Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 106: Taxation in the South City
Liyang County.

Smoke slowly rose from each courtyard and then slowly dissipated into the air.

Some people started going out, and the quiet road became lively.

The man went out of the door, carrying a large bamboo basket. He bent over and stroked his sunken abdomen hard. He turned his head and looked inside the house.

Two half-grown children were lying on the mat, and a woman with a worried look on her face was sitting beside them. She was frighteningly thin, wearing a headscarf and wrapping her body with simple cloth. There was not a bit of flesh on her face, and her skin was sticking to her bones. She leaned against the wall and gently wiped the children's face with the wet cloth in her hand. The children were all red and made strange noises from time to time. The woman raised her head and looked at the man with a dull and desperate look.

The man looked around his yard.

An empty and dilapidated courtyard.

The ground was so bumpy that not even a weed could be found.

The man turned around, gripped the handle of his bamboo basket tightly, and strode out of his home.

After walking for a while, the sound of a woman sobbing was heard from behind. The man just frowned and pretended he heard nothing.

They arrived at the city gate. There were two groups of officials sitting on both sides of the gate. They were confronting each other. The people still preferred to pass by these newcomers.

The man heard that the newcomer was a county official who was nice to people and rarely bullied them.

The other party checked the "documents" and looked at the man in front of him.

"Collecting herbs in the wild?"

"Yes."

"There are many bandits in the wild, be careful."

"Thank you, sir."

The man wrote it down and let the man leave the city.

The man carried the bamboo basket and moved forward. Outside the city of Liyang, unlike Cheng'an, there were no dense forests and too many high slopes. It was almost an endless plain. Standing on the city wall, one could see the distant scenery around the city clearly.

The farmland on both sides was very fertile, but the people working on it were exhausted.

Those people were like skeletons, waving their hoes numbly. They didn't react even if someone walked by them.

The man didn't know how long he had been walking, and finally, he came to a tall willow tree. It was unknown how many years old this willow tree was, and the trunk was extremely thick. Even if there was another man, he would not be able to wrap his arms around it. Although the tree was tall, there was a crack in the middle, and it was completely black, as if it was dead.

The man placed the bamboo basket next to the big willow tree, tore off the tarpaulin, and took out an axe from it. He looked around and sat down under the shade of the tree.

After walking such a short distance, he looked extremely tired. He was panting and his forehead was covered with sweat.

It was quiet all around, but not silent. The man could always hear faint noises and rustling sounds, but there were clearly no trees around. Swarms of small insects on the ground were carrying food and struggling to stuff it into the cave. The little ants tried every way they could, and a few more ants came to help before they succeeded.

The man was so absorbed in watching that he suddenly smiled.

The sound of horse hooves was heard in the distance. The man hurriedly stood up and walked to the side of the road in panic. A carriage was heading towards the city.

There were several big monks holding knives in front of the carriage leading the way. At this moment, they were cursing loudly, and the cursing was very unpleasant. When they saw someone suddenly came out, the monks were also stunned.

They looked at the man in front of them, "What do you do?"

“Chopping wood.”

The big monks ignored him, lowered their voices, continued talking, and slowly left.

The man watched them leave, pursed his lips, and sat down under the shade of the tree again.

Sitting down again, the noise and rustling sounds disappeared inexplicably, and the ants were nowhere to be seen. There was a noise again from the opposite side, and the man stuck his head out to see.

It was a man wearing a coarse linen short coat. He was lowering his head, pushing a wheelbarrow with difficulty, panting, and heading straight for the big willow tree.

The man's hand holding the axe began to tremble. When the opponent approached, he suddenly jumped out and raised the axe. The opponent was indeed frightened and retreated in a hurry.

"I want food! Hand over all the food!!"

The vendor looked at him in horror, "Brother! Spare my life! I have a mother to support at home."

The man's eyes were red, "Hurry up! Bring me all the food! Bring it!!"

"I don't have anything to eat. Even this cart of horn combs is not worth much. Please spare my life, brother!"

