Xia Shiyang's smile froze for a moment, then he laughed again: "Miss Song, those words were said by those people, they have nothing to do with me."
Song Ning understood that this was an attempt to distance herself from the situation.
It seems that Lord Xia's relationship with those people is just so-so.
Song Ning was right. Xia Shiyang, the newly appointed Vice Minister of Revenue, didn't have any connections when he first joined the Ministry, and none of the people who came this time were his people.
To put it bluntly, he doesn't have much say in the Ministry of Revenue right now, but his official position is what it is, and his subordinates sometimes have no choice but to listen to him.
“I came here on His Majesty’s orders to check on the current situation in Tianxiang County, but I have not received any decree to take over Tianxiang County.”
Sure enough, if what these people said just now really meant the emperor, they wouldn't have obediently listened to him.
"Don't worry, this is Ying Huai's territory. Not to mention me, even His Majesty would not agree to this."
Song Ning was slightly taken aback. Did this person know Xie Linzhou?
Xia Shiyang looked at Song Ning and asked with a smile, "I heard you know Ying Huai?"
Judging from their voices, the two are quite familiar with each other.
"Is the Ying Huai you mentioned, Lord Xia, General Xie?"
"Exactly."
Song Ning smiled and said, "General Xie is a benefactor of our Tianxiang County. All the people of Tianxiang County know him."
To be honest, she didn't want outsiders to know Xie Linzhou's thoughts.
If Xie Linzhou were in modern times, he would be a domineering CEO of a wealthy family. Modern society is governed by the rule of law, and the other party would only give her tens of millions to leave her son.
However, this is a feudal society. If the Duke's mansion finds out, they might kill him to silence him.
"General Xie is a remarkable figure; he is a hero of Tianxiang County and a god in the hearts of us ordinary people."
These two sentences were indeed spoken from the bottom of Song Ning's heart, and they are all true.
Xia Shiyang didn't say anything more. He finished his tea, stood up, and said, "These pastries are quite good. Wrap them up; I want to take them with me."
Song Ning pursed her lips, "She actually knows her stuff."
After seeing the person to the door, Xia Shiyang turned around and said, "I understand what you mean. Don't worry, I will handle this matter."
Song Ning didn't know what method this Lord Xia used, but on the third day, news came from the county magistrate that those people had given up on the idea.
Because the people from the Ministry of Revenue came, they also brought up another matter: the issue of taxation.
During the Jin Dynasty, taxes were collected in two ways: either in cash or in grain.
Taxpayers are mainly divided into two types: farmers and merchants.
If you're a farmer, you pay about 10% of your annual income in taxes; if you're a business owner, it's around 20%.
Basically, the more you earn, the more you pay into the system.
Tianxiang County was previously uninhabited, so there was no such thing as paying taxes. Now that almost a year has passed, it is natural to pay taxes.
However, this Vice Minister Xia is quite decent. Considering that Tianxiang County was only recently established, he reduced the tax by a small amount and said he would deal with it next year.
Upon hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
It must be said that through these events, the people's impression of Lord Xia has significantly improved.
In contrast, the others acted arrogantly and domineeringly in the county town, not only eating in the shops without paying but also causing trouble.
The common people dared not utter a word about these matters, nor could they disturb the county magistrate; they could only suffer in silence.
Xiangyunlou is currently the most upscale restaurant in Tianxiang County, so it's where these people frequent the most.
Every time they came, they would order a huge table of food and not pay. They would throw away the food they couldn't finish. After this happened several times, Song Ning couldn't take it anymore.
"Gentlemen, these dishes haven't been touched yet. Why don't you pack them up and take them home? We have special takeout containers here."
Song Ning felt that there was nothing wrong with what she said; she meant well. However, she did not expect that these people would become so angry that they overturned the entire table.
They said Song Ning didn't respect them.
They even said they would punish her.
Honestly, so far, not a single official in the imperial court that Song Ning has encountered has been normal.
One of them pointed at her and looked down at her: "You lowly commoner, how dare you speak to me like that? We're honoring you by coming here for a meal, and now you dare to humiliate us with such a thing! Guards! Seize this insolent commoner!"
As he spoke, several attendants rushed in and tied Song Ning up.
Song Ning was completely bewildered. Had she said something outrageous?
She simply asked them to pack up the leftovers; it pained her to see all that food was wasted.
A commotion broke out upstairs, and the people downstairs noticed something was wrong. Xiao Cui quickly instructed someone, "Go and inform the magistrate that something has happened to the master of the house."
Upstairs, Song Ning was restrained by several guards and unable to move. She finally felt the gap between officials and ordinary people, and it was really frustrating.
Song Ning argued forcefully: "My lords, what is the meaning of this? I had no intention of offending you."
"How dare you! Insubordination! And you still dare to argue! Drag this man out and have him beaten to death!"
Song Ning: !?
No, is it really that serious? They're going to beat him to death?
Upon hearing this, the guards tried to drag her out. Song Ning struggled for a while, and was dragged out of Xiangyun Tower in full view of everyone.
Song Dahai and Liu Yuelan rushed to stop them, but were pushed to the ground by those people.
"My lord, my lord, spare my life! What crime has my daughter committed?!"
One of the guards sneered, "Song Ning has offended our master and deserves to die. Our master has said that he should be beaten to death."
Song Ning felt that these people were just settling personal scores; since they hadn't monopolized her cotton fields, they were now using this method to harm her.
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