Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 3, Handing over the Imperial Grain

In order to prepare the 1,000 kilograms of grain to pay the grain tax, the family rarely ate grain.

The old man went to work for others in exchange for some coarse food, or to get some wild vegetables to eat.

Fang Yong soaks in the water every day, and now he can catch big fish easily, so his family not only does not have to starve, but they even earn some spare money by selling fish.

The old man's heart, which had sunk to the bottom of the valley, slowly came back to life.

If I continue like this, I can still survive.

It's just that the other villagers are different.

They couldn't catch big fish, and the land didn't produce much grain. In order to collect tax payments, some of them even secretly sold their children to Mr. Fang's family as slaves.

In the past, there would often be laughter and chatter in the village. The villagers would gather together to brag, tell dirty jokes, or express their dissatisfaction with life.

But now, everyone fell silent.

People are in a hurry and don't want to say a word in order to save some energy.

The oppression seemed to have reached some kind of extreme.

The grain delivery date is approaching.

One day, Sister Lian came to him quietly and asked to borrow food.

The 1000 kilograms of grain in the family were prepared as tax grain, and there was no extra grain to lend to Lian Jie'er. However, she was his wife after all, and he had to help her.

Fang Yong also collected some money by selling fish. He gave Sister Lian two taels of silver and 422 coins, and asked if it was enough and how much more was needed.

Lian Jie'er lowered her head, counted the money, and after hesitating for a long time, she said, "That's enough."

As she said that, Lian Jie'er actually took the initiative to hug Fang Yong.

Fang Yong responded in a daze.

He slowly placed his hand on the girl's waist, but the waist he felt was not soft, but rather thin clothes and an extremely thin body.

"What are you doing, rascal!"

Lian Jie'er angrily slapped Fang Yong's hand away and left.

Fang Yong was a little confused.

It was just a hug around the waist, is that a big deal?

The other person is my own wife!
Moreover, he always felt that Lian Jie'er's reaction just now was a little wrong, probably because the money was not enough.

Fang Yong then asked Ni Ge to find out secretly, and found out that Lian Jie'er's family had to pay 400 kilograms of grain. Lian Jie'er's father was so angry that he argued and was beaten seriously. Now he relies on medicine to survive, and the family is short of money.

400 kilograms of grain is equivalent to four taels of silver.

In the next few days, Fang Yong tried his best to catch more fish.

Hongze Lake near the village is the largest lake in the surrounding area, covering an area of hundreds of miles. The fish in the lake are big and fat, so Fang Yong dived directly into the lake to catch fish.

Niwa didn't dare to go because he heard from people that there were pirates in the lake. He advised Fang Yong not to risk his life for a woman he had not yet married.

Fang Yong smiled and said that he was not afraid of the pirates.

One day, Fang Yong was fishing in the lake. Because he went too deep, he was accidentally entangled by a giant snake over eight meters long. Fang Yong was unable to break free for a while.

The big snake was really strong in the water. Its thick body was like a steel winch. When it strangled, it exerted a tremendous force. Even a buffalo would not be able to escape death.

Unfortunately, the snake met Fang Yong.

Fang Yong was no match for ordinary people. Relying on his strong physique and superb water ability, he actually used his arms to prop up the body of the giant snake and fought hard with the snake in the water.

Suddenly, a boat passed by on the water. A man saw this scene and exclaimed in amazement:

"Good man, good at swimming!"

After saying that, a sharp arrow shot into the water, accurately piercing the snake's eye and killing it.

Fang Yong escaped from the predicament and jumped directly from the water and landed on the boat.

The man on the boat was a sturdy man with muscular body, bare upper body, carrying a large bow, and a Qilin tattoo on his chest.

Fang Yong immediately bowed his hands in thanks and said:
"Thank you so much for saving my life, I will never be able to repay you!"

The man laughed loudly upon hearing this, and helped Fang Yong up and said:

"Brother, you don't have to be polite. I, Gan Ba, have always liked to make friends with heroes. Today, I saw your bravery in the water. You are no less brave than a dragon. I'm sure you can kill this beast without my help. I am just the icing on the cake."

The two chatted happily and exchanged names.

Gan Ba said that without Fang Yong's restraint, he would definitely not be able to hunt such a big snake, so he was willing to give half of the snake to Fang Yong.

Fang Yong refused to accept this.

Gan Ba helped him out of trouble, so how could he share other people's spoils?

After hearing Fang Yong's words, Gan Ba admired Fang Yong even more, so he said that he was from the lake and wanted to invite Fang Yong in to have a chat and eat snake meat together.

