Farmhouse Green Plum

Seeing that he was getting more and more outrageous, the old man's face became even uglier. He frowned and glared, "Brother, what are you talking about!"

Although he was the elder brother, Yuan Chuanfang did not have the dignity of an elder brother. Instead, he was a little afraid of his younger brother. When he was glared at, he immediately shrank his neck and lowered his voice involuntarily: "Forget it, brothers should settle accounts clearly. Just consider it as a loan from you. I will return it to you when Qingwa passes the imperial examination."

Yuan Chuanshi was embarrassed and angry. What was the difference between this and directly saying that he was stingy?

He took a deep breath and controlled his emotions. He ignored his irrational elder brother and looked at Yuan Qing, saying in a deep voice, "Although you are still young, you have read a few books and are sensible.

Second Grandpa treats you as an adult. We are not those rich people. Everyone has to tighten their belts to make a living.

As the saying goes, a lid should match the size of the pot. If you don't have spare money, don't think about taking the back door. Don't be like your grandfather and your father, who emptied their family fortunes on studying but still didn't make any progress.

The master leads you to the door, but cultivation depends on the individual. Studying depends on one's own efforts, and external forces have little effect. Those who are truly talented and willing to endure hardships can pass the exam to become a scholar no matter where they are!"

Daya was stunned. Yuan Qing's second grandfather was very prestigious in several nearby villages and was a famous village elder. They all said that he spoke to the point, but when she heard his words, she always felt that they were inexplicably harsh.

Yuan Qing lowered his eyelids slightly, making it impossible to see his inner emotions. He bowed once again and said, "Yuan Qing will remember Second Grandfather's teachings."

Yuan Chuanshi touched his beard, nodded with satisfaction, and waved his hand to signal him to do what he should do.

Yuan Chuanfang wanted to say something, but Yuan Chuanshi glared at him and he became speechless and walked away in embarrassment.

People withdrew their gaze and refocused their attention on delivering the autumn grain, discussing when the officials would arrive and expressing their worries.

After a while, Xu Dahe came carrying a shoulder pole, followed by Chen who was carrying a backpack.

Daya glanced at the basket in front of Xu Yulan and asked curiously, "Isn't the millet for your autumn harvest already here? Why did your father pick up two more baskets?"

Xu Yulan pouted and said unhappily, "I picked them for my aunt's family. Really, my father was responsible for farming and harvesting the millet. Now that the millet has been dried and is ready for harvest, they don't even have time to show up. They rely on my parents for everything."

When Li heard this, she turned around and looked at Xu Yulan disapprovingly: "You are such a petty girl. Your aunt is a widow. There are always gossips about widows. You should be careful and avoid her when doing anything.

If it weren't for your uncle, your father would have died of illness while fleeing the famine. Isn't it your responsibility to take care of his widow and orphan now?"

Li not only had great power in the Song family, but also had some authority outside. Xu Yulan did not dare to refute her. She lowered her head and rolled her eyes silently.

After this incident, Daya and the others didn’t dare to chat anymore and waited quietly for the officials to collect the autumn crops.

It was already high in the sky when the officials slowly arrived.

Several village heads immediately stood up and went to greet them. The villagers were making a lot of noise, and children like Daya were following behind and could not see the situation clearly.

She didn't notice that Song Yuan relied on his small stature to get into the crowd and squeeze in. After a while, he squeezed back in and said with some disappointment: "Why isn't the county magistrate here?"

Daya didn't understand these things. Thinking about the operas she had heard from others, she guessed, "The county magistrate is busy solving cases. He shouldn't be involved in such a small matter."

Amidst the hustle and bustle, mats were laid out and a high platform was built. The servants took out the measuring cups and laid them out. The village chiefs organized the villagers to come forward to pay their grain according to their households.

Sitting at a table covered with gray cloth next to him was the grain collector who was collecting the autumn grain. He looked at the villagers and said, "For your sake, I will start with the village farthest from here."

As soon as he finished speaking, a young officer standing beside him came forward, took out a book from several books on the table and handed it to him.

The grain chief cleared his throat and read out: "Rongshu Village, Zheng Jiachang, five hu."

A skinny middle-aged man carrying two baskets walked over, bent in the direction of the officers, called out to his fellow villagers, and together they lifted a basket and poured the grain inside into the measuring cup.

Soon, the hu was full. They put down the basket and picked up the dustpan to fill it with millet. They continued to pile up the millet little by little until the hu was piled up to a point and would collapse if there were a few more grains. Only then did they stop.

After loading five of the hu in this way, Zheng Jiachang and his fellow villagers stepped back. The officer in charge walked forward, looked around the hu, and suddenly raised his foot and kicked one of the hu.

Wow!

The pile of millet poured down and landed on the mat that had been laid out in advance.

The officer did not stop, but kicked other buckets instead, and golden grains poured down like waterfalls.

When the grains in the bucket stopped falling, the servants who had been waiting nearby came with brooms and dustpans and collected the fallen grains.

The grain chief then thought of the next family.

Song Yuan looked puzzled and whispered, "Sister, why did they fill the basket so full and then kick the grains out?"

Daya put her index finger to her lips, hushed softly, and whispered, "You have such a bad memory. I just explained it to you when you paid the summer tax a few months ago, but you forgot it again."

"Really?" Song Yuan frowned and tried hard to recall, but he couldn't remember.

Daya glanced at the officers and reminded them in a low voice: "This is called Linjiantihuo."

The hu used by the government to collect grain were all of standard size, and one hu was considered a full hu. Logically, Zheng Jiachang's family had to hand in five hu, so they only needed to fill five hu.

However, the government required the people to pack the millet into a pointed cone shape that exceeded the wall of the hu. The official reason for the overflow was to make up for the loss during storage and escort. In reality, the millet was privately divided among officials according to the size of their official positions and the closeness of their relationships.

This is an unwritten rule when paying summer taxes and autumn grain.

Song Yuan tilted his head and thought for a long time, but still couldn't remember it, so he said, "Tell me more about it."

Daya didn't dare to talk about the illegal behavior of the police officers in front of them. She gestured to shut up again and said, "We'll talk about it when we get back."

Time passed by, and I don't know whether it was because the officers were in a bad mood or what, but when a family was handing over grain, the officer who was kicking the bucket kicked it hard, causing it to tilt violently to one side and almost fall over.

When the hu stopped shaking and calmed down, the grains inside were no longer enough to fill the hu.

The officer raised his mouth in a cold and cruel arc, "Not full."

The head of the household, a dark-skinned, sturdy man, stared at the officer with fire in his eyes.

The officer who kicked the hoe raised his mouth more and more sharply, and said provocatively: "What are you standing there for? Are you not—full—"