BXBX NOVEL Chapter 54 - 54 Paying Taxes
Wheat could be considered their first attempt at it.
There were no cows in the space so they had to plow the fields themselves.
However, there were all kinds of tools in the warehouse of the farmyard. There were plows, shovels, sickles, hoes, grass rakes, and so on.
!!
Zhou Xiaoli also saw a corn thresher, the kind that worked by hand.
More importantly, these farming tools were brand new.
When they saw the house full of farming tools, Zhou Yu and Zhang Lan were visibly happy.
Zhou Yu loved what he saw as he touched each piece of equipment. “This hoe, this shovel is so bright. It looks sharp and new. That’s very good.”
Zhang Lan also cherished it so much that she could not take her eyes off it. “That’s right. I’ve never seen such a good farming tool in my life!”
“These, these are all ours?”
As he spoke, he found it unbelievable.
Although ironware was popular in this world, it was still very expensive.
Ordinary farmers used farming tools across several generations. They would not change them unless they had no choice.
In addition, the farming tools in the space were all modern farming tools. Even those who did not know much about farming tools would agree that these farming tools were of a superior quality with just one glance.
“Hubby, let’s hurry up. Li’er has already brought in the wheat seeds.”
Zhang Lan hugged a hoe and smiled happily.
Zhou Xiaoli also ran over with a hoe. “Mother, I’ll help too.”
Zhou Xiaoyu and Zhou Junjun were not to be outdone. They waved their small fists and shouted that they could help too.
Zhou Xiaoyu looked up and said proudly, “Mother, Mother, I know how to pull weeds.”
“Hahaha, little fool, there’s no grass here. I want to help Mother and Father to sow the seeds!” Zhou Junjun mocked.
Zhou Xiaoyu pouted angrily and placed her hands on her waist. “Stupid brother, you’re calling me a little fool again. I’m not going to be with you anymore. Hmph~”
“Sis, look at Older Brother.”
With that, she ran off to complain to Zhou Xiaoli.
The two little fellows started playing in the courtyard.
Happiness filled the air, accompanied by the laughter of the entire family.
Zhou Yu, Zhang Lan, and the others were native farmers. They worked all year round and felt a special relationship with the ground underneath their feet. They were efficient and capable in farm work.
Originally, they did not want the children to do anything.
However, they couldn’t dissuade Zhou Xiaoli and the other two from trying to help. In the end, Zhang Lan had no choice but to teach them step by step. “In that case, your father and I will use the plow to plow the land later on. You guys will spread the wheat seeds evenly in the ditch created. Watch how many seeds I sprinkle and do the same.”
“Okay!”
The two little ones called out excitedly. They grabbed the wheat seeds excitedly in their hands, raring to go.
“Alright, let’s begin!”
With Zhou Yu’s shout, the entire family moved.
When they were in the Zhou family, Lai Jinniang had them do a lot of farm work.
However, there had never been a time when they were happy and satisfied doing it.
Actually, one of the reasons was that only their consciousness entered the alternate space.
They would not feel tired from doing manual work.
Of course, the most important thing was that after they put in the hard work of farming, the food would be theirs in the future!
They were extremely happy to be able to eat their fill and not be bullied.
People always said that happy times passed quickly. Unknowingly, it was noon.
It was only when Zhou Xiaoli heard the knocking on the door outside the alternate space that she realized that they had worked for a long time.
They had already planted more than half an acre of land. After packing up, everyone left the alternate space.
“Who is it?”
Zhang Lan was the first to stand up and walk out.
When they opened the door, they saw Wei Chiyu standing at the door, holding a pork rib and a bag of candy.
“Ah, it’s Chiyu. I haven’t seen you for a few days.” Zhang Lan smiled and said, “I thought you didn’t like my cooking.”
Wei Chiyu explained, “I’ve been doing something for the past few days.”
Zhang Lan was joking of course and hurriedly opened the door. “Stop standing at the door and come in quickly. Li’er and her father didn’t go out to sea today. What a nice coincidence that everyone is here. Let’s eat together.”
