Chapter 725

Spring is supposed to be a scene of recovery and vitality of all things, but some areas in the northwest are full of loess, and cracks can be seen on the ground.

Before the drought came, people who had been farming in the farmland for a long time actually had a clue from the changes of the weather.

People who have been dealing with land for a long time may not be literate, but it doesn't mean they don't know some common sense. For example, they can probably judge what kind of agricultural scenery will be in the coming year by the rain in the four seasons and the snow in winter.

In winter, there was only a light snow in the northwest, and there was no scene of auspicious snow heralding a good year.

At the beginning of spring, people have been looking forward to a continuous and big rainy season, but only a few places have had moderate or light rain for a few days. In some places, there is no rain at all, and they realize that it is bad.

"The riverbed has bottomed out!"

"No snow, no snow melts and moistens the land."

"It didn't rain. The river must be killed."

"What can I do?"

In Liao village, most of the people are surnamed Liao. The surname Liao in the village migrated from Shu to Xiliang. It is said that it is still the descendant of Liao Hua, a great general in Shu, but no one can come up with strong evidence.

Liao village, located at the foot of the mountain, has 37 households, a total of 167 people. They belong to rile County, which belongs to Zhangye county.

Zhangye county was established in the Western Han Dynasty and belongs to one of the four counties in Hexi. Zhangye county was originally the land of kunxie king of Xiongnu. It was divided into Zhangye County in the east of Jiuquan County in the sixth year of Yuanding of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty (111bc). It means "Zhang Guo's arm is tucked in to connect the western regions".

For a long time, the population of Zhangye county has not been large. The past dynasties have been the frontier of the country. Although it is a necessary place to lead to the western regions, it has not been paid attention to. There will be no shortage of corvee, and the government will not forget how much tax it should pay. It can be said that it is not too much to say that grandma doesn't love her uncle and doesn't hurt. They never share in any good things in the country.

Not only Zhangye County, there are too many similar areas. They have no sense of existence at ordinary times and bear the obligations of the state in obscurity. After something happens, it is difficult to get the responsibility of the government after fulfilling their obligations.

Liao Fang looked at the cracked land with a sad face. His family has more than 100 mu of farmland, which is located in the flat area at the foot of the mountain.

There is a stream not far away. Our ancestors dug a small canal to divert water. Liao Fang has been very careful in maintaining the canal in his hands, but this year the stream is dry, and the canal can't lead water at all.

There is no water to irrigate the land, and heaven doesn't rain. When the farmland loses water, it will naturally be boring. In spring, there will be an abnormal hot sun. Why isn't the land boring and cracked?

There is more than one person standing in the field, Liao Fang. This area is a farmland area. Knowing that the land in the field has been withered and cracked to the point that it can not be cultivated, the owner of the farmland will still come and have a look every day, and squat on the edge of the ridge with a sad face one after another.

It's spring. It's supposed to be busy. The weeding should be done and the weeding should be done. Just wait for the day to start pregnant seedlings, and then take a family who can work to the field to plant seedlings.

Today, although the clue of drought has been found and the government has sent people to the countryside to announce again and again, the pregnant family is still pregnant.

It's not that they don't believe the government's announcement and don't think there's something wrong with their eyes, but everyone has a fluke attitude of "just in case". When it's time to plant seedlings, the seedlings at home grow and consume water day by day. The expected rain doesn't fall. No one needs to laugh at who is stupid. They are all stupid. The more the inner despair accumulates, the thicker.

"The people who went upstream are back!"

"How's it going?"

"The river is dry, and the river connecting the river is dry!"

"What can I do!"

Originally, they were lucky that the upstream village cut off the water source. Such things have happened in the past. The young people of each family are ready to fight for water again.

This is good. There is no water interception in the village. Even the rivers and streams are dry. They just don't know who to fight with.

"It's all over!"

"It's over, it's really over!"

The stream is dry and the river is dry. There are still wells in the village. Even the water level is very deep.

No one thought about getting water from the well to the farmland, but the old people in the village cried and said they couldn't, and the reasonable people also opposed it. They said that the well had to go to a very deep place to have water, and it was very slow to refill the water after drawing water. If the wells were dried up, people wouldn't be able to live.

"Not only our village, but several nearby villages are like this."

