Chapter 422 Chapter 460: During the selection process

In the Ming Dynasty, it was November 3, the fourteenth year of Chongzhen. The weather was cloudy.

The temperature throughout the north has gradually dropped to below zero at night, and it has also started to snow in many places during the day.

After various county-level radio stations, as well as telegrams and imperial edicts transmitted by the prefectural royal merchants to the small counties, each county has begun preparations, plans and actions to select personnel to distribute clothes.

Among them, the county-level officials in Zhili and Liaodong are the most honest. In Zhili, the people who were killed during the last disaster relief operation were buried not long ago. The remaining officials are either with good reputations or are newly transferred and have not yet established their feet.

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As for Nuergandusi in Liaodong and further north, Nuergandusi is still under military control. Liaodong has just changed. The officials of the Manchu Qing Dynasty who have committed crimes and performed meritorious services are still waiting to perform meritorious service. Making money at this time will cost people's lives.

Therefore, this circle can be said to be based on Chongzhen's decree. They are giving out money to recruit people. They truthfully count the number of people needed, and then report and collect labor fees to ensure that energy can be paid to the people during heavy snowfall.

As for the remaining Shanxi, Henan, and Shandong, the situation is much worse. Leng Xinke and others who exchange five yuan for five cents are just a trick. They directly let the people participate in corvee labor, and even directly falsely report the number of people.

For the people of the Ming Dynasty, winter was actually not a leisurely time. It can even be said that most of the time, winter was the busiest time for people except early spring and autumn harvest.

During this period, the rivers in various places dried up and the weather was dry. It was a good time to build bridges and pave roads, so they needed to support the corvee prescribed by the county government in the city, and they also needed to reserve their livelihood for the coming spring.

Third Master, what do you think this is? Those bullies from the government have tortured us a lot. Isn’t the county master’s surname Leng? I heard that he makes a lot of money.”

This is not what Master Xu said, nor is it the idea of ​​the county master. Uncle, you understand, right? This is credibility. If anyone doesn’t abide by it..."

"right!"

After the servants of the Xu family returned, the patriarch thought for a while, walked to the yard, took out the gong that had not been used for a long time, and started banging it.

It’s not easy to look up information. These 100 words don’t count, right?)

"Oh, how do I know?"

The clan leader was a little irritated when he was being chased. He also thought about this question. How could the people in the county let go of such a huge benefit?

Let’s make an agreement first that we will get wages and rice every day, so I’m giving the opportunity to Yazi and the others. If you are dissatisfied, you can come to me.”

Therefore, when officials in various counties say that they can still get wages by levying corvee labor, they just have to force the wages to be used to pay for food. This is nothing better than this for people who can't get rid of the pot and worry about the next meal.

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"What? How is it possible? I am the clan leader. In this village, what I say matters."

"Hey, you said it was fine, why did Your Majesty ask those gentlemen from the county to come and distribute it? He also said that we should go home and wait, and the county gentleman will send someone to tell us how to collect it. I'm afraid that when the county finds us,

Winter is over.

"Okay, I think since His Majesty will notify everyone that everyone will be given two pieces, and even the county has said to wait for notification to receive the clothes, then there must be some.

"Uncle, also, Mr. Xu has already said that this time the cotton-padded clothes will be distributed, it must be distributed to everyone, you cannot distribute it yourself."

"Grandpa, just tell me, what's the good thing? It's very cold, so I can go back after saying this."

Immediately afterwards, they began to ask about the details of this distribution. Everyone wanted to know whether they could get a cotton coat.

"Since you have said it, uncle, why not let everyone know."

Tsk, tsk, tsk, there are dozens of villages in our county, and each village wants a few pieces from him, so how much money is that? Second uncle, you can do arithmetic, how much is it?"

"Having it in half doesn't mean we won't eliminate it. Those stupid old times made us do endless work. Who knows whether it will be reduced or not?"

When the time comes, those who are close to your own blood can send more, or remove some cotton to get an extra big quilt for your home.

But for ordinary people, it doesn't matter at all. Only those places with larger villages, better economic conditions, and more benevolent local officials can enjoy these things.

After welcoming the person in and having a detailed chat, I finally found out the reason why I was looking for him. It was about the cotton-padded clothes.

"Two sets of cotton-padded clothes per person? How much do they weigh? How many kilograms of cotton?"

After they separated and went home, before the patriarch's buttocks were warm, he heard a noise outside and all the dogs in the village barked. In this case, it could only be that an outsider was coming.

"Oh, so that's how it was announced. In other words, as long as our village sends five people to the county to collect our clothes on November 10th?"

"Probably not. What's the matter? That's the news in the county. It was spread thousands of miles away. How dare the boss in the county even embezzle this? Don't be so talkative, Ertiedan."

At this time in Hujia Village, the patriarch of Hujia Village and several young people had already driven back to the entrance of the village in empty ox carts and donkey carts.

"Really? Really? What did your man say?"

"Understand, understand, if anyone doesn't abide by it, the family law will be followed!"

You have food and food, but what else do you want? So those who were short of food at home signed up.

"Brother Danniu, where is your little boy? Why aren't you looking at him?"

"Hey, don't tell me, that bastard named Leng is really brave. I heard that that bastard raised a lot of businessmen, and all the money went to his house. Even if he is not completely greedy, he is still

Definitely have to be greedy.

"Oh my God, what kind of world is this? Your Majesty is here to help us fight the plague and provide disaster relief, and you are also distributing clothes in winter. Am I just dreaming? This is the legendary age of peace and prosperity, and the eternal wise king, right?"

