Chapter 1273 Small Scene

Seeing the villager's frightened expression, the retired emperor smiled and explained, "I was just curious about the taxes levied in each place; you don't need to worry."

The villager was still somewhat afraid, but considering that this noble man was his god of wealth and seemed to be much more powerful than the local officials, he still told the Emperor Emeritus the truth.

"Since the natural disaster, they have only collected 20% of our taxes, saying that they want us to recuperate and that taxes will be restored once our lives have fully recovered."

At this point, the villagers quickly spoke up for the local official: "Your Excellency, please don't blame our magistrate. If it weren't for his kindness in reducing our taxes, we don't know what kind of life we ​​would be living in..."

He even took the lead in kneeling down to plead for the local officials, and when others saw this, they all followed suit and knelt down to kowtow.

The old emperor couldn't quite describe his feelings. He realized that the common people were so simple and honest; they could remember even the smallest favors and kindnesses, and even speak well of the local officials at this time, because they genuinely felt that the officials were good to them.

Thinking about what he had done in the past, he felt so sad that he could hardly breathe. If he had realized his mistakes earlier and done more for the people, the people would not have been oppressed like this.

Ultimately, it's all his fault.

The old emperor was in a bad mood, and his face looked rather unpleasant. The villagers trembled with fear at the sight of him.

The person who spoke first, in particular, wished he could slap himself a few times. If he hadn't said something he shouldn't have, he wouldn't have offended such an important person.

If the important person becomes unhappy and stops buying their tea, wouldn't he become the sinner of the whole village?

Just when he was completely at a loss for what to do, the Emperor Emeritus finally reacted, composed himself, and said, "What are you all doing? Get up!"

I just told them the ground was muddy and they shouldn't kneel down randomly, but now a whole group of them are kneeling neatly in the mud. I really don't know what to say.

The fact that he could say something like that clearly shows he wasn't angry, but why didn't he say anything just now?

And the reaction was so strong after learning about their taxes.

The Emperor Emeritus sighed and explained, "I just felt sorry for you all. You were tricked but you still thought of others and even tried to exonerate those people."

He didn't want to say much, but he only glanced at Lu Baichuan, who immediately understood and explained for him: "After the natural disaster, the court was considerate of the people's difficult lives. After the refugees who had fled the famine settled down, they were exempted from paying taxes for three years, so that they could try to make their lives better. As for the people who were not so severely affected by the disaster, the court adopted the method of collecting only 10% of the taxes and leaving the rest for the people to develop freely."

He paused, then emphasized, "Over the years, the imperial court has only collected 10% of the taxes, and even now that life is better, the tax rate has not increased."

In the muddy ground, the people were completely silent, unable to believe that this was the truth.

They originally thought that the imperial court's reduction of taxes by 10% was already a great consideration for them, but they never expected to be deceived by the local government, which had been charging them an extra 10% in taxes over the years.

Everyone knows perfectly well who pocketed that extra 10%!

"Is this...is this real?"

The village chief couldn't believe it. If that was the case, they had really been ripped off all these years. He couldn't even imagine how much better their lives would have been if that 10% tax had stayed in their own homes.

"Of course, we come from the capital, so we're well-informed and won't be wrong."

Lu Baichuan nodded, extinguishing the last glimmer of hope for everyone.

"Good heavens! We've been so grateful to him for so many years, but we never expected he'd been tricking us all along!"

"Life is already hard enough, every household depends on that one grain of rice to survive, and they still exploit us like this, do they even care about us ordinary people?"

"Even if it costs me my life, I will personally go and ask, is this how officials act?"

...

The villagers instantly became agitated, cursing and swearing in the courtyard.

The retired emperor reassured everyone, "Don't worry, everyone. I will send someone to investigate first thing tomorrow morning and will definitely give you an explanation. In any case, the taxes you have overpaid over the years will be returned to you."

This is his country, his people, and this is what he should do for them.

"My esteemed sir, you are truly... even a saint couldn't be more extraordinary!"

"Yes, thank you!"

The villagers all wanted to kneel down again, moved to tears.

"Alright, alright, you're here to sell tea, let's finish our business first before talking about anything else."

The Emperor Emeritus didn't want them to dwell on the matter, so he deliberately changed the subject. Only then did the villagers remember that the tea hadn't been sold yet, and they hurriedly took out the tea they had been protecting from their bosoms for the Emperor Emeritus to see.

The retired emperor couldn't possibly visit every household, so he had a junior official check it out. Once everything was confirmed to be correct, he paid on the spot.

However, he didn't have that much loose silver on him, so he calculated the total and gave it all to the village chief, who then exchanged it for smaller denominations, which would be given to them the next day.

The money was already in the village chief's hands, so they weren't in a hurry. They trusted the village chief's character.

Back then, only the village chief knew how to make tea. As the village chief, he didn't hold back at all and taught everyone who had tea at home, so that everyone had the opportunity to go to the city to sell it and make money.

Although prices were driven very low, people still managed to supplement their household income by selling tea, and life was much better than before.

Everyone was convinced of the village chief's abilities and had no objections.

"Now that everything has been discussed, everyone should go back and rest. We can talk about it tomorrow."

Empress Dowager Liu could see that the Emperor Taishang was in a really bad mood, so she spoke up for him.

The villagers then realized that the distinguished guests had been traveling all day without much rest, so they swallowed their questions and took their leave.

As soon as the villagers left, the Emperor Emeritus's face darkened completely. Lu Baichuan advised, "Your Majesty, please calm down. The local government only takes 10%, which is not considered greedy. Since we are here, let's help the local people. That will be doing our best."

Lu Baichuan had been traveling for more than half a year and had become accustomed to these kinds of things. There were even more outrageous things. If he got angry like the Emperor Emeritus every time, wouldn't he lose more than ten years of his life?

"Yes, it's thanks to those people who mentioned it that we would have been tricked by them. You've done so much already, and the people's lives will only get better from now on."

With the help of Consort Liu, the Emperor Emeritus's expression gradually improved, but he still couldn't help but say to Lu Baichuan, "Why don't you go to the county government office yourself tomorrow? I want to see what those scoundrels are up to!"