"Furthermore, those working on the embanknt, do you all truly understand who these people are?" At this point, Ye Zi’an’s voice turned as cold as ice. "The majority of them are holess wanderers without a house, land, or family, struggling each day without even enough food or drink. Now, they finally have this grueling job that allows them to fill their bellies just a bit, and you all even want to compete for that? Do you lack houses or land? Do you not have relatives or friends, or are you orphans? Truly, human decency seems to have vanished entirely!"
The matter had already brought sha to the leaders of the two villages, but Ye Zi’an’s words caused even more to feel ashad.
It wasn’t just the two villages - people from Shoutao Village also wanted to work on the embanknt and had even asked about it, only to be rejected by Ye Yi and his folks.
They really had no idea that the workers comprised such people; they had assud they were selected from other villages. This was why they felt it was unfair - why could other villages earn the wages and not them?
Thus, with three sets of selfish interests coming together, the two villages began to cause trouble.
As to why they ca up with this idea, it was still these two Land Officers who had done the whispering.
"My lord, my lord, we admit our mistake, we will definitely pay the taxes," they pleaded.
Not paying wouldn’t be an option. If they didn’t, today’s matter was sure not to end amicably.
"Hmph, it’s good that you recognize your error; prepare the taxes and wait, soone will co to collect." Ye Zi’an snorted coldly, "As for you two, and all those from your villages, I deem you’ve got too much idle ti on your hands. Since that is the case, go do so volunteer labor. Your disturbances not only delayed county governnt work but also the progress of the embanknt repair, so every man from your two villages is to volunteer on the embanknt for a month. You’ll only be provided with als, not wages, and you must not cause any further trouble during this ti. Should there be another incident, the Yanghe embanknt repairs may just be halted, and the subsequent channels may remain undug.,"
At this, Ye Zi’an pointed towards the people standing behind him, "When that ti cos, go ahead and ask them if they are willing to suffer because of your actions."
The thought of having to pay taxes, let alone engage in unpaid labor, was a stark contrast to their initial plans. It’s akin to ’trying to steal a chicken only to end up losing the rice used to lure it.’
The people from the two villages looked utterly dejected; the Land Officers even more so, their heads hung even lower. They were sowhat afraid to et the eyes of their fellow villagers, considering they were the main instigators behind this debacle.
They feared that the villagers might confront them after the others had left.
But could they say no to the labor now? No! Because if the county office truly decided to stop the embanknt work, the floods would be their loss, not to ntion the impact on their own village.
"Yes, yes, we will listen to my lord, we will definitely go to work!"
Ye Zi’an nodded upon hearing this, "That’s right, obedience is good. If you obey, when the imperial court distributes relief grain in the future, you’ll get your share. Disobey, and you all have heard about what happened to Shoutao Village when they didn’t get relief grain last ti, haven’t you?"
With this last threat hanging in the air, the two Land Officers visibly wilted like frostbitten eggplants. They had forgotten one thing - the imperial relief grain. Because Mianyang was poor, apart from the flood years, the court would distribute so relief grain during every season of shortage, which though not much, could last each family for about ten days to half a month upon dividing it up.
Yang Chuxia thought back to the mont they left the village, rembering how the two Land Officers had their heads hung low, and she couldn’t help but chuckle.
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