From Chief to Ball

Some stupid fish were too lazy to hit the water when the autumn water came, and stayed in those small puddles, looking desperately at the ice layer that was getting thicker day by day, not knowing when they would be frozen in it, and began to regret it Why didn't you swim against the current into the wide river.

Fish is very delicious, especially if you break through the thin layer of ice, you can catch it casually, and boil it in an iron pot to make a thick white soup. .

Now there are pots, fires and steamed buns, but the e-strider is not in such a mood. Holding a dry steamed bun, he gnawed a few mouthfuls, looked into the distance and sighed.

He was about to arrive at E City soon, he was about to go home soon, and he was about to meet his parents soon. This should have made him happy.

You can't see the city wall here, but there are some houses nearby and some reclaimed land. Sometimes you can see cow dung on the ground, or traces of being run over by ruts.

It seems that everything is thriving, but there is something completely opposite to the vitality in the woods not far away.

More than a dozen corpses were hung on the trees, and some of them had been air-dried into purple-black, their bodies shrunk and tightened.The softness like eyes had already been pecked clean by crows, and some cheeks had collapsed. Fortunately, the cold weather finally did not reveal the white bones.

This is not the first time I have seen it along the way. A few days ago, after we separated from Wei Xi and went back to the city separately, the young people in Echeng who followed E-strider home had already witnessed two woods full of dead bodies with E-strider.

It is normal to have slaves attached.

But there are also people that the crescent strider knows, which is not normal.

Most of them were slaves, and very few were low-level Chinese people. E-strider was not worried about what would happen to her parents, but was full of worries about hanging so many slaves at once.

E City has long since lost the custom of killing living people for fun. Now everyone, even slaves, is precious, and other cities are rushing forward. My parents will not be stupid enough to kill casually.

Several children who had studied in the Yucheng Agricultural School walked up to the corpses, pried open the mouths of the corpses with copper swords, smashed the teeth, looked at them like cattle and horses, and shouted: "Strider, these people are old It’s not that big, it’s better to throw it in the mine to mine than to kill it.”

E-strider threw away the steamed bun, untied the reins of the car and said, "Go back to the city first before riding the horse. Let's all get on the horse."

A group of people hurriedly swallowed the food in their mouths, turned on their horses, and followed the crescent strider towards the city.

After running for a while, I finally saw six or seven clansmen in the city, squatting on the ground, and seemed to be moaning there.

The squatting people heard the sound of horseshoes and recognized E-strider. E-strider also had some impressions of these people, knowing that they were relatives in his city.

The land in front is planted with wheat, and the growth is very good. If there is another snowfall, there will be a bumper harvest next year. E strider doesn't know what these people are lamenting here.

After meeting each other, E-strider didn't ask what happened in the city. If there was any earth-shattering event, these people would have shouted it out.

Since he was the son of the leader, he couldn't show panic at this time, so he got off his horse and sat on the ground with the farmer to chat.

"This wheat grows well, why are you so sad?"

"It looks good. But strider, do you know what was planted here before?"

"what?"

"Indigo! The seeds and roots that our family has worked so hard to collect. The hard work is nothing, but you have to know that the indigo roots are harvested by Xiacheng for medicinal materials. So many roots have been dug. How much can I change?"

E-strider knew about indigo, and also knew that the blue linen clothes worn by many people in Yucheng were dyed with indigo.Except for the guards in black, the rest of the people can only wear black cloth when they go out to war, or they can only wear black military uniforms if they have a brass medal for military exploits. Blue is still the mainstream of daily life.

He also knew that the root medicine of indigo was used to make medicine, and some were rationed every spring and autumn when people were prone to fever and cold.

But he didn't know that the combination of these things would make his people so distressed, and he was worried that he would be regarded as the kind of person that Mr. said could not distinguish between six animals and wheat and leeks, so he resisted the urge to blurt out the question and said solemnly. Wait for an explanation.

"Planting an acre of indigo can be sold for more copper coins than wheat. Our family only planted these, but who knows... Who knew that such a chaos suddenly occurred in Xiacheng in May."

"We thought, Jixia will definitely come back, everything will remain the same, and this indigo will always be sold. Who knows that there will be another news in July that Jixia has gone crazy and brought 3000 people there After leaving Dongyi, I will never come back."

"At first we didn't believe it, but later we had to believe it, because the leader sent envoys to Xiacheng, and the leaders of those people in Xiacheng would never meet each other before. Everyone said that Jixia died in Dongyi, and everyone said that Jixia died in Dongyi. He was shot and killed by the Dongyi people..."

