Chapter 162 Cover

"What should we do?" Boss Ma squatted on the ground with his head in his hands.

The whole family worked tirelessly from dawn to dusk for so many days. Thanks to Shopkeeper Li's kindness, they only got a hundred kilograms of surplus grain this year. Now, they don't have even a grain of grain, and they may have to pay for it. This winter will be tough.

How to live.

Goudan Daddy: "This is not going to cost us our lives. How can we have food to hand over to the emperor?"

Li Sixi: "That's right, if the old dynasty had a war with the new dynasty, it would have to be a new dynasty. If the old dynasty comes back again, will we have to have war with the new dynasty again?"

"Li Sixi." Lu Quan couldn't help shouting, "What are you talking about?"

It’s nonsense to say something about the new dynasty or the old dynasty.

"That's right, don't you want to die? You can say this casually." Muramasa, who was still standing there, stamped his feet angrily, "If you want to die, stay away and don't drag the big guy to support you.

"

Muramasa feels regretful now. If he had known that he would have done nothing, he would have merged the Ye Pier group with Wudun Village.

He originally saw that people like Ye Pier had bought shopkeeper Li's land, and they specifically transferred Zhuangzi to Wudun Village before anyone came to town.

In this way, whether it is delivering food to the emperor or doing river work in the future, it will all go through his hands.

Despite the small number of people in Xiaoxinzhuang, most of the people in this village are laborers who can do work. The few children are already half-grown and can work in the fields in a few years.

There is also Lu Quan, whose family bought dozens of acres of land, which shows that they have some extra money.

I heard that they weaved eel cages at the docks and sold them to Yangzhou, so they had the money to buy land and build houses.

If we gather them under the name of Wudun Village, if shopkeeper Li comes back in the future and they start the eel cage business again, he will say that the idle people in the village can also earn three melons and two dates.

Aunt Ma simply sat on the ground, slapped her legs and cried loudly: "Muramasa, this food... we don't have to pay for this food. We can't let the whole family starve to death, right?"

"That's right, Muramasa, we just bought the land, how can we pay for food?" Aunt Li then sat on the ground, crying with runny nose and tears.

Several women in the village felt as if the sky was falling when they thought about the food they had finally saved at home, but they still didn't know if it would be enough to pay for the emperor's food. They all couldn't help but huddle together and cry.

"Okay, stop howling." Muramasa patted Lu Quan's shoulder and shouted at the top of his voice, "You think it's just your little Xinzhuang that pays the royal rations. We all have to pay, no one is less. You only have three acres of land.

Fortunately, what will Lu Quan and the big families in the village do with dozens of acres of land? Have you calculated how much grain they have to hand over?"

Muramasa's heart bleeds when he says this. His family also has more than thirty acres of land!

I originally thought that this year would be a good year and I would have some surplus grain, but now I estimate that more than half of it will be gone, and I don’t know if it will be enough to last until the harvest next year.

As soon as Muramasa said this, everyone looked at Lu Quan.

Yes, the Lu family has more than 40 acres of land. Calculating this according to this year's tax and grain, how much will they have to pay?

One mu of land weighs thirty kilograms, ten acres of land weighs three hundred kilograms, and more than forty acres of land equals more than a thousand kilograms of grain. If converted into brown rice and wild vegetables, it would be enough to feed the whole family for a year.

There is no harm without comparison.

With the Lu family in front, they suddenly felt that the most pitiful person was not themselves, but the Lu family.

Compared with the Lu family, the royal rations they had to pay were simply not worth mentioning.

Ms. Lu stood uneasily behind Lu Quan, calculating how much food she still had at home, and whether she could wait until next autumn's harvest after paying the imperial food again.

After Xiaosi fell ill, Qiu put aside all the brown rice at home.

What they eat these days is the new rice harvested this year. Every time they cook rice, one side uses new rice and the other side uses new rice mixed with brown rice.

When the rice is cooked, the first bowl must be scooped out in the middle of the new rice for Xiao Si, then Xiao Wu, and then the remaining three portions are given to Xiao Qing sisters.

She and Lu Quan ate the half of the brown rice. Because it was mixed with new rice, even brown rice didn't taste that bad in the mouth.

When I ate it for the first time, I felt a sweet taste in my mouth.

If the rice is handed over to the emperor, then the new rice can no longer be eaten like this, and can only be left for Xiao Si to eat alone.

Otherwise, this food will not be enough for next autumn harvest.

Muramasa didn't want to talk too much to the big guys, so he just pulled Lu Quan aside: "Brother Lu Quan, let me be honest with you, you must hand over this food."

"But..." Lu Quan rubbed his hands in embarrassment, "As you know, we just bought our land. Although we harvested the grain, we made an agreement with Shopkeeper Li at the beginning. Shopkeeper Li sent people to use the harvested grain.

The boat was towed away."

It was said that it was towed away by boat, but in fact it was just a pretense made by Lu Quan and shopkeeper Li.

All the grains of the Lu family and the Li family were sent by Lu Quan to the new shop he bought for Xiaosi in the town, and were well hidden.

The new shop has a large storage cellar, and all the grains of the Lu family and shopkeeper Li are stored in the cellar.

This was discussed with Lu Quan when shopkeeper Li left. No amount of grain harvested this year could be sold. Except for the royal grain, the rest would be kept and hidden.

The Hongying Army rebels, the court becomes corrupt, and no one knows who will be killed when the time comes.

They, ordinary people, have to eat no matter who is the emperor. As long as they have food in their hands, they will not panic.

Not to mention how much grain there is in the cellar, with the Lu family's current wealth, they are not afraid of paying the imperial grain one more time.

But Lu Quan is not stupid. He has money and food, so he can't actively pay the food. When the time comes, if he is targeted by someone, it will be really troublesome.

"I can't do anything about it. Regardless of whether there is food or not, you have to hand over the imperial food." Muramasa beat his chest, "To tell you the truth, my family also has more than 30 acres of land, and I originally expected to have a child this year.

We have had a full meal, and now we are afraid..."

Everyone feels distressed when they think of handing over the food they have received.

But what can I do if I feel sorry for you? If you don't make peace with me, you will be fighting against the Great Shang Dynasty. When the time comes, I will treat you as a remnant of the old dynasty, and that will be a matter of beheading you.

Lu Quan and Muramasa said a few words, and Muramasa informed everyone that after lunch, everyone went to the threshing floor of their village for a meeting.

This year the task of river work has also been handed down, and Xiaoxinzhuang will also participate in the river work.

From now on, if something happens, the people of Xiaoxinzhuang can just go to the threshing floor in the village and listen. The village will not notify them separately.

Originally, the two servants didn't have to make this trip, but Muramasa was clever and caught two chickens that laid eggs at home and gave them to the two servants. He said that Xiaoxinzhuang was Xinzhuangzi, and he might not be able to speak as a village official.

It only made these two poor men run an extra leg.

There is nothing the Village Chief can do about it. He is not familiar with the people in Xiaoxinzhuang. If he is responsible for this errand and the food cannot be harvested, he, the Village Chief, will have to bear the responsibility.

Now that the Chaiye has come in person, the two Chaiye are so scared. He will convince Lu Quan when the time comes, and he will take over the new accounts in Xiaoxinzhuang.
Chapter completed!