PFC Chapter 512 The Tragic Situation of Dashang
Chapter 512 The Tragic Situation of Dashang
Let Tianming go?
Dongfang Tianming is one of the ten tiger ministers, second only to several generals. Letting him go in person would be enough to show Datang's sincerity.
And a month ago, 200,000 Tang troops pursued and intercepted the Xiongnu, killing 30,000 Xiongnu and capturing 5,000 good horses. If nothing else goes wrong, Xiongnu will be unable to attack the Tang Dynasty this year, and naturally there will be no need for Dongfang Tianming.
It is indeed a good choice to let Dongfang Tianming go.
"Tian Ming, then I'll ask you to go and have a big job. You are usually reckless, so when you see Lin Xiaofan, you must calm down and don't get angry with him."
Fan Yong asked. Lin Xiaofan was arrogant and Dongfang Tianming was reckless. What he was most worried about was a quarrel between the two.
"General, don't worry. How can I be as knowledgeable as a child? Lei Zhenzi, I will definitely get it."
Dongfang Tianming bowed and saluted so that Fan Yong could not see his face.
"Okay, get up quickly. You are wearing armor and it is inconvenient to salute. What Lin Xiaofan owns is a treasure. If we can't agree on the price, then you can come back and tell me his price, and I will make a final decision."
Fan Yong said as he thought.
"Don't be reckless. Don't get angry with it."
"General, I understand. This matter is of great importance, and I will not let the general down."
Dongfang Tianming said, his head lowered and his voice trembled slightly.
"Go."
Fan Yong waved his hand.
Dongfang Tianming left, and the room was silent again. Fan Yong stared into the distance when a strong wind blew and white snowflakes flew all over the sky, blocking his sight.
"Lin Xiaofan...Sirius Kingdom...to be honest, I really want to meet this young man...ahem..."
After finishing his words, he gently blew the flying snow off the table and returned his gaze to the military book he was writing in front of him.
……
Great Shang Kingdom
"Tax, tax!"
A sound resounded through the village, and the people walking in the aisles quickly went home as if they were seeing birds of prey. The woman who was cooking put away the rice, and the children who were resting hurriedly stood up, went to the granary at home, and hid the food in every corner of the house.
This year's harvest is pretty good. If the officers and soldiers who collect taxes know that they can eat five cents full, the taxes collected will probably be much higher.
"Taxation, where is Li Zheng?"
Several officers and soldiers were walking on the path, shouting loudly.
Not long after, an old man hurriedly walked from the dilapidated house with a smile on his face.
He is the upright person of this village. Even if he is unhappy, he does not dare to show any dissatisfaction to the officers and soldiers.
"Master, come and sit in my room, drink a bowl of tea and have a bite to eat."
Li Zheng humbly invited, and even took out some broken silver from his arms and stuffed it into the sleeves of several officers and soldiers.
"No, no, we're very busy."
The officers and soldiers took the silver and looked a little better.
"My lord, it didn't rain much this spring, so the harvest is really not good. Let's see... can we harvest less, or give it a longer period of time?"
Satomasa leaned closer and asked cautiously.
"Go ahead, these taxes are all set by the state. There is no reason to charge less."
Perhaps they smelled the stench from Li Zheng's body, and the officers and soldiers looked disgusted.
Hearing this, Li Zheng took a few steps back and put on an apologetic smile on his face:
"Yes, that's what the official said."
But he was cursing secretly in his heart. The country has a fixed tax, but which official in the country is not allowed to take advantage of it? Don’t they have to pay this greedy tax?
As for how much tax people in the county government collect, it is actually decided by the county magistrate's cronies, that is, the tax collectors. If the lives of the people in the village are slightly better, then more will be collected. If it’s worse, then charge less.
Several officers and soldiers walked around the village, randomly selected a few good ones to check, and then said:
"Let's collect two stones of grain from one acre of land."
"Two stones!"
This sentence hit him like a bolt from the blue. His legs weakened and he fell to his knees directly.
Even if the harvest is good this year, that one acre of land will only produce four stones of food. Harvesting two stones from one acre would cost them their lives.
"My lord, you are joking. Normally, don't you only collect one stone a year?"
Li Zheng's tone was almost pleading. In the past decade or so, most of the taxation has been based on a quarter of the output. More when the harvest is good, less when the harvest is bad.
This year, one-half of the tax was levied at once. How can they survive?
"I'm not joking. This is what has been decided by the higher-ups. We are just here to handle the matter and there is nothing we can do about it. If you feel something is wrong, just go to the county government office and complain. There is no point in begging me."
The officers and soldiers spoke.
"Master, please help us. We really can't afford to pay so much. If we accept it like this, how will we be able to eat next year?"
Li Zheng's eyes almost shed tears and he hugged the officers and soldiers' legs.
Seeing this, the officers and soldiers' faces became even more disgusted, and they kicked Li Zheng out at once.
"what!"
With a scream, Satozheng fell directly to the ground. He wanted to stand up again, but he was an old man and was injured, so he couldn't get up.
"On the way, go to the county government office if you have anything to say. In this way, I will give you some time. You can hand over the grain to the government office within ten days, okay? I don't know how to work harder and cultivate more grain on weekdays. Who can blame me? "
The officers and soldiers said that and gradually moved away.
"Boss, why are so many taxes collected this year? I think these common people really can't afford to pay."
"I heard from my second uncle that our Dachang has become a vassal state of Daqian. From now on, we must pay tribute every year 300,000 taels of silver and 30,000 shi of grain."
"Huh? So many? But our Dachang is so big, there are twelve counties alone, and there are hundreds of counties. On average, we don't need to collect so many more taxes, right?"
Speaking of this, the two men lowered their voices again.
"There's one more thing I'll tell you secretly, but don't spread it outside."
"Brother, please tell me quickly, I will never pass it on."
"Recently, a group of merchants have come here to collect grain. The price for low-grade grain is five hundred cents per stone, and the price for high-grade grain is seven hundred cents per stone."
"Let me go, aren't these a bunch of rich bastards?"
"That's right! So we big families want to collect more grain, sell it, and make a good fortune."
Looking at the officers and soldiers walking away, a few civilians hiding in the dark stepped forward and helped Li Zheng up.
"Li Zheng, are you okay? How much grain do these beasts need to harvest?"
One woman looked worried.
“Two stones per acre.”
Li Zheng's eyes were dull.
"what!"
Several people's faces instantly turned pale, and one person's vision went dark and he fainted.
"Second Sister-in-law Liu, Second Sister-in-law Liu!"
Several people shook him for a long time before shaking him up. Seeing that she was fine, several people breathed a sigh of relief.
"I still have four children to support at home, and the state pension has not been paid for four years. How can I afford to pay so much?"
"We have two children in our family who died of hunger last year. If we can't afford to eat next year, I don't know how we will survive."