Mang Shusheng's Ink Painting Practice

Chapter 121 The Sun Family of Fengkou Town
Sun Zhenghe, Zhao Yifu's first impression of this person was actually quite good, reminding him of his father Zhao Yunhe.

They all have the feeling of carrying the family on their shoulders. They are respected by their clansmen and bear all the pressure from the outside.

Zhao Yifu smiled and said, "I'm going to stay at your place for a while. I hope I won't disturb you too much."

Upon hearing this, Sun Zhenghe immediately nodded and said, "I will definitely cooperate with the County Magistrate."

Zhao Yifu immediately asked back: "Do you know what I am going to do?"

Sun Zhenghe was stunned for a moment, then said bluntly, "Everyone in this county knows that County Magistrate Zhao came here to promote the imperial court's land measurement policy. I think he came to Fengmen Town this time for this matter as well."

Zhao Yifu pointed at Sun Zhenghe helplessly and said, "You're too straightforward and honest. If someone else were to hear you say that, they'd probably give you a hard time."

The monk Bai Na who was following nearby laughed and said, "But you can't, right?"

Zhao Yifu said, "Yes, I won't. I just want to promote this policy. I will visit all three towns and eighteen townships in Fenglin County one by one."

He seemed very frank.

Perhaps it was this honesty that made Patriarch Sun feel something, and he asked, "Then...some of my family's newly reclaimed land was not previously recorded in the yellow book. If it is recorded this time, do I have to pay additional taxes?"

Zhao Yifu laughed heartily and said, "Master Sun is indeed a sincere man. Didn't you already pay the tax before? Why would I ask you to pay it again?"

"But starting from the moment I re-create the Fish Scale Yellow Book, those lands will also need to pay taxes."

Sun Zhenghe breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this.

Then he said, "Please follow me, sir, and we will talk at the house."

Zhao Yifu nodded after hearing this, and went to the Sun family residence with Sun Zhenghe.

Anyway, he was only staying in this house temporarily, so it didn't matter to him where he lived.

As for the mother and son he met at the door, Zhao Yifu no longer took them to heart.

What should have been done had been done, and he would not regret it or think about it later.

Taoist Bai Na didn't seem very happy about this. It seemed that he didn't like living in such a powerful family.

Zhao Yifu said, "Senior, I know you like to be with the common people at the grassroots level, but the common people's perspective is often biased. After all, people's hearts are always on their side."

"So, first look at it from the perspective of Sun Lizheng, listen to what he did and said, and then listen to the voices of the people and compare them."

The Taoist monk Bai Na said, "You are right, but I still believe in the principle of 'being rich but not kind'."

Zhao Yifu nodded and said, "That's true... Let's wait and see."

Zhao Yifu did not argue with Taoist Bai Na because he just wanted to see more clearly.

They followed Sun Zhenghe to the Sun family's house. This place was different from other wealthy families because there were no obvious servants or maids serving them. Instead, everyone seemed to be a member of the Sun family living here.

But at this time they were running around busily, apparently preparing a banquet.

Zhao Yifu looked at this scene and didn't know what to do.

Sun Zhenghe said shyly, "We've never had any distinguished guests before, so please forgive me for being so busy."

Suddenly a cry was heard from the other side of the wall.

Then a child's voice rang out: "Don't kill my sheep. Why are you killing my sheep?"

Another voice said, "Don't be silly, Yang'er. This sheep was killed to entertain the distinguished guests. Besides, this sheep was originally raised by the tribe, and it is needed now."

The child named Yang'er said, "But I sold almost all my sheep last time to raise money. These are the only ones left that I want to keep for breeding!"

"If we sell them all, will we still have sheep in our family in the future..."

Sun Zhenghe's face was embarrassed. He quickly said, "Children don't understand. Our Sun family is rich, how could we be without sheep?"

The monk Bai Na sneered, "You're lying."

However, despite this, Taoist Bai Na looked at Sun Zhenghe with a more friendly expression.

Zhao Yi Fu felt that this old Taoist had something wrong with his mind. He couldn't stand seeing others getting rich and just wanted them to be as poor as possible, right?
He said helplessly to Sun Zhenghe, "Keep the sheep. This senior Bai Na and I are both cultivators, but I practice both Confucianism and Taoism. So, just prepare some simple food and drink."

"Oh, and prepare some dried fish for me. My raccoon loves it."

After hearing this, Sun Zhenghe's expression improved a little and he breathed a sigh of relief.

Just like everyone who has come into contact with Zhao Yifu feels, being with him does give you a relaxing feeling like being bathed in a spring breeze.

