Mrs. Li held the good news and watched the excitement on the side, her back straight.
Having many sons and a prosperous population is the Li family's greatest confidence.
Li Laoer took the roster and charcoal given to him by the village chief and calculated the grain tax to be paid by each household before the Yamen arrived.
Qingshui Village has a small population, so the government government only sent two government servants.
From a long way away, everyone saw a donkey cart coming at the entrance of the village.
When the donkey cart approached, the two government servants jumped down from the carriage. One was tall and thin, the other short and fat. They looked quite happy.
"Hey! Your village is really happy this year. There's no need for us to go door to door to urge you."
The tall and thin government official had a mean look on his face and spoke in a weird manner.
The short and fat yamen servant didn't say anything. He walked to the nearest bag of grain with a sullen face and kicked it with his feet.
"This year's harvest is good. You have to pay the tax and grain in full. Don't cheat with the court and take advantage of it just because you are a soldier."
"The official is really good at joking. Our village pays the most in tax and grain every year. Back then, we shed blood for the imperial court, but now we are still short of a few kilograms of food."
The village chief felt angry after hearing their unpleasant words, and responded harshly.
The rest of the villagers looked at the yamen servant with bad expressions.
These government servants who rely on human power are the worst things.
He doesn't say he has any abilities, but on weekdays he bullies the people under the banner of county magistrate.
Moreover, the government officials are tough and the magistrates are smooth.
Regardless of whether the county official is honest or corrupt, these government officials will not be affected. They will continue to bully the people no matter how they bully them.
The people have no way to redress their grievances and can only swallow their anger.
The two government officials naturally saw the villagers' eyes, but they were not afraid, and their eyes were still very disdainful.
They are just a bunch of useless people who have been abandoned by the imperial court. If they can cause any trouble, it would be good to just survive.
The tall and thin government official sneered and took out a booklet with the land and population of Qingshui Village.
"A new family settled in your village a while ago? There was no harvest this autumn, so his family will start paying grain taxes next year."
The tall and thin yamen officer turned over two pages and said to the village chief.
The village chief nodded and looked at the Li family.
Li Laoer stood up at the right time, carrying a basket of apples and pears in his hand, and came forward with a smile to say hello.
"My lord, you are talking about our family. Thank you for your understanding, lord. These fruits are collected by the two lords. They are also good for quenching thirst on the road."
These apples and pears were "picked up" by Li Laosi from the mountain. .
Not to mention these government officials, even the county magistrate of Junyang County may not be able to eat fruits of such good quality.
The yamen servant recognized the goods and saw that it was a good thing. His eyes suddenly lit up and he also smiled towards Li Laoer.
"You're a sensible kid."
He picked up the basket and shook it, feeling even more satisfied.
"This is all as it should be. It's too hard for the official to come all the way.
There is nothing good in our poor and remote country, and this is the only fruit that is pretty good. If the official doesn't dislike it, it's our blessing."
Mr. Li Er put a smile on his face, and his words were flattering but not annoying, which made the two yamen servants look even better.
The short, fat yamen officer came over, looked at the basket of fruits, and his throat moved slightly.
Seeing this, Li Laoer quickly took out two yellow pears, wiped them clean on his clothes, and then stuffed them into the hands of the two government officials.
"Two officials, it's still early. It's not too late. Let's try some pears and take a break."
Naturally, the two government servants would not refuse and started eating. They both liked the sweet pears.
Li Laoer took advantage of this opportunity to chat occasionally, and soon he was chatting and laughing.
"What the official doesn't know is that our family also came here to escape famine. We saw too many victims who starved to death along the way. There is still a harvest in the fields here, but there is really not a single wild vegetable or weed over there. Speaking of ordinary people, It's really not easy to live..."
When the tall and thin yamen officer heard this, he asked, "Where did your family come from?"
"Beyond the Great Wall," Li Laoer quickly responded, "I have been running away for a month, but luckily I met a noble man. He took our family on a boat and got here."
The tall and thin yamen officer nodded and sighed. "My uncle's family is also outside the Great
Wall. When I heard the news a few days ago, he said that everyone was gone. You are lucky."
Less."
Li Laoer sighed, taking the opportunity to show his favor.
"If the officer wants to eat something outside the Great Wall in the future, come to my house and sit down?"
"It's just a casual comment." The tall and thin Yamen servant ate the pear in his hand in several mouthfuls, then stood up and patted his companion, " Go do some calculations and go back early to deliver the work."
The short, fat yamen officer had already finished eating. After hearing what he said, he got up and took a bucket to prepare to weigh the grain.
According to the rules of previous years, it was their benefit to fill the bucket full of points and kick it, and then collect the grain scattered on the ground.
But just as the short and fat yamen officer was about to lift his feet, he was held back by the tall and thin yamen officer.
"Forget it this year."
The short, fat officer frowned. This "kicking fight" was a must-do every year.
The county magistrate is a shrewd man. They don't get much benefit on weekdays, and they only rely on the autumn kicks to fatten their pockets.
The tall, thin yamen official didn't explain much, and began to calculate the grains handed in by each family according to the number in the register.
The villagers were not stupid. They all saw that the tall and thin government servant had been "bought" by Li Laoer, so they quickly weighed, packed the bags, and stacked them on the donkey cart.
After seeing off the two yamen servants, everyone happily held the remaining food they had saved and thanked Li Laoer one after another.
"It's all thanks to Yusheng, otherwise we would have had more food deducted this year!"
"Yes! Yusheng is really great, he helped us save a lot of food!"
"The Li family are all good people, these days God has helped us so much!"
Listening to the villagers' praise one after another, the Li family was very happy, and the fatigue from a busy morning was instantly gone.
In the afternoon, the villagers sent another wave of things to Li's house.
If the family has a lot of land, they will be given ten or twenty pounds of sorghum. If the family is having a hard time, they will be given dried vegetables and mushrooms. In short, they are doing their best.
The Li family also accepted them generously, which made the villagers feel that the Li family was really trustworthy.
On the second day after paying the grain tax, the temperature dropped sharply, and an autumn rain poured down with coolness.
The villagers could take shelter from the rain at home, but the Liu family was completely dumbfounded.
Previously, their family had to pay grain taxes. After Guo's urging day and night, Liu Tiezhu reluctantly went to the fields to collect some grain and brought it back.
I thought that after paying the grain tax, I would slowly collect the remaining grain.
Unexpectedly, this autumn rain directly broke all plans.
"What evil have I done? I put you prodigal things on the stall? I didn't go to harvest the good grain, and let the rain fall down..."
Guo thought of the grain in the field that had not been harvested in time, and sat on the kang and patted her thighs. Cry and howl.
All the grain collected was taxed, and the family had no grain left at all. How could their family survive the winter?
"Mom, who are you talking to? Tiezhu has a backache, so it would be nice to get the taxed grain back. On the contrary, the second brother is still fooling around in the county town and has done nothing!"
Su Niang heard Guo When Shi said this, he immediately became unhappy.