"Young Master Kun, why are you paying him taxes?"
To be honest, Chen Mo was especially disappointed in Jing Zhe at this moment.
"I don't want to give it to you either, but what can I do?"
Jing Zhe shrugged, indicating his helplessness.
“How can you say there’s no way? The law set by His Majesty stipulates that all merchants who pay commercial taxes must have been in business for more than three years, and the tax amount is two or three percent of their turnover. You’ve only been open for two days, so you shouldn’t have to pay a single cent! They are clearly extorting money from you, and by paying them so readily, young master, aren’t you just emboldening them?”
After being harshly criticized by Chen Mo, Jing Zhe gave a wry smile.
“What Brother Chen said is exactly what I know. It is said that the common people cannot fight against the officials. Even if we know that they are deliberately extorting money, what can we ordinary merchants do? We can only spend money to buy peace of mind.”
Seeing Jing Zhe's helpless expression, Chen Mo felt a pang of sympathy.
His tone softened considerably. "While that may be true, aren't you afraid they'll become even more arrogant if you indulge them like this? I think they have no legitimate cause and no legal basis. It's likely that these constables acted on their own and have nothing to do with the government."
"Therefore, it would be better to take them to court and bring them to justice!"
Upon hearing this, Jing Zhe shook his head: "Brother Chen hasn't quite grasped the true nature of this matter yet; things aren't as simple as you think!"
"Oh? What's the secret?"
Chen Mo asked, puzzled.
So Jing Zhe recounted his first visit to the watermelon shop and the conflict he had with Lin Tong.
"So, according to you, you humiliated Lin Tong, so he went to Lin Wenyao to complain about you. Plus, the 'Cool Summer' popsicles became a hit and stole business from their watermelon stall. So, this time, the constables were sent by Lin Wenyao to retaliate against you?"
After listening, Chen Mo asked.
"That should be true."
Jing Zhe nodded, "Lin Wenyao's father is the local official of Yongzhou City. What are our chances of winning if we go to his father to sue his son? In the end, we'll probably lose both our wife and our army!"
Chen Momoran.
He hadn't anticipated the complex connections involved. The person who was going to deal with Jing Zhe was the young master of the watermelon shop, who was also the son of the prefect of Yongzhou City. Officials and merchants were in cahoots, what should he do?
Gritting his teeth, Chen Mo was still unconvinced: "If we can't do anything to him in Yongzhou City, then we'll go to Jingzhou to file a complaint! I refuse to believe that a mere prefect like him could have such extraordinary abilities!"
Jing Zhe shook his head with a wry smile, "I appreciate Brother Chen's kindness, but it's unnecessary. Now that they've collected taxes once, they probably won't be coming back anytime soon. The hottest days of summer are almost over, and the weather is gradually getting cooler, so the popsicle business probably won't last much longer. Therefore, I plan to work overtime during this period to earn more money, and then close down when it gets cooler. Even if they want to collect taxes, they won't be able to find me!"
Chen Mo nodded; this was the only option left.
...
"Young Master!"
The constables left, and the cool summer resort closed down for the holidays.
Hanhan and the others also walked in from the backyard, their faces full of anger.
Fatty Ball scolded his younger brother Big Face with great dissatisfaction: "Why did you stop me? Listening to those two corrupt officials' babbling, I wanted to slap them to death!"
Da Lian smiled, not daring to talk back to his older brother.
Hanhan's face was also dark. "Young chieftain, just say the word and I'll kill those two corrupt officials tonight!"
"Old Wu, don't try to take it! This is something I'm an expert at!"
"I'll go too, and slaughter them until the world turns upside down!"
The others also started arguing.
Normally, Jing Zhe only treated them as free and useful labor, and almost forgot their main job.
Especially Hanhan, who is usually simple-minded in his speech and actions, but when it comes to killing, he is very decisive.
But killing is absolutely unacceptable.
Jing Zhe said sternly, "Don't blame me for not reminding you, no one can lay a finger on those constables!"
Why?
The crowd asked, puzzled.
"Are you guys really stupid or just pretending? Someone just came to cause us trouble, and now you're going to kill him? Wouldn't that be telling everyone that we were the ones who did the killing?"
Everyone frowned and remained silent. Jing Zhe continued, "Besides, we're all in the city now. If things are exposed, the authorities will find out that we're Mangshan bandits. Then, forget about doing business, we won't even be able to leave the city!"
"So you're just going to let them go like that?"
The simpleton was unwilling to give up and asked again.
"Heh, let them go?"
Jing Zhe sneered, "I won't offend others unless they offend me. If they do, I'll kill their whole family!"
"..."
The crowd looked at each other, thinking, "You're the one who can't be persuaded, and you're the one who said to kill the whole family. Who should we believe?"
"If I make a move, it will be earth-shattering. Now is the time for our business to take off; it's not the right time yet. When the time comes, I'll show you all what's what!"
The crowd was skeptical.
The work at Qingyi Summer is relatively easy. The opening time is late in the morning and the closing time is early. The work involves adding the prepared mung bean soup and bamboo tubes to the large vat, and taking out and putting in saltpeter at regular intervals. That's how the workday goes.
Everyone should eat or rest as they wish.
Chen Mo had nothing to do there, so he chatted with Jing Zhe for a few more minutes before saying goodbye and leaving.
Seeing Chen Mo scratching his neck, looking very uncomfortable, Jing Zhe seemed to understand something. After Chen Mo left, he instructed Fatty to go out and buy some wine.
"Young Master, isn't it a bit inappropriate to start drinking in broad daylight?"
The fat ball rubbed his hands together, looking very happy.
Jing Zhe let the impoverished bandits of Mangshan experience the joy of drinking and eating meat to their hearts' content, and they also became very fond of wine.
Jing Zhe glanced at him and said, "Just go when I tell you to. Why all the nonsense?"
He tossed him a tael of silver, saying, "Buy a few more jars, I need them. The rest are for you to drink."
"Okay!"
Fatty took the silver and ran off happily.
...
The watermelon stall diagonally opposite was deserted.
Because of the high price of watermelons, fewer and fewer people in the city are coming to buy them. Lin Wenyao has cursed Lin Tong many times, and even said that if so many watermelons are stuck in his hands and cannot be sold, he will smash them on Lin Tong's head one by one!
Lin Tong is under a lot of pressure because of this.
During this time, he also subtly mentioned to Lin Wenyao that he wondered if the price of watermelons could be lowered slightly. After all, there weren't that many wealthy people in the city. Although he would earn less, the key was to sell in large quantities, so that they wouldn't go unsold.
Lin Wenyao was originally going to consider it, but then he heard that the Cool Summer shop across the street was selling popsicles made from mung bean soup for 100 coins each—and the demand was still outstripping supply!
He decided not to lower the price.
Damn it, where are there few rich people?
It's obvious you don't know how to sell!
So he gave Lin Tong another thorough dressing-down.
————
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