Chapter 83 Reaping the Bitter Fruit: Those who already harbored resentment over paying 40% of their grain tax...
After some time, the agreed-upon day for collecting the grain arrived, but what Lu Hongguang received at the government office was news that nearly made him explode with anger.
"My lord! A report just came from Luxi Village that although they had a bumper harvest, their grain was looted by a large group of bandits just before they were drying it and storing it in the granary!" The official who had been sent rushed in to report, his face covered in sweat. "Most of the village's granary has been robbed!"
"What?!" Lu Hongguang suddenly stood up, almost knocking over the desk in front of him.
He seemed to be questioning the officials, or perhaps talking to himself, his face contorted with rage: "Mountain bandits? Robbing grain? That's utterly absurd! You couldn't even come up with such a reason in a story!"
The official lowered his head even further, almost burying it in the ground, and said in a trembling voice, "It's true, sir... nowadays, less than one-tenth of the grain that Luxi Village can hand over is left."
Lu Hongguang's head buzzed.
He had already boasted to his superiors and the court, and his memorials described the bountiful harvest in Luzhou in great detail. He was just waiting to present the grain and agricultural books together to win everyone's praise.
Now that such a major "flaw" has occurred in the most crucial link of Luxi Village, how is he supposed to fill this gap? Does he have to learn magic to conjure up food himself?
“I personally led a team to Luxi Village to investigate,” the clerk said with a mournful face, gesturing to show what he had seen and heard. “Several granaries in the village are indeed mostly empty, with only a small amount of grain left, which is not enough to meet the amount they are required to hand over.”
"My subordinates suspected they were intentionally hiding grain, so they led men to search all the suspicious places in the village, but indeed... no trace of hidden grain was found."
"Impossible! They must have hidden cellars or granaries!" Lu Hongguang simply didn't believe it. Veins bulged on his forehead as he slammed his hand on the table, his brows furrowed as he said, "That's tens of thousands of tons of grain. How could it just vanish into thin air? Besides, I've never heard of any notable bandits in the Luxi Village area!"
At this moment, another official from the Ministry of Agriculture who had accompanied them cautiously added, "Sir, regarding the mountain bandits... we didn't believe it at first, but after asking a few more questions of the village elders, it seems that they are indeed involved."
"Oh?" Lu Hongguang's sharp gaze swept over.
"It is said that the terrain in the deep mountains there is treacherous, and bandits have always lurked there. However, in the past, they mostly robbed passing merchants and rarely attacked villages directly."
“The old man said that a few years ago there was a case of a government official’s daughter being kidnapped.” The Minister of Agriculture glanced at Lu Hongguang’s face and continued, “Now, in Luxi Village, there lives a girl named Cheng Danzhu. It is said that she was kidnapped by bandits and escaped after suffering many hardships. She seems to have been in poor spirits ever since.”
"We also felt that the matter of the mountain bandits was really too absurd, so we decided to go and ask this Miss Cheng, but Miss Wen told us not to bother her, saying that we wouldn't get any information out of her."
Lu Hongguang frowned: "She told you not to go, so you really won't go?"
There must be something fishy about what Wen Yu and his group are forbidding them from doing.
Perhaps the key to this matter lies with this Miss Cheng...
The official in charge of agriculture lowered his head and said meekly, "Of course not. We had no choice but to bite the bullet and go see that Miss Cheng..."
"What did she say?" Lu Hongguang pressed.
"She...she was delirious, her words were incoherent, and she kept repeating things like 'Don't kill me,' 'Let me go,' and 'Give them the food.' When we pressed her for answers, she showed extreme fear and uttered strange words that no one could understand. An older villager said...that accent sounded like the local dialect commonly used by bandits in the legends..."
The more Lu Hongguang listened, the more surprised and uncertain he became.
Is there really such a coincidence in the world?
Why did the bandits suddenly appear just when he was about to collect grain?
And it just so happens to be this crucial Luxi Village?
