And such a good thing?

Zhu'er's eyes lit up and he laughed: "That's really good! Sister, we don't have to pay food, you don't have to work so hard! ”

He hurriedly looked at Gu Lan, wanting to see her smile.

But Gu Lan couldn't laugh, is it really that simple? Why did she feel a little worried?

But it was useless to think more, life still had to pass, she listened to the advice of the old man Shao, restrained her younger siblings these days, did not ask them to go to the village, and grinded cassava at home every day to make cassava flour.

These days are sunny days, which is a good time to dry tapioca flour.

But the villagers of Xiaolongkan were not happy.

If someone passes by the door of each house, they will find that there are people in every house crying and scolding.

There are three buckets of grain per head, and most people have more than a dozen heads in their homes.

For example, the Gu family, Mrs. Gu dragged her four sons to grow up alone, and now Gu Lan's father is gone, but there are still three sons and three daughters-in-law in the family, two children in the eldest room, four children in the second room, the least number of children in the fourth room, only one, and one is still in the belly.

There are 14 people here, no matter how big or small, they are all three buckets of grain per head, and hundreds of catties of grain go out at once, and the food at home is suddenly less than half.

It's just winter! With three long months to come, how will they spend their lives?

But if you don't pay food, you will die.

They had to hand over the grain.

Mrs. Gu couldn't sleep these days, and when she couldn't sleep, she began to count the food, as if she would increase the amount of food when she counted it.

She had thought that there were too many people in her family and too little food, so she drove Gu Lan and the others out, which was like a gecko with a broken tail, which was a move to protect herself.

But who would have thought that this year, the imperial court will levy more grain, so calculated, which is still ten taxes and three, and it is clearly ten taxes and five!

These ordinary people are busy working in the fields all year round, and half of them have to be handed over to the imperial court.

Is there still a living head in this day?

I don't know whose women in the village are crying, and in the middle of the night, the crying is terrible and wailing, and it drifts far and wide along the cold wind.

Even Gu Lan, who lived in the east of a remote village, seemed to hear it.

The woman cried and wanted to strangle her child who was born less than a month ago, he came at a bad time, just in time for the court to collect grain according to the capitation, and the family had to pay more than a dozen catties of grain for no reason.

Where did she get food to feed her children?

If she knew that the grain collector was coming, she would have strangled the child to death early!

A mother scolded the fallen flesh from her body so sadly, Gu Lan only felt chills all over her body when she listened to her cries and wails.

She covered her siblings' ears and hid with them in the warm bed.

"Sister, don't be afraid." Zhu'er stretched out her hand to cover one of her ears, and Liang Er learned from him to cover Gu Lan's other ear.

The cry seemed to be inaudible, but it seemed to be still lingering in Gu Lan's heart.

How could such a tragic thing happen.

This night, Gu Lan didn't sleep well.

On the second day was the day of the delivery of grain, and every household had to go to Lizheng's house to weigh the grain, and then personally deliver it to the town.

There are many Gu family members and a lot of food, and the three Gu Dahe brothers have to make a trip, one of them carries more than 100 catties of food, and there is no joy on everyone's face, like mourning.

Their women followed behind them wiping away tears, and the rest of the journey lasted for three days, and they might encounter bandits in their way.

I feel sorry for men, but I feel even more sorry for food.

The people in the village are like this, and they are not in a hurry to leave after weighing the good food, and when the large army is almost done, they will make an appointment to go on the road together, and they can resist when they encounter bandits.

There were people coming and going in front of the house, but few people spoke, and everyone looked unhappy.

Some well-off families don't pay for food, and pay taxes directly with the equivalent amount of silver, and Tori is taking it, so he doesn't have to make another trip.

People came and went, but Gu Xinghua felt that something was wrong, why didn't she see Gu Lan and a few people!

Don't they have to pay the grain tax?

When she knew that the imperial court was going to levy more grain tax, Gu Xinghua immediately thought of Gu Lan, the grain Gu Lan planted was all taken back by her grandmother, she had no harvest, and the rice tank at home was estimated to be empty for a long time, and it was difficult to fill her stomach, how could she pay the grain tax.

If she can't pay it, how can the government let her go?

It was because Gu Xinghua had been waiting to see the excitement, and she came to the door of Lizheng early in the morning to wait for the rabbit, but who knew that it had been more than half a day, and Gu Lan had not come yet.

She was a little anxious, and ran to ask her mother: "Mother, when is this coming, why didn't Gu Lan come to pay the grain?" ”

How could the Chen family know that she didn't care about Gu Lan's affairs, there wasn't enough food at home, and they were still worried about what Gu Lan was doing, even if they starved to death outside, she would never leak a grain of rice from her fingers to the four of them!

Unable to get an answer, Gu Xinghua felt a little strange, she gritted her teeth and simply went to find the answer herself.

ran through most of the village, becoming more and more remote, and finally arrived at Gu Lan's house.

Gu Lan was afraid of attracting the attention of the village, so she didn't turn on the fire to cook at noon, but used tapioca cakes to temporarily satisfy her hunger, she sat in the sun at the door of her house, still doing needlework in her hands.

She can't sew clothes, but she can learn quickly, first cut a small piece of cloth and trial and error, practice to make styles, and only after success did she start to make clothes for the children at home.

There is no need to ask others, and every time you make progress through trial and error.

Zhu'er got a bamboo sword out of nowhere, constantly swinging and chopping, making a sound in the air, and Liang'er kept practicing the words he had learned on the ground, teaching Zhu'er by the way.

Gu Lan was doing needlework next to her, and she also knew all the words.

looks like the years are quiet, as if the village's grain collection has nothing to do with them.

What the hell is going on?

Gu Xinghua couldn't understand, could it be that Gu Lan and they paid the money?

Gu Xinghua had been thinking about this matter, she ran back to the village again, but saw that the official messenger who had been here last time had come again, and this time he was alone, and he was checking the amount of grain by Lizheng's side.

Gu Xinghua's heart moved, and she didn't know what drove her, she quickly walked to Li Zheng's side, and Chen's hand grabbed her and fell into the air.

Gu Xinghua glanced at Li Zheng timidly, plucked up the courage to ask, "Lord Li Zheng, has Gu Lan come to hand over the grain?" ”

"Gu Lan?" Li Zheng was stunned for a while, and then the cold sweat on his forehead came down, how could he forget Gu Lan when he reported the head!

"What's wrong?" The official noticed that something was wrong, frowned and touched the knife, and looked at Gu Xinghua.

Since ancient times, the people were afraid of officials, and Gu Xinghua was so frightened that her face was pale, but she still insisted on: "I... I have a cousin who lives separately from my family, and I am afraid that she will not pay the grain and delay the important affairs of the court, so this is ......"