The mulberry life of a small peasant girl

Chapter 33

"At that time, my grandfather gave birth to four sons. Except for the elder uncle who couldn't support him, the second uncle died of illness due to overwork, and the third uncle and my father died in the middle of the service because they couldn't bear the hardships of corvee. My mother also wanted me Dad ran away, but he couldn't escape without a guide, let alone bring women and children."

Everyone fell silent after saying a word.

Nuan Bao has never experienced the scene of compulsory military service in ancient times, and he still holds Zhang De's hand with hope: "Uncle, if there are really officials sent to arrest people, then let's give money; money is dead, people are alive, uncle There will be nothing wrong."

Zhong Caixin smiled wryly, "I hope so."

Uncle Zhang rushed to Lizheng's home to tell him the news that the whole country would be resuming military service. Lizheng became flustered, and immediately drove to the neighboring village with Lizheng to Longqing City to find out if the news was true or not.

Longqing City has long ceased to be the lively scene of the past. The afternoon sun quietly shines on the calm water of the moat. There is not a single painted boat in the rippling blue waves, and there are no high-ranking disciples calling for friends along the banks of the willows. On the suspension bridge ahead, there were only one or two passers-by who walked very fast and hurriedly.

Everything is unusual.

Rizheng got out of the car and called a group of people to walk towards the six doors.

The six gates, that is, the yamen, are the places where officials in Longqing City handle affairs and where various government orders are promulgated and implemented.Li Zheng is not an official, so he is not qualified to enter the gate to ask questions, so he can only quietly go to the back door and give the gatekeeper some copper coins to find a man named Zhang San.

Zhang San was originally from Zhangjia Village. A few years ago, he found his way into the yamen as a soldier, and he was considered one of the promising people in their village.Zhang San first heard a report from a handyman that there was a group of old men waiting for him outside the back door, he shook his head and smiled, bent his five fingers and kowtowed at the young man's head, "Nonsense, if you want to play with me, brother, you are not afraid of his vajra claws! "

The young man was frightened suddenly, his nose and eyes were wrinkled into dried chrysanthemums, he laughed bitterly: "Brother Gui, it's true, I also saw the gatekeeper took ten copper coins from them, I really don't lie to you!"

"Okay, I'll listen to you this time, if I find out..." This young man is at a lively age, and he would tell a little lie to trick a group of soldiers from time to time, but everyone knew that he was just having fun and didn't care about it, on the contrary, he became more and more familiar network up.

As he approached the back door, he saw a group of people standing outside, Zhang San waved: "Uncle, why are you here?" As he spoke, he looked suspiciously at the unknown people next to him.

Li was pacing around, thinking about the authenticity of the news, and when he heard someone's voice, he asked, "Third boy, have you..."

Seeing the gatekeeper looking like a gossip woman leaning on the door frame, he immediately changed his words: "Do you have time to go to the teahouse with us old guys?"

"Of course. Uncle came to see me. I should be the one who invited you to drink tea. Let's go, some uncles come here."

Inside the tea drinking room, Dr. Tea made tea for everyone, and asked the waiter to serve a few dishes of refreshments, and the two slowly exited the private room.

"Come on, uncles, you are welcome." Zhang San greeted them for tea.

Li Zheng waved his hand, "You are welcome, you three. These are Li Zheng from villages near our village. We came here today to hear that the country will be reinstated. I wonder if you have heard of it in the yamen."

Zhang San waved in his direction, motioning everyone to lean towards him, and everyone moved their chairs forward, stretching their necks and waiting for Zhang San's reply.

"There is such a rumor in the Yamen, and nine out of ten it is true!" Seeing everyone's panicked expressions, he went on to explain the reason in detail: "When you came, you must have seen that the city has become much more peaceful. They all like to ride horses and gallop in the city to cause chaos, and the yamen has not received any complaints for the past few days, so they are probably hiding at home to avoid disaster."

"And I heard that the yamen has already made a big move. It is said that it is registered as a registered householder, so I think corvee is likely to start again."

After hearing the news, everyone returned to the village with a heavy heart.As Lizheng, of course he hoped that the population of the village would multiply and continue to grow. If most of the civilian husbands were transferred to serve, only the old, weak, sick and disabled would be left in the village, and the spring plowing in the coming year might not be taken care of.

As Lizheng returned home sadly, rumors once again swept Zhangjiacun. The joy brought by the harvest could not conceal everyone's fear of corvee. The laughter and laughter of the past disappeared in an instant. Send civilian husband.

The autumn wind blows by, the leaves gradually turn yellow until they fall, and the empty branches look even more desolate.On this day, a group of officers and soldiers dressed in military uniforms and held iron knives went straight to Lizheng's house. The brave villagers waited directly outside the yard, and the timid ones hid in the houses next to them and watched secretly. I didn't know what happened inside, until after noon, a group of people left majestically with their knives in hand.

Li Zheng waited until the officers and soldiers had left, and then knocked on the gong to inform everyone to gather at the drying yard immediately.

This time no one was late, even though they were afraid, the men still gathered on the drying yard with their families.

"Just now people came from Longqing City, everyone guessed right, corvée is about to start again."

Upon hearing the exact news, some timid women burst into tears, and the elderly also silently wiped away their tears.