"Yes, and each of them also has five military coupons and one denarius as wages. Remember, it's five military coupons plus ten cents. Moreover, they have to be given two kilograms of rice as food every day, and one more.

Give them some clothes."

Looking at the group of people on these two broken cars, everyone looked like they were lacking in interest. They completely lost the excitement of selling out the goods and going for a walk in the city.

It is said that the ancients had a leisurely time in winter, playing Cuju, throwing pots, hunting, chess, flying ducks, sightseeing, fishing, Dingli, Cuju, cockfighting, Bi Yi Jiejian, and hunting in the fields. It looks very rich and comfortable.

"Uncle Hu, according to your Majesty's order to the county master, in our county, everyone must be given two sets of cotton-padded clothes and a quilt to help us survive the winter.

The patriarch's eyes rolled, and he began to make calculations. How many people are truly selfless?

In fact, the clan leader of this group is already planning. If the distribution is really based on head, the village's cotton-padded clothes must be divided by himself.

The tension and fear in the hearts of a group of common people disappeared. It sounded like the emperor was going to distribute things, not to collect corvees, so what did they have to fear?

As the clan leader got dressed and prepared to go out to receive guests, he heard someone shouting outside the door that Hu Abacus, a member of the clan who went to work for the Xu family in the city, had come and was looking for the clan leader to discuss matters.

But..."

The clan leader, who was already prepared, stood outside the door without any panic, waiting for the villagers he had summoned to come out.

"What the blacksmith's wife said is indeed true. Our Emperor of the Ming Dynasty wants to give each of us people in the north who have been hurt by the cold and have no money to sell clothes two sets of cotton-padded clothes so that we can survive the winter."

"Third Master, it must be an agency, right? I heard from my man that His Majesty is going to give us clothes."

The group of people were so noisy that they chatted with each other and quickly ran to the chief's main room, which was also the largest masonry building in the entire village.

In Dream of Red Mansions, Xing Xiuyan renounces a cotton-padded coat and dictates how many ounces of money he has to pay for it. According to the fact that one ounce of money is not enough, a few ounces of money should be enough to make one or two silver coins.

The past two days were really torturous for them. After learning from the radio that the emperor was going to distribute cotton-padded clothes, they tried their best to find out how to distribute the clothes.

The patriarch nodded repeatedly and said, of course he understood. What he was saying was that this was the idea of ​​the Xu family and the county grandpa. What did he dare to say?

Just by helping bring back the cotton clothes that belong to their village, you can get ten cents and two kilograms of rice every day. Where in the world can you find such a good thing?

"It's cold, just let him stay in the house. Don't come out and get frozen."

"Third uncle, what is it?"

Seeing someone coming out wearing only a set of thin clothes, with the steel fork in his hand almost freezing, the patriarch, who was dressed like a bear, hurriedly drove the person back, and then started to speak.

"Since Your Majesty said it is cotton-padded clothes, then there must be cotton. If there is no cotton, those idiots must have eaten it for us!"

The villagers who were alerted by the alarm gong of a major event in the village thought of the barking of local dogs just now and the people from the city coming to the village chief. Listening to this sound, they thought something had happened, and they all searched for things at home.

They rushed out of their respective mud houses.

"Of course not. Our master originally thought that our Xu family could distribute all the supplies to the entire county. But in this way, wouldn't it be betraying His Majesty's intention of deliberately distributing money to the people?

If you want this job, you must give Mr. Xu five yuan as a benefit. This money can be paid to Mr. Xu after you pay the salary, that is, you can owe it first.

The patriarch shook his head repeatedly. He would not agree to this condition. How could he maintain his dignity? Everyone was equal. In his opinion, it was unfair.

The exact number is not clear yet, but we know that everyone has it, so these five people came back with the entire village’s clothing.

The clan leader stretched out his hand and pressed it lightly, making everyone stop arguing, and then began to speak.

(According to "Wanli Accounting Records" Volume 37 "Bingling and Guard Officers' Salaries (Miscellaneous Expenses and Attached)", in the Jingjun City, the price of cloth flowers is 0.25 taels per piece of cloth, and the flowers are discounted at 0.06 taels per catty.

"What's wrong? Why is the village chief's gong ringing?"

"Really?"

As for the north in the late Ming Dynasty, it has been hit by disasters for more than ten consecutive years. Food production has been greatly reduced, and the people have no food to eat.

"Uncle, do you think we can really get those cotton-padded clothes? If it's not distributed by the Royal Army, then if those idiots get theirs, won't they be greedy for us to get the cotton-padded clothes?"

Hearing the benefits of this supplement again, the clan leader was still a little unbelievable. When this clan member was talking about it just now, he had interrupted it several times.

In addition, in the era when the official system collapsed, it was a blessing that the people were not drafted, or those who had a stutter were drafted.

As for those who have bad relations, it is enough to send them one. Anyway, the village itself has made the decision. Who dares to object or have an opinion?

At the entrance of the village, the first person to notice the movement of a few people was a native dog that was disturbed by the noise of the car. The native dog crawled out of the carbon pit and shouted loudly at a group of people.

The patriarch continued to tell the details of this time, talking about the candidates who went to the city to collect clothes this time. Three of them were his grandsons, and the remaining two were also his brother's grandsons.

"Ah Xing, Er Niu... you don't have any clothes, go back quickly, don't freeze outside."

After staying in the county for two days, a group of people who just wanted to find out how to distribute clothes were a little disappointed at this time, because they only got a message waiting for notification. This feeling of watching their things being taken away was too much.

Too bad.
To be continued...