xymnovel Chapter 69 Going to the Countryside
Chapter 69 Going to the Countryside
Clerk Yan and County Lieutenant Sun exchanged a glance, realizing something was wrong.
They had paved the way for the county magistrate and were just waiting for him to set off, but who knew that this county magistrate, instead of selecting good tax collectors, would use constables instead.
Clerk Yan quickly gave County Lieutenant Sun a wink.
Sun, the county constable, understood immediately and stepped forward, cupping his hands in greeting, saying, "Shen, the situation is urgent. None of the constables from the county office are here, but the tax collectors are. Let's hurry and set off, or things might change."
Upon hearing this, County Lieutenant Ma was displeased. What did he mean by saying the constables weren't there?
"County Commandant Sun, I'm still here. Don't talk nonsense in front of your superiors." Ma Lian strode to the door, looking displeased. "Watch how I gather the constables."
Before anyone could react, he pulled a whistle from his collar, blew it hard, and instantly, a piercing sound echoed throughout the entire county government office.
Ma Lian opened his mouth and started counting down from fifty.
By the time they counted to thirty, constables were already standing in front of them.
Counting to ten, a dozen or so constables had already lined up in formation.
After the fifty were counted, all the yamen runners from the three shifts of the county government were present.
Ma Lian raised his eyebrows, grabbed his arm, and asked, "Come here, Magistrate Sun, take a look at my men."
"You..." County Commandant Sun pointed at Ma Lian, speechless for a long time.
Once everyone was present, Shen Ce didn't hesitate and said loudly, "County Lieutenant Ma, select ten cavalrymen and ten foot soldiers to come with me. The Registrar will stay behind, and County Lieutenant Sun will accompany us. Tell me the details on the way."
The registrar was about to speak when he was silenced by Shen Ce's icy glare.
The three villages are not far from Chang'an City. Along the official road, it only takes half an hour by fast horse. On the way, County Magistrate Sun hurriedly explained:
"Registration Officer Shen, these three townships are located downstream of the irrigation canal, so their daily irrigation water supply is always insufficient. In addition, this year there has been little rain, and the upstream has intercepted more of it. As a result, the crops have suffered some losses."
"I never imagined production would be reduced so drastically..."
"How much?" Shen Ce's voice carried a hint of coldness.
"More than 30%..."
Shen Ce frowned. According to Tang law, rent was waived for losses of four-tenths or more, rent and labor service were waived for losses of six-tenths, and rent, labor service, and tax were waived for losses of seven-tenths or more.
Currently, these three townships have a 30% reduction and are therefore not included in the exemption program.
Starting in the seventh year of the Wude era, the equal-field system reduced the land allocation in densely populated areas to half that of the previous system, meaning that each adult male was allocated fifty mu of land, and a self-cultivating farmer's household was allocated one hundred mu of land.
The annual grain production is 50 shi (a unit of dry measure), and a 30% reduction would result in 35 shi. Each adult male pays a tax of 2 shi, so a family of five would have 30 shi of grain to eat annually. After setting aside grain for the following year and deducting the costs of farm tools and feed, there would still be a shortfall of 7 to 8 shi.
If the whole family stays healthy and doesn't need to buy anything, they can survive by eating wild vegetables and going through a six-month famine.
But the tenants... well, forget about it, they're doomed to die.
Shen Ce really wanted to curse. If he knew production would be reduced, why didn't he do it sooner?
County Lieutenant Sun probably thought to himself, "Good morning... the County Magistrate hasn't even taken office yet, so this is for you."
County Magistrate Ma seemed to have grasped the situation. He spurred his horse to ride alongside the two men and asked with a puzzled look, "As far as I know, there should be a law in the Tang Code that allows for delayed payment."
Hearing this, Shen Ce smiled and turned to patiently explain to him, "There is such a law, but once the village confirms a poor harvest, the village head reports it level by level to the county magistrate, and then the county magistrate appoints people to verify it level by level."
"Finally, the verification results are fed back level by level. The county magistrate then writes a document to report to the Yongzhou Prefectural Government, which in turn reports it to the Ministry of Revenue for review..."