"Without the purchase from the Supply and Marketing Department, who will we sell our indigo to?"

"When Yuxia was not separated, this indigo was a copper coin. When Yuxia separated, Jixia died, and all the people from the Planning and Statistics Department of the Xiacheng Supply and Marketing Department went to the west of the wolf fur fief. This indigo is a pile of grass. Not even grass."

"Brother Strider, do you know how much manpower this indigo will cost? How much more manure will be applied? It grows in vain and wastes the most fertile land, and pays a tax that is heavier than wheat beans every year. In order to clean up this bit of indigo Our family also bought three slaves."

"When we heard the news, we immediately felt that the sky was about to fall. Not to mention how much copper coins the roots and seeds were sold directly at the beginning, but how much was the labor later?"

"At that time, it was going to be August. We thought, we should plow off all the indigo and plant winter wheat for a season. Otherwise, what can we do?"

"But... But the wheat has grown, and there is another news. Jixia is not dead at all, and he is still winning in Dongyi. Since Jixia has won a big victory in Dongyi, isn't it just a matter of time before he returns to Xia City? ?"

"Wheat is good, but how can it compare to those indigo?"

E-strider was a little puzzled, and asked, "Why can't you think that what you heard before is false? If you don't get rid of these indigo, you don't have to regret it now? Besides, these lands are considered fertile, can't they be fertile?" The same land has been reclaimed elsewhere, and this indigo remains..."

The farmer smiled wryly and said, "You left the city to study with Jixia, how would you know the changes in the city? If I didn't care about the indigo and didn't let the slaves fertilize and weed, the grass would cover the indigo in a year, and the barren land No difference, isn’t there no difference?”

"If I let the slaves fertilize and weed, they won't be able to do other work. I have to spend food to feed the slaves. At that time, who knew that Jixia didn't die?"

"Furthermore, some changes have taken place in the city. The indigo field has to be taxed, but it is much heavier than the wheat field. The tax will be paid next spring. If the indigo can't be exchanged for copper coins, then the indigo field will be paid. To pay the tax of indigo, I am afraid that I will become a slave."

E strider was even more puzzled, and asked back: "Become a slave? You are a clansman, how can you become a slave?"

E-strider carefully recalled the rules of the city, but never remembered that there was a rule that made the clansmen become slaves.

The farmer replied subconsciously: "Then there is no money in the past, and there are so many things that there are now."

Chapter 69 The Beginning of Change

"It's not like before. There have been some changes in the city since last year. This is what everyone agrees on. In the past, it was just farming the public land, and the leader recruited troops to follow. If you don't go, you won't get the spoils."

"It's different now. There are fewer things and more things, and the rules are more detailed."

"In the past, there was no such thing as money. At most, it was not farming the public land or fleeing cowardly when fighting. Being expelled from the clan was the greatest punishment."

"Now that I have money, I borrowed money from others. I have to pay it back, right? People who borrow money can't just say that those who owe money can be expelled from the clan. If they have no money, no food, and strength, they will become slaves."

"There are rules in the clan era, but the rules in the clan era can't solve the current situation at all. If someone owes you money, you say you want him to be beaten and it's over, or will you be a slave to pay back the money?"

"I don't even recognize the city now, how could I have imagined it a few years ago?"

The farmer shook his head and sighed again.

Crescent asked nervously, "Then you don't like these changes?"

The farmer asked anxiously, "Why don't you like it?"

"If it weren't for these changes, how could so much land be reclaimed? Even if the time is bad, it is better than before. It is true that you may become a slave because of debts and taxes, but it is also possible that you can have your own horses and plowshares by the way. A hundred acres of land, how can the eyes only look at the bad places?"

"We are indeed lamenting, but what we lament is not Maizi lamenting the new rules, but our own short-sightedness, how can we easily believe that Jixia will be shot and killed by the Dongyi people?

"It's not just us who are lamenting. Those who burn pottery, raise sheep for wool, grow hemp, and burn lime... How many people are weeping?"

The farmer was still babbling indistinctly, and the e-strider lowered his head and saw a few dried indigo in the furrow.

When he was in Yucheng before, Chen Jian told them that when there are enough roads and ships, cities separated by two or three hundred miles will no longer exist alone, and many things in other cities will affect other cities. the city.

At that time, he just listened and thought it was right but it was hard to understand.Now that I have seen all these scenes, I really understand.