flstandardbreds Chapter 178 Corvee
Chapter 178 Corvee
"This year's corvée labor has arrived. One person per household will gather in three days and obey the county's orders."
Village chief Zhang told everyone the news he had just received, and he would go door to door to notify everyone later.
"I remember that there is a provision in the Daliang Law that only those who are twenty-one years old or above need to perform labor service. No one in my family is old enough, so we can use money to pay for it." Luo Xiaoran said calmly.
"But this time the county magistrate specifically instructed that this corvée cannot be redeemed with money, and there is no age limit. Every household must provide one person, and if there are slaves in the family, the slaves are not allowed to perform corvée on behalf of the master. Those who violate the order will be executed."
Luo Xiaoran's expression froze. Why did this rule sound like it was specially made for her family?
Now her family’s household registration is a female household, and she is the head of the household. Her two younger brothers are Luo Xingchen and Luo Xiaohe.
If someone from her family really needs to do corvée labor, she is the only one who can go.
Not only that, Qiu Niang had just registered her household registration, but because her surname was Du, she could not be registered in the Luo family, so she had to set up another female household registration.
Qiu Niang was the only one in her family, so she had to go to perform the labor service alone.
"Doesn't Hexi Village have corvée labor every year in late winter and early spring? Why does the village chief seem a little worried this time?"
Village Chief Zhang sighed deeply, "In previous years, one person was required from each household, but this year, for some reason, everyone who is married is counted as one household. My family alone has to provide three people. I guess the corvée this time is not easy, otherwise they wouldn't have called up so many people."
After Village Chief Zhang left, Luo Xiaoran told her family about the corvée labor. "Uncle Xiang's family is not a civilian, so they don't have to participate in this corvée labor. It's just right for them to stay at home and take care of Chen'er and Niu Dan. Qiu Niang and I have to go. As for Kong Qing and your family..."
Du Kongqing strode forward and said, "Xiao Ran, you also said that Village Chief Zhang felt that this corvée labor was not easy. My mother has always been frail and sickly, so I will definitely not let her go."
"But what about your injury?" Luo Xiaoran looked at Du Kongqing's waist and expressed her doubt appropriately.
"My injury has almost healed. The worst that can happen is that I can just take a break." Du Kongqing said indifferently.
"No! I don't agree!" Du Kang pushed the door open, holding a bowl of steaming medicine in his hand. The smell of the medicine instantly filled the room.
"Your injury hasn't fully healed yet, so you can't go out to do heavy work no matter what. I'll do the labor service this time!"
"Mom! You have always been weak. If you get sick again because of this corvée labor, then there won't be a healthy person left in our family." Du Kongqing frowned tightly and was determined not to let her mother go.
"We can't let you go when you're seriously injured and haven't recovered yet. Last year and the year before, you lost a lot of weight when you came back from labor service. This time, I won't let you go no matter what!" Du Kang, who was always gentle, took a tough stance this time.
Du Kongqing looked at Luo Xiaoran for help, and Du Kang's eyes also drifted over. Luo Xiaoran, who was caught in the middle, said: ...
"Ahem, Kong Qing," Luo Xiaoran touched her nose, "Are your injuries really almost healed?"
Du Kongqing nodded heavily. "I know my own body best. Besides, I have served two years of corvée labor. I know the intricacies of it, how to be lazy, and how to deal with the supervisory officials. My mother has never dealt with such a situation, so I really can't let her go."
After hearing this, Luo Xiaoran turned her head to Du Kang and said, "Aunt Ming, what Kong Qing said makes sense. Besides, Qiu Niang and I are with her. Don't worry, we will take care of her."
Seeing that Du Kongqing was so confident and Luo Xiaoran agreed to help take care of him, Du Kang didn't know what to say. He just reminded Du Kongqing to put his health first.
Three days passed in a flash, and Luo Xiaoran, Qiu Niang and Du Kongqing walked towards the village entrance together, where quite a few people had already gathered.
Because of the rule that "once a family is established, it should be considered as one household", in addition to Village Chief Zhang himself, his eldest son's family and his second son's family also have to have one more person.
Uncle Niu is quite old, and although his wife is no longer alive, he still has to come. Uncle Niu is not married, so he lives as one with his parents and stands in the crowd with his grandfather.
Only the eldest son Liu Dashan came from the home of carpenter Liu Yishui. Liu Yishui's parents had passed away, and his four sons were all unmarried. According to this year's new regulations, his family of six was counted as only one household.
In addition, Luo Xiaoran was more familiar with Boss Sun, Li Xinghua, Zhang Dahe and several of her tenants. Especially those tenants, when they saw Luo Xiaoran coming, they all nodded and greeted her, and Luo Xiaoran responded one by one.
Soon, a large group of people gathered at the entrance of the village. When there were so many people, gossip began to arise. Luo Xiaoran followed along and overheard, and some people actually talked about her.
"This Miss Luo lives in such a big house, but she still has to do corvée labor?"
"Du Kongqing has become smarter and smarter following Miss Luo. When she got lost earlier, Miss Luo mobilized many people to look for her. It seems that she and Miss Luo have a very close relationship."
"The girl next to Miss Luo looks unfamiliar. Is she new to our Hexi Village? She's very pretty."
……
Village Chief Zhang walked around the crowd again and again, holding the list in his hand, checking each one by one, "Where's Li Quan? Why didn't he come?"
"Hey, he went to Yizhou for a short-term job and hasn't come back yet?" someone in the crowd wondered.
"His son is missing, his wife went crazy and killed the county magistrate's son, and his parents have been dead for many years. Why would he come back?"
"That's true. If the county magistrate knew that he was Yu Hongmei's man, he would definitely be angry with him. If I were him, I wouldn't dare to come back."
"Stop guessing here!" Zhu Neng, wearing an old cotton-padded jacket, squeezed out of the crowd, glanced around proudly, and kept everyone in suspense.
"Zhu Neng, do you know Li Quan's recent situation? Then tell me quickly!" Boss Sun couldn't stand his smug look and urged him.
"Humph!"
Zhu Neng didn't say anything. He really enjoyed having everyone's eyes on him. He was very dissatisfied when he heard them talking about Du Kongqing just now. What was there to talk about the traitor's daughter Du Shimu?
"Zhu Neng, if you know where Li Quan has gone, tell us quickly. He is the only one missing!" Village chief Zhang also began to urge him.
Zhu Neng shrank his raised chin slightly, cleared his throat, and then said what he knew:
"Li Quan first told me that his parents were gone, his son was missing, and his wife was dead. He had no ties in Hexi Village. The family he worked for in Yizhou was a good employer, so he sold himself to the employer and never returned to Hexi Village."
Since Li Quan had sold himself into a slave, his status had been changed from civilian to slave, and he was no longer subject to corvée labor. However, the procedures for changing his place of origin should not have been completed, so Li Quan was still on the list that Village Chief Zhang got.
He closed the register and said aloud:
"I will verify Li Quan's matter with the clerks when we get to the county government office. Now we have all the people from Hexi Village together. Let's set off for the county government office now."