"Oh well, who cares? They haven't attacked yet, and with General Qin in charge, what's there to be afraid of?"
The others echoed his sentiments, saying, "Yes, with General Qin here, there's nothing to be afraid of. They definitely won't be able to reach us."
As the conversation on the other end grew more and more animated, the Taoist priest slowly spoke up, "It seems this magistrate is quite good; at least he hasn't been forcibly oppressing the people."
You have to understand that this was an era where rank could crush you. Even if you were required to perform corvée labor to repair official roads, as long as the county magistrate gave the order, you had to go whether you wanted to or not, and you wouldn't be paid.
The fact that the county magistrate paid people for conscripting laborers was actually a good thing for the people.
It's currently the off-season for farming, and farmers have nothing to do at home. This is a good opportunity for them to work, even though it's more tiring than regular work, at least they can earn money.
Moreover, as long as you are an adult and meet the requirements, you can go, isn't that a good thing?
If there are five or six strong laborers in a large family, after deducting those who are conscripted, at least five can go. Five people can earn fifty coins a day, so ten days would be five hundred coins, and a month would be one and a half taels of silver.
This earns much more than working a regular job, and it's stable too. During the off-season, even if there are no men at home, it's manageable. Women can hold up half the sky.
Isn't this a good thing? This way, the whole family can have a good New Year.
"The corvée laborers conscripted by the government are about to start working. It's almost the end of the year and they still have to start construction. This shows that the situation on the border is indeed not good."
"If there's no rush, we can wait until after the New Year to start our corvée labor. It's almost the end of the year, so there's no need to rush. Since the higher-ups have made this decision, it must be because they need to start transporting grain and supplies to prepare for war."
"It seems that things haven't started to get chaotic here yet. Grain prices and other things haven't changed much. We're definitely safe here in the short term."
Xu Han thought for a moment and then asked, "If a war really breaks out, will we have to start conscription?"
Grandpa Zhao chimed in, "That's for sure. Military service is much worse than corvée labor. If you go to the battlefield, you don't even know if you'll come back."
The group fell silent as they talked, and after sitting for a while, they got up and went back to the inn.
That evening, Lu Chuan and Xu Han were discussing the news they had heard that day. "Do you think they will really attack our area? Is it safe for us to live deep in the mountains? Should we move to another place and go further in?"
"The place we live in now is considered deep in the mountains by ordinary people, and most people wouldn't dare to go in. As long as no one discovers our entrance and exit, we should be safe."
Lu Chuan paused for a moment and then continued, "Besides, it's very difficult to find our home without someone to guide us. We'll just have to be careful when things really get chaotic here."
Xu Han's eyes lit up. "Yes, during the day we should do what we do during a drought and not light any fires, so that no one can find us."
Lu Chuan patted Xu Han's head. "Okay, let's cook more food and store it when we get back."
To avoid being overheard, Lu Chuan didn't reveal anything about the space. It's always best to be careful when traveling, and if some expert in the inn overheard, Xu Han would be in danger.
It's better to avoid trouble, so Lu Chuan didn't say anything, but Xu Han understood what he meant, nodded, and didn't say anything more.
Soon, Xu Han's even breathing could be heard, but Lu Chuan was lost in thought and couldn't fall asleep for a long time.
The next day, after getting up, the group had breakfast at the inn and then went to explore the county town.
Today, I mainly want to find out about Uncle Zhang and Manager Li.
Uncle Zhang is a doctor, so he'll definitely need to inquire about clinics in the county town.
Xu Han asked, "Grandpa Zhao and the Taoist priest, would you like to come with us to gather information, or would you like to explore on your own?"
Grandpa Zhao replied, "I'll go with you, and I'll buy some medicinal herbs while I'm at it."
"Then I'll go too. I have nothing to do anyway, so I might as well go shopping with you guys."
Since everyone wanted to explore together, Lu Chuan led them from one clinic to another.
As they left the clinic, Xu Han said, "There's only one clinic left. If there isn't one, they might not have returned yet."
"It's okay, let's look for it again."
After Lu Chuan finished speaking, he took the lead and walked forward, with the others following behind. When they arrived at the last clinic, there was still no one there.
The Taoist priest suggested, "Why don't we go to the post station and ask if any letters have been sent?"
"Yes, if they also care about you, they should send you a letter if they don't come back. Maybe you can find the letter there."
Lu Chuan thought about it and agreed. If they didn't come back, they would let Lu Chuan know. So the group headed back to the post station.
Upon hearing Lu Chuan's name, the people at the post station chuckled and said, "You've finally arrived! We've been getting letters for you every month, but we haven't been able to find the sender, so we've just been leaving them here."
Lu Chuan and Xu Han laughed upon hearing this; they finally had some news.
When the people at the post station handed the letter to Lu Chuan, he quickly opened it. Each letter was a greeting, but he hadn't received a reply yet. The people on the other side could tell from the letters that they were very anxious and worried.
The last letter was sent last month, also asking if I was alright and urging me to reply as soon as I read it.
Moreover, each letter included an address and explained why they hadn't returned.
It turned out that during this period, their families had already settled down elsewhere, gotten married, and had children. In the end, the two families discussed it and decided that since they were already settled, they didn't want to go through the trouble of coming back.
Xu Han and Lu Chuan expressed their understanding and did not say anything more.
Xu Han suggested, "Let's write a letter and send it over quickly, so they won't worry."
"Yes, yes, let's write it now and tell them about our current situation so they won't worry."
After Lu Chuan finished speaking, he wrote a reply at the post station.
Because the post stations were government-run, officials and ordinary people would stay there and send things. Moreover, since they were officially run, they were safer.
So there was also paper and tools for writing letters here. After Lu Chuan paid the money, he started writing a reply.
After finishing writing, he asked Xu Han, "Wife, is there anything you want to say?"
"No, don't forget to tell them to keep in touch. If they need anything, they can write to the post station. Next time we go down the mountain, we'll come to the post station every time."
"Okay, I understand."
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