In fact, Xu Zhiqian was just like Zhang Fei. She had never thought about marrying Zhang Fei before. But when faced with the choice, she only chose Zhang Fei.
During the two days at home, Xu Zhiqian tossed and turned. She thought of countless options, but the more she thought about it, the deeper and more lingering the memories of Zhang Fei and her became.
And when Zhang Fei asked her in person just now, she couldn't refuse.
"How...how do you plan to promote tax calculation?"
When Zhang Fei got on the carriage, Xu Zhiqian asked with forced calmness.
It was as if nothing had just happened.
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "You should know that the imperial court will soon collect all summer taxes, and the county has already sent people to urge payment."
"Summer tax?" Xu Zhiqian hesitated for a moment and asked, "You just want to use this to promote tax calculation?"
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "I do have this idea. I heard from Lao Qi and others that because the imperial land registers were not updated in a timely manner, many people had to pay a lot more, and many landlords paid less."
Xu Zhiqian nodded, and sighed again: "In fact, this cannot be entirely blamed on the court. The changes in our dynasty's land have never happened since ancient times. This situation may occur in half a year."
...
...
Zhang Fei said: "I want to promote our tax calculation by correcting this situation. If farmers come here to calculate taxes, they can pay less taxes. Why don't they come?"
Xu Zhiqian frowned slightly and said, "Are you going to sue the court over this?"
Zhang Fei hesitated for a moment, "This is just a promotional gimmick. As for whether to sue the court or not, it depends on how the court responds. I am not so arrogant as to sue the court while eating and sleeping. Moreover, I have heard that many honest officials have also issued some decrees against such phenomena, but due to frequent transfers of official positions, they have been intermittent."
Xu Zhiqian nodded and said, "That's true. My father did the same when he was the magistrate. But after he left office, he went back to the same old ways."
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "This shows that this problem is not very serious and will not harm the interests of too many people. In addition, the officials in the court are currently focusing on stopping the two government regulations, and I have just received the imperial plaque. I don't think those officials will compete with me over this matter."
Xu Zhiqian nodded slightly, "In fact, the royal relatives are all exempt from tax, and wealthy businessmen like the Fan family and the Ma family have deposited a large amount of land in the name of Xiangguo Temple. It is said that they only need to pay less than 20% of the tax in incense money every year."
Zhang Fei frowned when he heard this: "If I have the chance, I will definitely abolish this damn privilege."
Xu Zhiqian was very encouraged by what she heard, and nodded like a chicken pecking at rice, "Do you have any idea?"
Zhang Fei was startled, and almost revealed his true feelings, and hurriedly said: "I'm just saying, this kind of thing can only be corrected by the court itself."
Xu Zhiqian snorted, "How can the imperial court correct itself?"
Zhang Fei said: "Doesn't Grand Secretary Wang want to reform the law? Maybe he will do this."
Xu Zhiqian asked, "I haven't heard that Uncle Wang wants to waive his privileges. What makes you say that?"
Zhang Fei laughed and said, "You are stupid! The reform of Wang Daxueshi is mainly to improve finances, so taxes must be increased. The current tax money has almost been collected from the people. If taxes are to be increased, won't it only increase taxes on these people?"
Xu Zhiqian felt that Zhang Fei's analysis made sense, and asked, "Will this work?"
Zhang Fei shrugged: "Who knows."
As the two chatted, they seemed to have returned to the past and had forgotten about the proposal of marriage.
Unconsciously, the carriage had already arrived in the suburbs.
As they were chatting excitedly, they suddenly heard someone shouting on the side of the road: "The police are killing people! The police are killing people!"
Zhang Fei and Xu Zhiqian looked at each other tacitly.
Another person shouted, "You keep yelling! It would be better if you could call more officials. You have to pay the tax today even if you don't want to."
Zhang Fei was startled and immediately said, "Stop the car."
He got out of the carriage before it stopped.
