have to pay two strings of coins to be exempted from military service for one month. If you invite Zhou Laizi to your home, you can save five hundred coins."
"As for whether they want grain or not, it's because their family is short of food right now. The price of food is rising day by day. They don't have money and they don't want to go to the city to buy food."
Fearing that Sang Luo might not trust Zhou Laizi's character, Gan said, "They are a good family and can endure hardships. The reason they are living like this is because they sold their land to pay for Zhou Laizi's wife's medical treatment a few years ago. They can only rent the land and grow crops. This loss has never been made up."
It's sympathy to say the least.
Gan came to help speak for him. The Zhou family was trustworthy at least. There was only one thing that Sang Luo was curious about: "Why was he called Laizi?"
Aren’t names like these just nicknames given to some unruly people?
When Gan heard this, she laughed and said, "Hey, this was called by his stepmother. His stepmother died a long time ago, but the name has been passed down like this."
Only then did Sang Luo understand.
She smiled and said, "Okay, I didn't have time to serve in the army. Since my aunt is here to help me, I can trust her. I'll ask the Zhou family to serve in my place. I just need to go to Zhou Cunzheng to register, right?"
Gan smiled and said, "Yes, just tell Zhou Cunzheng. I also asked their eldest brother to help with the service. Let's go together."
…
The people in the drying yard gradually dispersed. Sang Luo and Gan Shi made peace with Zhou Laizi and his son, and went to Zhou Cunzheng's house together.
It was unknown when Shen San and Li were released. They had been tied up for most of the night. Their clothes were disheveled and there was grass in their hair.
Probably because she knew she was sentenced to hard labor, when Li saw Sang Luo, she was so angry that she rushed towards her and stretched out her hand to scratch her face a few times.
Zhou Laizi and his son tried to stop them subconsciously, and Sang Luo was well protected by them.
She sneered: "Why don't you try to scratch one? Zhou Lizheng said that what the county lacks now is labor."
With just one sentence, Li stopped splashing water. Her legs softened and she sat down in the middle of the drying yard, howling: "Sang, you are a conscienceless person! You deserve to be struck by lightning! You have no respect for your elders, you will not die a good death!"
Zhou Cunzheng shouted, "If you make another noise and Alie's wife is not happy, you two can forget about the two-month hard labor. I'll find the head of the village to send you to the county. Don't even think about going to jail. Just do hard labor for a year!"
Li's long-drawn cry stopped in her throat with a creak. She looked at Sang Luo and Zhou Cunzheng and this time she really cried.
The villagers, who had originally forgotten about the corvee and had no mood to watch the fun, were howled out by her again.
Shen San couldn't afford to lose face. His butt must be swollen by now, and his pants were torn by those geese. He covered them with his hands to avoid exposing himself. He covered his pants with one hand and pulled Li with the other, then walked away in shame under the strange looks of everyone.
Sang Luo looked at Zhou Laizi and his son, and expressed her gratitude to them for their subconscious help in stopping Li. She said, "Zhou Cunzheng has also reported it. I happen to have some food at home. Uncle Zhou, please move with me."
She couldn't hide the fact that she had asked someone to do the service for her in the village, so she might as well be open about it.
Zhou Laizi was so excited that he rubbed his hands together and nodded, "Thank you very much, thank you very much."
When they walked at this moment, they subconsciously let Sang Luo and Gan go in front, and the father and his two sons followed only two or three steps behind.
They found two families to serve on their behalf, and the three of them, father and son, were able to eat government-provided meals for a month.
Although the meal would certainly not taste good, and would at least make one exhausted, and what one would drink would only be some watery soup without many rice grains, and one would probably not look like a human being when one returns, but this could save a month's food ration for three people.
In addition to the two stone of grain they earned, the children have recently been collecting wild vegetables and drying them to eat in the winter. There will be more wild vegetables after the New Year and in the spring, so the hope of their family surviving until the autumn harvest is much greater.
Zhou Laizi thought, from today on, the women in the family would no longer have to cry every day, and the children would no longer have to worry every day about whether one of them would be taken away and sold next year.
Therefore, Zhou Laizi was truly grateful to Gan and Sang Luo from the bottom of his heart. After all, there were very few families in the village who would find someone to serve in the military service on their behalf. Even Zhou Cunzheng's family went to serve in this relatively normal and non-life-threatening corvée.
The father and his two sons were protecting Sang Luo with all their heart just now. They were not protecting Sang Luo, but the lives of their own family.
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①Not original, excerpted from records of real historical events.
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