Liyang County.
Smoke slowly rose from each courtyard and slowly dissipated into the air.
Some people started to go out, and the quiet road became lively.
The man went out. He carried the big bamboo basket, bent down, and stroked his sunken abdomen. He turned his head and looked into the house.
Two and a half-year-old children were lying on the mat, and a woman sat beside them worriedly. She was frighteningly thin, wearing a headscarf and a simple cloth. There was no trace of flesh on her face, and her skin was stuck to her skin.
Bones, she leaned her back against the wall and gently wiped the child's face with the water-soaked cloth in her hand. The child was red all over and made strange noises from time to time. The woman raised her head and looked at the man with dull and desperate eyes.
The man looked at his courtyard.
Empty and dilapidated courtyard.
The ground was full of potholes and there were not even any weeds to be found.
The man turned around, held the handle of his bamboo basket tightly, and strode out of his home.
After walking out for a moment, the woman's sobs were heard from behind. The man just frowned and pretended he didn't hear anything.
All the way to the city gate, there were two groups of officials sitting on both sides of the city gate. They were facing each other. The people were still more willing to pass by these new arrivals.
The man heard that the new guy was a county official, he had a good attitude towards people and he didn't bully people very much.
The other party checked the "certificate" and looked at the man in front of him.
"Collecting herbs in the wild?"
"Yes."
"There are many bandits in the wild, so be careful."
"Thank you, sir."
The man recorded it and let the man leave the city.
The man carried the bamboo basket and moved forward. Outside Liyang City, unlike Cheng'an, there were no dense forests or too many high slopes. There was almost an endless plain. Standing on the city wall, you could clearly see the distant scenery around the city.
Chu.
The cultivated land on both sides is very fertile, but the people working on it are exhausted.
Those people were like skeletons, waving the hoes in their hands numbly, showing no reaction even if someone walked by.
The man walked for who knows how long. Finally, he came to a tall willow tree. This willow tree had an unknown age and its trunk was extremely thick. Even if a man came there, he would not be able to surround it even with his hands. Although the tree was tall, it could not be surrounded by it.
There was a crack in it, and it was completely dark, as if it was about to die.
The man placed the bamboo basket next to the big willow tree, tore open the tarpaulin and took out an ax from it. He looked around and then sat under the shade of the tree.
After walking only a short distance, he seemed extremely tired, he was panting and his forehead was covered with sweat.
It was quiet all around, but it was not silent. The man could always hear vague noises and rustling, but there were clearly no woods around. There were swarms of small insects on the ground, carrying food.
, struggled to stuff it into the cave, and the little ants dragged and dragged it, using all their methods. Several more ants came to help, and they succeeded.
The man looked fascinated and suddenly smiled.
The sound of horse hooves was heard in the distance. The man stood up quickly and walked to the roadside in panic. A carriage was driving towards the city.
In front of the carriage, there were several great monks holding knives and leading the way. They were yelling and cursing harshly. When they saw someone suddenly coming out, the monks were also stunned.
They looked at the man in front of them, "What do you do?"
"Chop wood."
The great monks ignored him, lowered their voices, continued to say something, and left slowly.
The man watched them leave, pursed his lips, and sat under the shade of the tree again.
After sitting down again, the noise and rustling disappeared inexplicably, and the ants disappeared. There was another noise from the opposite side, and the man stuck his head out to take a look.
It was a man wearing a rough linen jacket. He was pushing a wheelbarrow with his head lowered, panting, and headed straight for the big willow tree.
The man's hand holding the ax started to tremble. When the opponent came closer, he suddenly jumped out and raised the ax. As expected, the opponent was frightened and retreated hastily.
"I want food!! Hand over all the food!!"
The hawker looked at him in horror, "Brother! Have mercy on me! I still have a mother to support at home."
The man's eyes were red, "Hurry up!! Bring me all the food! Bring it!!"
"I don't have anything to eat here. Even this cart of horn combs is not worth much. Brother, please forgive me!"
