After Ge Guangmu was drunk, he rested here for a night, and the next day he took Young Master Wan to the Taoist temple together, and there was also a rose girl who went with him.

The rose girl came to the Taoist temple, one was to tie up Ge Guangmu, and the other was to take refuge, she was not sure whether Hua Xianggong would come to Yushengyuan to embarrass her.

In the following days, Young Master Wan taught Ge Guangmu in the Taoist temple, and said that Chen Shihong went to Haining County to do the county order.

This Chen Shihong arrived in Haining County exactly a year ago, and Chen Shihong did not rush to take office, but went to an inn and inquired about the affairs of the former magistrate first.

When the innkeeper heard Chen Shihong ask this, he was really angry, and he couldn't care about what was wrong, so he told the innkeeper that the county's surname was Yang, and the people in the county called him Yang Sidu.

These four ends are also said by the county himself, he himself said: "I am the county respect, the so-called four ends, the fish and turtles in the water, the elk in the mountains, the rice and grain in the fields, and the people in the village." ”

How can an official who can say such things be a good official, talking about his disgusting, this shopkeeper didn't say anything else, just said that two years ago, when Yang Sidui was transferred, the people in the county celebrated, thinking that he would not come again, so they met and said: "Qu Yi (local dialect, meaning he) will definitely not come back." "Where did you think that this Yang Si did this person, and used the means of money to communicate with the gods, and was transferred back again.

When he came back this time, Yang Siqian actually set up a name, called Qu Yiqian, and if he didn't give it, he would be locked up for tax resistance. The year before last, this Yang Siwan was impeached and lost his official position again, and everyone didn't dare to say it this time, so they could only smile at each other and touch their beards. Who knows, this Yang Sidu has been reinstated again, and this time he even made a mustard tax.

As for this loss of office, it was because the prefect came to inspect, after the prefect arrived, the squires entertained, and it happened that day, it rained outside the city, but there was no rain in the city, the prefect thought it was a strange thing, so he asked the squire why there was rain outside the city and no rain in the city, at this time Xin Wubo replied: "This rain is also afraid of taxes, so naturally I dare not enter the city." ”

When the prefect heard this, he did not speak, and when he came on stage, he saw a playman dressed in green and pretending to be a god and a monster coming up on stage, and a player asked, "Where are you sacred, and you are dressed like this." ”

"I am the land of Haining County, I am going to meet the Emperor of Heaven and sue the Emperor of Heaven, and the county order has dug up my land."

After hearing this, the prefect understood that the prefect had already provoked the anger of the people, and in order to avoid provoking a civil uprising, he asked the prefect to resign himself.

After Chen Shihong heard this, he couldn't help sighing, and Siyun said to Chen Shihong: "Chen Xianggong, don't sigh, speaking of which, this Yang Si is pretty good." ”

"What? I don't understand what my husband said. ”

"In this officialdom, the most tricky thing is not the magistrate, but the county lieutenant and the master of the sixth room, etc., you don't know, they do bad things, they really kill people without blood."

Chen Shihong said that he would like to hear it in detail, so Siyun began to speak.

This little official does badly, collectively referred to as sitting on the float and collecting extortion. There's a lot of doorway here.

The first is to double the levy and increase consumption, which is all over the ages, this increase is because of the loss in storage and transportation, it is a positive tax, but the increase in consumption has always been a means for these officials to make money, for example, the original field tax increase consumption is only two liters per bucket, but in the mouth of these small officials, it will receive six liters. Turned over a full three cups.

Sometimes the court is exempt, only one liter, but these officials have to add ten liters because these small people are ignorant, saying that it is to celebrate the court.

This was supposed to be a good thing, but under their greed, it turned into a bad thing.

In some places, when the field is stored, the officials will add more chaff to the grain, or add it at will because of dampness, and when it is stored, a pen will be used as a mark, and this point will be added to one liter, and some households can be counted with seven or eight strokes.

Nowadays, the imperial court does not levy silver, and there is no fire consumption, if it was placed in the past, this fire consumption sometimes leads to a situation where taxes are light and heavy.

Of course, these additional consumption are not swallowed by Xu officials alone, but mainly handed over to the above, so the ancients said that "the state and county save and consume to support the boss." ”

The second is the overflow of ink, which means that these people work weights and measures when they are collecting.

The most well-known is Hu noodles, this grain is poured into the bucket, as long as it is full and the edge of the measuring device is qualified, but these small officials have to pile high, according to them, this is called high Hu noodles. Under normal circumstances, a single Hu can be as much as five liters, and may even be as high as seven or eight liters.

This is to do kung fu on the top, and there is also kung fu to do on the bottom, then kick Hu.

When harvesting rice, the rice should be poured into the Hu naturally, but this kick Hu is one side, while kicking the Hu bucket with the foot, so that the rice is filled, so as to levy more.

