HLnovel Chapter 198: Is this a show of face?
Chapter 198: Is this a show of face?
But I heard that no matter adults or children, the price would be calculated per head, and each head would be paid 100 taels of silver.
Shen Zhiqiu felt his teeth ache even more: "Brother Wenbo, are you being treated with discretion?"
When asked this question, Ma Wenbo showed his yellow teeth that had not been properly cleaned for many days:
"Yes, my family is all in the adult population queue, and I was late for dinner because of my registration. You should go and ask them, they will surely be able to make arrangements."
Shen Zhiqiu sighed and continued to ask: "Brother Wenbo, you came early. Have you heard that scholars can bring their relatives or clansmen with them?"
Ma Wenbo was really hungry at this time. He didn't pay attention to his appearance at this moment. He drank a bowl of porridge in a gulp and looked up blankly: "What are you dreaming about? How is it possible? Only relatives registered in your household registration can do this."
Oh, this made Shen Zhiqiu worried. Before he came out, his ancient father-in-law left him a lot of money, about three thousand taels in total, plus what they looted from the bandits, the total was probably about four hundred taels.
But there are 268 people in Shenjia Village, not counting the people in his family, not counting Li Quan and Dahu and Erhu.
There are still 247 people, and taels per person means taels.
All the money they have now is not even enough to cover a fraction of it.
Ma Wenbo seemed like a bit of a nerd, unable to read other people's expressions. He kept chattering with Shen Zhiqiu.
Why don't we talk to the gatekeeper and ask him to assign us to a place, so that we who have just arrived can have someone to take care of us.
In fact, if this statement were made under normal circumstances, there would be nothing wrong with it. Maybe Shen Zhiqiu could really put it into practice and try to get close to the gatekeeper.
But now, he was not thinking about where his family would settle down, he was thinking about what to do with the other people in Shenjia Village. It was impossible for his family to be assigned to other places at their discretion.
Finally, let others throw it at the border.
Under normal circumstances, the border would just be closed, but based on his recent understanding of the situation, he thought that the border near their hometown was short of people.
That’s why they took in so many farmers and military households on the border.
Ma Wenbo saw that Shen Zhiqiu didn't speak for a long time: "Could it be that Brother Huaizhi brought his clansmen with him?"
"That's right. Our whole village fled together. You know I'm from a farming family. My clansmen are all ordinary farmers. We work hard year after year and can't save much money. I don't think we can even come up with 100 taels per family, let alone 100 taels per person."
Ma Wenbo was very puzzled: "Huaizhi, I always thought you were a smart person, why did you get confused at the critical moment? Even if you had a good relationship with the whole village,
At this point, they all fled when the disaster struck? Do you still want to take them with you? Or can you take out that old money?"
Shen Zhiqiu shook his head: "I am worried because I don't have money. I am trying to think of new ways and find some connections."
For example, he thought that those who could be gatekeepers must have certain powers, but if they could accept money openly, that must be the intention of the higher-ups, and the possibility of the money falling into his hands would be limited.
If I give all the money in Shenjia Village to the gatekeeper, I wonder if the gatekeeper will be flexible.
To put it bluntly, this is bribery in modern times, but he really has no other choice. He can't just go all the way and ignore everyone in the end.
Of course, these things could not be made public, let alone kept secret, so he did not tell Ma Wenbo.
However, Ma Wenbo was able to pass the examination and become a scholar. Although he was a little ignorant of the ways of the world, he was not stupid.
After understanding the meaning of Shen Zhiqiu's words, he immediately jumped to the side:
"Brother Huaizhi, since we are of the same age, I will pretend that I don't know what you said, but don't mention it to me again in the future. I tell you that the gatekeepers before were not the same people as now.
Yesterday, someone secretly used his connections to investigate this kind of thing, and the imperial envoy found out. The gatekeeper and the person who had the connection were all engraved with names and taken away.
Not to mention discretion, they no longer qualify to be farmers on the frontier, and will be forced to do corvée labor directly.”
After saying this, Ma Wenbo left in a hurry. Before leaving, he didn't dare to say more to Shen Zhiqiu. He even felt a little regretful in his heart, wondering if the soldiers saw him yelling at Shen Zhiqiu just now.
Don’t let Shen Zhiqiu do anything unreasonable, in case the soldiers find out that they know each other and implicate him.
He escaped from the famine with great difficulty and survived. It wasn't because he was not loyal enough, but because he really couldn't afford to suffer any more.
Shen Zhiqiu looked at Ma Wenbo's hurried back and sighed. From the other party's fleeing steps, he knew the seriousness of the matter. Moreover, since something had just happened, the inspection at this time must be extremely strict.
For fear that someone might want to bribe him, no one dared to accept money privately.
When Shen Zhiqiu came back, half of his face was swollen from the toothache.
Li Jingshu was worried: "If it doesn't work, you can use the money first, and we can save money to make up for it later! Why are you so anxious? Don't you have the confidence to earn this little money?"
She still feels that according to the ancient prices, a family could only pay 200 taels at most. How many families can afford that much money?
In ancient times, anyone who could have this amount of silver and money had to at least be a family living well in the county.
Shen Youyou had different ideas. Looking at his father's expression, he knew that all their money would not be enough.
If the money from his ancient grandfather was enough, his father would move it even if he felt sorry for his grandfather. It has nothing to do with whether he is a gentleman or not.
It has come to this point, and I really have no choice.
Sure enough, Shen Zhiqiu covered his face and said, "My tooth hurts, and I wonder why you are so naive, my wife. If it's enough, why would I worry?"
Li Jingshu's face turned black: "Are you being nice? Can you speak properly?"
Shen Zhiqiu was really anxious. He knew he would be scolded as soon as he finished speaking, but once the words were out, he couldn't take them back and could only listen to the scolding.
Who said she was his wife?
He didn't say anything, but Shen Luming poked his head out and hugged Shen Zhiqiu's thighs:
"Mom, please don't be so mean to Dad. His face is swollen from worrying about it. He must be in pain. But Dad, do you want some money?"
This was very comforting to Shen Zhiqiu. He picked up his son and kissed him on his dirty face: "Oh, you are really my good son. You know how to love people."
Shen Luming looked shy. His parents and sister liked him too much. They kissed him all the time without even noticing that there were so many people around them.
But Shy did not forget the main thing and insisted on taking Shen Zhiqiu, Li Jingshu, and Shen Youyou with him to the place where Shen Zhiqiu and Ma Wenbo had talked before.
And Shen Yuanbao and Shen Nannan must be taken with him.
Shen Zhiqiu was helpless. Why did this kid, who had always been well-behaved and sensible, have to cause trouble at this time?
But even a good father cannot be stronger than his children, there is nothing he can do! A family of four, including Shen Yuanbao and Shen Nannan, squatted in that corner.
Da Hu and Er Hu were also arranged to provide wind protection, which was a level of caution beyond what was previously possible.
Shen Youyou squatted down: "Tell me, what's going on? Why is it so mysterious?"