When Laifu rushed back to Chenjiawu from Qiantang County, it was already dusk. Two tenant farmers and their children, a total of seven people, had settled in the farmhouse at the northern foot of Jiuyao Mountain. An old man and a young man followed Laifu in.
Wubao, the old man has one arm and scars all over his face, the younger man is about twelve or three years old, but he is as tall as an adult man.
Laifu was in a heavy mood, but he did all the things assigned by Mr. Cao Zhi one by one and never slacked off.
Chen's mother, Mrs. Li, was leaning on the railing on the third floor with Zongzhi and Run'er, looking northward, looking forward to Chen Caozhi's return. After waiting for a long time, no one was seen. The sun was setting, and the tired birds returned to the forest, making their eyes sore.
, but always thinking that maybe the next moment, Xiao Guangeshan's Caozhi would turn out from behind the row of willows and stride towards Wubao, so he waited and waited, but saw Laifu with two
When the stranger came back, he went downstairs to ask what happened, and said, "That's fine, just stay." He asked the one-armed old man his name and was told that his name was Jing Nu. The young man was only twelve years old and his name was Ran Sheng.
Laifu didn't see Chen Caozhi, so he asked Chen's mother, Mrs. Li. Chen's mother, Mrs. Li, frowned and said, "I went to Baoshi Mountain with a Taoist priest in soap robes and hasn't come back yet. This really worries the old woman."
Laifu had something to say to Chen Caozhi in a hurry. He didn't care about the fatigue of running around all day and said, "Don't worry, mistress, Laifu will go pick up the young man right now. Maybe he will meet you soon."
The young man Ran Sheng only recognized Laifu in Chenjiawu, so he said that he would follow him. The one-armed old man Jing Nu seemed to follow Ran Sheng's lead. If Ran Sheng wanted to follow, he would naturally follow him.
Laifu went to the kitchen to get three bamboo tubes of water and a dozen wheat cakes, ate them with Ran Sheng and Jing Nu and headed towards Baoshi Mountain.
After walking five or six miles to the north, it was completely dark. It was the night of the seventh day of May, and the first quarter moon had not yet appeared. The stars were obscured by clouds, and everything was dark when you looked out. You could only barely distinguish the road under your feet.
Laifu was regretting not bringing a lantern when he heard young Ran Sheng say: "Uncle Laifu, someone is coming over there."
Laifu looked closely and saw a faint light moving slowly in the distance, like a firefly. If he hadn't looked carefully, he wouldn't have been able to distinguish it. He praised, "Young people have good eyesight." He quickened his pace to meet it.
The glimmer of light quickly expanded into the shape of a lantern. Laifu formed his hands into a trumpet shape and shouted loudly: "Is this Mr. Cao Zhi?"
The person on the other side of the lantern responded: "Yes, Xiao Langjun is back." It was the sound of Lai Zhen.
The two people came together quickly. Before Laifu could say anything, he saw the burly man carrying the lantern next to Chen Cao stuffing the long-handled lantern into his hand, turned around, and strode away, disappearing into the darkness in the blink of an eye.
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Laifu was confused. Fortunately, Xiao Langjun, Lai Zhen, and Lai De were all there, so he didn't care and walked back with the lantern. The lantern only shone in front of Chen Caozhi.
Chen Caozhi said uneasily: "Laifu, my mother asked you to pick her up. I stayed too late at Ge Xianweng's place, which made my mother worried!" Then he looked closely at the two people brought by Fu, Zhanyan said.
"Laifu has brought the two of them here - Oh, Jing Nu, Ran Sheng, that's very good. You two will stay in Chenjiawu from now on. If you want to leave in the future, just say it and I will send you off with all the money."
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"Eh!" Ran Sheng, a young man, remembered Chen Caozhi at the Western Fair that day and asked curiously: "You, you, Xiaolangjun, what did you say that the two of us are leaving? If that is the case, why did you take me in?"
Chen Caozhi said: "You two are also stateless refugees from the north. I, the Chen family, are not a noble family, so I can't protect you two. Once the government checks your registration, they will arrest you, so we can only leave in advance."
Ran Sheng said "Oh" and said nothing. This twelve-year-old boy had an unusual calmness.
As he walked, Laifu told Chen Caozhi what he was going to do in Qiantang County. When he finally mentioned going to Feng Mengxiong's house to inquire about household registration, Laifu paused for a moment and was so worried that he didn't know how to speak -
Chen Caozhi asked: "Uncle Feng can't help you apply for household registration?"
Laifu responded: "Yes, County Prime Minister Feng was very angry. He said that it was not difficult to apply for household registration in the first place, but Chief Lu deliberately made things difficult. He said that it must be done according to the law, and all the shadow households that should not be occupied must be cleared out and transferred to Qiaozhou for resettlement.