The man looked into the wheelbarrow, gritted his teeth, and reached out his hand to grab the wheelbarrow. The vendor immediately rushed over and pressed the wheelbarrow with his body, "I can't give you the wheelbarrow! I can't give you the wheelbarrow!!"

The man tried to pull the vendor away, but the vendor held on tightly. He raised the axe and tried to chop him down several times, but he did not dare to kill the vendor.

Suddenly, the man started crying and knelt down in front of the other person.

"I beg you. I really have nothing to eat at home and my child will starve to death. I'm lending you the lunch box! Please!"

He shouted and kowtowed to the other party again and again.

The vendor held on to the car tightly and cried, "Just kill me. Kill me. I can't give you this car. My whole family depends on this car."

The man gritted his teeth, rushed forward, knocked the vendor to the ground, groped in the cart, grabbed a horn comb, and stuffed it into his arms. The vendor pounced on him, and the two men fought. The man became fierce, and the vendor could not stop him. He brought the stolen things back to the bamboo basket, poured them all into it, and then carried the basket on his back. Hearing the crying behind him, he did not dare to look back, but just ran away.

The peddler hugged his cart and burst into tears.

The man returned to the city gate panting. He frowned and decided to bypass this gate and came to the west gate. For some reason, he didn't dare to pass in front of the county official again. He quickly walked to the county official.

The county official stared fiercely at the prefectural official opposite him. Facing this small-time figure, he really couldn't muster any thoughts. He just glanced at him casually and waved his hand to drive him into the city.

The man walked very quickly. After entering the city, he ran towards the West Market.

The county official at the city gate narrowed his eyes, looked at the direction where the man was going, called someone over, and whispered something to him.

A moment later, a man came out of the West Market holding a small package, and even the bamboo basket disappeared.

The man hugged the small package tightly in his arms and ran towards his home numbly.

When he arrived at the door, he knocked on it hurriedly.

I knocked for a long time, but no one opened the door.

The man got angry and pushed the door open with force, then staggered to steady himself. The yard was empty and there was nothing to block his view.

On the steps of the inner room, the woman was lying on the ground in a crawling posture.

The two children snuggled up to their mother, also motionless at this moment.

The man was stunned. He wanted to say something, "Uh, well"

He opened his mouth, but what came out of it was not words, but rather the whimper of a wounded animal.

He just whimpered, his hands lost strength and the package fell to the ground.

The millet was scattered all over the ground.

"This is it!"

The officer looked at the pass in his hand and cursed: "These county officials, apart from doing bad things, they don't do any real work!!"

Yao Xiong stood behind him, and on the other side was the sobbing vendor.

The mounted official looked at the dilapidated house in front of him, walked forward and began to knock on the door.

"Cao Zhuang! Open the door!"

"Open the door!!"

He knocked on the wooden door hard, but after a long time, no one responded from inside.

The rider looked at Yao Xiong, and Yao Xiong nodded. The rider pushed hard and the wooden door opened. The rider drew his knife and walked into the yard cautiously.

The yard was empty, with only some millet scattered on the ground.

The cavalry officer looked around and walked into the house.

"Mr. Yao!!"

The mounted official exclaimed, and Yao Xiong quickly walked into the house.

The man was hanging on the beam, his body swaying back and forth in front of everyone.

Next to them, a woman and two children were lying cleanly on the bed.

The mounted officer looked at this scene in astonishment, and hurriedly stepped forward to put the man down, checked his breath, and then checked the breath of the other two men.

Yao Xiong raised his head and looked at the man hanging in front of him. Unconsciously, his fists clenched, veins bulged, and his eyes became particularly creepy.

The vendor was also looking at this scene blankly, "I don't know."

"Mr. Yao!! This child is still breathing!"

The officer suddenly shouted. In the whole room, only one child was still breathing. Yao Xiong was stunned. "Take the child to find Chu Jiande and ask him to do his best to treat him!"

"only!!"

The officer picked up the child and left.

Yao Xiong slowly walked to the door. The vendor was trembling. "I"

"It's okay, this has nothing to do with you."

