"Are the same people who come to collect taxes every year?"
"Yes, it's always the same few people who come every year. It hasn't changed for many years. Two of them are from nearby villages. They used to be educated. One was a Xiucai (a successful candidate in the county-level imperial examinations), and the other was a Tongsheng (a successful candidate in the county-level imperial examinations). They said they were given a job in the county government, and the tax collection was handled by them every year."
Kangxi had some vague guesses in his mind, but he couldn't be sure.
Before going to bed that night, Kangxi ordered several secret guards to go out and investigate some things.
Lying in bed, Youqing couldn't help but say, "Being an emperor isn't easy."
Honestly, I've encountered quite a few things along the way.
The problem of government orders not being effectively implemented is not something that can be solved in a short time.
Even in modern times, this kind of thing still requires a process. For example, in modern times, the regulation of electric vehicles in her city is basically intermittent. They say they will strictly regulate it, but after a few days, the regulation is no longer in place. When you go out on the street, you will see that people who don't wear helmets still don't wear them, and they still don't follow traffic rules when crossing the road and waiting for traffic lights.
This kind of thing really depends on the determination and methods of the relevant departments, especially the most basic departments.
In ancient times, communication was a major problem. Ordinary people like Bian Yong and Bian Shun were illiterate. They believed that the common people should not fight against the officials. It wasn't that they didn't want to fight, but that they dared not fight, and they knew they couldn't win.
Emperor Kangxi also said, "I also think that being an emperor is not easy!"
People always say that emperors are born to enjoy life, but he never felt that he enjoyed life much more; he endured far more.
"What do you think was the problem with what Bian Shun and Bian Yong said today?"
After listening, Youqing knew clearly that Pingshan Village and the nearby villagers had definitely been deceived, but she couldn't say exactly what the situation was.
"I have a guess."
"What guess?"
"The problem must lie with those two scholars and students they mentioned."
"On them?"
"Being a Xiucai or Tongsheng is already the entry point to the imperial examination. The villagers may not understand the law, but they should. Nowadays, the imperial court collects taxes based on yield per mu, but they collect taxes based on the number of people. That's because they know that collecting taxes based on yield per mu won't bring in much. Although this county town is small, everyone in the yamen is rolling in money. Otherwise, they wouldn't be holding gambling in broad daylight at the gates of the yamen. The people in the yamen probably don't care about this little bit of gambling."
The next day, after breakfast, Kangxi received the definite news.
His guess was correct; it was indeed the scholar and student mentioned by Bian Yong and Bian Shun who were behind it, but the scholars and students were not quite what they seemed.
This is a pretty big deal.
The scholar and the student mentioned by Bian Shun and Bian Yong are Huang Chuanwen and Huang Chuanwu, who are cousins.
Huang Chuanwen was considered a scholar by the locals, but he was actually a student who had passed the preliminary examination. Huang Chuanwu, on the other hand, was a student who had not actually obtained any official rank.
The titles of Xiucai and Tongsheng are fake.
Therefore, their claim of working for the government office is obviously false.
In fact, this kind of "taxation" work had already started with Huang Chuanwu and Huang Chuanwen's fathers. Huang Chuanwen's father was a real scholar, but he was already fifty years old when he passed the imperial examination and had grandchildren. At that time, he did have a job in the government office, which was to collect taxes.
He was just a errand boy, but seeing the constables taking a lot of benefits, he had a crooked idea, which led to the later head tax.
Whether it was a good year or a bad year, he never stopped doing this, and naturally, he had to make some arrangements. Their village was in a relatively remote area, so Huang Chuanwen's father arranged a job here.
The mountain road was difficult to traverse. One of the constables who came with Huang Chuanwen's father to collect taxes fell down the mountain road, so naturally no one was willing to come anymore.
This allowed Huang Chuanwen to profit from the situation.
He died, and his son took over the job.
Of course, things didn't always go smoothly, but by a twist of fate, the Huang family's secrets were never exposed. Decades have passed, and the brothers Huang Chuanwen and Huang Chuanwu are now both over seventy years old. I heard that their sons and grandsons are all doing these things.
Their actions will eventually be exposed.
For example, the poll tax, though not much for people in the mountain village, wasn't particularly low either. Despite the poor transportation, people could still see the outside world. As more people went out, naturally some heard about what was happening outside, and naturally they heard about the tax collection issue.
When some people heard about this, they went to confront the Huang family. After a heated argument, one of them lost his life while going down into the mountains.
Over the years, the Huang family has had quite a few lives on their hands because of these kinds of things.
Once this kind of thing starts, it won't end. After all, being exposed means certain death, and the Huang family has no way back.
Although Emperor Kangxi had some suspicions, he was still uneasy when the matter was confirmed. Local officials were simply not doing enough to govern the villages below them.
Such things can be concealed for decades; the people in the government offices are like good-for-nothings.
The guard didn't hide it from Youqing when he spoke; she was listening right there! She was surprised by this, but then she thought about it and realized that it wasn't actually that rare.
During the winter break of her first year of university, she heard her parents talk about how her grandparents in the countryside had to pay money to repair the road. The money was paid every two or three years, but the road was never repaired.
The road was repaired, then broken again, and then she had to pay to repair it again. It wasn't until she was already working that the road was finally repaired under the supervision of the local government, so she no longer had to pay money every few years.
It's a hundred or so yuan per person. It's not that we can't afford it, but the situation where we know we shouldn't pay but still have to is incredibly frustrating.
The difference between paying for road repairs and this is that modern people pretend to be ignorant when they know the truth, while ancient people were genuinely fooled and truly confused.
They didn't understand, and they had no sources of information. It wasn't that they weren't smart; in fact, people in ancient times were quite wise in their daily lives. Without the aid of technology, they would only have a deeper understanding of the laws of nature.
"This kind of thing definitely cannot be tolerated. I think we should deal with it as soon as possible!"
Every day that is delayed means another day of freedom for the Huang family. Thinking of all the things the Huang family has done over the years, Youqing wished they would be brought to justice immediately.
"I will have someone take care of it immediately."
Emperor Kangxi did not want the Huang family to enjoy their freedom any longer.
They had originally planned to stay here for one night, but the mountain roads were indeed difficult to travel, and the formal handling of the Huang family would probably have to wait until tomorrow morning.
That night, Kangxi and Youqing stayed in the mountains.
The next morning, people from the yamen arrived. These were all newly promoted by Kangxi. There weren't many of them, but fortunately, they were of good character and capable enough.
"Greetings, Your Excellency the Governor."
Emperor Kangxi waved his hand: "No need to concern yourself with these formalities. Do you already know the truth?"
"I understand, sir. Please give your instructions."
This man was recently promoted by Emperor Kangxi, and it's not his place to confess to this crime; he only needs to follow orders.
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