Expelled from the Duke's mansion, the fake heiress is richer than a country.

In a few days, the radishes in the field will be ready to be harvested, followed by Chinese cabbage and sweet potatoes.

The whole family pitched in, busily engaged in the harvesting and processing. How well they stored the produce directly impacted their survival during the winter.

Because it was public land, one-thirtieth of the produce had to be handed over to the government. Naturally, the village head would bring officials from the yamen to inspect it. The Yu family harvested a total of one thousand catties of radishes, two thousand catties of cabbage, and one thousand eight hundred catties of sweet potatoes.

Although cellar storage methods exist to extend shelf life, vegetables are generally prone to spoilage. Therefore, the government cannot directly collect vegetables as tax deductions.

These radishes, cabbages, and sweet potatoes should be paid for at a rate of one-thirtieth of the tax!

The price of vegetables ranged from one to five coins, with three coins being the middle price. Of the 4,800 jin (approximately 2,500 kg) of vegetables, 160 jin (approximately 80 kg) needed to be taxed. In other words, the Yu family had to pay the tax collector 480 coins for this batch of vegetables.

You think that's not much, right?

It's the end of the year, and all sorts of big taxes are coming.

The poll tax was 120 coins per person, for those aged 15 to 56 who were considered adults; in addition, there was a donation fee of 63 coins per person, offered to the emperor to show loyalty; and a household tax of 200 coins per household.

Finally, for unmarried women aged fifteen, an additional three hundred coins will be charged. If you dare to remain unmarried between eighteen and thirty-five, the fee will be double or triple!

In short, the old clerk who went to the countryside to collect taxes flipped through the abacus beads with his little finger, and the faces of the Yu family father and son turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

This year, the Yu family needs to pay 2 taels and 141 cash in taxes.

Incidentally, the household registration after the family split was also changed. Upon discovering that the Yu family was the one that had switched the baby with the Duke's mansion, the old clerk opened his cloudy eyes and scrutinized the Yu father and son from head to toe.

Whether he harbored malicious intent or not, only he himself knows.

The neighboring large house, because it has a lot of land but few people, has no unmarried women and therefore pays less attention to marriage.

Yu Man was extremely depressed.

The family's savings were almost entirely wiped out, leaving them with only two taels and nine copper coins. Could these vegetables possibly sustain them until next autumn's harvest? And how would they pay taxes next year? They had absolutely no way to generate income.

They didn't have time to think about these worries for the time being; they had over 4,000 kilograms of vegetables to take home and store.

Vegetables, especially cabbage, spoil quickly. There are vegetable vendors wandering around the village buying vegetables, but the prices are too low.

Sweet potatoes are three catties for one coin, radishes are five catties for one coin. Cabbage is even cheaper, and unscrupulous merchants will only offer ten catties for one coin. Even if you sell all the thousands of catties, you'll only make a small profit, so why bother?

The villagers had considered taking the goods to the city to sell, but the transportation costs, city entry fees, market management fees, stall fees, and other miscellaneous expenses all came up. So, they decided it was better to keep them for themselves; that way, they could manage for a few more days.

Of course, some people who have bought too many vegetables might sell some to unscrupulous merchants. Most people, however, honestly take them home and store them for the winter.

During this period, the Yu family's home has become a joyful ocean of vegetables.

The Yu family father and son were responsible for hauling the vegetables back one trip after another; Zhu Xiaozhen, Yu Wanran, and Yu Xiaoxiang sat in the yard, busy with their hands and feet, processing the mountain of vegetables.

Ji Chunhua couldn't rest either. He lay half-reclined to the side, using one hand and one leg to direct his daughter-in-law, daughter, and granddaughter to rummage through the spoiled vegetables.

Racing against time, vegetables are their lifeline.

Because they had just separated their households, the old cellar was no longer usable. The Yu family father and son, despite their busy schedules, had to find time to dig a new cellar.

Choose a dry, high-lying, well-drained spot in the yard and dig a square pit more than two meters deep.