"A county magistrate once did this, and before the Ministry of Revenue could even approve it, the tax payment period had already passed, so..."
"Is this just for show?" County Commandant Ma couldn't help but chime in.
Shen Ce turned his head: "Not bad."
The court's intentions were good, but in the process of implementation, various stakeholders would naturally try every means to achieve their goals in order to ensure that their own interests were not harmed.
The imperial court also holds a small examination every year and a major examination every three years, which further incentivizes government offices at all levels to only care about their own small plots of land.
Therefore, deviations occurred during the execution of the law. It cannot be said that the law was at fault; it can only be the fault of the official in charge who was caught, and has nothing to do with anyone else.
Approaching XX village, there was only one narrow road ahead.
Shen Ce turned to look at everyone and said in a low voice, "Don't alert them. Everyone stay here. I'll go in with County Commandant Ma to check the situation first. County Commandant Sun will wait here for news."
Upon hearing this, County Magistrate Sun immediately became anxious. How could he allow others to stir up trouble if he didn't go?
"Magistrate Shen, let me accompany you. I am more familiar with the situation in these three townships..."
"I've asked you everything I wanted to ask on the way here. Is there anything you're hiding from me?" Shen Ce asked suspiciously.
Upon hearing such a unique answer for the first time, County Magistrate Sun was speechless for a long time before finally clearing his throat and saying...
"I don't know these twenty constables well. If something goes wrong, I might not be able to command them, which could affect..."
County Magistrate Ma was furious. So, he wasn't satisfied until he got a piece of the pawn in this mess?
Then he said coldly, "No need for County Magistrate Sun to come. If there is any danger, I will blow the whistle myself, and they will know what to do based on the length of the whistle."
Speechless, County Magistrate Sun sat to the side. He had no choice; the County Assistant was several ranks higher than him and held a noble title.
The two men, without removing their official robes, led their horses and swaggered towards the village.
The fields outside the village had long been harvested, leaving only stubble half a hand's breadth high, and there was no green to be seen.
The sparrow landed on the ground, hopping around for a long time without bowing its head, before flapping its wings and flying away.
Before Shen Ce even stepped into the village, the villagers saw him and knelt down from afar. They didn't cry out, but simply pushed their children in front of them.
A commotion arose from not far away. County Magistrate Ma's eyes flickered slightly, and he silently walked forward.
Shen Ce walked straight toward the bustling crowd without glancing to the side; the county tax collectors were still surrounded by villagers.
Even if they speak recklessly and anger the villagers, they are still government officials. Tax collectors and village heads are doing their job by collecting taxes according to the law, and as government officials, they should express their stance clearly.
Shen Ce looked up at the name of the ancestral hall, muttered a few words to himself, and then strode inside.
There is a fundamental difference between officials and clerks. When the crying villagers saw the official in green robes arrive, they immediately fell silent and knelt down.
The three tax collectors and the village heads of the three villages were all there. When they saw their superiors arrive, they roughly pushed away the hands that were grabbing them, took a few quick steps, and stepped forward to bow.
Shen Ce looked at the three men, whose clothes were disheveled, and wondered whether the villagers had done it themselves or they had torn themselves apart, since he had used this tactic before.
He frowned and said, "You were surrounded by villagers when you were collecting taxes according to the law. After this is over, you can go back to the county office and get ten strokes of the cane."
The tax collectors thought this punishment was just for show, since they had made quite a commotion, and villagers from three townships had come. They figured it was just beating their own people, not a criminal, so they shouldn't take it to heart.
The person standing behind County Magistrate Ma must be the newly arrived County Assistant Magistrate. He immediately raised his voice and said, "County Assistant Magistrate, these unruly country bumpkins were supposed to pay their taxes five days ago, but they have dragged it out until today. Not only have they not paid, but they have also called on the villagers to surround us here."
"County Magistrate, look at us, our clothes are all torn."
Shen Ce didn't even lift his eyelids, and said indifferently, "Identify the rude person and hand them over to the village head to be taken to the county government for punishment."
The tax collector was taken aback. Something was wrong. How could this be different from what Magistrate Sun had described as development?