The tax collectors stood with their hands on their hips.
"That's fine. Just pay the treasure notes according to the regulations."
"Gu..." The young businessman swallowed his saliva, and it was obvious that he was holding back a dangerous statement that was as explosive as a bomb.
So the tax collector didn't even give him a chance to speak.
Snapped--
A crisp slap in the face.
"Fuck!" The tax collector spat on the ground. "Look at how timid you are. You can't even say a word for a long time. You don't want to pay, right?"
The slap stunned the young businessman.
He looked up suddenly, and a flash of bloodthirstiness appeared in his eyes.
The merchant of the ship that Li Qingcha was on was an experienced man. He immediately sensed something was wrong and stepped between the two men. "Young man, don't get excited. I'll pay for you."
The young businessman's neck stiffened.
"Why?"
"Why?" The tax collector was also angry, "Isn't it natural to pay taxes?"
"Why do we have to pay one guan and two guan of treasure notes? We can use goods as collateral... use goods... humph, among these goods, is there any box that is worth more than one guan?"
"What the hell..."
The tax collector was hit in the sore spot and was furious.
In fact, the reason is very simple.
The bad habits and practices, in simple terms, are that the tax collectors enriched themselves, and they were unwilling to accept the treasure notes because the treasure notes kept depreciating and were pieces of paper that could not be spent.
If you want that thing, you might as well get some goods, contact the merchants you know, and get some small change.
The tax collector put his right hand on the hilt of his knife, thought for a moment, and did not draw it.
He snorted coldly: "Young man, be honest and don't always think about rebelling against me."
The word "rebellion" still has a deterrent effect.
The young businessman backed off.
The tax collector showed off his authority and continued, "Just do what you have to do. Hurry up and go..."
Before he finished speaking, a man suddenly walked out from the crowd.
The man grabbed the tax collector by the scruff of the neck, like grabbing a featherless chicken, and slapped him in the face.
Snapped--
The sound is quite crisp.
The soldiers behind the tax collector were all confused.
What's the situation?
They looked closely and found that the assailant was wearing a black gauze cape, a belt around his waist, and a long, thin sword hanging from his waist, which was obviously specially made.
This is the official uniform of the county garrison!
The soldiers, who had wanted to protect the tax collectors, looked away and pretended not to see anything.
The tax collector was beaten so hard that he could not see clearly the person coming. He thrashed around like a drowning man, shouting, "Rebellion! You unruly people! Rebellion!"
“Scream, scream, scream!” Lin Shoubei’s face was as black as ink. “You’re screaming!”
He threw the tax collector to the ground.
The tax collector raised his head and took a closer look at the person who had come. He seemed to have lost all his energy and was too timid to speak.
Li Qingcha took the opportunity to say in the crowd: "Master Lin is here! The dock is peaceful! Master Lin is here! We have a clear sky!"
His shout was not loud, but it was quite inflammatory.
In an instant, all the merchants on the dock began to respond:
"Master Lin is here! The dock is peaceful! Master Lin is here! We have a clear sky!"
This is indeed a very satisfying thing to say, but the problem is that the tax collectors are all from the Ministry of Revenue, and their job is to help the court raise money. Although they have no rank, they are not that afraid of local officials.
He said, "I am just collecting taxes normally. Lord Lin is being too lenient, isn't he?"
There is nothing wrong with the content, but the momentum is a bit weak.
Lin Shoubei was highly respected by the people, so it was impossible for him to play the trick of protecting his fellow officials in public.
not to mention……
"Normal tax collection?" he asked.
"You may think that I am oppressing the good people, but in fact..." The tax collector swallowed his saliva, "Those people are very cunning. They will steal if they can and will evade if they can."
"I didn't say anything about taxes. That's not my business."
"Yes, it seems that the Lord is only in charge of military affairs."
"Wrong, there is also public security."
Lin Shoubei's gaze shifted to Gong Lianxue.
Gong Lianxue nodded and pointed to the box where the Pu'er tea was kept.
Immediately, two soldiers rushed forward, kicked open the lid of the box, and poured the Pu'er tea inside onto the ground.
Seeing this action, the tax collector broke out in a cold sweat.
how come……
How did they know?
Lin Shoubei snorted coldly, walked to the Pu'er tea, and swiped through it for a while.
"what is this?"
The tea leaves in his hand were stained with a hint of dark red.
Even though he already knew the result, Xiang Nan still found it incredible.
