Yin Fu Daojun

Chapter 43
Li Qing no longer hides it, and immediately tells the story.

It turns out that the whole story started with the imperial court's battle against the Northern Man. Due to years of wars, the treasury was empty and the people's livelihood was withered. In addition, the front line was in urgent need of military rations and other items.

The imperial court had no choice but to order the collection of taxes from all over the country. Since the beginning of winter last year, taxes have been collected twice so far, which made the people's livelihood even worse. There are more and more refugees everywhere.

The refugees outside the city, some escaped from the north, and some of the surrounding counties, because of natural disasters, left to seek survival.

According to the previous rules and regulations, taxes are only collected twice a year at most, even if this is the case, some ordinary people can't stand it at all.

What's more, in just a few months, it was directly collected twice.

After these two taxes, even Changshan County, which is the rule of a county, can't bear it, and the economy is gradually collapsing.

As for those middle and lower counties, the situation will only be worse.

Hearing this, Xie Duan already had a bad premonition.

Throughout the ages, the change of dynasties all started with taxation.

When the monarchs of all dynasties started new dynasties, they would promise to the people of the world that they would pay light taxes and low taxes, but how many people could do it in the end?
When that day comes, almost without exception, they all embark on the road of heavy corvee and heavy taxes, greedy for pleasure, and eventually lead to the subjugation of the country.

The Qi Dynasty has enjoyed national destiny for more than three hundred years. There have been prosperous times and low valleys. Up to now, there are endless wars, and I am afraid that it will be exhausted.

Some refugees outside the city starved to death.

Some people were bloated to death after eating Guanyin soil, some people competed with dogs for a little food, and even some were forced to sell their sons and daughters. Li Qing went to see them, and to be honest, he felt very uncomfortable and had mixed feelings.

Because of his compassion, he reported to the county sheriff, wanting to allocate part of the grain reserves in the official warehouse to help the victims, but he got the support of the county sheriff and gave him full authority to take charge.

Official warehouses, according to the Dakai system, are divided into Zhengcang, Yicang, Changpingcang, Guanghuicang, etc. Among them, the grain stored in Zhengcang is taxed by the state, and no one can open the warehouse without the order of the court. Once the grain distribution is violated, no matter what the reason is, it is a capital offense.

The righteous warehouse is a reserve warehouse set up by the people, and a small part of the annual tax revenue is stored in it to facilitate local disaster situations.

It also belongs to the category of official warehouses, which are under the unified control of the government.

To open a charity warehouse, you only need the permission of local officials to open the warehouse to release grain and relieve the victims, but generally only the local victims benefit.

Those who escaped from other places like this basically would not make an exception.

But Li Qing couldn't stand it anymore, and he also got the support of the county guard. The so-called one side is in trouble, and all sides support it. They are all brothers.

In addition, there is still enough food reserves, and if you have the ability to help, it is natural to help.

Everything was going well at first, but things went wrong when the righteous warehouse was opened. When the righteous warehouse was opened and the number was counted, it was found that the food inside was missing more than [-] stones. Food is decreasing, and the number is not small.

No matter how heavily guarded you are, food should be thrown away, but it still has to be thrown away.

It is impossible for food to disappear for no reason, and so much was lost. Li Qing thought that the chief guard of the righteous warehouse was stealing from himself, so he sent someone to arrest him, interrogated him, and sent him to prison.

But this person didn't want to recruit, he just kept yelling that he was wronged.

In fact, even if he was really wronged, he still couldn't get rid of the crime of ineffective guarding, and he would inevitably be punished by the law.

For this reason, Li Qing had a headache and sent a large number of yamen servants to guard him.

In the end, according to eyewitness reports, it was said that it was a snitch.

He had no choice but to strengthen the defense in the city and strictly control it.

After listening to him, Xie Duan was thoughtful and pondered carefully, but it was really difficult to find any clues based on his dictation.

"Brother-in-law, I don't think it's better than this. Take me to the official warehouse tomorrow to have a look! If you want to find out the clues, what can you do without going to the scene yourself?"

As soon as he said this, Li Qing nodded in agreement.

Then Xie Duan asked about the time when the food was lost, the interval between the days when the food was lost, and whether he had seen the Snitch with his own eyes, etc. After figuring out these, he had a clear idea.

Not long after, the back kitchen prepared the meals, and the family sat around the table, gathered together, and had lunch together. It was a joyous experience.

In the afternoon of the same day, Xie Duan went to the prison again, met the chief guard of the righteous warehouse, and asked him about the situation of the incident.

It's just that the old man in charge didn't know anything about how the food was lost except for complaining, and couldn't find anything at all.

This is also within Xie Duan's expectation. All in all, he will make a corresponding decision after going to the county government office to have a look at it tomorrow.

……

The official warehouse in Changshan County was built in the east of the county government office, close to the Bell and Drum Tower, also known as the grain hall, covering an area of ​​one mu, and the scope was quite wide.

A high wall was built to isolate the outside, and the two gates in the east and west directions were heavily guarded by soldiers. The lighting inside was all set of wind lanterns, tightly bound with lampshades, and open flames were not allowed at all.

Inside the wall courtyard, four warehouses with circular pointed roofs are arranged in order. The largest warehouse has an inner diameter of three feet and is divided into two floors. Only one door is opened on the bottom floor, and four or five doors are opened on the upper floor. The windows are ventilated.It can store almost three or four thousand stones of grain.

The county chief bookkeeper, along with a dry storehouse official, counted the number of stored grains in the book early, and stood in the middle of the front yard, waiting quietly.

The chief bookkeeper of this county is surnamed Yang, about forty years old, in charge of a county's money and grain, and the warehouse was stolen. He was also responsible for ineffective supervision and was punished.

He was fined to pay for half a year to see the effect.

Early this morning, Xie Duan, under the guidance of Li Qing, went directly to the official warehouse. Looking around, there were strict defenses everywhere, and the defenses were so tight that even a fly could not fly out.

"I have seen adults in my humble position!"

Seeing Li Qing's arrival, the master secretary hastily stepped forward to greet him.

"No, no! How about it, was there any food loss last night?"

Li Qing waved his hand and asked him impatiently.

"Returning to my lord, I have led people to count twice. Zhengcang, Changpingcang, and Guanghuicang are all the same. Only Yicang lost about 35 shi of grain last night. Including the previous loss, the total is [-] shi. Six buckets and three liters are all recorded in the book, please have a look."

He presented the booklet in his hand to Li Qing, and said in reply.

After Li Qing looked through it, his complexion became more and more gloomy.

"Hmph! This is simply outrageous."

Li Qing threw the booklet to Master Bo, and shouted angrily in a deep voice.

In recent years, the harvest cost in Changshan County has not been very good. Coupled with the urgent tax collection by the imperial court, there is very little grain left in the warehouse, and most of it has been transported to the northern battlefield.

Even the cemetery, part of it has been withdrawn, so the grain currently stored in the cemetery is no more than one or two hundred stones in total.

Relief for the victims has not yet been found, but 35 stones have been lost first. As a county parent official, how can he not be annoyed?
"So many people are sent to guard, but food is still missing constantly. What are you doing for food?"

The master and the others bowed their heads again and again, looking very afraid.

"Damn the lowly job! But it can't be all our fault. Regardless of whether it is inside or outside the warehouse, we have arranged manpower according to the orders of the adults, and they will change shifts every once in a while, but the thief is too cunning. He comes and goes without a trace. I can't catch his figure!"

(End of this chapter)