He remained stubborn: "I don't believe there are any bandits! It must be that cunning Wen Yu who colluded with the villagers to hide the grain!"
"Tomorrow, I will personally send men to turn Luxi Village upside down! We'll dig three feet into the ground to find all the grain!"
“My lord,” a seasoned subordinate asked in a low voice, “please forgive my overthinking, the grain may indeed have been stolen, or there may be other hidden reasons. But the deadline for submitting the agricultural books and grain registers to the higher authorities is ten days later. If they really cannot be found, how will we make up for this shortfall?”
These words struck at the deepest worry in Lu Hongguang's heart.
If he really can't find any food in Luxi Village, how will he cover the huge amount that has already been reported?
Does he really have to pay for it out of his own pocket? That would bankrupt him!
He closed his eyes, suppressed his frustration, gritted his teeth and said, "If we really can't find it, I will find a way to raise the money and buy it from the market to make up for it."
Paying out of my own pocket is painful, but compared to ruining my career, this price must be paid.
With the agricultural book about to be presented, we absolutely cannot afford to fail at this crucial juncture!
----
Early the next morning, the grain inspection team dispatched by Lu Hongguang marched into Luxi Village in a grand procession.
The villagers who came to greet them all had expressions of helplessness on their faces.
Someone sighed and said, "Sir, our village has just been ravaged by bandits and is severely weakened. Where would we find any surplus grain to hide?"
Someone, filled with righteous indignation, said: "Please tell Lord Lu that the bandits' robbery is true! We are telling the truth and have not lied!"
The head official, however, maintained a stern face and said in an official tone, "We are simply following orders. We need to investigate thoroughly to clear your name. If you have nothing to hide, why fear a search?"
These words left the villagers speechless, and they could only step back and silently watch as the officials searched the village like wolves.
They searched granaries, warehouses, residential courtyards, under piles of firewood... even near wells and tree roots.
After a whole day of fussing, the officials themselves were dumbfounded by the result.
Forget about hidden cellars and grain storage, we couldn't even find a slightly suspicious hiding place.
The village granary was indeed empty, and each household had only enough grain for daily use, with no indication of large quantities of grain being hidden away.
The results were exactly the same as those found by the officials last time.
How should we report this to Lord Lu? Should we ask them to go up the mountain themselves to find out if there really are "mountain bandits"?
Just as they were looking at each other, unsure of what to do, a disheveled woman with messy clothes and loose hair suddenly rushed out from behind a house, pointing at them and screaming, "Bandits! The bandits are back! They want to steal our grain! Get out of the way!"
Is it the rumored Miss Cheng?
Seeing her rushing towards the officials, a village woman immediately stepped forward to stop her, gently comforting her: "Sister Danzhu, look carefully, these aren't bandits, they're officials from the city..."
"Official? Bah!" Cheng Danzhu's eyes were filled with terror, her voice shrill. "Officials are also trying to steal our grain, just like bandits! They're all robbers! Give me back my grain! Give it back to me!"
She acted as if she were insane, crying and shouting incoherently, her cries heart-wrenching and terrifying.
Wen Yu appeared at the opportune moment and apologized to the officials who were inspecting the grain: "Please forgive me, sirs. Miss Cheng suffered from bandits in the past, which damaged her mind. The disturbance caused by the bandits a few days ago has aggravated her condition. She can no longer see strangers, especially those who may be involved in the 'grain robbery'. I am truly sorry for disturbing you all."
She then turned to her and said, "Quickly call Doctor Cui and the others; Miss Cheng's condition has worsened again..."
Looking at Cheng Danzhu's genuinely terrified and seemingly insane state, and recalling that there was indeed no trace of a large amount of grain in the village, the leading official couldn't help but believe it to some extent.
If it were truly an act, how could it be so flawless, with even the "madwoman's" acting being so realistic? And how could the thousands upon thousands of grains be hidden without any flaws?
Several female doctors quickly arrived at the scene and calmed the frantic Ms. Cheng, making them seem like the villains who had come to rob her.
