Compete for the Song Dynasty

The county magistrate Zhu is particularly sad this year. Now that the imperial treasury is in short supply, there are various taxes to be paid, in addition to the land tax (inherited from the Tang Dynasty, the tax of the Five Dynasties), the body tax (the tax that men aged 59 to [-] have to pay) , Miscellaneous taxes (merger of miscellaneous taxes other than the above two), this year's "branch transfer" is particularly large.

The first three items still have fixed numbers, but this "transfer and change" is different. The tax name of the variable is the most arbitrary. Although it is floating, it is indeed the largest amount in the tax. This year, this item alone is equivalent to Five times the other taxes.

There is no hope for Chen Yuanwai, that has already been hollowed out, and he plans to transfer the remaining real estate and a few acres of thin land to Zhu County Magistrate, but it is useless for Zhu County Magistrate to ask for those, and the end of the year cannot be discounted. What's more, it is not clear where I will be an official after the new year.

The county magistrate Zhu asked the master to take out the county's household registration book and counted it on his head. The largest private household in the county is Wang Anshi's.Wang Anshi can't be counted as an official household now, but he is the main household with property. After all, the Wang and Wu families are big families in Linchuan. Although Wang Anshi is a private household, his married Wu family is a prominent family in Linchuan.The county magistrate Zhu wanted to send a messenger to Wang Anshi's house, but he didn't dare to force it, so he came in person with a drum in his heart.

The county magistrate Zhu came by coincidence. Wang Bang and Yuan Ze had just returned from the outside when he came. [

Today, the two brothers finally visited the last family. They found a tavern in the county town at noon, ordered a few dishes and drank a few sips. They discussed that they could have a good chat with their father when they returned to the house in the afternoon.

"What's the matter? I'm used to the delicious food from your mansion and Jinxiu Building in the capital, but don't you think it's unpalatable to eat the food from this county?" Yuan Ze watched Wang Pang absent-mindedly eating.

"Hush!" Wang Pang blocked it with the sleeve of his robe that was holding the chopsticks, and pointed to a table not far away with his finger.

At that table, a middle-aged man in his 50s and [-]s was drinking a dull wine, and while drinking, he muttered: "Isn't this embarrassing for me!"

"Who is he talking to? Did he drink too much?" Yuan Ze noticed that there was no one else at the table.

"Isn't this person the Chen Yuanwai we saw when we came the other day?" Wang Pang whispered.

"Looks like, do you remember?"

Of course Wang Pang remembered that if it was true what Yuan Ze said, this Yuanwai Chen really deserved sympathy.Seeing Yuanwai Chen's behavior, he seemed to be making up his mind, he sighed, drank the wine in the bowl in one gulp as if making up his mind, put the wine bowl on the table, and drank loudly: "Little Er! Your shopkeeper is calling."

The shopkeeper was on the cabinet, how could he not hear such a loud greeting, and hurried over in person: "Mr. Chen, what orders do you have?"

Chen Yuanwai blushed, and said for a long time: "This wine tax..."

The shopkeeper sucked his teeth and said, "Here, Mr. Chen, you also know the wine tax. You have paid everything that should be paid."

"I've handed over what should be paid, but I paid for the extras... You see, the foundation of the year has fallen, do you want to pay back?" Chen Yuanwai, who was still slapping the table just now, suddenly softened his tone. .

"That's what I said, Mr. Chen, you are our regular customer, and we are also a small business. You said you paid for it, but we don't know how and how much. Now you ask me to pay it back, how can I pay it back? How about this, I will treat you to this drink today, and you usually take care of our business on the street. Don't make it difficult for us." The shopkeeper's face was full of embarrassment.

Listening to their conversation, the people at the other tables sighed quietly.Others really can't talk about this matter. If you want to say that this restaurant has indeed paid everything that should be paid, and it is also doing business according to its duties, but they also have difficulties in paying other taxes.

But Chen Yuanwai is really pitiful, what he said is true, usually the government sends him on a mission, and he dare not refuse to do it, but being himself is not like the two servants who went to invite him, who can be ruthless and make a face.

Chen Yuanwai looked at the shopkeeper, and the shopkeeper also looked at him. The shopkeeper's expression, a bitter look of grievance, is also an honest person, not to mention Chen Yuanwai, even Wang Pang couldn't get over such an expression.

For a long time, Chen Yuanwai sighed: "This drink can cost dozens of Wen." He took out dozens of copper coins from his pocket and put them on the table.

"It's so pitiful!" Some of the diners in the tavern murmured in low voices.

"You said that if you are strong and strong, you can spread the river to control the river, and build the city. It's okay. If you have good legs and feet, you can help the government transport supplies, send documents or something. The tax increase is difficult enough for him.”[

He also heard the person at the other table say: "It's not easy to do any job at the booth. If the river is well-governed, if it catches up with the busy farming season, you will still have to do this job. Maybe it's better to help the officials do their work in the field. It’s a loss that no one cares about the land at home. It’s better to give something away.”