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After the southern crossing of Yongjia, the land north of the Jianghuai River fell under the iron heel of the Hu people. A large number of refugees moved south, often a large-scale migration of entire families and counties. These millions of northern refugees came to the south of the Yangtze River. In order to manage them, the Eastern Jin Dynasty court
So in the vast and sparsely populated area of Jiangnan, corresponding Qiaozhou and Qiaojun were established according to the states and counties where the refugees were originally located. The refugees in the same state and county still lived together for the purpose of management. Laifu is from Yanzhou, where is Qiaoyanzhou?
I don’t know, it’s not a good place anyway, and it will be very difficult to move there.
Chen Cao said: "It is not against the law to register a household. It stands to reason that Director Lu would not refute Feng County Prime Minister's face like this——"
Laifu asked with a sad face: "Why is that?"
Chen Caozhi didn't answer and said: "Laifu, don't worry, there will be a way."
Ran Sheng, a young man who was busy walking on the road, said: "Uncle Fu, don't be anxious. If it doesn't work, your family can escape with me and Uncle Jing. Wait until the registration inspection is completed in July and then return to Chenjiawu. What kind of Lu is there in the county?"
How can the chief registrar still be here all day long?"
Refugees, refugees, even if they move around, the government can't do anything about them.
Laifu was not only thinking about his own family, he said: "I'm afraid the county officials will make things difficult for me. My family is a wealthy family registered with the Chen family name."
Chen Cao said: "There are still two months before the registration inspection in July, and we still have time to prepare countermeasures. Since Master Lu is pretending to be a public official for private purposes and wants to embarrass my Qiantang Chen family, then I will let him, Qiantang Lu family, perish."
In the end!" He softened his tone and then said: "Let's not talk about this for now. Laifu, please relax. The Chen family in Xilou and your Laifu family will never be separated. Chenjiawu is our home."
Chen Caozhi always spoke in a gentle and gentle manner. This was the first time that Laifu heard such fierce words. He knew that Xiao Langjun was angry, but did Xiao Langjun really have a way to deal with Master Lu? In any case, Xiao Langjun's words made him angry.
Laifu feels much more at ease than before.
Chen's mother, Li, Zongzhi, Run'er, Xiaochan, Qingzhi, Zeng Yuhuan, Lai Gui, and Lai Gui's wife Zhao were all waiting in front of the door. From a distance, they saw a lantern turning through the willow forest.
, Xiaochan, Qingzhi and others cheered together: "Little Master Cao Zhi is back, back!"
Chen Caozhi quickened his pace and came to his mother. Looking at his mother's aging face and joyful eyes, he knelt down and said, "Mother, the child has made me worried. The child will never come home late again."
Chen's mother, Mrs. Li, quickly picked her up and said, "It's good to come back. It's a forty-mile trip to Baoshi Mountain. Your legs are hurting from walking, right?"
Chen Cao said: "Fortunately, the child's physique is much stronger than before."
Chen's mother, Mrs. Li, was happy to hear this and took her son's hand into the gate of Wubao. However, she saw a man walking in front of the ancestral hall. From the look of him walking, he looked like a superficial person. This was Chen Cao's uncle, Chen Man, the second son of Chen Cao.
Liu, a low-grade official working in the county office, a slut and a bad reputation.
Chen Liu said with a smile: "Seventh aunt has brought back sixteenth brother? Sixteenth brother is about to become a man, and it's really unreasonable for seventh aunt to worry like this -"
"The old woman ordered my son to go to Gemstone Mountain to visit Taoism. What's the harm in coming home a little late!"
How could Chen's mother, Mrs. Li, allow Chen Liu, a man with such a bad character, to say anything wrong? She coldly interrupted Chen Liu's words and walked past grandly, holding her son's hand.
Chen Liu was very angry and shouted at Chen Caozhi's back: "In a few days, the county will send someone to re-evaluate the grade of Chen's property. Aren't the seventh aunt and the sixteenth brother anxious?"
In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, everything that could be compared was divided into grades, and fields were divided into nine grades according to whether they were fertile or barren. The Chen family's twenty hectares of land in the west building had been in the lower grade for many years, and the taxes paid on the lower grade fields were much less than those on the upper grade fields.
, if all the land is transferred to high-grade fields, then the tenants of the Chen family in Xilou will not be able to afford the rent, and Chen Cao's family will also have to pay huge taxes.
Chen's mother, Mrs. Li, paused for a moment and hesitated.
Chen Caozhi supported his mother and said softly: "Mom, let's go, don't pay attention to him, he is threatening."
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