New Trickster

  The days are plain but happy, and before you know it, autumn is here. In the vast sky with thin clouds, the wheat waves on this riverbank are rolling, a golden yellow piece.

  Thanks to good weather and timely irrigation, all fields on the riverbank have had a bumper harvest that is incomparable with previous years.

  Zhang Laoshi plucked an ear of wheat, rubbed it in his rough hands, picked a full grain and put it into his mouth, closed his eyes and chewed carefully.

  Full and sweet.

  Excitedly opening his eyes, Zhang said to Lü Shidao beside him: "Thanks to Master's blessing, this is a great harvest that comes once in a hundred years. This mu of land will yield more than one shi more than usual, and my family's forty mu of ancestral land can yield over 100 shi at the very least. I really don't know how to thank Master."

  One hundred dan is over 12,000 jin. Under the social productive forces at that time, one mu of wheat yielded about two dan. In this year of severe drought, the extra harvest of four to five thousand jin was indeed thanks to the windmill.

  Look at the happy smiles and joyful eyes of the people around him, Lv Shi felt a great sense of accomplishment. If he couldn't change history, then he would change what was around him, and now he had done it.

  The Zhang family's kids were also overjoyed, cheering together with the other village children on the ridge of the field. They cheered because this year they wouldn't go hungry.

  Zhang Lao Shi's wife was wiping away tears at the edge of the field, and the reason for her tears was that she no longer had to worry about whether they would have food for their next meal.

  Zhao Dahai was also delighted, his delight came from everyone's delight.

  Kai lian, is the most particular etiquette of a farmer's family, every item is enjoyed by the elder of the family after praying to heaven and earth, now this glorious role was given to Lü Shi by Zhang Laishi.

  With respectful hands holding up the sickle, he respectfully said: "Autumn harvest begins, please Master, take action."

  Lü Shiye didn't pretend, sincerely took the sickle and prayed with words that came from his heart, which sounded even more kind and sincere.

  One swing of the sickle, and it's a big bundle of wheat that's full of infinite longing for life.

  "Start reaping!" The Zhang family cheered together and began to reap in the scorching autumn sun, sweating profusely.

  The wheat sheaves are being transported to the threshing ground, and everyone they meet along the way is beaming with joy and happiness.

  Then it was trampled, winnowed, and then each grain was carefully picked up and put into a mouth bag or a pottery jar.

  Busy times are hard but also happy, and after the last grain of wheat was carefully loaded into the sacks, Zhang's dilapidated house was actually filled to capacity.

  The harvest day can't be finished in one day, Lü Shi, this rustic outsider, has become a burden, everyone is laughing and driving him away, don't delay everyone's work.

  Lü Shihe and Zhao Dahai could only bring their own longbows and go hunting in the mountains, with San'r being sent by Zhang Laoshi to attend to Lü Shihe's side.

  This autumn is just the time when prey is fat, hitting a few is a sumptuous feast. In the past few days, they had several full meals in a row, and now everyone climbed mountains and waded through rivers without feeling tired. They slowly entered the depths of the big mountain.

  Lü Shi's archery skills have made significant progress, still mainly relying on Meng. This makes Zhao Dahan ridicule him, and he is even more embarrassed in front of San Er, who excels at archery.

  Now in the yard, there are only Zhang Lao Shi and his wife, looking at the wheat as high as a mountain. Zhang Lao Shi squatted in front of the wheat stack, muttering to himself, calculating how much he could keep for himself after paying the imperial grain tax, how much to reserve for famine relief, how much to exchange for salt and daily necessities, whether he should prepare some betrothal gifts for his 20-year-old son's marriage, and thinking that when he got married at 15, he had children by 17, but these years of hardship have delayed the important matter of passing on the family line.

  "What's all the fuss about? Old Zhang is living a good life, has the autumn harvest ended?" Just as Zhang was lost in thought, a strange and eerie greeting came from outside the courtyard door, startling him. He quickly stood up and turned around to see several of his fellow villagers from Zhang's hometown, led by a local official, walking into the courtyard with an air of nonchalance.

