The Yellow River is very long, and it is said that its source is only a few small streams, but because it is too far away, no one can find it accurately.

Hetou Village is located in the Yellow River, where the terrain is better for growing crops and less afraid of disasters such as floods.

Chen Chu looked at the Yellow River and remembered the round monster that slipped away during the sacrifice in Hejia Village, and now he thought that it was probably a Wang Ba, that thing was very vigilant, and when he left, he went to search again, but there was no gain.

The carriage entered Hetou Village, where almost all the villagers worked in the fields, but they were all yellow and thin, and they did not seem to be able to fill their stomachs.

Horse-drawn carriages are only available in the county seat, and they are high-end luxuries in the village, and it is very good for farmers to have a small cart at home. If there is an ox cart, it must be the top existence in the village, the ox can farm, can pull the cart, is a treasure!

An old man led a few men to block Chen Chuchu's way and asked loudly, "May I ask where the distinguished guest is from, and what is the purpose of coming to our poor village?" ”

They speak so directly, twice a day, and they have to save food, their brains are buzzing, and they don't have time to talk so much nonsense......

Chen Chuchu clasped his fists with both hands: "Poor Dao is a wandering Taoist, Chen Chu, travel is also experience, many years ago when he was a child, he followed the master to pass through your village, and recently went north alone, just passing by again, I came to disturb the old man and hope that the old man will forgive me." ”

Du Siniang in the carriage was a little nervous, Chen was an old man who was called an old man, and his ashes didn't know where to fly.

Chen Chuchu stretched out his hand and flicked his bangs, his eyes flashed in an instant, and his smile was much gentler: "Old man, Poor Dao remembers that everyone in your village farms, and even if there is a flood, this terrain can't be flooded. ”

The old village chief wanted to speak and stopped.

The man next to him looked Chen Chuchu up and down, and couldn't help but say: "The Taoist chief is a monk who doesn't care about firewood, rice, oil and salt, and it's normal to not know this!" Kangxi was in his prime, eating chaff and drinking thin, and the officials in the county town posted notices every day saying that it was a prosperous age, but our village didn't feel it anyway. ”

The old village chief was taken aback: "Don't talk nonsense! ”

The man seemed to have a grudge for a long time, he pointed to Chen Qiqi and said: "Village chief, it's just a Taoist priest, is it worth sending someone to visit our poor village?" Although all of us farm for a living, and the harvest is okay, we can't withstand the government's annual increase in taxes, and we can't pay the grain!

After a year of hard work, the grain handed over was not enough to deduct taxes, and I now owe dozens of taels of silver to the government. ”

Another man next to the village chief also said: "Yes, no matter how much you pay, you can't shout enough!" The bucket used to measure rice in the official mission, saying that one bucket can actually hold a lot, even two buckets and two and a half buckets! Who can stand this, plus the people who measure the bucket keep shaking back and forth, scattering rice on the ground, and saying that those who fall on the ground do not count......

I can't live this day, fucking official!

The annual payment of grain has become semi-annual, and we have never heard that the emperor has said that he pays half a year's tax! One bucket contains two buckets of rice, and even then it has to be exploited layer by layer, and in the end, it is naturally not enough, so everyone in our village owes tax money......"

The old village chief couldn't stand it anymore, and the crutches in his hand slapped the man fiercely, "Let you talk nonsense, nonsense, talk nonsense every day, we are all doing well, what is uncomfortable!" Turning his head to look at Chen Chuchu: "These young people are ignorant, and they listen to stories about what they say." ”

The two men were beaten by the village chief and did not dare to dodge, so they could only raise their hands to hold the vital point.

Their performance, how Chen Chuchu didn't know the truth of the matter, the old village chief's reaction was nothing more than that he was from the government, and secretly made a small report to give them small shoes to wear.

Chen Chuchu didn't go out of his way to explain, he was just a stranger, and sometimes the more he explained, the darker it became.

He smiled and said: "When I came with the master, I once sat on a stone in front of a family in your village, and got two bowls of water. ”

The old village chief was stunned for a moment, and the panic in his heart subsided a little, is it really just an ordinary wandering Taoist? But there was no Taoist priest who drove a carriage out to travel, and there was no one on horseback, anyway, the Taoist priests he saw were all on foot.

"I don't know who the chief is talking about?"

"It's Zhang Dahe and Li Anu."

"Ah, they ......"

"What's wrong?"

The two names that Chen Chuchu said were Zhang Ergou's parents recorded in He Ashui's log.

The old village chief's face was ugly, and he held back for a long time, and finally spit out a sentence: "They are still there, but they are old...... The physical condition and the head are also not bright...... Forget it, I'll take the Taoist to take a look. ”

Chen Chu used the prop "Shell" to change Zhang Ergou's appearance, so that he returned to his normal skin color and appearance, and he looked like a very good-looking middle-aged man, but unfortunately, the composition of the wine tank on Zhang Ergou's body was complex, and it was affected by secret arts, and the body props could not change the shape of the wine tank......

The vat must be.

I really can't help it.

Chen Qiqi moved the wine vat to Zhang Ergou's back, and it looked like he was carrying a big vat. He thought about cutting it off with a sword, but Zhang Ergou's internal organs were all connected to the wine tank, and if he cut it, the person was gone......

He asked the old village chief to get in the car and introduced Du Shi Niang and Zhang Ergou, Du Shi Niang honestly confessed, saying that it was a little girl who was rescued from the sacrifice of Hebo in Hejia Village. And Zhang Ergou lied that he was a wine merchant, walking around with good wine on his back and selling word of mouth. The old village chief would never have thought that someone would have a wine vat on him, so he would believe it.

On the way to Zhang Dahe's house, the old village chief sat in the center of the carriage upright, and he didn't dare to touch it anywhere, because the carriage was very delicate, and he couldn't afford to pay for anything that was broken......

Chen Chu couldn't laugh or cry, but he also understood him.

Not long after, Zhang Dahe's house arrived, the old village chief jumped out of the carriage, with a relieved expression on his face, and at the same time a little nostalgic for the short carriage journey just now, and quickly regained his heart, he was old, people were dying, and it was enough to have a novel experience......

Next to the carriage was a house made of rubble and covered with homemade mud tiles, which were rough and broken.

The old village chief asked Chen to wait a while.

He stepped forward and knocked on the door vigorously and shouted, "Lao Zhang, Lao Zhang, someone has come to see you!" ”

I knocked on the door for a long time and no one answered.

He said with some embarrassment: "There was an accident in Dahe's family thirty years ago, Dahe's mother-in-law is no longer able to work normally, and can only rely on Dahe to support three people in taxes, he already owes a lot of money, and he is working hard every day, I think he should be in the field with his mother-in-law at this time......

Du Siniang asked suspiciously: "However, you just said that Dahe's wife can't work." ”

The village chief said with a gloomy expression: "Yes, but this mother-in-law must be with her, otherwise all the time of Dahe will be spent looking for where the mother-in-law is......"

Zhang Ergou suddenly asked: "There are only two people in this couple, how can the tax of the three of them come from?" ”

The old village chief said: "The official said that their missing son is also counted, who knows if he is secretly hiding to avoid paying taxes?" ”

(End of chapter)