"What are you doing?"
Xu Zhiqian shouted and immediately followed him out.
After getting off the carriage, Zhang Fei looked in the direction of the sound, but saw a bald man rolling on the ground beside a vegetable garden on the side of the road, shouting for help, while a yamen runner in front of him was holding a whip, pointing at him and scolding him incessantly.
"It's really easy to get it!"
Zhang Fei was overjoyed and walked over quickly. Just as he was about to raise his hand to stop her, a jade arm stretched out from behind and pulled him back, "Wait a moment!"
Zhang Fei turned around and said excitedly: "Why are you holding me? This is a great opportunity for publicity. Ahem, no, don't stop me from doing what is right."
But Xu Zhiqian still held him tightly, "I know your little tricks, please wait a moment."
"Everyone will die if we wait any longer." Zhang Fei was extremely anxious. He wanted to shout out immediately, "Zhang San is here. Corrupt officials should stop being so presumptuous."
Xu Zhiqian said: "Listen to me and wait and see."
At the same time, the man's shouting also attracted some passers-by to watch.
"You are such a scoundrel Li, you...just wait."
When the officer saw that more and more people were gathering around, he left angrily after saying something harsh.
That’s it?
Zhang Fei was stunned at the moment, at least he should have been whipped a few times.
The man stood up, brushed off the dust on his body, grinned at the official, and said with disdain: "You are such a nobody, and you still want to ask me for money? You don't even know how to ask around to find out the name of Li Laocai."
"What's going on?"
Zhang Fei tilted his head and asked Xu Zhiqian.
Xu Zhiqian smiled and explained: "It is true that there are corrupt officials, but not every citizen is honest and simple and will allow others to bully them. There are many cunning people like these around the capital. It is not easy to collect taxes from them!"
Tokyo has a strong business atmosphere, with people coming and going. The rulers have no environment to tame the people, and the people are very smart and know how to cheat and deceive. Many famous scoundrels don't pay taxes for most of their lives.
The key point is that many of the people who are collecting debts are upper-class people who go to serve in the government offices and do not even have a regular position. These people will not compete with these ruffians. The other party has only a life to lose, and fighting with them will only make them lose.
Of course, many ruffians didn't have much land, and the upper-class families who really had land didn't dare to play tricks on the government.
"I see!"
Zhang Fei nodded, and suddenly realized that Xu Zhiqian was still holding his hand, so he immediately shook it with his backhand, "In the future, when I get impulsive, you have to hold me."
Xu Zhiqian quickly retracted her hand and snorted, "You have to be able to hold it back!"
Suddenly, Long Wu said from behind: "My benefactor, be careful."
Zhang Fei turned around and looked at Long Wu. Long Wu raised his head and saw that the ruffian surnamed Li was suddenly walking towards them, staring at Xu Zhiqian.
Xu Zhiqian was also a man of the world, he frowned and showed disgust on his face, but he was not afraid at all.
"This is a little girl!"
The scoundrel smiled lewdly and said, "Oh! She is so pretty! I, Li Laocai, have never seen such a pretty young lady."
Zhang Fei leaned back and whispered to Long Wu, "You are not allowed to attack until I fall to the ground."
After that, he pulled Xu Zhiqian to the side of Li Si, then stepped forward and shouted at the scoundrel, "If you don't want to die, get out of here."
The scoundrel looked at Zhang Fei and heard his arrogant tone, but it didn't sound like a Tokyo accent. He grinned and said, "I, Li Laocai, have wanted to die for a long time, but I haven't found anyone who dares to do it. If you can't kill me today, I will never let you go."
This scoundrel is just playing the game of you being afraid of trouble. He has a life in tatters and no one wants to get into trouble because of such a person.
Except for the ear pen.
Zhang Fei laughed and said, "What a coincidence! Me too. Hit me if you dare!"
