Chapter 55: Corvée twice a year
After dinner, the eldest son of the village chief came in and announced that each household had to send one person to the ancestral hall for a meeting.
Huang asked, "Nephew, what's the matter?"
The village chief's son said something about corvee labor and then left to inform the next family.
Since many villagers were not there during the day, the village chief simply waited until the villagers had finished dinner before notifying them of the meeting.
When Sun Shan heard about corvée labor, his heart tightened. He put down his pen and asked, "Father, what are we going to do this time?"
Sun Bomin didn't know either and shook his head.
Huangyang County has two service periods a year: before spring ploughing and after autumn harvest.
The duration of each service was different. The three brothers of the Sun family did not separate their households, and they took turns to serve.
Last year's autumn military service was carried out by my third uncle, and this year's spring military service was carried out by Sun Boming.
Su said with a bitter face: "Master, why don't you go to the ancestral hall for a meeting first and see what the village chief says?"
Since the village chief said that each household should send one person to the ancestral hall, the Su family naturally would not go, and they were not qualified to go.
Only sons and daughters-in-law with the surname Sun were allowed to enter the Sun family's ancestral hall. Even maids with the surname Sun were allowed to enter. Only daughters-in-law from outside the family were not qualified.
This rule has its origins.
Generally, other villages only allow males to enter, and outside wives and girls are not allowed to enter, but the Sun family’s ancestral hall is quite unique.
It is said that when the entire tribe fled here, they were severely weakened. In many households, only daughters were left, and the men either disappeared or died on the way.
The head of the Sun family set a precedent. As long as a daughter of the Sun family married a son-in-law, her children would be given the surname Sun.
A daughter is equal to a son. She can enter the Sun family ancestral hall and be worshipped in the hall.
Therefore, the tablet on the Sun family ancestral hall is a woman who is looking for a son-in-law.
Every time Sunjia Village holds a sacrifice ceremony, the head of the family will bring his sons and daughters to the ancestral hall to worship their ancestors. Of course, after getting married, it is forbidden to enter the ancestral hall.
Sun Bomin put down the work in his hands, did not light the lantern, walked to his neighbor's house in the moonlight, shouted, and the people inside came out, and they went to the ancestral hall for a meeting together.
Sun Shan had become accustomed to performing corvee labor twice a year.
Fortunately, the intensity of corvée labor here is not very high.
They either built bridges or roads or managed canals. Huangyang County had no iron ore or coal, nor any large rivers, so the labor they did would not cost their lives.
Sun Shan continued to pick up the brush and write stroke by stroke.
After practicing enough, I said to the sisters, "Come, I will teach you the words we are going to learn today."
The four Guyu sisters listened to their brother explain the meaning of the characters, and then watched him write them.
The last four sisters also wrote on the slate. They did not use brushes, but charcoal sticks. Brushes and ink were still very expensive, and they were fast-moving consumer goods, so the Sun family was reluctant to give them to use.
Sun Shan smiled and asked, "Practice it several times, practice it every day, and you will remember it."
Sun Shan thought that once he could practice his handwriting well enough to write on paper skillfully, he would copy a few copies for his sisters at home.
Guyu said with a headache: "Brother, I always can't remember, so I'd better not learn it."
Sun Shan immediately retorted: "Sister, I can't remember it either, but if you study it every day, it will be hard for you not to remember it."
Among the four sisters, Guyu is probably the oldest, has the most things to think about, has the most distracting thoughts in her mind, and is the worst student.
Xiaoman is the most motivated to learn, but she is not the best learner.
The best one was Lixia. He could write after being taught a few times. Although his handwriting was crooked, all the words were correct.
As for the youngest sister, Hanlu, she is ordinary and pretty standard.
Lixia also said, "Sister, let's write it a few more times. It will be easy to remember."
Xiaoman also said: "Big sister, we are not smart, so we will learn slowly. We don't have to take the exam, so we can remember as much as we can. Anyway, if we remember one, we will earn one, and my younger brother will pay for one tuition fee. Hehe, there are five of us learning."
Xiaoman thought that even though his younger brother was stupid, he could learn it, so he didn't believe that he couldn't learn it himself.
Guyu had no choice. Her younger sisters and brothers were studying so hard that she, as the elder sister, had to bite the bullet and go ahead.
Huang smiled and said, "Don't worry, learn slowly. Your eldest aunt didn't want to learn at first, but your grandfather taught her every day, and before she knew it, she knew how to read. You should do the same, learn every day, and after a while, you will naturally understand."
At first, Su did not agree with Shanzi teaching four daughters, but she thought that since the tuition fees had been paid, if one more daughter learned, she would earn an extra cent.
I also supported Sun Shan's teaching, thinking that I also wanted to learn, and this would be more justifiable for the high tuition fees.
He said to Sun Shan, "Shanzi, you also teach my mother."
Sun Shan said with surprise: "Mother, okay, I will teach you." After repeating the teaching again, Sun Shan became more proficient in the characters.
The oil lamp in the main hall was dim, but it did not affect the fun of studying. After about an hour, Sun Bomin came back from the ancestral hall.
Sun Shan asked with concern: "Father, what did the village chief say?"
The women in the family also looked over with concern.
Sun Bomin said indifferently: "The village chief said that he will repair the canal the day after tomorrow to facilitate spring ploughing."
Su hurriedly asked, "Master, where are we going to repair it?" Last year's autumn project was to repair the road, and this time we are repairing the canal, and no one knows where to repair it.
Sun Bomin said, "In the suburbs of the county, not far from Xiaomei Village, helping the government repair the canal."
When Huang heard about the canal repair, he was not so nervous. Just repair it, as long as it is not dangerous, it doesn't matter where you serve.
I quickly asked, "How many days will you be gone?"
Sun Bomin replied: "It will take about 10 days. The government said it would take 10 days to repair the house. It will be just in time for us to finish the repair and come back for spring ploughing."
In fact, it also facilitates spring plowing of government fields.
As soon as the Huangyang County Magistrate took office, he used corvée labor to reclaim wasteland in the suburbs of the county.
The land obtained through reclamation belonged to the government, and the income from the land was used to support the various expenses of the government.
When Su heard that they were going to the outskirts of the county to repair the canal, which meant they couldn't go home, she hurriedly asked, "Boss, where are you living?"
Sun Bomin scratched his head and said, "The government said that a shed should be built for the convenience of the people serving in the army to live in."
Huang said: "You must bring a blanket with you. It's still cold these days and you won't freeze to death."
After a pause, he asked again: "Bring some dry food when the time comes. The government will provide hot water, right?"
Sun Bomin nodded and said, "The village chief said there will be hot water all day long. Oh, mother, I'll bring a broken quilt with me. I won't feel bad even if it's stolen."
Huang agreed and said, "When the time comes, bring two beds, one for the bunk bed and one for the blanket. As for dry food, take some rice cakes, dried sweet potatoes, and some steamed meat jerky."
There were two quilts in the house that were specially used for labor service, a willow catkin vest, and rotten cotton. Even if they were stolen or lost, I would not feel bad.
Su said on the side: "Master, when the time comes, all the things in the village will be put together, and there should be someone special to look after them."
Sun Bomin nodded and said, "The village chief said that, like before, when people from the same village are assigned to a place, someone will be assigned to look after it. The government doesn't want anything to be lost."
If something is lost, the villagers will definitely make a fuss, which will slow down the process. It is better to keep a strict watch from the beginning.
After discussing their labor service, several people went to rest.