"Send things? You don't know that there is a family in the neighboring county who is also a rich family, so they spread this job, but the things were lost on the road. The county magistrate said that there were gold and silver in them, and the family lost all their money when they paid compensation."

"It's no different from Yuanwai Chen. In short, we ordinary people are unlucky. We have to pay all kinds of taxes and manpower."

The people in the tavern talked a lot, some felt wronged on behalf of Mr. Chen, some sighed, and some cursed: "You say, the land is not equalized in every generation, let the peasants get rich first. As for the current government, the original government is still the same. Official, the original big family is still a big family, and we ordinary people are unlucky. If we are a little better, we will be put on tax booths and jobs, and the officials don’t speak for the common people. What kind of shit officials are these bullshit imperial courts!"

The shopkeeper was terrified when he heard this: "Man, drink to calm down, let's not mention the government affairs, let's not mention it!" He said and quickly poured wine for the man who scolded the imperial court bullshit.

Seeing this, Wang Pang couldn't help but smile. This man speaks boldly, but it is also a law not to talk about state affairs in public.Yuan Ze snorted unconvinced, Wang Pang looked at the angry look on Yuan Ze's face, and asked with a smile: "What's wrong with you, do you also feel that the government is not doing anything?"

"What are they talking about? The imperial court has difficulties for the imperial court, and officials have difficulties for officials. You just say that my father has worked hard for thousands of words, isn't it just for the sake of the people?"

It turned out that Yuan Ze complained for his father, Wang Anshi: "Hurry up and eat. You said that my father is a good official, but even if the Wanyan letter was written, the court didn't enforce it? So we can't blame people for saying that they have freedom of speech. It's a basic human right."

"What right?" Yuan Ze looked at Wang Pang inexplicably: "I know what human rights are. Only when you become an official can you have power."

Wang Pang wanted to teach Yuan Ze a lesson, but after thinking about it, what Yuan Ze said was not unreasonable. Seeing that the two of them had almost eaten, he asked Xiao Er to pay the bill and walked out of the tavern.

The two brothers led the horse and walked along the street. After walking a few steps, they heard the sound of arguing in front of them. Following the sound, Chen Yuanwai was arguing with several big men in front of a restaurant.This restaurant is obviously the largest in the county. The decoration of the restaurant is in the upper-middle class. On the second floor, there are people watching the fun, many of them are glamorous singing girls.

It seems that Chen Yuanwai came out of that tavern and went all the way along the street to press the account. Several big men pushed the lieutenant general Chen Yuanwai out of the restaurant. The lively singing girls all laughed.

Member Chen stood up and patted his body. Regardless of the laughter coming from his head, he still said to the big guys: "Masters, our business is so good, should the shopkeeper pay the tax?"

"Go, go! What do you pay? I don't know!" A big man yelled at Chen Yuanwai.

"Look" Mr. Chen took out a small book from his pocket: "Look, these are the taxes for the past year. We haven't paid this at all. Now, please tell the shopkeeper. I can't help it. Don't do it."

"You still dare to ask for money from our shopkeeper? You can ask the magistrate to ask for the money, our Miss Liu is missing him?!"

The words of a big man caused everyone to roar with laughter. Some looked upstairs, and one of the singing girls raised his eyebrows and cursed: "Damn Zhang San, if you don't speak, someone will sew your mouth shut."

"My lords, don't be ridiculous, these are just for laying, no matter what, give me some after a year." Chen Yuanwai still didn't give up.

"You cripple, don't get out, are you looking for a beating?" Zhang San grabbed the collar of Mr. Chen's coat and snatched the account book. He was about to tear it up when his wrist was grabbed with a "bang" , The account book was taken away as soon as he let go of his hand.

For a long time, Wang Pang couldn't stand it anymore. He knew from listening to the words that the restaurant relied on the county magistrate to come frequently, and there were a few arrogant people in the way. They don't even pay, and together with the government, they bully this member Chen who is honest and has no backing.

Cheng Yaojin came out on the way, even Chen Yuanwai didn't expect it, he looked at Wang in a daze.Zhang San and the others quit: "Where did you come from, brat, are you looking for a beating?"

Chen Yuanwai hurriedly stopped the middle: "It's okay, it's okay, the shopkeeper is not here, I'll come back another day." He said and pulled Wang Pang: "Young master, let's go." It seems that he is very afraid of fighting. [

Wang Pang said with a smile: "My son is from the capital. I haven't been beaten for three days. I feel uncomfortable all over. Can you please give me a beating?!" Said Chen Yuanwai: "Hide away, and beat me later. Get up and don't splash your blood."

The girls upstairs all stared straight at him. Where did the young and handsome young man come from? Some screamed: "Master downstairs, come up and talk."

"Hi~" Wang Pang waved his hand upstairs, and there was a burst of screams and laughter on the second floor.

The big men downstairs looked at each other, this kid really wanted to call, and he would still be in the mood to tease the girls! I don't know who shouted, "Hit him!"

This frightened Chen Yuanwai and Wang Yuanze, but Wang Pang shouted: "You can hit me, but don't hit me in the face!"