Jiang Ming had actually been pondering something for a long time...
He just felt something was off about the tax revenue targets for this county!
This tax collection is already going until the year after next, it's clearly nonsense!
Even if the Yan state was defeated in the Battle of Maiqiu, and the King of Yan wanted to regroup, he shouldn't have gone so far as to exhaust the resources and force the people to freeze or starve to death.
Since Dong Chuan dared to use Ji Bochang's mother's birthday as a pretext to have his men deliver wolf skins,
It's obvious to anyone that he altered the tax collection quota without authorization!
The question is, what does the ruler truly want?
Ji Bochang was a hands-off manager, knowing nothing when asked, and Jin Feng knew nothing either, leaving everything to Dong Chuan to handle...
Jiang Ming was determined to get to the bottom of this!
He patted Dong Chuan's cheek and asked in a low voice, "Tell me the truth! What exactly is the quota for the king's winter tax collection? If you dare to lie to me... I'll pour molten copper into your eyes."
"Uh...uh..."
Dong Chuan was so frightened that he trembled all over and wet his pants.
His teeth chattered and his lips trembled as he said, "Five...five hundred loads, one able-bodied man from each village...one from each household."
Seeing that he was not behaving himself, Jiang Ming drew his bronze sword from his waist and cut off a section of Dong Chuan's finger.
"ah!"
A heart-wrenching howl ripped through Dong Chuan's body, and blood gushed out.
“Humans have ten fingers, and each finger, except for the thumb, has three segments… You can answer slowly until you get it right…” Jiang Ming smiled sinisterly.
"I'll talk! I'll talk!"
Dong Chuan wailed, "One hundred loads per village, one able-bodied man per household!"
Jiang Ming didn't care whether what he said was right or wrong, and directly chopped off another part of his finger.
"ah!"
The pain in his fingers was excruciating!
He rolled and writhed on the ground like a maggot; if he weren't tied up with rope, he would have jumped up in pain.
"Lord Jiang, I'm telling the truth! Ah...!"
"snort......"
Jiang Ming sneered, "Didn't each village already contribute 300 dan (a unit of weight) before?"
"I added more quotas again, boohoo! Lord Jiang, please have mercy on me! Boohoo!"
"snort......"
"ah!"
Another part of Dong Chuan's finger was chopped off.
"Lord Jiang, I'm telling the truth! Ah...!"
Dong Chuan was in so much pain that he was almost passing out...
"You're not telling me the whole story. What about the armor? And all these other things... You're planning to sell them to that guy surnamed Luo too?"
"Yes, yes! It's all what he wanted."
What does he need these for?
"ah!"
Before Dong Chuan could answer, Jiang Ming chopped off another piece of his finger, warning, "Don't just answer my questions one by one. You need to be completely honest and give concise answers... Understand?"
"I understand!"
Despite the excruciating pain, Dong Chuan kept nodding his head, saying, "He...he wants these armors to be transported back to Zhongshan Kingdom to sell, sob sob sob!"
"ah!"
Jiang Ming chopped off another of his fingers, and Dong Chuan was in so much pain that he couldn't even make a sound.
"Lord Jiang, I've already told you everything I know, why do you still...?"
"If I told you you'd tell me everything you know, would I not chop off your finger?"
"ah!"
......
Just as Jiang Ming was torturing Dong Chuan, Liang the Drunkard arrived.
Tonight is his wedding night with Widow Sun, and it's been quite a commotion!
The young couple were making love at night, and he kept waking them up!
"Lord Jiang, what are your orders?" Liang the Drunkard asked, bowing and scraping.
Jiang Ming ignored him and instead looked around the dilapidated earth god temple, a brilliant idea forming in his mind!
"Fellow villagers!"
Jiang Ming turned to the villagers of Chenjia Village and the other villages and said, "The winter grain requisition quota has been waived by order of the Prefect, so you don't need to bring your armor..."
Upon hearing this, all the people cheered!
"Long live! Long live! Long live Lord Jiang!"
"Lord Jiang, is this true?"
"Are we really not going to contribute 500 dan of grain? Nor are we going to contribute armor?"
......
"Tsk!"
Jiang Ming frowned and said, "Could the Prefect's words be false? Besides..."
Jiang Ming pondered for a moment and said, "The mountain god of Yanshan told me that this earth god temple needs to be rebuilt into a mountain god temple... and the two brothers of the Dong family will be made into two flesh-bodied bodhisattvas to protect us from disasters for generations!"
"Great!"
"Very good!"
"I'll make them into two clay sculptures! That will be the only way to vent my anger!"
......
Upon hearing this, the Dong brothers, Dong Chuan and Dong Shan, were so frightened that they fainted!
"Lord Jiang! There are still these scoundrels here!"
"Yes! What should be done with these people?"
......
After pondering for a moment, Jiang Ming said, "How can a temple be without little demons? Turn them all into clay demon figurines..."
"Great! Turn them all into little devils!"
"Great!"
......
Some villagers were excitedly waving their arms and legs, while others looked terrified...
"My husband..."
Chen Damei tugged at Jiang Ming's sleeve and said, "One should be lenient when possible... Dong Chuan and Dong Shan are indeed guilty of a capital offense! But these hooligans are just accomplices, some are just trying to make a living, so... why not spare their lives? Besides, you've already castrated them..."
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