"Lady Su, you are the first woman in our dynasty to own land in her own name. How fortunate you are!"
Magistrate Jiang helped Su Luo up with a smile, and his clerk handed her a small wooden box.
Upon opening it, one finds the land deeds for 100 mu of fertile land in Shuiqingzhuang.
"Su Luo, congratulations."
Nangong Qing offered his blessings to Su Luo, saying that fertile land was more suitable for her than money, as silver could be earned but land was hard to buy.
"Thanks!"
Clutching the land deed tightly in her hand, Su Luo never expected that simply saving her family's grain would bring her such a generous reward; it was an unexpected delight.
"Madam Su, the rice harvest at Shuiqing Manor has been completed. Now you are in charge of managing it. Whether you rent it out or grow it yourself, it's up to you."
However, I must remind you that this imperial edict should be placed in the family ancestral hall for worship. Since your house is not yet completed, it should also be carefully placed in a box, so as not to dishonor the imperial grace.”
Magistrate Jiang was worried that Su Luo, being a woman, was unfamiliar with court etiquette. If she were found to have disrespected the imperial edict, it would be considered disrespect to the emperor, which would be a serious offense.
"Yes, I understand."
The villagers all looked on with envy. The village chief also knew that this was what Su Luo deserved. As long as Su Luo was doing well, Changping Village would not be bad in the future.
Take Su Luo opening a restaurant, for example. The villagers were not jealous at all, but happy because they had the eggplant seeds that Su Luo had given them, which were a treasure.
With Su Luo's restaurant, no one is afraid of not being able to sell their eggplants. This is the real reason why Luo Mei tried to ruin Su Luo's reputation in the village and why no one in the village cared about her. The village chief knew this perfectly well.
"Village Chief Li, I have come here today for another matter. The imperial court has issued its annual grain tax collection order, and each village and household shall pay taxes according to their own land holdings."
"I'll have to pay taxes again this year. I wonder if it will be less than last year."
"Yes, our family doesn't dare to eat the newly harvested rice this year, for fear that it won't be enough to pay the taxes."
"Paying taxes every year, collecting them every year, when will it ever end?"
"Sigh, I hope we can pay less; ordinary people are really suffering too much."
Su Luo overheard the various rumors circulating among the villagers. It turned out that they still had to pay grain taxes, which explained why the villagers were living on broken rice.
"Your Excellency, how much is the tax grain this year?"
The village chief listened to Su Luo this year, and the rice yield is much better than last year. As long as the tax grain is reduced, they can manage to get by this year.
Faced with the villagers of this village, Nangong Qing could not ask for this year's amount, but if he did not get this amount, the army's food supplies and the border war would not be able to get enough supplies.
Buying horses, iron, and weapons all cost money.
"This is an order from above: two dan (a unit of weight) per mu (a unit of land area) of land."
Two dan (两担) is two hundred jin (斤). According to the villagers' planting methods, the normal yield of one mu (亩) of land is six hundred jin (斤).
This year, due to insect infestation, we only harvested about 500 jin (250 kg) of grain, and we still have to pay 200 jin (100 kg) in taxes.
If there's anything going on at home, we can only sell rice.
In the end, the village could only survive on broken rice. What kind of life was that?
The people are starving; what use is this imperial court?
"Su Luo, this is an order from the imperial court. Don't be the one to stick your neck out."
Nangong Qing saw that Su Luo's face had darkened, and knowing her personality, he was afraid that she would speak up and resist.
"But don't you think this grain tax is too high?"
Su Luo didn't want to be the one to stick her neck out; if there was no food, she could buy it.
But she was still unhappy. Not counting the 100 mu of land she had just acquired, she still had three mu of land that Wang Dayong had sold to her, and those three mu of land were being cultivated by someone else this year.
Two hundred catties per mu of land. The grain she painstakingly grew on her one mu of land for several months this year only yielded six hundred catties, which was not even enough to pay her taxes this year.
Moreover, she and Zhao Ruyun had already brought two hundred catties to the village entrance to cook and eat.
Nangong Qing did not answer Su Luo's question, but the village woman said, "Sir, why is the tax increased again this year? It went from fifty catties to one hundred and fifty catties last year. This year is going to kill us."
The joy of the harvest hadn't even faded when the grain tax came, and everyone felt like crying. They had thought it would be a little less this year, but it has become even heavier.
The whole family depends on this little bit of rice for food, drink, and basic necessities. How can we survive like this?
"Please be patient, everyone. I can only tell you that the reason you are able to live peacefully in this field is because the imperial court is supporting you from the outside."
If the Northern Liang army invades, these days will be over. The day the Northern Liang retreats will be the day we reduce taxes.
After offering words of comfort, the magistrate continued, “My fellow villagers, this year it’s not just you who are paying taxes this way; everyone across the country is doing it this way. The laws of this dynasty stipulate that the government has the right to reclaim your land if you fail to pay taxes.”
Grain tax cannot be evaded, and the villagers lamented their plight.
Back home, he carried the rice to the village entrance according to his own land and handed it over to the clerk.
"Your Excellency, you won't make me pay taxes on these hundred acres of land I own, will you?"
Su Luo held up the imperial edict in her hand; the harvest from this field was not in her hands.
"Not this year, but we'll have to stop next year."
She was unaware of the tax implications this year, but she won't be in that situation next year.
Zhao Ruyun went back and brought the rice. Su Luo also bought 400 jin of rice from the village chief's family, which was enough to pay the grain tax.
"Luo Luo, don't be sad. Now that we have land, we'll definitely have surplus grain next year."
Zhao Ruyun noticed that Su Luo looked unhappy.
Not only Su Luo, but the whole village was unhappy.
"Mom, don't worry about not having food, Huanhuan can eat wild vegetables too."
Yi Huan said to Su Luo,
"You two just need to study hard. I won't let you go back to the days when you ate wild vegetables."
Su Luo took out all the rice from her spatial storage. It seemed she still needed to plant some dryland rice to store up, otherwise, if something unexpected happened, she wouldn't even be able to buy rice.
The clerk spent the whole morning collecting the money, and the carriage made three round trips.
After lunch, Nangong Qing followed Su Luo wherever she went. Originally, A Xu was Nangong Qing's bodyguard, but now he became the bodyguard of two people.
"Nangong Qing, aren't the two Fu Man Lou restaurants going to be run anymore? What are you and A Xu still doing here?"
“With the manager of Fumanlou here, I’m a little worried about you getting angry.”
Nangong Qing didn't know what was wrong with him; Su Luo's dark face seemed to be able to stir his emotions.
Su Luo sneered: "I'm not angry."
"But you're not happy."
Nonsense, who could be happy about this?
"What does my happiness or unhappiness have to do with you? It's not like you're the one who made me unhappy."
Su Luo took two steps, and Nangong Qing and A Xu followed two steps.
Fine, go ahead and follow if you want.
When Su Luo arrived at Li Niu's house, she knocked on the door, and Aunt Li answered.
"Yan Chuan's mother, you've finally come to see me! I've been cooped up at home all day, I'm almost going to get sick."
Aunt Li is pregnant, and she really doesn't even leave the house.
"Honey, didn't I tell you to call me if anything happens? Don't move."
As soon as Li Niu came out, he saw Aunt Li in the yard, along with Su Luo, Nangong Qing, and A Xu.
"Yan Chuan Niang, Young Master Nangong, what brings you here?"
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