Transmigrated into a female county magistrate during a famine, leading her country to prosperity

For the common people, there is an essential difference between performing corvée labor and being conscripted for labor.

The corvée system of the previous dynasty - all people aged between 15 and 70, regardless of gender, had to serve in the army. The length of service was not fixed, but in short, they had to do any work that was available.

During the reign of the previous emperor, the corvée system was in place: all people aged 20 and above and under 60 had to perform corvée. However, if there were old or young members in the family, one person could be exempted, and each person’s service could not exceed 40 days per year.

After the current government came to power, it made major changes to the corvée system and added many "disobedience" regulations - disobedience at marriage, disobedience at funerals, disobedience when there are elderly people in the family, disobedience when there are young children in the family, disobedience when planting in spring, disobedience when harvesting in autumn, etc., and each person should not serve for more than twenty days each year.

For example, during the spring planting season, the imperial court would not ask the people to serve in the army, but would recruit them voluntarily. In this case, the laborers would not only have food to eat, but also receive wages.

When the people in front of the notice heard the word "recruitment", they were silent for a moment and asked the same question: "How much is the wage?"

The man who first saw the notice had already squeezed out and rolled his eyes at the crowd, saying, "How much can it be? Only thirty or forty cents a day. I can't even afford a meal. What's the point of doing this?"

But there are people who are willing to do it.

"My family lives by the Hui River. I can do it for thirty or forty cents. After the rice is planted, there is no need to take care of it too much. I have nothing to do, so I can just go there and get some food."

Amid the clamor, someone who could read finally saw the content of the notice.

"Wait a minute!" The man stared and shouted, "The court will not pay for this conscription!"

"What?!" The people were furious. "Not getting paid is no different from serving in the military. Isn't this just a joke? Go away, stop watching. It's a waste of time!"

The people all ran away, and the person in front of the notice almost shouted out: "No wages, but grain seeds!"

Grain seeds?

The people stopped and asked tentatively: "Give out...rice seeds or wheat seeds?"

The man glanced at the notice again.

After his passion faded, he suddenly didn't want to talk anymore.

It was clearly written on the notice that only 500 people were to be recruited for this job. If he told the truth now, wouldn't the people who went to sign up be so desperate that they would break down the threshold of the government office?

Then...how can it be his turn?

After rolling his eyes and thinking for a while, the man coughed lightly: "Xiaomi. Actually, it's nothing special. Who doesn't need this? Anyway, I'm not going. Let's go. Let's go. Those who want to go or not should think carefully. This deal is not worth it."

After saying this, he squeezed out of the crowd and ran towards Jingzhao Prefecture.

The people who stayed in front of the notice were confused.

"If he doesn't want to go, then he won't go. Why is he running away?"

"I don't know. Maybe he wants to escape."

Not long after the words were spoken, several literate people saw the contents of the notice, and after looking at each other secretly, they also ran away.

"..."

Now everyone was completely confused.

"That's not right. They ran after seeing the notice, and they all ran towards Jingzhao Prefecture... There is definitely something wrong with this notice! Someone come and take a look! Don't lie to us!"

When the few people ran to the gate of Jingzhao Prefecture, the people in front of the notice finally knew the truth.

——This time the imperial court recruited workers to repair the Huihe River. They did not pay them wages, but instead gave them rice seeds. The seeds they gave were not ordinary rice seeds, but seeds of Tongan rice.

Tongan Rice is the name given by the people to the high-yield rice.

The notice also stated that for every five days of work, the laborers could exchange it for one mu of rice seeds. Based on the Tongan rice yield of 1,200 kilograms per mu, one mu of land could produce 120 kilograms of Tongan rice.

This is something that money can’t buy!

And they only need to work for a full month to exchange one mu and two mu of Tongan rice seeds from the court...

"What are you still standing there for? Run!"

Someone in the crowd shouted, and almost everyone ran away.

The officials of Jingzhao Prefecture thought that rebels were coming to attack them.

An hour later, at the gate of Jingzhao Prefecture, countless people came with high hopes but left in disappointment.

"The notice didn't say that you can't work if you don't have land..."

"I told you."

"That didn't say they would only recruit 500 people!"

“That’s what I said.”

"That doesn't mean you can't work when you're 70. You're discriminating against old men!"

"I've said it, I've said it! At your age, if you do manual labor, the court will be afraid of you, so just stick your head out!"

"Hey, how can you talk like that! You are an official, curse me, curse me, right? Just wait!"

"What about pregnant women? Sir, the notice really doesn't say anything about that. Don't look at me with a big belly, I can still work hard."

"...Can you please stop making trouble? The matter of Huihe River is of great importance. You can't just go there whenever you want! You! If you don't think about the baby in your belly, you should think about yourself! If you get hurt, you will suffer for the rest of your life!"

"What's so bad about it!"

"..."

At dusk, after the gates of Jingzhao Prefecture were closed, the bailiff hugged the officer's thighs and cried.

"Military officer, why should we do this job? Isn't it the Ministry of Works and the Water Conservancy Bureau's job to repair the Huihe River? You don't know how evil that old man is. He actually wants to lie down in front of our house and force me to recruit him!"

The military officer of the Ministry of Revenue held the list and sighed, "The Ministry of Works has been busy lately. They said that if we are willing to take on this job, we will also have a share of the new weapons that are made."

The yamen runner wiped his snot on the soldier's pants and said, "Sister, brother-in-law, it's the one you mentioned before...the one from Tongan County..."

"Sh ...

......

Time flies.

The Ministry of Works began to cast blast furnaces, and the Ministry of Households' rice fields were also planted neatly. Shen Zheng went to see them once and saw that hundreds of acres of seedlings were growing very strong and thriving. One can imagine what a magnificent scene it would be when the autumn harvest comes.

The conscription for workers on the Huihe River has also come to an end. In recent days, people from the Jingzhao Prefecture and the Ministry of Revenue have been reviewing the fields of the workers' families. Once the Capital Water Conservancy Bureau is ready, the construction of the Huihe Dam will officially begin.

On May 23rd, the sky was cloudy and drizzled.

The streets and alleys of Shangjing are still bustling. Looking down from above, colorful oil-paper umbrellas are floating in the streets, creating a unique and beautiful scene.

There was a knock on the door of the Shen Mansion.

Yu Shizhang arrived earlier than Diwu Nazheng.

It’s not that the fifth Na was late.

In the front yard, Yu Nanshu was holding an umbrella and walking hurriedly.

"Grandfather, hurry up. My first class this morning is mine. If I'm late, how will Sister Huaduo and the others look at me?"

Yu Shizhang's clothes were slightly wet, and he stopped helplessly, "I said I didn't want to come together, but you insisted on asking me to come along. Even if it's late, you can't blame me."

Water droplets slid down the umbrella, Yu Nanshu stomped her feet, turned around and ran.

"I'll go first!"

Nanny Gu came out from the main hall and had just bowed when the door of the Shen Mansion was knocked again.

Yu Shizhang turned around and said with a smile: "The old man, come..."

The door opened and what came into view was a carriage.

Yu Shizhang's pupils suddenly shrank and the paper umbrella in his hand fell to the ground.