Wei Chiyu was overjoyed. “Uncle and Little Li did not go out to sea?”
As he spoke, he walked into the courtyard.
Zhang Lan closed the door and replied, “Yes, Li’er suffered from heatstroke yesterday so she’s resting today.”
Wei Chiyu immediately asked, “Is everything alright? Has she taken medicine?”
At this moment, Zhou Xiaoli walked out of the room.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. I’m fine.”
As she spoke, her gaze fell on Wei Chiyu’s hand. “Hey, why didn’t you bring wild game meat today?”
...
Wei Chiyu picked up the pork ribs in his hand and remembered why he had these in his hands. “Oh, this. The shopkeeper of the First-grade Restaurant asked me to give it to you.”
“He said that he wanted to thank you for your reminder the other time. Pork rib stew is good for Uncle to recover quickly from his bone injury. He even gave me a bag of sugar. It’s called cane sugar and was boiled from sugarcane. It’s a new thing that has just appeared in the capital. He said to let you try it.”
Zhou Xiaoli realized what had happened. It must have been because of what happened when she dined at the First-grade Restaurant the last time. She had almost forgotten about it.
Seems like the shopkeeper had taken her advice.
Zhou Xiaoli accepted the items and looked at the cane sugar cubes. She couldn’t help but marvel that someone in the capital had discovered that sugar cane could be used to make sugar.
In this world, the sugar they ate was malt sugar. There was no such thing as cane sugar.
She looked at the pork ribs again and couldn’t help but say, “That’s good. Let’s make sweet and sour pork ribs for lunch today.”
At this moment, the weather was still clear.
As for the Liu family, Lin Xiujuan started to have some regrets. Even if Zhou Xiaoli did not tag along, her man would still be able to earn dozens of copper coins a day when he went out to sea.
“Hubby, why don’t you go out to sea after dinner? You can set a net.” Lin Xiujuan scooped a bowl of noodles for Liu Liangcai and pondered aloud.
“I heard that the taxes this year have increased again. It’s time to pay taxes soon. After paying the taxes, I’m afraid we won’t have sufficient food at home until next year.”
...
Liu Liangcai looked a little worried. “More taxes? How are we commoners going to live?”
“That’s right. Moreover, the mayor has announced in the village that the Imperial Court wants to conscript soldiers to fight in war. We have to pay money to be exempted from military service this year.”
Lin Xiujuan sighed. “Besides, your winter jacket has been worn for many years. It’s not going to keep you warm anymore. It’s the same for Fengfeng. He had frostbite several times last year. I was thinking of making a new winter jacket for the entire family this winter. Looks like it won’t happen.”
“I was just thinking about how we can take advantage of the time now to catch more fish to supplement our family’s expenses. It would be good if we can earn enough to last us till the next autumn harvest.”
Liu Liangcai thought about it and agreed. “Alright, I’ll call Brother Zhou. His family doesn’t have any farmland so it’ll be even more difficult for him to survive after paying the taxes.”
Lunchtime had just passed.
Liu Liangcai knocked on the Zhou family’s door. After entering the house, he talked about fishing.
The Zhou family also learned from Liu Liangcai on the taxes that they have to pay.
Zhou Xiaoli was a little surprised. “A person has to pay 200 copper coins as population tax? And we have to pay exemption tax? How much is the exemption tax?”
Zhou Xiaoli did not know much about this in the first place. This was because the Zhou family never had to pay any exemption tax as Zhou Yu was the one who did all the previous military service exercises for the Zhou family. Except for military service.
Seeing that Zhou Xiaoli didn’t understand, Zhou Yu explained, “There are many types of exemption taxes. The most common is the ‘pawn’, which is doing hard labor such as digging canals to build city walls. There are also the ‘soldier’ and ‘guardian’. These two are used for military service and doing border guard duties respectively.”
“If you want to be exempted from these, you have to pay taxes. If you want to be exempted from hard labor, you have to pay three taels of silver. However, the exemption from military service is much higher. Each family has to pay five taels of silver.”