The end of natural disasters: the daily life of child brides in ancient times

Lu Qingqing was waiting at the door when she saw a middle-aged man with a beard and wearing an official robe walk out.

The man was very happy when he saw the village chief:

"Tianli, this year you are the one leading the villagers to pay the grain tax. How was the journey? Was it smooth?"

"Brother, we encountered a group of refugees on the road. Fortunately, there weren't too many of them. Since many people from our village came out this time, there wasn't much of a problem."

After listening to this, Lu Tianming sighed:

"This year, the entire prefecture is suffering from a severe drought. Refugees are fleeing and causing chaos everywhere. There are too many cases, and the yamen runners are simply unable to handle them all. They can only maintain peace in the county."

"Fortunately, our village is far away from the county. Several villages near the county town were massacred by refugees."

After saying this, he said no more and led everyone to pay the grain tax.

With the chief clerk following, the grain buckets for weighing were basically flat, and there was a lot of grain left over.

After seeing Qin Lang, Lu Tianming came over and chatted with Qin Lang and Lu Qingqing for a while.

After confirming that everything is fine at home, tell them that if they encounter any problems, they can come to him or his old village chief and not to be afraid.

Then he told them to pay the grain tax and then go with him to have dinner.

Because Lu Qingqing had plans, she politely declined Lu Tianming's invitation.

But I still feel confused. Why is Master Lu so nice to them?

When Qin Lang was asked, he still couldn't explain it clearly, so he decided to go back and ask Grandma Qin.

After the grain tax was paid, the village chief told everyone to go as soon as possible if they wanted to buy something. Those who didn't want to buy anything could rest and have lunch, and return to the village after an hour.

After saying that, the village chief followed Lu Tianming to the county government office.

Lu Tianfu wanted to say hello to his eldest cousin, but when he saw the two of them had already walked away, he had no choice but to sit down.

As soon as Lu Qingqing heard what the village chief said, she pulled Qin Lang to the pawnshop in the county.

She saw two pawnshops on the way and planned to go in and ask.

He came to the first Changsheng Pawnshop and handed the jade pendant to the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper looked at it carefully for a while, then glanced at Lu Qingqing and the other person inconspicuously, and offered a price of six taels of silver.

Seeing this, Lu Qingqing pretended to be angry:

"Shopkeeper, this price you offer is not sincere at all. Are you trying to take advantage of me because I don't know the business? If that's the case, then there's no need for me to stay any longer!"

As she was about to get up and go out, the shopkeeper saw her and hurriedly called her back.

"Little girl, how about this jade pendant for twelve taels? This price is quite reasonable."

When Lu Qingqing heard this, she stretched out three fingers, and the shopkeeper shook his head, saying it was impossible.

When Lu Qingqing turned around to leave, the shopkeeper called out twenty-five taels, and Lu Qingqing asked for thirty taels.

After a struggle between the two, the shopkeeper offered a maximum of twenty-seven taels and refused to add any more.

Lu Qingqing just said she would discuss it with her family and then pulled Qin Lang out.

We came to the second Chenji Pawnshop, which was smaller than the first one.

After looking at the jade pendant, the shopkeeper offered a price of twenty-five taels.

Lu Qingqing haggled over the price and finally the deal was sold at twenty-nine taels.

Holding the newly earned silver, the two went to the fabric shop first.

I chose three colors: green, black, and dark blue, bought three pieces of cotton fabric, and bought some needles and thread in matching colors, spending a total of 950 wen.

I saw some ready-made garments next to them. The materials used were better and the styles looked better.

After asking about the price, Lu Qingqing gave up decisively.

Recalling that in previous winters, there was not much cotton in the cotton-padded clothes he wore, he asked the waiter if he had any cotton now.

I didn't expect that there were some in the warehouse. They were some left over from last year's sales, and the price was cheaper than usual.

Lu Qingqing didn't expect that there could be discounts for off-season shopping in ancient times.

I bought enough cotton to make three sets of clothes and two quilts, spending a total of six taels of silver.

When taking out money, Lu Qingqing couldn't help but sigh that cotton was really expensive in ancient times.

The material was placed in a backpack and Lu Qingqing carried it herself.

The clerk packed the cotton in a cloth bag. Qin Lang carried the bag out of the door, and the two of them walked towards the candy shop.

