"No, no, the officials are here again!"
Just hearing a burst of shouting coming from the entrance of the village, the tranquility of Wangjia Village was once again broken. Ever since the last incident involving Ma Ningyuan, the prefect of Hangzhou, spread, everyone in this village has been labeled as unruly!
But the strange thing is that since receiving this title, the number of officials who come to the village to fight the autumn wind has also decreased a lot. After all, the villagers of Wangjia Village really dare to fight you with their hoes.
"What? The people from the government are here again. Let's raid this guy quickly!"
Someone in the crowd shouted, and Wang Erzhuang, a villager from Wangjia Village, followed the crowd, picked up a hoe, and ran towards the entrance of the village.
Suddenly, the entrance to the village was surrounded by villagers holding hoes, sickles and other farming equipment! This formation made He Tao, who came to collect the land tax this time, couldn't help but become nervous and swallowed secretly.
"Boss, if you want... let's withdraw!"
"Yes, with this attitude, let alone collecting land taxes, we don't know if we can come out alive by then!"
"That's right, the government clearly doesn't treat us as human beings. It's just a severe beating when we go back. It's better than losing our lives!"
"Shut up, why don't you give up on this matter before it even gets started?"
"Besides, we are here to collect taxes, not to fight against the autumn wind! Please be tough, no matter how unruly these unruly people are, do they dare not to pay taxes?"
He Tao frightened his subordinates who wanted to retreat with just a few words, and then he walked towards the crowd of villagers not far away.
"What are you officials doing here? Don't go any further!"
As soon as He Tao reached the entrance of the village, the villagers clenched the farm tools in their hands nervously and threatened.
"Folks, don't be nervous! We are sent by the government to collect field taxes, not to force you to convert rice into mulberry."
"You guys don't want to change rice into mulberry, but you have to pay the field tax, right?"
He Tao mustered up his courage and spoke loudly to the villagers.
"Didn't we just collect it some time ago? Why do we need to collect land tax again?"
"Yes, we have worked hard for a year, and most of the harvest has been taxed."
"I went to the county before and passed by the bulletin board. I heard people talking about it, and it seemed that such a thing happened."
Wang Erzhuang stood up immediately and explained to the villagers.
The villagers saw that He Tao and the others were not here to promote the conversion of rice to mulberry, but to collect field taxes. Their hostility towards them also slightly reduced, and they were no longer as hostile as before.
But the attitude of the villagers is still not very good. After all, who likes a guy who tries his best to take away your harvest?
"Quickly, bring me the list! I remember that there are still some villagers in Wangjia Village who are willing to change rice to mulberry, and they seem to have taken their fingerprints."
Seeing that the villagers in front of him were no longer so excited, He Tao quickly called his subordinates and took out the list.
He Tao coughed twice and cleared his throat, while also attracting the villagers' attention to him.
"Now, what I want to read is the list of those who are exempted from and exempted from the land tax this time! Folks, listen carefully."
He Tao's words were like a bomb that exploded in the crowd. The crowd soon became bustling and began to discuss the matter.
"What? You can also be exempted from land tax!"
"How can such a good thing happen? It's a lie!"
Seeing this, He Tao couldn't help but raise his voice and said loudly.
"Quiet! If you miss anyone's name, don't blame me."
After hearing what He Tao said, the crowd gradually quieted down. They were all curious whether the list of land tax exemptions mentioned by the government was true.
"The first name is Wang Erzhuang!"
The villagers in Wangjia Village were quite surprised to hear their familiar name from the official mouth. They all turned their attention to Wang Erzhuang holding a hoe in the crowd.
"Er Zhuang, what is going on? Why are you on the list of those exempt from land tax?"
"Are you hiding something from us?"
"Tell me, tell me quickly, have you done any favors to the official?"
Suddenly surrounded by so many eyes, Wang Erzhuang was a little embarrassed. After scratching his head, he had to take everything seriously.
