Anti-Qing: Starting from the Reincarnation of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 68 The First Step of Ladder Tax Collection (22)

It is precisely because of Liu Ye's character that Liu Fengshou wiped his son's butt frequently before.

Now, after hearing what his son said, Liu Fengshou couldn't help but feel complicated.

My son is starting to become sensible too!
Then I couldn't help but feel excited.

After all, that's 20 taels of silver...

He had never seen so much silver in his life.

However, in the end, he was still reluctant to let his son become a thief, and went to fight against the officers and soldiers on the battlefield, so he spoke to stop him.

"No, your father and I are not old enough to move. It's not your turn to take charge of this family!"

Seeing this, Liu Hua spoke to persuade.

"Dad, I really don't want to be a farmer with my face facing the loess and my back turned to the sky forever in this life."

"I'm not willing to work hard all my life, but in the end I won't have enough to eat."

"If you don't want to accept that you won't be able to marry a wife in the future, you will have to be a bachelor for the rest of your life."

"Anyway, our family has even cut off their braids, so we have no way out. When the soldiers from the imperial court come back in the future, they will definitely not be able to spare us."

"In that case, why not take a gamble?"

"What if it happens?"

Although as the saying goes, you can't lose if you don't gamble, but by the same token, you can't win if you don't gamble!
When Liu Fengshou heard this, he couldn't help frowning and thinking about it.

His name is Harvest, which is a name with excellent meaning.

But since he was born, the family has not been able to have a good harvest at all.

Given the poor family background of the Liu family, they could not afford to pay the braid tax imposed by the Ming Dynasty.

But for the gentry, since paying money can guarantee their safety, why would they take the risk to go against the thieves?

Anyway, even if the court fights back in the future, the ones they will kill will be those untouchables without pigtails, and it is none of their business.

After all, the braids of those loyal and loyal people of the Qing Dynasty are still there.

Therefore, without the organization of the gentry, poor people like the Liu family can only choose to accept their fate.

You know, the Ming Dynasty imposed a braid tax, in the final analysis, just to make money.

Naturally, the amount of the braid tax is set very high, quite high.

And there is still a stepped taxation.

For example, if one member of the family has braids, the braid tax is one tael of silver per person per year, so your family only needs to pay one tael of silver.

If there are two pigtails, then the calculation is doubled. One person has two taels of silver per year, and two people have to pay four taels of silver.

If three people have braids, it will cost them three taels of silver per year, and the final braid tax will rise to nine taels!
For four people, it’s 16 taels a year, for five people, it’s 25 taels… for ten people, it’s 100 taels!

Stacked in turn, without capping.

What you need to know is that people in this era attach great importance to the fact that one parent does not separate the family, and it is common for a family to have seventy or eighty men.

In this case, the braid tax to be paid would be an astronomical sum.

Even some small landowners cannot withstand the so-called braid tax imposed by the Ming Dynasty.

Many small landowners finally chose to cut off their pigtails because they couldn't bear the Ming Dynasty's pigtail tax.

Not to mention poor families like the Liu family.

They had no choice at all.

There are four men in the Liu family, Liu Fengshou, Liu Ye, and his two younger brothers, which means there are four braids in total.

The braid tax for one person is 16 taels, and for four people it is [-] taels...

Even if the entire Liu family is dismantled and sold, it is not worth the price.

What other choice do they have besides cutting their braids?

After a while, Liu Fengshou exhaled heavily, feeling convinced by his son.

He shook his head with a wry smile and spoke.

"That's all, that's all. If you want to have fun, go ahead!"

"When you grow up and have your own opinions, dad can't control you anymore."

When Liu Ye saw his father relenting, he couldn't help but say with joy on his face.

"Great, Dad, you finally agreed."

"I heard Liuzi say that if we join the army now, Lao Zhu's family will not only give us big soldiers 20 taels of official silver as settlement silver, but they will also give us ten acres of land as settlement land."

"After I join the army, our family will be able to use my Anjia silver to pay off Mr. Wang's debts, and use the rest to buy some seeds and farm tools, as well as some wine and meat. Our family will be able to have a good year this year."

"When spring comes next year, our original few acres of land, plus my ten acres of Anjia farmland, will be enough for my father and brothers to grow."

"From now on, our family will no longer have to pay rent to Mr. Wang. Judging from Mr. Wang's face, life will definitely get better and better."

"In the future, if I achieve military success on the battlefield and another wife comes back, our family's incense can continue!"

To be honest, Liu Ye had already longed to serve as a soldier for Lao Zhu's family.

Before that, several little brothers who played well with him joined the Ming army.

I heard from those little brothers that the treatment of the Ming army is very good now.

No matter how much he eats, he will eat meat every now and then to get some meaty taste.

And more importantly, as long as you can make contributions to the Ming army, they will really divide the land and wives for you.

Liu Ye is already 25 this year. Even in future generations, this will be the age when he needs to be urged to get married, let alone now.

In this era, Liu Ye is definitely an old bachelor.

In fact, he has wanted to get a wife for a long time!
It's a pity that Liu's family is poor and can't afford the bride price for his wife. Even the good kiln sister or the widow with the oil bottle look down on him.

Liu Ye had nowhere to talk to anyone about the pain in his heart.

But now, the Ming army actually gave away his wife! !
For a bachelor like Liu Ye, this is an irresistible temptation.

Isn't it a rebellion?
As long as he can get a wife and continue the family line, he will do it!

