How to survive in poverty: I use a simulator to farm

Chapter 34: Digging a hornet's nest and paying the poll tax

Chen Yixuan is digging a hornet's nest this time and plans to use the method passed down from his grandfather.

He carefully captured dozens of wasps alive and tied a live buckle around the necks of the wasps with a thin white straw rope.

This is a method of manually tracking the position by placing multiple markers.

By placing multiple markers, the general direction and route of the wasps' flight can be determined.

Then, based on the time it takes the target to fly back and forth, estimate the distance between the hornet nests.

Then they slowly went looking for it.

In order to get the hornet's nest, Chen Yixuan made a lot of preparations in advance.

He knew that wasps were very poisonous, and the human body could still withstand being pricked by one or two stingers from the wasps.

However, once there are too many wasps that attack people, the person who catches the hornets' nest will be stung to death.

Just like last time, Chen Yixuan took his sons and found the location of the hornet's nest. They smeared mud all over themselves by the river.

A thick layer of mud covered his body, so he put on dense straw clothes, straw trousers and straw sandals.Then the grass clothes, straw pants and straw sandals were covered with thick black mud.

Carrying spare mud on their backs, they carefully walked up the mountain on the other side of the hornet's nest.

After spending a long time, they finally found the true location of the hornet's nest in a stone nest.

This den should be the abandoned den of a badger.

At this time, Chen Yixuan was wearing a large grass cage on his head, staring at the hornet's nest through the gap, and holding a torch, he began to smoke it fiercely.

In the extremely pungent and dazzling black smoke, Chen Yixuan picked up the hoe and dug in the soil.

He worked very neatly, with very quick hands and feet, and he dug out the hornet's nest in a matter of seconds.

Those wasps are spiritual.

Knowing that the enemy was coming and had stolen their homes, they surrounded them in groups and attacked them.

Chen Yixuan and his sons ran down the mountain quickly and jumped directly into a pit dug in advance on the edge of the river beach.

At this time, the pit was already half a meter deep in water.

Chen Yixuan hid in the water with his three sons for almost half an hour. Seeing that there were fewer wasps than before, he quickly grabbed the torch he had placed next to the pit and brought a few The son ran home quickly.

When they returned home, a small number of wasps followed them.

There are not many of these wasps, only a few hundred.

Chen Yixuan and his sons ran very fast. When they got home, they closed the door and blocked the gap in the door.

The hundreds of wasps suddenly lost their target and began to fly around the village like crazy.

They are still the same as before, stinging like crazy whenever they see people.At that time, those people in the village were furious.

Chen Yixing saw that his younger brother and several nephews were all in such a mess, all black and smelly, exuding a fishy smell of earth, so he couldn't help but urge Chen Feiyan.

"Sister-in-law, what are you doing standing still? Hurry up and boil some hot water for your man and son!"

"It stinks so bad, how can I sleep later?"

Chen Yixuan shook his head after hearing this.

"Brother, don't rush to do this yet. I have to dry the mud before I take a shower."

Chen Yixing was puzzled after hearing this: "Brother, why is this?"

Chen Yixuan replied seriously: "Brother, have you forgotten that the mud in this river can be used to make pottery pots and bowls?"

"..." Chen Yixing was speechless when he heard this. He was speechless for a while.

Is it that easy to make clay pots and bowls?

Then don’t use a lot of firewood to burn it?
"Brother, don't be like this. Just listen to me and go boil some hot water and take a bath. After washing, you will feel refreshed and we will feel better too."

"I think you really need to be diligent and frugal in life, but I can't be as diligent and frugal as you!"

Chen Yixing felt extremely sad when he thought that his brother had become such a picky person.

A person's life is neither long nor short.

When you have the conditions to live your life, you should treat yourself well.Eat good food if you can, sleep well if you can sleep well, wear good clothes if you can, and wear good clothes if you can.Why do you need to be so diligent and frugal and demean yourself? !
Chen Feiyan saw disapproval written all over Chen Yixing's face and her husband was also interested. She smiled at the corner of her mouth and spoke immediately.

"Master, let's listen to your brother for now."

"I've actually prepared hot water a long time ago, but I can't keep it hot enough for you." After saying that, Chen Feiyan brought over a wooden bucket filled with a lot of hot water.

Chen Yixuan saw his wife walking on a pair of small feet and carrying such a big bucket. He quickly stood up and went to meet her.

"Daughter-in-law, this rough work should be done by men!"

"Hurry up and rest inside..."

After saying that, Chen Yixuan took off his clothes and immediately picked up the towel inside to wipe himself.

Chen Yixing saw that his daughter-in-law hadn't gone far yet, and she saw her brother's bare arms with her own eyes.

He couldn't help complaining in his heart: "This thatched house is still too small. More than a dozen people live here and can't move."

If Chen Feiyan could hear his voice, she would definitely complain secretly.

This thatched house is about 20 square meters after all!
Not too small, right?

There are just a lot of people living in her house now, so she feels that there is no room for activities.

Chen Yixuan took a bath with hot water, but there was still mud on his body.But he doesn't care now.

He silently urged his three sons to take a shower too.

Chen Xiaoyi and his brothers immediately got busy.

……

At this time, Chen Yixing looked at his younger brother and said, "Brother, you dug that hornet's nest today. There shouldn't be any accidents, right?"

"Have you been stung?"

Chen Yixuan shook his head.

"I'm actually pretty good. I ran pretty fast and didn't get stung very much."

After saying that, he raised his hand and subconsciously touched his swollen and shiny forehead.

"...Brother, I still think it's too dangerous for you to do this." Chen Yixing said with a serious face.

Chen Yixuan nodded.

"Brother, I know the danger. You don't need to say any more."

"I've done some calculations in the past few days. Our family will have to pay a lot of head tax in ten days and a half. If I don't get more money now, brother, you and your sister-in-law will still have My eldest nephew is in danger!"

"If you are caught by the government and thrown into prison, whether you can save your life or not is a question."

When Chen Yixing heard this, he was stunned.

Yes, he almost forgot about the royal court's taxes and other life-threatening things...

How much money does one person have to pay for the poll tax?

"Brother, how much poll tax will the government collect this time?"

Chen Yixuan said with determination: "Now the court stipulates that those who are taller than five feet five are considered adults. Each adult is charged ten cents! For young children, five cents."

After hearing this, Chen Yixing looked at his son subconsciously.

"Brother, is my son considered an adult or a child?"

Chen Yixuan said it without even looking at it. "In the eyes of the village chief, of course he is an adult."

When Chen Yixing heard this, he immediately made some calculations in his mind.

If you put it this way, your family of three will have to pay a full 30 yuan head tax every spring?

For farmers who work in the fields all year round, 30 yuan is definitely not a simple figure.

This is the income that many rural people can save by working part-time jobs outside for ten days and a half.

What's more, Chen Yixuan's family consists of eight people.An adult couple with six children...

Of the six children, the first three boys are over five feet five.

In other words, the head tax his family has to pay this time is a full 65 cents...

When he thought that his two brothers together would have to pay a one-time head tax of 95 yuan, Chen Yixing could not help but curse.

"What kind of world is this?"

(End of this chapter)