roccoschili Chapter 120: Taxes and Labor Service Rise Year by Year
Chapter 120: Taxes and Labor Service Rise Year by Year
Bai Lizheng was also very worried about the difficulty of paying the autumn tax this year, because he didn't even need to ask his acquaintances in the county government, he could guess by himself that the court would definitely further increase the amount of taxes and labor service on the people under its jurisdiction this year.
Counting the days, Bai Lizheng went to the county town with a sad face.
That evening, he returned to Baijia Village in his own ox cart with a face that was even more sad than when he left.
The villagers of Baijia Village were all thinking about this matter. As soon as Bai Lizheng entered the village, the villagers spread the news that "Bai Lizheng has returned to the village" to each other.
As a result, Bai Lizheng's family quickly and spontaneously gathered most of the villagers in the village.
His yard is the largest in the village, but even so, more than half of the people are still standing outside his yard.
Bai Lizheng took a look and thought, well, he should announce the matter immediately, otherwise his family would have no peace tonight.
Instead of letting everyone ask questions at once, he might as well just ring the gong and call everyone to go to the threshing ground.
He called his nephew who was driving the cart for him, "Go and ring the gong, and ask everyone to gather at the threshing ground."
His nephew Bai Rong nodded, and without even taking a sip of the water, he picked up the gong from Bai Lizheng's house and went around the village to beat the gong and call people.
Bai Lizheng waved to the villagers gathered at his house and outside his house, "Everyone go to the threshing ground and wait. When everyone is here, I will tell everyone about this year's taxes and corvée."
Upon hearing this, everyone, from outside to inside, evacuated towards the threshing ground one after another.
"Finally they left." Bai Lizheng's wife breathed a sigh of relief, "Our family is so blocked that we have no place to go."
Bai Lizheng sighed, "What can we do? The taxes and corvée labor are killing more and more people every year. As ordinary people, who among us can not worry about this?"
He drank a bowl of boiled water to quench his thirst. "You can go and listen to it, so I don't have to repeat it again when you come back."
Bai Lizheng's wife nodded, "Then I'll put out the fire in the stove."
After the old couple exchanged a few words, Bai Lizheng locked the door and the main door and went to the threshing ground with his wife.
They arrived neither too early nor too late, and after a short wait, almost all the villagers had arrived.
Bai Lizheng didn't waste any words. He stood in the middle of the crowd, on the square table that his nephew had specially brought out, and looked down at all the villagers.
"The county government has received an order from the state capital that this year's autumn tax will be half a percent higher than last year."
He did not explain in detail to the villagers the differences between regular taxes and additional taxes, and what categories each tax included, because most of the villagers did not understand.
The more detailed you explain, the less they will understand what you are saying, so Bai Lizheng simply adopted the method that County Magistrate Peng usually uses - make the accounts clear and then express them in words that the people can understand.
Anyway, the amount of taxes is calculated based on the number of people, assets, and land in each family. The head of the village only needs to tell the villagers the tax ratio, and then help each family calculate it according to their own situation. They will not be confused by the complicated tax items.
"so much!"
"That's right, this is too much!"
"It keeps rising every year. They are deliberately trying to drive us ordinary people to death!"
"Woo woo, who said it wasn't! Why is it rising again?"
"Didn't I predict it would go up a long time ago?"
After all, it goes up every year, so it's hard for them to guess it.
Bai Lizheng sighed, "Our tax is already considered low. If you know anyone in the neighboring county, why don't you go and ask them how much summer tax they paid, how much autumn tax they have to pay, and how many people they have to contribute."
To be honest, although their county magistrate had not been able to move up in more than ten years, he had always been kind to ordinary people like them.
He apportioned annual taxes and corvee labor according to the rules and never added anything else privately.
Thanks to him, the number of families in their county who were forced to survive due to heavy corvee and taxes and had to leave with their families to become refugees was less than 1/3 of that in other surrounding counties.
The superior is an honest official and has a good background, so few of the officials, yamen runners, and village heads under him dare to do anything wrong. In addition, the old and current village heads of Baijia Village are both kind people, so the people of Baijia Village do live a relatively comfortable life.
Therefore, the villagers still have a good impression of their own county magistrate and village head.
Hearing Bai Lizheng say this, on the one hand, they agreed, but on the other hand, they couldn't help but curse in a low voice those high-ranking officials who didn't treat them, the common people, as human beings.
Seeing that everyone was talking more and more outrageously, Bai Li's face turned serious, "What are you talking about? Huh? I tell you, if anyone doesn't keep his mouth shut and causes everyone in the village to suffer along with you, don't blame me for driving his entire family out of the village!"
When everyone heard this, they immediately shut up. They didn't want to leave Baijia Village, this good place.
Seeing that everyone had behaved themselves, Bai Lizheng began to talk about corvee labor.
The corvée service in their village was the most fair. The head of the village compiled a list for all the families in the village that met the service requirements, and this list was updated in real time based on the situation of each family.
Without Bai Lizheng telling them which family should serve in the military and which family will not be able to do so this year, the villagers can probably guess for themselves roughly.
Bai Lizheng announced the number of corvée labor assigned to their village this year, and then called out the names of the heads of households who had been assigned corvée labor in the order of the list.
"Okay, that's all. Now, prepare your money or grain." Bai Lizheng waved his hand to signal everyone to leave. "For those who really can't afford the exemption money, pick a strong man from your family and register with me within three days."
People were talking and leaving in groups of three or five. Bai Jingzhou pulled Bai Jingshan aside and asked in a low voice: "Can your family raise the autumn tax?"
Bai Jingshan's family had no land, no other assets besides the house, and no adult males, so the taxes they had to pay were far less than those of other families, and they did not have to send anyone to perform labor service. However, his family was so poor that Bai Jingzhou was not sure whether he could raise the autumn tax.
Bai Jingshan nodded, "My mother has already prepared the money, I will go to the village head grandfather tomorrow."
Bai Jingzhou, "No matter what time it is, if your family is short of money, you can come to me privately and I will give you some for emergency use."
Bai Jingshan nodded, "I will."
Those who followed Gu Wenxuan to practice martial arts not only learned boxing, stick techniques and bows and arrows, but also learned how to set traps and dig snares in the mountains. Those who were diligent enough could catch pheasants and rabbits on the nearby hills in the morning and evening.
The Bai Jingshan brothers were among the most hardworking ones. When Bai Jingzhou's family had nothing for them to do, they would take their own small bows and arrows and wander around the mountains.
Although they were young, they had game almost every day. In addition, they also got some common herbs, which they accumulated day by day, and they brought a lot of income to the family.