"The villagers in several villages have been discussing. I don't know if they can discuss the countermeasures."

Liao Fang looked up at the scorching sun. Naturally, the sun above his head was very dazzling. His eyes would be stimulated to lose sight after a short time, and his tears would flow uncontrollably.

A "Dangdang" Gong came from the village, which was a signal to summon the whole village.

Liaojia village was full of 167 people. It was not long before they all gathered in the small square of the village.

Liao Yu, the village head, stood on a wooden shelf as usual at the party. This time, on his side stood an official in soap clothes, holding a roll of yellow paper in his hand.

"Men, young and old, calm down." Liao Yu's words still worked. The sparse voice stopped, that is, everyone saw not him, but the man in soap clothes on his side. He saluted the people in soap clothes and was avoided. Without hesitation, he said directly, "this guy is no stranger. He is an official in the county. He brought the county notice."

Huang Yi is not an official. He is a small official in the county. He has no specific official name. He is subordinate to Wen harmless (the inspector of the Qin system). What he does is to walk around the village to preach and post notices.

"Huang, the men and women in Liao village, won't say anything more." Huang Yi was looked at one by one with eyes full of uneasy faces. He suspected that his nonsense had caused a riot. He directly spread the notice and read it three times, Later, I had to pick a brief and important point: "today, I am compassionate and exempt from the tax for three years, and I will not pay the tax at this year, next year and next year. The corvee in the village keeps on, and the food and drink out of the corvee are public. People who do not work out of the corvee can recruit workers in the county."

Under the disaster year, no one has output. If they have to pay taxes, the gentle people should sell their children and daughters in law. They have no choice but to sell their land, even themselves. If they are more violent, they should arm themselves. It is better to call friends and call friends. It is not impossible to occupy the countryside or attack the county seat and turn it into a rebellion.

In a disaster year, the government usually exempts taxes. It's not how kind the government is. In fact, it's just that the tax can't be collected at all. It's the local government that should be unlucky to force the people against it. The county magistrate or magistrate who is not stupid will ask the County. The county can only ask the center. Otherwise, the people can't live to rebel. Whose fault should it be at that time?

It is not easy to ask for tax exemption from the center. It is necessary for the center to send someone to make an on-the-spot investigation. How to deal with the officials who come down for investigation and let them report the truth is a barrier. Usually, it is not easy to deal with the officials who come down for investigation. Even if they can deal with the investigation officials, it will take a long time to get the tax exemption documents of the center.

When the administration of officials is strict, the officials who come down to investigate may not be greedy, but if they are not attentive, they will inevitably be stumbling. He didn't dare to hide the truth, but he could drag on until he couldn't drag on. He didn't know how long to wait until the center had been dealt with.

If the state officials are rotten, the officials who come down to investigate are not greedy enough, they will never leave. Even if they leave, they will not really take money to do things, or they should have done their duty.

The National Center will not easily exempt taxes in a certain area, but it is not the center. Unlike people, local governments can always try to ask for tax exemption. The center really agrees to tax exemption, but local people are still paying taxes, but the taxes are in the private pockets of local officials. If something happens, the local government will cover it up or shirk it. It will report the unruly of the people to the center. The local people will think that the officials in charge of the country are all bad, and the pot will be carried back by the senior management who can't really see the situation at the grass-roots level.

"Huang Guan." Liao Fang was waiting to enter the link where he could ask for instructions. Only when he was allowed did he ask, "did the official bring the list of corvee service?"

Liao village has 167 people, men over the age of 16 and under the age of 35, and nearly 50 people. They are all people who have served corvee. Naturally, they know that corvee service is not overdue and there is no subsidy. When people go to eat and drink, they can use the public.

The corvee in the Han Dynasty is still very humanized. Although the term of corvee service must be served, people are allowed to extend the term of corvee service. It is an alternative kind of work. More reasonable, after receiving the salary, you can directly buy food or cloth from relevant institutions.

Generally speaking, the people under the rule of the Han Dynasty are not as afraid of corvee as before. They will have risks in corvee service because of different scenes or things. When they die, they can get a pension not available in previous dynasties. If they are willing to extend the corvee time, they can usually bring something home. As a result, the people have a passion for corvee service that they did not have in previous dynasties.

