Misty Rain of the Old Times

Chapter 103 Suffering (Subscription Request)

The short holiday happy time always comes to an end, and a few days before school starts, Chen Xuan and his friends set off on their journey home.

After returning to the Gao family, several young masters and young ladies were taken away by their respective elders. They had not seen them for nearly two months and missed them so much that they had to cherish each other. Even Gao Jingming went to Mrs. Gao's place and did not come back. School was about to start, and they had to leave again after just a few days of being together.

I don't know when it started, but parents and children have always been apart more often than together. Perhaps it started from when we learned to walk. Everyone has a pair of wings in their heart, which gradually harden and fly higher and higher, and they are getting farther and farther away from their family and parents...

What Chen Xuan cares most about is his peach seedlings. He has asked Qingdou to take good care of them during this period, but they still haven't grown much. It has been almost two months since he left, and the seedlings are only four or five centimeters tall.

That's fine, after all, he was used to its slow growth. But it was already autumn, and the peach seedlings were still green and lush, with no signs of withering. This surprised Chen Xuan a little. Could it be that they had also mutated after he traveled through time and space, and turned into evergreen trees?
Don't waste your brain cells, just let it live well. It will grow up one day, so it's just a thought.

A few days later, school started and Chen Xuan, Gao Jingming and others set out on their way to school.

After meeting up with Zhou Lin and the others, they had some fun and jokes. After not seeing each other for a holiday, not much had changed, except that Gao Jingming had gotten a little tanned after staying in the countryside for a while.

School life remained calm, except that the teachers talked a little more on the opening ceremony day, but they were all about the same old issues like safety.

Even the pace of learning has not changed much. It is still the same as the initial learning of characters, the four seasons, calculations and numbers, as well as the six arts of a gentleman, namely music, chess, calligraphy and painting. According to this progress, the children in Grade D will have learned most of the commonly used characters by the end of this semester.

Because his learning progress was much ahead of the other children in the class, Chen Xuan had more time to read and enrich himself in addition to completing his daily studies. In one semester, he could find time to finish reading two extracurricular books brought by the Gao family. Naturally, he would gain something from reading more, and he could ask others if he didn't understand. After more than half a year, Chen Xuan had a good relationship with everyone he knew, and everything was going according to plan.

After more than half a year, Chen Xuan finally looked a bit more like a human being. His hair had grown a lot longer, now reaching his shoulders. Once he got used to it, it wasn't difficult to take care of it. He could just tie it up and wear a hat.

In fact, almost all students in the school wear hats, not because of "trend" issues, but because they are not yet of adult age, and tying their hair is quite particular, so they usually wear a hat to cover it to prevent their hair from hanging down on the paper, which would easily obscure the handwriting when they write.

After school started, I went back and forth between Gao's house and the school twice. It was already autumn, with red leaves on the mountains. Even the flowers that usually bloom on Yushan Mountain had mostly withered, and people had already changed into autumn clothes.

When Chen Xuan returned to Yang County after his third short vacation, he found that the market was obviously much more depressed and people were in a panic. It seemed that the entire county was filled with a tense and depressing atmosphere.

In addition, the guards at the city gates were stricter than before, passers-by were carefully checked, and even the police patrolling the streets were more frequent than before.

"Is something wrong?" Chen Xuan was shocked. Could it be that there was going to be a war? Communication was difficult these days. If there really was a war, the people would probably not know about it until they were exposed to it.

But the situation didn't look like a war, at least I didn't see anyone running away with their families. I relaxed a little and thought that as long as there was no war, other small problems should not threaten a family like the Gao family.

Chen Xuan could feel this atmosphere, let alone others.

After entering the city, they encountered a patrol not far away. Geng Hong must have recognized the leader and stopped them and asked, "Brothers, you are busy. Has something happened recently? I feel that the atmosphere in the city is a little strange."

"Hey, Brother Geng, you are here to escort Young Master Gao back from school," one of the official guards came forward and said with a smile.

Seeing that he did not answer the question first but greeted and exchanged pleasantries, Geng Hong immediately knew that nothing serious had happened, otherwise he would not have the time to chat.

Geng Hong smiled and said, "It's my duty, my job, I'm not as arrogant as you guys."

"Tsk tsk, Brother Geng, what you said is right. How about we switch?" The squad leader said with some resentment.

That won't do. The job of guarding the Gao family is not something a small clerk like you can do. Although you are a servant, it depends on whose family you serve. Wouldn't it be a big loss for you to exchange your skin with mine?

Geng Hong laughed and said, "Let's talk about the current situation."

Bancha shrugged and spat to the side, "What else could it be? Brother Geng, you haven't forgotten what season it is, have you?"

After his reminder, Geng Hong immediately understood and said with emotion: "Is the conscription starting again?" "Of course it is. Summer labor, autumn labor, winter soldiers. It's like this every year. The autumn harvest is over. While the weather is good and winter has not yet come, the water level has dropped. We have to conscript laborers to repair the dike and consolidate the river. The higher-ups are urging us. This time, 3,000 people from our Yang County have been assigned to this task. It will take two months. We have to be in place in a few days. Otherwise, everyone will suffer. During these three periods every year, there are always people who find ways to evade conscription. We have to hurry up and keep a close eye on them." The squad leader said with a headache.