"It's only October, and you have no food?"

Yao Xiong suddenly asked, and the vendor let out a miserable laugh.

"Since the beginning of autumn, they have come to collect taxes six times. They said I had been granted 40 mu of land and 20 mu of mulberry fields, and that I had to pay taxes on 60 mu of land. I have never seen the 40 mu of land granted to me. Of the 20 mu of ancestral mulberry fields, only three mu are left, and I can't even cultivate them."

"If you can't pay the full amount, you will be arrested and sent to jail."

"Even if we spend all our money to collect the money, they will come to ask for it a few days later. They will not be able to make sense and say that they have paid it, and then they will say that the tribute grain in the whole county is insufficient and they need us to share the burden."

"Split once, split twice, my family has split it five times already"

County government.

"That's what he said."

"I wanted to bring him here, but he didn't dare to come to the county government office."

"I just gave him some money. Also, the price of grain in Liyang is really shockingly high, much higher than Cheng'an."

Yao Xiong spoke slowly, and everyone just listened to him.

Tian Zili could not help but say, "These corrupt officials have occupied so much farmland that the tribute cannot be paid, so they have to distribute it to the people and ask them to pay it back. It's only October and the people have no surplus food. How can they survive until the autumn harvest next year? I really don't know how many people in this county will starve to death."

"Although the officials of Cheng'an killed people indiscriminately, it was not so exaggerated! Five times? Do they want to starve all the people in the city to death, leaving no one alive?!"

Everyone was a little angry. They had experienced taxation and corvée labor many times before and knew what those cruel officials looked like. But this was the first time they had heard of people being pushed to death without any chance of survival.

Tian Zili looked at Shi Yao who was standing opposite him, "Are the people of Liyang so easy to bully? Cheng'an is the imperial city, and there are still turmoil. How can there be no rebellion?"

In a hurry, he didn't even care that the person in front of him was an official of high rank.

Shi Yao was a little embarrassed. He didn't know how to answer this question, so he had to explain: "Not long after each distribution, those foreign monks would come out. They would distribute porridge in the city, preach and chant scriptures, and they all believed that suffering would bring blessings."

"That really is a clear division of labor."

Tian Zili said this in a sarcastic tone.

"We must find a way to get rid of these traitors!!"

Chu Jiande finally spoke this time. He said, "Mr. Tian, ​​don't think about how to deal with the traitor yet. Think of a way to save people first. I think the child that Mr. Yao sent here hasn't eaten for four or five days. He's vomiting and having diarrhea. All he vomited out was grass roots and dirt. It's hard to say how many people in the whole Liyang City have food at home. We have to find a way to keep the people alive until next year."

Tian Zili grabbed his head angrily, "The county treasury is empty. Where the hell did all the taxes go?!"

Shi Yao looked at Liu Taozi who was standing aside. "Mr. Liu, what Mr. Chu said is very reasonable. We must find a way to save the people. I am going to write to Prime Minister Yang again. In the past, my letters could never reach Yecheng. I wonder if you can help me?"

Everyone looked at him in surprise.

Shi Yao said again: "When I took the exam, I was appreciated by Prime Minister Yang and was promoted by him. Later, we exchanged letters. I think after reading my letter, he would not ignore the people of the county."

He realized that he had said too much, and continued: "Even if it doesn't work, you have to try anyway."

Liu Taozi looked at Kou Liu and said, "Liu, you have been to the Prime Minister's Mansion once before. This time, you should go and see him off."

"Be careful on the road."

"only!!"

Kou Liu quickly stood up and said yes. Liu Taozi looked at Shi Yao and said, "Please write it now, Magistrate Shi. Don't write any greetings. Just inform us of the local situation and let Prime Minister Yang find a solution as soon as possible."

"Wei, okay, I'll write it now."

Shi Yao was about to call out Wei subconsciously, but suddenly remembered that the other party was his subordinate. He quickly changed his words and immediately took a pen to write a letter.

Someone brought paper and pen, and Shi Yao quickly finished writing the letter under everyone's gaze.

