29
Zhang Youde was also a cautious man. After thinking it over, he specially asked two yamen runners to follow him. Together with several servants and a few hangers-on, a group of about ten people headed to the countryside.
With so many people and officials, most villages would not dare to offend them. How could he not extort the taxes by using threats and inducements?
Feeling relieved, Zhang Youde went to Xiaowang Village first as usual.
This place is closest to the salt field, and every household pickles fish. What's the big deal about collecting some salt tax from them?
"I'm sure the village chief knows about this year's taxes. Every household has to pay one ounce of salt tax in addition to the fish tax." Glancing at the village chief's expression, Zhang Youde hurriedly added, "That number just sounds high. The price of grain in the city right now is seven qian and a half per dan. How much rice is that worth in total? Besides, we don't have to pay military pay this year. It's already a favor from the court and the county magistrate's compassion."
As he spoke, Zhang Youde bowed to the sky in a formal manner to show his gratitude.
The head of Xiaowang Village was already livid. People living by the sea might work their tails off for a year and still not earn ten taels of silver. And now they're adding an extra tael to the tax bill. How could they be considered a benevolent act?!
However, looking at the yamen runner standing behind Zhang Youde, he barely suppressed his anger. "Mr. Zhang, if it was just the fish tax, we wouldn't refuse. But this salt tax is really unreasonable. We live by the sea, why do we need to buy salt? Even the fish caught in the sea can be dried into salt crystals. If the court sent troops to suppress bandits, we would accept paying some military pay. But now that pirates are appearing so frequently, we are still being forced to pay salt tax for nothing. Isn't this just asking for death?"
Wow! That's quite tough! Zhang Youde's face changed: "Are you trying to resist the tax? Didn't the superior order this time that those who default on salt tax will be treated as salt smugglers?"
He put on a stern face, and the two yamen runners behind him also frowned and held their swords.
This is a legitimate official who can put people in jail, not to mention the slaves and thugs outside. If this little village chief dares to say "no", he can hold him down on the spot!
However, the expected surrender and begging for mercy did not occur. Instead, the village chief slammed the table and stood up: "If we are really forced into a desperate situation, what's wrong with smuggling salt? Maybe we can follow the strong man and live a good life!"
Zhang Youde broke out in a cold sweat after hearing this. He sat up straight and said, "Brother, don't be angry. We are just paying taxes. We can discuss everything."
If he forced them to rebel on the spot, he would not be able to escape from the village. They are not even afraid of the yamen runners, so how could they be afraid of him?
Unexpectedly, even after he gave in, the village chief remained stern and stern. "Let me be clear: the fish tax will not be in arrears. But I absolutely cannot agree to such an absurd thing as the salt tax! Who knows where this tax comes from? If it was set up by a traitor, we will go to the provincial capital to get to the bottom of it!"
How could Zhang Youde not know where this tax came from? Judging from their posture, not only are they determined to fight to the death, but this group of people also want to go to the provincial capital to file a complaint.
If he really gets into a situation where he has to appeal to higher authorities for justice, he won't be able to explain himself even if he has ten thousand mouths.
Putting on a dry laugh, Zhang Youde said repeatedly, "Not really, not really. Since I've been asked to be the chief collector, I don't want to embarrass the village. How about paying the fish tax first, and then I'll go to the government office to inquire about the salt tax and see what the county magistrate thinks?"
This was a complete surrender. The village chief slowly sat down after hearing this. "Since the chief collector has said that the price of grain is now seven cents and a half, I just happened to have some rice here. Why not use it as the fish tax? There are eighty-two households in the village, and you won't be short of a dou."
"Huh? That's not right!" Zhang Youde was stunned. Where did you fishermen get the food? The market price was 7.5 cents, but that wasn't the price for buying grain. If he really exchanged grain for money like this, how would he explain it to his superiors?
Seeing that he didn't agree, the village chief's face darkened again: "Why, are you not happy with the constant urging?"
Zhang Youde swallowed hard and said, "No, we don't have any land in our village. We've always been collecting money. How can we change it to grain?"
"We also bought this grain with silver!" The village chief snorted, "If you keep asking for it but it won't work, we can just ship it to the city and sell it."
Who will transport this? How will I sell it? Zhang Youde was in agony. He just winked at the yamen runners behind him, but they just looked up at the sky, not even at him.
This really made Zhang Youde feel wronged. Did he pay for this kind of door god? And there were many young men standing inside and outside the ancestral hall, all with unfriendly expressions. If things really got out of hand, he might not be able to leave the courtyard!
After hesitating for a long time, Zhang Youde finally gave in. "I've never done this before, and the price needs to be negotiated. First, please transport the grain to the county government office. I can't move so much grain."
