The happy little days of the Ye family

Mrs. Ye knew that all adult men had to do corvee service to cultivate officialdom, and it took 15 taels of silver to be exempted from one quota. She went crazy on the spot.

Old Mrs. Ye had her hands on her waist and scolded her for half the night at home, until her voice became hoarse and she couldn't stand it anymore, so Mr. Ye persuaded her to stop.

Of course, Mrs. Ye was not the only one who cursed people in the village. There were many insults and cries from everywhere.

When they woke up the next day, the dark circles under the eyes were very obvious on everyone's face, and Mrs. Ye's voice was still hoarse.

Old Mrs. Ye was angry and scolded, but she still took 30 taels of silver from the father-in-law.

With a heartbroken look on her face, Mrs. Ye gave the money to Mr. Ye and asked him to go to the village chief early to remove Father Ye and Ye Donglin's quota.

This matter should be done sooner rather than later. If something happens again and they really have to serve four months of corvee, Father Ye and Ye Donglin's frail bodies will not be able to bear it.

It’s really not Mrs. Ye who belittles them.

Although father and son grew up in the village, Ye's father went to the town to work as a waiter at the age of 15, and later set up his own stall and became the boss.

Ye Donglin's situation is similar to Ye's father. He first studied in a private school in the village for several years, and later set up a stall on the dock.

The father and son have not done much farm work, and although they look tall and strong, they are not as strong as Mr. Ye.

Not even as good as Ye Xilin who raises pigs at home.

Tangshan came over when Mr. Ye was halfway through breakfast. He came to see Mr. Ye and go to the village chief's house to pay money with him.

Their family can still afford the 30 taels of silver, so they have to pay it sooner or later. If the quota is removed earlier, they will feel more at ease.

Ye's father's braised pork shop only earns four to five taels of silver a month. Ye Donglin's grocery store is not as good as the braised pork shop, only earning about three to four taels of silver a month.

The father and son were heartbroken when 30 taels of silver suddenly disappeared. It was equivalent to wasting most of their work for nothing.

Father Ye and Ye Donglin didn't want to rest anymore. After breakfast, they went directly to the shop to open the door to make money.

Ye Donglin took the vegetables and food at home and went directly to the grocery store.

Butcher Zhang's meat stall has not yet opened, and there is no meat for braised pork at home. Father Ye first went to the meat stall to buy meat.

Father Ye only bought half a pig's guts and half a pig's head.

It was still the Chinese New Year, and the family still had some meat in stock. Father Ye didn't dare to take more, so he only took the two items that usually sell best.

People in the town were also notified that they were going to do corvee labor, and those who had no money had no choice but to do corvee labor honestly.

However, people in the town are generally richer than in the village, and many people plan to collect money to avoid corvee labor.

Everyone was discussing this corvee, many people were quarreling at home, and some were borrowing money from everywhere.

The Ye family's two shops were opened, and no one cared about them at all.

It wasn't until the familiar smell of braised pork wafted up the street that everyone knew that Ye's shop had opened early.

However, many people are raising money to be exempted from corvee labor, and both Ye's shops are deserted.

The situation at the grocery store is a little better. Grain and vegetables are necessities and must be eaten no matter what.

The business of Ye's father's braised pork shop was very bleak. Only a few men who had already made up their mind to serve as slaves came to buy braised pork.

These people wanted to replenish their health before they had to submit to the slave labor.

Father Ye's braised pork was half less than usual, but he still couldn't sell out, and only half was left.

Father Ye was afraid of ruining his own sign, so he never sold the braised pork in the shop the next day, and took the leftover braised pork back to eat at home.

Based on this calculation, Father Ye not only made no money today, but also lost money.

Ye Donglin's grocery store was also deserted, selling only a few handfuls of vegetables and some of the cheapest corn kernels.

The next day, after learning the lesson from yesterday, Father Ye only cooked half of the pig and one duck.

The price of pig heads is high, and the sales volume is not as good as the pig meat, so Ye’s father has no braised meat.

Knowing that Ye Donglin's grocery store was open, many women nearby came to buy vegetables and grain.

But in order to save money, I mostly buy the cheapest vegetables and grains.

These aunts and aunts were already very economical in normal times. Now they spent money to avoid the corvee, but they used one penny as two pence.

The father and son stayed in the shop for a whole day and only earned twenty or thirty coins.

Fortunately, the shop is owned by oneself, otherwise the money would not be enough to pay the rent.

Originally, Father Ye was thinking that the business would gradually improve if these people went to serve in the military service, but the business of the two shops became worse and worse.

Now all the adult men in the county have spent money to be exempted from the corvee, and those who have no money have already gone to do the corvee. Most of them dare not spend money.

This situation is similar to the previous cleanup of the river, but the impact on the county's wharf at that time was not great.

After all, most of those merchants are from out of town.

Father Ye and Ye Donglin were thinking about whether they should just go back and set up a stall on the pier. It was really boring to make ten cents in a day.

Father Ye and Ye Donglin were about to go back to set up a stall on the dock when they were called back to plow the land by Mr. Ye.

All the long-term workers in the family were on the list of corvee laborers, and their monthly wages were only 500 wen. Naturally, they could not afford to spend money to be exempted from corvee labor.

Moreover, they are all working, and the wages of corvee labor are more than that of long-term labor. These long-term laborers are actually more willing to do corvee labor.

Without the family's long-term workers, they had to drive donkeys to plow the fields themselves during spring plowing, and they also had to take care of pig pens and rabbit sheds.

Mr. Ye, his father, Ye Donglin and Ye Xilin, the four of them got up early every day and plowed the fields until late at night.

Mrs. Ye and Wang Chunyu went there every day to help feed the rabbits and pigs, and also cleaned the rabbit sheds and pig pens.

Ye Mu and Ye Qingqing didn't have time to embroider either. Ye Qingqing was responsible for beating pig grass and cutting grass for rabbits.

Mother Ye takes care of ten sows and two newborn piglets at home.

Everyone in the Ye family is so busy that every time they lie down in bed, they can hear snoring.

The Ye family had many people, so they could barely handle the matter, while the Tang family only had two people, father and son, and it was simply miserable.

Most of the adult men in the entire county have gone to do corvee labor, and every household is short of manpower. No matter how high wages Tang Xiaojing offers, no one does odd jobs.

The father and son simply settled down in the valley and started plowing the fields before dawn every day. During this period, they also had to feed rabbits and pigs.

The Tang family has three cows, and they take turns plowing the fields.

Even so, every cow has lost a lot of weight, let alone Tang Shan and Tang Xiaojing, who are spinning around.

Originally, Tang Xiaojing planned to sell the rabbits and pigs, but everyone in the town went to do corvee labor, and the restaurant was deserted.

The number of rabbits requested by the Liang Family Restaurant has been reduced by half. All the long-term workers have gone to work as corvees, and there is no one to make bacon. Moreover, there are so many pig butchers that they cannot eat.

The rabbits and pigs couldn't be sold, so Tangshan and Tang Xiaojing could only grit their teeth and keep them.

The father and son were very upset. There were only two people in the family, so why did they buy so much land?