The man looked at the wheelbarrow. He gritted his teeth and stretched out his hand to grab the wheelbarrow. The vendor immediately rushed forward and pressed the wheelbarrow with his body, "I can't give you the car! I can't give it to you!!"
The man wanted to tear the hawker away, but the hawker was holding on tightly. He raised his ax and tried to chop it down several times, but he did not dare to kill the hawker in front of him.
Suddenly, the man started crying and knelt down in front of the other person.
"I beg you. I really have no food at home and my children are going to starve to death. I lent you the lunch box! Please!"
He shouted and kowtowed to the opponent over and over again.
The vendor held on to the car tightly and cried: "Just kill me. Kill me. I can't give you this car. My whole family depends on this car to survive."
The man gritted his teeth, and rushed forward, throwing the vendor to the ground. He groped in the car, grabbed the horn comb, and stuffed it into his arms. The vendor rushed forward, and they fought each other. The man became violent.
, the hawker couldn't stop him, so he brought the things he grabbed back to the bamboo basket, poured them all in, and then picked up the bamboo basket. Hearing the crying behind him, he didn't dare to look back and just ran away.
The vendor hugged his car and cried loudly.
The man returned to the city gate out of breath. He frowned and decided to bypass this gate and came to the west gate. For some unknown reason, he did not dare to pass in front of the county official again. He walked quickly
Arrive at the county magistrate's side.
The county official stared fiercely at the county official opposite. Facing this little man, he really couldn't think of anything. He just looked around casually, then waved his hand to drive him into the city.
The man walked very fast. After entering the city, he ran towards the West Market.
The county official at the city gate narrowed his eyes, looked at the direction in which the man was leaving, called someone over, and gave some instructions in a low voice.
A moment later, the man walked out of the West Market holding a small package, but even the bamboo basket disappeared.
The man hugged the small package tightly in his arms and ran numbly towards his home.
When he arrived at the door, he knocked quickly.
After knocking for a long time, no one opened the door.
The man became furious and pushed open the door, staggering to steady his body. The courtyard was empty, with nothing blocking his view.
On the steps of the inner room, the woman was lying on the ground, maintaining a crawling posture.
The two children were nestled next to their mother, motionless at this moment.
The man froze in place. He wanted to say something, "Uh, um."
He opened his mouth, but what came out of his mouth was not words, but the whimpers of a wounded animal.
He just whimpered, his hands lost strength, and the package fell to the ground.
Millet was spilled all over the ground.
"This is it!"
The cavalry officer looked at the documents in his hand and then cursed: "These county officials, except for bad things, do not do anything serious!!"
Yao Xiong stood behind him, and on the other side was the sobbing vendor.
The cavalryman looked at the dilapidated house in front of him, then stepped forward and started knocking on the door.
"Cao Zhuang!! Open the door!!"
"Open the door!!"
He slapped the wooden door hard, but after beating for a long time, no one made any sound inside.
The cavalryman looked at Yao Xiong, and Yao Xiong nodded. The cavalryman slammed into it, and the wooden door was knocked open. The cavalryman pulled out his sword and walked into the courtyard cautiously.
The courtyard was empty except for some millet scattered on the ground.
The cavalryman looked around and walked into the house.
"Yao Gong!!"
The cavalryman exclaimed, and Yao Xiong quickly walked into the house.
The man just hung on the beam, his body swinging back and forth in front of everyone.
On the side, a woman and two children were lying neatly on the bed.
The cavalry officer looked at this scene in astonishment, and hurriedly stepped forward to put the man down, sniffed, and then sniffed the breaths of the two men.
Yao Xiong raised his head and looked at the man hanging in front of him. Unknowingly, his fists clenched, his veins popped out, and his eyes became particularly scary.
The vendor was also looking at this scene blankly at this moment, "I don't know."
"Yao Gong!! This child is still breathing!!"
The cavalryman suddenly shouted.
In the whole room, there was only one child who was still breathing. Yao Xiong was stunned and said, "Take the child to Chu Jiande and let him do his best to treat it!"
"only!!"
The cavalryman picked up the child and left.
Yao Xiong slowly walked to the door. The vendor was trembling at the moment, "I"
"It's okay, this has nothing to do with you."
