Chapter 12 Disaster Relief Notice
Relieved the disaster
The imperial court is going to provide disaster relief.
No sooner had the morning drum fallen silent than this news spread throughout Daxing City.
Not only the officials of Daxing, but also ordinary civilians have been guarding the glory of yesterday and thinking that this city should be the capital, always referring to the Daxing Palace as the imperial court.
As the whole city awoke, the news spread like wildfire, with cheers erupting everywhere it went.
The news of disaster relief has let the people of Daxing breathe a sigh of relief. For kind-hearted people in Daxing, what they can't bear to see most is themselves enjoying happiness while others are suffering.
Every time a beggar comes to the door of their home, they will more or less send food and water, some elderly people even get emotional, with tears in their eyes, telling their family about their hardships back then.
And these days, both inside and outside Daxing City are not peaceful. Everywhere is filled with rumors that the refugees outside Daxing City are miserable beyond compare, and even cases of people selling their children to eat have been reported, with all sorts of tragic stories being told in vivid detail.
Every time Dr. Wang heard those ignorant people discussing these false rumors, he would sneer at them. Now the refugees have only been here for over a dozen days, how could there be so many miserable things?
Dr. Wang is over fifty years old, and his original name was not "Doctor". Later, during the reign of the previous emperor, the imperial examination system was implemented, but he failed to pass the exam after several attempts. As he grew older, he became disheartened and gave up taking the exam.
Usually hangs out in front of the government office, usually makes a living by writing petitions for people and reading official gazettes in wine shops, is called a doctor.
"Fortunately, the imperial court's disaster relief was timely this time. Otherwise, who knows how many more tragedies would have occurred?" A middle-aged, slightly plump man dressed as a landlord sighed in the Hongfu Tavern.
Hóng Fú Jiǔ Lóu is Dr. Wang's favorite place to go, the food here is cheap and delicious, and it's bustling with people, news travels quickly.
"It's said that the reason for so many refugees this time is because when the Crown Prince returned to Daxing, he opened Tongguan, which led to such a large number of refugees." Dr. Wang also chimed in.
"Dr. Wang, you don't know this, but it's because the king is kind-hearted and cannot bear to see these refugees suffer that he has ordered relief for them." The middle-aged landlord was quite familiar with Dr. Wang and spoke without reserve.
At this time, there was a loud noise outside. Dr. Wang stretched his head to take a look and saw several police officers passing by the front of the wine building, hastily leaving.
Opposite Hongfu Wine House is a place where notices are often posted. There is a large flow of people here and news spreads quickly.
Of course, the place where the notice is posted is not just this one. Compared to the entire Daxing City, the people here are only a small part.
As soon as the yamen runner left, Dr. Wang and the middle-aged landlord rushed forward at the first opportunity to take a look.
"Forced labor." Dr. Wang looked at the notice and muttered bitterly.
Corvée was the most helpless thing for Dr. Wang, as Sui Dynasty stipulated that obtaining a meritorious name could exempt one from corvée and taxation, but he took the exam many times without passing it.
Every time he was subjected to corvée, he would be overcome with emotion, and being a weak scholar by nature, his age was already advanced, the physically demanding labor of corvée nearly took his life.
"This can't be! The time for corvée labor hasn't arrived yet! Why is this year's corvée so early..." the middle-aged landlord said with some surprise.
There are policies from above and countermeasures from below. Although the middle-aged landlord's family had never produced a scholar, after all, they were wealthy, so every year they just bribed the village head to get by.
"Huh? This year's corvée is so heavy, it's more than twice as much as last year." The middle-aged landlord said in puzzlement.
"Whoa,"
Looking at such a heavy corvée! Dr. Wang, who had always thought of himself as a civilized person, involuntarily blurted out a foul word.
No wonder this year's corvee was advanced so early, much more than in previous years. Is it to let us work ahead of time? This is not letting people live!
Although he didn't say it out loud, in his heart he couldn't help but resent the Crown Prince for increasing the labor tax so much right after doing a good deed of relieving the disaster victims.
In fact, this is just a small part of the project that was discussed at the meeting. If he knew that the actual workload for this year would be ten times more than what you have now, he probably would have fainted already.
Dr. Wang continued reading with indignation.
Huh?
The line of words below slightly improved his depressed mood,
"Pay money instead of labor, all residents of Daxing can pay money instead of labor, and there is no age limit." Dr. Wang let out a gentle sigh, it seems that this year's fortune will be broken.
"Congratulations, young Master Wang!" Just as Dr. Wang was secretly in pain, the middle-aged landlord said with a smile.
"What a joy! My little brother and I are going to bleed heavily this year. There are three households in my family, and the substitute tax won't be small." Dr. Wang said with a bitter smile.
"Wait, old Wang, don't be impatient, just keep reading on." The middle-aged landlord smiled mysteriously.
"For every ten cash coins collected, this year's labor service can be exempted." Doctor Wang was overjoyed.
Ten cents is nothing, it's just the price of two kilograms of meat, which means nothing to the people of Daxing District.
Apart from this, the age limit for corvée labor has also been shortened. In previous years, it was 16 to 60 years old, all of which were called "ding" and had to perform corvée labor, while this year's age limit for corvée labor is only 20 to 50 years old.
Dr. Wang read the notice from head to toe again, unbelievably, and even the last bright red royal seal was not spared, repeatedly looking at it again and again.
No mistake, it's just a matter of paying for substitution, and the age limit is shortened to between 20 and 50 years old.
Dr. Wang couldn't help but feel a little pleased, because he had just turned fifty and his youngest son was only eighteen years old, which meant that this year his family would only have to pay the labor service fee for his eldest son.
That is to say, with just ten cents, the whole family's corvée labor for this year will be exempted.
Think of the hardships of serving corvee labor in previous years. Even if it's generally easy, you still need to do a month of physical labor. Has heaven finally opened its eyes and sympathized with my hardships?
The middle-aged landlord next door didn't care about his own safety and hurried back home. He wanted to go home and share the good news with his family.
The same thing happened in every corner of Jingzhou, and today every household in Jingzhou is filled with laughter.
