After being transformed into the cannon fodder of a villain, I counterattacked and became the protag

Chapter 29 I'm here to repay the money
After a busy day, Zhang Jinyue returned to the village in the twilight of the setting sun. He was surprised to find that the villagers who usually had gone home by this time were gathering in front of the main gate and shouting about something.

She leaned over and listened, and found out that it was about doing corvee service.

In the Wei Dynasty, there were two types of corvee service. One was military service for two years, and the government provided food, clothing and miscellaneous supplies.The other type is unpaid labor, which is recruited by local governments according to needs, including building bridges and roads, managing rivers and canals, and transporting Caogu, etc.

The type of corvee that Zhangjiacun now has to perform is the second type.

There was a war in the Northern Wasteland some time ago, and the imperial court debated endlessly over this matter, and finally decided to send troops to conquer it.When this army goes to war, not only does it need to mobilize personnel, but it also needs to keep up with military supplies such as grain and grass. Otherwise, what will be the account?

The land in the northern part of the Wei Dynasty was barren and rainfall was sparse, making it unsuitable for the growth of crops. Food was usually sold from Qingzhou, Huzhou and other land of plenty.There is a war now, and food is far from enough.

There is a big river in Qingzhou, and caravans selling food can only take a detour, which will delay a lot of time along the way. This is usually fine, but now the war in the north is tight.In order to facilitate the transportation of food, some officials proposed to build an arch bridge. Even after the war is over, people and animals can pass over it.
After on-site investigation by the Ministry of Industry, the location was determined between Qingshan Town and Gaoqiao Town next door.

The orders from the imperial court were handed down from level to level, reaching the hands of the Qingzhou prefect, who then assigned them to the towns below. The specific matters were decided by the chiefs of each town, and the manpower was naturally recruited by themselves.

"The superiors have given us a quota that every household must have a male child." Zhang Lizheng shouted at the top of his lungs.

The folks below were chattering and it was as lively as a vegetable market.

"The people up there are eating too much. Why should we build such a bridge?"

"That's right, as long as the officials talk, we, the common people, will be the ones who work so hard!"

"Old Liutou, you have many sons, just any one of you can go. Why are you sighing? It's not like me. I'm just a single person. I really don't want him to go!"

The speaker sighed heavily, and Lao Liutou glared at him, "Look at what you said, which father wouldn't feel distressed if something happens to his son?"

"Okay, be quiet!" Zhang Lizheng shouted loudly at the top of his voice: "That's what it is. Let's discuss it when you go home and see what the distribution method is. If you can't bear to leave your children these days, please feed them better. Tim Some oil and water.”

"We will still gather here in three days. Officials will come to take people away. Okay, that's all that needs to be said. Let's disperse, folks."

After finishing speaking, Li Zheng took the lead to leave with his hands behind his back. The others also went home noisily. Tonight was destined to be a sleepless night!
"What are you doing?"

Zhang Dalai and Zhang Cuihua were packing their things in a panic. They were startled by the sudden appearance of Zhang Jinyue, and the package in their hands fell to the ground.
"What are you doing? You're scaring me to death!" Zhang Cuihua patted her chest with her hands to soothe her frightened little heart that was pounding.

"Are you going away?"

"Yes, yes." Zhang Dalai and Zhang Cuihua nodded hurriedly.

"It's useless. People are being recruited everywhere in Qingzhou. Where can you go?"

"Then let's leave the Qingzhou Head Office!" After Zhang Cuihua finished speaking, she realized that she had revealed her inner plan. She quickly covered her mouth and stammered, "No, I meant Yes, your father, brother and I are going to visit our relatives living in Yunzhou."

"Yes, that's it." Zhang Dalai affirmed.

"So you want to run away secretly and leave me alone?" Zhang Jinyue said in a long tone.

"Look at what you said. You're a woman, and they can't force you to serve. What's wrong with staying here to look after the family? Besides, we're not running away, we're just visiting relatives, and we'll be back after a while."

No wonder Zhang Dalai was so afraid. Serving as a corvee actually meant doing hard labor. The key was free labor.The time span is from [-] am to [-] pm, with no rest time in between.Although the government provides meals, in fact, even if the food is not good, it can only fill the stomach a little. There is no oil and water in the stomach and it cannot withstand a day's work. Some people are dead after working hard.

Zhang Jinyue was noncommittal and went back to his room to rest. When he went out the next day, he realized that many of the people who tried to escape last night had been caught.

When Zhang Dalai was sent back, he was still struggling and explaining, but unfortunately those people didn't listen and threw him back.

He sent the people away with a smile, and when they were completely out of sight, he spat hard on their backs. "Damn it, you look down on people! Damn it!"

"Master, what should I do now that I can't get out?" Zhang Cuihua said with a sad face.

"If you can't get out, you can't get out. I..." Suddenly his eyes turned to Zhang Jinyue, and he slid in front of him, "Son, you have to save your father this time. You are the only one who can save me now!"

Zhang Jinyue raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms, "Tell me, how do you want me to help you?"

But Zhang Dalai thought she had agreed, and said overjoyed: "Go to the Gu family and ask Gu Yuncheng and Mrs. Gu to give you ten taels of silver to redeem me from my labor."

According to the regulations, there is one person per household, but some families who are reluctant to part with the male members of the family can redeem themselves with money. After all, it costs money for the government to control the food and drink of so many people.

Is it the Gu family's idea to run away emotionally?

Zhang Jinyue sneered and didn't want to pay attention to it, but suddenly remembered that the Gu family also wanted to hire someone.The only adult man in the Gu family is Gu Yuncheng, so he can only go there, but since the Gu family has money, there is a high probability that they will pay for it with money.

Do you want to go and have a look?
Just go. Zhang Dalai was overjoyed when he saw her going out to Gu's house.

"Bang bang bang" knocked on the door.

A chubby little guy ran over and opened the door, "Who are you? Why are you here at my house?"

"I'm here to see Gu Yuncheng." Not wanting to scare the children, Zhang Jinyue tried her best to smile as kindly as possible.

Little Fatty looked at her up and down, "My brother is busy and has no time!"

"Really? That's such a pity. I finally collected enough money and planned to pay it back to him."

Pay back the money?Little Fatty's ears moved and he said, "You wait here, I'll call him!"

Zhang Jinyue smiled and thought that Gu Yuncheng's brother was really interesting.

Not long after, Gu Yuncheng came out, "Are you looking for me?"

He seemed to be in a bad mood, and the forced smile looked awkward.

"If you don't want to laugh, stop laughing." Zhang Jinyue said, "What happened?"

Gu Yuncheng thought of the quarrels at home and shook his head, "It's nothing, it's just that some people don't like me and always want to find trouble every now and then. I'm used to it."

Gu Yuncheng refused to say it, and Zhang Jinyue didn't force it, "I remembered that I still owed you money, so I came to pay you back."

Seeing Gu Yuncheng's blank look, she reminded: "Hongliu's ransom money."

"No need, I promised Miss Hongliu to redeem her life."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Jinyue took out ten taels of silver from his sleeve and gave it to him, "Here you go, I owe the rest first, and I'll pay you back next time!"

Gu Yuncheng was a little dumbfounded, but he felt better, and finally accepted the money helplessly.

(End of this chapter)