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“Finish eating first, we can discuss in detail afterwards, the food won’t be as delicious once it gets cold.” Liu Sisi hastened to say.

Looking at Di Yelei, it was clear he was both cold and hungry.

Naturally, no one had any objections, and they all chewed on their food, but the former light-hearted atmosphere gradually faded away.

Only when the bowl and chopsticks were removed and tea was brought up, did Di Yelei finally exhale a deep breath.

“Last year’s unexpected cold, compared to our Macheng County’s three feet of ice, was even more severe for the outlying areas with higher altitudes. There were countless people who were frozen to death or injured from the cold. The imperial court decreed that this year, for every three men one must be conscripted, and for every five men two must be conscripted, for the Spring Labor Service, and it couldn’t be replaced with silver. The decree will be handed down tomorrow morning by the runners from various government offices.”

“What’s the big deal about this? The command in previous years was almost the same, wasn’t it?”

Elderly Mr. He curiously interjected.

Although the County Magistrate of Macheng County was greedy, because of the presence of Heilong Mountain, the tax compared to those miscellaneous taxes from other prefectures, which were many and confusing, was relatively reasonable.

Di Yelei smiled bitterly, “You only know a part of it, not the whole story. The one out of three, two out of five conscription isn’t like before when it took from the adult male population between the ages of fifteen and fifty-five, this year every male who is counted in the official record, all must be included.”

“Ah!  No way?”

Everyone was stunned!

Liu Sisi’s thoughts immediately turned, “So by this logic, our family has to count as three people?”

“Wrong! We have five people in our house, you forgot about Old Cheng and Da Mao,” said Di Yelei with a bitter smile.

After Liu Zhi’er and Da Mao left the Dong Family, they temporarily moved in with the Di Family. Counting now, Elderly Mr. Di, Di Yelei, Di Xuan, Old Cheng, and Da Mao, naturally there are four men.

“This… Da Mao is such a small child, they’re counted too? Old Cheng also counts, does the government even want people to live?” Liu Sisi was furious.

“That’s not right? Old Cheng is included too? Did you misspeak?” Even Elderly Mr. He who sat to the side frowned. “I have quite a few people in my shop. If they calculated it like you said, then isn’t it…”

“It’s eight people, Old Master,” interjected the medicine boy from the side.

“Then you need to send out three people, you can still manage that, but for us five out of two, where will we find the manpower?” Di Yelei’s bitter smile was incessant.

If they had to serve in conscripted work, the old and young would basically be setting off to die. The only ones who could go were Di Yelei and Old Cheng. When the two of them left, what would become of their home?

“You’re a constable, can’t you be exempted from conscripted labor?”

“I can’t!”

Di Yelei shook his head, “The imperial court has rules that only families with an official status can avoid forced labor. Although a constable works in the government office, they are not considered officials. The best they can do is avoid their own required labor. So by this calculation, our family still needs at least one person to serve.”

Liu Sisi immediately thought of someone: “Your big brother…”

She suddenly realized, the Di family had long split up, the fate of the old house was unrelated to the third family branch. Even if they hadn’t split up, Big Brother Di Hongyuan had been conscripted long ago and hadn’t returned home since. The family just heard news of each other in passing, and these past years, they had completely lost track of where he was, no knowing whether he was alive or dead. Counting on such an unrecorded affiliation to avoid conscripted labor taxation was next to impossible.

“Can’t we substitute silver?” Elderly Mr. He asked.

Businesses in previous years always replaced their conscripted labor with silver.

“We can’t! This is also a regulation from the top. Even if silver could be used as a substitute, I’m afraid it would be taken advantage of and reported to the higher-ups, and then we’d still suffer losses,” Di Yelei said grimly.

“Exactly what hard labor is this year’s spring conscription?”

Every year during the forced labor period, the government not only forced the common people to work for free, but they didn’t even treat them like human beings, they were used just like beasts of burden. During and after the forced labor period, there were always countless who died from disease.

“This year’s spring forced labor is divided into two parts, one part is to reinforce the river embankments, the other is to transport goods. Reinforcing the river embankments means dredging the river channel to the north of Raoping County and Dacheng County, along with this tributary river channel here in Macheng County’s territory. This duty is an annual occurrence and doesn’t come as a surprise.”

Di Yelei’s words made everyone nod in agreement. They were all accustomed to this forced labor and didn’t think much of it.

He looked at everyone: “However, due to this year’s heavy snow and ice, in order to prevent spring flooding, not only the river embankments have to be broken to dredge the river channel, but they also have to be heightened and thickened. It’s a massive project. The others have to transport goods because the roads were blocked by the heavy snow, and a batch of grain that was transported from a few big cities in the border regions got stuck on the road, so they need to enlist strong men to go and pick up the goods, and deliver them to the capital city.”

Elderly Mr. He from the side furrowed his eyebrows: “This is really strange! I’ve lived for so many years, and I’ve only ever seen grain transported from the capital city and local areas to the border cities. Now, surprisingly there is grain being transported from the border cities to the capital? That’s really strange! Too strange!”

It really was strange, Liu Sisi frowned, could there be some trick to it?

Di Yelei could only smile bitterly: “Yes! We all discussed it when we were at the governmental office, it really is fishy! There must be some big scheme behind this. Therefore, transporting the grain seems simple but it’s actually extremely dangerous!”

As he said this, everyone fell silent for a moment!

Elderly Mr. He also stood up, shouldered with heavy thoughts, and excused himself from the group.

“Thank you, Third Son Di, for the meal. Elderly Mr. He thanks you!”

After he finished speaking, he took the medicine boy and left in large strides.

Elderly Mr. He appeared to be thanking for the meal, but in fact, he was thanking Di Yelei for his candid sharing.

Usually, these internal details are always discovered several steps too late by outsiders. By the time they hear about it, it’s already too late! So, that’s why Elderly Mr. He thanked him.

Once Elderly Mr. He and the others left, everyone gathered again to discuss the matter.

The first to start the conversation was Elderly Mr. Di: “Third Child, for this Spring Labor Service… I’ll go. I’m old and useless, you young ones need to stay behind!”

“Dad! What are you talking about? You can barely walk, let alone move heavy ice! You should just stay quiet and safe at home! We will figure things out.”

The door curtain shook, and Old Cheng entered from outside, immediately bowing down: “Old Master, let Old Cheng go! Although I am a bit older, I still have some strength left!”

“If Old Cheng goes, who will drive the cart? Are we going to find someone else then? I think it’s not feasible!”

Liu Sisi immediately shook her head, vetoing the idea.

“You all don’t need to worry, I’ve thought of a good solution!”

Ask for gifts! Ask for monthly tickets! This is the last day of the month, if you don’t use your monthly tickets, it’s a waste!