Corvée Labor (A Celebration for Alliance Leader Twilight Rose!)

At the first sight of human habitation, Aaron finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He trudged along the road, one foot deep and one foot shallow, until he finally reached his home.

Calling it a home was generous. It was really just several shacks cobbled together, unable to keep out the wind or fully shield against the rain.

In front of the shacks was a small vegetable patch, planted with a few vegetables.

An old farmer passed by with a hoe over his shoulder, his back bent like a hunchback. He greeted him, "Young Brother La... you're back?"

"Mm, I'm back."

Aaron nodded in greeting.

"Ah... if you ask me, young people shouldn't aim too high. This old man had someone read him that government notice at the market too... rare flowers and strange stones, precious birds and beasts—bring back any one of them, and you can offset your corvée labor... But how could such things be so easy to find?"

The old farmer sighed as he walked. "Rather than searching for those things, you'd be better off tending your own land... In all our lives, the only thing we've seen that never lets down those who deal with it day after day is the soil..."

Aaron closed the wicker gate and watched the old farmer's departing back, shaking his head inwardly.

Corvée labor!

A form of compulsory labor unique to ancient feudal society: adult men brought their own provisions and obeyed the government's orders to work on major construction projects.

Most crucially... there was not a scrap of pay!

The work was arduous, and people dying of exhaustion or illness were commonplace. Generally speaking, strong laborers who returned from corvée duty would often be much thinner, sometimes worked until they were mere shadows of themselves, then struck down by