"Of course." Huang Yi didn't have any ink. He collected the yellow paper notice rolled up again. Later, he had to post it on the wall next to him. He took out a wooden document from his arms and began to read his name. After counting the name, he looked at the disappointed expression below, He shouted, "except for the seven people who should serve the corvee, the rest don't have to be disappointed. Today, I miss the people in the county. This year, I specially ordered that not only young men can go to the county government to recruit workers, but also old and young women and children."

Liao Fang is not on the list of corvee service. Disappointed, he has made up his mind to go to the county government to recruit workers. Otherwise, his family doesn't have much grain reserves, the fields are dry and cracked, and he can't farm. Staying at home is just waiting for death. What he didn't expect was that not only could he go, but the government also accepted old and weak women and children.

"Mercy today!" Liao Yu is the village head. In fact, it is also an official establishment. He can get a salary from the county every year. But he didn't say good things simply because he had a salary: "in the years of natural disasters, no one would take care of us. Today, it's different, he would take care of us! Listen, if the men of any family don't want to live in the years of disaster, they starve themselves to death, and their parents, wives and children are not human!"

Many family leaders, including Liao Fang, are thinking that they must go to the county to recruit workers. Whether the whole family goes depends on the structure of family members. The elderly or children who are too old to move basically think they should go. If there are old people and young children who can't work at home, of course, the daughter-in-law should stay and go with the children who can work.

There are people like Huang Yi in each village to convey the official notice. It is clear that those who can't wait for death at home in the disaster year naturally have to respond. Before the date of convening the corvee, the people who should serve the corvee are not waiting, but go to the county. In addition, those who want to recruit workers don't even need to wait. They even have to start early, otherwise they're afraid they won't have their share.

Rilecheng county has been for hundreds of years, but because it is not very prosperous in the northwest frontier, the county has full northwest characteristics, with yellow walls and yellow ground. In addition to the roof, it is also yellow. It is difficult to see green even in spring in drought years.

Knowing that the disaster year is coming, people with normal minds will not wait to die. All townships and villages gather in the county. The number of cities originally inhabiting only about 2000 people has increased rapidly, but it makes the city look extremely lively. That kind of excitement is a kind of dull.

"Brother." Liao Fang is 32 years old. His parents have died. He has a daughter-in-law and a 13-year-old child. The whole family has come to the county. The man he called his brother was a subordinate of the county captain in the county. They were originally in the same robe: "as my brother said, the number of recruits is only 500?"

The person called brother Zhang Yong is just an ordinary soldier, but it is a serious organization in the county, not a county soldier system for corvee service. He and Liao Fang used to belong to Zhang's Liangjun. What is my chief in Zhang's Liangjun? Liao Fang was once a soldier in his Shili.

After the state of Zhang Liang was destroyed by the state of Han, the regular army of the state of Zhang Liang was reorganized by three out of ten. Some were added to the standing armies, and more were distributed to counties all over the country. Liao Fang was one of the abolished. Zhang Yong was lucky to be assigned to the original territory of the state of Zhang Liang, more coincidentally in the county where Liao Fang was located.

"There are more than 1000 households in the county, with nearly 4500 people. It is kind to take one out of nine." Zhang Yong said the words of conscience. Seeing Liao Fang's face looking forward to it, he knew what the reason was. He hesitated again and again, but said: "the big man speaks all things. It is difficult for a county lieutenant to put in a place without saying that his brother is a pawn."

Liao Fang immediately showed a disappointed expression and asked the recruiters how to raise money and how they were more likely to be elected.

"It's no secret. The big man is about to return to the western regions. The county recruits workers to collect some Quartermaster." But Zhang Yong still looked left and right before saying, "the number of 500 belongs to the old, the weak and women, and the inconvenient one takes priority."

Taking care of the more deserving groups, the Han Dynasty continued to carry forward this virtue of Zhuxia characteristics, but Liao Fang immediately became more sad. His family was not bad.

"In addition to corvee and recruiting workers, there is another way to live." Zhang Yong couldn't see Liao Fang's look so depressed that he was about to cry. He said mysteriously, "recently, some colleagues have settled in. I heard that they want to follow the example of Southern Xinjiang."

Liao Fang didn't know so much. He was stunned and hurried to ask.