Chapter 48 Chapter 48 Increase in Taxes
The people's enthusiasm for road construction is unprecedentedly high.
Now that the roads in Li County have been repaired, everyone can benefit. In addition, the county lord never uses corvée labor, but always pays wages.
Since Lin Si's workshop is now mainly staffed by female workers, the family status of each small family in Li County is also quietly changing, and the men also want to go to build roads and earn more money.
Broken bricks are cheap and easy to buy, so they are shipped back in truckloads. Together with gravel and charcoal slag, the raw materials for road construction are complete.
It is freezing cold in Li County in winter, which is not a good season for work. After the raw materials are bought, they are all piled up. Only after the spring comes does Lin Si let the people start working.
The weather is just right now, neither too cold nor too hot, it's a good season for work.
The people dug away the soft mud on the surface, compacted the foundation, raised the gravel, and then spread charcoal slag and broken bricks in a ratio of about three to seven, and finally compacted it naturally.
But the road was not yet completed, and Lin Si received an unexpected news that Liang Nian was going to Lingzhou, the capital of Xihe Road.
Liang Nian feared Lin Si might misunderstand, so he reported it immediately, "Don't worry, the Li County magistrate will definitely not be replaced. This trip is probably to increase taxes."
Lin Si quietly looked away. Raising taxes could only solve short-term financial problems. Once taxes began to be raised frequently, it would mean that the dynasty had entered its final stages and would even trigger an uprising.
But if you think about it carefully, although the story of war and struggle started with a large-scale cold wave, Dachen had almost become a hollow shell before the cold wave.
Lin Si asked again, "In your absence, who will take care of the daily affairs of the county government?"
Liang Nian had already made plans. "Right now, the people are busy repairing the road. There won't be any major incidents for now. Just wait until I come back to handle them. If there is anything important, I will trouble you, the county lady."
Liang Nian packed up and prepared to go to Lingzhou.
As the magistrate of Li County, she has never had much presence. Every time officials hold court meetings, she just sits quietly and listens.
At the beginning, during the first court meeting of Xihe Road, Liang Nian would speak about how difficult it was for the people of Li County and expressed the hope that Xihe Road would provide strong support, but she clearly saw the boredom and disdain in the eyes of other officials.
She never spoke of it again after that.
Other officials would never be on good terms with her. After all, she would probably stay in the position of Li County Magistrate until her death, with no chance of promotion at all.
Lin Si assigned Nan Shuang to accompany Liang Nian to the court meeting.
The two sisters almost turned against each other because of this business trip opportunity, and finally they drew lots to decide who would follow Liang Nian.
Nan Shuang got the prize and cried with joy. She almost looked up and shouted, "I don't have to study anymore!"
Liang Nian left early. Lin Si wanted to see him off, but it was too early and she couldn't get up, so she asked Nan Shuang to give a message to Liang Nian.
"The county lady asked me to tell you that by the time you return, the road to Li County will be repaired!"
Lingzhou is the capital of Xihe Road and is more lively than Shizhou.
However, Nan Shuang had lived in Anjing before. No matter how lively it was, it could not compare to Anjing, so she did not feel any appreciation for it.
His eyes were full of joy at escaping from studying, and he even almost laughed out loud when he thought of his sister still studying hard in the literacy class.
Liang Nian's guess turned out to be correct; the issue being discussed was indeed to increase taxes.
As the magistrate of Li County, which had the worst economy, Liang Nian sat at the back, listening to the prefects and magistrates shirking their responsibilities for taxation, and the magistrates speaking for the prefects they wanted to curry favor with, with fawning faces.
Liang Nian just felt bored.
She wanted to go back to Li County, because the current Li County would never be like this.
It seems that I have been deeply influenced by Lin Si, even though I was used to it before.
Li County is indeed poor, but that doesn't stop some people from wanting to take over Li County.
This tax was levied to supplement the military pay for the troops sent to repel the Hu people. Depending on the economic situation, the tax share of each route was different.
As the lower county among the lower counties of Xihe Road, Li County should have the smallest tax increase this time.
Liang Nian slowly raised his eyes, glanced at the prefects and county magistrates, and said, "The frost came early this year, and the harvest from the fields is more than 30% less than in previous years."
The county magistrate who proposed that Li County pay more taxes wanted to speak again.
Liang Nian drummed his fingertips on the table. "Furthermore, the county lady is currently recuperating in Li County. You are so anxious to increase taxes in Li County. Are you planning to take the county lady's share as well? In that case, I will have no choice but to discuss this with her."
"County Magistrate Liang, please be careful with your words!" The county magistrate knew he was in the wrong and hurriedly told Liang Nian to shut up.
On the surface, Princess Anping is indeed recuperating in Li County. If what Liang Nian said is true, I am afraid that Princess Anping will report to Anjing through Liang Nian's letter home, which would be more trouble than gain.
Everyone knows that His Majesty feels guilty towards Princess Anping. This guilt may fade with time, but Princess Anping has only been in Li County for a year and a half, so they dare not do that.
After Liang Nian said this, no one dared to mention the matter again. Liang Nian was happy and relaxed, drinking tea, taking a nap and eating snacks.
The day's court discussion ended here, and Li County had the smallest tax increase.
