In order to study, Fang Yingwu went through his belongings again and found two writing brushes and half a piece of ink, which were probably left by his father. Unfortunately, there was not even half a piece of paper, not even a decent book, and the pen and ink were useless.
In the land of martial arts, Fang Yingwu is really helpless. Even if a poor family wants to make progress, it is really not easy.
Fortunately, I now have the 50 taels of student aid presented by the county magistrate, and a few silver beans that Mrs. Wang threw at me, which is about 20 to 30 taels. Looking at the entire Shanghuaxi Village, it is probably the village with the most abundant cash flow.
If you ignore the thirty-tael debt that may bring disaster at any time.
A large part of the money should be reserved as funds for taking the exam. If buying books is too expensive, you can ignore the cost first, but you should buy some paper for daily use so that you can think about things.
For some reason, he thought of those old people in his previous life who dipped their brushes in water to practice calligraphy on the ground of the square. Maybe he could follow suit?
But these days, it's hard to find even bricks with such a large area, unless you go to Wang Da's house and break down a few pieces. But if you really can't buy paper, you can try it with a table.
Don't have any wishful thinking that there will be shops in the mountain villages, and don't expect to have hawkers setting up stalls. Even the salesmen are not stupid enough to spend a day going into the deep mountain villages just to sell a few needles. Here we work at sunrise and rest at sunset, and we are self-sufficient.
A self-sufficient "paradise" paradise.
Chun'an County is full of peaks and surrounded by streams. Thousands of mountains and rivers have become pure natural dividing lines, dividing small worlds. Many rural elderly people are afraid that they will never know the face of the city. Huaxi Village is just one of them, but it is relatively close to the county seat.
There is only a ten-mile mountain road, but it is closed enough in Fang Yingwu's eyes.
Under such conditions, buying and selling needs are realized through temporary markets, which are characterized by meeting people's trading needs at designated times and places.
For example, in Fang Yingwu’s impression, the market in Huaxi is held every New Year’s Day, and is located on the flat ground outside Xiahuaxi Village, which is the closest to the world outside the mountains. It is convenient for outsiders to come to the market. This tradition has been carried out by hundreds of people for generations.
This has been the case for many years, and will continue to be so for hundreds of years from generation to generation.
"It seems like today is the first day of May!" When Fang Yingwu thought of the market, he suddenly slapped his forehead and woke up. He was going shopping today!
Fang Yingwu, who was confident of having a small pocket, thought of doing it, and immediately closed the door and left the village, heading towards Xiahuaxi. There were many people traveling with him, most of them women, carrying cloth chicken, duck, willow and other baskets on their shoulders.
.Think about it and you will know that they all go to the market, not only to buy things, but also to sell things to people outside in exchange for money.
"Brother Qiu! Brother Qiu!" Not far from the entrance of the village, Fang Yingwu heard someone calling him from behind.
Looking back, it was his cousin Fang Yingyuan, waving and greeting from a distance. Fang Yingwu stopped and waited for his cousin to catch up.
Fang Yingyuan panted and came to his cousin, "Brother Qiu, my second uncle asked you to go to the ancestral hall to discuss matters."
Fang Yingwu smiled. When the clan held meetings in the ancestral hall, a few elders had always attended, but this time they called him, a fifteen-year-old boy, to attend. This was both expected and reasonable.
In addition to being old and virtuous, isn't there another term called "the one who achieves first"?
Fang Yingwu asked: "Do you know what it is?"
"I don't know." Fang Yingyuan replied. He really admired his cousin in his heart. When the clan was discussing important matters, he specially invited his cousin to attend. How honorable it was.
The shopping plan was postponed, and Fang Yingwu turned around and returned to the village. There were six people attending this clan meeting, and naturally the person who presided over the meeting could only be his second uncle Fang Zhili.
When Fang Zhili saw that everyone had arrived, he coughed and said, "Just now, Mr. Cheng sent someone to pass on a message that the method of apportioning the corvee to be distributed in Huaxi this year needs to be changed."
The so-called Zongjia is the common name for the village chief, who is the person in charge in the village.
The lowest level of the government can only go to the county. Below the county, it is divided into townships and li. A few decades later, it was changed to the capital and tu. But at least in the Chenghua Dynasty, it was still the township system.
In the township, the largest households in the village are appointed as the head of the village to apportion taxes and maintain order; the most respected people are appointed as the elderly to mediate disputes and have some basic judicial functions; the rich households are appointed as the chief of grain, responsible for collecting transportation taxes and grain.
This system originated from the period of Emperor Taizu Gao. Its original intention was to prevent officials from going to the countryside to disturb the people, so it strengthened the function of folk autonomy.
But what needs to be made clear is that Lihe Township is not a government office, and the village chief, the elderly, and the grain chief are not officials. They are at best equivalent to a kind of officially recognized civilian autonomous leader, which is nominally a kind of service, and is often related to clan forces.
combined.
The three villages of Huaxi are located in the valley, along the banks of the stream. Among them, Shanghuaxi Village, where Fang Yingwu is located, is at the innermost, while Xiahuaxi Village, dominated by the surname Cheng, is at the outermost, and Zhonghuaxi Village, dominated by the surname Wang, is at the outermost.
middle.
However, the three villages are often collectively referred to as Huaxi to the outside world. In the household registration system, the three villages of Huaxi are also classified as one li. The official name is Huaxi Li, Zitong Township. According to the imperial system, 110 households are divided into li, but according to Fang Yingwu's visual inspection, there are countless illegal households in Huaxi.
