Old Mrs. Shen was already grateful to Village Chief Ma, and hearing him praise her granddaughter like this, she couldn't stop smiling. She called out to Li Bao, "Quick, Li Bao, come here and call your uncle!"
Lili knew that it was this man in front of her who had helped her settle in the Shen family, and she didn't hesitate to show off her signature dimples: "Hello, Uncle."
Village Chief Ma chuckled and patted her head, then called to everyone, "Alright, alright, Auntie, aren't you in a hurry to get to the city? Let's get going!"
"Yes, yes, yes." Old Mrs. Shen quickly helped everyone get on the oxcart.
The oxcart was bumpy, and it was still dark and the wind was chilly, making it quite a challenge. Lili was much more comfortable being held by Shen Jiahao, who also blocked most of the wind.
Old Shen sat alone opposite, holding onto two baskets on either side.
Old Mrs. Shen sat at the very back, chatting idly with Village Chief Ma.
When Village Chief Ma saw the mushrooms coming out of the basket, he asked, "Auntie, are you going to the city to sell mushrooms? Why don't you sell them in town?"
Old Mrs. Shen had already prepared her excuse: "Well, the city is a bit far away, and these things picked from the mountains are fresher. I was thinking that I could buy them for a higher price there."
Village Chief Ma understood: "So that's how it is. Although it's a bit far and tiring, it does allow us to sell for a higher price."
Old Mrs. Shen asked, "Oh, really? Why do you say that?"
Village Chief Ma said, "You don't know yet, do you? Nanlin County has not had rain for a long time. During the drought, the yield of almost all crops has been affected."
Old Mrs. Shen hesitated and said, "Didn't it just rain a while ago...?"
"How could that be? Only our Liucheng area has been affected; the rest of the country hasn't seen any rain. Our Nanlin County is considered relatively good. You all know the situation in the neighboring Xixiang County, right? The prefect in the capital city has had a sudden outburst of kindness and is planning to transport grain there for disaster relief!"
Old Mrs. Shen fell silent. Xinghua Village belonged to Liucheng, but she didn't know that the rain that day had only fallen in Liucheng.
Why are they the only ones getting off here?
Old Mrs. Shen and Old Man Shen both glanced at Lili, who was nestled in Shen Jiahao's arms, eating a pancake and listening to them talk.
Hmm... I guess it's just their luck.
Lili's focus, however, was on the latter part of the conversation. Disaster relief should mean distributing food to the victims, right? That's a good thing, but why did she feel that Village Chief Ma's phrase "a sudden outburst of kindness" sounded sarcastic?
Lili swallowed a bite of the pancake and said, "Disaster relief, that's a good thing!"
Sure enough, Village Chief Ma sneered, "Hey, you know he's my wife's younger brother?"
Old Mrs. Shen thought for a moment: "The one who works as a waiter in a restaurant in the city?"
"Yes, it's him!" Village Chief Ma said coldly as he drove the oxcart. "That day he was clearing the dishes, and there was a table of county officials sitting next to him. I heard them say that the prefect was going to use the people's grain for disaster relief!"
"What do you mean?"
"They're going to increase the grain tax!" Village Chief Ma said, getting angrier and angrier. "I didn't hear the rest, but it sounded like our magistrate was planning to pay high prices to buy grain from the people himself. I don't know what's going on."
The current emperor of the Southern Jin Dynasty cares deeply for the people and has always been compassionate towards them. Since his ascension to the throne, the grain tax has only been 20%. Now, this prefect wants to raise taxes, but who knows how much?
"Raise taxes?" Old Mrs. Shen exclaimed in surprise. "The grain tax of more than 20% is set by the current emperor himself. How can the prefect raise taxes?"
"Who knows? How can ordinary people like us question the abilities of officials?"
Old Mrs. Shen fell silent, because what Village Chief Ma said was indeed true.
Although it is always said that officials serve the people and that being an official is for the people, how difficult it is to actually meet a good official who is wholeheartedly for the people and can listen to their voices!
These farmers who spend their entire lives tilling the land may never even see an official in their lifetime.
Old Mrs. Shen was someone who had lived most of her life and was halfway to the grave. The highest official she had ever seen was the village clerk who came to collect the grain tax every year.
Faced with the threat of officialdom, they had no choice but to obey. Otherwise, who knew if their heads would still be on the line the next second?
Village Chief Ma seemed to sense that the atmosphere had become somewhat tense, so he changed the subject: "Anyway, you should be able to find grain buyers when you go to the city today. They buy everything, including mushrooms. Auntie, you can go and take a look if you want."
Old Mrs. Shen nodded: "Thank you, Little Ma."
"You're too kind, Auntie," Village Chief Ma said again. "These are all hearsay, and we don't know how much of it is true or false, so please don't tell anyone."
"Oh, that's natural."
Lili has been running wild in the village with her brothers these past few days.
I'm so free and unrestrained. My biggest worry every day is what to eat for dinner. For a moment, I've forgotten that this is ancient times, a proper feudal dynasty.
When Lili heard Village Chief Ma mention it, it took her a while to react.
Historically, taxes were uniformly set by the Ministry of Revenue, which, as an agency directly under the emperor, was essentially responsible for issuing the emperor's orders.
If what Village Chief Ma said is true, then the prefect of Nanlin County privately collecting taxes is tantamount to disobeying the imperial decree and deceiving the emperor, which is a capital offense!
Looking at the expressions on Old Mrs. Shen and Old Master Shen's faces, Lili saw that they were also worried, but their worry was only about whether the grain tax would really be increased.
Everyone says His Majesty is wise, and that a 20% grain tax is already a great favor. But in this year of famine, the cost of grain is already low, and after paying the grain tax, people can barely make ends meet. Now, suddenly raising the tax is taking away the farmers' lifeline!
Without any official document, they dared not discuss it casually; they would just complain a little in private and that was it.
Even if the authorities really want to raise taxes, they have no choice but to obediently pay them.
Lili seemed to be deep in thought, intuitively feeling that the water here was more than it appeared to be.
Lili recalled the handsome young man she met on the official road the day she was rescued.
That young man said he would be in the prefectural city. Could this matter be related to him?
Well, it's not something a country bumpkin like her should concern herself with anyway. She should just focus on figuring out how to persuade Granny Shen to take her to see the rice seeds.
I stayed up early in the morning to go to the market to see the various rice varieties for sale, so I could estimate the harvestable yield and also to assess the quality of the rice varieties to prepare for the future.
As dawn broke, the oxcart finally arrived in town after a bumpy ride. Just then, the coachman who was going to the city arrived at the town gate, and Old Lady Shen quickly led everyone off the cart.
"Thank you, Xiao Ma. Come to my house for dinner sometime!"
"Okay, Auntie!"
Old Mrs. Shen hurriedly led everyone towards the carriage, which was the most ordinary kind, but it was already excellent for them.
"Excuse me, is this the carriage going to Liucheng?"
Seeing that there were many of them and they were carrying two large baskets of goods, the driver said, "Adults are twenty coins each, children are ten coins each, and goods are five coins per basket."
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