Chapter 18: County Magistrate Ye Biqing
Ye Biqing.
Magistrate of Meixian County.
At this moment, he was busy looking through documents in the file room of the household registration office.
It has been more than half a year since he took office, but the summer and autumn taxes, various levies, and overt and covert revenues and expenditures of previous years are still a confusing mess that cannot be traced.
The statutory tax in Mei County last year was 18000 yuan. In reality, an additional 11520 cents was levied for every yuan of silver collected in the name of rat consumption, fire consumption, and other routine charges. However, the whereabouts of the extra yuan were unknown.
In addition to the regular taxes, there are also a large number of special taxes such as "military taxes" and "disaster taxes", which are mainly used to pay huge reparations to Western countries.
Just Mei County.
He paid an extra 2 silver dollars.
There is also a large amount of non-tax levies and extortions.
For example, last year Meixian alone donated 5000 yuan to repair the imperial mausoleum.
However, when Ye Biqing looked through the tax books and records, he found that the gentry and landlords paid less taxes than in the past. It is easy to imagine who was responsible for the above-mentioned taxes.
This year the imperial court suffered another defeat.
The navy built at great expense by Dajing was not only completely annihilated by the Eastern Japanese Kingdom at sea, but also owed a huge war reparations of hundreds of millions of taels of silver, so the military tax in Meixian was expected to double!
Simultaneously.
For his 100th birthday.
Emperor Qian wanted to build a luxurious garden on a large scale.
Naturally, local governments will also need to cut public utilities and increase taxes.
Mei County's finances have been squeezed to the extreme. Academies, water conservancy projects, roads, bridges, banditry, etc., all urgently need silver, but there is no money available. Even the purchase of military equipment and repair of city walls are difficult to sustain!
Now it's more than just being penniless.
The grain reserves in the Changping Warehouse were emptied when he took office.
The grain in this warehouse is the official grain reserve from various places, and it is the last guarantee against natural disasters. Now it is filled with sand, which makes it even more obvious. Once a disaster occurs, the consequences will be unimaginable.
"The imperial court is deeply corrupt and sick. How can it survive?"
Ye Biqing seemed to see starving people everywhere. He couldn't help but sigh: "Poor Dajing's 800 million people!"
"Master Ye!"
A man in his thirties, wearing a dark blue official uniform, walked in. He was Gao Zhi, the county magistrate of Mei County.
Ye Biqing dismissed the clerk and asked, "How is the investigation going?"
Gao Zhi said: "Liu Changgui of Xiaohe Town did collude with bandits to assassinate Yu Xiao, but Yu Xiao was prepared. Not only did he thwart the conspiracy, he also killed Zheng Laoying of Shihuzhai with his own hands, and then used the public anger to kill Liu Changgui's family."
County Magistrate Ye frowned.
Zheng Laoying of Shihuzhai is a desperate criminal.
He was responsible for at least a dozen lives, so killing them was a merit and not a fault.
And if Yu Xiao kills the bandit personally, his reputation will undoubtedly rise to a higher level.
But Liu Changgui and his son are different.
These two men have made great achievements, and their ancestors were top three Jinshi (imperial examination candidates). They cannot be killed casually!
But Yu Xiao did not kill anyone himself.
He also never gave the order to kill.
Master Liu colluded with bandits, and the villagers were collectively "indignant" and spontaneously encircled and suppressed the Liu family, which eventually led to this result. As the saying goes, the law does not hold everyone responsible and the imperial power does not extend below the county level. It's really difficult to deal with!
Gao Zhi continued.
"After Liu Changgui and his son died, their property was divided up among the side branches and sold to the Yu family at market price. The process was legal and there was nothing wrong with it."
"Another landlord in Xiaohe Town, Zhang, had been interested in selling his land. When he saw what happened to Liu Changgui and his son, he immediately sold all his land and shops at the price he had agreed on."
Ye Biqing: "So Master Yu has become the only big landlord in Xiaohe Town?"
Gao Zhi: "Yes, Yu Xiao announced publicly that within the next three years, the rent of all villagers will be reduced by 80%. Now everyone in the surrounding area is eager to support him."
Yu Shao is not only rich.
