Sweep the World

Spring was supposed to be a scene of revival of all things and a derivation of vitality, but some areas of the Northwestern Land were full of loess, and traces of cracks could be seen on the ground.

Before the drought, people who had been farming in the fields for a long time had actually seen the clues of the changes in the weather.

People who have been dealing with the land for a long time may be illiterate, but it does not mean that they do not understand some common sense. For example, the rain throughout the year and how much snow falls in winter can probably judge what kind of agricultural landscape will be in the coming year.

During the winter, there was only a light snowfall in the northwest, and the scene of Ruixue's prosperous year was gone.

At the beginning of the spring, people have been looking forward to a continuous and heavy rainy season, but only a few places have had moderate or light rain for a few days. In some places, even a drop of rain did not fall, and they realized it was bad.

"The river bed has bottomed out!"

"No snow, no snow melts and moisturizes the land."

"If it doesn't rain, the river must be killed."

"What can I do then!"

In Liao Village, most of the people are named Liao. The Liao surname in the village migrated from Shu to Xiliang. According to legend, he was the descendant of the general of Shu Zhong Liao Hua. No one can come up with strong evidence.

At the foot of the mountain, there are 37 households with a total of 167 people in Liao Village. They belong to the jurisdiction of Rile County, which is also under the jurisdiction of Zhangye County.

Zhangye Jun was established in the Western Han Dynasty and belongs to one of the four counties in Hexi. Zhangye County was originally the land of the Kunxie King of the Xiongnu. In the sixth year of Emperor Yuanding of the Han Dynasty (11 years BC), Zhangye County was divided into the eastern part of Jiuquan County. Takes the meaning of "Zhang Guo arm tucked, with the Western Regions".

For a long time, the population of Zhangye County is not that large. It has been the border of the country through dynasties. Although it is the only place to pass through to the Western Regions, it has really not been paid attention to. I won’t forget it, but it’s not an exaggeration to say that my grandma doesn’t love my uncle and doesn’t hurt. When there is something good in the country, I have never had their part.

Not only Zhangye County, there are too many similar areas, they all have no sense of existence in normal times, and they bear the obligations of the state in obscurity. After something happens, it is difficult to get the responsibility of the government after fulfilling the obligations. .

Liao Fang looked at the cracked ground with a sad expression on his face. His family has more than one hundred acres of fields, located in a flat area at the foot of the mountain.

There is a stream not far away. The ancestors dug a small canal to divert water. In Liao Fang's hands, he has been working hard to maintain the canal. However, this year the stream is dry and the canal cannot draw water at all.

If there is no water to irrigate the land, God does not rain. If the farmland loses its moisture, it will naturally be dry. In spring, there will be an abnormal scorching sun. Why is the land not dry and cracked?

There is more than one Liao Fang standing at the head of the field. This area is a farmland area. Knowing that the land in the field has been so dry that it cannot be cultivated, the owner of the farmland will still come over and take a look every day, one after another with sad faces. Squatting down on the edge of the ridge.

It's spring. It's time to get busy, weeding, weeding, and trimming. Just wait for the day to start seedlings, and then bring a family of people who can work to plant seedlings in the fields.

Today, although the signs of drought have been discovered, the government has repeatedly sent people to the countryside to notify, but the family of the pregnant seedling is still pregnant.

It's not that they don't believe in the government's announcement, nor do they think that their eyes are wrong, but everyone has a fluke mentality of "just in case". When it's time to plant the seedlings, the seedlings in the family grow and consume water day by day. The rain in expectation has not fallen. No one has to laugh at anyone who is stupid. All are dumbfounded, and the inner despair accumulates thicker.

"The people who went upstream are back!"

"How about it?"

"The streams are all dry, and the rivers that connect them are also dry!"

"What can I do then!"

They originally took a fluke and thought that the upstream village cut off the water source. Such things have happened in the past. Every young man in every household is ready to fight again to grab water.

This time, there is no village to cut off the water. Even the rivers and streams are completely dry. They just want to find someone and don't know who to fight.

"It's all over!"

"It's over, it's really over!"

The stream is dry, the river is dry, there are still wells in the village, even the water level is very deep.

It’s not that no one has thought about getting water from the well to the farmland. The old people in the village shed tears and said that they can’t. The people who understand the truth also objected. They said that the well had to reach a deep place before there was water. After the water was drawn, the water was refilled. It is also very slow to fill up, and if all the wells are dried up, people will not be able to live.