  Zhang Lao Shi saw it was an official and hastily welcomed him with a flurry of nervous energy.

  In the morning, the jurisdiction of the village was mainly relied on the big family or the head of the clan in the village. Naturally, the Li Zhang of this Zhangjia Village would be that old master Zhang.

  "Superior official arrived earlier, no one came to greet him, what a sin! Old man here apologizes, please hurry and sit in the main hall. Wife of my child, quickly boil water, attend to the official."

  The Zhang family's second-in-command waved his hand and said, "You don't have to be in a hurry, Zhang Lao Shi. We didn't even look at your boiled water, let alone have time to grind teeth with you."

  Zhang Laoshi repeatedly nodded and bowed, saying: "Yes, yes, how can my humble abode be worthy of your attention? You are a person who has seen the world, please forgive me for being rude."

  "No idle talk, I'm asking you, Zhang Laoshi, this year's harvest is good, isn't it?"

  "Thanks to your good fortune, gentlemen, this year is indeed a rare bumper harvest."

  "It's time to pay the imperial grain tax, isn't it?" The steward said with a sarcastic tone.

  "That's right, that's right, my family has been paying imperial taxes and national taxes for generations. Which year did we ever owe? This year is a good harvest again, I was thinking of paying the taxes, after paying the taxes, the remaining ones are also thinking of marrying the younger son." Although the words were humble, there was a hint of pride on his face.

  The housekeeper of the Zhang family heard this, but instead puckered up his mouth and said to the official, "Please sit down for a moment, sir. I'll calculate how much tax, imperial grain, labor service, and miscellaneous levies the Zhang family owes."

  Chongzhen ascended the throne at a young age, intending to work diligently and govern effectively. Unfortunately, he was severely short of funds, so he stipulated that taxes in various provinces must be collected in full, without allowing local officials to delay or procrastinate. At the same time, Chongzhen and the Donglin Cabinet believed that they should show a new atmosphere for the dynasty, deciding to investigate and rectify the accumulated ills and abuses in various provinces, with the aim of making up for the deficiencies left over from previous dynasties.

  What's the big deal about the people of the world owing taxes and grains to the imperial court?

  In Shaanxi, during the Wanli era, it was estimated that each mu of grain could be sold for about 0.5 taels of silver, and the land tax was around 0.2-0.3 taels of silver per mu. Adding the Liaodong surtax of 0.27 taels, the total tax burden was around 0.4-0.5 taels of silver per mu. During times of disaster in the Wanli and Tianqi eras, not only were these taxes exempted, but there would also be corresponding relief measures.

  But Chongzhen and the Qingliu believed that this method was not appropriate, it was this method that made the Ming dynasty's treasury unable to make ends meet, and they would starve the mice. By the first year of Chongzhen, the emperor's inner treasury could no longer provide relief to the disaster-stricken areas in Shaanxi, not only that, Chongzhen believed that although there might be a famine in Shaanxi, it must have been exaggerated by local officials, and now that the country was about to revive, they urgently needed money, so he ordered that taxes should be collected equally, making up for the accumulated arrears.

  In the early days of the Ming dynasty, the military rations, weapons and clothing of various garrisons in Shaanxi were all self-financed by the garrisons. After entering the Little Ice Age period, they were mainly subsidized by the miscellaneous taxes collected during the Wanli era. Now that the source of the internal currency is almost exhausted, the Donglin Party suggested distributing this tax evenly to the farmers in the disaster-stricken areas of Shaanxi, which would be equivalent to collecting two silver coins per mu. The Chongzhen Emperor thought that this was a small price to pay, no more than the cost of a small bowl of rice for himself, and approved the proposal.

  In the early days of the Ming Dynasty, the court set up a horse administration in Shaanxi Province, specifically drawing out pastures to raise horses for military use. By the first year of Chongzhen's reign, there should have been 570,000 war horses and draft horses on paper, but in reality... not even a single horse skeleton existed, and the pastures had long since degenerated and disappeared.

