lcionline Chapter 203 Gou Ergui Returns to the Village
Chapter 203 Gou Ergui Returns to the Village
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Sun Yuanhua asked with concern, "The preferential treatment of officials and gentry is a system of the imperial court. Even the Emperor dares not break the rules set by Emperor Taizu. Is it appropriate for the Qiongzhou Camp to do this?"
Liu Ye scoffed: "What kind of ridiculous rules are these, still clinging to them? Commoners have nowhere to stand, while gentry are rolling in money. It's obvious who should be taxed. As for whether it's appropriate or not, that's how my Qiongzhou camp is doing it. Who dares to stand up and say anything against it?"
Sun Yuanhua remained silent. Qiongzhou Prefecture was far from the emperor's reach, and the governor and viceroy would not easily provoke this troublemaker. Who would step forward to stand up for the local gentry?
Yan Guang asked, "Things within Lingao are easier to handle, but what about Chengmai and Danzhou?"
“I have orders from the prefectural government that I will take charge of all the taxes from the three counties. Do they dare to disobey? Besides, it also helps to lighten their burden. Anyway, they won't lose a single grain of rice or a single penny of tax they are supposed to pay. Why wouldn't they be happy to do it? If they are still stubborn, with Chengmai as a precedent, whoever doesn't understand will have Huang Mengjia go to their county town to rob the big shots!”
On a cold, lonely night, Gou Ergui secretly returned to Hefeng Village. He could no longer make a living in the prefectural city, and before he was reduced to begging on the streets, he mustered up his courage and returned.
After being received by the prefect, everything was going according to his plan: the prefect decided to use the local garrison troops to suppress the "banditry" in Lingao. Several thousand troops set off for Lingao in a grand procession. Because of his meritorious report, he became a guest of honor in the prefect's office and was treated to good food and drink every day.
The news that came back was like a bolt from the blue; the three or four thousand troops had been defeated in an instant, with less than a thousand men fleeing back to the prefectural city in panic. Gou Ergui was stunned when he heard the news. He dared not return to Lingao until Liu Ye and Lin San were eliminated.
The army was defeated, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse, and he was kicked out of the prefectural government office. It was clear that Prefect Qin was unwilling to continue the fight.
Fortunately, things took a turn for the better when Governor-General Wang Zunde mobilized tens of thousands of troops to cross the sea and suppress the rebellion. Gou Ergui thought Liu Ye's end was near. However, after waiting for more than a month, he received news of the army's crushing defeat. General He Rubin hid in the prefectural city, neither daring to attack again nor returning to Guangzhou.
It wasn't until Liu Ye marched directly into Guangzhou that Wang Zunde and other Guangdong officials were forced to sign a humiliating treaty. Only then did Gou Ergui realize the reality: no one in Guangdong could do anything to Liu Ye.
Liu Ye had already established his power and no one could control him, yet he was stranded in the prefectural city, unable to return home. Accustomed to a life of luxury, he couldn't bear this hardship any longer and ultimately risked sneaking back.
Although the eldest brother, Gou Dafu, died at the hands of Lin Sandao, he lost a lot of his wealth and his land deeds were taken away. But even a broken boat has three pounds of nails. The Gou family's house is still there. Although the main land under their name is gone, there is still a lot of land registered under the Gou family's name, as well as fertile land that was forcibly bought but not transferred to their name.
After returning home, Gou Ergui gathered his trusted family members and attempted to rebuild his fortune. Although the land entrusted to his family had been transferred through the government office, the deeds were mostly kept by the actual owners. They only needed to pay rent to the Gou family each year, thus escaping complete plunder. Furthermore, he planned to complete the formalities for all the land he had purchased through the "production-for-grain" scheme, which hadn't been transferred through the government office. Who paid the taxes was no longer important; the key was to firmly grasp the land and revive the Gou family—that was paramount. He couldn't afford to lose sight of the bigger picture for small gains.
Everyone in Hefeng Village knew Gou Ergui had returned, but unlike before, they were no longer afraid of the Gou family. Gou Ergui walked through the village and saw that the fear and avoidance in everyone's eyes were gone, which made him, who was used to looking up to these peasants, feel very uncomfortable. He secretly vowed that sooner or later he would make these peasants grovel at his feet again.
That day, he secretly went to the county town and arranged to meet a clerk in the household registration office. In truth, even if he returned to the household registration office, Liu Ye wouldn't recognize him, and besides, Liu Ye was unaware that his report about inciting the prefectural soldiers was related to him. However, he had a guilty conscience and dared not risk returning to the household registration office to continue working as a clerk. What if the other party found out he had gone to the prefectural city to file a complaint? Wouldn't killing him be as easy as stepping on an ant?
The agreed-upon location was a teahouse, which, coincidentally, was the same one that the Su family father and son had visited before.
At the appointed time, the other party arrived as promised. This person's surname was Fang, and he used to work in the household registration office with Gou Ergui, and they were very close.
When Fang Shuban saw Gou Ergui, he was surprised: "Brother Gou, how did you become so haggard?" During his time in the prefectural city, Gou Ergui was exhausted and looked ten years older.
Gou Ergui sighed and waved his hand, saying, "It's a long story, let's talk about it another day. I invited Brother Fang out today because I want to ask you for a favor." He meant to transfer all the land that was "producing grain and storing grain" to his own.
"So that's what it is. But there are some things you may not know, Brother Gou. The Qiongzhou garrison has obtained the imperial edict from the prefectural government and has taken over the tax revenue of the three counties of Lingao, Chengmai, and Danzhou."
"Such a thing actually happens? Military men can interfere in politics?" Gou Ergui was somewhat surprised. "But what does this have to do with me?"
Fang, the clerk, shook his head and sighed: "You don't know this, but the Qiongzhou garrison plans to survey the land, find out all the 'illegally registered' land, revise the fish-scale register, cancel all preferential treatment and exemptions, and require officials and gentry to pay taxes together. As for the land you mentioned, the buyers will also have to pay taxes. Even if you hadn't come today, the transfer of these lands would still have to be processed."
"What?!" Gou Ergui nearly slammed his fist on the table. "Investigate hidden land and implement unified grain tax collection?"
The Gou family were originally "contract households," which saved the government a lot of trouble in collecting grain from the people. The people could avoid some of the officials' exploitation by paying their grain through them, while the Gou family would plunder and profit from it. The Gou family's advantage was more obvious than other "contract households." Thanks to Gou Ergui's connections in the government, they would accept grain even if the amount was insufficient or the rice was of poor quality. Many small households, in order to suffer less exploitation, readily "brought their land with them" as payment.
If all the hidden fields used for "deceptive purposes" are investigated and all are subject to taxation, then the Gou family's greatest reliance will be gone, and their resurgence will become nothing but empty talk.
Gou Ergui asked unwillingly, "Don't the government and the imperial court care? Are they just going to let him do whatever he wants?"
Fang, the clerk, sneered a few times and said, "The government? In Qiongzhou Prefecture now, who can control the Qiongzhou Camp, and who dares to? If any fool jumps out, the Qiongzhou Camp will definitely give him a good beating."
Gou Ergui was crestfallen upon hearing this. As the saying goes, one force can overcome ten techniques. The Qiongzhou camp had guns and wouldn't reason with you, so what could they do? Besides, the Gou family's kind of "contract household" was not respectable and could not be compared with the officials and gentry who enjoyed the imperial court's preferential treatment. Even the scholars and gentry dared not say anything, so how could someone like him have the right to speak?