Kou Liu left with the letter.

Shi Yao said again: "Mr. Liu, now that the county government has taken back the power of the city gates, there is some income every day. I think we can distribute food and porridge appropriately. Before Prime Minister Yang helps, we must prevent more Cao Zhuang from appearing."

Liu Taozi looked at him calmly, then shook her head.

"No."

"How many lives can be saved with just these? Besides, this year's tribute grain has not been paid in full."

Shi Yao was stunned. "What does Liu Jun mean by this?"

“It’s taxable.”

Shi Yao stood up with a bang, holding the sword at his waist, "Liu Taozi! What do you want to do?!"

At this moment, Yao Xiong, Tian Zilie and others also stood up, drew their knives in an instant and pointed them at Shi Yao.

Liu Taozi stood up slowly.

He was very tall, and Shi Yao was not tall to begin with. When Liu Taozi stood up, he could only look up at her. Liu Taozi looked down at him, and Shi Yao couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. But this man was very stubborn, and he didn't retreat even if he was afraid, and continued to curse: "I thought you were..."

Liu Taozi ignored him and looked at everyone.

"When you were in Cheng'an, you all saw how the officials collected taxes, right?"

"Bring all the people from the county government, as well as donkeys, carts and other things to carry goods."

"Follow me to the south of the city to collect taxes."

With every word Liu Taozi spoke, Shi Yao became more furious. But when he said the last sentence, Shi Yao was suddenly stunned.

South of the city? ?
He murmured: "But monks and nobles don't pay taxes."

"Then let them share it equally."

Everyone was delighted. They hurriedly saluted, "Yes!!!"

They were not evil officials in the past, but even if they had eaten pork, had they seen a pig run?
They had seen many things in the past, such as extorting carriages entering and leaving the city gate and forcibly collecting taxes from people's homes. Everyone hurried out to prepare, but Shi Yao grabbed Liu Taozi's hand in panic.

"Mr. Liu! Don't be reckless! Don't be reckless!"

"The entire southern part of the city is the territory of Chongguang Temple and the Li family. There are thousands of guards on both sides!!"

"No problem. Not long ago, Zhao Juncheng sent me some military equipment."

Liu Taozi easily pulled his hand away and strode out of the house.

Shi Yao stared blankly at everyone leaving. He pondered for a moment, then gritted his teeth and quickly followed.

The gate of the county government office was roughly opened, and a group of fully armed officials were seen walking out quickly. There were mounted officials who quickly led the way. Behind them were many donkey carts, all of which were empty. The donkeys made unpleasant noises and pulled the carts out of the county government office unsteadily. The minor officials came out one after another. They were all wearing simple cloth armor, but fully armed. More and more of them came out of the gate of the county government office.

Seeing this scene, people from far and near were all frightened to the extreme.

I don't know who shouted first.

As the crowd fled in all directions, they saw the common people rushing into their homes, locking their doors, and starting to hide their belongings to prevent the officials from coming to plunder.

The whole street was in chaos, it was extremely spectacular.

For the common people, this scene was too familiar. Every time officials came out of the county government like this, they were here to collect taxes.

These inhuman creatures would break into people's homes and "collect taxes" from house to house. If they could not pay, they would naturally have to pay off the debt with something. Anything could be used to pay off the debt, even their wives, daughters, and themselves.

Of course, they didn't dare to be too arrogant in the city, but in the countryside outside the city, no one cared.

Seeing the officials going out again, the people hid at home in despair.

Oh my God. I thought a good official had come, but before I could be happy for a few days, he came to collect taxes again?
How can this teach people to live?
The officials did not disperse as usual and break into every house along the street. Instead, led by a mounted official, they headed towards the south in a large crowd.

The people waited in the house for a long time, but heard no knock on the door. They only heard hurried footsteps and the sound of horse hooves outside.

They still didn't dare to go out, and only after the sound disappeared did they lie on the wall and look outside.

"What's happening here?"

"Could it be that we are going to worship Buddha?"

(End of this chapter)