The inner walls were reinforced with bricks and stones, and plastered with lime mortar to ensure the cellar remained dry. Bamboo tubes were also inserted into the top of the cellar to ensure air circulation.

This shows the advantage of having many able-bodied men in the family. The three members of the Yu family, father and sons, took turns digging the pit, while others helped transport the soil. In just a few days, a cellar was completed.

Then you can store the vegetables.

Place the vegetables head up and roots down at an angle in the pit. After each layer of vegetables is placed, cover it with a layer of soil and straw as a partition. Finally, seal the top with a thick layer of soil, add a wooden cover and a rain shelter, and you're done.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, these vegetables should be able to be stored through the winter.

Of course, you can't put all your eggs in one basket. Take some vegetables, cut the radishes into chunks, separate the cabbage leaves, and find two old, large jars to pickle them.

Layer salt and vegetables, piled up to the top of the vat, and then sealed with heavy objects.

This dry-curing method is convenient and economical. The vegetables rely on their own juices and salt to cure, preserving their original flavor. They have a natural dry aroma, a rich and mellow taste, and a chewy texture, making them a perfect side dish for porridge.

For two months straight, the Yu family worked non-stop. They were all so exhausted that they were swaying and unsteady on their feet.

That's not the hardest part. The hardest part is that they have an endless supply of vegetables. They check which ones are bruised or damaged, or whose leaves are starting to turn yellow and rot, and eat those first.

Boiled cabbage strips in salt water, boiled radish chunks in salt water, radish soup, cabbage paste, radish and cabbage stew, and occasionally a different kind of pickled radish and pickled cabbage.

The family ate with gusto, their eyes and mouths filled with green vegetables, and even the occasional small sweet potato floating in the soup made them feel happy.

The thought of having to eat radishes, cabbages, and sweet potatoes for the entire winter made Yu Wanran a little uneasy. With so few vegetables, she worried whether they would even last until spring planting and autumn harvest.

Just when they thought they'd finally finished their work, the weather was getting colder and colder. In another month, it would be the New Year. Finding they didn't have enough firewood, the Yu siblings all went up the mountain to chop some.

The villagers had stripped all the branches of the nearby trees, big and small, and there wasn't even a single blade of grass left. They had no choice but to venture deeper into the forest.

Yu Wanran whittled several spears from a tree branch, carrying them on her back with sharp points. She would throw one at any small animal that occasionally came out to forage. Unfortunately, she had no hunting experience, and for several days in a row, she only managed to prick a squirrel's tail.

Watching the squirrel, its tail stained with blood, scurry into the tree hole, the Yu brothers could only look up at the towering tree, swallowing their tears of resentment.

However, Yu Wanran's skills reassured them that they could go up the mountain to chop firewood without worry.

That evening, Ji Chunhua took out her treasured savings and counted them repeatedly, but she still only had two taels and nine coins. Her face was full of worry as she looked at Yu Man, who remained silent beside her.

"Honey, there are only a few days left until New Year's Eve. Shall we cut off a piece of meat and give the children some extra oil?"

Yu Man silently looked at the bed, where two pitiful little silver and copper coins, their bright color tinged with black, seemed to be mocking his incompetence.

"We still need to take care of our mother..."

Although the agreement signed when the family divided the property stipulated that grain would be provided, meat and eggs were indispensable during festivals. If someone only brought cabbage and radishes, the whole village would point fingers at them and call them unfilial.

Ji Chunhua frowned in distress. After hesitating for a while, she sighed and handed all the money to Yu Man.

"Cut two pieces of meat, and send one to the eldest son's family."

Anyway, the family only has so much money, and the head of the household knows it very well. She believes that even if her husband is unreliable, he wouldn't send all their belongings to the neighbor next door.

She's recovering from her injuries and can only barely walk with a cane, so she's too busy to take care of things at home.

Yu Man put the money in his pocket, lowered his head for a while and said, "Tomorrow morning, I will take the eldest son to Shixi Village to buy New Year's goods."

No matter how poor you are, you should still have a good New Year. Otherwise, what is there to look forward to at the end of the year?