Chapter 9 Abandoning one’s nationality and seeking refuge
The journey down to the plateau was easy, but Huaiyu's mood was anything but.
The new hundred acres of land did not bring much joy.
"Erlang, there are people behind you."
As soon as he left Aogou, Huaiyi noticed that someone had been following him. He looked back and saw several people following him.
Secretary Zhao sat on the donkey and turned his head to take a look, "I guess he saw that Erlang was young and kind-hearted, so he wanted to send the baby to find a job."
Huaiyu was a little puzzled.
"Just call me and ask." He waved to the back, and the people trotted over.
A hunchbacked middle-aged man led a yellow-faced woman, followed by four children.
"What are you going to do with us?" Secretary Zhao asked.
The hunchbacked man said with some fear: "I am also from Chang'an Fort. I used to rent the land from Wu Erlang. A few years ago, the city repair god broke his back while doing work, and the land could no longer be planted." As he said this,
He pulled the two older children forward and said, "These are our eldest children. The girl is twelve years old and the boy is ten years old. Although they look thin, they can endure hardships and are very hardworking. Erlang is kind-hearted, so he gave these two
Take the two babies back."
But a few years ago, when the man was in regular service and went to build the city, he broke his waist and spent a lot of medical expenses. The house leaked and it rained all night. His mother fell ill again and borrowed a lot of money for medical treatment. In the end, she lost it, and the funeral was
I borrowed a lot of money, but in the end I couldn't repay the old and new debts, so I had to sell the land, and finally became a landless farmer.
When Hunchback saw that Huaiyu was actually willing to take his family away and pay taxes for him, he kowtowed in excitement, and the whole family kowtowed violently on the ground.
Huaiyu looked at his elder brother in surprise.
"Thank you Erlang!"
But in fact, people will always find ways to buy and sell in disguised form. After all, land may be the only remaining property of some poor people. They usually trade in other names, such as loans guaranteed by land, and the land will be taken away after maturity. Although there are some risks, but
It is hard to stop the people from repeatedly banning it.
How can anyone who is guarding a golden job beg for food all the time? He can set up a shed and open a shop at the end of a bridge, do some business with passing merchants and pedestrians, or buy some agricultural products and local medicinal materials from neighboring villages, or even use his medical skills as a selling point.
Taking medicine, seeing a doctor, etc. can always improve the current condition.
The hunchbacked man was a villager from Chang'ao. He had already gone bankrupt in the late Sui Dynasty. During the early Wude period, he was given thirty acres of land. There was only one male in his family at the time, so he was only allocated thirty acres of land.
Raise a family and then rent some land from the landlord. When the weather is good and the weather is good, men farm and women weave, barely making ends meet.
Cheng Chumo asked him for two doses of medicine, but he was given five gold Kaiyuan coins, which inspired him a lot.
Wu Huaiyi also knew that this brother had been in the mountains for a long time and was a little ignorant of the world, so he said: "Since the end of the Sui Dynasty, there have been many wars, frequent frosts and droughts, rice in Guanzhong is expensive, rice is worth every piece of silk, and the people are hungry, and some people are forced to sell their sons and daughters.
, there are also people who leave their homes just to survive.”
Huaiyu felt very uncomfortable when he saw it.
The land of the hunchbacked man was sold in the name of paying off debts.
The boy only wore a pair of shorts, his back was bare, his feet were bare, and his hair was as messy as a bird's nest. His limbs were thin, but he had a big head and a bloated belly. He was obviously malnourished and might have parasites.
Guanzhong was the capital of the Tang Dynasty, but it was also under direct threat from the Turks. The people in Guanzhong were subject to heavy military service and even heavier labor.
But these two children are really too thin.
Although this family is old, weak, sick and disabled, at least they are still manpower, so let's just do a good deed by the way.
"Hurry up and pack your things, we'll be waiting for you here."
"Okay, you come with us."
But Huaiyu looked at how pitiful this family was, and thought for a while. The employment conditions were not very high. He had been thinking about how to improve the conditions all the way. It would not be better to farm the land or collect rent by himself.
Where did he go? He planned to use his ability to do something else, such as dispensing and selling medicine.
"The imperial court strictly prohibits treating good people as inferiors, not allowing good people to be slaves, and not allowing good people to flee their homes and sell themselves into slavery." Huaiyi reminded his brothers that doing so was risky and unnecessary.
People who are so humble as dust.
Huaiyi reminded him softly, "Although this family has lost their land, they are still registered as good people. If you take them back, you must not only provide them with food and clothing, but also pay them wages. Otherwise, they will not be able to complete the tenancy transfer, and they will not be able to complete the lease transfer."
Even though he is disabled, his disability can only exempt him from regular service, and this kind of miscellaneous Yao service is unavoidable."
Huaiyu quickly helped them up one by one.
Huaiyi thought there was no need to get into this trouble.
“There has been almost no year without fighting in these nine years!”
I can't bear to be pregnant with jade.