Here, he cannot defeat the village chief, but once he gets to the city, who is "right" is another matter. At worst, he can just settle the score in the city!
The village chief didn't object, but only carefully checked the accounts with him and agreed on the amount of grain to be transported. Then he politely sent the man out of the village.
Not even getting a meal, and still feeling pissed, Zhang Youde couldn't help but lash out at the two yamen runners: "I didn't invite you two here just for show! These unruly people are so arrogant, and you don't do anything about it?"
The two yamen runners exchanged glances, and one whispered, "Mr. Zhang, don't you know? Things along the coast have been turbulent lately. Rumor has it that a new gang has emerged, committing murder, arson, and other atrocities. The village chief even said he wants to follow this thug. Who knows what his background is? Less trouble is worse than more. Saving your life is more important."
Zhang Youde was stunned, his entire body tensing up. This actually happened? How could he not know? This was insane! Most of his tax districts were along the coast. What if he accidentally offended a powerful person? However, it was too late to withdraw now. It would be better to ask his uncle for advice than to blindly fight back!
Inside the ancestral hall of Xiaowang Village, someone was worried: "Village head, will the government seize our grain if we transport it? We've already evaded the salt tax and underpaid the fish tax so much, how can the county magistrate let us go?"
The village chief snorted, "The Red Flag Gang has come to warn us, saying we won't pay the salt tax. This isn't just a matter for our village. Are we afraid of the officials getting angry just because we have so many people? There are so many bandits now. If we pay the salt tax, our capital will be wiped out. We might as well just stay with the Red Flag Gang and make a living."
When the Red Flag Gang sent people here before, he was a little worried, fearing that the other party was just deceiving them with empty words.
But later, people were sent to other villages to inquire, and it was found that many villages had dealings with the Red Flag Gang and exchanged seafood for rice.
Now the village chief could no longer sit still, so he quickly got some rice as well, thus establishing contact with the Red Flag Gang.
Being able to obtain so much food and connect villages to resist taxation, how can this be a small achievement? It's always right to follow them!
Besides, he had heard that the salt tax was unique to this county and was not collected in other places. He was afraid that someone in the county government was doing something bad.
If that's the case, who would still be willing to do business at a loss? If they're really provoked, they'll really join the Red Flag Gang. What can those corrupt officials do to them?
Xiaowang Village is not the only one that has such thoughts.
As the Red Flag Gang traveled between villages, word of the matter gradually spread. The fish tax was collected by the imperial court, so it was paid, but no one wanted to be charged the salt tax.
If they were really wrongly accused of smuggling salt, they would take the risk and continue to smuggle it, because there are strong men on the seaside!
And this disturbance spread to the county government at an extremely fast speed.
Magistrate Cao, who had been happily sipping his tea, suddenly felt his eyes darken when he heard County Magistrate Zhang's report. He almost gasped, "How is this possible? A bunch of unruly people who won't even listen to me?!"
County Magistrate Zhang's face was now dark green, and he said dryly, "Master Yang's idea of raising taxes is probably a bit flawed. The seashore is already unstable, and if the salt tax is increased, won't the fishermen rebel? Those fishermen are different from the peasants. If the pressure is too great, they will cause chaos."
County Magistrate Zhang also knew that the idea came from Advisor Yang. Since someone was willing to take the responsibility, there was nothing to be afraid of. He could just say it directly.
Magistrate Cao slammed his teacup onto the table. "This is outrageous! If they all resist paying taxes, how will I ever meet my tax obligations? Are the officials in the county government just for show?"
Zhang Xiancheng sighed when he saw this and said, "Your Excellency has forgotten that there is a gang of bandits entrenched nearby."
County Magistrate Zhang had inquired around and found out that the thief who had caused him to be scolded and scared half to death was from a gang called the "Red Flag Gang", and Donggou Village where the Li family lived was one of their strongholds.
With Donggou Village, wouldn't the other villages surrender? Perhaps more than a dozen coastal villages have been bribed! After all, Li Niu was arrested for selling grain, and almost half of the villages that resisted the tax used grain instead of fish tax. Who would believe that there was no trick?
When County Magistrate Zhang thought of the dead chicken hanging from the beam, he lost all ideas.
If you can't win, can't you just hide? If they still pay you a fish tax, they're already showing some mercy and not wanting to antagonize you.
Don’t you want the face I give you?
County Magistrate Cao hadn't expected this. He was stunned by the question and said after a while, "Is this really... uh, someone backing you?"
County Magistrate Zhang nodded heavily: "It can't be wrong!"
County Magistrate Cao was immediately troubled. "If that's the case, what should we do with the taxes? I don't ask for much, just 70% will do!"
He couldn't possibly collect all the taxes, but he had to collect at least 70% of them, otherwise his dream of promotion would be ruined! Now that the salt tax system had failed, how could he fill such a huge hole?
