"You bunch of vampires! All you know is to exploit the ordinary people of our Great Qin!" the old man shouted angrily, his face full of wrinkles and his eyes filled with despair and anger.
"How dare you! How dare you insult His Majesty!" A bailiff roared, waving the whip in his hand and hitting the old man hard.
The old man screamed in pain, but he did not back down. Instead, he shouted even more angrily: "Qin Shi Huang is a tyrant! The tax system he established is to drive us into a dead end!"
As soon as this sentence came out, the vendors around showed horrified expressions. They knew that insulting Qin Shihuang was a serious crime, and once discovered, the consequences would be disastrous.
Sure enough, the yamen runners became furious when they heard what he said. They gathered around and surrounded the old man.
One of the leading yamen runners even drew the sword from his waist and put it against the old man's neck.
"You old thing, how dare you insult His Majesty! This is a capital crime!" The leading bailiff said coldly, his eyes full of murderous intent.
The old man did not retreat. He widened his eyes and stared at the bailiff, as if he wanted to engrave his appearance into his heart.
"Hmph, just die! Living is suffering anyway!" the old man shouted loudly, his voice full of determination.
The leading yamen runner heard this and a hint of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes. He no longer hesitated, raised his knife and slashed it, with a flash of cold light, the old man's head rolled to the ground.
...
...
Blood gushed out, staining the surrounding ground red.
A life passed away right before our eyes.
Seeing this, the vendors around screamed in fear.
They retreated one after another, fearing that they would also be killed by these yamen runners.
Li Rongrong looked at this scene, her heart filled with shock and anger.
She didn't expect that he would kill so cleanly and efficiently. She was originally standing on the outskirts of the crowd, and things happened so quickly that she almost had no time to react.
Her hands were clenched tightly together, her nails almost digging into her palms.
But she still resisted the urge to step forward, because she knew that she had to stay calm. She was new here and only knew some self-defense skills. If she stepped forward rashly, she would probably be no better than the old man.
Only by contacting Fusu can we truly rescue these people in Longchuan County.
At this moment, a burst of hurried footsteps was heard, and a middle-aged man in gorgeous clothes came hurriedly with a group of followers.
He looked hurried, as if he had something urgent to do.
Upon seeing this, the yamen runners put away their weapons and saluted respectfully.
The leading yamen runner stepped forward quickly and whispered a few words in the middle-aged man's ear.
The middle-aged man frowned when he heard this.
He looked up at the frightened vendors, a complex expression flashed in his eyes. Then he waved his hand, signaling the runners to retreat.
The middle-aged man was the county magistrate Zhao Tuo. He was wearing a brocade robe, a jade belt around his waist, and his face was dignified but also a bit calm.
Looking at the chaotic scene in front of him, especially the tragic sight of the old man lying in a pool of blood, his brows were furrowed and a hint of imperceptible worry flashed in his eyes.
However, this worry was fleeting, and was replaced by deeper calculations and trade-offs.
"Everyone, don't panic or be afraid." Zhao Tuo's voice was steady and powerful, penetrating the noise of the crowd and gradually calming the hearts that were trembling with fear.
He walked forward slowly, his eyes swept around, and finally fixed on the yamen runners. There was both blame and suggestion in his eyes, "I have learned about this matter, and I will handle it impartially. I will never let anyone oppress the people."
After saying this, he waved his hand gently, signaling the yamen runners who were still pointing knives at each other to step aside. At the same time, he ordered people to quickly clean up the scene and properly place the old man's body.
This series of actions, which seemed decisive yet graceful, gradually calmed the people around him.
Seeing this, Li Rongrong's eyes flashed. The government officials were more terrifying than bullies. It seemed that Zhao Tuo was not a good person either.
The water in Longchuan County is so deep that you can’t see the bottom.
I've seen it. I have to be more careful.
When everything was arranged, Zhao Tuo turned around and glanced sharply at the yamen runners, especially the leading one, whose eyes revealed a silent warning.
Then, he coughed lightly and said, "Everyone, follow me back to the county government office. This matter needs to be discussed carefully."
The group returned to the county government office in a mighty and tense atmosphere.
Entering the hall, Zhao Tuo sat down, looked around, and then slowly spoke: "Do you know your mistakes in what happened today?"
The leading yamen runner turned pale and was about to ask for forgiveness when he was interrupted by Zhao Tuo: "No need to say more, I know my limits. Although the old man was rude, as officials, how can you execute people without authorization? Such behavior will give people a reason to criticize us. How will the people view us?"
These words made everyone present feel a chill in their hearts. Even the yamen runners who had originally been hoping for a lucky break lowered their heads, not daring to look Zhao Tuo in the eye.
Seeing this, Zhao Tuo slowed down his tone and continued, "However, now that things have come to this, we need to work together to find a countermeasure to calm the people's grievances and protect ourselves."
After some discussion, Zhao Tuo proposed a "best of both worlds" plan.
He decided to first announce to the public that the old man refused to pay taxes and in a state of emotional excitement collided with a yamen runner and accidentally died, in order to calm public opinion.
Moreover, it is a fact that the old man insulted Your Majesty. He could accuse the old man of being a remnant of the Six Kingdoms and execute all nine generations of his clan, not to mention that someone in the old man's family came to overturn the verdict.
No one would make a big fuss about this unless they wanted to die.
As for those yamen runners who were directly involved in the crime, they would be temporarily transferred to other positions.
"This plan can not only protect us from being implicated, but also maintain the dignity of the government. What do you think?"
Zhao Tuo's eyes swept across everyone's faces, waiting for their responses.
Everyone looked at each other, then nodded.
After the discussion was over, Zhao Tuo turned to discussing how to further exploit the people in order to enrich the treasury.
He proposed adding new taxes, such as "head tax" and "land surcharge", and at the same time strengthening supervision of market transactions and charging high "market tax" from vendors.
Zhao Tuo's words were filled with unquestionable firmness. "But remember, this matter must be done secretly and cleverly. We must not let the people know that we did it on purpose. Instead, we must make them feel that this is a sacrifice they should make for the peace of the Qin Dynasty."
As Zhao Tuo finished his words, a more severe exploitation plan against the people of Guizhou quietly unfolded.
The yamen runners were assigned to various villages and towns to collect taxes under various names. Some used the excuse of building cement roads, while others used the excuse of strengthening city walls. In short, as long as they could squeeze out money, they would use any means.
Behind the scenes, Zhao Tuo used his power to secretly collude with some wealthy businessmen, purchasing grain, cloth and other supplies at low prices, and then selling them to the people at high prices, making huge profits.
At the same time, he also used his power to seek personal gain for himself and his cronies, disregarding the lives of the people.
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