Traveling through ancient times, I led my family to prosperity

When it was getting dark, Zhang Qingfeng, Zhang Qingnian and others came back.

Looking at the two carriages full of shells, Xiao Lan smiled so hard that her teeth were showing.

"You guys are back just in time. Hurry up and wash your hands and have dinner." Zhang turned to Xiao Wen and said, "Xiao Wen, send two bowls of dumplings to Mr. Huang."

Although Mr. Huang lives in Xiaolan's house, he does not eat with her family. Every meal is brought to him by Xiaowen.

"Uncle, uncle, is it fun at the beach?" As a child who had never seen the sea, Xiaowen couldn't help but feel curious.

Xiaohu, Xiaocheng and Xiaoqiang also looked at their father with sparkling eyes.

"It's fun." Xiaoyan laughed heartily.

Hearing Xiaoyan say it was fun, the children became even more excited, and they all showed expressions that they also wanted to go and see it.

"Reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles. I will talk to Mr. Huang tomorrow and you can go with me to broaden your horizons." Xiao Lan said with a smile.

"Great." Several children cheered.

"These shells also need to be ground into powder. Shengjia Village is still the best. They have all the tools. Here you have to buy everything on the spot." Sheng Xuan said.

"Who said it wasn't? I think our stone mill should not be lost. The Hu people can't move it even if they want to." Zhang said with a smile.

"I really hope the government office can issue the official document earlier so that we can go back earlier." Zhang Qingfeng said.

The next day, when Xiao Lan followed Sheng Xuan to buy a millstone, she saw a notice posted at the gate of the government office. Xiao Lan thought it was a notice that she could return home, so she excitedly dragged Sheng Xuan to see it, but she was disappointed. She didn't wait for the government office to issue a notice about the stability of the border, but a notice for conscription was posted.

This is not a good thing, Xiao Lan thought.

"The Emperor, in compliance with the Will of Heaven, proclaims that the world has been peaceful for a long time, but evil spirits are growing, and the Hu people, ghosts and monsters are causing trouble at the border. Heaven has issued an order to raise 100,000 heavenly soldiers to guard the border and intimidate the Hu people wherever they go. The monthly salary will be generous, and every household over the age of 15 will be recruited once in three times. I hope that brave men will bravely join the army. This announcement will be made to let everyone at home and abroad know."

"Miss, what does it say?" Although Sheng Xuan knew some words, he couldn't understand the parallel prose of the notice.

"Dad, they're recruiting soldiers. They say that for those who are over 15 years old, one out of three will be recruited," Xiao Lan said.

"Ah? Why has the age been lowered? It was always 18 years old before." Sheng Xuan said.

Xiao Lan is a little worried about Zhang Shanfeng's family. In previous years, they could pay money and not have to join the army, but she doesn't know if it will be feasible this year. If it is feasible, how much money will they have to pay?

In this era, generals died in a hundred battles, warriors returned after ten years, and as for some small soldiers, they were probably killed on the battlefield. Xiao Lan didn't want anyone from the Zhang family to serve in the army, because if they went, they might not come back.

The father and daughter returned home and told their family about the announcement they had seen. The whole family was also worried.

"I don't know how much silver I have to pay this year. It's like this every year. When will it end?" Xin said.

"If one of Xiaohu, Xiaocheng and Xiaoqiang can produce a scholar, this problem will be solved. Grandma, don't worry too much. Let's pool the money together and our family won't have to serve in the military." Xiaolan said.

The weather is hot this year, and the consumption of ice is extremely high. There are many wealthy families in the city, so a large amount of ice is used. As for the price of ice, it is even more expensive.

In this era, some wealthy families who had the means actually stored ice. They would dig icehouses in cool places. Every year during the Great Cold season, they would arrange for people to chisel ice from places with good water quality and then transport it to the icehouse for storage, because the ice during the Great Cold season is the most solid and difficult to melt.

But even if the ice is cut during the coldest time of the year, most of it will melt in the summer. In a hot weather like this year, the ice will melt even more.

If you were to ask what business is the hottest in the city right now, it would definitely be selling ice cream.

Xiao Lan knew that making ice could make money quickly, and she also knew how to make ice, but she didn't dare to sell it.

She understood the principle that an innocent man is guilty until he possesses a treasure in modern times. Selling ice is a business with no capital investment. Such huge profits would make many people jealous.

Before she could figure it out, the city government began to recruit soldiers.

The person who came this time was an acquaintance. He was the leader of Shen Liu's entourage who came to pick him up last time. His surname was Shen and his given name was A Da. Shen Liu gave him the surname Shen to represent that he was his confidant.

Xiaolan's family has only two males, Shengxuan and Xiaowen, so they don't have to serve in the military. But Zhang's family has Zhang Shanfeng, Zhang Qingfeng and Zhang Qingnian who are over 15 years old. If one of the three is selected, one of the three fathers and sons will have to serve in the military.

"Lord Shen, my grandfather is old, and it is not convenient for him to go to the battlefield. As for my two uncles, they have elderly parents to take care of and children to support, so it is really impossible for my family to serve in the military." Xiao Lan played the sympathy card.

"This is an official document from the emperor. We are handling it impartially. There is nothing we can do." Shen Ada said.

After all, Shen Ada had met Xiao Lan once before, so he spoke politely.

"Then can you be flexible? We will pay the money in silver. I wonder how much per person it is this year?" Zhang Shanfeng asked.

"One hundred gold per person." Shen A said.

"Why are there so many?" Fu and Liu were no longer calm and started shouting.

Shen Ada hesitated for a moment before whispering to Xiao Lan, "This time, all the refugees will be classified as military households. This is good for you. Those who have real estate at home will only have one out of three confiscated. However, this matter has not been officially documented yet, so just keep it in mind."

Due to the famine and war in the past two years, many households have been conscripted into the army. Now refugees are being recruited as military households. It seems that the court can no longer pay for food and wages, and wants Shen Liu to be self-sufficient.

This time, when the Hu people went south to plunder, Shen Liu led his army and was worried about food and grass. He asked the court for food and grass, but the treasury had no silver, so where would the food and grass come from?

Therefore, the emperor came up with a best of both worlds solution, which was to classify the refugees as military households. Then the food and fodder for the next two years would come from these military households, and the food and fodder problem for the soldiers would be solved.

The emperor threw the problem to Shen Liu, asking him to worry about the food and fodder for his soldiers. He waved his pen and allocated a large piece of land to him, making tens of thousands of households become military households.

These refugees were first divided according to the three-for-one ratio. If a family had a small population and did not have three male adults over the age of fifteen, each household would send one person to join the army, and the rest would farm and pay 40% of the harvest to the army, and the remaining 60% would remain their own.

Even if the military households are designated now, the military rations will not be available until next autumn. How to solve the problem of food and grass before then? Because of the huge casualties of soldiers in the war with the Hu people, Shen Liu is now doing two things at the same time, recruiting soldiers and collecting high silver money from those who are unwilling to serve.