Chapter 158

158. Chapter 158: Falsifying Grain Taxes

Jiang Xiaoxiao teased the little tiger for a while, then went outside to see the construction progress of the soap workshop.

Master Zheng was worthy of being an experienced mason. In just a few days, the bungalows had already taken shape.

The several kilns next to the bungalows had also been built, and wood was being burned inside for the final baking process. It would probably be officially put into use after burning for a few days and nights.

The cement manufacturing project could also be put on the agenda as soon as possible. Tomorrow, when the villagers come to eat the banquet, they could take this opportunity to recruit more people to help.

It was just that the limestone for making cement was difficult to handle, and it took a lot of effort to transport it from the mountain. Although her mother had a space, she didn't have so much time to find stones on the mountain. Why not contract the work of finding stones to the villagers...

Jiang Xiaoxiao decided to discuss it with her mother when she had time at night, and turned around to see the Village Chief walking towards her courtyard in a hurry with a small booklet.

"Village Chief Grandpa, what happened?" Jiang Xiaoxiao hurriedly stepped forward.

"Xiaoxiao, hurry up and notify your mother to take the money to the village entrance, the County Yamen has sent people."

"Oh, okay, okay." Jiang Xiaoxiao knew that this was the County Yamen coming to collect taxes, so she hurriedly went back to the construction site to call her mother.

The Village Chief also took the opportunity to notify Qiulian Niang, Zhao Dasao, and others who were working in the Jiang family courtyard.

Several people wiped their hands casually and hurried home.

It was a big deal for the County Yamen to come to collect taxes, so they couldn't be neglected.

Jiang Wei returned to the courtyard, washed her hands, didn't bring a single catty of grain, and led Jiang Xiaoxiao directly to the village entrance.

Walking on the village road, one could see two yamen runners wearing official uniforms standing at the village entrance from afar, and behind them was a cart used for pulling tax grain.

The village entrance was already lined up in a long queue, and the villagers carried their own grain, weighing them one by one on the scale.

The two yamen runners sent to Yuhe Village were one fat and one thin. The thin and tall yamen runner was responsible for recording, and the short and fat yamen runner was responsible for collecting the head tax.

After collecting from each family, the thin and tall yamen runner crossed out the head of the household's name in the small booklet.

When it was the Jiang family's turn, the thin and tall yamen runner looked at the booklet in his hand and then looked at the mother and daughter, saying: "... Your family is just newly established, without land, so you only need to pay the head tax."

Jiang Xiaoxiao counted eight hundred copper coins from the purse at her waist and handed them up.

The villagers watched, all showing envious eyes.

Without land, there is no need to pay grain tax. The starting age for head tax is six years old, and only Jiang Wei in the Jiang family meets the requirements, so paying eight hundred wen is enough.

But envy is envy, no one really dared to learn from the Jiang family to do so.

They didn't have Jiang Wei's ability to earn money. If they didn't have land, let alone paying taxes, the family wouldn't even be able to afford food.

"... Okay, next family."

Zhao Dasao led her two daughters and walked up. Like Jiang Wei, she didn't bring grain, but handed over a string of copper coins to pay the head tax for the mother and her two daughters.

The thin and tall yamen runner looked at the small booklet in his hand, not showing it on his face, but a trace of surprise flashed in his heart.

This Yuhe Village is really strange, how come there are so many women who have established their own households?

The small booklet in the yamen runner's hand could be said to be the household register of Yuhe Village, which not only recorded the number of people in each household in Yuhe Village, but also recorded how many mu of land each family had, how much grain should be handed over each year to meet the standard, and there was no room for any deception.

However, there are always people who hold a fluke mentality.

"Your family's grain is soaked in water and doesn't meet the weight at all. Who are you trying to fool!" The thin and tall yamen runner touched the grain on the scale and immediately found something wrong.

Everyone heard the sound and looked at the grain on the scale, which was clearly still damp, and some were even moldy due to dampness.

Such grain, let alone paying taxes, couldn't even be eaten.

"Off, official..." Widow Xu was so scared that her legs were trembling, and she almost knelt down on the ground, "My family only has this much grain..."

"You know this is a major crime of deception, and you will be beaten with a board!" The thin and tall yamen runner scolded sharply, "Who is the head of your family? Let your husband come out to receive the punishment!"

"Official, please forgive me!"

At this time, an old woman in the crowd knelt on the ground and started howling: "We have no choice either. Not long ago, a heavy rain caused the grain to suffer. We didn't intend to deceive the official..."

Everyone looked back and saw that it was Zhao the Scoundrel's mother.

A while ago, Zhao the Scoundrel had an accident. Although he picked up half a life from the mountain, he also became a cripple, now paralyzed in bed, let alone coming out to receive punishment, he couldn't even stand up.

"Who are you lying to!" The short and fat yamen runner said angrily, "Why is the grain of other families fine, but only your family's grain was flooded by water?!"

"I, I..."

Zhao Old Woman's howling sound stopped, and she had words that she couldn't say. She couldn't say that her son was a lazy man. Other families were rushing to harvest grain, while her son was lying at home sleeping.

She was both surprised and afraid, fearing that her son would be pulled out to take the blame, so she turned around and gave Widow Xu a slap: "It's all because of this jinx. If it weren't for you, Chunmiao's mother wouldn't have left, and our family's grain wouldn't have been delayed until the end and soaked by the rain..."

Zhao Old Woman scolded and scolded, pushing all the faults onto Widow Xu: "Official, this grain being soaked and moldy has nothing to do with us. It's all because this stinky woman is lazy, which caused the grain to rot in the field, and it's also her who deceived the official, and it has nothing to do with my son..."

The villagers watched this scene, and all felt a bit sad. Everyone in the village knew what Zhao the Scoundrel was like. Zhao Old Woman was pushing Zhao the Scoundrel's faults onto Widow Xu, which was really cruel.

Zhao Dasao, standing on the side, saw this scene, and a trace of relief flashed in her eyes.

She once again rejoiced that she had taken her two daughters and escaped from this family.

This was the most correct decision she had ever made in her life.

Otherwise, it would have been her suffering all this.

"Enough! Stop arguing, or I'll throw you into the big prison!"

The short and fat yamen runner had a headache from Zhao Old Woman's splashing and scolding, and scolded sharply: "I don't care whose fault it is. Your family's grain doesn't meet the standard, and if you don't pay enough, I'll send you to the big prison!"

Zhao Old Woman's body shook, and she immediately extinguished her voice.

Widow Xu was even more panicked by the words "big prison", and knelt and begged the villagers: "Please, whichever family has extra grain, lend me some, I don't want to go to the big prison..."

"Our, our grain is just enough..." The villagers looked embarrassed.

This year's harvest was not good, and there wasn't much left after paying taxes, so there was no extra grain to lend out.

"Uncle Village Chief, please look at the face that we are all in the same village, save my family..." Widow Xu had no choice but to beg the Village Chief.

The Village Chief also had an embarrassed face. His family didn't have extra grain either.

His gaze subconsciously looked at Jiang Wei on the side. (End of chapter)