The Three Kingdoms

"Mr. Hu, now that Uncle Qing and Uncle Daba are dead, you are the only surviving of the three elders in our town, so please pay attention!" A strong man squatted beside the old man and said.

The three elders are actually the land protection. Generally, small villages and small towns are small in scale, so a few old men with high morals and high prestige are invited to call the shots. They are called the three elders.

"Because the Goguryeo people came this year, all the food in our town is gone!"

This old man called Hu Lao thought for a while, held his crutches, and said: "Now the tax will definitely not be paid. We don't know what the government's attitude is? Although there are rumors in many small towns that the court will be exempted from tax. But we don’t know if there will be tax exemptions, if they force us to pay this year’s taxes, it will be troublesome.”

"They shouldn't embarrass us, right?"

One of them, an old man in his early fifties, said in a low voice: "Because of this pipeline, the life of our town has been much better in recent years than in previous years. Every year we have enough money to pay taxes. Even if it takes a year, It should work, too!"

Since Liaodong opened up the sea route with Jiangdong, Liaodong's economy exploded, and many places began to become rich, at least no one died of starvation.

"That's not the way to say it. Whether to pay taxes or not is up to the court!"

The white-haired old man said: "We are best prepared for the worst. If we have to pay taxes, we have to move each family. Fill it in as much as possible. The war is over. I heard that Goguryeo has been flattened by the Wu State. From now on, we will be here. Peaceful, life will be easier!"

"Uncles, I'm here to ask for directions, how can I get to Houcheng?"

At this time, follow the shadow of the setting sun.A handsome young man with a boy and a girl.Walked into the threshing ground of the town.

"You follow the official road and pass through this mountain, you will be able to see Hou Cheng!"

The white-haired old man in the lead was very kind. He looked at the three of them, then pointed, and said, "But go to Houcheng from here. The journey is not slow. If you don't have horses, you will have to walk for at least half a day. It's dark now. Now, you guys have to be careful!"

"Thank you, old man!"

The young man sat down along a piece of bluestone.Looking at the old man, he asked, "Old man, we have been walking for a day, can we ask for a sip of water?"

"Dafang, seeing how they are on their way, they are somewhat hungry and thirsty, get them some water, and get them some steamed buns!"

The old man thought for a while, and said to a middle-aged man.

"Okay!" The middle-aged man rushed into a house with a sign on it, Guishan Inn, and after a while, he came out with a few bowls of water and some cold steamed buns.

"Thank you, old man!"

The young man touched his body and found that there was not even a hair left, so he looked at Sun Lang and Sun Shangxiang.

With money?

Sun Shangxiang and Sun Lang understood the look in his eyes, but the two looked a little irritable, spread their hands together, and made a helpless gesture.

No money!

Sun Quan immediately patted his forehead, the two little bastards are really spoiled, they don't bring money when they go out!

Sun Quan was really helpless. He ate and drank other people's water. He couldn't eat and drink for free. After thinking about it, he tore off a piece of hanging jade from his waist, handed it to the old man, and said, "Old man, we The brothers and sisters came from Jiangdong, went ashore from the Da family, and went to Xuantu to join relatives, and the money is useless, this jade pendant, it is our heart!"

Sun Quan put the jade pendant in the old man's hand.

"Young man, this can't be done!"

The old man quickly shook his head and said, "A little water and a few steamed buns, don't be so polite!"

"If you want, the old man will treat it as our little favor!"

Sun Quan asked the old man to put away the hanging jade.

The old man said he couldn't beat Sun Quan, so he accepted the hanging jade. He looked at the jade pendant carefully. The jade pendant was green and transparent, and there was a word that he couldn't understand engraved on it.

The three Sun Quan brothers and sisters took some steamed buns, drank clear water, sat on the bluestone, and started chatting with a few people in the small town, and the few people in the small town were more talkative.

"Old man, I heard that the Goguryeo people have entered the town this time, and they have caused you a lot of trouble. You must have a hard time this year!"

Sun Quan gnawed a piece of unpalatable steamed bun, looked at the old man, and asked.

"Who said it wasn't!" The old man sighed and said, "At the beginning when the people from Jiangdong came, we were in a panic, but the people from Jiangdong made our life as easy as possible, so we put our minds to rest and watched the days go by. Yes, but when the Goguryeo people came, they lost everything, now the Goguryeo people have repelled, but many people died in Guishan Town, and now we can’t even pay the taxes!”

"Old man, apart from taxes, can you feed yourself?"

Sun Quan thought for a while and asked.

What matters most to him is whether the people of Wu can have enough to eat.

In his opinion, nothing is more important than a full meal.

In the past, he once said that as long as there is no one under the rule of Wu, no one will starve to death. He has been obsessed with this goal all these years.

"The Goguryeo people robbed us of all our food. It's impossible to get enough food now that something is going on in the winter season, but we also have a lot of food in our possession, enough for this town to survive this winter!"

The old man opened his mouth, and slipped his tongue: "But I'm afraid they are urging us to pay the tax. If the tax is paid, many people in our entire town will starve to death today!"

"I heard it's tax-free this year?"

Sun Quan's eyes turned slightly cold. He remembered that he explained that all villages and towns affected by the war would be exempted from tax.

"There is such a saying, but we can't confirm whether it is true or not!"

The old man said: "Without official documents, how dare we not pay taxes!"

"Maybe it's because the documents haven't arrived. I heard the news in Xiangping that the court will be exempted from taxes!" Sun Quan said comfortingly.

"If you want me to say, don't pay it. If you pay taxes, what will you eat?"

Sun Shangxiang couldn't help but asked, "Are you going to starve to death?"

"Little girl!"

A tall middle-aged man said with a smile: "You don't understand that. Back then, the country of Wu hadn't entered Liaodong, and our lives were miserable. Digging weeds, digging roots, eating bark, as long as we can survive, we can do anything. If you can eat and pay taxes, you can still live, but if you don’t pay taxes, you will commit crimes!"

"Are those things people eat?"

Sun Shangxiang's pretty face changed slightly, and she called out.

When the few people in the town heard this, their faces were a little ugly.

"Xiangxiang, shut up!"

Sun Quan drank a few words, then looked at several people, and said: "I'm sorry, my sister was spoiled since she was a child, and she doesn't understand life is difficult. She has no intention of satirizing you!"

"sorry!"

Sun Shangxiang also knew that she had said something wrong, so she quickly apologized.

"Oh, little girl, you are young and don't know how hard life is!" The crowd didn't blame a little girl too much, the old man sighed and said, "Back then we couldn't have a full meal all year round!"

"Old man, if you want me to say, it's Wu's fault. Since you are the people of Wu, even the Goguryeo people can't stop it. It's a bit disappointing!" Sun Quan continued.