Boss Zhou came back with a smile on his face. "No one died in the village. Only a few people were bitten by wolves."
Zhou Laoer continued, "However, most of the chickens in the village are gone. The pigs of several families whose fences were not high were killed by wolves and the rest were taken away. A cow also died in the village. There is not much left to eat. What can be taken away has been taken away. Only the cow's head and bones are left."
Almost all the poultry raised in the village were destroyed.
Yang Dayong asked, "Didn't you kill the wolf?"
Zhou Laoer shook his head, "No, this time the wolves came down the mountain for the poultry. They didn't break into the house by knocking through the door or the window. The injured ones were bitten while trying to save the poultry."
Zhulan knew that wolves were highly cooperative, listened to orders very well, and were very strategic. She never expected that seeing this in ancient times, this was all premeditated!
Yang Dayong smoked a cigarette and said, "The wolves listen to the leader very much, and this leader is very smart. This is not a good thing. After one experience, the wolves learn quickly and will continue to do so next time. The good news is that the poultry in Lijia Village is gone, and Lijia Village is safe."
Bad news, other villages will suffer.
The rest of the words were not spoken, but everyone understood.
There was no snow in the next few days, the roads were open, and information could be exchanged. These people swept several villages in succession, really for the sake of storing food, and Zhoujia Village was not spared. However, no matter how powerful they were, they were still beasts. Many wolves died, and some people also died.
About seven days later, it started snowing again. The snow was heavy. Human beings seemed particularly insignificant in the face of nature, especially in ancient times, when there was no technology to predict and defend against it.
The heavy snow stopped after two days and never fell again. Zhulan liked to stock up on supplies and had bought a lot of salt and other things since the beginning of winter. She went to buy some more after the last heavy snow. Now that the road was open, Zhulan asked Zhou Laoer to go back to Lijia Village to see Xuemei and brought back ten kilograms of meat, several large bones, and a chicken. Three of her own hens had frozen to death.
The meat came from Zhulan's own pigs. After Zheng Yang left, Zhulan killed both pigs in her family and did not sell any of the meat. She kept it all for her own consumption and for next year's wedding banquet.
Zhou Shuren went to the county to inquire about the news. In the afternoon, Zhou Shuren and Zhou Lao Da came back.
Zhulan asked, "What news did you hear?"
Zhou Shuren said: "We suffered less damage here, but the damage near the capital was serious, but we already have a way to rescue it."
What Zhou Shuren feared most was that the Northeast and foreign ethnic groups would suffer serious disasters. The Northeast border was already unstable in winter. If it were to suffer serious disasters, foreign ethnic groups would definitely launch a war in order to survive. At that time, the situation in the Northeast would be unstable. The new dynasty had just been established and was not yet perfect. Its main energy was focused on stabilizing the domestic situation and improving governance. It did not have extra energy to completely resolve border issues. The border had never been stable since the establishment of the dynasty.
Zhu Lan said, "How do we solve the disaster? The dynasty has been established for twelve years, and there have been droughts and floods. It has been a disaster for a long time. After a few years of good weather, there is a snowstorm. Now the border has been unstable for years. The annual grain and grass expenses are huge. The treasury does not have much silver, and there will not be much grain. How to save the disaster?"
Zhou Shuren relaxed the chill on his body, put on his slippers and went to bed, saying, "I don't know who came up with the strategy to distribute the relief food to each state, and each state would provide a certain amount of food, and then transport it to the disaster relief."
Zhulan, "It's definitely not opening the granary for disaster relief. The state distributed grain to each county, the county distributed grain to each village, and each village distributed grain to each household. To put it bluntly, it's still taking food from the mouths of the people."
Zhou Shuren said, "The county magistrate just received an official document saying that the government has not increased taxes in recent years, and the weather has been good in recent years. Farmers should pay grain according to their own land, one catty of grain per mu of land. Scholars and other people who enjoy tax exemption not only have to pay grain for the land under their name, but also have to pay an additional 50 catties of grain, and scholars have to pay 200 catties of grain. Officials are also treated equally and all grain is paid."
Zhulan frowned, "What about the merchants and landless people in the county?"
"I don't know about that. I only know this much. The amount of grain paid by merchants is estimated to be not less. There shouldn't be many people without land."
Zhu Lan frowned, "This is not a good start. If they get a taste of success, won't they do the same thing every time there is a disaster in the future? Then the lower class people will bear the brunt of the consequences."
Zhou Shuren sighed, "The emperor must have been forced into a corner this time. Although he just collected taxes, he can barely support the expenditures over the years. Every dynasty has collected grain, and this dynasty is pretty good. Years of war have not increased land taxes, and the collection this time is not too much. The emperor will find a way in the future."
Zhou Shuren continued, "I have analyzed the emperor. He is a rare wise ruler. His policies in recent years have been good. After this time, for the sake of taxation, the merchants who have been suppressed for more than ten years will probably be relaxed. I guess the emperor originally wanted to leave it to the new monarch to show favor, but unfortunately there are natural disasters and constant wars, so he has to move forward. Moreover, once the policy on merchants is relaxed, it means that he will soon use troops to solve the border problems."
Zhulan's brain reacted quickly, "Then the Zheng and Yang families have caught up with the opportunity. Now they can accumulate military merits in a small-scale war. When the troops are really deployed, Wuchun and his men will not be small soldiers with the Zheng family's care. At least they will be safer. And if they really make contributions, they will not be afraid of others greedily taking the credit."
Zhou Shuren calculated the amount of grain his family had to pay, which was 130 kilograms. "Fortunately, we haven't sold this year's grain. The price of grain will definitely go up next year."
Zhulan, "Food won't be cheap in the next few years."
On the second day, the head of the village organized a grain donation and waited for the government office to collect the grain. Thanks to the good weather, there were not too many complaints, but the emperor's favorability, which he had worked so hard to gain, also dropped a lot.
Not all of them have lofty ideals. Most of the lower-class people only care about their own families.
Fortunately, there was no heavy snow, and the disaster area in the capital was resolved. Then every village posted a thank-you letter written by the emperor, thanking the people for donating grain to relieve the disaster. This routine is quite deep. The letter was not written by the emperor himself, but the public opinion lost by just this letter actually increased a lot. The people at the bottom were excited. This was a thank-you letter written by the emperor, thanking them!
Zhu Lan listened to Zhou Shuren reciting the letter, "Our emperor is really good at playing with people's hearts."
Zhou Shuren smiled and said, "Which founding emperor is simple? This one is more powerful."
Time flies. Zhulan had a happy winter without any troubles. It was the most comfortable time of the year. Perhaps Zhulan and Zhou Shuren were too comfortable. As the year was coming to an end, big trouble came.