As time passed, the first battalion of soldiers from Leishan County soon left Leishan County for almost two months.

Li Bin lay on the haystack and looked up at the night sky full of stars, holding a straw in the corner of his mouth, three full moons, one big and two small, sprinkling silver fog-like moonlight on the earth.

It has been almost two months since he came to this world, but whenever he sees three bright moons rising at the same time at night, Li Bin misses the time when he can only see a moon in the night sky.

"Brother, do you think there are really gods on the moon?" A strong man lying beside Li Bin opened his eyes wide and stared at the three full moons in the night sky and asked casually.

The strong man was more than 1.9 meters tall, half a head taller than Li Bin. He was extremely burly. Although he looked fierce, it can be seen from his somewhat tender face that the strong man was not very old.

"Of course there are gods. Have you heard of Chang'e? It's the top card among goddess gods. She lives on the moon!"

"Brother, where is Chang'e living on the moon? Is she beautiful with the top begonia in Chunxiang Pavilion?"

"The top brand of Chunxiang Pavilion? Mengzi, have you secretly been to Chunxiang Pavilion? Otherwise, how do you know if Chunxiang Pavilion's top brand of Haitang is beautiful? One day I will take my brother to see it!" Li Bin suddenly sat up and looked at Li Meng with his eyes shining.

Li Meng is Li Bin's cousin and the son of Li Bin's second uncle Li Lie. Although Li Meng is a strong man over 1.9 meters tall, Li Meng is only seventeen years old this year.

Li Bin's second uncle, Li Lie, was also a soldier of the Li family. This time he followed the county magistrate Li Jingmao to Jingyuan City in Qizhou Prefecture.

Li Meng also sat up from the haystack, spread his hands and said, "Brother, I have never been to Chunxiang Pavilion. Besides, I just want to go to Chunxiang Pavilion, and I don't have any money in my hand! I've heard the rascals on the street, and they say that Chunxiang Pavilion's top begonia are old and beautiful, and they look like fairies."

Li Bin smiled and said, "My son, why not take you to Chunxiang Pavilion one day to have a long experience."

Li Meng shook his head quickly and said, "Brother, I dare not go. If I let my mother know that I have gone to Chunxiang Pavilion, I will have to break my legs."

At this time, a young man with a little thin body ran back to the haystack and shouted loudly: "Brother Bin, Brother Meng, I'm back."

The thin young man who ran over was Li Bin's cousin Du Xing, the son of Li Bin's uncle. Du Xing is also seventeen years old this year and is only one month younger than Li Meng's birthday.

When Li Bin saw Du Xing running over, he turned over and jumped off the haystack. His movements were very agile, which was not commensurate with Li Bin's obese body shape. "Xiaoxing, what do you say about Cui Hu?"

Du Xing ran to Li Bin, relieved his anger and said, "Brother Bin, Cui Hu said that for the sake of his uncle, he could waive the interest, but the principal of the 300 taels of silver owed by my second uncle must be paid back, otherwise he could only pay off the debt with his house and two shops."

Du Xing paused and continued, "Cui Hu said we could give us seven more days to raise money, and in seven days he would take people to take over the house and the shop."

Du Xing's words made Li Bin's sneer appear on the corner of his mouth, "It seems that my father's face is quite valuable, and he was exempted from the interest rate of 60 taels of silver at once."

A trace of bitterness appeared on Du Xing's face, "Brother Bin, but even the principal of 300 taels of silver is not enough for our family to take out now! Brother Bin, what should I do next? You can't really let Cui Hu take away our house and shop, right?"

Li Bin's grandfather Du An has a total of two sons and a daughter. The family mainly relies on running a cloth shop and a shoe shop for a living. The eldest daughter Du Lanyu is Li Bin's deceased mother. In addition, the Du family has 20 acres of paddy fields and 50 acres of dry land outside the city. Among the county towns of Leishan County, the Du family is also considered a wealthy family.

After Du An got older, the cloth shop and the shoe shop were handed over to Li Bin's two uncles Du Fu and Du Tai respectively. About a month ago, Li Bin's second uncle Du Tai was tempted to get addicted to gambling. In less than ten days, he almost lost all the Du family's business.

Even the land deeds of the Du family with twenty acres of paddy fields and fifty acres of dry land outside the city were stolen by Li Bin's second uncle Du Tai, and they also borrowed 300 taels of silver from Cui Hu, the owner of Hongyun Gambling Hall, to whom the 300 taels of silver, but Du Tai lost all the 300 taels of silver in less than an afternoon.

When Li Bin's grandfather learned that his second son not only lost twenty acres of paddy fields and fifty acres of dry land, but also borrowed 300 taels of silver to loan interest, he was immediately so angry that he couldn't afford to get sick.

Three hundred taels of silver are not a small amount. A good paddy field is only about eight taels of silver, while a good dry land is only about six taels of silver.

The Du family could not afford a huge sum of 300 taels of silver for a while, not to mention the gambling debt of 300 taels of silver or a usury loan. The interest in the first month was 60 taels of silver, and the interest in the second month increased to 72 taels of silver, and the interest in the next month would become higher and higher every month.

It has been more than ten days since Li Bin's second uncle Du Tai borrowed usury. In the past ten days, Li Bin's eldest uncle Du Fu has been raising money, but unfortunately he has not even collected a hundred taels of silver.

Li Bin's family has five acres of paddy fields and thirteen acres of dry land outside Leishan County, both of which belong to the upper fields. According to the land tax of the Dayan Empire, there are three dou of tax on the upper fields, two dou of tax on the middle fields, four dou of tax on the lower fields, and eight dou of tax on the lower fields. These 18 acres of dry land require the court to pay five stones and four dou of land tax to the court every year.

One stone in the Great Yan Empire is 120 kilograms, ten dou is one stone, and ten liters are one dou.

In addition to land tax, the Great Yan Empire also had Ding Fu. Cheng Ding was from the age of sixteen to sixty, thirteen to fifteen, and over 61 years old. Cheng Ding needed to pay eight dou of food every year, and the second dou of food every year.

Li Bin's family now has two Dings, and this year they need to pay a tribute of one stone and six dou of Ding to the court.

It is May now. If the weather is good this year, the 18 acres of dry land in Li Bin's family can harvest about 32 stones of rice, wheat and millet. After removing the land and Ding Fu, Li Bin's family can still have about 25 stones of grain left.

Li Bin and his father Li Zhao were both big-bellied men. Twenty-five stones of grain were the food for their father and son a year. If Li Zhao had not been taken as a family soldier by the county magistrate Li Jingmao and was one of the leaders of the family soldier, he would have a monthly salary of six taels of silver every month, Li Bin's family would have lived a tight life.

According to the local grain price in Leishan County, the price of one stone of rice is about eight cents of silver, and the price of wheat and millet is slightly lower than that of rice, and the monthly salary of six taels of silver is already quite considerable.

However, because Li Zhao practiced martial arts, he often needed to take some pills made of precious medicinal materials, which made Li Bin's family not save much savings. When Li Zhao left, he left more than a dozen taels of cash for Li Bin.

Li Bin spent some more in the past two months, and now Li Bin only has less than ten taels of silver left. This little silver is just a drop in the bucket for the gambling debt of 300 taels of silver.

Li Bin patted his cousin Du Xing on the shoulder, "Xiaoxing, don't worry, Cui Hu can't take away your house and shop. Tomorrow, Mengzi and I will go to Cui Hu to have a good talk."

Du Xing said with some concern: "Brother Bin, you and Meng must not fight with Cui Hu's people. I heard that Cui Hu has raised many outlaws under his command."
Chapter completed!