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

After the barbarians attacked, more and more people fled through Gaoyuan County to escape famine, and the county magistrate saw this as an opportunity to make a fortune.

The entrance fee has increased from the original two cents to two taels of silver per household, five taels for mule carts and ox carts, and ten taels for horse carts.

Those without household registration and travel permits will be charged higher fees.

This money was handed over to the county magistrate, and the soldiers who came to inspect it would extort another layer of money.

The refugees gathered near the city wall were stopped because they had no money. Those who were in better health had already taken a detour.

The refugees who were still sitting by the city wall had run out of food and energy to continue their journey.

For them, taking a detour is also death. Rather than dying of exhaustion, it is better to stay here.

The team in front of Lujia Village was a small team of more than ten people, and most of the people in the team had sad faces.

Even if ordinary people had saved some money, they would have bought food before fleeing the famine, but now the team could not even raise any money.

But the soldiers in Gaoyuan County are not as easy to talk to as those in Pingkang County. You will not be able to pass without paying enough money.

Fortunately, there was a wealthy family in the team who had an ox cart, and everyone in the team borrowed money from that family.

In the Lujia Village team at the back, Lu Tianming and County Magistrate Yao also knew about the city entry fee.

Seeing the soldiers checking ahead rummaging through the items and taking away anything of some value, the two men had a quick discussion.

Judging from the situation, the Magistrate of Gaoyuan County wants to take advantage of the situation. Even if they show their private seal, it is unlikely that the other party will give them face. It is better to hide the valuables.

While still far from the city gate, he asked a few young men in the village to quickly pass on the news of the entrance fee, and by the way, tell each family to hide the silver, money and valuables in the car.

When the people in the team learned that they had to pay such an expensive entrance fee, they all complained in low voices.

But after complaining, they all started packing up their valuables.

Most families hid their fine grains at home, and a few families, fearing that the carts would be overturned, even hid their things under the carts.

Lu Tianming also began to worry. His carriage was too conspicuous and would definitely be searched.

He not only had his own money, but also the money and jewelry he had obtained from the deserters, which were kept with him.

If it had been flipped over by the soldiers, it would probably have been gone.

Lu Tianming walked around his carriage and felt that the area under the carriage was not safe either.

As for hiding it on your body, forget it. You're wearing thin clothes now, and it will be obvious wherever you put something.

Seeing her husband's worried look, Cui whispered an idea into his ear.

After hearing this, Lu Tianming thought it was a good idea. His carriage was carrying a lot of fodder, which was piled in bundles at the back.

The soldiers' focus of inspection was definitely on the carriages loaded with food, and they would at most check the hay on top of the carriages at the back.

Lu Tianming stuffed the bag containing the jewelry and silver money into the bottom of the straw, then tidied it up again. Only when he felt that it could no longer be seen did he return to the front of the team.

Lu Qingqing also noticed the situation ahead. The soldiers took away anything valuable they saw.

If you see any bulges on a person's body, you have to check it out.

Lu Qingqing went into the carriage again to check, and put the kitchen knife, Qin Lang's long sword and Tang sword into the space.

After thinking about it, he put away the bag of food, winter clothes and bedding inside.

Seeing that there were no valuables in the carriage, he came out to continue observing the situation ahead.

At this time, at the front of the team, a family of seven or eight people was being inspected. The daughter-in-law of that family tried her best to avoid them, but was still caught by the soldiers and searched from head to toe.

The daughter-in-law was extremely ashamed and angry, but she did not dare to resist. She was afraid of angering the soldiers and bringing disaster to her family, so she had to shrink her body as much as possible.

The men in that family all lowered their heads and didn't dare to do anything, and the soldiers laughed at them wantonly.

Before the family had gone far, they heard the soldier who had searched the daughter-in-law say something like this one was softer and stronger than the previous one.

The family heard it, but pretended not to hear it, lowered their heads and walked quickly inside.

Lu Tianming also noticed the problem of women being searched. The women in the village had been fleeing famine for so long that their faces and bodies were very dirty.

Only my family and the women of the Yao family were sitting in the carriage, and their faces were relatively clean at this time.

He hurriedly asked Cui to dress up all the women in the family, and notified the people in the team. The women in every household became nervous.

Cui borrowed some worn-out clothes from the villagers, ruffled her hair, and then saw that their faces were cleaner than those of the villagers, so she put some ash on them.

The Cui family members looked at each other and felt that they were not so conspicuous anymore, so they relaxed a little.

Lu Qingqing looked down at her thin body, which was even front and back, and felt there was nothing to worry about.

But when he saw Cui smearing dust on her face, he followed suit and also smeared some on Qin Lang's face.

Soon, it was the turn of the team in front of Lujia Village to be inspected.

Except for the ox cart at the front, the others in the team obviously didn't have much money.

The inspecting soldiers impatiently flipped through the household registration and the luggage casually. When they saw that there were only dried wild vegetables and the like, they curled their lips and told them to hand over the money and get out.

Soon, it was the turn of the family at the end of the line, and they were obviously very flustered.

The inspecting soldier called out the household registration pass, but only received two taels of silver. He then listened to the man's mumbling explanation.

"Sir, my family's household registration was lost when I fled, but I'm from the same village as the team ahead. Please let me in."

When the soldier heard this, he smiled crookedly and said:

"Thirty taels of silver for those without a household registration permit. Do you have any?"

When the man heard the thirty taels of silver, he was completely stunned. How could he have so much silver? One tael out of the two taels he handed over was borrowed.

Seeing that he couldn't get through, the man wanted to get the two taels of silver back.

The inspecting soldier laughed sarcastically and said:

"I wasted so much time, this money is my hard work fee, get out of here, don't waste my time!"

When the man saw that he could not get the silver back, he wanted to go forward to grab it, but was hit on the head by the back of the knife by the soldier next to him, and blood immediately flowed out.

His family hurriedly grabbed him and carried his luggage back.

When the people queuing at the back saw this scene, they dared not say a word, and the queue at the back instantly became quiet.

As soon as that person left, it was the turn of the Lujia Village team.

The one at the front was Lu Tianming. He handed over the ten taels of silver and the household registration pass he had prepared long ago, and then slipped two taels of silver to the inspecting soldier. He bowed and said:

"Brother, I am the chief clerk of Yidu County. Because the barbarians are attacking, the whole village has come here together. I hope you can help me."

After the inspecting soldier took the silver, he first looked at Lu Tianming's private seal, and then looked at his family's household registration and travel permit.

Although he didn't say much, he didn't make things difficult for the women in his family. He even just took a quick look at the carriage and let it go.

Yao, the county magistrate who followed behind, also paid ten taels of silver and gave another two taels as a bribe. The soldiers who were inspecting saw his private seal and passed him smoothly.

Later, they were not so polite to the old village chief's family. They searched through all the luggage on the ox cart and saw half a bag of fine grain, so they took it all away.

Lu Tianxin was still a little indignant, and the old village chief grabbed his sleeve and pulled him over.

Lu Tianming inside breathed a sigh of relief when he saw them coming. Half a bag of food was a small matter, as long as people came in.

Guihua, who was following her father closely, was a little worried that she would be harassed, but the soldier acted as if he didn't see her and waved his hand to tell her to go away quickly.

Soon, the ox cart arrived at Lu Qingqing's house.