"Miss Wen, what should we do?" Someone, having no other choice, asked Wen Yu, the only village head who could actually take charge.
Wen Yu took out a handkerchief and wiped her eyes: "Right now, the remaining grain in Luxi Village is probably not even enough to feed ourselves. If we hand it all over, our village will probably have no chance of survival..."
"We will do our best to raise the funds, but if we really can't pay, please understand..."
The villagers nearby began to sob.
They ultimately returned empty-handed and left Luxi Village dejectedly.
Wen Yu stood at the village entrance, watching the official procession's carriages completely disappear at the end of the road before letting out a soft sigh of relief.
The comments section in front of her was already bursting with laughter.
[Directed by Wen Yu, starring Dan Zhu, a grand production, superb acting, it cracked me up...]
[Sister Danzhu's eyes and lines were absolutely amazing, I almost believed it! She definitely deserves the Best Actress award this year, hahaha!]
Some praised the acting skills, while others had doubts.
So where did the village's grain go? Did Wen Yu really make it disappear?
Don't ask. They have their own clever plan, and the body has probably already been moved somewhere. Anyway, that skinflint Lu won't get anything out of our Luxi Village!
[Oh dear, let's just sit back and wait for Lu Hongguang to reap what he sows, and see how he fills this huge hole!]
Wen Yu remained silent, unmoved.
She and the villagers had conspired in advance; she was responsible for "transferring" the grain, while the villagers were responsible for providing cover.
Although she had a personal space that allowed her to move the grain directly, she still staged a scene, having the villagers transport the grain by cart to the wilderness, where she then stored it all in her space.
Danzhu even volunteered to help with the acting, and her performance was incredibly vivid.
After finishing the textbook and opening up her heart, Danzhu joined the teaching and learning team. A few days ago, she even went to the Luzhou Prefecture Girls' School to provide guidance on teaching.
Everyone is carefully protecting these hard-won achievements in their own way.
Now, it remains to be seen how Lu Hongguang will clean up the mess.
----
It was obvious that there was "no harvest" in Luxi Village. Lu Hongguang calculated that if he really had to pay out of his own pocket to buy grain according to the amount he reported, he would almost have to exhaust all the savings he had accumulated over the years, and even have to sell his ancestral property.
How could he bear to part with it?
In his desperation, he made a series of foolish moves, including the idea of increasing taxes in other counties and villages to make up for the shortfall, attempting to shift the pressure onto the local governments.
Unexpectedly, this order was like adding fuel to the fire.
The farmers in the counties and villages who were already complaining about paying 40% of the grain tax were completely outraged upon hearing the news.
"Forty percent isn't enough? They want more? They're not leaving us any way out!"
"Rebellion! We're not handing over the grain! We'd rather die than lose!"
"Lu Hongguang is an corrupt official, greedy and insatiable, and he's trying to drive us good citizens to our deaths!"
In a short time, public sentiment surged in many places, almost escalating into a popular uprising.
Local gentry and elders were filled with righteous indignation and jointly submitted a petition. An angry crowd began to gather outside the government office, demanding that he come out and give an explanation.
Lu Hongguang had never seen anything like this before. He was terrified and, fearing that things would get out of control, hurriedly ordered the cancellation of the proposed additional taxation.
I'll buy it myself then...
While he was anxiously planning which farms and shops to sell, he urged his subordinates to go to the market and buy up grain in large quantities.
However, bad news followed.
The subordinate he sent out returned shortly afterward, his face covered in cold sweat, and reported: "Sir! As soon as the grain merchants in the market heard that you wanted to buy grain, they all claimed that they had no grain to sell, or they raised the price on the spot to an outrageous degree! Some even said that they would rather the grain rot in the warehouse than sell it to you..."
"Bang!" Lu Hongguang slammed his hand on the table and tried to stand up, but felt a violent dizziness and the world spun before his eyes.
A sweet taste rose in his throat, and he couldn't say anything. He fell straight backward, having fainted from anger.
The last thing I heard was the panicked cries of my subordinates…
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