Chapter 256: Chapter 180: Racing to the County Government Office

Translator: 549690339

“May I ask who you are, sir?”

Hearing Feng Qing’an utter such outrageous words, the old man looked at him in disbelief. Although he was a nobleman brought back by Young Master Zhou, even the Zhou family had no right to interfere with the various policies issued by the County Magistrate. Could this nobleman do so?

“Not long ago, I passed the exam to be a Child Student, not much better than a commoner. However, my elder brother has already been assigned to the local government as the Prefecture City Governor. You, the County Magistrate, should still take my words seriously!”

Feng Qing’an said with a laugh. When his eldest brother was sent to manage the frontier, he was in a real sense a Frontier Official. Holding military power in his hand, after all, it was considered a mockery if he could not have such power even at the borderland.

“Governor, how big a position is that?”

The old man was somewhat at a loss on hearing such a high-ranking title.

“He is the ‘one beneath only the emperor and above ten thousand’. Probably only the emperor could control my brother!”

Feng Qing’an modestly spoke on behalf of his brother. He doubted if the old emperor could control his elder brother, otherwise he wouldn’t have sent him to the frontier, granting him such great power at an age yet to be eligible for adulthood.

“So, you are really a nobleman. Please, sir, save us. We really can’t survive anymore!”

Understanding Feng Qing’an’s origin and background, the old man suddenly burst into tears and made a move to kneel down to Feng Qing’an again.

Those men, women, elders, and children following him, quite clever, also fell to their knees like a wheat field blown down by the wind, right after Feng Qing’an had introduced himself.

“Oh, divine official, please help us!”

“Please convince the County Magistrate, sir!”

“Please, sir, show compassion and reduce our taxes. My wife can hardly produce breast milk!”

For a moment, cries of lament filled the fields, moving anyone who heard them.

“That dog official!”

Behind Feng Qing’an, a burly warrior clenched his fists, with fury appearing in his eyes.

“I can help you, but you must first tell me what has happened.”

Feng Qing’an looked at the crying crowd before him, feeling somewhat bothered.

“Sir, you must not know. Our County Magistrate here possesses a heart as black as coal. You can see the situation in our fields. The Dragon King doesn’t lower his rainfall. We are working ourselves to death but our crops can only grow this tall,

It’s uncertain whether we can even get a harvest this year. But the officials in the county government office give us no way to live. They not only collect the usual taxes, but the County Magistrate also imposes a canal tax and an irrigation tax!”

An old farmer, whose face lined with wrinkles comparable to the cracked earth in the field, rambled on. His words were filled with despair with a hint of hardly noticeable resentment.

In years of good harvest. it was already a struggle to nav the taxes- Now. with a

bad harvest, the taxes are not reduced, but increased. Who can bear it?

“Canal tax? Irrigation tax?”

“They are just pretexts for the officials to collect our hard-earned money. They claim these taxes are for the prevention of droughts, that in order to irrigate the farmlands properly, they need to collect taxes to build reservoirs and ditches!”

“Sounds reasonable!”

It seems acceptable in name, but if the implementation drives people to sell their children, it is a big problem.

“But once the tax money is collected, we haven’t seen any reservoir or ditch. We haven’t even seen any damp soil, and they are inexplicably collecting our irrigation tax.”

“That’s not all. I heard that the officials in the county government office are planning to conscript labor services, forcing us to quarry stones, build reservoirs, and dig canals!”

“We’ve paid the taxes, why do we still need to build the reservoir? Where is the money going?”

Obviously coming from the same village, the men, women, elderly, and children discussed it heatedly. Their eyes all revealed the same outrage, and a palpable resentment boiled within them.

Public resentment!

“How long has your County Magistrate been in office? And when did they start collecting these taxes?”

Feng Qing’an asked softly.

“Our County Magistrate has been in office for about two years. The previous one was promoted!”

“What a good official he was, why couldn’t he just continue?”

“Yes, if the previous County Magistrate were still in position, maybe he would reduce our taxes!”

Hearing Feng Qing’an ask about the current County Magistrate’s time in office, these farmers, men and women, began to discuss among themselves, even reminiscing about the previous County Magistrate who had been promoted.

It is only through comparison that one sees the difference, and the beauty of the past becomes clear once it is lost. They are just farmers, only concerned with their own land.

But when the new County Magistrate took office, they realized how good the previous Magistrate, who never imposed random and harsh taxes and seemed unremarkable to them, really was.

But regret is useless. The promoted County Magistrate will not return to PingWu County.

“This trader tax, as well as the canal tax and irrigation tax, how much does your County Magistrate collect from each of them? Can you tell me about it?”

“The trader tax takes half, and the canal tax and irrigation tax are collected per person, two taels of silver each. Even newborn babies must pay!”

“Two taels of silver? That’s too much!”

Having experienced poverty himself, Feng Qing’an knew what two taels of silver meant to a common farming family.

In Prefecture City, two taels of silver might not even be enough for a good meal, but in rural towns, it would be enough to provide lavishly for a family of five.

The most outrageous thing is that these extra taxes are not levied per household, but per person. Therefore, each household, given their tradition of having many children, must pay about ten taels of silver on average. If they have more children, the amount can double or more, which is why the people had to resort to selling their sons and daughters..