Su Qingluan was just surprised that her mother suddenly became unhappy, and she didn't realize the meaning behind this "sullenness".
She neatly removed the coriander roots and dipped her knife in water to cut the onions - this would prevent the pungent taste of the onions from making her burst into tears.
Su Qingluan breathed a sigh of relief after cutting the last onion shreds, but when she came back to her senses, she realized that Yang had been silent since just now.
She turned around and looked over, only to find that Yang was also looking at her.
"Auntie?" Su Qingluan touched her face subconsciously, "Is there something dirty on my face?" Why are you always looking at her?
Yang sighed: "Girl, our village's harvest this year is pretty good, so there's no severe drought this year, and the river in the village hasn't flooded the fields."
Su Qingluan nodded: "Isn't that great?"
"But the rent we have to pay this year is not a lot at all! Although our family is not worried about not being able to pay the rent, I am afraid that most people - even our family last year..."
Rent?
Su Qingluan was stunned for a while before she realized what the so-called "rent" was - it was the "tax" of this era.
This is not her fault, after all, the more common modern terms are "value-added tax", "personal income tax" and the like. The term "renting a child" or similar synonyms are words that only appeared in the distant childhood when the masters and wives talked about their parents and even their ancestors' rebellion against the old times.
Su Qingluan remembered that she had borrowed knowledge about the laws of this era from Mu Xingzhi before, and said that the country's tax rate was roughly 20% to 30% of the crop harvest. Su Qingluan converted it according to the modern tax rate. , overall it is still on the high side.
However, since in her previous life she was technically considered a "small and micro enterprise operator" and had to pay taxes every year, so from a physical perspective, the tax rate of about 20% is not particularly outrageous.
So she couldn't help but comforted: "No matter what, most of the food still falls in our own pockets, right?"
When Yang heard this, he looked at Su Qingluan in surprise, as if he had heard some fantasy: "Most? How is that possible?"
"But the law stipulates..."
"I don't know what the law is..." Yang said with a bitter smile, "I just know that the villagers in our village must charge at least 60% of the rent for their fields."
"Sixty percent?!" Su Qingluan screamed, "Why don't they go and grab it - ugh!"
Before she finished speaking, Su Qingluan was stepped forward and covered her mouth: "Keep your voice down!" Yang lowered his voice and looked outside the yard warily, "Although our village is relatively peaceful, such words are absolutely unacceptable. Don’t say it casually!”
Su Qingluan also calmed down at this time: Yes, this is no longer the era when you can "discuss state affairs" at home. If you use inappropriate words at this time, you may really endanger your family.
She herself calmed down and looked much calmer. Seeing that she was not as excited as before, Yang slowly let go of her hand.
Su Qingluan took a deep breath slowly, calmed down and asked, "Why is it so much higher?"
60% tax! This tax ratio, not to mention in modern times, even if we compare it horizontally in ancient times, it can be regarded as "harsh taxation", right? !
This is not just "the people are suffering", it is simply "the people are dying"!
And Yang said "at least" 60%, does that mean that he has even encountered tax situations that are even more outrageous than 60%? !
This was the first time that Su Qingluan felt so deeply - this ancient feudal world full of oppression was really a scam!
After listening to Su Qingluan's words, Yang shook her head and sighed helplessly: "The higher-ups sent people to collect the rent, how can we ordinary people dare to say anything? In the past few years, there were more people in Huaxi Village, and the rent of each household was only It’s less, but now there are only dozens of households left, and the government still charges so much! What kind of truth does this make?”
In the end, Yang was also a little aggrieved, but she never protested loudly like Su Qingluan, and only dared to complain in a low voice that could only be heard clearly by Su Qingluan standing close by.
Su Qingluan listened to A Niang's words and wondered. Yang didn't understand, but she stood at the end of the long river of history, but she understood: I don't know why - most likely because the people below are beautiful for their "political achievements" under their rule - bragging about good weather and good harvests every year, then the higher-ups will naturally Ask for more taxes.
However, in reality, there are still only that many people. Even due to various natural and man-made reasons, the population of small mountain villages like Huaxi Village has decreased.
The people above had overly optimistic estimates of taxation, and the reality was that there were far fewer people and food than reported, which naturally resulted in taxes that were several times higher than what the law required.
Su Qingluan felt very heavy.
Today's tofu rolls were fried in a pan and were golden and crispy. The various spices sprinkled on top combined with the rich texture and special aroma brought by the coriander and onions inside made it an unforgettable meal for the whole family.
Only Su Qingluan, thinking about what Yang had said to her before, couldn't swallow the food and it didn't taste good to her.
What made her even more irritated was that she had figured out the idea of developing a new series of jam, but Su Qingluan was not satisfied with the neutralizing effect of using pure jam and grinding the peels into powder - the green and astringent taste of the peels had gone through. After heating, it blends with the jam and turns into another slightly bitter taste.
Su Qingluan didn't know where the problem was, so she became even more irritated.
This irritable mood lasted from the first day to the next day, and even the rising sun did not improve her mood.
Su Qingluan was really a little irritable, but she still remembered to write down the recruitment notice and post it on the notice board at the entrance of the village. The start time of the construction was set in three days.
Su Qingluan thought for a while, even if the actual construction time is about three or four days, for the sake of insurance, it is better to advance a few days in advance.
What's more, no matter what is added later to enhance the flavor of the jam, the early step of picking wild fruits, pounding the pulp and making jam will not be changed in any way.
So Su Qingluan can at least control the work process in the first two days.
As for the work that foreigners need...
Su Qingluan decided to follow the idea of "it is better to suffer alone than to suffer in public, and it is better to complain alone than to complain together". He grabbed a handful of flour and beat two eggs for himself. He also cut up various vegetables that he could see and gave them to himself. I made some egg and vegetable pancakes with my sister for breakfast, and then went to Mu Xingzhi's place.
When Songbo brought the tea, closed the door and left, Su Qingluan finally couldn't help but slap the table: "What the hell tax! 60%, are you afraid that the people below won't rise up?"
Regarding Su Qingluan's "rebellious and unethical" remarks, Mu Xingzhi just smiled slightly: "Then according to Qingluan's wishes, what should we do? Tax reduction?"