"Not only our village, but several nearby villages are like this."

"The elders in several villages have been discussing, I don't know if they can discuss countermeasures."

Liao Fang looked up at the scorching sun, the sun above his head was naturally very dazzling, his eyes were irritated for a short time and he lost his sight, and tears would flow down uncontrollably.

A "dangdangdang" gong sounded from the village, which was a signal to summon the whole village.

Liaojia Village was full of 167 people, and it didn't take long for them all to gather in the small square in the village.

Liao Yu, the village chief, stood on a high place cushioned by a wooden shelf, just like in usual gatherings. This time, beside him, there was also an official in a soap suit standing beside him, and the incoming person was holding a roll of yellow paper in his hand.

"Men, young and old, calm down." Liao Yu's words still worked, and the sparse voice stopped, that is, everyone did not see him as the person wearing the soap suit on his side. He saluted the person wearing the soap suit and was avoided, and said directly, "This man is no stranger to the old man, he is an official in the county. He brought the notice from the county."

Huang Yi is not an official. He is a small official in the county. There is no specific official statement. He belongs to Wen Wuhuan (the inspector of the Qin system).

"Man and woman of Liao Village, Huang needn't say any more." Huang Yi was looked at with a distraught and nervous face, suspecting that his nonsense would have caused a riot, and he spread the notice directly. After three times, I have to pick a brief and emphasized statement: "Today, we will be exempt from tax for three years, and we will no longer pay taxes this year, next year, and next year. Corridor in the village is constant, and all the food and drink of the corvee are public. No. Those who are in corvee can go to the county to recruit workers."

In the disaster year, no one can produce anything. If taxes are still paid, the moderate people should sell their sons and daughters to their wives, forcing them to sell the land as well, even selling themselves. If the people are more violent, they should arm themselves. It is better to call friends and call friends in the tigers and forests, and it is not impossible to occupy the countryside or attack the county to turn into a rebellion.

In a disaster year, the government usually exempts the tax. It is not how merciful the government is, but the tax is not collected at all. It is the local government, not the stupid magistrate or county magistrate, that will drive the people back. They will beg the county, and the county can only beg the center, otherwise the people can't survive the rebellion, then whose fault should it be considered?

It is not an easy task to request tax exemption from the center. The center has to send someone to conduct an on-site inspection. How to get the officials inspected and report the truth is a hurdle. Usually it is not easy to get the officials inspected, even if they can do the inspection. Officials, it will take a long time to get the official tax-exempt documents from the central government.

When the rule of government is strict, the officials who come to investigate may not dare to be greedy, but if they are not served well, they will inevitably be stumbling. He didn't dare to conceal the truth, but he was able to delay the report until it was really impossible to delay the report. He didn't know how long it would take until the center had dealt with it.

If the officials of the country are lousy, the officials who come down for inspection will never leave if they are not greedy enough. Even if they leave, they may not actually take the money to do things. It is still his responsibility.

The national center will not easily exempt the tax in a certain area. It is not that the center is not like people. It is that the local area can always ask for tax exemption. The center really agrees to the tax exemption, but the local people are still paying taxes. Go inside the personal pocket of the local official. The local government that has gone wrong will inevitably cover up or shirk it, and will report the people's savagery to the center. The local people will think that the officials in charge of the country are completely broken, and Guoquan will let the high-level people who can't really see the grassroots situation be carried away.

"Yellow official." Liao Fang was waiting to enter the questionable link and immediately asked for instructions. After getting permission, he asked: "Can the official bring the list of service?"

There are one hundred and sixty-seven people in Liao Village, among whom there are nearly 50 men over the age of 16 and under 35. They are all people who have served in corvee. Naturally, they know that there is no subsidy for their corvee, and they can use the public house when they go to eat and drink.

The corvee in Han is still very humane. Although the period of corvee must be served, people are allowed to perform corvee over time. This is a kind of alternative part-time job. It is more reasonable that you can directly buy food or cloth from relevant agencies after receiving the wages. .

In general, the people under the rule of the Han Dynasty are not as afraid of serving as they did before. Their serving will be at risk due to the different situations or things in which they work. When they die, they can get pensions that were not available in previous dynasties, and they are willing to extend the duration of their service. Usually there is still something to bring home, resulting in the people's enthusiasm for military service that was not available in previous dynasties.

