Chapter 363 Tea
After considering it, Zhu Lan said, "You just need to know that we are from the capital, and we are not from the same group as the Yunzhou government you are afraid of."
"Besides, we can help you."
Zhu Lan's voice was firm, giving people an inexplicable sense of security.
Seeing that Gong Shao was persuaded, Zhu Lan asked another question at the right time:
"Don't you want to avenge your family?"
When it comes to revenge, Gong Shao clenched his fists, and hatred and anger burst out of his eyes.
"Okay, I'll tell you everything.
I will do anything to avenge my family!"
Zhu Lan nodded, took another look at the wound on Gong Shao's body, and asked Zhu Qingyan to get the golden wound medicine he carried with him.
"I have heard a little about your family's case, which is why I was able to guess your identity just now."
Zhu Lan was very frank.
“I heard that your family of seventeen people left Yunzhou City at that time, and except for you, the other fifteen were killed in that dilapidated temple.
And one of the headless corpses was not your father Gong Yuanliang.
So first question - where is your father?"
Recalling what happened that night, Gong Shao's voice began to tremble.
"My father was framed, so I had to flee the city with my family, hoping to seek refuge in the south... But as soon as we left the city, we encountered a heavy rain, and it was difficult to move on the road, so we took refuge in that temple."
"It was still dark and I couldn't sleep, so I wandered around the temple and found a secret door behind the donation box. The secret door was open at the time, so it must have been abandoned for a long time. I was curious, so I went in to check it out."
"There was nothing strange behind. I was about to leave when I suddenly heard many footsteps... Many people broke into the ruined temple, and then, followed by the screams of my family..."
Gong Shao’s eyes widened, he hugged his head, and his whole body trembled even more violently.
"I was startled and didn't know what was going on. I wanted to go out to check...but then I saw my brother rushing over and knocking me back into the secret door."
"Then I heard his screams. I wanted to push the door open and get out, but he blocked it with his body. I couldn't get out..."
"I could only see my mother, my wife, my children, my two four-year-old nephews, and many others through the crack in the secret door. They were all killed one by one by those people..."
Gong Shao covered his face with his hands, tears couldn't stop flowing out from between his fingers, and his voice became extremely hoarse.
Zhu Lan felt sad and did not interrupt.
Gong Shao took a deep breath and said in a crying voice:
“Those people were looking…Finally, they found my father.
Took him away.”
It turned out that Gong Yuanliang was captured by those killers.
Zhu Lan thought for a moment and asked again:
"You are so afraid of the Yunzhou government officials, could it be that they have captured your father?
Who is this 'Liao Xing' you just mentioned? The mastermind behind this?"
Gong Shao stared at Zhu Lan for a moment with red eyes, then closed his eyes and said:
"It seems... you really don't know."
"Liao Xing is the magistrate of Jiayu County in Yunzhou."
"Since you know about my family, you should know what kind of business our Gong family is doing."
Zhu Lan said: "I heard that your family is a tea merchant."
"Yes." Gong Shao nodded.
"There were originally three largest tea merchants in Yunzhou City. In addition to our Gong family's tea house, there was also a Liuyang Tea House and a Yongye Tea House."
"Our Yunzhou is located at the border of the two countries, and we have always had a tea-horse trade. Every year, a large portion of the goods from our big tea houses are used by the court to exchange for war horses from Wuzi."
"But in the past two years, the imperial court has been purchasing tea at lower and lower prices, and has even imposed a tea tax."
Zhu Lan frowned, "Tea tax?"
"Yes. It's called tea tax, but in fact it means that all tea merchants are required to hand over an extra portion of tea."
Zhu Lan asked: "How high is the tax on tea?"
Gong Shao raised two fingers and said in a heavy tone, "Twenty percent."
Zhu Lan took a deep breath.
She finally knew where the extra tea leaves that King Zhenbei used to exchange for excellent war horses came from.
Looking at the entire Daliang, the tax rate for common people's transactions is usually 1% of 30%, which means the tax rate is less than 10%.
This so-called "tea tax" is more than twice the ordinary tax.
It's unheard of!
Gong Shao sighed, "For us, the bigger tea houses in Yunzhou City, this is nothing. But for those tea vendors outside, it is a world of difference."
"For those tea merchants around Yunzhou, just transporting the tea to the city will incur a lot of losses. In addition, they have no connections, so they are bound to be exploited and harassed along the way."
"With a 20% tea tax, not only will we not be able to make any money, but if the harvest is bad, we will have to pay our entire fortune!"
Zhu Qingyan was indignant after hearing this and asked:
"With such exploitation, didn't the tea merchants resist?"
"Heh!" Gong Shao sneered, his eyes becoming sinister.
“If the people don’t fight the officials, how can they resist?!”
Gong Shao took a deep breath and continued:
"Do you remember what I just said? There are three big tea merchants in Yunzhou City, and my family is just one of them."
"We are all in this business, so we are naturally familiar with the tea-horse business. To lower the price of tea and come up with the so-called 'tea tax'... everyone has long felt that something is wrong."
"The owner of the Liuyang Tea House was very cautious and protected himself. Last year, he simply gave all his belongings to the Ning'an Marquis's Mansion, and his family went to the south to live in peace."
"The remaining owner of Yongye Tea House, Zhou Yang, actually went directly to the Ning'an Marquis's Mansion!"
"The Zhou family has been engaged in tea business for generations, and they are very familiar with the tea market in Yunzhou."
"After he took refuge with the Ning'an Marquis's Mansion, he actually helped them to exploit those poor tea vendors. He used every possible means to slander those tea vendors for having problems with their tea, in order to buy their high-quality tea at a low price!"
Gong Shao raised his head, his voice trembling:
"Do you know? I once saw a tea vendor from another county send him a box of dregs instead of the top quality tea leaves."
"In the end, not only did he not get a penny, he had to pay the government all the money at the price of the good tea!"
Zhu Qingyan was shocked when he heard this. He couldn't help but cover his mouth and asked, "Then...did he pay in the end?"
"Compensation?" Gong Shao suddenly smiled, but tears flowed from the corners of his eyes.
"What can he use to compensate? Do you know that tea farmers in the mountains work hard for a whole year to pick just a few good tea leaves, and they have to give all of it to the court?"
"He already had a child who died of illness at home, and he didn't even have the money for medical treatment. What could he use to compensate?"
Having said this, the expression on Gong Shao’s face gradually disappeared, and his voice became very light, yet it seemed very heavy.
"In the end, he died right in front of me."
"He brought his wife, a one-month-old baby in her arms, and all the tea dregs."
"One fire, and it all burned up."
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