Volume II Accession to the WTO Chapter 117 Minzhou Boundary
From Jinling City to the border of Minzhou, it actually only takes three or four days. There is only Jiangzhou, which is slightly smaller than Huizhou, in between, so it is not very far.
Feng Yu traveled all the way through wind and rain, and finally arrived at the border of Minzhou. He led the horse and walked slowly, intending to find an inn to rest for a night. The horse has been working hard in the past few days, let alone people, and the horse can't stand it, so he has to find a place.
Supplies supplies.
There are a lot of farmland and crops here, and there is just a small village in front of it. Feng Yu estimates that the inn is gone and it will be dark soon. He should see if there is any farmer uncle who is kind enough to take him in for a night.
Feng Yu just walked forward. There were rice on both sides of the road, but the growth was not good. Many fields were almost dry. It seemed that there had just been a severe drought here. I didn't know what would happen when the harvest came.
What kind of situation is this? I'm afraid there are more people crying and fewer people laughing.
At this time, an old farmer in simple clothes walked slowly with a load. He took three steps and took a breath. It was obvious that he had been carrying the load for a long time. When he passed by, he saw that the bucket was full of water, but not much. There were two buckets.
There was only half a bucket of water left in the tank. Feng Yu was afraid that if he left, the old man would be so tired that he fell into the dirt, so he couldn't bear to leave his horse to help.
"Old man, let me come, you can rest for a while."
When the man saw someone talking, he put down his pole first and looked back, "Young man, thank you. If you want to hurry, just leave. It's still a long way from the county seat. I can still pick it up, old man. Don't delay."
It’s your business.”
Feng Yu stepped forward, took the pole from the old man's hand, and picked it up, "Old man, it's okay. I'm not in a hurry. I'll help you carry the water over there first before leaving. You can just lead the way. Don't worry.
I used to carry water for two years!"
"Hey, thank you so much, young man, you are such a good person."
Feng Yu followed the old man to a rice field. After taking a quick look, Feng Yu's face changed, "Old man, this is your family's land. There must be more than ten acres of land. How much do you have to carry with these two buckets?"
Just one trip is enough! Don’t you have any children in your family? Don’t they work?”
The old man thanked him and went to water the ground. After listening to Feng Yu's words, he couldn't help but sigh and put down the thing in his hand, "Hey, young man, this is your first time here. You don't know anything. My son
My daughter-in-law has gone to work in the county town, one carries bags, the other is a tailor, and the wife at home has to take care of the grandson to cook, so we can't let our son and daughter-in-law come back late at night without having anything to eat."
"Your son and daughter-in-law have gone out to work, so no one is taking care of the house? You can't let the old man carry water alone to carry water so far!"
"Don't blame them, don't blame them. Young man, my son and daughter-in-law are very filial. Even when they are so tired at night, they will help us and the old couple with some chores. Just blame us for our bad luck. Let them be born here.
The children don’t go to school either, which is a hardship for them.”
With the living conditions at home, there is nothing you can do. You can save yourself for a while, but you can't help all the time.
"By the way, old man, I see you are out of breath and sweating all over. Where are you going to fetch water? Is it far away? There are usually rivers and ponds near paddy fields."
The old man's hands that were still working didn't know what he thought of, and he dropped the ladle on the ground angrily, "It's all those sons of bitches who became officials. There used to be a big pool not far from here."
, but after that son of a bitch came here to be an official, everything changed. He insisted that the land here belongs to the officials and they have to pay taxes. The big pond was also used to build a farm.
They have become theirs. They often come here to fish, blow in the wind, eat and drink, but they don’t let us get close at all. We have no choice but to go to the mountains to fetch water, and our son and daughter-in-law all go out to work in order to collect taxes.
In order to pay for the food, we can’t harvest everything. Otherwise, there would be no such thing! Oops.”
Although Feng Yu ignored government affairs, he was not a fool. He had dealt with several brothers and some officials he was close to, and he was furious, "That's nonsense! It's true that the fields belong to the public, but we have to pay grain every year, why?"
Speaking of paying taxes, the ponds and rivers next to the fields are also public for everyone. If it is an irrigation canal, no one is allowed to interfere except for agricultural purposes. What kind of officials are you! It is really disgusting. You have no sympathy for the people at all, but you still exploit them.
People! Uncle, don’t you report it to the police, and don’t the higher-ups care about it?”
"Oh, I've been there all the time, but there's been no response. As time goes by, I'll forget about it. Life is miserable!"
Feng Yu thought to himself: Being able to show off in such a big way without any fear, it seems like there is someone above.
"Old man, is this only true in your village? Or is it true in all the surrounding areas?"
