"Everyone has retreated, and only a few of us are left."
"That's fine, the rest are true friends."
"..."
When the news came out that Zhao Han had been canceled as a child student, a total of thirty-four members of the Datong Society retreated within two days and only a few were left: Zhu Zhiyu, Fei Ruyi, Fei Ruhe, Fei Yuanjian, Liu Ziren and Xu Ying.
There is no other reason, just that I am ashamed to be in the company of domestic slaves.
Of course, everyone said it tactfully and did not fall out with Zhao Han in person. They just looked for various excuses to prove that they did not have time.
Fei Ruyi, that die-hard gay, hasn’t been to the academy for a long time. He said he was going home to slowly study "Mengxi Bi Tan". When he was reading "Zhu Xi Yu Lei", he was shocked by the saying that the moon does not shine, and suddenly became interested in natural science.
.
Fei Ruhe has also been missing for half a month and is making trouble for his family to hire a riding and archery teacher.
Zhao Han wrapped the fine steel spear head in cloth, used the spear as a walking stick, and walked in the snow to say goodbye to the mountain chief Fei Yuanlu.
This gun is made of mulberry wood. Mulberry trees grow slowly and tend to grow crooked, so farmers are reluctant to cut them down. A gun shaft made of mulberry wood is worth a lot of money.
Forget about the white wax pole, it is fine for civil competitions, but it is pure nonsense to fight on the battlefield. "The Huizhou beef tendon wood is the best, followed by the sword spine wood. The red edge is strong and straight, and it is fragile. The white wax is soft and can be used as a stick."
The truly top-notch battlefield spears are all made of composite materials: tough wood as the core, wrapped with leather, and then wrapped with copper wire and rope.
"Crack, click..."
With one foot deep and one foot shallow, Zhao Han staggered forward in the snow. Without a stick, it would be difficult for him to gain strength.
The snow this year was extremely heavy, and Pang Chunlai's thatched roof collapsed under the weight of the snow. Master Pang could only live in a private school. If he continued to live alone, he would freeze to death at night.
In just a few days, many people in Qianshan County froze to death.
"Dong dong dong!"
Zhao Han dusted off the snowflakes on his body, leaned his spear against the wall, and raised his hand to knock on the door.
"Come in." A voice came from inside the house.
Zhao Han pushed the door open and walked in: "Young man, please pay homage to the mountain chief."
Fei Yuanlu asked with a smile: "Why don't you claim that you were born late?"
"Tongsheng has been expelled. I don't deserve to call myself this." Zhao Han said with his hands raised. "I'm here to bid farewell to the mountain chief."
"well!"
Fei Yuanlu sighed and said: "I didn't drive you down the mountain. If you like to study, you can still listen in the academy."
Zhao Han said: "This guy is the second shopkeeper of Dingsheng Building. I used to slack off a lot, but I have to be more diligent in the future."
"That's fine," Fei Yuanlu said, "being a restaurant manager is a good job, but don't lose your poetry books."
"Young man, please follow my instructions," Zhao Han bowed and said, "Farewell."
Fei Yuanlu's mood waned and he waved his hand and said, "Let's go."
Zhao Han took nothing with him except money and manuscripts, and without alerting anyone, he went down the mountain alone with his spear.
The wind and snow blew against his face, and he fell down from time to time, but Zhao Han was in a happy mood, like a caged bird that had escaped from trouble and flew away.
In four months' time, he will be fifteen years old. In ancient times, he was considered to be sixteen years old.
Being the second shopkeeper of Dingsheng Building is a way out that Zhao Han has left for himself. He can work and make money while making friends with various religions and wait until the time comes to watch the changes in the world.
In the dead of winter, Hekou Town is still prosperous, as long as the Xinjiang River and Qianshan River are not frozen.
"Brother, you're here!" Fei Ze (Jian Dan) greeted warmly. This guy is now the accountant of the restaurant.
Zhao Han leaned his spear against the counter and asked, "How is business these days?"
Feize sighed and said, "Business is good, but the stall tax has increased again."
Zhao Han smiled and said: "The court is short of money, so why don't taxes increase?"
"It's gone up too much," Feize said in a low voice. "A few days ago, a eunuch came to the county to collect taxes. The county magistrate couldn't do anything about it."
"The current emperor has a lot of the legacy of Lord Wanli." Zhao Han said jokingly.
During the Zhengde period, there were various types of taxes such as door stall tax, market tax, and commercial (commodity) tax. Due to the establishment of imperial stores everywhere, eunuchs randomly assigned taxes, resulting in a wide variety of taxes.
In the early years of Jiajing, reforms were carried out, all taxes were unified, and the "door stall tax" was levied.
This kind of door stall tax is based on the county, which stipulates the amount of tax payable by each county. The county magistrate asks the county and cities and towns to apportion the tax according to the amount of tax payable. It is collected once every quarter and is then sent to the taxation (division) bureau at the end of the year.
Tax departments are handed over to the central government at all levels.
During the Wanli period, there was a direct explosion. The emperor sent out mine supervisors and tax envoys to exploit the mines crazily and risk their lives.
The most terrifying thing at that time was the mining tax. When the eunuchs saw which family was particularly wealthy, they would slander that person's family and accuse him of mining. If he didn't pay the tax quickly, he would arrest the person. This caused countless people to lose their money.
Emperor Chongzhen was now desperate and sent eunuchs everywhere to collect taxes.
The stall tax in Hekou Town had been increased at the beginning of the year, and at the end of the year it was announced that it would be increased again, and the eunuchs went directly to the county government to press for it.
The eunuchs will definitely be able to eat enough, the county magistrates will eat the bones, and the officials can drink soup. The sad thing is that the central court's income from shops and vendors is actually limited, and all the commercial taxes are siphoned off by layers of people.
