Chapter 784: Corvee Labor (In honor of the alliance leader Twilight Rose!)

Upon catching sight of human habitation, Aaron felt a sense of relief in his heart.

He walked along the road with an unsteady gait, eventually arriving at his own home.

Calling it a home, it was actually just a dwelling pieced together from a few shacks, capable of blocking neither the wind nor completely the rain.

In front of the shacks, there was also a small vegetable plot where some vegetables were planted.

An old farmer carrying a hoe, his back bent like a hunchback, walked past and offered a greeting: "Young Brother Fang La... you've returned?"

"Yes, I've returned."

Speaking of this, Zhou Erniu's hand holding the bowl was even trembling.

"Since that is the case..."

But in the last year or two, the government's demands have become increasingly heavy, and they no longer care about issues like farming seasons, leading to commoners already beginning to flee from famine.

This path was also not worth considering; it was not something Aaron could use.

Zhou Erniu touched his head and returned home, his face immediately turning ashen.

"So it was you, Zhou Erniu..."

Yet when it came to the actual execution stage, especially in the current period, there was simply no one to manage it!

'It's just... I don't want to be a servant for others, so this path is also out...'

Even if you killed Aaron, he wouldn't be able to produce that much money!

"Never thought... a single copper coin could stump a hero... although I wasn't stumped by one copper coin, I have been stumped by two hundred thousand..."

He was not the previous farmer Fang La, who valued this bit of farmland so highly.

The first, naturally, is to take the Civil Service Examination, going all the way up from Child Scholar, Cultivated Talent, Provincial Graduate, to Presented Scholar; as long as one tests into a Cultivated Talent, one can be exempted from personal Corvee Labor!

'But firstly, I have no money to study, and secondly, I have no connections... Even if I take a step back and say, even if I still have a bit of the 'Tower's' Spirituality, allowing me to have a photographic memory and great wisdom... it is already too late to study all the way to a Cultivated Talent.'

This was the most fatal thing!

Aaron recalled the previous few years; although the government also had labor service, at least it gave the people below a chance to catch their breath.

'But I lack the strength... If I had extraordinary power, perhaps I would have done it... Now, as a small farmer, what can I do? No one even listens when I speak...'

Zhou Shi thought for a moment, then said: "I've always seen that Fang La as a kind person; you can help him out more. After all, those who can receive the help of ghosts, gods, and mountain spirits are definitely not ordinary people. Perhaps he can accomplish something great..."

"Sigh, I hate that I am just an ordinary person now! Otherwise, my methods would certainly not be limited to this..."

The fourth path: become a Taoist or a monk, and one must be a legitimate holder of a Daoist Register or Monk Certificate.

People of this era, regardless of whether they were from the upper or lower classes, generally still believed deeply in the tales of immortals.

Aaron looked at the rice jar and found only a thin layer left; there were no family assets in the dilapidated house, and he pondered to himself.

The third path: collude with officials and exploit loopholes in policies; after all, there are always gaps in government laws that allow for exemptions.

"Sigh... if you ask me, young people shouldn't have such high and distant ambitions. I've heard people read the government notices at the market... exotic flowers, strange stones, rare birds and beasts—if you can get one, you can offset the Corvee Labor... but is it really that simple?"

The second path is to go and become a tenant farmer for a wealthy family, seeking shelter under local powerful clans, or even hiding one's household registration; without a household registration, you don't exist in the government's Yellow Register, so naturally, you don't have to pay taxes or perform Corvee Labor.

After all, he was a bachelor, ready to leave at any time, with no burdens.

Although the deep mountains and old forests were dangerous and the mountain people were cruel and treacherous, he actually thought this method was quite good.

The old farmer sighed as he walked: "Rather than looking for those things, it's better to take good care of your own land... In our lifetime, we have only seen that the land never lets down those who deal with it every day..."

Aaron closed the fence gate, looked at the old farmer's departing back, and shook his head secretly.

Corvee Labor!

"Head of the household, what's wrong?"

Combining the memories of his predecessor, he roughly thought of a few paths.