County Magistrate Zhang coughed. "Aren't there still wealthy families in the county? Pirates are rampant these days, and they might even harm the village. Every family has to contribute a little to buy peace, right? Think about it, sir. How much can you squeeze out of those poor people? If the rich families can just skim through a little, they should be able to make up for the shortfall. It's all going to be divided up anyway, so why not save some money?"
Is it easy to ask for money from a rich family? If it were in the past, it would definitely be a dream.
But in the current situation, killing a few rich people might be a way to save trouble.
After all, not all of those gentry and wealthy businessmen have connections in the court or employ hundreds of servants, so there are always some who can be manipulated.
County Magistrate Cao immediately twirled his beard and nodded: "What the County Magistrate said makes sense. Let's get started right away. We can't miss out on taxes."
As long as it wasn't his own bad luck, it was fine. He didn't want to stay in this shabby place anyway, so it didn't matter if he did something that offended people.
I always feel that something is wrong with the recent trend. Looking at the account book in front of him, Wang Cai was very troubled. He also ran a grain store. Although it was not as good as the Wan family grain store, it was also a family business that had been passed down for two generations. Moreover, the scales used for buying and selling grain were fair, and he had a very good reputation in the county.
It’s just that the Wan family is so powerful that small grain merchants like them are often suppressed and have to follow the other party’s ups and downs.
In order to survive, Wang Cai had to accept less profit and endured it, but something unexpected happened this year.
It seemed the Wan family had run into someone they shouldn't have. County Magistrate Zhang, who had previously been a close relative, had recently begun refusing visitors. Despite their apparent misfortune, the Wan family remained quiet, even resorting to forced sales.
Could that bastard Wan Quan have changed his temper? Wang Cai didn't believe it anyway. There must be some inexplicable reason.
However, Wan Quan stopped making a fuss, and he was not feeling well either.
The county's grain harvesting costs are not good this year, and large grain traders are desperately trying to lower the purchase price. Farmers who have signed high-interest loan agreements have no surplus grain to sell, and others who have grain do not plan to sell it and plan to keep it for their own consumption.
Nowadays, it costs five or six cents of silver to buy one stone of rice in the market. If you sell it in a store, how much profit can you make?
Nowadays, except for large grain merchants like Wan Quan who own land, other small and medium-sized grain merchants are having a hard time.
If we were to import goods from other counties, the travel expenses alone would be a huge sum, and if we ran into bandits or pirates, we would lose all our capital. If we were to be squeezed by the big grain merchants, we would probably have to close down.
Wang Cai's hair was almost gray with worry, and he couldn't think of any good solution. Unexpectedly, someone came to his door one day, saying that he was here to discuss business.
Wang Cai looked at the burly man in front of him in surprise. He didn't look like a businessman at all, but rather a man of the sea. He asked cautiously, "Brother Li, can you get some grain? I wonder how many stones you have and what's the price?"
Li Niu said straight to the point: "I have coarse rice, and at nine cents of silver per stone, I should have a thousand stones."
Wang Cai's eyes widened. "Nine cents of silver! Isn't this too expensive?"
It's just harvest time, and grain prices are at their lowest. Even if the price of brown rice is higher, it shouldn't be so expensive, right? How does this person collect grain?
Li Niu chuckled. "Nowadays, brown rice is sold for one ounce and two cents per stone. What's nine cents worth? If you're willing to accept it, we can deliver it directly to you without you having to worry about escorting it. And you don't have to pay in cash. You can settle it once a month."
Hearing this, Wang Cai's eyes lit up. If he collected the grain, he would have to spend time pounding the rice, which would cost him a lot of money. If he sold the grain elsewhere, he would need to be escorted, which would also involve considerable risks and expenses.
Now they say I don't have to pay right away, doesn't that mean I'm just handing over the money? Just selling rice and grain and making a net profit of three percent, how could it be so good?
However, even though he was tempted, Wang Cai still asked, "This price is acceptable, but the county is the Wan family's territory after all. If I buy a large amount of goods, I might be suppressed. Then my small shop won't be able to bear it."
This was a heartfelt statement, but the brutish man opposite raised an eyebrow. "If it were anyone else, they might be afraid of the Wan family, but I'm not. If someone comes looking for you, just say you're teaming up with the Li family. See if they dare to say a word!"
This brazen look startled Wang Cai. After a moment's thought, he said cautiously, "Brother Li must be someone with a strong background. Why would he come to our shop?"
Li Niu said frankly, "Our Boss Cheng said that he wants to find some trustworthy grain merchants to cooperate with. Your shop has a good reputation in the county, so we wanted to ask your opinion first. If you don't dare to accept it, we can find someone else."
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