"It's only October, do you guys have no food?"
Yao Xiong suddenly asked, and the vendor let out a sad laugh.
"After autumn, I have come to collect grain six times, saying that I have 40 acres of farmland and 20 acres of mulberry fields. I pay the grain according to 60 acres. I have never seen 40 acres of farmland. I have never seen 20 acres of mulberry fields.
There are only three acres of ancestral mulberry fields left, which cannot be cultivated yet.”
"If you can't pay your dues, you will be taken to jail."
"Even if the people who have lost everything have collected enough, they will come to ask for it in a few days. They will unreasonably say that they have paid it, and then they will say that the county's tribute is insufficient and we need to share it equally."
"Split it once, split it twice, my family has split it evenly five times."
County government.
"That's what he said."
"I originally wanted to bring him here, but he didn't dare to come to the county government office."
"I gave him some money. Also, the price of food in Liyang is really scary. It's much higher than that in Cheng'an."
Yao Xiong spoke slowly, and everyone just listened to his story.
Tian Zili couldn't help it anymore, "These dog officials have occupied so much cultivated land that they can't afford to pay tribute, so they share it among the people and ask them to repay it. It's only October, and there is no surplus food left in the people's homes."
, how can we sustain it until next autumn harvest? I really don’t know how many people in this county will be starved to death.”
"Although the officials in Cheng'an killed indiscriminately, they did not exaggerate in this way! Evenly divided five times? Are they trying to starve the entire city to death without leaving any one alive?!"
Everyone was also a little angry. They had experienced taxation and corvee many times and knew what those cruel officials looked like. They could directly push people to death without giving them a chance to survive. This was the first time they had heard of this.
Tian Zili looked at Shi Yao opposite, "Is this Liyang person so easy to bully? Cheng'an is the imperial city, and there is still unrest, so there is no uprising?"
In his desperation, he didn't even care that the person in front of him was a high-ranking official.
Shi Yao was a little embarrassed. He didn't know how to answer this question, so he had to explain: "Shortly after every split, those monks would come out and give porridge in the city. Then they would preach and chant sutras, and they would talk about suffering.
The fallacy of having good fortune”
"The division of labor is really clear."
Tian Zili said angrily.
"We must find a way to get rid of these traitors!!"
Chu Jiande finally spoke this time, and said: "Tian Jun, don't think about how to deal with the traitor first, think of ways to save people first. I think the child Yao Jun sent has been there for four or five days."
After eating, I had vomiting and diarrhea, and what I vomited out was grass roots and soil spread out five times. It’s hard to say how many people in Liyang City still have food at home, so we have to find a way to keep the people alive until next year."
Tian Zili scratched his head angrily, "The county treasury is empty, where the hell did all these taxes go?!"
Shi Yao looked at Liu Taozi who was standing aside, "Liu Jun, what Chu Jun said is very reasonable. We must find a way to save the people. I am going to write to Yang Xiang again. In the past, my letters have always been unable to reach Yecheng.
I wonder if you can help me?"
Everyone looked at him in surprise.
Shi Yao said again: "When I first took the exam, I was appreciated by Prime Minister Yang and received his promotion. Later, we even exchanged letters. I don't think he would be right after reading my letters.
The people of the county ignored him."
He realized that he had said too much and continued: "Even if you can't succeed, you still have to try."
Liu Taozi looked at Kou Liu and said, "Liu, you have been to the Prime Minister's Mansion once before. This time, you should go and see him off."
"Be careful on the road."
"only!!"
Kou Liu hurriedly stood up and said yes, Liu Taozi looked at Shi Yao, "I'd like to ask Magistrate Shi to write now. Don't write any greetings. Just inform the local situation directly and let Xiang Yang think of a solution as soon as possible."
"Wei, okay, I'll write now."
Shi Yao subconsciously wanted to call out Wei, but suddenly remembered that the other person was his subordinate, he quickly changed his words, and immediately went to get a pen to write a letter.
Someone brought paper and pen, and Shi Yao quickly finished the letter under the watchful eyes of everyone.
