Chapter 526 Mid-Autumn Festival
Qin Yao successfully guided the villagers to vent their dissatisfaction by shifting the blame.
Once the tax collection is done smoothly, the tax collection work can also proceed smoothly.
In fact, for the common people, as long as the imperial decrees were not excessive to the point of making it impossible for them to survive, they never dared to resist.
So no matter how much resentment and grievance one feels in one's heart, one still has to pay taxes under the powerful oppression of imperial power.
At most, there would be a few rebels in each village, causing a little trouble for the village chiefs.
For example, some people shortchange others, some sell inferior goods as good ones, and some people cheat and say they don't understand what others say and refuse to do the job.
In short, these people who are optimistic about getting away with things always make a fuss every year.
In previous years, the old village chief was in charge, but as he was old and didn't have as much energy, he had to let them make a fuss and deal with it after most of the grain taxes were collected.
But the results obtained by this method are too random.
Qin Yao would never allow anyone to make things difficult for her when she was doing things.
So from the day when tax collection officially began, they first went to the few households that had been disobedient last year, and "persuaded them with both emotion and reason", and the battle was over in less than half a day.
Once all the thorns were removed, the follow-up process became much smoother.
The village ancestral hall also serves as a warehouse during tax collection periods. Qin Yao placed tables, chairs and scales at the entrance of the ancestral hall. She is the first to arrive and the last to leave every day.
After guarding for three consecutive days, Qin Yao felt that this was not a solution. She couldn't let herself get heatstroke as all the villagers were waiting for her to lead them.
So, after dinner in the evening, I would stroll around the village with my hands behind my back.
I have successfully captured five village scoundrels who followed in Liu Ji’s footsteps, and have pinned them down at the gate of the ancestral hall. Tell them to work hard for me, the village chief!
What?
Can’t write, read a scale, or count?
"Do you want to see how big my fist is, Village Chief?" Qin Yao smiled evilly, leaning back on the bamboo chair and turning his wrist.
The five unemployed young men were so frightened that they dared not say a word. They said, "Learn! Learn to death now!"
In the midst of busyness, the Mid-Autumn Festival is here.
Ninety percent of the rice in the village's rice fields has been harvested, leaving only some rice in some remote fields that has not yet been harvested.
God has been very kind to us during this period and it has not rained heavily.
For the common people, this is a rare year of good weather and bumper harvest.
On the Mid-Autumn Festival, every household stopped to rest for a day, and the stationery factory also had a day off.
People take out all the delicious food and drinks at home, and the whole family gathers together to celebrate this rare happy moment.
The old house invited Qin Yao and her family to celebrate the festival together, but Qin Yao refused. This year, she wanted to spend the Mid-Autumn Festival at home.
"Let's make mooncakes!" Qin Yao said excitedly.
Sanlang responded immediately: "Mother, I want to eat mooncakes!"
Si Niang glanced at the little brother with disdain, "I'll make you greedy to death."
But when he turned to A Niang, he changed his expression to one of expectation, "A Niang, can you make mooncakes?"
Seeing Dalang, Erlang, and Yin Le all looking at her curiously, Qin Yao spread her hands and said, "No."
Everyone: “.”
"But someone will definitely do it." Qin Yao came to the kitchen door and made "Puchi Puchi" sounds in an attempt to attract the attention of Li who was busy kneading dough.
Li was not deaf and had heard the mother and her children talking in the yard a long time ago.
He turned around and said with amusement: "Wash your hands. When I have prepared the noodles and stuffing, I will bring them to the main room and we can all cook together."
The children suddenly became excited, and rushed to the sink, lined up to wash their hands, and rushed into the main room to wait.
Qin Yao and Yin Le also asked happily: "Can we help in any way?"
Li ordered bluntly, "Madam, go light the oven. Miss Le, clear the table in the living room. I'll be there soon."
The master and the disciple nodded heavily and got it.
After the main room and the oven were ready, Li's raw materials were also prepared.
Everyone gathered in the main room and began to learn how to make mooncakes from Li.
When using the molds at home, Dalang and Si Niang excitedly picked up the molds and introduced them:
“This is the plum blossom mold and the Chinese character for blessing that we made with Uncle Awang last year!”
As he spoke, he suddenly became depressed.
Qin Yao looked up and saw that the four brothers and sisters plus the little Lai Fu all looked like they missed each other.
"What's wrong? Do you miss Awang?" she asked with a smile.
The five children nodded, Uncle Awang had been gone for a long time.
Qin Yao smiled easily, "Counting the days, they should be back next month, very soon."
Si Niang suddenly thought of her own resentful father and murmured worriedly, "I wonder if Dad can get the last place in the exam again this time."
Erlang was speechless.
Sanlang whispered, "Sister, you can hope that Dad will be the second to last in the exam."
"Stop complaining. Aunt Li is almost done making all the mooncakes by herself." Dalang reminded helplessly.
As for A Niang and Senior Sister Le, each one is more useless than the other. Looking at the plum blossom mooncakes whose fillings are about to be fried out of the crust, Dalang sighed deeply.
The young boy specially put a small bowl of stuffing in front of the master and apprentice, "Mother, Senior Sister Le, you two can go play over there by yourselves."
Yin Le was surprised: "Really?"
Qin Yao glared at her apprentice and pointed at the fried mooncakes in front of her. "What the hell are these? Don't you know how precious fine grains are? Eat them all up after they're baked!"
Yin Le widened his eyes in disbelief and said, "Master, why don't you take a look at how mushy the mooncake in your hand is?"
Of course, I dare not say that.
The master is the sky, whatever the master says is the truth, and it is a blessing for a disciple to take the blame for the master!
After brainwashing himself, Yin Le nodded heavily, "Master, don't worry, I will finish it."
Qin Yao then nodded with satisfaction, thinking that this child is teachable.
Putting down the mold in his hand, he said, "There are not many left. I'll leave them for you young people to practice more."
After saying that, he went back to the house and lay down openly.
He took out his abacus and calculated the family's harvest this year.
Yin Le took his four children to collect rent and brought back 12,500 kilograms of rice and 1,100 kilograms of soybeans.
He sold his five acres of watermelon fields for 72 taels of silver, and his five acres of rice fields produced 2,300 kilograms of rice.
Grain taxes were reduced, so that was all that was gained.
There was still a lot of surplus grain in the first half of the year, so we added some of it this time to make up a total of 10,000 kilograms for storage. The remaining 8,000 kilograms of rice were all sold at the price of three cents per kilogram for 24 taels of silver.
He keeps all the soybeans for himself. Li is a good cook and he makes soy milk, tofu pudding and tofu in different ways.
You can also ferment soybeans and eat them as fresh vegetables in winter.
Or you can make more tofu and process it into dried tofu of various flavors.
Qin Yao had thought about adding another item, such as selling the dried tofu made by Li in restaurants.
However, after calculating the costs and benefits, he found that the spices were expensive, the tofu production took a long time, and the manpower was limited. In addition, there were already people doing this in the town and the county, so the competition was fierce. It would be useless even if Li worked himself to death, so he decided to give up.
It’s better to make it for your family.
After the last account was settled, the total amount of cash Qin Yao currently had in his hand appeared on the abacus, which was 1,196 taels.
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