Chapter Thirteen: Resisting Robbery and Donating

  Just thinking that these soldiers might go to Fu Jiao Village to collect taxes, Li Qin couldn't help but feel anxious. He asked: "What if the common people don't have money to pay taxes? Will they be arrested?"

  He was unclear about the consequences of not paying taxes, as such matters were previously handled by Li Tian. Now he would have to take care of it himself, after all, the burden at home and in the village would gradually shift onto him!

  The groom on the side of the horse felt a bit strange, he looked at Li Qin and thought: "This young master Li is quite capable, but in terms of worldly experience, he seems to be somewhat lacking, as if he's not from around here."

  "Our village is different from other places when it comes to paying taxes. The army goes down first to intimidate the people, and if they can't pay, they run away and hide until the army comes back a second time. When they find that everyone has fled, they give up on collecting taxes, and the villagers come back after a while."

  The servant who was driving the carriage also said, "Yes, our Fuping is different from other places. If the common people are forced to desperation, they can do anything. The county magistrate dare not force them too hard, but he is also afraid that the people will flee, so he came up with this strange method."

  Li QIN finally put his mind at ease, he understood that the county magistrate's intention was to find an excuse for himself. The county magistrate also knew that the poor people couldn't afford to pay taxes, but he was afraid of pushing them too hard and causing a rebellion. Even if they didn't rebel, if the people fled and migrated elsewhere, Rich Ping already had a small population, and as a local official, it would be unbearable to lose more people. So he could only think of a way to find an excuse for himself, while the actual tax burden was borne by the rich, which was also a form of robbing the rich to help the poor.

  Looking at the army running far away, Li Qin said: "Poor people can't pay taxes, so they can only rely on rich people. If I'm not wrong, in two days, the county magistrate will go to your master's house and tell him that if he doesn't take out some grain to feed the soldiers, when the Xiongnu people come down south and the city is broken, everyone will be finished! This is called burning jade and stone together!"

  Everyone exclaimed in unison: "How did Young Master Li know?"

  The servant beside Ma said loudly, "Yes, year after year. The county magistrate really said to my master that jade and stone are burned together, the humble one heard it with his own ears, can't the county magistrate also say this to Li Gongzi?"

  Li Qin smiled and didn't answer. Seeing that the troops had already gone far away, he got back on the main road and left the city with his servants.

  Leaving Fuping County Town, because of hurrying sheep, and Li Qin's riding skills were not good, so he could only walk slowly, walked for half a day, before seeing Fu Jiao Village far away.

  Li Qin raised his hand to shade his eyes and looked out, seeing no signs of troops in the village. He thought: "I don't know if they haven't come or have already left." He urged on his horse, trotting towards the village, and the servants behind him also quickened their pace.

  After a moment, they arrived at the outskirts of the village. Li Qian furrowed his brow and saw that no one had come out from within the village. With so many people and sheep and carts, yet no one came out to watch the commotion, it could only mean one thing: the army had been there before and scared them off. Now all the villagers were gathered in their own homes, discussing what to do next!

  He rode his horse into the village, and as expected, when he arrived at his own door, he saw that the villagers were indeed all gathered at his gate, craning their necks to look inside the courtyard, guessing that the heads of each household were all inside discussing something.

  "Countrymen, I'm back!" Li Qin shouted.

  Outside the courtyard, all were women and children. Hearing Li QIN's shout, they turned their heads together to see that Li QIN was riding a tall horse, with a large cart behind him, followed by a flock of big fat sheep. The women and children were shocked, while the little ones shouted and ran over, calling out "Uncle Li". Some little ones even ran to the back to touch the sheep!

  Hearing the commotion outside, the men in the courtyard all looked out, and Xu Xiaoni's eyes were the sharpest. He shouted: "It's Brother Qin who has returned! Brother Qin is back on horseback!" Shouting, he squeezed out of the courtyard.

  Li Tian sat in the middle of the crowd, discussing something with the villagers. He stood up and looked outside, seeing that his son was indeed riding a horse. He was surprised and asked: "The horse! Whose horse is my son riding?" The villagers around him couldn't answer, but they all followed Xu Xiaoni to run outside together.

  Xu Xiaoni ran to the front of Li Qin, stretched out his hand to touch the black horse, and excitedly shouted: "Brother Qin, where did you get this horse from? Riding it is so cool!"

  Li QIN kicked away the stirrup and got down from the horse, laughing: "It was sent by Liu Zong of the city. What did you come to my house for? Is it about discussing tax payment?"

  Xu Xiaoni's face fell, and he nodded. As soon as the topic of paying taxes came up, all the joy on his face disappeared, and he put down his hand, no longer petting the horse.

  Li Qin squeezed into the crowd and saw Li Tian coming out to greet him. He said, "Father, I'm back, and I've got a lot of wealth. Whatever troubles you have, your son can handle it, don't worry." Seeing his mother, He Shi, also coming out from the courtyard, he called out to her as well, "Mother!"

  Before Li Tian could speak, Zhao Ba Jin squeezed over, crying and said: "Li Daizhi, Zhao Shu owes you an apology. He let you get only four stones of grain, and his heart is really uneasy about it!" For the past two days, he had been troubled by this matter. Although Li Tian did not blame him, he himself kept blaming himself, wondering why he was so reckless at first.

  Li Qin saw that Zhao Ba Jin's eyes were full of red threads, and he was on the verge of tears despite his advanced age. He hastily said: "Uncle Zhao, you must not blame yourself. Although it is true that we are short four stones of grain, but because of this, we have gained a horse, twenty fat sheep, and a cartload of goods - all thanks to your efforts. The Liu family head felt apologetic towards me and invited me to his home for a drink. We had a pleasant conversation, addressing each other as brothers. When the Liu family head was in high spirits, he gave me these fine gifts."

