I am a woman, I am a man, I want to marry a wife so that I can farm

More and more people gathered, and people from every household in the village came. Several men who were in charge of the families had gone up the mountain, but they were also called back by the villagers. Boss Ye and Lin, who was digging wild vegetables and feeding pigs on the hillside, also came back when they heard the news and stood with Ye Ze and the others.

The village chief had not arrived yet, and people did not know what had happened. They gathered in groups of three or four to discuss:

"Do you know why the village chief called everyone here?"

"I don't know. What else could possibly call us all over at this time?"

"Ah! Wait, it won't be good..."

⊙﹏⊙ Really, when has the village ever been good to ring the gong? It's either military service or tax...Alas!

Just when almost all the villagers had arrived, Village Chief Ye walked to the front of the crowd with a worried look on his face, followed by a dozen yamen runners in official uniforms.

When the villagers saw the yamen runners coming to the village, they unconsciously had a bad premonition in their hearts. For a moment, everyone's eyes fell on Village Chief Ye who was standing in front of them. No one spoke again, and the scene suddenly became quiet.

Village Chief Ye stood on a large flat rock under the big willow tree and said with a serious face: "Fellow villagers, these officials are ordered to come here to collect grain taxes. This year's grain taxes will be increased by another 20%..."

At this point, Village Chief Ye sighed, and the words he had intended to use to comfort the villagers were no longer utterable.

He saw the fear, frustration, and helplessness of accepting their fate on the villagers' faces, and sighed.

Before the autumn planting, the government collected 30% of the grain tax. Liushu Village is close to the mountains and the land is already barren. If they collect another 20% of the grain tax, the people will have a hard time this winter...

Ye Ze also felt the old lady Ye's uneasiness. Her brows were twisted into knots, her lips were trembling, and her hands were shaking slightly.

Ye Ze held the old lady's trembling hand and whispered in her ear: "Don't be afraid, mother. Your son is here."

Old Mrs. Ye looked up at him, and her tense emotions gradually calmed down. Yes, she still had Ze Ge'er, so she was not afraid!

"Village chief, why are we collecting grain tax again?" Someone at the back couldn't help but ask out loud.

Someone started to complain, and the others followed suit:

"Yes, village chief, the harvest cost this year is not good. If we collect another 20% more grain tax, my family will go hungry."

"I have elderly parents and young children at home, more than a dozen people in my family, and we don't have enough food to eat. We have to tighten our belts to make ends meet. Can the grain tax be reduced?"

"village head......"

"This..." Village Chief Ye just opened his mouth when he was interrupted by the leading yamen runner in an impatient voice: "Why are you talking so much nonsense? Go home and prepare food. After we finish collecting the food here, we still have to rush to the next village!"

The leading yamen runner had a ferocious look on his face, with a full beard, frowning eyebrows and stern eyes. He looked like a ferocious monster. He was 1.9 meters tall and had a strong build. Just looking at him was enough to make people tremble with fear.

In order to intimidate the villagers and make them cooperate, he drew out the big knife from his waist, raised it high with a "swish", and shouted angrily: "Go quickly!"

The villagers were so frightened that they immediately shut up and shrank like quails, fearing that he would use them to attack them. The people should not fight against the officials. If they handed over the grain, they would at most not have enough to eat, but at least they could still survive. But if they didn't hand it over, they would probably die today! No one wanted to die!

The leading yamen runner sneered and ordered his men: "Divide into two teams, hurry up and return home as soon as you finish collecting the items."

"Yes!" The yamen runners immediately divided into two teams and ran towards the east and west.

The villagers all sighed and hung their heads and went home to prepare food.

Ye Ze's family was being watched by Boss Ye, so he was in no hurry to go back. He walked up to the leading yamen runner with a smile and said, "Big brother yamen runner, you have worked hard. My home is poor and simple. If you don't mind, how about coming to my house to have a cup of tea and rest for a while?"

As he spoke, Ye Ze slipped a small piece of silver into the hand of the yamen runner without leaving any trace.

The leading yamen runner looked Ye Ze up and down in surprise, only to see that Ye Ze had a smile on his face, and looked calm and not afraid of him at all, which was interesting... The yamen runner was thinking about the silver he had obtained, which was quite a lot of two taels. He didn't expect that he could make extra money by collecting taxes in this remote mountain village, so a smile immediately appeared on his face.

"Then, walk?"

"Please, please."

Ye Ze immediately turned into a lackey and on the way he even asked around to find out that the officer's name was Xu Yongxing, the fifth child in the family, and people called him Xu Wu.

Ye Ze approached Xu Wu and called him Fifth Brother. With a few words, Xu Wu burst into laughter. When walking with Xu Wu, Ye Ze was half a head shorter than him.

When they got home, Ye Ze invited him into the main hall to sit down, poured him a bowl of tea, and said with a smile, "Our home is simple, don't blame me, Fifth Brother."

This tea was specially bought by Old Lady Ye when Ye Ze got married, otherwise he would have had to treat everyone to plain water.

"Brother Ye, that's not true. For low-level yamen runners like us who do rough work, the only thing we have is this layer of skin that can scare people." Xu Wu laughed heartily.

"I think Fifth Brother is a straightforward person. I won't hide some things from you, brother. Our county has just collected grain taxes and it's been only half a month since we have to collect taxes again. Could it be..." Ye Ze left his words unsaid, waiting for Xu Wu to speak.

The continuous collection of taxes was either caused by famine or war, and Ye Ze wanted to get some information in advance. Besides, although Xu Wu was a low-level yamen runner, it would be beneficial for him to have a good relationship with them. After all, he couldn't touch the upper-class people.

"Alas," Xu Wu sighed and lowered his voice, "I'm afraid the war will start again."

After saying that, he did not forget to warn Ye Ze: "Don't say this to anyone else. They can't reach us anyway. It will just make these people suffer and starve."

"That's right, I'm not that ignorant. How could I tell anyone about this?" Ye Ze nodded repeatedly and asked more about the war.

Xu Wu only gave Ye Ze a few cautious pointers and didn't say much else. Ye Ze was also a smart man and knew that there were some things Xu Wu couldn't say more about, so he naturally wouldn't ask too many questions.

Seeing that the time was almost up, Xu Wucai picked up the tea bowl, gulped down two or three mouthfuls, and immediately stood up and said, "Thank you, Brother Ye, for the tea. I have official business to attend to, so I'll take my leave now."

"Fifth brother, your official duties are more important. When I have time, I will treat you to a drink at the restaurant." Ye Ze politely sent Xu Wu out.

"Okay! Then Fifth Brother will be waiting for you! Hahahaha..." The two of them walked out of the main room one after another while talking.

In the yard, Boss Ye, who was carrying a bag of grain from the backyard, saw Ye Ze and the ferocious-looking yamen runner coming out of the main hall together, and his mouth opened in shock.

......