There hadn't been a drop of rain in the north since spring. The sun in the sky was getting brighter and brighter, with several circles of light, which made the eyes of people who looked at the land dazzled. The ground was dried up by the sun, and the crops were gradually dying. I'm afraid there would be no hope for food this year.

The tenants who rented the land from the landlords were afraid that they would not even be able to pay the rent to the landlords this year.

"Grandpa, please give us a few more days. We really can't afford any food at home..." The old grandma's cry did not get any mercy from the official. He kicked the old grandma who was holding his legs away and said viciously, "You let us give you a few more days, who will give us a few more days?"

The old grandma fell to the ground and dared not say a word. The boy who was hiding in the corner ran back. The old grandma hugged her grandson in fear and scolded her grandson for coming out. The boy didn't say anything either, leaning on his grandma's arms, staring at the officials who rushed into their house like a little wolf cub, his eyes full of hatred.

"Go into the house and search!" With a command, the official went into the house and searched. Except for a little coarse grain at the bottom of the rice jar, there was no other food. There were a few earthen eggs and a handful of wild vegetables hanging in the small kitchen. They were the food that the old grandmother and the little grandson had found together. They were their food for the day.

The old grandmother knew that the remaining rice in the jar could not be saved. That was the rice they had eaten for the past two days. If it was gone, it was gone. The old grandmother hugged her grandson tightly, fearing that these evil people would take her grandson away.

The official who took away the rice and grain in the jar left nothing of value in the house. When he went out, he saw two hens raised in the yard. Several people surrounded them and took them away.

"Grandma, Grandma..." The little grandson pointed at the two hens that had been taken away and hurriedly asked for them back. The old grandma quickly covered her grandson's mouth and watched the ferocious official leave. Then she withdrew her gaze and took her grandson back to the house and closed the door.

The official who left went to the next house and searched through boxes and cabinets for food.

The court wanted to collect taxes, but the people had no food. The officials who came to handle the tax could not find food, so they just took away valuable things from the people's homes to pay them off. They decided how much to pay off. Those who owed money would come back tomorrow, and they would take away any valuable things they saw.

The emperor was far away, and he had no time to manage them. There were also officials who abused their power for personal gain. What

the people feared most was not the court collecting taxes, but the corrupt officials.

The Fen River was well organized under the governance of Zhao Xianzhi, and the officials who worked under him were relatively well-behaved. These people were disciplined and punished one by one when their master took office. Even the cunning teacher did not dare to bully their new master, knowing that their master was not as easy to bully as he looked like a weak scholar.

This place is close to the river, and the grain production in previous years was still good. Even if the weather is bad this year, the crops in the fields are still growing well. The officials who went down to collect taxes did not return empty-handed. Many people could take out rice and grain to pay taxes, which saved them the trouble.

"Thank you for your hard work, if you don't mind, come in and have a cup of tea before you leave." When the officials came to collect taxes, Cao Xiangnan happened to return home and invited the officials in for a drink of water.

In the past two years, the officials came to collect taxes when he was not at home, so this was the first time that Cao Xiangnan encountered officials who came to collect taxes.

The leading official knew that this was not an ordinary family, and it was proper to go inside, so he did not even go into the door of the house, but stood outside.

Seeing that no one went in, Cao Xiangnan looked at Liu Guizhong and asked him to bring tea outside. He poured tea for the officials who came to collect taxes, and smiled and asked the officials how the tax collection was going.

The officials who were thirsty all the way drank such a bowl of tea, and their mood also improved, and they were in the mood to chat for a few words. They have been to many places along the way. Collecting taxes is a hard and tiring job. Some lazy families would even make a scene. Collecting taxes is not an easy job.

Caojia Village is inside. They were always the last to leave Caojia Village in previous years, and this year was no exception. In the past, the taxes in Caojia Village were the most difficult to collect. Nine out of ten families could not pay, so they were put at the end. However, in the past two years, the taxes in Caojia Village were collected the fastest, and few people refused to pay, which saved them a lot of trouble.

At this point, the officials who came to collect taxes all had a smile on their faces, pointing to the grain cart outside the door and said, "Big sir, have you seen that? There is only so much grain in the grain cart outside the door. Many people in your village have given copper coins as compensation, not grain."

This saves them the trouble of pulling the grain back. Giving copper coins is good, as it is convenient and saves them trouble.

The officials who were asked about it poured out the situation of the other villages at once, and they couldn't help but complain a few words about the villages that had difficulty collecting rice and grain. But now that the county magistrate has been replaced, those who work under them all obey the old man's orders and dare not act recklessly.