He quickly gave another order.

Of course, it is impossible to have a simple meal, but the fresh vegetables, radishes, tofu and other ingredients on the dish are generous in quantity and oil.

Upon seeing this, Taoist Bai Na immediately picked up his bowl and chopsticks and began to eat with relish.

Zhao Yifu just took two bites to taste it and didn't eat it anymore.

Sun Zhenghe said somewhat bewilderedly, "Zhao County Magistrate, how about adding some more dishes?"

Zhao Yifu waved his hand and said, "No need to say that, let's talk about your Sun family's affairs."

When Sun Zhenghe heard this, his expression froze, and then he lowered his head to listen to the question.

Zhao Yifu asked, "Besides Fengkou Town, your Sun family is also responsible for the taxes of nineteen villages, right? Then I'd like to ask, how did this county's deficit come about before, and how did you end up owing nearly twenty thousand taels of land tax?"

Sun Zhenghe's forehead was sweating when he heard this. He said, "Reply... Reply, sir, all the taxes owed by our family have been paid off."

Zhao Yifu said, "I know this isn't about settling scores later. I just want to understand your tax collection situation and the problems you've encountered."

"If there really is any difficulty and it is not resolved now, the hole that has been filled will reappear sooner or later."

Sun Zhenghe nodded in shame after hearing this. He said, "Actually, the reason for everything lies in that old yellow book."

Zhao Yifu asked in surprise, "Why?"

Sun Zhenghe said, "The old Yellow Book records nineteen villages with nineteen hundred households. However, after so many years, only twelve hundred households remain. County tax collectors collect taxes based on the Yellow Book, so I have no choice but to shift the tax burden of the missing seven hundred households onto the remaining population."

After hearing this, Taoist Bai Na snorted coldly and said, "You are so honest that you can say such words."

Sun Zhenghe trembled with fear and did not answer.

Zhao Yifu asked curiously, "What about your Sun family? Since you said that the taxes of these 700 households were passed on to the rest of the people, how much did your Sun family bear?"

Sun Zhenghe said: "At first, we carried 400 households, but later on, the families couldn't support it anymore. The year before last, we relaxed the restrictions and carried 300 households. Last year, the situation was even worse, so we could only carry 200 households."

"This is also the reason for the unpaid land tax. Many people really can't pay the tax, and my Sun family can't hand over all the grain and seeds at once, right?"

"So I can only owe it for now."

"The county is probably aware of our situation. Seeing how difficult it is for us, they stopped pressing us. But the debts are piling up, leading to such a huge deficit." Taoist Bai Na asked curiously, "That's not right. Even if you have to pay more taxes, I see that the soil here is extremely fertile. With careful cultivation, we can still have a good yield. Why is it so difficult?"

Sun Zhenghe said, "Because there was a severe drought here five years ago, the county had no harvest for the entire year. Many people starved to death that year, and almost every family was in mourning."

"Ever since the severe drought, the yield from this land has been declining year by year. We really have no other options."

Zhao Yifu nodded thoughtfully after hearing this and said, "If that's the case, I'll give this situation some special consideration."

"Of course, I still can't believe your one-sided statement. I'll still look around and find out more about the situation."

"If it is as you said, those fields have been abandoned because the people have withered away, then I will remove these fields from the new Yellow Book."

Sun Zhenghe asked in surprise, "Sir, I heard these are all political achievements."

"In the past, officials have revised the Yellow Book, but they only added to it and never deleted anything..."

Zhao Yifu laughed when he heard this. "Those officials have no foundation, so they'll do anything to advance their careers. But the county magistrate has someone behind him who doesn't care about these achievements."

"So don't worry."

Sun Zhenghe and Taoist Bai Na both had strange expressions on their faces after hearing this.

This was probably the first time they heard someone say so confidently that they had "someone behind them", and it was also the first time they felt at ease hearing it.

Taoist Bai Na immediately thought of Zhao Yifu's master, and then laughed heartily and said, "That's right, that's right. The power behind him is enormous. Can't he do whatever he wants with this small Fenglin County?"

Sun Zhenghe could only smile at this time.

Zhao Yifu said, "Okay, let's rest for today. Tomorrow I will start re-measuring the land near Fengkou Town."

Sun Zhenghe's face looked unhappy, but he still agreed.

Zhao Yifu didn't know what he was thinking, but in his opinion, this kind of thing should be done the way it should be, and there was no need to hesitate.

The dinner time of the day passed like this, and Sun Zhenghe specially arranged a nice courtyard for Zhao Yifu and Taoist Bai Na to live in.

