Chapter 40 Corruption
The man in official uniform snorted coldly, asked Su Yuanshan to take out the yellow book, and then counted them one by one against the yellow book.

He was about to speak when he caught a glimpse of the carriage in the yard out of the corner of his eye. He paused and said:
"There are six people in your family, why are there only four of you? Where are the other two?"

Su Yuanshan sighed, "My wife and Dalang went to visit relatives. It rained suddenly, so they postponed their return."

The man in official uniform nodded nonchalantly and said:
"The person is not here, but it still needs to be included in the tax... I see that you still have livestock, so this horse should also be included in the tax."

Su Buwei couldn't help but blurt out: "What? The horse is also included in our family. Why don't you see the name of my horse written in the yellow book?"

The man in official uniform raised his eyebrows and glared angrily, "Where did you come from? How dare you talk back to me!"

Saying that, he was about to take a step forward.

Su Yuanshan quickly stood in front of Su Buwei and said:

"Quinzi speaks freely, but please forgive him this time because of his young age!"

After a pause, Su Yuanshan continued: "We will pay as much money as we need to pay!"

After saying that, he took out some money from his sleeve and stuffed it into the palm of the man in official uniform without any explanation.

The man in official uniform looked a little better, but to save face, he said with a straight face, "I won't do this next time."

Then, he collected taxes based on 120 big coins for adults, 120 big coins for children, and [-] big coins for horses.

He took out a book, found the page about the Su family, and asked Su Yuanshan to confirm it and mark it.

After the painting was consigned, the Su family paid the capitation tax and annual tax.

The six taels of silver they had paid in the village before had no signature and bonding process. It was simply because the official had cheated on him!
A full six taels of silver!It’s enough for an average person to chew for several years!

Su Buwei clenched his fists and felt that the anger in his body was about to burst out.

The man in official uniform cleared his throat and continued:

"Even if the first thing is done, there is still a second thing. When you hear someone beating the gong tonight, come out quickly and go to the gate of the government office. The magistrate has something important to say."

Because nowadays, no matter day or night, there are thick dark clouds in the sky. When announcing something, in order to avoid people getting the time wrong, they always use gongs to signal.

After saying that, the man in official uniform turned and left. Before leaving, he took away two jackets and a chinchilla skin cloak from the Su family, and ran to another house to collect taxes.

Su Buwei was so angry that he almost drew his sword.

Su Yuanshan sighed: "In the past, I only regarded him as Rui Guohe Qinghaiyan, but I didn't expect that I was too ignorant and one-sided."

In the past, all kinds of taxes were collected by the Baochang. Since the emperor became seriously ill, the government sent people to collect them.

Those officials are like cats smelling fishy smell, no matter rich or poor, they have to squeeze some oil.

They don't look like people sent by the government to collect taxes, but like local snakes coming to collect protection fees, with greed written all over their faces.

The capitation tax used to be once a year, but now it is once every three months.

And in the past, children under six years old did not have to pay the capitation tax.

Now, I wish that everything the woman was carrying in her belly would be added to it!This time even horses are included!
What absurdity!

Su Bujing said with emotion: "Our family is relatively wealthy, but we all feel heartbroken."

"How would a poorer family survive this?"

Su Yuanshan couldn't help but snorted: "This doesn't even count the inexplicable extra taxes!"

"The year before last, the land tax was changed to one out of ten, twice a year. This is considered a heavy tax!"

"So many! It's raining so heavily now. I'm afraid the harvest will be bad. How can those people pay?" Su Buwei opened his mouth in surprise.

Su Yuanshan said expressionlessly: "Oh, if you can't pay it back, ask the landlord to borrow it. If you borrow too much and you can't pay it back, sell the land!"

"If you can't pay the tax, you have no choice but to run away. If you can run away, you will become a refugee. If you can't run away, you will be captured and served as a corvee."

Now the people in Switzerland who cannot afford to pay taxes have become refugees or have defected to the rebels.Everyone fell silent immediately.

The current situation in Ruiguo can be said to be precarious.

The people have been having a hard time in the past few years, and now they are facing a heavy rain that is rare in a century.

Not to mention other places, at least Yongzhou will not be peaceful for long!
No wonder someone rose up in Yuanzhou, claiming to be a real dragon, and countless people responded.

They all want to overthrow the corrupt Zhou Dynasty!
If it weren't for the fact that life couldn't last any longer, how could any common people want to rebel?
But the True Dragon Army didn't know whether it was because of lax governance in the army or because of the lack of strict governance in the army.

Everywhere they went, they burned, killed, looted, and acted with such cruelty and arrogance that they became the same existence as the Zhou Dynasty.

The rebel army, which was supposed to be the support of the people, was turned into a rebel army by the court, and the people were not convinced.

A good hand was beaten to a pulp in the end.

Everyone in the Su family felt heavy and confused, and remained silent for a long time.

Su Bujing suddenly said: "Dad, second brother, and little brother, let's continue practicing martial arts!"

Su Yuanshan and Su Buwei nodded together, and even Su Buyou didn't complain about the hard work.

When you are extremely unsure about the future, only strength can protect yourself.

Everyone did not choose a place, moved the tables and chairs in the main room aside, and practiced martial arts in the main room.

First, they stood in the horse stance for an hour, and then Su Buwei taught them the swordsmanship. Su Yuanshan and Su Buyou followed suit with branches.

Su Bujing returned to the bedroom, set up a spirit gathering array, and practiced with his eyes closed.

In the afternoon, the family had dinner, wrung out the fabric used to plug holes in the roof and filled it up, and then continued practicing martial arts.

They practiced until they heard the sound of the gong being struck, and everyone in the Su family stopped.

Su Yuanshan patted Su Bujing's shoulder seriously and said:

"Ah Guai, you are sensible and understand the importance of things. Watch your second brother and Buyou at home and wait for Dad to come back!"

Su Bujing nodded obediently.

Su Buwei:...

Dad, how worried are you about me?

After watching Su Yuanshan go out wearing a cloak and holding an umbrella, Su Bujing grabbed Su Buwei's sleeves, smiled and said:
"Second brother, the person who came to collect taxes today was really outrageous! He even included our horses! He also took away the clothes we left for eldest brother!"

Su Buwei answered angrily: "That's right! Another horse is not included in the yellow list. It's simply a huge deception! Moreover, we clearly paid the tax! It's six taels of silver!"

Su Bujing then said: "Yes! We paid the tax in Yongzhou, whether they collected it or not, we have done our duty!"

"Today they actually come to us again to ask for money. It's obviously not a tax collection, but a money grab!"

When Su Buwei heard this, his breathing became heavier, and he wished he could punch that man Bang Bang twice immediately!

Su Bujing struck while the railway was hot: "I can't swallow this breath! I want to go out and beat him!"

Su Buwei:...?
You go out to beat someone up without taking him with you?
"Sister, how strong are you? Can you do it? How about my second brother go for you?"

Su Bujing pretended to be serious and shook his head, saying, "It's not you who is going, it's the two of us who are going together!"

Su Buyou on the side:...

Have sister and second brother forgotten him?

"Sister! I want to go with you too! That person is so evil that he stole my brother's jacket!" Su Buyou raised his fist and frowned, saying in a childish voice.

(End of this chapter)

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