Fang Yong looked at the tattoos on Gan Ba's body and guessed his identity to some extent. He didn't want to join the bandits yet, so he declined the offer on the grounds that he had an elderly father to take care of at home. Gan Ba felt very sorry for this.

Before leaving, Gan Ba gave Fang Yong the arrow that killed the long worm, and said that if he encountered any difficulties, he could come to the lake to ask him for help.

Fang Yong did not refuse.

Holding the arrow in his hand, Fang Yong always had a feeling that he might need it soon.

Alas, if possible, Fang Yong did not want to take this path. He still wanted to save some money, and then choose to pursue a career in literature or martial arts, and take the legitimate route to promotion.

But if the world forces us to do so...

A few days later, after fishing desperately every day, Fang Yong finally collected two more taels of silver before paying the grain tax. Together with the previous silver, he had collected four taels of silver.

He sent it to Lian Jie'er overnight, at least to let Lian Jie'er's family hand over the grain first. As for Lian Jie'er's father's illness, as long as he was given time, he would get enough money to cure it sooner or later.

As soon as I entered the door, I smelled a strong smell of medicine coming from Sister Lian's house.

"No need, my family has borrowed money, and I will return the money I lent you before."

For some reason, Lian Jie'er became a little indifferent and said that her family had already borrowed money and returned the more than two taels of silver that Fang Yong had lent her before.

"Sister Lian, are you hiding something from me?"

Fang Yong asked.

Sister Lian shook her head.

"nothing."

Fang Yong was very confused, and he reached out to hold Lian Jie'er's hand.

"Lian Jie'er, you can tell me whatever happens."

Lian Jie'er dodged her hand as if she had been electrocuted and got angry for no reason.

"What are you doing? Why are you so frivolous and dishonest? Go away. I don't want to see you!"

Fang Yong was stunned by the scolding.

I felt angry and annoyed.

He had no idea what Sister Lian was thinking.

What do you mean? I worked so hard to catch fish these days, and you're the one who scolds me?
Fang Yong didn't tolerate it and left in a huff.

Only Sister Lian was left crying in the room.

In a blink of an eye, it was time to deliver grain.

The grain collector sat on a chair holding a teapot, and the people lined up to pay their grain.

The first one is Fang Yongjia.

Old Man Fang and Fang Yong carried the grain to be weighed.

The officer looked at the number on the scale and reported loudly:

"Fang Sanbian, 800 kilograms of rice!"

The old man's eyes widened.

"Sir, this is a thousand kilograms of rice, freshly harvested, not a cent missing, we must act according to our conscience!"

The officer was angry and grabbed the old man by the collar and pushed him in front of the scale.

"Old man, you are blind. Look at what these words are!"

The old man swallowed hard in his throat for a long time and finally uttered a word weakly.

"official!"

That was the only word the old man recognized, because he saw it every year, the most.

"It's good to know. This is an official title. How dare you question it!"

The officer snorted coldly and waved his hand.

"Pass the hu!"

After saying this, the officer poured the rice into the jar.

This fall caused me to lose another sixty or seventy kilograms.

This is because this hu is an official hu, which is larger than the hu used by ordinary people.

At this moment, an officer stepped forward and kicked Hu twice.

There was a hidden groove underneath the bucket, and with this kick, dozens of kilograms of rice were lost.

"Enter the warehouse! Fang Sanbian, hand in 700 kilograms of rice. There is still a shortfall of 300 kilograms. You must pay it within three days!"

When the old man heard this, it was like a bolt from the blue.

Tears immediately fell from his eyes, he knelt down, and begged:

"Sir, you must act according to your conscience. My rice jar is completely empty!"

When the grain collector heard this, he slammed the table in anger.

"How dare you slander an official of the imperial court! Come, give him thirty lashes as punishment!"

The officers said in unison: "Yes!"

As he said this, he carried the old man out and whipped him.

The whip had sharp thorns on it, and a few lashes would tear the skin and flesh apart. Even a young and strong man could not withstand it, let alone an old man of his age.

Fang Yong clenched his fists and stared at the officers. He was confident that he could easily kill all of them by himself, but if he did that, he and the old man would also be wanted by the court, and they would never be able to live a normal life again...

Fang Yong finally endured it. He bent down and raised all the four taels of silver in his hand above his head, hoping to spend the money to avoid disaster.

"My lord, please have mercy on me. My father is old and senile. I am willing to hand over all my family savings to the national treasury to make up for the arrears. I beg you to have mercy on me and spare my father."

(End of this chapter)