As long as the Ming Dynasty gives them wives, let alone the Qing soldiers who are facing them are also made of flesh and blood.

Even if they are invulnerable heavenly soldiers and generals, they can still cut the opponent to pieces!

When Liu Fengshou heard this, the expression on his face changed a little, and he spoke with a sigh.

"It's the best, it's the best!" "It's just that daddy...hey!"

Liu Fengshou sighed heavily.

Liu Ye, however, slapped his chest loudly.

"Dad, don't worry, I'm sensible."

"This life is hard. I will definitely not lose it on the battlefield before passing on the family lineage."

"..."

……

With the Ming Dynasty's policy of joining the army and dividing land was implemented.

As well as the lieutenants of the army, they were all reissued Anjiadaan, and the morale of the Ming army was boiling again.

And naturally, there was a long queue outside the recruitment point!
After hearing the news about the Ming army joining the army to allocate land, young and strong men from counties near Wuxuan came to Wuxuan County one after another, vying to join the army and get the ten acres of Anjia land.

This shows how passionate these people are about the land!

Zhu Jing'an personally came to inspect the recruitment point. Looking at the long queue outside the recruitment point, a heartfelt smile appeared on his face involuntarily.

"Haha, what's this called?"

"This is what the fucking people want!"

Zhu Jing'an pointed at the long dragon in front of him, feeling quite proud.

Liu Huo on the side said compliments.

"What the Governor said is true. It has been more than a hundred years since the Qing captives entered the Pass and lived in the world. The Han people in the world have long been unable to bear the harm."

"Now that the Ming Dynasty has been restored, why isn't it what people want?"

Hearing this, Zhu Jing'an smiled, patted Liu Huo's shoulder, and said.

"If you want to make progress, you don't need to flatter me. Do your job well. That's better than anything else."

"Now the Ming Dynasty is in short supply of talents. You, boy, do your best. If there is a chance for promotion, you will definitely be given priority."

Liu Huo is the eldest son of Zhu Jing'an's uncle Liu Mingyou, and he is a real relative of the old Zhu family. Not to mention the Nine Clan, not even the Three Clan can escape him.

Now he is entrusted with the recruitment work of the new barracks. He is considered to be a high-ranking official and is highly regarded.

After all, the Ming army is just starting out, and there are not many talents available.

Many times, loyalty is more important than ability.

Nepotism is inevitable.

When Liu Huo heard this, he scratched his head and said.

"Grand Governor, I understand!"

Zhu Jing'an nodded with satisfaction.

"Very good, just keep working hard. I will go to Bauhinia Mountain for inspection later, so I won't talk to you any more."

News came from Guo Dashan that they had successfully mastered the technology of iron mold cannon casting with the help of heavily paid Foshan craftsmen and foreign craftsmen.

They are also planning to use the iron mold gun casting technology to try to cast a few Type 65 field guns to test the water.

Therefore, I hope Zhu Jing'an will go to Bauhinia Mountain to inspect and bear witness at the same time.

Of course, it would be best if Zhu Jing'an could give them some rewards while inspecting.

Liu Huo nodded to express his understanding.

Zhu Jing'an stopped staying. After finishing his inspection, he entered Bauhinia Mountain without stopping.

……

Guilin, the residence of the governor of Guangxi.

Wu Hubing, the current governor of Guangxi, was lying on a deck chair in the pavilion, holding a volume of miscellaneous books in his hand, enjoying the rare leisure and tranquility.

Next to him, there was a teapot sitting on the stove. It was steaming and the fragrance of tea was lingering.

A breeze blew, and the cold and wet wind was dispersed by the fire. Wu Hubing was unaware of it.

In addition, there are several fire pots lit in the pavilion, which makes it quite warm.

Everything burned in the brazier is made of very expensive silver charcoal, which not only burns for a long time, but also produces no smoke.

Every year, a batch of silver charcoal is brought into the palace as a tribute to keep the nobles warm in winter.

The only drawback is that it is quite expensive, and only those dignitaries can afford it.

Although Guangxi is a poor place, Wu Hubing is the governor after all, an absolute feudal official with high authority.

Silver charcoal, which is very expensive to ordinary people, is just an ordinary thing to him, not a rarity.

Looking through the miscellaneous book titled "The Story of the Stone" in his hand, Wu Hubing looked relaxed and enjoying it.

More than ten years after Cao Xueqin's death, the Cao family has completely declined. It is no longer as prosperous as it was in the past, and has even completely disappeared from the officialdom.

But the book "The Story of the Stone" he wrote began to gradually spread among the people.

Cao Xueqin has also gained quite a reputation.

Many boudoir girls and wives from wealthy families love this book very much.

Although Wu Hubing is a man, he also loves miscellaneous books on weekdays.

I rarely had free time today, so I borrowed this book "The Story of the Stone" from my wife and started reading it in the pavilion.

As time passed, he also took a look inside.

His expression gradually became more engaging.

At this moment, there was a sound of footsteps in the distance.

Wu Hubing looked up and saw his butler walking quickly.

The messy footsteps disturbed Wu Hubing's interest in reading. He closed the book, raised his head, and asked with a frown.

"Why are you in such a hurry?"

The housekeeper came to Wu Shubing and said.

"Replying to your lord, it is Mr. Sun, the prefect of Guilin, who is asking for an audience."

　Today’s second update, there are only [-] left.

　　Sure enough, eight thousand is the limit of human beings, it’s useless, it’s useless!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)