Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside
Chapter 67 - 067: Changing Household Registration [Farming and Wealth Growth Arc]

Chapter 67: Chapter 067: Changing Household Registration [Farming and Wealth Growth Arc]

Besides their families, there were two families with the surname Mo who were assigned to Da Feng Village.

These two families also had many mouths to feed, amounting to a total of seventeen people, who stood in an orderly manner just like them.

The village chief of Da Feng Village was surnamed He, a man over sixty, tall and thin, wearing a greyish-blue long coat that was eighty percent new, his face darkened and wrinkled from farming, looking somewhat stern. After glancing at them, he instructed his eldest son to begin counting the people.

After counting, and checking the bamboo cards and household registration papers, Village Chief He cleared his throat and said, "No matter where you come from, from now on you are people of Da Feng Village. Da Feng Village does not tolerate evil people. Once you’re in the village, you must abide by the village rules and not cause trouble at will."

He warned them further, "If anyone causes trouble in the village, no matter who you are or how small the matter, you’ll first be beaten with twenty strokes, then taken to the government office for sentencing. Remember this well!"

The families were new to the area, not about to defy Village Chief He, and naturally responded dutifully.

Pleased with their obedience, Chief He’s face showed a hint of satisfaction as he continued, "While you’re at the county government office today, make sure to hold onto your household registrations and prepare silver money to exchange for a new registration."

Hearing this, the two Mo families became anxious and hurriedly asked, "Village Chief, why do we need silver money to get a new household registration?"

Back in their hometown, when someone moved to the town and changed their registration, it didn’t require silver money. Why did they have to pay at Tianfu County? They didn’t have much silver left and needed to save it for settling in.

Village Chief He’s eldest son snorted coldly, "You are famine refugees, coming all the way from the distant Northwest. In our Great Chu, this is considered as ’migrating a thousand miles’, and naturally you have to pay silver money."

Great Chu was very strict with household registration management. It didn’t cost any silver to change registrations within ten miles, but once it exceeded a hundred miles, one tael of silver was required, and for a thousand miles, three taels were needed.

The Mo family members, being scolded like this by Village Chief He’s son, all fell silent.

Village Chief He spoke at the right moment, "The government knows that everyone has fled from afar with not much silver left, so they have reduced the migration fee by one tael of silver. With only two taels, you can exchange for a new household registration of Tianfu County."

"Don’t think that these two taels of silver are too much. In the following days and after the new year, more refugees will be assigned here. By then, if you want to change your registration, it won’t be so easy."

The Mo family, hearing this, showed panic on their faces and dared not say more.

Gu Jinli and the other families from the Gu family didn’t say a word, so Village Chief He was very satisfied with them.

Among the famine refugees who had been distributed to Tianfu County, there were over a thousand people, totaling three hundred households, all waiting to change their registrations today. Already, six villages’ chiefs were leading refugees in the queue, and it was not yet Gu Jinli’s turn.

In the meantime, Gu Jinli quietly reminded Gu Dashan, "Father, the head of the household on our registration paper is still Grandpa. You should change it to yours to avoid any future troubles."

Although their family had obtained the household registration papers, the head of the household on the registration was Elder Gu, and her father was only the legitimate eldest son of Elder Gu, not the head.

Now, they had lost touch with the Old Gu Family, but those people from the Old Gu Family were despicable and would not vanish so easily — it was best to change the head of the household quickly, to prevent them from claiming rights to their property in the future.

Father Luo, who was beside them, heard Gu Jinli’s words and nodded, saying, "Dashan, Xiao Yu is right. You should take this chance to change the name of the head while you’re getting a new registration."

Gu Dashan, also fearing the people from the Old Gu Family, nodded after hearing Father Luo and Gu Jinli, "Alright, once we go in, I will change the head of the household."

Hearing his response, Gu Jinli felt relieved.

Over an hour later, it was finally their turn to change household registration.

Village Chief He brought several men from different families into the Civil Affairs Office, speaking to the clerk in charge of household registration, "Sir, these are the disaster victims allocated to Da Feng Village. If you could please, issue a few new household registrations."