"Oh, yes, this is much easier." Cao Xiangnan replied, and took out the prepared silver from his pocket, saying, "The grain planted this year has not been harvested, and there is not that much grain at home, so I will give you copper coins for my family's land by the acre." In addition,

he took out two taels of silver and handed them to the leading official, saying, "These few dollars are for you to have tea with me, brothers, don't be polite with me." He stuffed it into the other's hand, pressed his hand, and did not give him a chance to refuse.

This person has already given money to you, and the official laughed twice, thanked him, and did not stay any longer, and left with his people.

Seeing that the officials outside the door had left with the grain cart, Cao Xiangnan's smile faded.

It seems that many people in the village have followed the reminders of the village chief and Li Zheng and have not used grain to offset taxes, so he felt relieved.

Last year's harvest was not very good, so some people used copper coins to offset taxes. I think many families in the village still have some grain left. As for how much, he couldn't say, but generally everyone has grain. I just hope that this year's grain can be harvested smoothly, and then everyone will have food in their hands, so they won't be hungry.

Cao Xiangnan happened to be back in the village and went home by chance. He brought some eggs to the town. The hens raised in the backyard laid eggs, and he took them there for the children to eat in the morning. It happened that the tax collector came and gave him the tax. He left the house to Liu Guizhong and Liu Shi to look after it, and he went to the town.

He went to see Zhao Xianzhi, sat down with the county lord, drank a cup of tea, and chatted with him for a while.

The court recruited soldiers and collected taxes, and really took away all the little things that the people had. Fengchao is so big that many places under the imperial court are beyond the jurisdiction of the court. It is inevitable that there will be corrupt officials who are rampant and harm the people. The imperial court wants to collect taxes this year in advance. The people have no rice to give, and the officials are rampant. People in some places have begun to resist, but at this time it is just a small sign and was suppressed by local officials.

In comparison, Fenshui is still peaceful, but the imperial court's collection of taxes has greatly affected the lives of the people. They have no money in their pockets and not much food in their rice jars. Life is difficult.

But if it continues like this, there will be a day when it can no longer be suppressed.

There are more people doing business in the town, but fewer people buying things. Many people bring things from home to the town, hoping to sell them for some money, but there are few people buying things, so it is difficult to do business. Some small shops have few customers at the end of the day, and they can't do business if they don't open a single store.

In the past, Aning's business was pretty good, but in the past few days he hasn't made back his investment, and he looks very sad. His children grew up day by day, and there were more places to spend money. When he and his son came here, they didn't even have a home. Now they still lived in the backyard of the shop. He wanted to save some money to buy a small yard in this town so that he could live with his children in their own home instead of living under someone else's roof.

Even if others didn't say anything, he still wanted to give his children a home. When he took the children away from there, although he couldn't give them the same wealth, he couldn't even give them a home, which meant that he was incompetent as a mother.

Is it hard to realize even such a wish? Thinking of this, he sighed.

Aning also wanted to save more money so that his child could study more. In the future, his Xuanxuan would not have to rely on fame and fortune. He could even learn to do business like Cao Xiangnan. At least he would not be hungry and would have a stable life in the future. He could marry a boy and give him some grandchildren so that he could experience the feeling of being a grandmother.

"Aning, don't be so sad. Your face is almost like a bitter gourd." The two of them met when they saw the shop. Since there was no business in the shop, they sat together and talked. Qi Wanfeng saw that Aning's face was almost twisted together, and he couldn't help but smile.

Aning glared at Qi Wanfeng, but her frown relaxed and she asked, "What do you think we should do?"

"I told Xiangnan about this yesterday. He told us to decide whether to continue or close down for a while." Business was not good at this time, and Qi Wanfeng could understand her husband's intention of asking them to close down for a while.

"But if we want to continue, there is a way."

"Oh, really? What can we do?" Aning suddenly became energetic and asked.

Qi Wanfeng told Aning what her husband meant. They had two shops here, one selling spicy hotpot and the other selling pastries. The food in both shops was optional. He said, "So if we want to continue to run the business, we should make cheap, filling and delicious food. That way, there will always be people willing to spend a few bucks to eat."

Her husband said that food is the most important thing, and their food business is definitely better than others.

Cheap, delicious and filling? Aning thought seriously.

The two shops at the back were merged into one. Qi Wanfeng no longer made those delicate-looking but not filling pastries. Instead, he and Aning opened a noodle shop. Not to mention Aning's noodle-making skills, coupled with their special seasonings, the boys who came to eat there once all liked the food.

In the past, most of the people who came to the shop to buy things were boys, and later, most of the people who came to eat here were boys with their children. The business finally came back gradually, and both of them had smiles on their faces.