Chapter 380 Daye has been rotten from the root!
“Yes, yes, yes…”
Even after being scolded by Lingxiao, Tiezhu did not dare to talk back and just looked submissive and honest.
Xie Zhuoning reached out and pressed Xiao Jinxuan's arm, and shook his head gently, "How about asking the reason first?"
If the dwarf really wanted to embezzle the money, he could have just thought of a way to do it in private. Why did he have to ask them directly in front of them?
Xiao Jinxuan nodded, looked at him, and asked, "What do you want this money for?"
The tone was not harsh, but it carried a force and majesty that made Tiezhu shiver.
He swallowed nervously, his face turned pale, and he immediately realized that if he dared to tell a lie, there would be no good consequences.
"This money...this money is used to pay taxes," he stammered.
"What?!"
When they heard this word, Xie Zhuoning and Xiao Jinxuan both showed expressions of disbelief.
Paying taxes is not uncommon, and thieves are not uncommon. What is uncommon is that even if you become a thief, you still have to pay taxes?!
Xiao Jinxuan narrowed his eyes and asked coldly, "Who collects this tax? The government?"
If it was the government, it would be tantamount to collusion between officials and bandits.
"No, no," Tiezhu waved his hands and shook his head, "It was the Green Forest Alliance who took him in."
"Green Forest Alliance?" Xiao Jinxuan and Xie Zhuoning looked at each other, obviously neither of them had heard of it.
"I can tell from the first glance that you are outsiders. No one in Xichuan doesn't know about the Green Forest Alliance." Tiezhu said, "The Green Forest Alliance is made up of the three largest strongholds in Xichuan. I heard that the leader of the alliance has connections everywhere. As long as we pay taxes to them on time, they will protect us and prevent the government from sending troops to suppress us!"
What kind of Green Forest Alliance is this? How can it have such power?
Xie Zhuoning frowned slightly and asked, "What if we don't pay or the amount we pay is not enough? Will the government really send troops to suppress the bandits?"
Tiezhu nodded, "Yes, after all, the government also needs to catch some bandits to report to the higher-ups!"
If it weren't for the need to pay taxes, these people would live in the mountains, growing sweet potatoes and hunting some game, or at most scraping some tree bark, living off the land and not starving to death.
However, they were forced to pay a tribute of 120 taels of silver every year. They tightened their belts and sold all the furs and mountain products they hunted, but the money was still not enough. They had no choice but to go down the mountain and rob passers-by.
After hearing this, Xiao Jinxuan was so angry that he laughed.
Oh, what’s the difference between this and collusion between officials and bandits?
He asked Ling Xiao to take people down the mountain to buy things and come back to cook. He left the iron pillar behind and continued to inquire.
"Since your life as a mountain bandit is so hard, why do you still want to bring your family to the mountains?"
Abandoned houses and fields can be seen everywhere at the foot of the mountain. Aren't those places better than the mountain?
Tiezhu sighed, and despite his small stature, he looked very sad. "If there is a way to survive, who among us would be willing to leave our homeland?"
Even though you won't have enough food to eat or enough clothes to wear on the top of the mountain, it's better than losing your life, right?
"What's going on?" Xiao Jinxuan asked puzzledly.
Is there no way to survive if I stay in the village?
Did they do something wrong?
But what crime had they committed that caused the entire village to move up the mountain to become bandits?
Tiezhu sighed and said slowly, "In fact, the lives of the people in Xichuan were quite good. Although we didn't have much land, we were backed by the mountains. In our spare time, we could make some mountain products to supplement our family income and not lack food and clothing."
Until one day, the Xichuan Army fought against the Western Chu and suffered a great defeat, so they retreated to the present-day Hexi Village to rest.
At that time, the village chief of Hexi Village was leading the whole village, young and old, to cook for them and bring them water, and they had no time to rest for a moment.
As a result, the leading general was afraid of being blamed and punished by his superiors, so he had evil intentions and slaughtered the entire village, young and old. He then cut off the heads and took them back to claim credit, saying that they were the ones who killed the Western Chu people!
Unexpectedly, it actually succeeded!
Tiezhu gritted his teeth and said, "I heard that the emperor was very happy when the victory report was sent back to the capital. He even rewarded the general with a sword so that the general can kill more enemies!"
"Treasure sword?" Xiao Jinxuan was still young at that time, but he had a vague impression, "In the Battle of Pingxi, Duke Zheng defeated 3,000 enemy troops with only 300 men, which shocked the local people. The emperor was very pleased and gave him the treasure sword to defeat the enemy."
But when the sword was drawn, it was not swung at the enemy, but at the innocent civilians!
Pingxi Pingxi, originally thought it was pacifying Xi Chu, but unexpectedly, it was Hexi Village that was pacified!
Tiezhu added, "Since then, whenever Daye lost a battle with Western Chu, some villages were massacred. Sometimes, in order to increase the number of heads, they even massacred several villages."
People in every village were terrified, fearing that this misfortune would befall them someday, so they had no choice but to pack up their things and take their families to hide in the deep mountains and forests.
Afterwards, Western Chu withdrew its troops and negotiated peace with Daye. They thought that the clouds would finally clear and the moon would appear.
They never thought that those officials would never let them go.
They had no way to gain military merit by killing enemies, so they had to rely on suppressing bandits to gain merit.
The common people went up the mountain and became bandits, which gave them a more legitimate reason to kill people.
Fortunately, the number of bandit suppression teams assigned by the government each year is almost fixed. It is the same number over and over again, and it is up to them to decide who to kill and who not to kill.
Thus, the Green Forest Alliance was established, declaring that as long as taxes were paid, lives could be saved.
"It's just that Xichuan has a bad reputation. No one wants to come here, and no caravans are willing to pass through here. If we hadn't met you, our village would probably have been on the list of bandit targets this time."
Tiezhu sighed, not sure whether he was feeling emotional or relieved.
Xiao Jinxuan and Xie Zhuoning looked at each other and clearly realized that the situation here was far more serious than they had imagined.
"So this is why Xichuan's banditry continues."
When bandits and chaos occurred in Xichuan, the Xichuan army took the opportunity to ask the Ministry of War for money and food.
With Huo Wei, the Minister of War, circulating in the capital, money and grain can be transferred over quickly.
After the Xichuan Army received the money and food, they informed the Green Forest Alliance and wiped out the bandits who could not pay, in order to report to their superiors.
The collusion between officials, soldiers and bandits has almost formed a complete pattern!
He can empty the national treasury and squeeze the people dry!
In order to get to the top, for power, for money, they really will do anything!
Xiao Jinxuan closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened them again, "Aning, I feel more and more that what you said is right."
This Daye has been rotten from the root!
Xie Zhuoning reached out his hand, interlocked his fingers, and looked at him with bright eyes, "Xiao Jinxuan, do you know why I chose you among so many Xiao family members?"
"Why?" He looked up in confusion.
She spoke each word with great seriousness, "Because in my heart, you are the one who is most likely to change everything!"