Chapter 9: Collecting taxes from the little girl ()
After seeing Mr. Zhu off, Mr. Huang called Li You over and asked him carefully, and said comfortingly: "You can just go about your business with peace of mind. Even if Mr. Zhu doesn't say anything, I can still protect you."
The Master's words are not false. He has been using Li You to do things since he accompanied his employer as the magistrate. Because Li You is not like those old servants who are cunning and slippery, he works hard and does not be lazy or slippery (actually, he was ordered
I was scared after being beaten twice), and I didn’t seek personal gain (actually because I was young and inexperienced, it wasn’t that I didn’t want to), so the master used it very smoothly. I will still be able to use it in the future, but I am not willing to let Zhou Xiancheng send it away inexplicably.
The county magistrate Chen summoned Madam Xie to the county government, asked her what had happened, and sentenced her to "exerting power to cause trouble, and holding hands for thirty years." Then a servant slapped Madam Xie for thirty years and drove her out. Prime Minister Zhou said to Li You
The disposal was also revoked.
Chen Zhixian did not say anything about Zhou Xian Cheng himself. It was not worth doing anything for a small person like the old bustard. After all, they were both imperial officials, so they had to retain some dignity. The rule of officials protecting each other was not a fabrication.
On the other side of the story, Li You's crooked poem "Gift to Yao Xing'er" became popular at the fastest speed. It was much more popular than the two previous high-quality poems. For a while, it reached the point of "everywhere in the streets and alleys of the county, but there are people around, there will be
Discussing the effect of "Li Shizhe".
This poem is easy to understand and catchy, and is very popular among the working people. It ridicules and satirizes the unattainable and unaffordable famous prostitutes, which fully satisfies the sour grapes mentality of the people at the bottom. It even gave rise to a
There is a rumor that "Li Xiaoyamen's request for sex was rejected by a famous prostitute and he got angry and took revenge".
But it is said that Yao Xing'er was famous for her image as a talented brothel girl. However, she was a good swimmer and drowned in the water. However, she was hit hard by Li You with her literary talent (this word is questionable), and her image was ruined. In the past few days, she thanked guests behind closed doors, and it was rumored that she washed her face in tears every day. This
It doesn't matter. As long as she is popular, it is not impossible to make a comeback. But the most shocking thing is that the scholars she likes don't visit her often anymore.
At the cusp of the storm, I came to see Yao Xing'er. What if the little yamen officer found out about it and compiled two more crooked poems to be recited? We are all scholars, so it would be shameless. What if Yao Xing'er asked you to write it for her?
What should I do if I write poems and create public opinion and fight with that government official? It would be embarrassing if I won because you lowered your status and quarreled with a common man; but it would be even more embarrassing if you lost. So I'd better hide away for now.
Some even more vicious people think that Yao Xing'er will definitely lower his worth in a few days, and then ten taels of silver can be enough to go to whoring several times, so why bother giving away the money now.
Madam Xie and Yao Xing'er, who were somewhat arrogant in the past, never imagined that the reality is so cruel. Those so-called connections that can influence the county are simply like castles on the beach, and not even a government official can do anything about them.
Li You was still thinking about the countless internet articles about the mentally retarded plots about killing snakes and being harmed by them. When it was his turn, he had to eliminate the roots to prove that he was not mentally retarded. But he was inexperienced and couldn't think of any tricks, so he consulted with Agent Zhao.
Detective Zhao determined that Li You had the support of the county magistrate and wanted to please him. He came up with an idea to find an unknown corpse and throw it at the door of Yao Xing'er's house. Then, on the pretext of investigating the case, he arrested both Xie Lao and Yao Xing'er and avoided sending them to prison.
If you lock it up by yourself, you can't help but pinch it yourself whether it's round or flat.
Li You appreciates this trick very much...
Unexpectedly, he couldn't find a suitable body for a while. A few days later, another official business came down, and Li You was so busy that he forgot about it. Because the county had arranged for the policemen to go to the countryside this month to collect back taxes.
, which made Li You anxious.