How could the three villages combined only have 110 households?
Like other villages in the county, Huaxi also has three giants: the village chief, the old man, and the grain chief, which represent administration, justice, and taxation respectively. The political genes of the country are deeply rooted, but even in such a small mountain village, there is a distribution map of political power.
of.
Nowadays, the chief of the village and the elderly are all from the Cheng family in Lower Huaxi, and the chief of grain is from the Wang family of Zhonghuaxi, which is the Wang Dewang family that Fang Yingwu is familiar with. In comparison, the Fang family of Shanghuaxi
It has the smallest population and is also the poorest. The only poor scholar who can show his strength has been missing for two years, and its power is much weaker than the other two.
Fang Yingwu silently recalled these situations, and looking at his second uncle's face, he guessed that something bad must have happened.
Sure enough, I heard my second uncle continue to say: "Mr. Cheng has said that each of the three villages has its own clan. In order to facilitate management, from this year onwards, the corvee service in Huaxi will be borne by each village in turn, and the village whose turn it is will bear all the corvee service.
And it starts when we go to Huaxi."
Everyone in the ancestral hall whispered among themselves after hearing this, and they were all very dissatisfied with Mr. Cheng's new method.
In previous years, the corvee service in the entire Huaxi area has always been calculated on a per-household basis, with each village providing people in proportion. Huaxi has the smallest number of households and naturally provides less manpower. If Cheng Zongjia’s new rules are followed, then all the corvee service this year will be
It is obviously very difficult for the Fang family in Shanghuaxi Village to bear the responsibility.
"How is this possible? Then our village will be exhausted this year! This is simply too much!" an uncle named Fang Fengshi said angrily.
Fang Yingwu shook his head. These uncles were still a bit short-sighted and did not realize the real danger.
He then reminded: "It is common for any new policy to change orders overnight. Mr. Cheng said that this year we will follow the new rules. If our family bears all the corvee first, then next year, if Mr. Cheng says that the new rules are not good, he will have to
According to the old rules, the three families share the corvee work together, so wouldn’t the efforts of our family be in vain this year?”
"Secondly, we originally had the smallest family members in Huaxi and contributed the least. But if the three villages took turns, wouldn't it be the same as the other two villages? In the end, it turned into an average labor force among the three villages, which is also detrimental to us in Huaxi."
Everyone in the ancestral hall was stunned for a moment. After understanding what Fang Yingwu meant, the discussion suddenly became louder.
The second uncle took a picture of the case and asked: "Brother Qiu is a very sensible person and what he said is right! All in all, this is bullying us into going to Huaxi. What do you have to say about it?"
At this point, the ancestral hall suddenly fell silent, and everyone had no other ideas except anger. Mr. Cheng was a member of the Cheng family in Xiahuaxi Village. The Cheng family not only had a large number of people, but also served as the head of the village for two or three consecutive years.
The boss is from the Cheng family, and it has almost become a hereditary position in the Cheng family.
Compared with the Cheng family, the Fang family can't beat them in a fight, and they are far inferior to the forces in the village. So the Cheng family is clearly bullying people this time, so what? Zhonghuaxi Village also has the richest man in Huaxi, Wang Dahu, the grain chief, let Cheng
The family had some concerns, but there was no one in the Fang family in Shanghuaxi Village, and even a talented scholar was missing.
"We have no choice but to admit it, and then let's disperse. If Mr. Fang Qingzhi was still in the village, this thing probably wouldn't have happened." Fang Zhili also hated the incompetence of his clan leader, and waved his hand helplessly.
This is the living material of rural social history in the Ming Dynasty, Fang Yingwu sighed inwardly. This fully demonstrates how unscrupulous bullies in the countryside bully ordinary peasants who have no power.
If someone in the Fang family goes bankrupt due to the burden of servitude, the land will also be annexed by other large households, which becomes a typical case of land annexation. After annexations come and go, all farmers will go bankrupt, and the dynasty will be destroyed.
.
After coming back to his senses, Fang Yingwu couldn't bear to see the gloom of his tribe, and suddenly a sense of responsibility came to his heart. He was not just a spectator of history, but also a real living person living in this time and space. These people around him
They are not NPCs, they are members of the same clan.
Besides, the soul has taken possession of someone else's body. You can't be too content with being a noble person. You have to fulfill your obligations to have a clear conscience. He doesn't like to owe others anything (please ignore the few silver beans in his pocket).
Thinking of this, Fang Yingwu said loudly: "Elders, leave this matter to me, I will think of a way. But when I ask you to take action, you cannot hesitate, you must trust me." Fang Yingwu said.
Everyone seemed to have seen the great savior. Looking forward to Mingjun and honest officials was too far away. The experts around them were really dependent on them. They all said, "You can trust me, you can trust me. Who can distrust Brother Qiu!"
After leaving the ancestral hall, Fang Yingwu looked up at the sky. The sun was still early at this time, and the market probably hadn't dispersed yet, so there was still time to go shopping.
So he quickly left the village again. The market was at Cheng's house in Xiahuaxi Village. This time he not only wanted to shop, but also did some shameful things.
There is no other way. If the bully's methods could be cracked through normal channels, there wouldn't be so many peasant uprisings in history, so we can only fight evil with evil.
I was really lucky this time. Fortunately, something like Sister Lan happened to the Cheng family. If the problem is solved, it can be regarded as killing two birds with one stone.
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The first update is long overdue! The second update is around 7 or 8 pm, and the third update is around 11:30 pm.