"I was passing by the bulletin board that day and happened to hear someone reading a notice posted by the government. It said that as long as you sign, you will be exempted from paying land tax and will be exempted from one year of corvee!"
"So I went with them to the government office and had my fingerprints pressed."
After Wang Erzhuang finished speaking, the remaining villagers all had complicated expressions.
"Then why don't you tell everyone about such a good thing? Instead, you keep it all to yourself!"
Soon, the first person stood up and asked.
"Yes, Wang Erzhuang, why didn't you inform everyone about such a good thing?"
"Bah, you are so selfish!"
"I remember that at the beginning, when your family had no food, I lent them food. Now it seems that I have really fed the dogs!"
Soon, the words spoken by the villagers became more and more unpleasant, and Wang Erzhuang's face gradually darkened. He frowned and said: "There are only so many places in the government. If I inform you, my children will be squeezed." What should I do if he comes down? He will be old enough to go to school soon!"
"I don't want him to dig in the soil for food all his life like me! I want him to study and let him take the exam to become a scholar."
"Besides, I'm not the only one who knew about this. There were also people from Wangjiacun who were at the scene."
Wang Erzhuang's next words were equivalent to throwing two more bombs into the crowd: "First, after pressing fingerprints with the government, the children can go to school! Second, Wang Erzhuang was not the only one who was at the scene. , and other people from Wangjia Village."
"It's just that everyone hid this matter in a tacit understanding!"
Soon, the name He Tao read next confirmed the villagers' suspicion.
"Wang San, Wang Goudan, Wang Wu..."
He Tao stopped after reading a dozen names in a row.
Most of the villagers in Wangjia Village cast disdainful glances at those villagers whose names were read out by He Tao.
When the waiting list was almost finished, He Tao added: "By the way, I forgot to tell the villagers that the part of the land tax they have paid less will be shared equally among you."
"What? This is impossible, why!"
"Why can they pay less and we have to bear their share?"
He Tao's words immediately caused the villagers to explode, and the villagers gradually became angry.
"When they pressed their fingerprints, the government had already informed them. If you don't believe it, you can ask them."
Seeing the excitement, He Tao didn't think it was a big deal and added a handful of firewood.
"What? This didn't happen at all! The government never told us."
When Wang Erzhuang heard what He Tao said, he immediately panicked and subconsciously wanted to defend himself. However, in the eyes of the villagers, his defense was so weak! Therefore, none of the villagers believed what he said.
Seeing that the villagers had been divided and disintegrated, He Tao winked at his subordinates, who quickly understood and protected the dozen or so villagers whose names were read out in a tacit understanding.
"What, do you want to rebel?"
He Tao glanced at the remaining villagers and raised his voice.
"To tell you the truth, since they press their fingerprints, they will not only be able to obtain the above-mentioned benefits, but they will also be protected by the government!"
"They are no better than you group of unruly people. They have a higher consciousness than you, and they are also willing to support the court's policies! Naturally, the court will also give them corresponding benefits."
Those villagers who were protected by official officials had never received such treatment. The official guards immediately felt confident and looked at the villagers in the same village with a arrogant expression.
This move successfully made most of the remaining villagers feel the same hatred.
At the same time, some villagers secretly made up their minds that after the official leaves, they must take care of these guys and drive them out of the village!
And He Tao seemed to understand what these villagers were thinking, and then added: "If these villagers are harmed in any way, all of you will have to go to jail!"
"At that time, your children will also be affected, and the free schools run by the government will never be open to them!"
He Tao's words undoubtedly hit the soft spot of all the villagers present. After all, they work hard and sweat every day, isn't it just so that their children can live better than themselves in the future?
The momentum of the villagers present suddenly weakened. They no longer dared to have any thoughts about these people because they did not live for themselves.
What no one at the scene noticed was that there was a pair of eyes in the dark that took in everything. This was the Jin Yiwei from before!
(End of chapter)