A form of labor service unique to ancient feudal society, where adult males bring their own dry rations and obey the government to carry out large-scale infrastructure construction.

Having the experience of surviving as a mortal in the Immortal Cultivation World for decades, Aaron was well-versed in this.

'Too dangerous; I still cherish this little life of mine very much...'

'If I want to cut my losses, I have to sell the land; anyway, selling the grandfather's land to pay for the son's expenses doesn't hurt the heart...'

Aaron nodded in acknowledgement.

Zhou Erniu was immediately moved!

This man was the pillar of the family; he must not have anything happen to him.

'This path is rejected!'

The most critical thing is... there is not a single bit of reward!

Because the work is heavy, many die from exhaustion or illness. Generally speaking, the strong laborers who return after finishing their labor service are often much thinner, or even exhausted to the point of being deformed, and fall into a major illness!

Not to mention that it might also delay the farming season!

"It's... it's eerie... I'm telling you, that Fang La fell off the cliff, and that was 'Yingchou Cliff'! It's so bare that even eagles find it hard to land, yet he was fine... it must be... he encountered ghosts or gods!"

'And running into the deep mountains is also inconvenient; it lacks salt and medicinal herbs...'

Life in the mountains is bitter, and there are many Miasma and poisonous insects, making it easy to get sick, and there is a lack of salt. If it weren't for the fact that they couldn't survive, which farmer on the plains would be willing to flee into the deep mountains to become a lawless person?

As for this land? At worst, sell it...

At this moment, another man with simple features and rough, dark skin walked past outside the fence. Seeing Aaron, he was immediately startled: "Ah... you... you are Fang La? I saw with my own eyes that you fell off the cliff... how are you here?"

For example, in Luzhouji, there is a wealthy family, the 'Gu Family'. For the previous generations, they were just small landlords, but until this generation produced a Provincial Graduate master, they immediately collected people who sold themselves into servitude, sought refuge, or registered their land under the family's name. In an instant, they became the wealthiest in the region, monopolizing taxes, and could be considered a local tyrant.

'But if I act as a submissive citizen and go to perform Corvee Labor, it's hard to say if my body can take it, and if I delay the farming season and the harvest is poor, I'll still go hungry...'

As for the price of an ordinary Monk Certificate? It is about two hundred strings of cash; one string of cash is about one thousand copper coins, equivalent to one tael of silver, so this is two hundred taels of silver.

'Or... should I just rebel?'

"Oh, oh, so that's how it is..."

His wife, Zhou Shi, saw this and immediately came over to pour him a bowl of water.

"But if you want to take them by surprise, you still can't make too many small moves. After all, if a bachelor like you starts selling land, anyone would know you're planning to run..."

Aaron thought for a moment, and his eyes suddenly lit up.

Aaron used a chipped Treasure Pot to pour himself a bowl of water and drank it slowly.

"A sign of chaotic times..."

After thinking it over and over without reaching a conclusion, Aaron walked out of the thatched cottage, preparing to pull two vegetables for dinner.

It must be said that the ruling class in ancient times was not stupid. For example, the Great Song had clear regulations that the land exempted from taxes for a promoted scholar could not exceed two hundred mu; if it exceeded the limit, taxes and corvée labor still had to be paid.

Aaron's heart stirred slightly; he had not expected this trouble, but his expression remained normal: "I was lucky; I was caught by a tree branch in mid-air and didn't fall to my death, just got a bit bruised. Isn't that why I'm back?"

Aaron tapped his forehead: "Could it be... that I have to use the final method?"

The final method is very simple, and also very suitable for poor people to use, which is to run!

Abandoning home and property to flee into the deep mountains, what can the Emperor do to me?

It's just that once one runs, they immediately become Sinful People, not to mention that all these belongings, and even the few mu of land that farmers value most at this time, would all be gone...

"So that's why the predecessor tried every possible way to avoid corvée labor..."

Night.

Aaron, who had just finished fooling his stomach, suddenly changed his expression: "This is..."

(End of this chapter)