Fortunately, he was just following orders, so he didn't have to do such hard labor, so he didn't have to be so sad.

The three major tasks here are like three huge mountains hanging on the heads of ordinary people. They are all hard jobs. The job of being a yamen runner in the summer is a little better. There is no salary, but you can occasionally get some benefits by following the regular shift. However, it is also dangerous in most cases. After all, you need to arrest criminals and you may lose your life if you are not careful.

The labor in autumn was the hardest. Not only was there no pay, but one also had to bring one's own food. If one was sick or hungry, one had to find a way on their own. Every year, many people died while doing labor.

Winter military service is the most dangerous. While nominally paid, how much of it actually counts? In the feudal era, military service wasn't about enjoying life. Soldiers were required to assemble in winter and rush to barracks. After a short training period, they were assigned to various locations, most often to the frontier. Those with connections could go to more privileged locations, but whether fighting the enemy at the border or garrisoning a region within the country to suppress bandits and rebellions, many never returned.

These three major services are the same every year with no end, especially the military service. Every year, people return, but every year, there are many people with white hair waiting for the return of the soldiers. The only thing they can earn is the blood and tears money earned from horse hides.

This is also why every family wants to have many children and grandchildren. They will have as many children as possible if they have the chance, otherwise they will be extinct if they are not careful. Anyway, people die every year, and new lives emerge every year. This cycle repeats over and over again. Even if dynasties change, the fate of the lower-class people remains the same.

Those who can afford it will try their best to spend money to avoid the three services, while those who cannot can only send their loved ones off in tears.

Why was forced labor arranged after the autumn harvest? It was because civilians had food after the autumn harvest. Otherwise, how could they have the energy to work at the construction site if they had nothing to eat?
Ordinary people's income was limited to begin with, and they almost entirely depended on the little they could harvest from the land. After paying taxes, they could get some coarse grains and vegetables to barely make ends meet, but if a family member went to the army, wouldn't they have to find ways to get weapons and armor to survive? This would cost a fortune, not to mention horses. If a family sent one or two soldiers, it would take ten years of frugal living to buy weapons and armor!

Even if you don't want to be a soldier, don't you have to pay to avoid the yamen runners? This is not a matter of being exempted from military service just because you have a small family. When your family is selected for yamen runners, if there are two adult males in your family, one of them must go. There is no way to avoid it, unless you become a fugitive or a savage.

There is also labor. If you don't eat at the construction site, you won't have the energy to work. If you don't want your family to starve and die of exhaustion at the construction site, don't you take the best food?

Not to mention that every family has its own minor illnesses and disasters, what good can a small harvest from the land do? Therefore, in ancient times, when describing people at the bottom of society, the words "poor" and "miserable" always appeared together.

Take Niu Le's family as an example. He has a job in the Gao family and earns much more than ordinary people. He has a father, grandfather, younger brother and several male members in his family. They are considered a well-off family, but they still live a tight life. When he gets married, no one is willing to give out wedding candies except to the people of the Gao family. If he had not become a guard of the Gao family and had food provided for him, with his physique, he would have no chance of practicing martial arts. If he had not eaten enough for a long time, his body would have collapsed after the peak period.

Originally, good family men like Chen Xuan and Gao Jingming could not escape the three major military service when they reached old age, unless they had their own achievements. But families like the Gao family have their own connections, which is why many people try their best to find ways to enter wealthy families. The benefits are self-evident. Guards like Geng Hong and others, if not for the protection of the Gao family, would have their best fate on the battlefield. You can also escape military service, but unless you become a savage, you will be on your own if you are recognized when entering the city. At worst, you will go to jail, and in serious cases, your family will be killed as well!

So, every year, families were broken up and people died, every year, people rose up in rebellion because of the three major campaigns, and every year, the army suppressed them. It was really unsustainable.

According to Chen Xuan's understanding, the overall environment in Jing State is still relatively good. There are only one or two rebellions every year, and they will not affect places like Yang County anyway. As long as it is not a rebellion that shocks the government and the public, the world will be peaceful.

After learning the whole story, Geng Hong sighed and said, "Okay, guys, go and get busy. I won't bother you anymore. Let's have a drink together when there's a chance."

"If Brother Geng is so kind as to do me the honor, I will take care of it. Please take care and give my regards to Young Master Gao for me," Ban Cha and the others tactfully left.

Chen Xuan overheard their conversation and, knowing a little about the three major battles, felt melancholy. What could he do? The entire world was like this, and there was nothing he could do to change it. Even if a red tide were to occur, it would only happen when the fundamental conditions were met. An impulsive uprising would only harm both himself and others.

In short, the atmosphere of the entire Yang County has infected everyone and no one can be happy.

Soon after, they returned to the Gao family's front door. As usual, Gao Jingming jumped out of the car first and prepared to run to the mansion to find his mother. However, he suddenly stopped after running two steps. He was stunned when he saw a figure at the door, and subconsciously said in surprise, "Dad?"

The sudden shout caught Chen Xuan, who was following him, off guard. He subconsciously asked in surprise, "Dad?"

Gao Jingming was immediately displeased, and turned around and said speechlessly: "A Xuan, that's my dad!"

Chen Xuan was depressed. Who wants to compete with you for your father? I just didn't react for a moment and spit out my mouth...

(End of this chapter)