Salted fish?
Can this fish still cause trouble?
Gu Zhengchen was a little confused, and Xiao Cheng's eating movements also slowed down.
Lin Zhuo looked sad as he recalled it.
Lin Cheng saw that his grandfather was sad, so he put down his chopsticks, looked at the dark courtyard, and whispered: "The stream next to Shuangxikou is very shallow and will dry up when there is little rain. There are no big fish here, and the people of Shuangxikou are also He does not make a living by fishing, but makes stone carving as a career. Just three years ago, in May of the fourth year of Hongwu, the dragon sucked water and passed through, and many big fish fell from the sky..."
Gu Zhengchen nodded repeatedly.
A dragon sucking water is a typhoon. It is not unusual for big and small fish to fall after a typhoon. If the typhoon is of a high level, it is possible for a few people to fall behind.
Lin Chengyi's eyes were a little moist: "Everyone saw fish in the forest and stream, so they went to pick them up, then bought salt and salted them into salted fish. When Hebo in Hui'an County learned about this, he decided to settle the matter. Xikou relies on fishing for its livelihood, and every household in Shuangxi Kou is required to pay fishing lessons, with each household paying fifty pounds of salted fish or five hundred cents per year."
Gu Zhengchen frowned and asked: "There are no fish in this stream, how dare they accept fishing lessons?"
Lin Chengyi lowered his head, stared at Xianyu and said, "What Hebo said is true, that means it is true. No matter how many complaints we make, it won't help."
Lin Zhuo took a sip of the soup, swallowed it, and then breathed a sigh of relief: "Fifty kilograms of dried fish is really difficult for people in Shuangxi Kou. There are no fish here, and we have no place to fish. We can't go ten kilometers away." You can go fishing in the Luoyang River a few miles away, but the people there won’t allow it. According to the imperial decree, if you are a fisherman, you only need to pay fishing lessons and nothing else."
"But the people in the county government said that we are not fishermen. We need to pay agricultural taxes and copper coins. We need to pay summer and autumn taxes of 600 coins each year. This is a constant two coins. Where can we, the people in the poor mountains and ravines, go? How can we make so much money? We took the county government’s two-tax payment and went to the Hebo Station, but they didn’t even acknowledge it, saying we were fishermen.”
"Asshole!"
Gu Zhengchen was furious when he heard this.
What is this? The county government and the Hebo Office have joined forces to bully the people. You cut a piece of meat, and I will cut another piece?
Xiao Cheng also didn't expect that the local people would be so shameless.
Taxes that do not need to be paid must be imposed on the people here.
Just for taxes, you have to pay a total of seven yuan a year. The level of this heavy tax is almost comparable to that of Songjiang Prefecture and Suzhou Prefecture! There are fertile fields there. As long as there are no natural disasters, you can still survive under heavy taxes. But what is this place? There are mountains to the northwest and forests around it. There are not many fields.
The old woman and Lin Zhuo exchanged a few words back and forth.
Gu Zhengchen looked at Lin Chengyi: "What did they say?"
Lin Chengyi pointed at the salted fish and said sadly: "Grandma said that in addition to the Spring and Autumn Taxes, the Fishing Section of the Hebo Station and the Taxation Department also levied a fishery and salt tax on us, forcing us to buy fish tax stamps and salt. Each A ticket of 400 Wen is enough for fifty pounds of salted fish."
To make salted fish, you need to buy salt, which is monopolized by the government.
Merchants can obtain salt through Yanyin, and then sell it on the streets and locations specified by the government. The people of Shuangxi Kou could have bought some salt from merchants, but the government did not allow it and introduced fish tax stamp salt.
"That's unreasonable!"
Gu Zhengchen suddenly stood up with a stern look on his face!
A small village, a poor place, was tormented by the government!
What should be charged is overcharged!
What shouldn’t be collected is used to generate income again and again!
Lin Zhuo looked at the angry Gu Zhengchen and lamented: "Now you know why the people of Shuangxikou are so nervous about outsiders. Officials from the county government and the Hebo Station come twice a month to collect various kinds of payment." Tax. We couldn’t take it out, so they robbed things. Most of our people here make a living from stone carvings, so they robbed our small stone carvings, and smashed the big ones if they couldn’t be moved.”
"We went back and forth several times, and more than a dozen families were arrested and sent to the county government. We went to intercede, but we were beaten back. Later, everyone sold the stone sculptures and collected some money to redeem them. Now both people The people in Xikou were hostile when they saw the officials, and once they almost got into a fight, but they withdrew when they saw that there were few people, but this was not a long-term solution."
Gu Zhengchen didn't expect the problem to be so big. Is this how the so-called government forced the people to rebel?
No wonder there are so many rebellions happening in Fujian, Guangxi, and Guangdong. The feeling is not that the people here don’t want to live, but that they really can’t live anymore!
They are originally poor families, but they are still being taken away by the government year after year. If they continue like this, sooner or later they will take out the iron drill for cutting stones, the hammer for smashing stones, and the carving knife for carving stones, and then insert them into On the government’s body!
"No, it's not good, the old man, the people from Hebo are here again!"
A big man shouted outside the courtyard gate.
Lin Zhuo stood up quickly, picked up the iron drill beside him, and walked outside.
Gu Zhengchen looked at Lin Chengyi: "What happened?"
Lin Chengyi looked pale and said uneasily: "The people from Hebo are here."
Gu Zhengchen frowned and walked out of the door, looking at the night. What did the people from Hebosuo want to do when they came here at this time?