Kou Liu left with the letter.
Shi Yao said again: "Liu Jun, now that the county government has taken back the city gate rights, and there is some revenue coming in every day, I think we can distribute food and porridge appropriately. Before Yang Xiang can help, we must avoid more Cao Zhuang."
.”
Liu Taozi looked at him calmly, then shook her head.
"No."
"How many people can be saved with just this? Besides, this year's tribute has not been paid in full."
Shi Yao looked stunned, "What does Liu Jun mean?"
"Tax is required."
Shi Yao stood up with a groan, holding the sword at his waist, "Liu Taozi! What do you want to do?!"
At this moment, Yao Xiong, Tian Zili and others also stood up, instantly pulled out their knives and pointed them at Shi Yao.
Liu Taozi stood up slowly.
He was very big, and Shi Yao was not tall. When Liu Taozi stood up, he could only raise his head and stare at him. Liu Taozi lowered his head and looked at him. Shi Yao couldn't help but break into a cold sweat, but this man was very stubborn.
, even if he was afraid, he would not retreat and continued to curse: "I thought you were."
Liu Taozi ignored him and looked at everyone.
"When you were in Cheng'an, you saw how officials collected taxes, right?"
"Bring the people from the county government, donkeys, carts and other things to carry things with you."
"Follow me to the south of the city to collect taxes."
Every time Liu Taozi said a word, Shi Yao's anger grew stronger, but when it came to the last sentence, Shi Yao suddenly froze.
South of the city??
He murmured: "But monks and nobles don't pay taxes."
"Then let them divide it equally."
But everyone was overjoyed, and they hurriedly saluted, "Wei!!!"
They were not evil officials in the past, but they had never eaten pork or seen pigs running away?
They extorted carriages coming in and out at the city gate, and went to people's homes to force taxes. They had seen this many times in the past. Everyone hurried out to prepare, but Shi Yao grabbed Liu Taozi's hand in a panic.
"Liu Jun! Don't be reckless! Don't be reckless!"
"The entire south of the city is the territory of Chongguang Temple and the Li family. There are thousands of guards from both sides!!"
"No problem, Zhao Juncheng just sent me some weapons not long ago."
Liu Taozi easily pulled out her hand and strode out of the house.
Shi Yao watched everyone leave blankly. He pondered for a moment, then gritted his teeth and followed quickly.
The gate of the county government office was violently pushed open, and a group of heavily armed officials were seen walking out quickly. Some horsemen quickly stepped onto the road to clear the way. There were many donkey carts behind, all of them empty. The donkeys made an unpleasant sound.
Pulling the cart and swaying out of the county government office, the petty officials filed out. They were all wearing simple cloth armor and well equipped with weapons. More and more of them came out of the county government office gate.
Seeing this scene, the people near and far were extremely frightened.
I don't know who shouted first.
Everyone fled in all directions, and then they saw the common people rushing into their homes, locking the doors, and began to hide things to prevent officials from coming to rob them.
The whole street was full of people jumping around, which was extremely spectacular.
For the common people, this scene is too familiar. Every time officials leave the county office like this, they are here to collect taxes.
These non-human things will break into people's homes and 'tax' them door to door. If they can't pay, they will naturally have to use things to pay off the debt. Anything can be used to pay off the debt, including wives, daughters, and
themselves.
Of course, they still dare not be too arrogant in the city, but in the countryside outside the city, no one cares.
Once again, I saw the officials going out and the people hiding in their homes in despair.
Oh my God. I thought I had a good official here, but I wasn’t happy for a few days before he came to collect taxes again?
Does this teach people how to live?
The group of officials did not disperse as usual and rush in from house to house along the street. Under the leadership of a cavalry officer, they actually rushed towards the south.
The people had been waiting inside the house for a long time, but they never heard the knocking on the door. They could only hear the hurried steps outside and the crisp sound of horse hooves.
They still didn't dare to go out, and until the sound disappeared, they leaned on the courtyard wall and looked outside.
"What's going on?"
"Isn't it possible to worship Buddha?"
Chapter completed!