"Naturally." Huang Yi didn't make any ink marks, and collected the re-rolled yellow paper notice. He had to post it on the dirt wall next to him, took out a piece of wooden writing slip from his arms, and began to recite the name. Looking at the disappointed expression at the bottom of his name, he shouted: "Except for the seven who should be serving in the military service, the others don’t have to be disappointed. I miss the county people today, and this year it is passed down specially. Not only young men can go to the county office to recruit. Workers, old women and children can also go."

Liao Fang is not on the list of servicemen, but disappointed he has made up his mind to go to the county office to recruit workers, or there is not much food in the house, the fields are dry and cracked, and farming is impossible. Staying at home is purely waiting for death. What he didn't expect was that not only could he go, but the government would also accept old and weak women and children.

"It's kindness today!" Liao Yu is the head of the village, in fact it is also an official establishment, and can receive wages from the county every year. But he didn’t say good things simply because he had a salary leader: “In the past years of natural disasters, no one would take care of us. Today is different, he will take care of us! But please listen carefully, if the men of every household are disasters I don’t want to live in New Years, I am starving to death myself, I am hungry, my parents, wives and children are inhuman!"

Many heads of the household, including Liao Fang, are thinking that they must go to the county to recruit workers. Whether the whole family will go depends on the structure of the family members. The elderly at home who are too old to move or have no young children basically feel that they should go. If there are elderly and young children who cannot work in the family, of course the wife should stay and take the children who can work.

Every village has people like Huang Yi delivering official announcements. It is clear that those who cannot wait for death at home in the disaster year will naturally have to respond. Before the date for convening the corvee, the people who should be served are not waiting anymore. Away from the county. In addition, those who want to recruit workers don't even have to wait, or even set off early, or they are afraid that they won't have their own part.

Rilecheng County has existed for hundreds of years, but because it is in the northwestern frontier, it is not so prosperous. The county town has full northwestern characteristics. The city walls are yellow and the ground is yellow. Except for the roof, it is also yellow. Even in the spring of drought, It is also rare to see green.

Knowing that the year of the disaster is coming, people with normal minds will not wait to die. The towns and villages gather in the county town. The number of cities that used to live only two thousand people has increased rapidly, but it makes the city extremely lively, that is, the kind of liveliness is dull. Kind of.

"Brother." Liao Fang is thirty-two years old this year. His parents have passed away. He has a daughter-in-law and a 13-year-old child. The whole family has come to the county. The person he called the elder brother was a subordinate of the county lieutenant in the county, and the two were originally colleagues: "The brother said that the number of recruits is only 500?"

The person who was called the elder brother was Zhang Yong, just an ordinary soldier, but he was a formal establishment in the county, not the kind of military service system of the county and county. He and Liao Fang originally belonged to Zhang's Liang Army, and I was a leader in Zhang's Liang Army. Liao Fang was once a soldier in his Shili.

After Zhang’s Liang State was destroyed by Han, the regular army of Zhang’s Liang State was drawn three times for rectification. Some were added to the standing army, and more were distributed to counties across the country. Liao Fang was among the abolished. One of ~www.wuxiax.com~ Zhang Yong was fortunately assigned to the original Zhang's Liang Country territory, and more coincidentally, in the county where Liao Fang is located.

"There are more than a thousand households in the county and nearly four thousand and five people. It is a benevolent act to take one out of nine." Zhang Yong said something of conscience. Seeing Liao Fang's face with expectation, he knew the reason, but hesitated again and again. Said: "The big man teaches the Fa in everything, not to mention that the brother is a pawn, even the county lieutenant can hardly be placed."

Liao Fang immediately showed a disappointed expression, and asked how the fundraiser was, how could it be more hopeful to be selected.

"It's not a secret anymore. The big man is about to re-enter the Western Regions. The county recruits are just some of the military needs." Zhang Yong still looked around and said: "The number of five hundred belongs to the old, the weak and the women. It is inconvenient. People first."

Taking care of the groups that deserve more care, Han Guo continued to carry forward this virtue of the characteristics of the summer, but Liao Fang immediately became more distressed, and his family was nothing insignificant.

"In addition to servitude and recruitment, there is another way to live." Zhang Yong couldn't see that Liao Fang was so depressed that he was about to cry, and said mysteriously: "Recently, there are colleagues who have settled in, and I heard that they want to emulate the things in southern Xinjiang. ."

Liao Fang didn't know so much, so he stunned and hurriedly asked.