"Everyone, don't panic! The result is not too bad. Not all men are required to serve in the military! Everything must follow the announcement." The Li Chang waved the rolled up paper in his hand.

Everyone's eyes focused on the yellowed paper.

"Don't interrupt when I'm talking later, if you don't understand anything, ask me after I finish speaking, do you hear me?"

"In order to maintain the stability of the country and the prosperity of the people, we have dispatched [-] men to guard the borders of the country, repair the silt of the river, protect the capital, build plank roads, stabilize the safety of one side, and calm the chaos of the four sides. Each household needs to send one person for a year. Those who are [-] and above and under [-] years old must serve the country, and those who abscond and evade will be handed over to the local affairs office for evaluation and punishment according to severity."

"In addition, anyone in this range can be exempted from military service: [-]. Those who are disabled or seriously ill; [-]. Those who are alone;

Not everyone understands what the government decree means, and Li Zheng explained it to everyone one by one. After an afternoon, everyone finally understood that each household only needs to transfer one person, which is better than everyone's guessing before. There were too many, and the scene suddenly got out of control. Some people cried and others laughed. The haze that had been suppressing the bottom of my heart for many days finally dissipated.

Xiaofu didn't know whether his uncle should serve corvee or not, so he took Nuan Bao's hand and asked, "Sister, is the little uncle going far, far away?" Because Xiaofu didn't understand what corvée meant, Nuan Bao could only Tell her that my little uncle is going to a far away place in the future, and maybe we will never see each other again in the future, and the two of them hugged and hid in the bed and cried.

"No need! Although each family has to have one person, our family only has a little uncle, who is the only one, so it's none of our business!" After speaking, he turned to Zhong Caixin and asked: "Little aunt, I'm right ?"

Zhong Caixin stroked her stomach and said happily, "That's right!"

Zhang De also happily scratched the back of his head, and said foolishly: "I didn't expect this matter to be resolved like this. Caixin, you haven't eaten well these days, go home and cook now, the child in your stomach is also hungry. "

Zhong Caixin also became interested in talking and laughing, and pinched her husband, "Who told you to shout loudly, you idiot!"

Nuan Bao and Xiao Fu snickered, and looked at each other face to face, imitating the way they were just now, "Caixin, the child is hungry." "Idiot!" After finishing speaking, the two laughed wildly again.

Zhang De put on a serious face and pretended to reprimand: "You two are not like girls at all, go back tonight and embroider two sets of needlework, and check it for me tomorrow!"

The two stuck out their tongues at the little uncle, holding hands and didn't care at all, who let them know the little uncle's death spot.

Due to the resolution of the crisis, Zhang's courtyard became lively again, and it will be the twelfth lunar month in two months, and they will start preparing for the New Year.

Qin Chengyi was under the age of 17, and he was the only child in the family, so he was not included in the conscription. Nuan Bao was relieved and waited for Qin Chengyi to come to the door again.Wild animals are more active in autumn, and Qin Chengyi can catch a few small prey every day and sell them to restaurants for some copper coins, which is enough for one person to spend.

Just as Nuan Bao's family and Qin Chengyi were busy with the winter, other families in Zhangjia Village were gloomy.

After a short period of joy, the villagers who calmed down finally realized that even if not all of them were recruited, each household still had to transfer one person.People who have multiple sons in the family are worried. The palm of the hand is meat and the back of the hand is also meat. Who should I choose?
This situation is particularly prominent in Zhao Tiejiang's house.

Mrs. Shi had three sons. The eldest son was married to Mrs. Mo at the age of nineteen and had one son; the second son was never married at the age of seventeen; the third son Zhao Xiaohu was ten years old.According to theory, the person recruited by their family is Zhao Blacksmith, the head of the family, but Zhao Blacksmith's craftsmanship is well-known in ten miles and eight villages. The eldest son also learned blacksmithing from his father, but his craftsmanship did not succeed.If blacksmith Zhao left, Zhao Xiaohu's family would lose the backbone, and the family business might be in decline forever.So for the sake of the whole family's livelihood, the recruiting candidates fell on the eldest son and the second son.

Seeing her two strong sons, Shi Shi was reluctant to let them serve, but as the day of registration approached, she thought for a long time, and finally made up her mind and said to the eldest son: "Qiangzi, you are the boss. I will teach you to take care of your younger brother, now that you are married and have a bloodline, Tongzi is still a bachelor, mother can't watch him die!"

Zhao Qiang is a filial person, and when he heard what his old lady said, he immediately agreed with this decision.

When Mo's next to him heard this, wouldn't this mean that his father-in-law was sent to death?She and Zhao Qiang had been married for three years and their son was about to be two years old. He fainted immediately after hearing about it.No matter how she persuaded her afterwards, Zhao Qiang did not change his original intention.

The night before the registration, Mo Shi touched the red and swollen eye bags, looked at the sleeping husband, and said softly, "Don't blame me..." Finally, he made up his mind and picked up the infant child out of the courtyard.

When the moon was full and everything was still, Granny Li, who lived in the middle of the village, panted heavily, slammed on the door of Zhao Tiejiang's house, and shouted sharply, "Come on! Qiangzi, your daughter-in-law is going to jump into the river."

(End of this chapter)