The tigers around Zhang Tao also shouted one by one.

"What a royal grain national tax! If you hand it over, you will also squander it for those corrupt officials! Huzi said indignantly.

"When the grain harvest is abundant, the government says that it is troublesome to pay the grain, so it will pay the money directly. When the grain harvest is not harvested, it is forced to pay the grain. These officials are really playing monkeys with us. Long Gu said grumblingly.

"Yes! The government now keeps saying that it collects grain at a protective price, but why do grain dealers pay three cents more to collect grain? Is this to protect us or to protect corrupt officials? Gong Yong also complained.

"You know what a fart, they are tossing left and right like this, aren't they still trying to make a profit from the price of food? The cats here are too tired, and the difference in food prices alone makes those who are officials rich. Who among these dog officials will consider the suffering of the common people? The monkey said disdainfully.

"Pay the public grain, pay the public food, my stomach is still not full, and I have to feed those white-eyed wolves who are not well fed. After paying the public grain for one acre of land, except for those miscellaneous inputs, it is basically a waste of work. and have to bear the retention and the apportionment. This year's township co-ordination and village retention have increased by a lot compared with last year, reaching more than 30. How will we live this day in the future? What else is there to plant in this field? It's better to be like other villages, let it abandon the wasteland and go to work outside. Gong Yong said angrily.

"Last year, I was hit by the disaster and bought a year's worth of food to eat, and I was in debt. This year's harvest is better and can be repaid, but as soon as the grain and those taxes and fees are paid, the granary at home will be empty, and you can only tighten your neck to live. It seems that the burden of our rushing people to buy rice from Basho Market has been thrown to the bottom forever! The old man who was smoking a choking cigarette shook his head and sighed as he spoke.

"......" Some old farmers also joined the conversation with sad faces.

The words of the villagers and the cruel reality made Zhang Tao, who was in a good mood, suddenly feel a biting cold and uncomfortable as if he had fallen into an ice cellar. His thoughts drifted again, and some fragments of his memories flashed in front of him. Yes! When will the hard life of the common people come to an end?

The payment of public grain is a heavy shackle that has been put on the peasants for thousands of years, and the miserable fate of the peasants is firmly locked with the land. From the old society to the new society, the peasants took up kitchen knives and made a revolution with flat shoulders, overthrew the three mountains that pressed on their heads, and got a share of the land, which can be regarded as the realization of "the tiller has his land". But in reality? "The tiller has his land" is only nominal, and the ownership of the land belongs to the whole people, that is, to the state. The cultivator only has the right to use, that is, the land allocated to the peasants is only responsible for cultivation, and must pay taxes to the government, that is, the peasants say they pay public grain. In a sense, the government is the big landlord, the workers are the tenants or minions of the rent-collectors, and the common people are the tenants.

When the peasants turned over and became masters, they naturally had to be grateful to the party and the government. Before the seventies and eighties, the people's enthusiasm for paying public grain was great! Whether there is food at home or not, what everyone thinks is that it is natural to farm and pay for grain, no matter how difficult it is, the imperial grain cannot be paid. Paying the public grain every year is the top priority for every family. As soon as the rice is landed, it is dried in the sun, and the debris is cleaned, and the rice with bright shine and full grains is selected and handed over to the state.

Before the implementation of the household responsibility system, every time the grain was handed over to the public, the production group organized manpower, and it was generally young and middle-aged laborers and women with sharp hands and feet, and the laborers were generally carrying sacks, and the women went to dry the grain and load it, and then sent it to the grain depot in a unified manner.

In the early 80s, the clarion call for reform and opening up sounded in the motherland, the household responsibility system was gradually popularized in the rural areas, and the peasants' enthusiasm for production was fully mobilized, which greatly promoted the improvement of rural labor productivity and brought about unprecedented prosperity in the rural areas. The grain handed over to the public was also sent to the grain depot one by one.

Shimoki Murata is less, and even if he doesn't pay the public grain, he won't have enough to eat. Every time I go to the basho market, the villagers who carry various specialties to the market to exchange rice on the road are on the road. In Zhang Tao's memory, his whole family worked hard for a year, and it was far from enough to earn rations. He almost grew up eating sweet potato rice and turnip rice. In junior high school and high school, I also relied on my trouser belt to survive by carrying some miscellaneous grains from home. As for pure rice, it can only be eaten during festivals or when entertaining guests.

Despite this, Zhang Tao's family has never been in arrears of public grain. His father was a private teacher in the village, and his consciousness was relatively high. He often told his family: "Paying the national tax on imperial grain is a rule left over from ancient times, if we don't pay it, what will the people in the city eat." ”

When I was a child, it was a pleasure to go with my parents to pay the public grain, because the public food could go out of the village to play in the lively places, and at the same time, I could eat good things that I couldn't eat at home.

On the day of the delivery of the public grain, before dawn, Zhang Tao's family had to get up early. Zhang Tao's family task food is about more than 300 catties, his parents each pick more than 100 catties, and the remaining dozens of catties are picked by Zhang Tao. The younger sister Mengfang watched the house, and the eldest sister Mengxue followed to make soy sauce.

It is about 20 miles from the bottom to the Aoshan grain depot, and it takes more than two hours to walk fast. From home to Gaotang is a potholed sheep intestine path, and it is the most time-consuming and laborious to rush in the dark. It is a wide road from Gaotang to Aoshan, and the sky is bright at this time. The depressed mood of Zhang Tao's food delivery team was also swept away, and the pace of walking was much easier.

When I arrived at the grain depot, my clothes were already soaked with sweat, and the whole person was almost crushed by the flat shoulder. However, now is not the time to catch your breath, you have to hurry up and queue up, hand over the grain smoothly, and receive the slip issued by the grain depot to finish the matter.

Although Zhang Tao's family hurried early, there were still many people who were earlier than them. There was a long queue for the delivery of grain, and there were many people, some from their own village, some from neighboring villages, some shirtless and dark-skinned uncles, some aunts with crisp and loud voices, and some dolls who might come to guard the bags.

The grain station ushered in the busiest time of the year. The concrete floor of the grain station is full of colorful bags. While patiently waiting for the inspection of the inspectors, everyone had a warm conversation with people who did not know each other, some talked loudly about this year's grain harvest, some scolded the grain station for being too dark, and some talked about the shortcomings of parents.

But at this time, those who eat public meals at the grain station are often still asleep. They have a strict schedule and get to and from work on time. Of course, they can't be blamed for this, your government has no hard and fast rules, and there is no overtime pay, can they be so aggressive? By the time they had dragged their feet to eat and have breakfast, the people who had come early had been waiting for almost four hours.