When Chen Xu returned home, Xing'er had already cooked the fish. Chen Jiang asked Erxi about it with concern. Chen Xu ate fish with soybeans, wild vegetables and porridge, told him that Erxi was poisoned and told Xing'er not to eat anything randomly in the future.

After dinner, the sun was already high.

After packing up the dishes, Jiang Chen carried a vine basket and carried a hoe and Xing'er to go out.

"Mom, where are you going?" Chen Xu suddenly felt abandoned.

"My mother and I went to the fields to weed. We should have done it a few days ago, but my brother broke it, so it took a few days to delay the wheat seedlings. If we don't weed, the wheat seedlings will not grow. If we can't collect the grain, we can't pay the field tax. The pavilion leader will arrest our family to build the road!" Xing'er explained very sensiblely.

Uh, Chen Xu was stunned for a moment and quickly picked up another hoe and said, "I'll go too!"

"Xu'er, you have not completely healed after your injury. You can rest at home for two days first. It's not too tiring to weed. Xing'er and I can go!" Chen Jiang also said.

"Mom, I'm fine, but I can't remember where our field is. I'll go and take a look!" Chen Xu followed without saying a word.

After leaving the village and walking down the river for hundreds of meters, a large area of ​​farmland appeared in front of me.

"Brother, this is our land, a total of 27 acres. We have to pay ten stones of wheat beans every year. My mother is too busy alone, and there is not enough leftovers..."

Xing'er pointed to the farmland and explained to her amnesia-lost brother, but Chen Xu looked confused at the farmland covered with wild grass.

Is this a field? Looking at it lush, almost all weeds are seen.

Moreover, this large area called field is actually a river beach. It is surrounded by stones and soil and then divided into two parts from the middle. Half of wheat and half of soybeans are planted, which is beans.

When I walked into the field, the wheat was about one foot high, most of which had already been eared, but it could only be described as a cold and cowardly. Under the invasion of weeds, the wheat ears were not only short, but also very small. Compared with the wheat varieties that Chen Xu had seen in later generations, the wheat ears were only about one-third. And when I peeled one wheat ear and looked at it, there were only about ten grains in one wheat ear, which was almost one-third of that in later generations, but the yield was definitely less than one-tenth.

Chen Xu remembers very clearly that he also grows wheat at home. He harvests it in June every year. It is both fertilizer, pesticide and herbicide. All you can see is wheat. The harvest of a mu of land is only about 500 kilograms. It is converted into the unit of measurement of the Qin Dynasty, which is sixteen or seventeen shi. Then the maximum yield of this mu in front of him will not exceed two shi, which is sixty kilograms, or even less than fifty kilograms. Although one mu of land now seems to be slightly smaller than the area of ​​one mu in later generations, the yield per mu is 100 kilograms of grain...

Chen Xu felt like he wanted to die.

Moreover, looking at the situation in front of you, it is completely a rhythm of looking for the sky.

If you surround a river beach, you can sow some seeds and remove weeds when you have time. If the river water surges, the river beach may be flooded and the particles will not be harvested.

Moreover, even with this unpredictable income, the Qin Empire had to collect more than ten stones of land tax, accounting for almost one-third of the total income. Moreover, other tyrants and miscellaneous taxes were not counted, and half of the ones that could end up falling into the hands of farmers were probably not half.

According to the normal income of the twenty-seven acres of land, the yield per mu is 100 kilograms, totaling 2,700 kilograms, which is half of the hands, that is, 1,300 kilograms. The family of three, each of them is 400 kilograms. It is calculated on average for 365 days a year. One kilogram of coarse grains with shells every day, but in fact, only half of the kilograms of later generations. For this era when there was not much meat and fishy food, eating coarse grains is obviously not resistant to hunger, especially young and middle-aged people who have to work, are not enough to eat.

(Note: One pound of Qin Dynasty is about 253g, which is equivalent to half a pound of 250g in later generations, and one stone is about 30 kilograms in later generations.)

What's more, there is a proverb that half of the eldest son is poor.

A boy like Chen Xu who is growing up at the age of fourteen or five is completely a bottomless pit. No matter how much food you have, you will not be full, otherwise you would not be hungry and climb a tree and dig a bird's nest to make teeth.

However, since he has traveled through this dark era and a poor family, Chen Xu has no extra choice.

The Qin Dynasty not only had many taxes and taxes, but the government strictly controlled the population in rural areas, and the chariots and road tyrants... Well, there were also many bandits, all of which were composed of slaves and refugees who could not survive and were unwilling to be arrested by the government to do hard labor. They occupied the mountains and robbed the king's house, which not only fought against the government but also caused the villagers. Therefore, in this era, it was not easy to leave home to avoid disaster, and they would lose their lives if they accidentally lost their lives.

Let’s weed, Chen Xu accepted his fate, used the weeds to tie the legs and sleeves of the trousers and start pulling out the weeds from the wheat field.

Half a day passed by, and the sun quickly rose to the middle of the sky.

Chen Xu was sweating profusely. Jiang Chen and Xing'er were sweating all over, but both mother and daughter gritted their teeth and said nothing, especially Xing'er, with dirt everywhere on her hands and face, and a few thin scars were cut by weeds on her face, but the little girl didn't shout at all.

Although Chen Xu was so hungry that he was dizzy at this time, he could only smile bitterly and continue to persevere when he looked at Xing'er who was so strong.

The seven-year-old girl was still in elementary school wearing beautiful dresses in later generations. She ate bread, eggs and milk every day. When she was unhappy, she lay in her parents' arms and acted coquettishly, holding a doll and listening to the story. But at the same age, she had become an important labor force for the family to work early. According to Qin law, all people over seven years old in the family must start paying D tax. Although it is not high, it can also be seen that she has reached the age of seven to participate in physical labor and has become the semi-formal population of the country.

The people of the Qin Dynasty did not eat lunch, and they had two meals a day, morning and evening.

So this persistence was nearly three hours long. Seeing that the sun had begun to set westward, it was about four o'clock in the afternoon. Chen Xu was already hungry and his chest was pressed against his back. Xing'er could no longer hold on and sat on the ridge of the field chewing a handful of white wild grass roots to satisfy his hunger. Chen Jiang could not hold on anymore, and then announced that today's labor was over.

Walking out of the field swayingly, Chen Xu lay on the river beach with a thud and gasped desperately, his whole body trembling slightly.

Not only are he hungry, but his body is also very weak, and his thin arms and legs are not suitable for this kind of physical labor.

However, the results still look good. With the efforts of the three of them, they cleared out the weeds in five acres of fields. As long as the weather is good, they will be almost done in four or five days.
Chapter completed!