In the book, I was fed by my sister

Chuanzi stood barefoot on the pedal of the waterwheel, holding the wooden handle of the waterwheel tightly with both hands, and stepping on the pedals with his feet as the waterwheel turned.

The waterwheel turned, making a "creaking" sound, and the river water flowed along the trough, splashing strings of crystal water droplets, bringing a hint of coolness.

When Yang Yihe walked over to the nearby area, sweating profusely and holding his robe, he saw several children queuing up to play with the water wheel.

This scene is full of childlike fun.

Yang Yihe couldn't help but stop and simply walked over.

Chuanzi and his friends finally got to play with the waterwheel while Li Rongrong and the others were away, but a stranger dressed as a scholar came up to them. They asked curiously, "Where are you from, sir?"

Yang Yihe smiled and said, "I just came to Feng County and I'm not familiar with the surroundings, so I walked around and unknowingly came here. May I ask, young friends, which village is this?"

"This is Lihua Village." Chuanzi and the others looked at each other, sizing up the scholar with some suspicion.

They thought that the city was far away and it would take more than an hour to walk. How did this person get to their village? Chuanzi couldn't help but ask curiously, "Are you Paihuazi?"

"Hahahahahaha." Yang Yihe couldn't help but burst out laughing. These kids were quite vigilant.

He smiled and asked, "Do I look like a beggar to you?"

Chuanzi hesitated for a while, carefully observed Yang Yihe, and said, "Not like that."

"Oh? Why not?"

Chuanzi explained seriously: "Because you look skinny and not strong at all. If you catch me, my mother will beat you two miles away."

"Cough cough cough." Yang Yihe coughed a few times awkwardly. He was indeed a bit weak, but he didn't expect to be looked down upon by these boys.

He wanted to continue asking when he heard a girl's voice behind him. He turned his head and saw a group of girls appearing behind him. The tall girl leading the group passed him and ran straight to the waterwheel.

"Chuanzi! Who asked you to come to my territory?" Li Rongrong appeared domineeringly, stepped forward and grabbed Chuanzi down.

This wild and domineering character really opened Yang Yihe's eyes. As expected, the local climate and soil nurture the local people, and the girls suddenly suppressed the aura of the boys.

Facing Li Rongrong's questioning, Chuanzi explained with a smile: "I just saw that you were not here, so I wanted to help Song Li."

These words were spoken gently, and Li Rongrong curled her lips and did not bother with them.

She turned her head to look at Yang Yihe, whispered to a few friends around her, then turned to Chuanzi again and asked curiously: "Chuanzi, is this your relative?"

Chuanzi shook his head and replied, "No, he said he was just passing by."

Li Rongrong was the oldest of the children. She looked at Yang Yihe suspiciously and asked in a serious tone, imitating the way adults talk: "Where are you from? Where are you going?"

Without waiting for Yang Yihe to answer, Chuanzi took over the conversation, "He said he came from the city, wandered around, and finally came to our village."

Yang Yihe's heart tightened. He could feel that this tallest girl wanted to turn around and run back home to call parents.

If we really call the people in the village over.

He had just arrived at Feng County as the county magistrate. If he was caught by the villagers under his jurisdiction as a beggar, he would be a huge joke if the news got out.

So Yang Yihe quickly explained: "I just came here to serve as an official. I wanted to investigate the people's sentiments, so I came to take a walk around here."

When they heard that it was an official, the children became serious.

Song Li asked, "Are you the new county magistrate?"

Yang Yihe was surprised for a moment, glanced at the little girl who was speaking, and said with a smile: "You know me?" He had just taken office not long ago, but he did not expect that he had already been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Even this childish girl knew him.

Li Zi said loudly: "Yes, I know! I have a very bad impression of you!" She thought of what Song Li had said to her, and her heart was filled with dissatisfaction with the county magistrate.

In her opinion, the new county magistrate is a big villain!

Yang Yihe paused, forced a smile and said, "Where did this come from?"

Li Zi thought about it and started talking about what Song Li had said to her: "If we go into the city, you have to charge us money. If we drive a bullock cart into the city, you have to charge us three cents. Although my family rarely goes into the city, but... Yu'e's family has a bullock cart!"

Hearing this, Yang Yihe couldn't help but laugh.

The girl's clothes looked like pudding, but she was plump and cute. She spoke in pauses and looked at the other little kid from time to time.

“I call this management,” he explained gently.

“What is management?”

“Management is to use a series of methods and strategies to make things go in an orderly manner.”

Li Zi tilted his head and asked, "So the method you are talking about is to charge us a fee to enter the city?"

Yang Yihe nodded stiffly, "This is one of the reasons. I charge the city entrance fee not for personal gain, but to protect everyone's safety. Think about it, the streets in the city are not wide enough, and ox carts, horse carriages and other vehicles pass through freely. If an ox cart meets a horse carriage, the street will be blocked. Ma Lie, when people squeeze together, trampling is inevitable. The existence of the city entrance fee can limit the number of vehicles entering the city, thereby protecting everyone's safety."

Li Zi listened to Yang Yihe's explanation. Although she was a little confused, she nodded. She had no memory of entering the city, so she had to ask Song Li for help: "Is what he said true?"

"Well, that seems to be the case. Then why did you come here to investigate the people's sentiments?" Song Li thought about it. She had done so many bad things. If she was discovered, would this official arrest her?

Yang Yihe replied: "Just to check around and see how the harvest is this year."

"So you are here to collect our food!" Li Rongrong said.

After hearing this, everyone immediately looked at Yang Yihe with hostility.

Song Li had also heard from her sister that they had to pay nine shi of tax grain for their rice fields every year. In some years when the harvest was poor, they still had to pay nine shi of tax grain.

If they share it with the Zhu family, there won’t be enough for her and her elder sister to eat.

"This is called tax grain, which is the foundation of the country. Do you know that there is a war in the north now?"

Li Rongrong nodded, "Yes, my eldest brother has been there for almost three years."

The others also nodded. As long as they were under 30 years old and had two or more male children in the family, they had to give birth to a child.

Except for cases like Song Li's family, almost every family was conscripted.

Yang Yihe noticed that after he talked about this, the children became depressed. He softened his tone and changed his way of speaking: "Look, they have to eat enough to fight the bad guys in the north. The grain collected by the court will eventually be delivered to them."

Li Zi seemed to understand: "When will my second brother come back?"

"I'll be back after the battle."

"When will the war be over?"

"Maybe tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, I don't know."

"You are an official, so you must have read a lot of books. Don't you know this?"

Yang Yihe: ...