His means, courage and generosity are even more admirable.
He secretly established an armed force, killed Liu Changgui's family, and annexed all the land in the town. If you look into it in detail, there are many problems. However, such matters can be big or small, and it is difficult for the county government to intervene.
Especially the rent reduction and exemption operation. It has benefited tens of thousands of villagers in the surrounding areas.
They all became Yu Xiao's loyal supporters and defenders.
County Magistrate Ye did not dare to confront this force rashly. Otherwise, if it aroused a large-scale civil uprising, it would not be a situation that a small county magistrate could control.
not to mention.
Yu Xiao is rich and prestigious.
He also has hundreds of reliable armed forces under his command, which are supported by clan bloodlines.
Each of them held an advanced foreign rifle in his hand, and such firepower was enough to scare away the county patrol officers.
If a county magistrate encounters such a troublemaker in his jurisdiction and cannot seek strong support from the prefect, he can only show weakness and compromise.
"This boy is rich and resourceful, and he is generous and charitable. He dares to defy the laws of Dajing. He has lived overseas since he was a child and has a clean background. He has learned advanced Western theories and ideas. He is a rare hero!"
Gao Zhi paused and asked, "Why not invite him to join the Daxia Club?"
Ye Biqing heard this.
His expression suddenly changed.
He quickly made a gesture to keep quiet.
He lowered his voice and said, "Our Great Xia will shoulder the mission of rebuilding the world, so we must be cautious in recruiting new members. Yu Xiao is indeed a good candidate for development, but it won't be too late to observe for a while."
Gao Zhi: "Then how should this matter be handled? Yu Xiao has caused such a big disturbance, and the Liu family also has some connections in Jiaying Prefecture. The prefect will know about this matter soon."
"The law does not punish everyone. Liu Changgui's death was not caused by Yu Xiao, but he colluded with bandits and deserved to die..."
Ye Biqing thought for a moment and continued, "But privately organizing an armed militia, even though they are our own relatives, is still illegal. This matter cannot be easily fooled."
"Then what Lord Ye means is..."
Ye Biqing said: "The Shihuzhai bandits have been wreaking havoc on the villagers for several years. The county government has tried to suppress them several times but to no avail. They have already formed a grudge against Yu Xiao. Why not ask him to form a militia to eliminate this harm to the people?"
Gao Zhi: "Haha, that's brilliant! If Young Master Yu promises to help the county suppress bandits, not only will it solve a major problem, but the establishment of the militia can also be justified."
This move is a win-win for all.
Ye Biqing immediately asked Gao Zhi to go and communicate.
That afternoon.
Gao Zhi came back.
"Master Ye, it's done."
Although I had guessed that Yu Xiao would not refuse, I did not expect that he would agree so readily.
Ye Biqing: "Okay, we can take this opportunity to observe more carefully whether this person is suitable for participating in this great event of changing the world and remaking destiny!"
Gao Zhi: "There is another happy event!"
"what?"
"Yu Xiao is willing to donate 5000 yuan to support the teaching of Meixian Academy and the repair of water conservancy roads and city walls."
"really?!"
Five thousand yuan is a huge sum of money for ordinary people.
Even if Meixian’s financial problems cannot be solved, it will be enough to temporarily alleviate the current urgent needs!
Ye Biqing was immediately overjoyed after confirming it. The local gentry were all stingy and unwilling to spend a penny. Normally, it was difficult to ask them to raise funds, let alone collect taxes.
This Yu Xiao is good.
He had just spent tens of thousands of yuan to acquire the assets of Mr. Liu and Mr. Zhang, and yet he was able to donate such a huge sum of money to the county!
Obviously.
He was satisfied with the way the county magistrate handled the matter!
This money is equivalent to a reward.
In addition, I would like to express: I have plenty of money and I am never stingy with spending money, so please cooperate with me in the future. As long as you serve me well and make me feel comfortable, you will definitely get benefits from the county government!
Rich and powerful!
Just so arrogant!
As the saying goes, money makes the world go round!
No matter whether he is a corrupt official or an honest official, as long as he is still in charge of the county government, it would be difficult for him to fall out with such a super rich man.
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(End of this chapter)
