Today's breakfast is millet porridge. Beibei looked at the millet porridge and raised his eyebrows: "Eat quickly. Auntie made a lot this morning. Is it planned?"
Qingyue was a little funny: "Didn't you say yesterday that you were going to see the mother who gave birth? The people here are poor, so just bring some food. I will break two eggs later. These eggs were sent to the villagers' houses this morning. bought."
In other words, Qingyue got up very early and even went out. Beibei touched his head and felt a little embarrassed: "Auntie has been troubled again."
While eating breakfast, Qingyue said with a smile: "I am very willing to do it for you. Eat quickly, I will accompany you after eating."
The group had breakfast, and Qingyue accompanied Beibei to visit Chunni. She also took the breakfast Qingyue made in the morning and walked towards Chunni's home.
When he arrived at Chuni's house, Beibei knocked on the door: "Is Chuni here? I am the doctor who treated you yesterday. Can I come in?"
It was Chunni's husband who opened the door. As soon as he opened the door, he saw Qingyue and Beibei standing at the door, holding a food box in their hands. He couldn't help but raise his eyebrows: "What are you doing here?"
Beibei showed the food box in his hand to Chuni's husband: "I'm here to see Chuni. She just gave birth to a baby yesterday. I'm a little worried. Can I go in and have a look?"
Chuni's husband looked at Beibei: "You are a doctor with a kind heart, so can you help me persuade her not to seek death. She hasn't eaten anything from yesterday to today, and she doesn't care about the child."
This man's face was a little pale. He must have not slept all night and was a little tired. Qingyue looked pitiful and walked towards the room with Beibei.
In the room, Chunni was lying on the bed. If it weren't for the slight blessing on her chest, at a casual glance, she would really have thought she was a dead person!
Qingyue could see that this Chuni was determined to die. With a sigh, the Milkman next to her started crying again, but Chuni really didn't respond.
Beibei had never encountered such a situation before, and for a moment he didn't know what to say or what to do. Qingyue sighed, walked forward, and picked up the child: "This child is probably hungry."
Beibei frowned, looking at Chunni, he was afraid that there was no milk for the child. Walking to Chuni's side: "I brought you some breakfast, you can eat some first. You narrowly escaped death to give birth to this child, do you really not care?"
Chuni still had no reaction, Beibei was a little confused, this person really had a death wish, what should I do? Glancing at Qingyue, Qingyue shook her head. It was useless for a person who wanted to die.
But Beibei didn't believe in evil: "Don't ignore me, maybe I can help you! If that doesn't work, I'll buy you away. I'll give your husband enough money to buy two daughters-in-law. If I buy you away, he Would love to."
Hearing this, Chuni's eyes moved on the bed and she looked at Beibei: "Why?"
Beibei was stunned, why? Yes, why? Beibei frowned. Is she kind-hearted
"Just think that I want to do something good. You are the person I saved, which proves that we are destined. Since you don't want to live here, then I will take you away and help you find the life you want. You want What’s life like?”
Chuni's eyes fell into confusion again. The life she wanted? The life she wanted since childhood was to have a home, enough food and clothing, and a few lovely children. But she really doesn't want to have a baby anymore.
"You know? I have been selling a bag of grain here since I was raised by my family. When I first met my husband-in-law, I was very satisfied. He is very nice, but he has three brothers. I have to do a lot of things every day. I Five children were born.”
Five children? That's a bit much. But people outside would normally have five children. Qingyue looked at Chuni and suddenly said: "How old are you this year?"
Chuni glanced at Qingyue: "Who are you?"
Beibei introduced her: "This is my aunt. Her name is Qingyue."
Chuni said: "I am twenty years old this year. I was sold here when I was sixteen. In fact, my husband-in-laws are all very good. It's me who can't hold on any longer. No matter how many children I have, they won't be able to have enough to eat. "What's the use of wearing warm clothes?"
Chuni cried directly as she spoke: "This is my fifth child. I don't even know if he can survive. If he can't survive, why should I continue to have children?"
When Beibei heard this, he immediately heard the critical moment: "Can't he survive? This child is very healthy. As long as you eat well and breastfeed, why can't he survive?"
Chuni grinned bitterly: "Only one of my five children has survived, and this is the second one. I'm not even sure whether she can survive. I have three husband-in-laws, and now there is one left. They all It’s starvation.”