  During the Wanli Emperor's reign, military horses were mainly purchased with income from mining taxes. In the Taichang Emperor's reign, the Donglin Party sympathized with the difficulties of the wealthy and abolished mining taxes, so there was no money to buy horses.

  But Ma Zhengyi cannot conjure up 500,000 horses in Shaanxi out of thin air, and the nine border towns still need horse supplies. The Donglin scholars shifted the blame for the neglect of horse administration to Wei Zhongxian, calling it a mistake of the eunuch party, and then told the emperor that the reason why they cannot raise horses now is because all the pastures have been occupied by "evil commoners" in Shaanxi to farm. So they suggested that the emperor increase the silver money for buying horses according to one example.

  Now the Zhu family is in power, those princes are not allowed to leave the city, even if they get married and have children at home, every year they will give birth to sons. After Emperor Chongzhen came to power, the Donglin Cabinet suggested that he follow a whip example, by collecting additional taxes from farmers to supplement part of the imperial family's needs. Chongzhen agreed with this proposal, so Shaanxi had another additional tax.

  In addition, Donglin Party claimed to give Shaanxi water control and increased production, according to one whip example...

  Moreover, the Donglin Party believed that the cost of transporting grain for the Gansu army should not be entirely dependent on salt certificates.

  There is still...

  Originally, in the year of abundance, Zhang Juzheng estimated that the income per mu in Shaanxi Province could reach 4 or 5 taels of silver. However, by the first year of Chongzhen's reign, the total land tax imposed on farmers by Tianzi and Donglin Party had already reached as high as 2 taels of silver per mu.

  The official didn't say a word, found a stool to sit on, and the matter was taken over by Zhang's family manager. In fact, this was all an old custom from previous years. The county allocated funds to each locality, which were then distributed to individual officials, who added some expenses for their own hard work, and then passed them on to the wealthy households in the area. Of course, these households wouldn't possibly contribute even a single grain of rice or a penny themselves, but instead would find ways to profit from the situation.

  So, the yamen runners are just tiger skin, while those foxes and wolves are the real deal.

  At that time, Zhang Guan took out an abacus and made a series of clever calculations, which left Zhang Laoshi and his wife dizzy. Finally, Zhang Guan put away the abacus and said: "Originally, our village had so many households, but now there are so many people who have fled. Those who have fled should bear the burden of labor service, taxes, grain for the emperor, and other expenses. After calculating all the deductions, including transportation costs, mouse damage, bird damage, passage fees, transfer fees, hidden losses, filling in the gaps, discounts, etc., your family should pay 120 taels of silver and 30 cents, and also provide 55 stones of wheat for Wangzhuang's supply.

  As he watched Zhang Guan's fingers flying, Zhang Laoshi's heart sank, imagining the grain he had worked so hard to grow disappearing rapidly with those snow-white fingers. Cold sweat kept flowing out. Zhang's wife could only stand by holding onto the door frame.

  After Zhang Guanjia reported the amount of silver, money and grain to be paid, Zhang Laoshi and his wife fainted thoroughly.

  At that time, the price of goods was one dou of wheat for one or two taels of silver, and 120 taels was all the harvest, where could there be any surplus? Moreover, there were also fifty stones of royal grain to be offered, even if they sold their pots and pans, they couldn't make up such a large number.

  No pleading, for every plea cannot move the conscience of these black-hearted officials and wealthy households, who watch like corpses as the ferocious militiamen plunder their hard-earned hopes.

  When the last grain of wheat was loaded onto the cart, Zhang's steward came to Zhang Laoshi, who had almost lost his temper, and squatted down to say: "I've given you eighty piculs of wheat."

  "Master, that's one hundred and thirty-three shi five dou one gong," Zhang Lao Shi muttered in a hollow voice, but when he said this, he was absolutely subconscious and had already lost the strength to argue.

  The steward didn't pay attention to him either and continued to say: "That's equivalent to 40 taels of silver. So you still owe the government 50 stones of grain, 80 taels of silver.