"Come on, let's go take a look too."
Gu Zhengchen had a cold face.
Xiao Cheng raised his sleeve and wiped his mouth, then took a hammer.
Lin Zhuo had already run out, and people began to appear in every house. Men, women, and even children of seven or eight years old ran out with stones.
Beixi.
The torches burned, and the darkness hid behind them, like a demon baring its teeth silently.
Gu Zhengchen squeezed through the crowd, stood next to Lin Zhuo, and looked over.
Two men were stepped on, a sharp knife was placed on the man's neck, and the two slaves looked at everyone with disdain. Behind him were six Zaoli, all of them big and round, holding spears and swords.
The six of them separated, and a short man walked out from behind. He had a wretched face above his mustache and sinister features. He stepped forward and hummed: "I told you how much money you unscrupulous people owe the river bank." Okay, what does it mean if you don’t give it day by day?”
"Ambassador Ma, we have no money to give you! Every house has been searched by you. Why don't you give up and insist on forcing us to death?"
Lin Zhuo shouted sharply.
Ma Zhong sneered: "What does your life and death have to do with our riverside business? I only want fishing lessons, and if I can't accept the fishing lessons, I can't deliver errands to the court. If I can't deliver the errands, I have to leave. You too Don't embarrass me. Fifty pounds of salted fish for one family is not a big deal. As for defaulting every year and making things difficult for each other?"
Lin Zhuo's teeth hurt.
Fifty pounds of salted fish is easy?
I really don’t eat minced meat! Why don't you try some fifty pounds of salted fish? Do you think this is the seaside, from the Yuan Dynasty era when people could go fishing at sea?
Lin Zhuo shouted: "Let them go. Leave Shuangxikou and don't come back again! Ambassador Ma, forcing people to a dead end will not be good for you or the court, right?"
Seeing that Lin Zhuo dared to threaten him, Ma Zhong sneered: "What, you still dare to rebel? Make one and try, all of you will die! For the sake of your poverty, I will be merciful once, tonight We will only collect the fishing lessons owed by twenty households, and I will give you a month's grace for the remaining dozens of households! Lin Zhuo, you are old, there is no need to risk your life for this group of people."
Lin Zhuo gritted his teeth and shouted: "Don't even think about it!"
Not to mention twenty households, you have been tormenting them for three years, and even one or two households cannot come up with money to pay for fishing lessons!
Ma Zhong's face darkened and he shouted: "If you don't get the money, don't let it go tonight! You must know that refusing to pay fishing lessons is tantamount to fighting against the government and the court. Today, your heads will be chopped off, and you deserve to die." !take money!"
Lin Zhuo looked at the official who wanted to kill him. The people behind him became even more agitated and wanted to rush forward one by one. Lin Zhuo tried his best to block everyone. Once he really took action and killed the official, it would really be a rebellion!
Gu Zhengchen reached out, snatched the small hammer from Xiao Cheng's hand, and walked out slowly.
"Hey, what are you doing? Come back quickly!"
Lin Zhuo shouted.
Lin Chengyi became even more nervous and shouted: "Brother, you must not be impulsive, they will beat people, it will hurt."...??m
With a cold face, Gu Zhengchen walked to Ma Zhong and stopped three steps away. He stared at Ma Zhong with murderous eyes and said in a deep voice: "I'll give you a chance. Take your people back now. You won't have to wait until October." Definitely come to Sungai Kau again!”
Ma Zhong looked at the young man in front of him and said contemptuously: "Give me a chance, which fucking beach did you come from? Why, you still dare to hit me, come on, come on, hit me on the head, Come on, do you dare?"
As he spoke, Ma Zhong stepped forward and put his face towards him. Seeing that Gu Zhengchen didn't take action, he became even more arrogant and domineering. He raised his hand and patted Gu Zhengchen's face: "You are a weakling and you can learn how to hold a hammer. You know Don’t you know how to use a hammer?”
Gu Zhengchen looked coldly at Ma Zhong, who was in front of him, and said in a deep voice: "Last chance."
Ma Zhong laughed loudly: "Brothers, look, there is a fool here -"
boom!
The dull voice cut off Ma Zhong's words and came to an abrupt end!
Ma Zhong suddenly fell to the ground, feeling that half of his face had lost consciousness. When he opened his mouth, half of his teeth fell out.
The pain started to bite.
As soon as the screams came out, a foot kicked over!
This time, right on the bridge of the nose!
Gu Zhengchen threw the hammer backward. Xiao Cheng stepped forward to take the hammer, and without saying a word, he bumped into a group of Zaoli who wanted to help.
Although the hammer was small, it was a sharp weapon in Xiao Cheng's hands. Regardless of whether it hit the arm or the leg, Zaoli instantly lost the ability to resist. There were two other Zaoli who were frightened by this scene and wanted to run away, but Xiao Cheng caught up with them and beat them hard, then brought them back.
This scene made Lin Zhuo's face change drastically, and Lin Chengyi and others also looked ashen.
It's over.
It's all over now.
Beating people is just to vent their anger, but what about the people in Sungai Kau?
The government will not give up. If they don't get the news tomorrow, they will inform the guard station and ask the sergeants to come to encircle and suppress!
Gu Zhengchen mentioned Ma Zhong and said coldly: "You're not asking me if I know how to use a hammer. I'm telling you now that I can not only use a hammer, but also my fists and feet! I don't understand why you can't let go To live with these poor people, are you willing to let them die? For the sake of some money, have you even given up the last bit of mercy you have as a human being?"