Beibei's eyes widened, and he suddenly realized that this Chuni didn't hate the life here. She was just afraid, afraid of giving birth to children endlessly and then losing them again and again.
She has experienced the pain of losing her child three times. So it was not possible to change it by taking her away. Beibei didn't know what to say for a moment.
He could only mutter to himself: "I didn't expect that in our Zhou Dynasty, people would still starve to death. How is this possible? Even if you grow sweet potatoes, you and your family can be fed."
Chunni laughed, her face looking a little ferocious: "The taxes in the Great Zhou Dynasty are so heavy that they are almost driving people to death. How can they allow people to eat enough!"
When Qingyue heard this, she finally felt that something was wrong: "The taxes in the Zhou Dynasty are not heavy at all. Wherever we go, even if we are poor, we can still have enough food and clothing. And your village is the first , and people who starve to death.”
"Tell me what's going on? How much tax does your village collect from the Great Zhou Dynasty?"
Qingyue put her hand on Beibei's shoulder, signaling Beibei not to continue talking. She glanced at Chunni. Chunni's hands were covered with calluses, proving that she was a hard-working person.
Qingyue also observed Chuni's husband just now. Although he looked a bit fierce, his hands also had calluses, which were caused by years of working. The whole family is a hard-working person, so it is impossible that they will not have enough to eat.
Yesterday, she followed the village chief out to inform people, and also took a look at the things grown in this village, including sweet potatoes, which were similar to those outside. There is no such thing as not having enough to eat, let alone heavy taxes. Unless people here pay different taxes.
Chuni looked at Qingyue with some confusion. These two women seemed to be different from the people in their village. Chuni didn't hide anything: "The tax here is five stones per acre, and they also require rice in addition to sweet potatoes. Do you think we can have enough to eat?"
Five stones per acre? One stone is one hundred kilograms. If one acre of land harvests five hundred kilograms of grain, even sweet potatoes will only be harvested half of it. How can it be
"Who are you here to collect it? I remember that the taxes of Dazhou were obviously two stones per acre of grain. You have to look at the things. Most of them are left in the people's homes."
That's right, the taxes of the Great Zhou Kingdom are all collected based on the harvest, only two-fifths are collected, and the remaining three-fifths are reserved for the people's families, in the hope that the people can live a prosperous life.
Qingyue's face changed: "How dare someone here make money in the name of taxation. Beibei, this matter is not a trivial matter. I don't know if it's this village or the villages nearby. It seems like we have to spend more time here. Went through several villages.”
"Chunni, which village did you marry from? Are the taxes in your village the same?"
Looking at the serious faces of the two people, Chunni was a little in disbelief: "You said that the tax in Da Zhou is two stones per acre? How is this possible? What we have paid over the years is completely different."
Beibei snorted: "How courageous a dog is. Most importantly, no one has discovered this problem in so many years?"
It is really inappropriate that no one noticed such a big thing. Maybe someone discovered it, but all the people who discovered it died!
Chuni looked at the two of them and shook her head: "I don't know. Anyway, I have paid so much tax since I was born. The people in this area have a hard time."
This place is almost a month's journey from Kyoto, so it's considered a remote area. As the sky is high and the emperor is far away, whatever happens is normal.
Beibei looked at Chuni: "Don't think about death yet. Just take a look at the newly born child. For the sake of your child, husband, continue to live. I will wait until the day when I am full. Don't worry, I will solve this problem." After this incident, I left."
Qingyue nodded: "And what we just told you, don't talk to anyone. We will still be here for a long time! Don't worry, we will figure out what's going on here before leaving. of."
For some reason, Chuni just felt that Qingyue's words had a life-giving power: "Can you really guarantee that we will all have enough to eat in the future?"
Qingyue nodded: "Don't worry, I keep my word. I will definitely resolve the matter here before leaving. In fact, we are spies of the imperial court. We just came out to see if the people are all on the order of the emperor. Live and work in peace and contentment.”
"This is a token given by the emperor. I didn't expect that we would actually find a place like this. Helping you is also a meritorious service on our part. We will not give up."
Chuni looked at the token and was dumbfounded. Qingyue was still talking: "You can't tell anyone about our origins and tokens, you know?"
Chuni nodded: "I understand, don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Thank you, thank you for coming and letting me see the hope of living, thank you."