[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-unorthodox-sword-of-ming":3,"chapter-the-unorthodox-sword-of-ming-the-unorthodox-sword-of-ming-chapter-983":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Unorthodox Sword of Ming",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2338188,4570,"Chapter 983: Awakening","the-unorthodox-sword-of-ming-chapter-983",983,"\u003Cp>Gu Qingyan was raised to believe that one should do only as much as one’s ability allows, and protect only as many as one’s resources permit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He said: “It is customary for officials, gentry, and those with imperial degrees to shelter villagers by accepting their land under their names.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Common practice does not make it right,” Xue Shao said. “This is embezzling state revenue and shifting the burden onto other villagers whose land is not sheltered—they must shoulder your tax obligations, paying two tenths or even more extra per mu.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pan Yun smiled lightly. “The Gu family enjoys an excellent reputation in the countryside—even beyond this region, people praise them as great benefactors. This is because villagers only know the taxes assigned by government office runners; most never calculate their total tax burden, and thus never realize that part of what they pay—through selling land, homes, even children—is meant to cover the taxes of villagers sheltered by the Gu family.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“They don’t know, but heaven knows, earth knows, and every wise person with conscience knows—the Gu family is already entangled in karmic debt, yet now you speak of custom?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xue Shao said: “What is called ‘custom’ is merely the first person committing wrongdoing without being stopped; others, seeing him profit, follow suit. Two follow, then three, then many—and suddenly it becomes custom.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Qingyan’s face flushed faintly. “Our family has never profited from this. The ten percent rent is merely a management fee.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That management fee rightfully belongs to the state treasury,\" Xue Shao said, smiling faintly. \"If you, Master Gu, use your personal wealth to substitute for state funds yet refuse to repent or even comprehend the underlying mechanism, there is no point in you taking the metropolitan examination. Even if you pass the eight-legged essay, you will be nothing but a mediocre official.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Qingyan sprang to his feet, paced twice in place, then turned to confront Xue Shao: “Then what? Should my family grow rich while our kin sink into poverty? Never mind that they once helped our family—simply because we are blood, we cannot turn our backs on their pleas.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xue Shao, seeing he had finally touched the core, reminded him: “The Hongwu Emperor’s tax rates for Quanzhou were never heavy. Why, then, do they sink deeper into poverty if they pay taxes normally?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The land tax isn’t heavy, but Quanzhou’s grain tribute to the capital travels by water—cargoes suffer losses, and the government office spreads those losses equally across every household. In total, the land tax has effectively doubled. Beyond land tax, there are corvée labor duties—Great Ming’s corvée is heavy, you know that well. When villagers place their land under our name, the government office, out of respect for the Gu family, assigns them fewer labor duties.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Beyond that, there are countless miscellaneous levies. Every year, after paying taxes, villagers have barely enough grain left to eat—no savings, no reserves. Should disaster strike or someone fall ill, their household is ruined.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Qingyan took a deep breath. “My father saw too much of this suffering. He could not bear to watch neighbors and kin endure it—that’s why he accepted their land. The ten percent we receive, after paying our managers, is entirely used for annual relief. If you doubt me, ask around—every winter, the Gu family distributes porridge by the roadside, and every orphan, widow, and weak villager receives a sack of relief grain.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pan Yun glanced at Xue Shao and shook her head in disappointment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xue Shao asked calmly: “If you understand why they grow poorer, have you ever considered a solution?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Qingyan: “Aren’t we already solving it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xue Shao stared at him with heavy eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pan Yun rose. “Let’s go. This man has kindness to spare, but no brains.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Qingyan: …That sounded like an insult.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xue Shao rose and followed Pan Yun toward the door. At the threshold, he sighed, turned back, and said: “Master Gu, the village head manages one li, the county magistrate one county, the prefect one prefecture—and you, a Provincial Graduate, will one day be a Metropolitan Graduate. Your ambition must lie in the empire. If you see the problem, you should seek to solve it—not carve a narrow path to temporarily conceal it, then shift the disaster onto even weaker villagers.” Xue Shao spoke sternly: “What you and your father do is human sentiment, not a solution.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With that, Xue Shao followed Pan Yun out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Qingyan stood frozen in place, staring blankly. When he came to, he hurried after them: “Wait—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He ran after them, calling out urgently: “Master Xue, what then is the solution? For a thousand years, the people have paid taxes to the state—it’s natural. The founding emperor and wise rulers imposed light taxes, yet over time, local officials keep adding levies. People lose their land, their homes, and finally even themselves. What is the solution?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xue Shao and Pan Yun stopped and turned to look at him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Qingyan asked, troubled: “I once asked my father. He listened, said nothing, and still has no solution. You tell me—how do we fix this?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xue Shao said: “Reform the tax system.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Qingyan’s eyes brightened. “How?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Much must change. For instance, merge land tax, head tax, and all miscellaneous levies into a single tax, and to eliminate loss burdens, replace grain payments with silver.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Also, abolish land sheltering entirely: officials and gentry must pay taxes like everyone else, with no exemptions—even the privilege of avoiding corvée must be removed. Instead, add the corvée-exemption fee to their salaries; when their turn comes, they pay silver to avoid service themselves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xue Shao looked at Gu Qingyan with sharp eyes. “If this system required your family to pay land tax like ordinary villagers—with no exemption—would you accept it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Qingyan’s heart jolted. He fixed him with a sharp gaze: “Officials and gentry pay taxes?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xue Shao said nothing, only watched him calmly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Qingyan lowered his eyes, thought briefly, then asked: “Would officials and gentry paying taxes truly lighten the people’s burden?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xue Shao: “Since your family shelters land, you know how much land tax a Provincial Graduate, Metropolitan Graduate, or official can evade. Calculate how many officials, graduates, and Provincial Graduates there are in Great Ming—add the imperial family, the nobility. If all of them sheltered land to full capacity, how much tax revenue would the state lose annually? Beyond official channels, there are also collusions between officials and gentry to evade land tax. Your family is praised for its virtue, and you claim you gain nothing—yet you still shield villagers from corvée and miscellaneous levies. What of other officials and gentry?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I can tell you now: the total you can calculate is only half of the missing revenue. That half is borne entirely by ordinary villagers with no protection, no foundation. The other half? Unquantifiable losses—the state cannot recover it, and every year, local treasuries fall into deficit.”\u003C\u002Fp>",1155,"2026-06-20T22:04:01.137Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","78f49bcb7ce86ca966856c23a3ca3b194c101342ce50b0adf9df9d882ca95c7e","the-unorthodox-sword-of-ming-chapter-984","the-unorthodox-sword-of-ming-chapter-982",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-unorthodox-sword-of-ming-cover.jpg"]