Traveling through the mountains and farming

"Dang...dang...dang..."

Early in the morning, the sound of the gongs echoed rapidly and powerfully in every corner of the village.

The crisp and loud sound broke the original tranquility of the village.

The villagers were originally immersed in their own lives, preparing breakfast, doing housework, or working in the fields.

However, when the sound of the gong, which usually rarely sounded, reached their ears.

Everyone put down what they were doing and looked surprised and worried.

I hope it’s not a bad thing, so they all hurried towards the village entrance.

Some people were running while talking with people around them, guessing why the gong sounded.

Some people looked nervous, worried that something urgent might have happened in the village.

At this time, Uncle Li, who was about to run out to check the situation, was hurriedly stopped by Li Changyi, "Dad, slow down, it's probably about the autumn tax notice that Yu Niang came back to talk about yesterday."

When the others heard his words, their panic dissipated, but they still quickly walked out of the door towards the village entrance.

Lin Wan was eating breakfast in the pavilion in the yard. She was startled when she heard the sudden noise and had no idea what was going on.

Li Chongle, who was standing next to her, quickly pulled her aside and said, "Sister-in-law, let's go take a look too. Maybe there's something important going on."

Looking at his confused sister-in-law, Li Chongle explained to her that the sound of the gong here usually means something urgent or important is about to happen.

Lin Wan then came back to her senses and thought that it was the autumn tax notice.

He put down the bowl and chopsticks in his hands and walked out of the house with Li Chongle. Li Ke followed behind with the unfinished eggs in his pocket.

By the time they arrived at the village entrance, everyone else had already arrived. They were gathered in groups of three or four, talking in low voices, waiting for the head of the village and the officers to convey information.

When Lin Wan saw Aunt Li and the others, she took the two siblings over.

I saw He Lizheng and a constable standing there in front. The Lizheng was holding a notice in his hand and a gong was placed beside him.

The village head cleared his throat and said loudly: "Fellow villagers, please be quiet and listen to me."

The noisy crowd gradually quieted down, and everyone's eyes were focused on the village head.

The village head unfolded the notice and began to read it with a solemn expression: "Dear villagers, I am here today to inform you that the specific matters of the autumn tax have been determined..."

His voice echoed in the air, and every word seemed to weigh as heavy as a thousand pounds, hitting the hearts of the villagers.

As the head of the village read out the report, sighs and low murmurs were heard from the crowd.

"Why are they raising taxes again? How are we going to live like this?"

"Yeah, it's already tight, and now it's even harder." Someone muttered with a frown.

The village head continued to read: "If the taxes are not paid, one will have to serve in the army for one year if one stone is owed. ..."

As soon as these words were spoken, the crowd exploded with exclamations and complaints one after another.

"Oh, what should I do? I have sold some of my grain. According to the new regulations, I don't have enough grain to pay the tax!" Li Changren slapped his thigh and shouted anxiously.

"Those who can't pay will have to serve in the military. This is going to kill people!" Zhang Daniu next to him waved his fist angrily.

As soon as the village head finished reading, he was surrounded by villagers like a tide.

Everyone asked questions one after another, and since some people still didn't understand, the village head patiently explained them one by one.

Lin Wan stood nearby and listened, and finally figured out everything. This autumn tax was mainly composed of household tax, male tax, land tax (with different taxes for paddy fields and dry fields) and male and female tax.

Household tax: There are three levels: low, medium and high. Her family belongs to the lower level and needs to pay a household tax of five dou.

Ding tax: There are two types: adult males who are 18 years old or above and half-ding who are 8 years old or above. Her family has one male and one half-ding, so she needs to pay three shi.

Land tax: one dou per mu of paddy field and half a dou per mu of dry land. Her family does not need to pay this.

Dingnu tax: Dingnus who are 15 years old or above and Dingnus who are 8 and a half years old or above. Since Li Ke is under 8 years old, she does not need to pay Dingnu tax. Her family only needs to pay one Dingnu tax, which is 25 feet of linen cloth.

So she had to pay a total of three stone and five dou of grain and twenty-five feet of linen.

At this time, Li Chongle asked his sister-in-law how much tax they had to pay, and Lin Wan told him what she had just calculated.

Aunt Li, who was standing nearby, heard their conversation and spoke anxiously:

"Wan'er, can you help my great-aunt calculate how much we have to pay? I have never figured out how much we have to pay."

After Lin Wan nodded in agreement, she picked up a branch from the ground and began to calculate.

While she was calculating carefully, everything around her was in chaos, especially those who had sold their grain, all of them looked as pale as death.

Some people stood there, staring blankly ahead, as if their souls had been taken away.

Some people kept muttering to themselves, their faces full of disbelief and despair.

Others squatted on the ground, holding their heads in their hands, tearing their hair in pain.

After a moment, Lin Wan figured it out, "Grandma, your family has 14.8 dan of grain and 60 feet of linen."

When the people from the nearby Li family heard this, they were stunned. Their family had only harvested about 25 dan of grain, which meant that after paying the tax, they only had 10 dan of rice left.

This should only be enough for the whole family to eat for about four months, and that's if they mainly feed on porridge.

Everyone's faces turned extremely ugly in an instant, and their hearts were filled with despair and helplessness.

Aunt Li couldn't help but sigh heavily, and that sigh seemed to contain endless pain and sorrow.

"This is impossible to survive!" Chen Lian beside her said in a trembling voice with tears in her voice.

"Okay, go home first. There are people who are more difficult than us. At least we can still collect the autumn tax and don't have to be drafted into military service." Uncle Li comforted them while trying to hold back his grief.

At this time, Aunt Luo and Old Man Wang ran over anxiously to ask Lin Wan to help calculate how much grain they had to pay. Just now they saw Lin Wan squatting on the ground helping Uncle Li's family calculate.

Lin Wan learned about the situation of each family and helped with the calculations.

After hearing the amount they had to pay, they felt like the sky was falling.

"Wan Niang, what do you mean by unified tax collection after seven days?"

"It means that starting from today, taxes will be collected seven days later. The higher-ups will send runners to every village to collect the autumn taxes. They haven't given a time for when they will arrive in our village, but the earliest they will arrive will be seven days later." Lin Wan explained patiently.

At this time, she saw that there were not many people gathered around the head of the village not far away, so she walked over to say hello and wanted to find out what was going on.

It turned out that all the village heads were summoned to the county government for a meeting yesterday afternoon.

Because grain merchants secretly entered the city to collect grain a few days ago, the county magistrate was afraid that it would affect the collection of autumn taxes, so he quickly drafted an autumn tax notice and asked the head of the village to convey it to all villages today.

She also learned that in the five villages under the jurisdiction of the head of the village, more or less villagers had sold some of their grain. As a result, many households might find it difficult to pay the autumn tax.

After that, the village head hurried to the next village.

Lin Wan left with the two siblings amid sighs.

Li Changren and his wife, who had already returned home, were planning how to borrow grain from his uncle's family.