Zhao Yifu was just hesitating whether to start practicing the 'Shou Ren Method' again when the Taoist monk Bai Na suddenly called out to him from outside: "The night is long, why not chat?"

Zhao Yi Fu was helpless. He rubbed the fat cat that had fallen asleep on the couch in the room, and then took Yi Yi outside.

What he saw instead was that the Taoist monk had set up an oven with five sweet potatoes on it.

The monk Bai Na was fanning the room beside him and said, "Come, let's roast some sweet potatoes."

"Although that dinner was interesting, it was really tasteless and not filling."

Zhao Yifu held Yiyi in his arms and sat down next to him, then said, "I see you're eating happily. Are you hungry so soon?"

"Come to think of it, Senior, don't you need to practice fasting?"

Taoist Bai Na was stunned when he heard this, then sighed and said, "Do you think everyone has the same superior inheritance as you?"

"The cultivation techniques that casual cultivators like us practice aren't as efficient at refining the vital energy of heaven and earth, so we still need to constantly eat to maintain our body's needs."

Zhao Yifu looked as if he had realized something after hearing this. He then carefully pondered the taste and slowly realized that he was actually hungry.

"Cuckoo~"

His stomach suddenly growled.

The Taoist monk Bai Na was also surprised, but then he laughed and handed him a freshly baked sweet potato, saying, "So you were just pretending. I thought you really had lost touch with the world."

Zhao Yifu didn't hesitate. He took the sweet potato and peeled it while wondering, "That's not right. I've already been able to completely fast before. Why am I suddenly hungry today?"

Then he suddenly realized: "Yes, I failed today!"

He understood that his high efficiency in refining the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was actually brought about by the 'Shou Ren Method'.

Shouren Method... This is truly a magical secret technique. Zhao Yifu even feels that he can become an immortal just by practicing this Shouren Method without doing anything.

Taoist Bai Na asked in confusion, "What's the meaning of breaking the skill?"

He seemed very cautious, because breaking the cultivation practice would be a fatal thing for any cultivator.

But Zhao Yifu didn't care at all about it.

He said, "It's okay. It's nothing serious except that I'll be hungry again."

He smiled carefreely.

The reason why he was so carefree was that he suddenly realized that in order to teach him various secret methods by words and deeds, his master Liang Zhongzhi must have also failed on his own.

He felt that since his master could do this for him, then it would not be a bad idea for him to break his power in order to save others.

He was enjoying the meal and felt that one sweet potato was not enough, so he took out a big ham from his sleeve.

This was what he brought from home before leaving. As Wu Zhong grew older, he wanted to take everything with him and was unwilling to leave anything behind.

Fortunately, Zhao Yifu's sleeves were wide enough to fit everything he wanted to take.

At this time, he put the whole ham aside, and Bainadao's mouth began to water.

Why are you still eating sweet potatoes? Hurry up and get some ham!
Taoist Bai Na picked up his knife and impatiently cut off a piece of meat, then began to eat it with relish. He then exclaimed in satisfaction, "This tastes amazing! Where did you buy this ham?"

Zhao Yifu said, "My family celebrated the New Year and moved to a new house, so we slaughtered twenty fat pigs for dinner, and made a lot of the leftovers into ham."

"My family saw that I was leaving home to become an official, so they let me take some with me. It's a taste of my hometown, I guess."

After hearing this, Taoist Bai Na suddenly thought of something and asked, "How does your family compare to the Sun family?"

Zhao Yifu laughed and said, "They can't be compared. At least my family consists mostly of the same clan, with a few vassal clansmen living together, so we don't have any responsibility for any local government affairs."

Indeed, in the past they had even killed the county magistrate in order to avoid paying taxes. This was a much more tactic than Sun Jiaye's.

After hearing this, Taoist Bai Na roughly understood what kind of person Zhao Yi Fu was.

He curled his lips and said, "So he's another dog owner."

Zhao Yifu laughed when he heard this, and didn't bother explaining to this guy who couldn't stand others doing well.

However, after eating two pieces of ham, Taoist Bai Na stopped and said, "I just saw that Sun Zhenghe had a bad look on his face. It seems that he doesn't want you to actually measure the land."

"You better be careful."

Zhao Yifu said helplessly: "I don't worry about what they think. What I am struggling with now is how to measure efficiently."

　Chapter 1. The project I worked on today passed the report, which is good news. But the bad news is that the thing I made has to be upgraded from DEMO to the official version... Bald head warning.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)