The happy little days of the Ye family

As soon as the soybeans were taken back in Tangshan, news came from the village that grain taxes and taxes would be collected.

The village chief issued a notice during the day that every household must send someone to the ancestral hall for a meeting at night to notify them of important matters.

Well-informed people have already known in advance that they have to pay taxes. The harvest this year is not good, and after paying taxes, the family will have to cut back on food and clothing.

Those who came from the Ye family were Mr. Ye and Father Ye, along with Tang Shan and Tang Xiaojing. Before the four of them entered, they heard loud and noisy discussions inside.

Father Ye loved to watch the excitement, so he quickly left a few people behind and headed towards the crowd excitedly.

The remaining three people were hiding quietly in the corner, waiting patiently for Ye's father to come back. Ye's father was famous for asking questions, and there was nothing that he couldn't find out when he was around.

Father Ye hasn't come back yet, and the three of them already know from other people's conversations that they will have to pay grain tax and population tax soon.

Moreover, the corvee has been changed this year. Each household has to send two people to clean the river, and I heard that it cannot be replaced with money.

When Mr. Ye heard the news, the smile on his face instantly disappeared. The age for collecting corvee service is for men between 15 and 50 years old. Ye Donglin is now 14 years old and is not within the range. Both Ye's father and Mr. Ye have to do corvee service.

Mr. Ye is 49 years old this year, and he is already old. However, Mr. Ye does less farm work and his physical strength is not as good as Mr. Ye. If both father and son go to do corvee work, both of them will be in trouble.

Moreover, if Mr. Ye and Mr. Ye go to do corvee service, then only a group of women and children will be left in the family. What if someone comes to bully them? Mr. Ye is very worried.

As for the Tang family, Tang Shan is 36 years old and Tang Xiaojing is 15 years old. Both of them are within the scope of corvee and have to serve in corvee.

At this time, Tang Shan was also very worried. He had been a good escort for many years, but Tang Xiaojing was still a 15-year-old boy in his heart. He was worried that Tang Xiaojing would not be able to bear it or would be in bad shape.

The only seedling left in their Tang family is Tang Xiaojing. The father and son depend on each other. What if something bad happens to him, what will he do?

Mr. Ye muttered: "The corvee happens every two years, and each corvee lasts for one month. In previous years, one adult man from each household served in the corvee. Why did it suddenly change this year, and we are not allowed to pay to replace it."

It didn't take long for Father Ye to come back. What he heard was similar to what Mr. Ye and others heard. However, there were different opinions on whether they could pay for it, and they didn't know if it was true.

"The food and household tax are the same as in previous years, but I heard that the corvee has been changed this year. I heard that each household has to send two adult men to clean the river, and the time has been changed from one month to two months in previous years."

"In previous years, if you didn't want to do the corvee, you could pay 2 taels of silver to be exempted from the corvee, but I don't know what the regulations are this year. Some say you won't be allowed to pay instead, and some say you need 10 or 20 taels of silver to be exempted from the corvee."

Father Ye was still dancing and talking to a few people about the news he had learned. At this time, the village chief rang the gong to signal everyone to quiet down.

"Everyone, please be quiet. If anyone says another word, he will be fined ten cents."

Every meeting is like a vegetable market. The village chief shouts until his voice becomes hoarse and no one listens. This time he specially thought of this method of fines.

As soon as they heard that they were going to be fined, everyone became quiet and closed their mouths tightly for fear of making any sound.

Seeing that everyone had calmed down, the village chief continued: "The government issued a notice that in three days the village will collect grain tax and capitation tax. The details are the same as last year."

“粮税还是按一成来征收。人丁税按年龄来收，3岁到14岁每人缴纳20文的人头税。15岁为成年人，15岁到50岁每年缴纳60文的人头税。”

收粮税还是是按一成来征收，叶家3亩水田要收240斤稻子的粮税，2亩旱地要收280斤玉米的粮税，5亩的沙地要收1000斤红薯的粮税。

Barren hills are tax-free for 5 years and wasteland is tax-free for 3 years. The two hills of the Ye family, as well as the stone mountain and valley of the Tang family, have not been taxed in recent years.

This means that the Tang family only needs to pay the capitation tax this year.

Village chief: "The other thing is the corvee. There is very little rain this year. The government has said that heavy rains are very likely next year. The rivers in Weihai County have not been cleaned for several years. This year's corvee is to dredge the rivers to prevent floods caused by heavy rains."

The people present were all farmers who made a living by farming. The old farmer in the village also said that there would be heavy rains next year, and everyone knew that the rivers needed to be dredged. They didn't have any objections.

"We have many rivers in Weihai County, and the task of dredging all the rivers in the county is relatively heavy. Therefore, this corvee will last for two months, and each household will have to send two adult men to do the corvee."

"Although dredging the river is a bit hard work, it is also a good thing that benefits farmers and the people. Moreover, the government has said that people who serve as corvees this year will be paid. Those who participate in cleaning the river will each receive 10 cents per day. And it’s guaranteed to be enough for 3 meals.”

The villagers who had just looked bitter just now were all happy when they heard that they would get money for the corvee this time. Although the 10 cents of wages were a little less, they could still earn 600 cents in two months and return it to their families. Save food.

The villagers all looked at the village chief eagerly. They had countless questions in their hearts that they wanted to ask the village chief, but they were afraid of being paid, so they could only hold back and hope that the village chief would stop talking and finish the matter quickly.

"Dredging the river requires a lot of manpower. If you have extra labor at home, you can also voluntarily sign up to participate in this corvee. Those who volunteer will also be paid 10 cents per person per day, and they will be fed three meals a day."

Now the villagers were even happier. This year's autumn harvest was not good. They were originally thinking about how to save food, but unexpectedly the government had already thought of it.

The men eat a lot. If all the labor force in the family is used to dredge the river, not only can they earn wages, but they can also leave a lot of food for the family. Not only will the family not be short, but there will probably be a surplus. Woolen cloth.

Seeing that everyone was about to move, the village chief signaled everyone to be quiet and continued: "In addition, if you don't want to do the corvee, you can get money instead, but this year's situation is special. It takes 10 silver to be exempted from the corvee, and it is 10 taels of silver per person."

Mr. Ye was both happy and distressed when he heard that ten taels of silver could be exempted from the corvee. Ten taels of silver was enough to cover the expenses of a family for two to three years. No wonder the money for the corvee this year comes from them.

"Everyone goes back to discuss the candidates for corvee service in the evening. You can come to me to register tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. Those who want to spend money to be exempted from corvee service should also come to me to register as soon as possible."

Then the village chief waved his hand, indicating that everyone could leave.

A shrewd-looking old lady pulled the village chief and asked: "Village Chief, my old man is 52 years old. Can he still sign up for this year's corvee?"

Another old man also asked: "Village chief, although my youngest son and eldest grandson are only 14 years old, they are very strong. Can they also sign up to participate in this year's corvee?"

"The age of those who voluntarily sign up is the same as the normal age for corvee service, which is 15 to 50 years old. Those who are too young or too old are not accepted."

The government is not stupid. They have to pay wages every day, and of course they have to find some strong and strong labor force.