"Our place is all under his control. Naturally, it is the same. It is the same in other places. As long as the county magistrate is changed, it will become like this. I want to report it to the governor of the state and city, but unfortunately I don't have the opportunity. There are still people who want to
I ran to the state capital and was beaten to death. They were all poor people. There were no official channels in the village. No one came here. They all had no background. Who dared to go again? Now I only hope for the future.
If I can become a high school official, it will bring good news to our place."
"By the way, young man, it's getting dark soon and we're still far away from the county seat. You'd better hurry up, otherwise you'll have to spend the night on the roadside. It would be bad if you encounter a wild beast or something."
Feng Yu found it funny, "The villages here are all farming. If there were wild animals, wouldn't they have been searched long ago?"
"You don't know something. Those officials go up to the mountains to hunt every year, because they didn't do it before. To avoid going down the mountains to harass the crops, the hunters have finished hunting. But now it's not the case anymore. The mountains have become theirs, and they have kept many wild beasts in captivity.
, the hunters are not allowed to go up the mountain again."
"Then your son and daughter-in-law go out early and come back late. What should you do if you encounter something big?"
"Then what can we do? Many young people in our village have gone to the city to work. Otherwise, they would really have no money to live, and we can't afford land in the city."
Feng Yu also felt that it was difficult to travel since it was dark, and he happened to be going to the coast to investigate. Although it was still far away, it wouldn't be a bad thing to ask more. This place could be regarded as Minzhou after all.
"Old man, in that case, it's getting dark anyway, and it seems I won't be able to make it to the county seat. I wonder if there is a suitable place at your home where I can stay for one night. I can pay for it."
While watering the water, the old man said sheepishly: "Young man, I don't want to do it, but my family is in a tight situation and I can't entertain you. The two rooms at home don't even have a place for you to live."
Feng Yu also thought for a moment, "Old man, is there anyone in the village who has a place that they can use to rest? It's just for one night. I'll leave tomorrow morning and I'll give you money. I won't live and eat in vain."
The old man thought for a long time and seemed to remember something, "There is a family next door to my house. It is the family where the adult I just mentioned was beaten to death. There is only one child left. His family can live in it, but there is only one child left."
There's nothing you can do. Look, if you want, you can follow me later. It's on the right side of my house, separated by an earthen wall."
"Okay, thank you, old man. I don't have any requirements. As long as I can sleep, I don't care about the rest."
"Looking at your outfit, your family must be very rich. Can you live in this shabby place like ours?"
Feng Yu smiled and said, "Don't worry, old man, I'm not the kind of spoiled person. I can fall asleep even in the woods. Don't worry, I won't embarrass other people's children."
"Okay, I'll finish my work later. You can follow me and come to my house for dinner with that little Zhuzi in the evening. There's nothing good to eat, so we'll make do with it."
"Hey, thank you, uncle. I'll help you, uncle."
"Don't, don't, don't get your clothes dirty. I can't afford to pay for your clothes, old man."
It was getting dark, and the old man was leading the way. Feng Yu led the horse and followed behind. The pole was placed on the horse's back. The two of them were chatting along the way. When they heard Feng Yu's words, he was full of ink. Don't mention it.
How envious.
"It's a pity that my son was hindered by us and couldn't go to school. It would be great if he could be like you in the future."
Feng Yu also fell silent. If the official atmosphere here does not change, it will be difficult to live a prosperous life.
"Old man, I believe that the imperial court will definitely have such a day."
"I hope so, but it's a pity that I won't be able to see the old man."
By the time we returned to the village, it was already completely dark. People in the city had probably had dinner. Living in the countryside was also tiring.
The old man opened the door of a small mud house and said, "Young man, come here, this is my house, next to Xiaozhu's house. Honey, is dinner ready?"
A half-bent grandmother, wearing patched clothes, walked out holding a seven or eight-year-old child.
"grandfather."
"Hey, my dear grandson is so good."
"It's not done yet. We have to wait a while. Our son and daughter-in-law haven't come back yet. Why are we so anxious? Who is this?"
A young man dressed gorgeously stood next to the old man. The clothes looked like high-end goods and were definitely not cheap.
"Hello, aunt, my name is Feng Yu. I want to go to the county town. I didn't take the official road, but took the mountain path. It was dark and I couldn't make the journey. Fortunately, I met an old man who took me here.
, willing to take you in for one night."
"Oh, I'm a guest, you sit down first."
"Old lady, is Xiao Zhuzhu at home? I plan to let the young man stay at his house for one night, and come over to have dinner together in the evening to entertain others."
"I don't know either. I ran out in the evening and didn't come back."
Suddenly, a child came from outside the gate, "It's not good, there are wild boars that attacked people down the mountain entrance, come, come!"