Secretary Zhao looked at the two children on the side and said, "They are too thin to do much work, but they are very difficult to eat at their age. It is not worthwhile for half-grown children to eat me to death and take them back."
It would be uneconomical to have to bear the tax burden for them, and it would also be uneconomical to take risks and become slaves for them.
There are six people in this family, and only the hunchback woman can do some work. The hunchback has a back injury and cannot do heavy work. She still has to serve in the government for dozens of days a year. If you include the round trip, it may take two months.
Tuozi has sold all 30 acres of his land. His waist has not healed and he can no longer do heavy work. The 30 acres of land that he originally farmed on a sharecropping basis are no longer being shared with him. Now he has a family of six, mainly relying on his wife to make money spinning for others.
He earns some food by tending sheep for others. The four children, the eldest is twelve and the youngest is only five years old, are really unable to support them.
Every man is rented two stones a year, two feet of silk and three ounces of cotton, and he has to serve the country for twenty days free of charge. If he serves a Zayao in a prefecture or county, he has to serve forty days. If he is disabled, he becomes a porter.
The sex labor lasted even longer.
"Please Erlang, please show mercy and take these two babies with you."
"Brother, I think they are quite pitiful. Why don't you take their family back to work as long-term workers? The women and children can help raise silkworms, weave, wash, cook and so on. The men and women can herd sheep, feed cows and raise pigs. Although this uncle
I can’t do heavy work because of my injured waist, but I can still do some light work. It’s not easy. Our family is also short of manpower. With a few more people, Aye, Aniang and the others will be able to relax.”
Those four children can basically do nothing, but raising four mouths is not easy.
"But didn't the Tang Dynasty establish its capital for nine years?" Huaiyu asked.
Huaiyi felt that this was a burden and not cost-effective.
Even now, Shuofang and Liang divisions are still divided into separate groups, and the Turks invade each other every year. At the peak of the Sui Dynasty, there were nearly 9 million households, but now there are only about 2 million households, and 70% of the household registrations have been lost.
Huaiyu looked at the two children and said that the girl was twelve, but the little yellow-haired girl with a yellow face was short and thin, with bare feet, a sarong full of patches, and the original color could not be seen for a long time.
Consider it correct.
The hunchback's ears seemed to be very sensitive to what Secretary Zhao said, and he kowtowed to them a few times, "As long as Erlang is willing to accept us, we are willing to abandon our country and become slaves."
Although the Tang Dynasty strictly controlled land sales, people were only allowed to sell Yongye fields for burial, or to sell them to others for homesteads, mansions, mills, or to move narrow rural areas to wider townships. If they sold Yongye fields,
Dividing land with words requires whipping with the rod, and the land will be returned to the owner's property without fail.
Although many people fled in hiding without registering, the actual number of people lost was also very large, especially in the northern region.
"Erlang, please take these two children with you. Acao can serve Erlang with tea, water, washing, and cooking, and Amao can help Erlang herd cattle, feed sheep, and drive around. As long as we can give them food to eat, we don't need wages. It's really hard to support them."
Already."
Secretary Zhao wanted to curry favor with the Wu brothers, so he made a suggestion on the side, "It is better to let them abandon their family and run away and join the Wu family as slaves. This way they will be exempted from the burden of school service and it will be convenient for you to use them."
Seeing his hesitation, Hunchback knelt down directly. His wife also took the child and knelt down to plead.
If he wants to do things, he still needs manpower, and he also found that it is not easy to hire people in this era.
Huaiyu found that the location of Longqiaobao was actually quite good. It was on an important transportation line in Weibei, especially their home, which was the only way to cross the Qingyu River.
In fact, there is nothing to deal with. The Tuozi family has long been destitute. Even the three-hole cave dwelling was resold to the same village. The family has built a shack and lived in it for a long time. Now they can carry away all their belongings as they please.
Already.
The hunchback said without even thinking: "If Erlang is willing to use us, as long as he can provide me with food, and pay us the rent of two stones of millet, two feet of silk and three ounces of cotton, and then give me leave to serve as a Yao slave."
It’s enough, you don’t need any extra wages, you can do whatever you want.”
Wu Di now has 600 acres of land, excluding the newly acquired 300 acres that are still rented out. A lot of the 300 acres of his own land are also rented out. The family and Bu Qu cultivate the remaining land, and there is always a lack of labor. When farming is busy, they still have 600 acres.
Have to hire short-term workers.
"If I hire someone to work for my family, how much will it cost?"
Just a few rags and rags, and a few tattered bowls.
When the neighbors heard that Wu Erlang had taken them in, they were very envious. They found an iron rice bowl and no longer had to worry about their livelihood.
The hunchbacked man is called Zhao Cheng. He is actually in his thirties this year. His wife Guo Abai is less than thirty. The eldest daughter A Cao is twelve years old, and Amao is ten years old. The second daughter A Lan is seven years old, and the youngest son A Liang is five years old.
Everyone in the family carried a shabby burden and followed Huaiyu and the others happily.