  Because treating Liu Sheng's sweat-blood horse involved medical skills and prescriptions, the villagers all knew he couldn't treat horses, so it would be troublesome to explain. Therefore, he found another reason; as for the specific situation, when talking to his parents at night, he could push it onto that old immortal in his dream, saying that the old immortal taught him, this explanation was also sufficient.

  No matter whether it was Zhao Ba Jin or the villagers, they were all surprised. Even Li Tian and He Shi felt that it was unbelievable. Just by calling each other brothers, he would give away so many valuable things. That Liu Zong Zhang was indeed too generous! But with the goods right in front of them, people couldn't help but believe. They flocked over to look at the horses and sheep, and everyone praised them.

  Li QIN said to Li Tiandao: "Dad, these things were given to me by Liu Sheng. I'll talk to you about it tonight. By the way, has the tax collector come? How much tax do we need to pay this year?"

  Li Tian stared at the black horse in a daze, and when his son asked him a question, he came back to his senses and said: "It's not time to pay taxes, the regular tax is paid in autumn. Now it's a donation, called anti-theft donation, the county magistrate is afraid of the Xiongnu people moving south, so they want to store grain and rations in advance, making early preparations."

  He paused, and the worried look on his face deepened. He shook his head and said, "In previous years, we could cope with it, but this year it's probably not going to work out. All of us in the village will have to go into hiding. The amount they want to collect is too much - 30 dan of millet! What he meant by millet was unhusked grains, not the refined rice that Liu Sheng had given to Li Qin.

  Xu Lao Ni said on the side: "There are only 33 households in the village, and when it's divided up, each household has to pay nearly one dan of grain. Let alone millet, even if we pay with bran, we can't afford it!"

  Li Qin furrowed his brow, pointed at the sheep outside and asked: "A fat sheep like this one, how many stones of millet is it worth?"

  Zhao Bazhen still couldn't change his habit of speaking quickly, and before Li Tian could respond, he exclaimed, "This is indeed a high-quality fat sheep, unlike the thin sheep at my house, each one is worth two shi of millet! This is still the price during the spring famine season, if it were after the autumn harvest, it would be worth even more!"

  Xu Lao said: "Yes, that Liu Zongchang is really generous. The things he gave you are worth more than the combined wealth of four or five villages around here!"

  Li Qinxin thought: "These things are many, but compared to the Blood-Sweat Horse, they can't even compare to a single horse hair!"

  Turning around, Li Qin squeezed out of the crowd, jumped onto the big cart, and shouted to the villagers: "Fellow countrymen, the official wants us to donate thirty stones of grain, isn't that a bit too much?"

  The villagers were fine when they didn't know, but once they heard the amount was thirty stones, they all got angry and shouted in unison: "It's too much, we can't afford to pay it! If we did, how would we make a living?"

  Xu Xiaoni shouted: "But if it's not, then we'll just become bandits! As honest civilians, we can only suffer from the bullying of officials. But if we become bandits, we'll specifically rob those officials!"

  Xu Lao Ni was shocked, covering his mouth with one hand, and scolded: "Good-for-nothing, speaking such words, are you trying to get yourself killed?!"

  Li Qin continued: "But if we don't pay, everyone will have to leave home and hide, every family has old and young people, how can they live without their homes, and it will also delay farm work, the harvest will decrease, and everyone's life will be even more difficult. There will never be a chance to rest and recover. As the son of the village head, I Li Qin have the duty to help everyone solve their problems, I cannot watch everyone suffer!"

  He pointed to the flock of sheep and said, "This time I brought back twenty fat sheep, one worth two stones of grain. Our village's donation was all paid by my Li family, if we give out fifteen, everyone won't have to flee in distress!"

  The villagers heard this and were all stunned, almost disbelieving their ears. Li Qin was going to pay the tribute grain for everyone? Fifteen sheep, what a staggering number!

  The shepherd's servant was anxious, he pulled Li Qings collar under the carriage and said: "Master Li, it is not possible now. Spring famine is approaching, sheep are cheap and grain is expensive. Such good fat sheep are only worth two stones of grain, they may not even be sold. But if you raise them until autumn, their value will increase a lot, maybe they will give birth to lambs, wouldn't that be more? Now you should donate the grain, it's too much of a loss, absolutely can't do it!"

  Grains are well-preserved and can be used as seeds, making them especially precious during the spring famine. They are life-saving and represent hope for the year. Mutton may be delicious, but it is a luxury item that cannot compare to grains during this special time. Li Qin's decision to trade sheep at this time is equivalent to selling cheaply, which he doesn't mind, but others feel sorry for him!

  Li QIN ignored him, and with a bow to the villagers, said: "Fellow villagers, I, Li QIN, treat everyone like my own family, thicker than water. The sheep can be earned back, but if anyone has an accident while escaping, how can I bear it? Don't say anything else, this is settled!"

  The villagers still couldn't believe it, after all, the number was too large, and Li Qin's loss was also too great!

  Suddenly, Li Tian shouted loudly: "My son is righteous and does not forget his hometown despite wealth and glory. He is a good son of the Li family and has not disgraced our ancestors! Fellow villagers, this sheep is settled by my Li family, no one else is allowed to say otherwise!"

  Li Tian spoke up, and it was only then that the villagers dared to believe him. They were all grateful, with some women even bursting into tears.

  Xu Xiaoni squeezed to the side of the car, pushed away the person who had fallen, grabbed Li Qin's hand and shouted: "Qin Ge, Qin Ge......" His emotions were stirred up, he didn't know what to say!

  ——

  The second update is here! Recommending and collecting are effortless, please brothers and sisters give "Master" a vote of recommendation, and collect it with ease, thank you everyone!