The clerk waved his hand dismissively and said, "Got it, now get out."

The Civil Affairs Office was a restricted area. Aside from the relevant individuals, all other unrelated persons, including village and local chiefs, were not allowed to linger.

With a smile, Village Chief He exited the Civil Affairs Office.

The Gu Dashan family was number 5042, first in line. He carefully took out his family’s household registration paper, the severance document, and a letter from Qi Mansion bearing the official seal, and explained the origins of the household registration paper and the matter regarding the severance document.

After the incident of receiving grain at the city gate, Gu Dashan feared the clerk’s interrogation and felt obliged to give this explanation.

The clerk in charge of household registration saw the registration paper without a thick leather cover and intended to make things difficult for Gu Dashan, but after Gu Dashan’s explanation and seeing the letter from Qi Mansion with the official seal, the clerk swallowed the words he was about to say.

Seizing the opportunity, Gu Dashan mentioned the matter of changing the head of the household.

After listening, the clerk did not object, and simply stated the rules, "According to Great Chu regulations, if the former head of the household is present to change the head of household locally, no silver is needed. If there is no head of household present, two taels of silver are required locally; for within a hundred li, ten taels; and for a thousand li away, twenty taels. Do you have the money?"

The clerk lifted his eyelids, looking somewhat disdainfully at Gu Dashan.

It was not that he looked down on Gu Dashan, but rather that the people of the Great Chu Dynasty were poor. A peasant family, working hard all year round, did not make twenty taels of silver in income, let alone these famine refugees. Forget twenty taels, it was doubtful they could even come up with five taels of silver.

Thanks to Gu Jinli saving the young master of Qi Mansion, Qi Yi had given their family fifty taels of silver and a silver note.

Of the fifty taels of silver, only eight taels were left after their journey. The silver note worth fifty taels had already been exchanged for broken silver and was hidden on each of the six members of their family. Thus, Gu Dashan could afford the silver needed for changing the head of household.

But he remembered Gu Jinli’s words, not to flaunt wealth openly, or it would invite deadly disaster. In case it was really necessary to use significant funds, he should not publicly display too much silver. Instead, he should first borrow from someone he knew well, then repay privately.

Knowing that Father Luo and Village Chief Gu had more prosperous families, Gu Dashan borrowed ten taels from Father Luo and another five from Gu Dafu, gathering enough to cover both the change of head of household and the new household registration fee, then handed it to the clerk, "Sir, please count."

Seeing that he had borrowed the money to change the head of household, the clerk wasn’t too surprised, took the silver, weighed it in his hand ensuring that it was solid silver and not mixed with tin or aluminum fake silver, and then began to issue the new household registration.

Issuing a new household registration was simple. Using the thick leather-covered household registration papers uniformly distributed by the court, a copy was made based on the old registration, with the address changed to the new State, county, town, and village, and the head of household’s name changed, then sealed with the seal of Tianfu County Government, and it was done.

Gu Dashan received the new household registration paper with the thick leather cover, opened it, and seeing the head of household’s name, his hands trembled with excitement. Having lived for thirty-six years, he had finally become the head of his own household.

"Thank you, sir." Gu Dashan took back the severance document and the letter from Qi Mansion, thanked the clerk, and left the Civil Affairs Office.

More than a quarter of an hour later, the Luo Family, Tian Family, Gu Damu’s family, Gu Dafu’s family, Third Grandpa’s Family, and the Qin family had all finished exchanging for new household registrations, and they walked out of the Civil Affairs Office cheerfully.

Next were the two households from the Mo Family.

By the time all these matters were taken care of, it was already the afternoon hour of Shen, and the officials of the government office didn’t dare to keep so many disaster victims in the county government. They ordered them to leave immediately.

Village Chief He and his son could only lead them out of the government office and, along with ten young and strong men from Da Feng Village waiting outside the county government, took them towards Da Feng Village in Qingfu Town.