RPAGF Chapter 167 Holy Father, Prepare to Die (16)
Chapter 167 Holy Father, Prepare to Die (16)
This day has nothing to do with the women in the village, but it is every man's nightmare in the dead of night.
This day was none other than the occasional forced labor service.
Although the menial tasks involved repairing city walls, digging canals, and transporting provisions, the sheer exhaustion was unbearable! The daily food was also extremely poor, and most people simply couldn't endure such intense work.
In addition, it also depends on your personal luck and which supervisor you are assigned to work under.
If you're lucky, you'll have a patient overseer, and life will be much easier. But if you're unlucky and assigned to work under a grumpy overseer, you might even be tortured to death.
Even if one is lucky enough to survive, months of forced labor will leave one severely scarred, if not dead.
Therefore, most men in the village would try to avoid corvée labor, the most direct way being to pay enough silver to the government.
To put it simply, it means either provide money or provide manpower.
In order to save the lives of their husbands, many people were willing to go into debt to raise enough money for military service.
And these next few days are when the notice will be issued.
With Xia Mingwei's intense anticipation, the day finally arrived.
The officers and soldiers posted the notice, and the news spread quickly.
What followed was the government's large-scale conscription of men, which created a sense of oppression in every household in the village.
Some families simply couldn't raise the money, and the men in the family were taken away by the government on the spot, followed by the cries of the women behind them.
Li Shi was also aware of this matter.
But he wasn't in a hurry, because he had already prepared the money.
The Li family's pork shop business wasn't too bad, and Li Shi didn't give up all his wealth to perform corvée labor, demonstrating his noble character.
So he had hidden the money in a corner of the room long ago, without telling anyone. But it was too early to talk about all this before things had settled down.
After all, no one can guarantee that nothing will go wrong before all of this is over.
Li Shi had no concern whatsoever about the government's conscription of men, because at that moment he only wanted to protect himself.
Fortunately, Xia Mingwei hasn't hit him again in the past month, and his injuries have mostly healed.
If Xia Mingwei knew what he was thinking, she would definitely cover her mouth and chuckle.
Since she's willing to let Li Shi recover from his injuries, it means she's going to make him suffer even more! With Xia Mingwei around, Li Shi can forget about being exempted from corvée labor for the rest of his life!
Soon, the officers and soldiers arrived in the village and began checking each household.
The Niu family, who lived next door to Li Shi, couldn't raise enough money, so the government officials tried to take away Niu's son and husband without saying a word.
Upon witnessing this scene, Aunt Niu felt dizzy and unable to even stand up straight!
They took her man and son away; wouldn't that be the death of her?
She knelt on the ground and pleaded, "Sir, please give us two more days! Within two days, my family will definitely raise the money for you!"
The officers glanced at Aunt Niu but didn't want to pay her any more attention.
They've seen this kind of thing countless times! Every year, there are at least seven or eight families pleading like this, if not a dozen! If they sympathize with them every time, how will they ever finish the tasks assigned to them by their superiors?
If the task isn't completed, not only will the common people suffer, but even they themselves won't fare well.
"We don't have enough money right now, so get out of the way, we're taking them away!"
Hearing the soldiers' words, Aunt Niu refused to listen and clung tightly to their clothes.
Seeing that their polite words were ignored, the officers and soldiers became enraged. They raised their feet, as if to kick them.
Just when Aunt Niu was in despair, Xia Mingwei appeared.
"Sir, Aunt Niu is just worried and confused. Please be magnanimous and don't take it to heart! We are just small people, why should we bother getting so angry with you!"
As Xia Mingwei said this, she casually slipped a small piece of silver into his hand.
"Please don't think this is too little money. You've worked hard these past few days. Take it and buy the brothers a few bowls of wine. It's just a small token of our appreciation!"
Hearing these kind words, the leading constable looked at the silver in his hand and exchanged a glance with each other.
The soldier withdrew his foot and said to Aunt Niu with a hint of warning, "Considering this young lady is so sensible, we brothers will let it go today! But if you cause trouble again, don't blame us for being impolite!"
Although Aunt Niu knew this principle in her heart, how easy was it for her to watch the soldiers take away the two men in her family and do it with a clear conscience?
She said in an extremely humble tone, "Sir, could you please grant me a few more days?"
"Didn't I just warn you? Unless you pay the money now, I'm taking him away today!"
Looking at the soldiers' uncompromising attitude, Aunt Niu felt even more desperate.
Everything in the house that could be sold had already been sold. They had already lent money to everyone they could. Where would they possibly come from with so much silver all at once?
Knowing there was no hope of changing the outcome, Aunt Niu looked at her husband and son with their heads bowed and resignedly said to the soldiers, "Sir, I beg you to arrange a good place for my son and husband, and spare their worthless lives! I, a woman, kowtow to you here!"
Seeing Aunt Niu like this, Xia Mingwei was momentarily moved.
Aunt Niu was one of the few people in the village who had never bullied the original owner of this body; on the contrary, she had helped the original owner quite a bit. Now that she was in trouble, it wouldn't hurt to lend a hand!
Ever since Xia Mingwei began her mission, she had started to believe in karma and retribution. Helping others within her means was a way of accumulating good karma for herself!
Thinking of this, Xia Mingwei spoke up again, "Sir, this matter is actually quite simple. In the end, it's just about money! I paid Aunt Niu's family the money for their corvée labor!"
Upon hearing Xia Mingwei's words, Aunt Niu, who had been hanging her head, suddenly raised it, and her eyes regained their light.
In that instant, Xia Mingwei appeared as if she were her savior.
"Madam Li, what should I do? How can I ever repay your immense kindness?"
As she said this, she suddenly knelt down before Xia Mingwei with a "thump".
Xia Mingwei felt unworthy of the elder's greeting and quickly helped Aunt Niu up.
He then took out the silver from his pocket and handed it to the soldiers.