In the past, this dynasty had land tax and dingkou tax, which were used to collect grain directly. After the Jiashen Incident, the imperial court promoted the method of dividing acres into acres, and the acres and dings were combined into one land tax. At that time, the chief minister thought that the loss of grain transportation was too much.
Because the price of grain was uncertain, it would be easy for the grain to be cheap and hurt the farmers; secondly, the Nanjing Division needed nearly 10 million dan of grain every year, and the gap was too big. So the Tianding tax was changed to half.
Grain and half silver, each prefecture and county in the world has its own quota. Suzhou Prefecture has always ranked first in the country in terms of taxation. Among them, Xujiang County has 1.7 million acres of farmland, and the annual land tax amount is 12
Ten thousand taels of silver and two hundred thousand stones of grain.
Last year was not a good year. There were many tax arrears in every village in Xujiang County. This had nothing to do with Magistrate Chen. He had not yet taken office at that time. But this year, the failure to collect all taxes affected the evaluation of his superiors.
Chen Zhixian was a little anxious. Seeing that the spring flower fields (rapeseed, wheat and other crops grown in winter in farmland in the south of the Yangtze River) were harvesting one after another, he sent the wolf-like government servants to the countryside to collect last year's tax arrears. Li You was also assigned some tasks.
.
On this day, Li You took two helpers, Zhang San and Li Si, to recruit a small boat. When he came to Ma Touzhuang, he met several grain chiefs, and one of them took him to collect taxes.
The first family's fields were flooded last year, and the harvest was very poor. They still owed five coins and seven measures of grain. This time they made up for it, and Li You directed his men to continue loading the ships.
The second family gave birth to triplets a few years ago. Now they are six or seven years old. They can't work but they have a lot to eat. They live a miserable life and owe seven money of silver. Unfortunately, even though they have collected all the money in the family, it is still not enough.
, another money trap was discovered, and he had five or six hundred coins, which he collected together. Zhang San and Li Si kept muttering that they would have to find a money shop to exchange for silver, and they didn't know how to compare prices now.
The third family is even worse. There was an old couple in the family, a son and a daughter. The son was serving abroad last year, and the father got seriously ill and passed away. Now the family only has an orphaned daughter and a widowed mother. However, they owe one, two, three, and two kilograms of silver and two stones of grain.
I saw the old woman crying loudly that there was really nothing to pay. The grain manager who led the way also shook his head and had no choice.
Zhang San and Li Si, who followed Li You, looked around and saw that their family was so poor that they didn't even know what they were robbing. Zhang San came over and said to Li You: "Master, there really is nothing to deduct tax from. I'm afraid this family can only sell their children."
The girl is sold."
Li You raised his eyes and looked at the little girl leaning against the door of the house. She was twelve or thirteen years old, with a sallow complexion and thin skin. She stared at this side with her big eyes in panic, feeling pitiful.
Zhang San added: "Master Chao lives alone in the county, and there is no one to wait on him in the house. Why not buy this, so that you can wash and cook when you go back. It is definitely cheap to buy at this time, so don't miss it."
Li You was moved in his heart. In his previous life, he was also a lazy person. When he traveled back in time, he had to do laundry, sweep, and cook every day. He found it very troublesome, and his one tael of silver per month was not enough to hire someone to wait on him. But with the thinking of the 21st century,
, buying and selling people is still a bit difficult to adapt to.
The grain director of Ma Touzhuang also said: "This is also a good deed. The people in this family are very hard-working and will not be lazy in their work. It's just Mr. Li's kindness."
Zhang San said to the old woman: "Sister-in-law, how about selling your daughter to Mr. Li for five taels of silver?"
Li You thought that the old woman would definitely resist, who would be willing to sell his son or daughter, but he saw the woman coming over to bargain and said: "Please give me more out of kindness..."
Finally, the price was agreed upon at six taels, and the village chief acted as guarantee. Two copies of the contract were signed, which was a death contract for the slave to be a slave for generations.
Li You's salary in the past two months was twenty taels. The master rewarded some and took some from home. He also followed some unspoken rules for official work. He had a total of seven taels of silver on hand. After paying for his prostitution, he only had living expenses left.
Forgot to calculate whether I can afford to support a little girl. Typical impulsive consumption.