Reborn as a Cube Man in the Late Ming Dynasty

"Sir, it's not that we don't want to pay taxes, but it hasn't rained for several months, and the crops have yielded nothing. We really have no money and no food, so we really can't pay our taxes!" The old man knelt on the ground, pleading with the constable in front of him.

"Go to hell!" The constable kicked him to the ground, sneering, "I don't care about drought or locust plagues, as long as there are people left in your village, you have to hand over the money! If you don't, you're rebelling!"

"Since they won't hand it over voluntarily, then we'll do it ourselves. What are you all standing there for? Go in and search every house!"

"Yes!" Behind him, the other two constables rushed into the villager's house with expressionless faces, took out the broadswords hanging from their waists, cut open the bags, kicked down the door, and searched carefully without missing any place.

Not long after, they found a small bag of mixed rice hidden in a cellar.

"You said there was no food? What's this?" The head constable held up the small bag of mixed rice and glared menacingly at the villagers.

"You villagers are pretty bold! You dare to hide grain and not hand it over. What, do you want me to send you to jail?"

Seeing the villagers' terrified expressions, he finally felt a little relieved.

It was because these lowly people refused to cooperate and were reluctant to pay taxes that he was subjected to a severe scolding by the clerk.

"Keep searching! I want to see how much more they've hidden!" he commanded, waving his hand.

But no matter how hard they searched, they found nothing.

"Is this all the food you have?" the leader asked.

"Our village's life-saving food! Sir, you can't take it away, or the village will really have no way to survive!" the old man pleaded, tears streaming down his face.

"You're lying! How could you have hidden so little? There must be other places!" He ordered the other constables to bring in a villager, pulled out an iron ruler he carried, and began whipping him repeatedly. "Old man, if you don't talk, I'll beat him!"

"Tell me! Where did you hide the thing?"

Several villagers were randomly knocked unconscious. The old man was in tears, completely out of his mind, only muttering, "It's all gone, really all gone!"

The head constable shook his slightly swollen right hand, cursing, "Damn it, lowly people are just lowly people, their skin is so thick!"

Seeing the old man's reaction, he roughly knew that he couldn't squeeze any more money out of the village. He made a few harsh remarks and left the village amidst the villagers' wailing farewells.

After the constables left, the suppressed sobs gradually grew louder, and the entire village was filled with an atmosphere of sorrow.

One of the men, who was quite strong, was so enraged that he picked up a wood-chopping knife and was about to chase after the constables and kill them.

"Wang Er, don't be impulsive! Don't kill him, don't kill him!" The people around him quickly stopped him, preventing him from doing something foolish.

"Are we just going to let them insult us like this? We'll lose our last bit of food. What will happen to the village? This imperial court is clearly not leaving us any way to survive! What kind of imperial court is this?" Wang Er said through gritted teeth.

"Otherwise, we can kill these yamen runners, but what will happen to the villagers if the imperial court investigates? We can't fight them," they pleaded.

"But if we run out of food, won't we still die in the end?" Wang Er asked rhetorically.

"As long as people are alive, there will be a way to get food."

Seeing the village in such a mess, an idea came to Wang Er's mind.

Since we're going to die anyway, why not just rebel?

On the other side, the leading constable walked ahead with a frown on his face.

"We only managed to collect this little bit from one village. That's not enough to cover our losses. We'll just have to see if we can find something better in the next village! I remember the next village is... Liu Family Village!" He clicked his tongue impatiently.

"It's true what they say, 'One word from above, and the people below run themselves ragged.' This village is even poorer than the one we just visited; it looks like we'll have wasted another trip."

Before long, they arrived at the entrance of Liu Family Village.

"Where are the people from Liu Family Village? Get out here right now! If you don't pay your taxes, you'll all be locked up in jail today!"

The constables are here!

Hearing the shout from the village entrance, the people of Liujia Village were startled and quickly did as the village chief had instructed them, rolling around on the ground to get themselves all dirty.

He quickly dampened his face with water and flicked it, then pinched up a small piece of yellow soil that he had specially found and smeared it evenly on his face.

She returned to her previous sallow and emaciated appearance, and even looked weaker.

They had only eaten their fill for a few days, so their spirits had only improved slightly. They did this just to be on the safe side.

Having done all this, they lowered their heads slightly and hurried towards the village entrance in a scattered manner.

Liu Dexi went to greet him, his face contorted with a mournful expression, and forced a smile, saying, "Sir, we..."

"Hey, stop! Are you trying to say that because it didn't rain, the harvest was bad, and we don't have money to pay taxes?" the head constable interrupted.

He looked around and saw that the people of Liujia Village looked ashen-faced. He glanced at them briefly, then calmly said to Liu Dexi, "Don't tell me there's nothing we can do about the drought. I've heard that excuse too many times. No matter what you say today, the tax must be paid in full!"

Besides, even if I agreed, my two brothers behind me wouldn't agree!

"That's right, the magistrate is kind-hearted and has already given you so many days of grace. If you don't pay your taxes soon, he'll arrest you all and take you back!" a yamen runner shouted loudly.

The other one didn't speak, but silently pulled out an iron ruler and waved it in the air, making a piercing crackling sound.

"No, sir, you've misunderstood me," Liu Dexi said with a forced smile, taking out a bag from his pocket and respectfully handing it over: "This is the tax our village owes, which we're paying today."

"Mom, I'm so hungry! I really want to eat something."

The constable looked in the direction of the sound and saw a child curled up in his mother's arms, calling out.

The mother held him, her arms gently swaying, soothingly saying, "Sleep well, Sixth Brother, be good, you won't be hungry if you fall asleep."

They, the constables, saw this scene every day. At first, they might have felt something, but after seeing it so often, they became numb to it.

Now, all he cares about is whether he can get more reward money.

A yamen runner took the bag from Liu Dexi and carefully counted the contents.

"Boss, the amount matches up; it's exactly the tax owed."

"Are you sure the amount is exactly right, nothing's missing?" The head constable looked at the man counting the money with a complicated expression. "If we were short even a penny or two, we'd be in trouble. If the magistrate blames us, neither of us can bear the responsibility!"