Grandma Qin and Qin Lang both like to eat candy. Most of the candy these days is the yellow sugar block with impurities.

Sugar was also a luxury in ancient times. Considering the chaotic times, it will probably be difficult to buy it in the future.

Lu Qingqing bought four pounds of sugar cubes and one pound of brown sugar, spending a total of one and a half taels of silver.

After buying the candy, she planned to go to the grain store to see if there were any new seeds. It would be best if there were potatoes.

On the road, Qin Lang saw someone selling candied haws and he couldn't move his feet at all.

Lu Qingqing bought two for him. Qin Lang took a bite of the candied haws and immediately squinted his eyes.

Lu Qingqing refused the candied haws that Qin Lang handed over. This thing was only sweet on the surface, but the hawthorn underneath was so sour that it made your teeth fall out. She really couldn't eat it.

By the time he arrived at the grain shop, Qin Lang had already finished a candied haws.

Lu Qingqing put the other one in Qin Lang's backpack and told him to eat it after returning home, fearing that eating too much at once would upset his stomach.

The grain store in the county town indeed had a wider variety of goods than the one in the town. Lu Qingqing found potato seeds inside.

Surprised, I continued searching and found tomato seeds again.

I picked and chose some vegetable and fruit seeds, luckily there weren't many of each kind.

When he paid the bill, he spent another six coins of silver.

After thinking about it, Lu Qingqing and the other person went to the pharmacy again.

I went to see the doctor and explained the situation. Since it was not convenient for me to go out at the moment, I asked the doctor to prescribe some common medicines, twenty sets each, which cost me another four taels of silver.

Looking at the fifteen taels of silver left in her hand, Lu Qingqing planned to buy some self-defense tools.

When I arrived at the blacksmith shop, I took a look around and saw that most of the items in the shop were ready-made farm tools and kitchen knives.

When Lu Qingqing turned the third circle, the blacksmith asked her what she needed. Lu Qingqing approached the blacksmith and whispered that she wanted to buy some weapons for self-defense.

The blacksmith looked outside, asked his servant to keep an eye on the people at the door, and called Lu Qingqing and Qin Lang into the inner room.

A large box was dragged out from under the bed. When it was opened, it was filled with various weapons, including long swords, machetes, Tang swords, bows and arrows, spear heads, etc.

Qin Lang fell in love with the Tang sword at first sight, picked it up and practiced it for a few times, looking very impressive.

Seeing this, Lu Qingqing quietly asked him,

"Did Grandpa teach you how to use a knife?"

Seeing Qin Lang nod, he decided on the Tang sword.

Lu Qingqing herself chose a lighter bow that was more suitable for her, and it came with twenty arrows.

After making the selection, the blacksmith quoted a fixed price of thirteen taels of silver.

This kind of thing is now contraband. Lu Qingqing had no other channel to buy it, so she paid the money quickly.

Lu Qingqing pretended to put the weapon into the backpack, but actually put it directly into the space.

After the two came out of the inner room, they planned to go back.

Lu Qingqing put some of the things she was carrying into the space, and looked at the cotton bag in her hand. This thing was too big and could not be put into the space.

When the two men returned to the gate of the county government office carrying their things, the villagers were curious when they saw the big bags and backpacks they were carrying.

An unconscious woman stepped forward to look through the bag, but just as she touched it, Lu Qingqing slapped her hand open.

"Auntie, what are you doing!"

The woman was a little embarrassed when her hands were opened.

"You girl, why are you so fierce? I just saw that the cloth bag on the silly boy's back was too big, so I offered a hand."

"Don't worry, the bag is just filled with some old cotton. It looks big but it doesn't weigh much."

Lu Qingqing had a cold face and pulled Qin Lang back to the cart while speaking, and put the things on the cart.

Zhuzi's wife had returned a long time ago and comforted her when she saw this.

"Aunt Wang is just that kind of person. Just ignore her."

Lu Qingqing didn't take this matter to heart at first, until she saw a small cloth bag next to Zhuzi's wife.

Although it only filled a small area, I knew she had bought some.

Lu Qingqing took out the coarse flour pancakes that Grandma Qin had prepared and ate them with Qin Lang.

Seeing this, Zhuzi's wife next to him took the initiative to avoid it.

These days, food is precious, and conscious people won't stare at other people's food.