The other county magistrates all agreed to go to Fanlou for a drink and socializing after the court meeting. Liang Nian was too lazy to join them, and even if someone invited her for the sake of face, she would refuse.
The tax increase is like a mountain falling on the heads of the people. Liang Nian was very glad that Lin Si came to Li County, otherwise she dared not imagine what the already poor people would do if the harvest in Li County did not double.
Just as Lin Si said, when Liang Nian returned to Li County, not only had the roads in Li County been repaired, but the people had also become accustomed to them.
When Liang Nian came back, he did not deal with the pile of affairs first, but went to Lin Si to talk about the content of the court meeting.
Lin Si listened to her using him as a shield and smiled brightly: "This group of people are really good at making plans. It seems that my title as the county lord is still very useful."
Liang Nian took a sip of hot tea, a hint of worry in his voice, "We're just repelling the Hu people's southward advance, why has it come to the point of raising taxes?"
As for the rest, Liang Nian didn't say.
She feels that this tax increase is just the first step, and people's lives will become increasingly difficult in the future.
But all this has nothing to do with Li County.
That little tax increase is just a drop in the bucket compared to Li County's current grain production.
But in order to put on a complete show, Liang Nian was still tearful when he handed in the tax book, and he was almost crying bitterly, saying that everyone knew the situation in Li County, not to mention that there was a county magistrate with a wealthy family to support, and he really could not afford a second tax increase.
Raising taxes means that people’s living space will be compressed. Some people will starve to death, some will be sold, and naturally some will become refugees because they cannot survive.
One or two refugees are not scary, but a group of refugees gathered together is very scary! They will gradually evolve into bandits and robbers. If the world is not peaceful, they will directly revolt on the spot.
The plot before the cold wave was blank, and Lin Si could not predict the plot, but she knew that it was time to establish the prototype of an army to defend her homeland!
As for Yin Sheng, no one knew whether Mo Jinglian had brought him back.
*
Feng Ling and Mo Jinglian are currently in Yizhou on Tongchuan Road. Feng Ling was originally on a business trip to accompany Mo Jinglian to meet up and deliver the goods. After the goods were delivered, Mo Yu and Nan Qiaoxing went back.
Feng Ling and Mo Jinglian came to do another thing.
Mo Jinglian looked at the timid little boy following behind them, as well as his parents and sister.
Before arriving at Tongchuan Road, Mo Jinglian already knew that the young man's name was Yin Sheng. He also knew his appearance, personality, and all the information about his family. He also knew that his family had borrowed money at high interest. It was not until the creditor produced the IOU with compound interest that they realized what was going on.
These are all the details that Lin Si dug out from the original novel. She read them so carefully that it gave her a headache. Yin Sheng doesn't have many scenes. He is a bit like a tool for the male protagonist to fight. After all, he is not interested in women, money, or food. He just loves fighting.
At first, Lin Si didn’t know why Yin Sheng’s family wanted to borrow money, but now he thinks it was because of the tax increase.
Lin Si instructed the two of them to bring back the entire family of the young man named Yin Sheng. No matter what means they used, the two of them would not question Lin Si's decision and would do as he said.
Who is Mo Jinglian? Although he is not very old, he is also a little-known businessman.
She and Feng Ling first found the creditor and said that she could pay twice as much to buy the IOU from Yin Sheng's family, but the prerequisite was that he had to cooperate with her in a play.
The creditor is naturally happy about this, as it is simply picking up money for free.
The creditor even expressed his understanding for Mo Jinglian, who was wearing a veiled hat. "That boy surnamed Yin is indeed quite good-looking. It's no wonder that the girl likes him. Don't worry, girl, I will definitely design a play to make the boy follow you willingly."
He understands that rich people have a wide range of interests and hobbies.
Mo Jinglian: ........It seems like I was misunderstood, but it doesn’t matter.
The creditor may have some artistic talent for performance. He played the villain so realistically that day that he even made up a plot of his own, saying that his family was originally a tenant and had no land. What could he offer in exchange for money? He refused to give them even a single day’s grace period.
Yin Sheng's face turned red, his sister cried loudly, and his parents trembled.
The debt collector knew his time had come. He stepped forward and kicked the bottles and jars in his house. "I tell you, if you can't pay me today, I'll make you pay with your lives. Do you know what the relationship between my family and the prefect is?"
Mo Jinglian felt a headache as she watched from a distance. This young man seemed to be immersed in his art and couldn't extricate himself.
He loves to add drama to himself too much.
Finally, he stepped forward and grabbed Yin Sheng by the collar.
Mo Jinglian and Feng Ling appeared at this moment.
Yin Sheng's pupils widened slightly, and he looked at the girl in the veil in front of him and asked the creditor very righteously why he bullied people like this.
The debt actor's performance was very realistic, with an arrogant tone, "They owe me money, I can do whatever I want with it!"
"I'll pay it back for them, no matter how much it is." Mo Jinglian's voice was not loud, but Yin Sheng could just hear it.
Yin Sheng's sister stopped crying, and her parents were stunned. It all seemed too unreal.
Yin Sheng felt like something hit his heart.
He couldn't see the girl's face under her veil, but he felt his heart beating fast.
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