She muttered, "Could it be possible that this tax collector is not the murderer?"
Li Qingcha asked, "Why do you say that?"
"If a normal person committed a crime, would they brazenly show the clues to others? This is too outrageous."
"Normal... hehe... your choice of words is problematic. How can killing people be normal? In his eyes, it's hard to say whether the mud-legged people of the Iron Rib Gang are considered 'human beings'?"
Hearing Li Qingcha say this, Xiang Nan couldn't help but think deeply.
Chapter 117: The picture shows the dagger
A large crowd of people gathered on the pier.
In addition to the original ones, there is also the Tiepai Gang who came with Lin Shoubei, wanting to see what is going on.
The ethereal singing coming from the Grand Canal formed a sharp contrast with the silence here.
Lin Shoubei put down his tea leaves and looked around.
No one dared to look at him, but the young man who was slapped by the tax collector bravely looked at him with a combative look in his eyes.
Lin Shoubei raised his eyebrows, feeling unhappy but not saying it out loud.
Finally, he saw Li Qingcha, his face lit up with joy, and he walked over quickly.
Li Qingcha waved his hand and lowered his voice.
"Let's start with this matter first."
Hearing her say this, Xiang Nan pursed his pink lips gently, his eyes slightly blurred, like the deep and clear night sky, no one knew what he was thinking.
Although Lin Shoubei was puzzled, he still did as he was told.
He waved his hand and asked the merchants present: "What's the matter with these big boxes?"
No one said a word.
Lin Shoubei snorted coldly: "Just say what I tell you to say, don't hesitate."
In the end, no one said anything.
Lin Shoubei was quite helpless. He turned his eyes and focused on the young businessman.
"Young people shouldn't be that scared, right? You say!"
Simple provocation method,
But the young man was easily fooled and immediately started to complain. Although his words were not well-organized, Li Qingcha still understood.
Recently, the tax system has suddenly changed. Every time a merchant ship passes through a customs office, it must carefully count the cargo and then record it in the fish scale book. In this way, it is possible to count how much cargo was sold between each route.
Jieziwan is the first banknote customs after leaving Beijing, so the more statistics are collected here, the more taxes will be collected later.
Doing so would also be good for the tax collectors in Jieziwan, as they could collect more commercial taxes.
Li Qingcha was puzzled, but his face showed no sign of it.
"Reforming the tax system? I've never heard of that..."
The tax collector had just been slapped by Lin Shoubei, and he was worried that the matter would be exposed. He had no place to vent his resentment, so he immediately glared and cursed: "Little white face, you know nothing! Shut up!"
Lin Shoubei kicked the tax collector in the stomach.
"The young master is from Beijing!"
"I'm still Kyo... um..."
The tax collector realized the seriousness of the problem.
He had never understood why the garrison commander suddenly intervened in customs affairs, but now he finally understood.
He was timid for a while before he stammered, "Isn't the Ministry of Revenue surveying the land recently? This means they are going to change the tax system..."
Tax collectors were the grassroots workers who only knew how to survey the land, but they did not know that their purpose was to draw maps of the land and water and land trade routes throughout the country. This was also a "sequelae" of the scale and legend.
As for the so-called "tax reform", it is nothing more than an excuse for them to plunder.
Li Qingcha snorted coldly.
Lin Shoubei immediately stepped forward, grabbed the tax collector by the collar, and pointed at the wooden boxes.
"Did you collect all these today?"
The tax collector took one look at the box of tea and kowtowed violently, but did not answer.
This performance...
has a problem!
There is definitely a problem!
Lin Shoubei beat up the official from the capital. He was a little unsure at first, but now he was not afraid at all. He said, "You are interesting. I asked you a question and you didn't answer. You had to... hehe..."
He patted the publican's belly.
"Will you have half of your 200 pounds left after the punishment?"
The tax collector shuddered.
However, there are some things that he cannot admit even if he is beaten to death, so he said: "I am a clerk in the Ministry of Revenue, how dare you torture me?"
Guard Lin frowned.
At the same time, Yao Zhixing came out.
"Sir, let's not... It's not easy for the tax collector either."
Xiang Nan and Gong Lianxue were stunned, then relieved.
Things had developed to this point, and it was impossible for Yao Zhixing not to know that there was something wrong with the tax collector. The reason why he spoke up for the suspect as a victim was simply because he did not want to offend the tax collector.
It can be summed up in one sentence: "There are no brothers, only business."
and,
