Chapter 144: Harsh Taxes Are as Fierce as a Tiger
After the shopkeeper opened the door, he was kicked in the heart by the other party. The person who came was actually a group of five yamen runners, but they were not the same group who had eaten during the day.
"What are you doing? You're so slow and nagging. How dare you interfere with the government's business? Believe it or not, I'll throw you in jail."
"I dare not, I dare not!" The shopkeeper waved his hands repeatedly.
The fat man in the lead said fiercely, "Let me ask you, are there a few more people in your store today?"
The shopkeeper looked embarrassed: "What do you mean, sir? This... this doesn't seem to be under the jurisdiction of the government, right?"
"Hmph," said the fat man in the lead, named Fat Tiger. He snorted coldly with a fierce look on his face, "Why isn't it under the jurisdiction of the government? The county magistrate has ordered that any shop that adds one more business will have to pay more taxes.
You're a food shop that's now operating as an inn, so of course you have to pay more taxes."
"Sir, you are wronged," the shopkeeper said with a tearful voice, "Our shop doesn't have any extra income. It's really just a shop that sells food.
A few days ago, the county lieutenant personally led people to collect taxes, and I still have the receipt issued by the government."
The shopkeeper turned up his sleeves in public and searched inside.
"Who asked you for this?" Fat Tiger said sternly with an impatient look on his face, "This yamen runner has received a report that your shop not only sells food but also operates as an inn. According to the rules, a commercial tax of five taels of silver must be collected!"
"Sir, we are not an inn, not an inn." The shopkeeper waved his hands repeatedly.
"You said this is not an inn, what's going on with this person, horse and mule?" A yamen runner came over, holding the ghost protector and pointing at the horses and mules outside the yard.
"Your Excellency, I am sorry to inform you that the guests who came to dine here today had no place to stay, so I let them stay for one night for free," the shopkeeper explained earnestly.
"How dare you! You said it was free, so it's free. I think you're deliberately deceiving people and trying to evade the tax by soliciting customers privately."
"No, I dare not!" The shopkeeper was so scared that he waved his hands again, "I'm really not hiding it, I really just want to take them in for one night."
"Boss, you made us make this special trip in the middle of the night. We don't want to listen to your nagging. Let's pay the taxes quickly to avoid trouble." Fat Tiger swung his long sword, and the shopkeeper was so scared that he took several steps back.
The shopkeeper looked desperate. He had just managed to collect the five taels of silver for the commercial tax and paid it a few days ago. No one had come to eat in the past few days.
We finally have customers today. The lawyer and so many officials come to eat. The shop is paying for so much food, so where can we get the money to hand over?
"Our shop is really a small business. Business has been bad these days, and we really haven't made that much money. This... this is the meal money for our guests today, which is only 700 coins. If you don't mind, sir, I will..." The shopkeeper took out a string of copper coins from his sleeve.
"Are you kidding me?" Fat Tiger became even more impatient. He glanced back and signaled. Two yamen runners came forward and pinned the shopkeeper down. He shouted, "Search him!"
"Yes!" The two people on the side took the order and took action.
Chen Xinli and the others had already been woken up by the noise outside the house. Jiang Yu had wanted to investigate it tomorrow and then solve the problem, but the matter had already come to this point and he really couldn't tolerate it anymore.
"Wait!" the young man chuckled.
"Boss, you are still being stubborn. This person has come out on his own." After scolding the boss, Fat Tiger looked at Jiang Yu with an arrogant look on his face.
"Pa!" The fat tiger was slapped in the face instantly. It was Xu Huaifei who stepped forward and slapped him.
"How dare you! You are so bold as to beat the police officers. Come on, arrest them for me." Fat Tiger held his numb face and roared angrily. The two yamen runners who were searching for things immediately stepped forward.
"Let's see who dares?" As the young man's voice fell, Xu Huai flew down and kicked Fat Tiger. Fat Tiger was kicked again and knelt on one knee.
Jiang Yu angrily scolded, "You little yamen runners, not only disturbing the people in the middle of the night, but also arbitrarily collecting taxes. Who gave you the power?"
"you……"
Fat Tiger was pinned down, and the two yamen runners behind him looked at each other in bewilderment. Fat Tiger's face had already turned red, and he spat, "You ignorant children, why don't you let me go? When the county magistrate finds out, I'll definitely give you all a good beating."
After Fat Tiger finished speaking, he stared fiercely at Jiang Yu, who was in the lead.
He had already seen that Jiang Yu was the leader of this group. The two little boys and girls, about eight or nine years old, standing next to him were good-looking, and they were exactly the target of his trip.
As long as we catch these people, the county magistrate will reward us.
Today, the legal advisor and his team went to the refugee village below and collected a lot of tax silver. The county magistrate praised them highly, and Fat Tiger and his companions looked at them with envy.
During the day, they also followed the chief clerk to collect taxes, but not only did they not collect any, they were almost drowned by the people's spit and had to escape with great difficulty.
Fat Tiger spent a long time inquiring from the leading yamen runner Liuzi in the evening, but Liuzi did not reveal any details.
Finally, he talked about the kids he met while eating in the shop. Judging from their clothes, they looked like rich young men and women out for a trip with their bodyguards. Fat Tiger immediately became interested.
The county magistrate was newly appointed after the plague. He started to make a lot of money as soon as he arrived and was deeply loved by them.
Because the grain tax period had not yet arrived, the county magistrate created a number of tax items: merchants had commercial taxes, the people had grain taxes, silk taxes, bridge taxes, and other taxes. He also asked the county lieutenant, legal advisors and others to take people out to collect taxes. As long as the taxes were collected, they would be rewarded generously.
The county magistrate had a strange hobby. He liked to raise children, especially good-looking ones. He would reward generously to anyone who brought him a good-looking child.
Fat Tiger suddenly had an idea. He found out that Chen Xinli and her group were still in the food store, so he came at night under the pretext of collecting taxes.
But he didn't expect that Jiang Yu and his companions were not only not afraid of him, but also subdued him.
Fat Tiger's body was imprisoned and he couldn't move at all. He could only curse: "You bunch of troublemakers, why don't you let me go quickly? When I catch you, I will cut you into pieces..."
"Oh? I just don't know why you want to cut us into pieces?" Jiang Yu said calmly, "Where is your county government office? Take me there."
The shopkeeper tried to stop him anxiously: "Sir, you can't go. The county magistrate has over a hundred yamen runners, and you are too few to go."
"Thank you for your hospitality, old man. But there is trouble at hand and I have to solve it." Jiang Yu's eyes flashed with coldness.
Under the protection of Xu Huai and others, Jiang Yu and his men pressed Fat Tiger towards the county government office.
"Young Master, our people are in the dark. Do we need to transfer them here to deal with a mere county magistrate?" Xu Huai asked softly.
"Even though he's just a county magistrate, we're outnumbered, so we really need to be on guard. It would be dangerous if he were to collude with someone in the palace. What's more, we have Aqi and Ali here, so it's better to be cautious."
"Young master is right." Xu Huai signaled with his eyes, and a guard quietly left.
"Who are you?" Fat Tiger heard something and felt a little uneasy.
…
Qingyuan County Government Office.
Sun Bincai never imagined that someone would hold a knife to his neck in the middle of the night.
But he has something to rely on, so he is not afraid.
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