Jin Feng said: "Why don't you come over and help me?"
"You are spinning thread here. I am a man with only one arm. How can I help you?"
"Who said you were asked to spin the thread?"
Jin Feng said: "I need someone here to deliver the spun twine to the county government, right? I also need to go to the county government to pull hemp skins and buy food and so on, right?"
If Brother Liang doesn't mind, come over and help me, I'll give you five hundred wages every month, and you can add more when you make more money in the future."
"No, five hundred coins is too much."
When Zhang Liang heard this, he shook his head like a rattle: "I heard that the monthly salary of a policeman in the county is only 300 yuan. How can I be more valuable than a policeman?"
Although he made money from hunting, in addition to giving half of the prey to Jin Feng in the past few days, he also sold it for more than 800 copper coins.
But he will definitely not be able to hunt so many prey in the future, and he will be considered lucky if he can earn a hundred coins a month.
This also involves the risk of being eaten by a tiger.
Millet costs two cents per catty, and one hundred cents plus the wild vegetables saved at home is enough for the family.
No matter what age it is, money is hard to make. Don’t you see those women earning thirty cents a month, and they’re so happy that they can’t find their way to the north?
The monthly salary of five hundred yuan made Zhang Liang feel hot.
"Brother Liang, transporting things back and forth is much harder than the work of a policeman, and this job must be done by ourselves. If we hire outsiders, they will take away all my things, and I will have no place to cry."
Jin Feng said: "Brother Liang, the person I trust the most is you, so you are the best candidate."
"Xiao Feng, it's okay for you to ask me to help you, but the monthly salary of five hundred cents is too much. How much can you earn in a month with just a few spinning wheels, and you have to support so many women..."
"Brother Liang, you are looking down on me."
Jin Feng said: "Let's see, the twine is almost enough for a cart. Come with me to the county government tomorrow. Then you will know how much you can earn."
"OK."
Zhang Liang nodded.
That night, Tang Dongdong arranged for the women to load the twine onto the borrowed cart.
Before dawn, Zhang Liang, the village chief's son Liu Tie and the hunter Chen Laoliu arrived.
Chen Laoliu was holding a long bow in his hand and a quiver hanging on his waist.
Jin Feng and Zhang Liang also brought their crossbows.
Even Tang Dongdong secretly carried a pair of scissors in his arms.
I heard that there is another war between the west and the north, and many refugees have escaped. It is not safe on the road, and it is not worth it if someone robs me.
Several people were pushing the cart and were getting ready to set off, when the village chief came running.
"Xiao Feng, I gave Xie Guang's account cancellation document to Tie Zi. It has been stamped in the town, but Tie Zi is illiterate. When we get to the county government, please take Tie Zi to the Yamen."
Xie Guang died, and the autopsy was done by the villagers, but they still had to go to the county government to cancel their accounts, otherwise the government would come to collect taxes next year.
If Xie Guang cannot be found, this tax will have to be borne by all the villagers of Xihewan.
As for the bald head, no one knew him anyway, so the village chief would not cause trouble for him. He just dug a hole and buried him that night when the accident happened.
"OK."
Jin Feng nodded.
The twine was very light and it was effortless to pull it up. We arrived at Jinchuan County House around ten o'clock in the morning.
This was because Tang Dongdong walked too slowly.
But she is the only one who is most familiar with the textile industry. She knows how to sell twine at a high price, and she also knows which kind of hemp leather is the best when purchasing goods.
Asking Zhang Liang and Chen Laoliu to follow Tang Dongdong to hand over the twine, Jin Feng led Liu Tie straight to the Yamen.
"Xie Guang, seventeen years old?"
The clerk who was doing the work squinted at Jin Feng and Liu Tie: "Why did you die so young? Did you want to evade taxes?"
This kind of thing is not new.
Some people simply cannot afford to pay taxes and will flee their hometowns.
Such people are called refugees.
Most of the refugees eventually became bandits, and some fled into the mountains. Of course, some were caught.
Dakang also has a small wooden plate similar to an ID card, called a tooth plate, on which the name, place of origin and date of birth are engraved.
Every year when people pay taxes, the date of tax payment will be engraved on their teeth.
When walking outside, if you don’t have a tooth tag, or if there is no tax payment stamp on the tooth tag for that year, you will be treated as a refugee.
Dakang was very cruel to the refugees. Once caught, the men would be sent to the army's vanguard camp, while the women would be sent to government brothels.
But every year, many people still evade taxes and become refugees.
It is indeed easy for people to be suspicious of a young person like Xie Guang who reports his death.
"My lord, don't dare to say nonsense. Xie Guang is really dead. He robbed people in the village with a knife and was beaten to death. The body was buried by the young man himself."
Liu Tie quickly explained: "Look, here are the paintings that were made by the villagers."
After saying that, he pointed at the seal made by the couple on the account cancellation document.
When I took my hand back, there was a small piece of silver on the document.
"Since there are two people to testify, it will be fine."
The clerk quietly collected the broken silver, picked up a seal and stamped it in the middle of the document, then tore the document in half and gave the lower part to Liu Tie as a receipt.
When collecting taxes next year, the village chief will give this to the tax collector.
The village chief asked him and Liu Tie to come to the county government office together. Jin Feng always felt that the village chief was afraid that Liu Tie would do something wrong because he was illiterate.
But as soon as he came out of the clerk's house, Jin Feng knew that he was wrong.
Liu Tie was impeccable no matter what he said or did, and he was much smoother and more sensible than himself.
Then the village chief asked him to follow, the only purpose was not to spend the money to bribe the petty officials.
Thinking of this, Jin Feng smiled and took out a piece of broken silver and stuffed it into Liu Tie's hand.
"Fengzi, what are you doing?"
Liu Tie asked, spreading his hands.
"I beat Xie Guang to death. The village chief is very grateful for helping me deal with such a big trouble. I can't let you put any more money into it."
Jin Feng said with a smile: "I've been too busy these days. I didn't expect this. I really shouldn't."
After all, someone was beaten to death. If the village chief hadn't dealt with it in time, it would have been very troublesome for the authorities to investigate.
And Jin Feng is a person who is afraid of trouble.
Therefore, Jin Feng was sincerely grateful to the village chief and Liu Tie.
"This is too much."
Liu Tie weighed the silver and said.
The silver he used to bribe the clerk was worth at most two hundred copper coins, and his father only used one hundred copper coins to bribe the official, but the silver Jin Feng gave him was worth at least seven or eight hundred copper coins.
"The village chief must be worried about me a lot, so I bought some wine to thank him."
When Jin Feng saw that Liu Tie was still refusing, he smiled and said, "Okay, if you say no more, I will fall out."
When Liu Tie saw what Jin Feng said, he collected the money.
The two walked out of the yamen talking and laughing, and a burly yamen servant walked towards them.
It was so normal to meet a yamen servant in the yamen, so the two of them didn't pay attention and stepped aside to let the yamen servant pass first.
The yamen servant glanced at them sideways and hurried past.
But after taking several steps forward, he suddenly turned back, looked Jin Feng up and down, and asked:
"Are you the tiger-fighting heroes who shot the tiger to death some time ago?"