The rascal was stunned for a moment, wondering if this guy was a fellow rascal. But seeing that this guy was fair-skinned, handsome, and had thick hair, he didn't look like a rascal. He immediately rolled up his sleeves and tentatively reached out to push Zhang Fei.
Zhang Fei flew backwards and crashed heavily into the carriage. He covered his chest with one hand and shouted loudly, "Help! Someone is killing me!"
This change happened so quickly that Xu Zhiqian was stunned.
The rascal was also confused and looked at his hands in confusion.
Zhang Fei shouted for a while, and suddenly looked at Long Wu with a question mark on his face.
Long Wu also had a face full of question marks.
Is this guy so dull? Zhang Fei sat down on the ground.
Long Wu jumped out immediately.
The scoundrel just reacted, "You are innocent...!"
Before he could finish his words, Long Wu pounced on him and scratched the scoundrel with his claws.
Zhang Fei looked at Long Wu, who was scratching and clawing at the rascal like a shrew, and could not help but be stunned. He...isn't he a master?
After a fight, Long Wu finally got the upper hand and made the scoundrel run away with his head in his hands, shouting, "Hey you! Hey you! Help! Help!"
Many onlookers not only did not help, but also laughed.
Zhang Fei also reacted when he shouted, covering his chest and shouting, "Someone is being beaten! Someone is being killed!"
Xu Zhiqian and Li Si on the side were trying their best to hold back their laughter.
"Who's calling for help?"
The official who had just left ran back and asked breathlessly.
Long Wu stopped immediately.
"he!"
Zhang Fei and the rascal pointed at each other in tacit understanding.
The scoundrel pointed at his own scratched face with a look of injustice, "Brother Cha, look at what he has done to me."
Zhang Fei politely handed the official a small square of paper and said, "I'm Zhang San."
"Zhang San?"
The officer was stunned for a moment, then suddenly jumped up and asked, "Ear Pen Zhang San?"
Zhang Fei nodded with a smile, "This is my business card."
"business card?"
The official didn't know what it was, so he took it and looked at it. He saw Zhang Fei's name, "Zhang San" in brackets, and the name and address of the Bian Jing Law Firm.
Zhang Fei said, "This man just molested my fiancée and beat me. Fortunately, my servants came to his aid. Everyone here saw it with their own eyes. Please take him to the government office first. I will send someone to sue for me later."
Xu Zhiqian's cheeks flushed, and she whispered, "What fiancée? I haven't even agreed to it yet."
"Oh, ok...ok."
The official was overjoyed. He grabbed the ruffian by the collar and laughed, "Li Laocai, you are done for this time. You have offended the spy Zhang San."
The ruffian seemed to have heard of Zhang Fei's name. He looked at Zhang Fei and said blankly, "Er...Erbi Zhang San?"
Zhang Fei nodded and smiled: "Just stay inside."
"Hey, you! I am blind, Zhang Sanlang, spare me! Zhang Sanlang, spare me!"
The rascal immediately started crying.
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "The lawsuit hasn't even started yet, don't admit defeat yet!"
If we don't admit defeat, there will be no hope for us.
When the officer heard this, he understood and immediately dragged Li Laocai away.
Xu Zhiqian walked forward with a smile, "It's unfortunate for this little rascal to meet a big rascal!"
Zhang Fei glanced at her and said, "To deal with a scoundrel, you can only use the scoundrel's method. Otherwise, how can you reason with him?"
Xu Zhiqian thought about it and felt that there seemed to be some truth in it.
Zhang Fei suddenly looked at Long Wu next to him, and saw a scarlet scar on his neck caused by the scoundrel. What kind of master is this? He asked, "Long Wu, what were you doing just now?"
Long Wu said: "I...I'm afraid of beating him to death."
"......?"
Zhang Fei made a muffled sound in his throat and asked, "Do you...do you often beat people to death?"
Long Wu quickly shook his head and said, "Not often."
