back to ancient times to be emperor

Chapter 334 Forced to Helplessness
But Su Shi waited for a group of people, followed the farmer, turned left and right, walked through the path, and finally came to a dilapidated earthen house.The mud house is made of adobe brick walls, and now it is ventilated on all sides.The beam of the house is a log, which is relatively strong.The roof is paved with hay.

Outside the house, although there is a small yard, it is only covered with firewood doors.There is also a kennel in the courtyard, but there are no dogs guarding the house.Probably because the owner can't afford it, a dog eats no less than a person!

Qin Ming, who was more experienced, could tell that the roof of this house was originally made of tiles.It is probably because the owner of the house is too shy and has no money to repair it, which led to today's predicament.

The farmer also seemed to know that the house was too dilapidated, so he was quite embarrassed.There are not even chairs and stools in the room. The largest furniture is a bed, a table, and a bench, that's all.In the house, the best place to shelter from wind and rain is occupied by a large tile vat, presumably it is a place to store food, people depend on food for heaven!

The farmer said embarrassingly: "There is no place to sit at home, so I have to wrong the officials."

Su Shi was quite surprised when he looked at the bare earthen house.At first, he thought that farmers wore this clothes just to do farm work without soiling other clothes, but now it seems that he was thinking too much.It's clear that they only have this set of clothes, and they wear them to work in order to cover their bodies.

Seeing such a poor life, Qin Ming was also a little moved, the previous anger completely disappeared, and he asked a little apologetically, "Brother, where is your son?"

The farmer put the hoe into the house, smiled wryly, and said, "To tell you the truth, I have two sons and three daughters, and they are all sold."

Su Shi widened his eyes when he heard this, and said in disbelief, "What?"

The farmer laughed at himself, sat down on the bench and said: "It's okay, but it was only sold to Mr. Song at the head of the village. He is a good man. Seeing that my wife and I can't support these children, we all accept them." If it’s from a neighboring village, they’ll all be sold to outsiders, and we’ll never see each other again in this life.”

Not only Su Shi, but even Qin Ming and the others were extremely shocked and asked, "How many acres of land do you have, why can't you support a family of seven?"

The farmer suddenly said angrily: "How many acres of land? Even if there are tens of acres of land, what if it is still reduced to where it is today? To tell you the truth, my ancestors were also rich in the past, and there were hundreds of acres of fertile land. But I can't stand how many sons he has, each of them gets a little bit, and when it was passed on to me, it was only [-]% of an acre of land, which is still a thin field! Marrying a wife, I thought it would be better if there were more people, but unexpectedly the dowry was spent. I have saved my savings. I have five children left. How much grain can I get in one mu of land? It’s only about three hundred catties! Eighty percent of the land, if you don’t sell them, do you want them to suffer together with my useless father? They are at Mr. Song’s house. They eat well, dress well, and live much better than my kennel. I My wife helps Mr. Song raise silkworms and weave cloth every day, get a bite of food, and meet them by the way, this is already considered very good!"

Su Shi listened to his complaints quietly, and found that he didn't seem to be talking about the point.After he finished venting, Su Shi asked slowly: "Since the eldest brother said that he is considered good, what's wrong?"

The farmer sneered and said: "If the fate is bad, give birth to a child, raise it to three or four years old, and sell it to the gentlemen in Zizhou City. Girls are easy to sell, but if it is a boy, you have to pick and choose The price is not as high as a sheep!"

When Su Shi heard this, he finally figured out some taste.It turned out that it was not because of the rampant human traffickers, but because these self-cultivating farmers were desperate, so they sold their daughters in exchange for their children's chances of survival.

These days, there is no common sense of hygiene and contraception. After the peasants marry their wives, they seem to be made and man-made machines, and they can't stop at all.For a farmer like this, five are not enough.If there are no seven or eight others, they are not conspicuous.

One more mouth means one more ration, but there are only so many fields and so much food, it is not enough to feed a large family, what should I do?Tiger poison still does not eat children, and people's hearts grow from flesh. In order to exchange for the survival of their children, they can only sell their children. This is also an impossible solution.Who would sell their daughters if they could support them!
Su Shi didn't give up, and continued to probe: "Is there no human traffickers?"

The farmer seemed to have heard the funniest joke, and laughed loudly: "Do you still need to sell it? At this price, the rich family is just eating a sheep. If it is a boy, it is not as good as a sheep! The rich family cares about these things." Money? Hahaha..."

Even Qin Ming and other rough people can hear the helplessness, grief, pain and helplessness in the laughter.Su Shi was straightforward by nature, and suddenly said loudly: "Brother, don't you know that His Majesty has issued an order to reduce or exempt the national tax?"

The farmer shook his head and said, "So what if you know, so what if you don't know? There are only so few fields, so where can the tax reduction be reduced?"

Su Shi was stunned. He really never thought that the "tax reduction" that had always been regarded as a benevolent government could not save these self-cultivated farmers with little land.

The farmer seemed to have opened up the conversation, and continued: "If I don't send all the children to Mr. Song, I will lose all my land in a short time. At that time, let alone my children, even I will Become a tenant of Master Song. Even if I am a little poor, I can still have tiles to cover my head and food to eat. If I am a tenant farmer, after working hard for more than half a year, I can’t even support myself in the end. Is it not the same as selling myself into slavery in the end? Good morning, what's the difference!"

Listening to the resentment of the farmers, Su Shi finally understood.It is not that the traffickers want to abduct and sell children, but that these farmers are forced to sell their children, otherwise they will not even be able to survive.They thought about fighting, but they didn't have the capital to fight.They don't have money to study, they can't afford a scholar, and they can't change their fate.Generation after generation, the land is divided less and less, and the poorer and poorer.In the end, he could only be like this farmer, in order not to be completely a slave and a handmaiden, but also to survive, he had to bear the pain and sell his daughter...

Su Shi suddenly sighed: "Liu Liuzhou in the previous dynasty wrote an article called "Snake Catcher Talk", saying that tyrannical government is fiercer than tiger. Who knows that today, non-tyrannical government is also fiercer than tiger? Is this a natural disaster or a man-made disaster?"

Farmers, Qin Ming and others didn't know what Su Shi was lamenting, but they all knew that Su Shi seemed to be very emotional.No way, they don't have much literacy, how do they know that Liu Liuzhou is a great poet, a great writer Liu Zongyuan?His "The Story of the Snake Catcher" is also a famous article that has been passed down through the ages!
After listening to the farmers' complaints, Su Shi finally understood what it meant to be suffering among the people.He took out his purse from his sleeve, poured hundreds of copper coins on the table, pushed them in front of the farmer, and said, "Brother, I can't help you much, I can only express my heart. Thank you for your frank words, I will wait for you." I'm saying goodbye..."

(End of this chapter)