As soon as he saw the crowd, Aaron breathed a sigh of relief.
He walked on the road with one foot deep and one foot shallow, and finally arrived at his home.
It is said to be a home, but in fact it is just a residence put together by several shacks, which can neither block the wind nor completely block the rain.
In front of the shack, there is a vegetable garden where some vegetables are grown.
An old farmer carrying a hoe and his back bent like a hunchback walked by and said hello: "Brother La...are you back?"
"Well, I'm back."
Aaron nodded in greeting.
"Sigh... If you want me to say that young people should not be too high-minded, then I have heard the government notices in the market read... Strange flowers and stones, cherish birds and beasts, just take one to ward off the corvee... Isn't it that simple?
of?"
The old farmer sighed as he walked: "Instead of looking for those things, it is better to take good care of our own land... In this life, we only see that this field does not let down the people who deal with it every day..."
Aaron closed the fence door, looked at the old farmer's leaving figure, and shook his head secretly.
Corvee!
A unique form of labor in ancient feudal society, adult men brought their own dry food and obeyed the government to carry out large-scale infrastructure construction.
The most important thing is... there is no reward at all!
Because of the heavy workload, many people died of exhaustion and illness. Generally speaking, strong laborers who came back from hard labor often lost a lot of weight, and even fell out of shape due to exhaustion and became seriously ill!
Not to mention the possibility of delaying the farming season!
This is the most terrible thing!
Aaron recalled that in the past few years, although the government also had to work hard, it at least gave the people below him some breathing space.
However, in the past two years, the pressure from the government has become heavier and heavier, and they have not taken into account issues such as the farming season, which has led to the people starting to flee from famine.
'A sign of troubled times...'
'Or...should we rebel?'
Aaron looked at the rice vat and found that only a thin layer was left, and there were no belongings in the dilapidated house. He thought to himself.
'But I don't have the strength... If I had extraordinary power, I might be able to do it... What can a small farmer do now? No one listens to what I say...'
'It's too dangerous. I still cherish this little life...'
'But if you are an obedient citizen and do corvee labor, you will have to worry about whether your body can bear it, the farming season will be delayed, the harvest will be poor, and you will still be hungry...'
'That's why my predecessor tried every means to avoid labor...'
Aaron used the clay pot with a corner missing to pour himself a bowl of water and drank it slowly.
Based on the memory of his predecessor, he probably thought of several ways.
First, of course, it is to take the imperial examination. From being a child, to being a scholar, to being a scholar, to being a Jinshi, all the way up, as long as you are a scholar, you can be exempted from the corvee!
'But I didn't have the money to study, and I didn't have the means to do it... To say the least, even if I still have a little bit of the spirituality of the 'Tower', I can have a photographic memory, and I have a lot of wisdom... I have to go all the way to become a scholar, and it's too late.
Yeah.'
'This article is rejected!'
The second one is to work as a tenant for a big family, take shelter from local powerful people, or even hide your household registration. Without your household registration, you will not be included in the official yellow rolls, and naturally you will not have to pay taxes or perform corvee labor.
For example, in Luzhou Jishang, there is a large family named "Gu Family". The previous generations were just small landowners, until this generation a master of Juren was born, and he immediately attracted people from all over the world to sell their bodies, seek refuge, and send money to others, and he became rich in an instant.
It monopolizes taxes and is considered a local hegemon.
By the way, the ancient ruling class was not stupid. For example, Dasong clearly stipulated that the land that could be exempted from taxes should not exceed two hundred acres. If it exceeded the limit, taxes and labor would still be required.
But when it comes to the actual implementation stage, especially in today's times, no one is taking care of it!
'It's just...I don't want to be a slave to others, so forget it...'
Article 3: Collude with officials and exploit policy loopholes. After all, there are always loopholes in official laws to exempt people from taxes.
Don’t worry about this, it’s not something Aaron can use.
Article 4: To be a Taoist priest or a monk, you must also have a Taoist book and a monk's book, that is, you must have a Taoist book and an ultimatum.
What is the price of an ordinary certificate? It is about 200 taels of silver. A guan of money is about 1,000 taels of silver, which is equivalent to one tael of silver. This is also 200 taels of silver.
Even if you kill Aaron, you won't be able to get so much money!
"I didn't expect...a penny would stump a heroic man...Although I wasn't stumped by a penny, I was stumped by 200,000 penny..."
Aaron tapped his forehead: "Is it... the last resort?"
The last solution is very simple and suitable for poor people, that is to run!
I left my family and career behind and fled into the mountains. What could the emperor do to me?
It's just that this escape immediately became a crime for the people. Not only did these properties, and even the few acres of their own land that the farmers valued most at this time, all be lost...
Aaron thought for a while, and his eyes suddenly lit up.
Although the deep mountains and old forests are dangerous and the mountain people are cruel and cunning, he actually thinks this method is quite good.
After all, he is single and can leave as soon as he wants without being burdened.
As for this field? The worst case scenario is selling it...
He is not the previous farmer Fang La, who attaches great importance to this piece of land.
'If you want to cut off the meat and stop the loss, you have to sell the field. Anyway, it doesn't hurt to sell the field...'
'But if you want to take things by surprise, you still can't make too many small moves. After all, if you sell land as a single person, everyone will know that you are going to run away...'
‘And it’s not convenient to go to the mountains because there is a lack of salt and medicinal materials...’
With decades of experience as a mere mortal in the world of immortality, Aaron is very familiar with this.
The mountains are harsh, there are many miasma and poisonous insects, they are easy to get sick, and there is a lack of salt. If they are not really unable to survive, which farmer on the plains would be willing to flee into the mountains and become a troublemaker?
"Oh, I hate that I'm just an ordinary person now! Otherwise, my methods would be more than this..."
After much deliberation, but with no result, Aaron walked out of the thatched house and prepared to pull out two vegetables for dinner.
At this time, another man with simple features and dark and rough skin walked past the fence. When he saw Aaron, he was immediately startled: "Ah... you... you are Fang La? I saw you fall off the cliff with my own eyes."
...Why are you here?"
"It turns out it's you, Tuesday Cow..."
Aaron's heart moved slightly. He didn't expect such trouble, but his expression remained as usual: "I was lucky. I was caught by a branch in mid-air. I didn't fall to death, but I was slightly injured. Isn't it time to come back?"
"Oh, that's it..."
On Tuesday, Niu touched his head and immediately turned pale when he returned home.
"Master, what's wrong?"
Upon seeing this, his wife Zhou immediately came over and poured him a bowl of water.
This man is the backbone of the family, so nothing can happen to him.
"Evil... evil... Let me tell you, that Fang La fell from the cliff. It was the 'Eagle Sorrow Cliff'. He was so bare that even an eagle could hardly get off his legs. He was fine... but it wasn't... that he met ghosts and gods.
!”
Speaking of this, Tuesday Niu's hand holding the bowl was trembling.
People in this era, regardless of whether they are at the top or at the bottom, generally believe in the theory of gods.
"In that case..."
Zhou thought for a while and then said: "I think that Fang La is a kind person at ordinary times. You can help me a little. After all, someone who can get the help of ghosts, gods and mountain spirits is definitely an ordinary person. He might be able to do great things."
…”
Newton had something on his mind on Tuesday!
…
night.
Aaron's expression suddenly changed after Zhenghu had done his belly work: "This is..."