The system searched for a while and said, "In history, there was a rule that silver could be used to replace military service. As long as you have money, you don't have to go."
Manbao's eyes lit up and she told her parents this good idea.
Old Zhou and Mrs. Qian didn't understand how she knew all this after just a night's sleep.
However, Old Zhou thought that the child was always smart, so he thought that she had come up with it herself, and said, "We don't have that much silver at home. Can a family like ours use silver to pay for military service? Even the village chief's family has to serve."
Qian was even more attentive to Manbao, and explained in detail: "I heard that the money earned from one military service can be used to marry a wife. For a family like ours, it would take at least four or five years to earn enough money to marry a wife. This is only possible if there are many people in the family. If it were your grandfather's generation, it would take half a lifetime of savings to marry a wife for your father."
Manbao's attention was instantly diverted, and he laughed, "Dad, it turns out that you spent all of grandpa and grandma's money on marrying mom."
Manbao has never seen her grandparents, but during the holidays, especially during the Qingming Festival, her parents often mention their grandparents to them. In her father's words, this is remembering ancestors, and only by remembering their ancestors can people not forget their roots.
Koko said that this is called ancestor worship.
The wealthy families recorded the deeds of their ancestors in their genealogy, so that their descendants could trace their ancestors by simply looking through the genealogy. But the vast majority of families passed down the deeds of their ancestors through word of mouth.
There are not many families who can record their deeds in their family tree or genealogy.
When Manbao heard this, she secretly made up her mind that when she learned more characters, she would record her parents' deeds in the family tree, so that her parents would be the first generation of ancestors in their family with achievements.
Manbao loves listening to stories about ancestors the most, so she held up her little face and looked at her parents eagerly.
As soon as Qian saw her shining eyes, she knew what she was thinking. She couldn't help but tap her nose and said with a smile, "Yes, even if we spend all the money, the betrothal gift won't be much. Your mother will have to live a hard life as soon as we get married."
Old Zhou turned around and gave her a flattering smile.
Qian was stared at by Manbao's pair of sparkling eyes, which reminded her of some memories. She said sadly, "In fact, life was good at the beginning, but we were unlucky. Just a few months after I became pregnant with your elder brother, our family was drafted into service. First, your grandfather went to serve, but he fell ill, so your father took over. The day chosen by the county magistrate was even worse. It was the busy spring season, and your grandfather was ill and your father was not at home. I went to the fields with your grandmother, pregnant with a big belly, and managed to plant all our land."
Old Zhou couldn't help but say: "Most of the people who served in the army at that time lost half their lives. That county magistrate... Alas~"
Manbao was very curious, "Dad, what do you do in the military service?"
"Dig the earth, build water conservancy projects, and strengthen dams."
She was a little puzzled, "Is it more tiring than farm work?"
"How is that the same?" Old Zhou said, "When you work at home, you take a break when you're tired, go home to eat when you're hungry, take a rest under the shade of a tree when the sun is strong, and then go back to the fields when the sun is not so strong. At home, no matter how poor you are, at least you have water to drink and bread to eat. But in the military, you can't do whatever you want."
Old Zhou said, "We have to go to work early in the morning, so we can't be too stingy. If we slack off, the officials will whip us."
"Breakfast is basically just a small piece of bread. Not to mention adults like us who do hard labor, even children like you can't get enough. Everyone has to bring their own dry food and eat it together. But some families are poor, and the dry food they bring is not thick enough, so they can only eat sparingly. Many people have fallen on the embankment because of this."
According to Old Zhou, the reason why people kept dying during military service was that the work was exhausting, but everyone also did a lot of hard work. Not to mention, during spring planting and autumn harvest, everyone had to compete with God for good weather, and they were also exhausted.
In the final analysis, it’s still because of lack of rest and lack of food.
When they were fighting for the weather, they avoided the time when the sun was at its hottest, and they had enough water, and they tried their best to share the food at home with those who worked in the fields.
After Old Zhou finished speaking, he looked down at his daughter with clear eyes. He felt again that he had said things to the child that he shouldn't have said.
So he patted her little head and said, "This is a matter for adults. You should go to school, kid."
Manbao felt a little depressed when she carried her small school box to school. She thought the county magistrate was very mean. How could he work without feeding his children?
In the past, when her brothers went to build houses for the villagers, they were provided with enough food.
Bai Shanbao had a whole day off yesterday, so he was very happy. His mother also made him some delicious snacks, and he specially left two pieces for Manbao.
He gave the snacks to Manbao and said, "Your candies are delicious, too."
Then he looked at .
Manbao took the snack and ate it. Because she was preoccupied, she didn't hear the hidden meaning in his words and just nodded perfunctorily.
Bai Shanbao was unhappy when he saw this, but he couldn't ask Manbao to give him candy, so he asked, "What are you thinking about, Xiumu is unhappy ?"
Manbao sighed like a little adult, "My third brother is going to serve in the army."
Even though Bai Shanbao knows more and has read more books than Manbao, he really doesn't know what military service is.
So he asked, and when he learned that military service was an obligation for all families, he scratched his head and said, "Does my family have to serve, too?"
Manbao said as a matter of course: "Of course, how many boys are there in your family?"
Bai Shanbao said, "It's just me."
Manbao looked at him sympathetically and said, "You are so pitiful. You have to serve in the army too."
Bai Shanbao was a little anxious and excited. He felt like an adult, but he also felt that the unknown was frightening.
Bai Shanbao said, "I have to go back and ask my grandmother."
Manbao said disdainfully, "That will take a long time. Let's ask the master. The master knows a lot of things."
So the two children went to ask Mr. Zhuang.
Mr. Zhuang did not expect that the two children's attention span was so wide that they were already interested in labor. He thought about it and sent the two children back to study, deciding to give them the answer at noon.
The two children ran back to study.
At noon, Mr. Zhuang took the two children to the yard and cooked their own food while they ate.
If we want to talk about labor service, we have to talk about taxes, national construction, and the performance evaluation of the county magistrate, etc.
Of course, the two children were still young, so Mr. Zhuang did not read from the book, but gave them an example, "The country is like a big family, and you are also a member of the big family. You eat, drink water, wear clothes, and live in a house. Doesn't it take someone to work to help you make the rice you will , the water you will drink, the clothes you will wear, and the house you will live in?"
This is very simple and easy to understand, and the two children nodded repeatedly.
Mr. Zhuang stroked his beard and smiled, "Should we pay the people who work there?"
The two children continued to nod, they also understood this principle.
Mr. Zhuang said, "That's it. The same is true for the country. If it wants people to work, it has to pay them. If it wants to pay them, it has to have money first, so we have to pay taxes. It also adjusts resources. For example, if the eldest son's family suffers a disaster, but the second son's family has plenty of grain and the warehouse is full, then as a mother, she will take some grain from the second son's family and give it to the eldest son, so that his family can get through this difficult time first..."
Mr. Zhuang started with a brief talk about the state 's institutions, which he briefly touched upon before going into detail when he got to the position of county magistrate. He then talked about taxes and labor service.
Manbao and Bai Shanbao listened with great interest and soon forgot the time.