Feize pointed to the street and said: "We are okay. It's just that the restaurants are making less money, but the vendors outside are really miserable."
Zhao Han walked to the door of the restaurant, looked around, and came back and said, "No wonder there are fewer vendors. How much has the tax increased?"
"I don't know how I got the job. Anyway, the small stalls and shops can't continue to operate," Feize said in a low voice. "These small vendors were all forced to join the Iron Foot Society. Several leaders of the Iron Foot Society have been forced to join the street vendors."
They are so noisy that they dare not go out."
"Haha, you have to do things when you receive money." Zhao Han said with a smile.
The Iron Foot Guild has completely transformed from a coolie union into a gangster organization. The street vendors, to put it mildly, are joining the Iron Foot Guild, but in fact they are paying protection fees to the gangsters.
I usually enjoy collecting protection fees, shouldn't I express my gratitude now?
Zhao Han asked: "Where is the big shopkeeper?"
Feizer replied: "I went to the town for a meeting to discuss how to deal with the tax collectors."
In the evening, the chief shopkeeper Fei Xi came back and immediately ordered: "Prepare sticks, shop assistants, and go to the streets together tomorrow!"
"Uncle Xi, what can I do?" Zhao Han asked.
Fei Xi pulled Zhao Han into a corner and whispered in a low voice: "The gentlemen above have already organized a series of meetings in various towns and villages. Tomorrow we will go to the streets to resist taxes and send all the tax collectors back to the county town!"
interesting.
The next morning, the whole town got into action, with everyone from vendors to waiters preparing a stick.
The Iron Legs will serve as the main force in resisting the tax. After the tax collectors disembark, they will immediately block the dock.
The tax collectors did not notice anything unusual and continued to move forward until they finally stopped in front of the stall.
The vendor held a stick and said nothing.
Other traders stopped doing business and all took out their sticks.
"You...what are you going to do?"
The tax collector finally felt something was wrong. He was so frightened that he turned around and was about to run away, but was blocked by the iron feet behind him.
"beat!"
The crowd rushed up to fight, and the tax collectors cried for their fathers and mothers, and their screams gradually became fainter.
Two were killed on the spot, and the others were injured, not to mention.
Zhao Han witnessed the whole process and didn't know how to define this action.
The gentry teamed up, the merchants commanded, the trade unions, the vendors, and the clerks all went into battle in person.
Violent resistance to law?
The question is, is a tax increase legal?
Even if the stall tax was raised twice in a row, the total tax revenue of the entire Qianshan County would still be less than 400 taels of silver. Emperor Chongzhen's tax increase was really not much.
But when the eunuchs arrived, the actual tax collection amounted to more than 10,000 taels. The county magistrate, civil servants, and civil servants also followed suit, and the county's stall tax was close to 20,000 taels.
All the gentry in the county joined forces to violently resist the tax, scaring the county magistrate so much that he did not dare to go out.
But the eunuch was not afraid and took his servants personally to the Fei family's ancestral home in Henglin.
The eunuch held a whip in his hand, pointed at Fei Yuanzhen and said: "Hekou Town is the most prosperous town in Qianshan County. The annual door stall tax has been raised to 2,110 taels. You are the head of the Fei clan. I give you half a month."
, if the collection is not complete, I will come directly to the Fei family to ask for the money!"
"Cough cough cough cough!"
Fei Yuanzhen coughed repeatedly and said feebly: "Your Majesty, please know that I am old and frail and sick, and I am in Henglin, so I really can't control that side of the river. Please, Your Majesty..."
"Bring it in!" the eunuch interrupted.
The servants brought by the eunuch were gangsters recruited from the county. These gangsters showed off their prowess and actually brought in a thin-skinned coffin.
Fei Yuanzhen was so frightened that his face turned pale.
"After half a month, if the tax revenue from the stall is insufficient, you can just lie down in it yourself!" the eunuch said and left.
Fei Yuanzhen was so angry that he stamped his feet: "How can this not make sense? How can it not make sense!"
The gentry immediately discussed it, but they still had no choice but to go to the governor and the governor to file a complaint.
Those patrol censors were originally promoted by Chongzhen. How could they care about the business of tax eunuchs?
The governor of Jiangxi has been replaced by Jie Xuelong, who is quite capable. But now that the Donglin Party is in decline, he does not dare to offend the eunuch anymore, and is busy rebuilding Prince Teng's Pavilion and taking the opportunity to make some money back.
After a short contest, the eunuch won.
Each family collected money to pay taxes, which was only 2,110 taels, but they could still get it out. What's more, small vendors also had to share their shares. For the gentry, each household could not share much.
But what should we do if we continue to increase taxes next year?
The eunuchs can't be fed enough, and the magistrates and officials are also eyeing him!
This is just the door stall tax, their tea factories, paper mills... which ones are not increasing the labor tax?
Pass it on to workers and farmers!
Workers' wages have declined as a whole; tenant farm rents have generally risen.
Even the monthly income of domestic slaves has been reduced, and there is widespread dissatisfaction at the bottom of society.
As the Chinese New Year approaches, the eunuchs privately set up four banknote checkpoints in Qianshan.
One was set up in Ehu Town, one was set up in Shitang Town, one was set up in Henglin Town, and one was set up in Shanglu Town, blocking all the commercial waterways in Qianshan.
The eunuchs did not dare to collect taxes on paper (cultural supplies), so they set up a separate name to collect "cabin tax", and all passing ships had to pay.
Now, foreign merchants are also miserable and can only bite the bullet and pay. At the same time, while raising the selling price of goods, they are squeezing the wages of boat workers.
Boatmen, boat parties, and resentment are growing.
Zhao Han watched this with a cold eye, only hoping that the eunuch would light a few more fires.
