lcionline Chapter 204 Resisting Grain Payment
Chapter 204 Resisting Grain Payment
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Gou Ergui asked helplessly, "In your opinion, Brother Fang, should we proceed with the transfer of these lands that haven't been officially transferred yet, or not?"
After thinking for a moment, Fang, the clerk, told him, "After the transfer of ownership is completed, you have to pay grain and taxes. You can't avoid it even if you don't complete the transfer. The Qiongzhou garrison said that if someone deliberately doesn't complete the transfer of ownership when buying and selling land, the sales document will prevail, and the seller can file a complaint with the yamen. So it seems better to complete the transfer. You have to pay grain anyway, so you might as well change the land deed to your own insurance. Who knows what kind of trouble the Qiongzhou garrison will cause someday?"
After bidding farewell to Fang, the clerk, Gou Ergui returned to Hefeng Village with a heavy heart. With the Qiongzhou camp's actions, the Gou family's revival had become a shadow, and coupled with the loss of his former status as a clerk in the government office, the Gou family in Hefeng Village was essentially no different from the other peasants.
After Lingao County took the lead in implementing the land survey and the unified tax payment system for officials and gentry, there were voices of opposition, with Huangjiazhuang being the most steadfast among them.
Huangjiazhuang is located several dozen miles from the county seat and consists of several dozen households of the same clan. Lingao is not known for its scholarly atmosphere, and there are few educated people, especially those who achieve official rank through the imperial examinations. Since the Wanli era, Huangjiazhuang has produced two Juren (successful candidates in the provincial-level imperial examinations) and seven Xiucai (successful candidates in the county-level imperial examinations), a remarkable achievement in Lingao, making them a prominent family in the area.
Because a member of the clan held official rank, the clan members all registered their land under his name. The entire Huangjiazhuang village, with nearly a thousand acres of land, was almost exempt from paying taxes to the government. Over the decades, the Huang family had become accustomed to this preferential treatment. Now, suddenly, someone told them that all exemptions would be canceled and everyone would have to pay taxes like everyone else. This was truly intolerable.
"This rule was set by the founding emperor. Why should he, a mere military man, break the rules that have been passed down through the dynasties?"
At the clan meeting held in the Huang family ancestral hall, Huang Renying slammed his fist on the table and spoke loudly. He was the head of Huangjiazhuang and the clan leader of the Huang family, the largest landowner in the surrounding dozens of miles. His second son was a scholar, and he was the one in the Huang family who enjoyed the most preferential treatment from the imperial court. He was also the most resolute in his resistance to the system promoted by the Qiongzhou garrison.
The clansmen shouted, "That's right! Whether it's the Qiongzhou Camp or the Guangzhou Camp, if you want to monopolize taxes, find someone else to collect them. We Huangjiazhuang's taxes are not to be collected!"
The villagers of Huangjiazhuang viewed the tax monopoly as nothing more than changing who collected the grain; since they didn't have to pay taxes themselves, it had nothing to do with them. However, the Qiongzhou garrison, which monopolized the tax collection, actually proposed a thorough survey of hidden land and that officials and gentry pay taxes together. This was tantamount to shaking the very foundation of Huangjiazhuang, and they would never agree to it.
Huang Renying shouted, "Even the government can't break the rules set by the founding emperor, so how can a mere Qiongzhou camp, a bunch of crude and uncouth soldiers, be qualified!"
His younger brother, Huang Renjie, lamented, "The government is really something else. Collecting grain is a major matter, how could they entrust it to a bunch of brutes? The world is going to the dogs."
"In short, even the Heavenly King himself wouldn't allow Huangjiazhuang to pay taxes!" Huang Renying concluded.
"Yes, we won't allow it!" the tribespeople echoed.
"However, we must always prepare for the worst. After all, the Qiongzhou garrison is a military unit, not a county yamen runner. They have swords and guns, so we must be fully prepared."
Along the coast of Lingao, pirates frequently raided the land, while mountain bandits also looted the area. To protect themselves, Huangjiazhuang built a rammed earth wall over a meter high and trained a force of over a hundred able-bodied men. With such strength, ordinary mountain bandits dared not attack easily. In Huang Renying's view, collecting taxes was a matter for the government, while the garrison troops were the imperial army, only to be used in battle. Although the Qiongzhou garrison had taken on the task of collecting taxes, they might not dare to abuse their power. If they dared to use force to violently collect taxes, he would make sure they returned empty-handed and with nothing to show for it.
Lingao County, Nanyuan.
"So, many landlords are resisting paying taxes? There's still a lot of resistance." Liu Ye listened to Li Ergou's report thoughtfully.
Li Ergou was in charge of managing the tenant fields under the Qiongzhou camp, and he was also specifically responsible for this tax collection from the three counties. However, he encountered considerable resistance in Lingao. Landlords with connections and backing explicitly refused to conduct a land survey and collect taxes in unison, and some families with official titles directly drove away the people who came to collect the grain.
"General, those families with members who have passed the imperial examinations and become scholars are people that even the county government wouldn't dare to offend easily, so naturally they wouldn't take us seriously."
Liu Ye smiled dismissively. As a time traveler, he didn't even care about the emperor, so what did his official rank and fame matter?
"Just because the county government doesn't dare offend them doesn't mean we don't. Tell me, among these opponents, who are the most powerful and representative?"
Li Ergou scratched his head: "Representative?" The general often uttered new words he had never heard before.
"Simply put, it can be used to make an example of someone to warn others."
"I see," Li Ergou nodded quickly. "Yes, yes, yes. There aren't many families like that in Lingao, but Huangjiazhuang is one." He gave a brief introduction to Huangjiazhuang.
"A village with dozens of households and four or five hundred people?" Liu Ye nodded. "It has a great demonstration effect. Destroying this village will let those who are watching the winds know what to do, saving us a lot of trouble."
He said to Li Ergou, "Don't worry about the others for now. Go to Huangjiazhuang again. This time I'll send a platoon of soldiers with you. If they refuse to listen to reason and want to be punished, then raze this village to the ground!"
The next day, Li Ergou led his men to Huangjiazhuang, accompanied by a platoon of soldiers from the Qiongzhou Camp, whose platoon leader was none other than Su Tui Tui, who had repeatedly distinguished himself in battle.
Among the entourage was a clerk from the county government's household registration office, and it was Clerk Fang who had come to Huangjiazhuang this time. Urged by Tan Shan, he reluctantly went to the gate of the village and called out.
“Listen up, people of Huangjiazhuang! We are from the government office, responsible for surveying hidden land and collecting taxes. Open the door quickly and let us in, lest we delay our official business.”
A middle-aged man sneered as half of his body emerged from behind the earthen wall: "The people of the yamen have actually degenerated into lackeys of thugs. What a disgrace to civilization."
Fang, feeling utterly ashamed, covered his face and retreated.
Li Ergou was displeased upon hearing this. This veiled insult was clearly aimed directly at his own general. He had risen from a villager in a salt field village, a peasant who dared not even approach the government office, to a man who could command the clerk to come and collect documents—a dramatic change in his circumstances, all thanks to Liu Ye. To have someone insult Liu Ye to his face was even more intolerable than being verbally abused.
He warned the man, "Stop talking nonsense! Open the door now and tell your master to welcome us in. Hand over the money and grain promptly, or you'll regret it!"
The man laughed loudly: "Keep dreaming. My Huang Family Village has scholars who have passed the imperial examinations and are exempt from taxes. Your master is breaking the rules of the court and will be dealt with one day. You're still spouting nonsense here. I advise you to go back quickly and not humiliate yourself here."