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!