Unfortunately, he needed to catch his train, and the other party was also quite cautious.

"What else can we do? Qi Mingyu is a real scoundrel, and a cowardly and cautious one at that."

You should deliberately chase after him and attack him. As long as you don't kill him, give him a chance, and he will retaliate against you severely later.

The old patriarch of the Qi clan was quite reasonable.

With him keeping an eye on things, even if Qi Mingyu has immense abilities, he wouldn't dare go too far since we haven't made a move from beginning to end.

But he was, after all, a man of merit and honor, and the hope of his entire clan.

If you were to destroy Qi Mingyu and ruin the hopes of the Qi clan, then the Chi and Qi clans would truly become enemies.

And this feud will last for generations!

Chi Qiao sighed softly at this point and continued:

"If we have a scholar in Chijia'ao, he might even pass the provincial examination and become a Jinshi."

It can bring glory to our Chi clan, and also allow us to be exempt from taxes and corvée labor by leasing land.

In this situation, regardless of the reason, if he were ruined by someone, how would you feel, A-Ye?

Chino listened in silence. What did he think? Need I say more?

It's definitely going to be a fight to the death!

The annual taxes, miscellaneous taxes, corvée labor, and other miscellaneous duties of the Great Chu Kingdom were so heavy that people could hardly breathe.

Only in the last two years, when Anping County got a new magistrate, have those miscellaneous taxes and corvée labors decreased.

But the annual taxes are still very heavy. Even if people can't perform corvée labor, they still have to pay money.

Year after year, many people have given away the vast majority of the money they earned.

If someone could offer them land or exemption from corvée labor at this time, they would naturally cherish and protect them like the apple of their eye.

He heard that in their Great Chu Kingdom, an ordinary scholar could be exempted from land tax on fifty mu of land.

A successful candidate in the imperial examinations was entitled to 200 mu of land, plus exemption from corvée labor and miscellaneous services for several people.

If one passed the imperial examination, one would be exempt from land tax on two thousand mu of land, and the entire clan would also be exempt from various corvée labor and miscellaneous services.

Chi Qiao, recalling the original owner's memories, suddenly felt moved and said:

"Many of the people who went to our Chijia'ao to transport coal this time were government officials."

I think they also went there to collect taxes as a side effect.

Every year, it's done in the twelfth lunar month.

We in Chijia'ao should be able to make a good profit this time by selling charcoal and vegetables.

These people would then conveniently collect the taxes as well.

Leaving aside other families, in our main house alone, there are seven people.

Even without land, they still had to pay a poll tax of seven hundred coins.

Ah Ye, you said that twice a year would cost one tael and four hundred coins, plus other miscellaneous money.

Just these miscellaneous items alone cost our family no less than 10800 coins a year.

This is without the corvée labor. If you have to pay money to pay for the corvée labor, you will have to spend at least two taels of silver.

You calculate how much our entire Chijia'ao village will have to contribute.

What about the cumulative effect over one year, three years, five years, ten years, or even longer?

"If you think about it this way, you should understand why the Qi clan is protecting Qi Mingyu so much, right?"

Chi Ye remained silent, and Chi Qiao didn't seem to care, continuing to speak:

"We can try every means to kill, maim, or ruin Qi Mingyu's reputation so that he can't continue his scientific expeditions."

But if this causes the Qi clan to hold a grudge and create enmity, then it won't just be our problem.

When we do things, we should consider our clansmen.

Can they really be indifferent to the possibility of retaliation?