Xu Zhiqian looked at Long Wu in shock.
Li Si also took a step back timidly.
Zhang Fei nodded, "Understood."
He coughed and looked around, "Zhiqian, let's look around."
Xu Zhiqian came back to her senses, nodded, followed in small steps, and whispered: "Zhang San, this Long Wu...!"
Zhang Fei said: "He is not a bad person."
Xu Zhiqian didn't ask any more questions.
Now when it is time to collect summer taxes, officials can be seen everywhere going to farmers' homes to collect taxes.
"Brother, please be kind. We are really short of money right now. Please be patient for a while. We will buy the grain and exchange it for money, and then we will pay the tax right away."
I saw a young man standing in his own farmyard, speaking to an official in a humble tone.
"You mean, I have to wait for you? Do you know how busy I am now? Okay, I'll use these bags of grain to pay the tax."
"Brother Cha, this is our summer ration! If you take it away, my whole family will starve to death."
"What are you yelling about? I'm not taking all of it. I'll leave one bag for you. There are only four people in your family. Can you eat so much food?"
The Northern Song Dynasty also had a two-tax system, with summer taxes collected in the form of copper coins and autumn taxes collected in the form of grain.
In ancient times, coins were all hard currency, so money was scarce in the hands of the people. Summer taxes were actually more troublesome than autumn taxes. People were often blackmailed by these officials because they had no money.
Xu Zhiqian looked at Zhang Fei and said, "You want to be a hero, right? Go now!"
Zhang Fei was startled and asked naively, "Is this true?"
Xu Zhiqian nodded, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
Zhang Fei immediately walked over and asked in a leadership tone: "What's the matter?"
The officer looked at Zhang Fei and asked, "Who are you?"
The young farmer also looked at Zhang Fei in confusion.
Zhang Fei said, "No problem! Ear Pen Zhang San."
"Ear...Ear Pen Zhang San?"
The officer swallowed immediately.
Zhang Fei asked, "How much grain did you say you would use to pay the tax?"
"No... No, no, I didn't say anything just now. I have something else to do. I'm leaving first."
The officer ran away in panic.
This spy Zhang Sanling made the yamen runners of Kaifeng Prefecture suffer a lot, how could they not have heard of it.
But the farmer didn't seem to have heard of Zhang San's name. Seeing that the young man scared the official away with just one sentence, his legs trembled and he clasped his fists and said, "Thank...thank you for your help, big brother."
Zhang Fei smiled slightly, took out a small piece of paper and handed it over, "This is my business card."
"Name...business card?"
The farmer took the business card, but looked confused.
Zhang Fei said, "My name is Zhang San. I specialize in litigation for the people. If the government charges you too much tax, you can come to me. My address is written on it. I guarantee that you won't have to pay a penny more in tax."
"Really...really?" the farmer said excitedly.
Zhang Fei smiled and nodded, "Come to me if you need anything. I'll take my leave now."
"Thank you, bro. Thank you, bro."
“It’s a piece of cake.”
Zhang Fei nodded slightly and left the farmyard.
Xu Zhiqian came over immediately, "By the way! What's your business card? Do you have any left? Let me see one."
Zhang Fei took out one and handed it to Xu Zhiqian.
Xu Zhiqian took it and looked at it, then smiled and said, "Your business card is quite similar to the official's door, but the writing on yours is simpler and much smaller."
The door shape is a post used by officials when paying a visit, which is also a business card. However, Zhang Fei's business card is much larger, about six or seven inches in size, rolled up, and tied with silk thread.
Then, she looked up at Zhang Fei again, "They can't read, what's the point of giving this to them?"
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "There will always be someone who can read."
Xu Zhiqian asked: "Isn't this your way of promoting tax calculation?"
Zhang Fei nodded and smiled: "Yes!"
Xu Zhiqian shook her head and said, "I don't think it will be of much use."
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "You have to remember one thing, words are not enough."
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