These words were very pointed, and the term "outsider" was particularly jarring.
Jiang Yimian and the others looked at the person who spoke, without much expression.
It was the young woman who had initially looked at them with disdain.
Li Yishi glared at the person who spoke and raised his voice, "Even if the things in the village aren't yours, why are you worrying about them? Mind your own business. What do you mean by 'outsider'? Once you're in Qingshi Village, we're all villagers. If I hear that kind of talk again, you'd all be sent to clear wasteland."
The woman who was speaking paused, and was about to say something more when she saw the constables beside her. She immediately snorted coldly and stopped talking, but her gaze toward Jiang Yimian and the others still held dissatisfaction.
Jiang Yimian didn't feel much about this, after all, what the other party said was true, they were indeed outsiders.
Many villages are xenophobic, and some migrants are even driven away before they even enter the village. They are considered lucky.
Besides, they don't often appear in the village, so they probably won't run into this person. He's just a stranger, and she can't be bothered with him.
However, she did take a second look at the village chief. She had thought he was just an honest and kind man, but it seemed he had some authority in the village.
Indeed, if one is too honest and kind, how can one manage a village?
Zhao Da said that the road leading to the village was blocked by people sent by the village chief of Qingshi Village, which was indeed a combination of cleverness and luck.
The reason the bandits were able to find out about the villages near Xinghua Village so quickly was because of Wang Ergou. That guy probably didn't know about Qingshi Village, which is why he didn't bring anyone with him.
If the other party finds out, Qing Shi Village will probably suffer as well.
Soon, everyone in front of them finished registering, and it was Jiang Yimian and her group's turn.
Ma Ming nodded to the group as a greeting.
Jiang Yimian named the people in the small depression, and Ma Ming registered them one by one, his eyes showing some surprise. "I thought there weren't many people on the mountain, but I didn't expect there to be more than a dozen."
It would be quite troublesome to arrange for so many people to go to the same village, so it's better that these people don't go down the mountain, but just register their household in the village.
After everyone finished registering, the old man next to Ma Ming limped out of the yard with a cane; he looked like a villager as well.
Li Yishi greeted them with a smile, "We have many empty houses in our village. You can move down whenever you want. There are several houses available at the west end of the village. Let me show you."
Although these people are only registered in the village, they are still considered villagers, so he should at least look after them.
Liu Dayong thought for a moment before nodding, "Thank you for your trouble, Village Chief."
Li Yishi simply waved his hand and led Liu Dayong and the others to see the empty house.
Jiang Yimian then called to Zhao Da and asked in a low voice, "Brother Zhao, when will the reward arrive, as the magistrate said?"
The promised one hundred taels of silver is still nowhere to be found. Could Song Quanzhao be lying to her?
One hundred taels is a lot, but it's still easy for a county magistrate to come up with it.
That guy might have changed his mind.
Zhao Da was a little embarrassed. He knew this was what they wanted to ask, so he quickly explained, "Miss Jiang, it's just the beginning of the year, and there's a lot going on at the yamen and in the prefectural city. The money will have to be put on hold for now. I estimate it will be ready in about half a month at most."
He couldn't afford to tarnish his master's reputation with just a few words.
Jiang Yimian nodded, but did not press her about the money. Instead, she asked about the land in Xinghua Village.
All the Jiang family's land is under Old Man Jiang's name; their eldest branch doesn't own a single piece, so they don't need to worry about it.
However, the Chen and Liu families still have a few acres of land in Xinghua Village. They can't let Xinghua Village be destroyed and their land be lost as well.
Zhao Da just smiled and said, "You don't need to worry about that. The land in Xinghua Village has already been bought. Once the money reaches the government, all the land you own will be converted into silver and distributed to you."
The same goes for the other people in Xinghua Village; most of them returned, but they were scattered in villages under various towns.
As for those who haven't returned yet, they've either died or settled elsewhere, and they don't care about the little bit of land in the village at all.
Jiang Yimian nodded. It wasn't bad in terms of money. If she wanted to continue farming, she could just buy a few more acres.
However, although Xinghua Village is not a particularly large village, it still covers at least two hundred acres. Who is it that can afford such a large investment? Even if all the land in the village is calculated at the medium price of four liang per acre, it would still cost more than eight hundred liang.
The lives of the rich were truly beyond her imagination; that was eight hundred taels of silver! She didn't even have that much money right now.
Jiang Yimian sighed, then suddenly remembered the tax payment. "What did the adults say about this year's tax payment?"
They only had a meager three or four mu of land in the small depression. It might sound like a lot, but it belonged to several families. If the grain grown on those lands also had to be taxed, they would be working for the imperial court for nothing.
Previously, taxes were 50%, but due to various reasons, most villagers actually pay about 60% of the taxes.
After a year of hard work and paying a large portion of their taxes, if the harvested grain yield is poor, they won't even have enough to eat. They'll have to exchange it all for cheap cornmeal and other types of rice so they can eat for a longer period.
If things continue like this, ordinary people will still have a hard time.
This perfectly illustrates the saying: "When a dynasty prospers, the people suffer; when a dynasty falls, the people suffer."
Zhao Da laughed instead, “Miss Jiang, don’t worry. The magistrate and the prefect have already submitted a memorial to the court, and the message has been sent down that the prefectures affected by the war will not have to pay taxes for two years, and the tax rate will remain at 50% thereafter. However, the tax rate in other prefectures has increased by 10% in the past two years, probably to balance the tax shortfall.”
"Don't worry, Miss Jiang. Since the higher-ups have said it's 50%, the officials will strictly enforce it. At least in the villages and towns under his jurisdiction, each village will only receive 50%, no more."
He had heard of the county magistrate's tax collection practices before. The higher authorities said it would be 50% tax, but the lower levels actually implemented 60%. This was clearly because the county was far from the emperor's reach, so the magistrate was fearless and did not take the imperial orders seriously.
Now that the original magistrate has been beheaded, let alone the fact that Lord Song would not embezzle the people's money, even if he did, the prefect would pay extra attention to the situation in Qinghe County and would not give him that opportunity.
Jiang Yimian was somewhat surprised, not expecting a two-year tax exemption policy, and was momentarily stunned.
Last year, due to the war, people were displaced and the court lost a lot of taxes. She thought that this year's tax revenue would increase in order to make up for last year's losses.
Unexpectedly, they were exempted from taxes for two years. The court was able to make this policy, which probably involved the efforts of many people.
Although taxes in other prefectures increased by 10%, it was a good result for them, as the prefectures that were still recovering from the war had two years to properly renovate.
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