These two kinds are good, and there are some that are not directly used by the official, but made by themselves, which is not only larger in shape, but also deliberately nailed with uneven thickness of wooden boards, so that the bucket can be loaded more.

The third is extortion, which was originally considered by the imperial court, and these people may not be able to take the goods taxed, so they can use the same items to resist.

This is also the good intention of the saint, but under the operation of the officials, it has become a means of collecting money.

In some places, the original piece of cloth was only two dollars, and they had to fold it three times. Each bucket of wheat was no more than 30 wen, and the officials stipulated that 90 wen should be folded, and the farmer had to use three tugs of wheat to make up the tax amount for one bucket.

There is another one, which is not so blatant, but it is more vicious. For example, if the land is salt, this tax has a salt payment, and these people first discount one pound of salt to a consistent price, and then count this consistent money at a price of forty wen per bucket, which is twenty-five dougs of wheat in the city, and then convert these twenty-five ticars of wheat into sixty dollars per tito.

This goes around and around, and this original money is 1,500 yuan.

Most of the peasants were dizzy by this set, and although they felt that something was wrong, they didn't know what was wrong, and in the end they could only swallow the bitterness.

The most hateful thing is that these are small people who suffer from these injustices, and as for the big families, even if there are some defects, the officials will accept them and will not ask.

After Siyun finished speaking, the shopkeeper also said that there are several kinds of injustice in their place, the first is to hang flying red, which is for the small people to pay taxes and silver can be smoothly put into the treasury and collect the lottery money, if you don't give it, then you don't collect it in good condition, and when the deadline is up, the official will take people to arrest people.

The second is the beggar spike, these people even have a high amount of noodles, and directly tell Xiaomin that they want to collect the above, and each family will offer an extra bucket.

The third is the land grain, which is deliberately scattered on the ground and not picked up by the small people.

The fourth is the Windmill Valley, which has to pass the windmill, but only half of the windmill is passed, and the remaining half is also required by these officials.

Fifth, the warehouse door book is expensive, and the registration book is too expensive, so you have to take money.

The sixth is to look at the sample, and the sample to see is naturally a meat bun beating a dog, and there is no return.

Chen Shihong was born in a noble family, with fine clothes and fine food, he had never experienced this, and it was shocking to hear, he couldn't help but say; "There is no royal law anymore, and there is no heavenly reason."

"Xianggong, you are a scholar, naturally you don't understand this, I also saw that there is no one else, so I talked to you about this, after you listened, just smile. Don't take it seriously, don't take it to heart, if you are impulsive and provoke the people of the yamen, I am afraid that the square scarf on your head will not be able to protect it at that time. ”

Chen Shihong thanked the shopkeeper for his kindness and told the shopkeeper that he knew how to do it, that he was not the kind of impulsive person, and that he would handle this matter properly.

Before Chen Shihong went out for the night, he visited the nearby villages to ask for details, and when he arrived for the Lantern Festival, Chen Shihong also went to the county office.

Chen Shihong took out his diploma and said: "I am the county commander of the imperial court and come to take up my post. ”

The official had long known that the new magistrate was coming, so he hurriedly invited him in.

Chen Shihong arrived in the back hall, and soon, the personnel he accepted arrived.

Chen Shihong inquired about his life, and then verified the care diploma for the county Cheng, and the county Cheng handed over the big seal to Chen Shihong.

The next day, Chen Shihong did not ascend to the church, so he found the master of the private house and asked, "Whether the white book has been registered." ”

The master said that it was still early to collect the summer tax, so he had not yet made a book.

"Then bring me last year's white book and read it to me."

The master said yes, went to get the white book, and began to read the Ding Kou that should be taxed.

When the master finished reading, Chen Shihong sneered and said: "This is a mouse, Xiang Ming Mansion, I'm afraid it's not a person's name, you will show the white book to this official." ”

The master was suddenly sweating profusely, and said to Chen Shihong: "Master, I was dazzled for a while, I saw the wrong name, and I asked the master to punish him." ”

"Is it a moment of dazzle, or do you think that this official has just arrived, and I want to give this official a dismount."

"Master, what are you talking about, you are the master, we are servants, how can a servant dare to give the master a horse."

"It's not good, take the imperial book, I want to have a good life."

The master immediately went to get the imperial register, which is to register how many people there are in this county, how many fields and family properties each family has, and it is repaired every ten years. The white book is an annual tax and silver registration.

The master took the imperial book, and after Chen Shihong compared it, he said to the master: "It's really strange, this imperial book says that there are 320,000 Dingkou in Haining County, and this white book was only 300,000 last year. ’

"This, this, over the years, the harvest is not good, the small people can't survive, and there are many escapes......"

"Shut up, this is because the harvest is not good, but you are too dense, come and take this master down."

The master was stunned, he didn't know what was going on, and after he came to his senses, he looked at Chen Shihong pleadingly