Spring Tax

Spring had begun.

Life surged with vigor, and all things burst forth.

After surviving the cold winter came the season of spring, when the world revived and the earth warmed. Grain grew, life multiplied, and all manner of work returned. So long as one had endured the winter, few people would starve to death again.

But at the same time, as hunger and cold receded and all things revived, a new crisis emerged. From the beginning of spring onward, all kinds of monsters and evil spirits would become more active.

Most low-level Demons differed little from wild beasts in their habits, except that they were stronger, swifter, more savage, and more bloodthirsty.

"In a few more days, I should start looking for a livelihood."

Wu Ming pondered inwardly.

Before, he had lacked the ability to change his circumstances, so he had thrown himself wholeheartedly into martial arts training. Now that he had cultivated Blood Qi and become a Blood Forging martial artist, it was naturally time to begin dealing with his new situation.

On one hand, he now had the ability to earn money and ought to start improving his family's life. Liu Shi and Wu Qi had tightened their belts and lived frugally for his martial training, toiling for most of their lives. Now, it was time for him to repay them.

On the other hand, after becoming a Blood Forging martial artist, he could basically no longer do without refined grain and meat. Not to say that he needed to feast on meat at every meal, but he at least had to eat meat daily to nourish his Blood Qi. Otherwise, if his Blood Qi went without nourishment for too long, it would gradually wither, and his physique would be unable to maintain a martial artist's peak condition.

Martial Path cultivation—if one did not advance, one retreated.

Having crossed this threshold and entered an entirely new world, everything was completely different. Martial artists ate meat every day not for the pleasure of their tongues, but because it had become a necessary condition. The stronger the martial artist, the greater their need for blood food.

"Practicing martial arts really is burning money."

Wu Ming silently repeated something clan head Wu Qu had once said. In his view, it was indeed true.

Martial artists held different status and could earn far more silver than ordinary people, but their daily expenditures also rose greatly. Simply maintaining their own condition was no small expense. If they wished to go further, the resources they needed would be even more enormous.

"Once I became a Blood Forging martial artist, I qualified to go to Jingye City and look for well-paid work. But there is no need for me to rush just yet. I should recuperate for a while longer."

For now, the dried meat and refined grain at home were still enough to last him some time. It was also just right for him to use this period to rely on his condensed Blood Qi to nourish his body and let it complete its transformation after Blood Forging.

After that, Wu Ming would need to consider entering the city.

He knew little about the circumstances faced by Blood Forging martial artists and understood even less about matters in the city. When the time came, he would need to seek some advice from clan head Wu Qu.

After condensing Blood Qi, Wu Ming's body transformed every day.

This transformation differed from the way meat and refined grain had previously nourished his body. When he had eaten his fill of refined grain supplemented with dried meat, there had been obvious outward changes—his muscles had become visibly firmer, and his body sturdier. Yet that sturdiness had merely been an outward appearance. After becoming a Blood Forging martial artist, what transformed was his inner essence.

In the more than half month since condensing his Blood Qi, Wu Ming's body showed no sign of continuing to grow larger. Compared with before, he had even shrunk slightly. Yet Wu Ming knew very clearly that his strength was increasing with each passing day, utterly worlds apart from before.

In the courtyard.

Wu Ming wore old clothes mended with several patches. Though worn, they were still clean and neat. He appeared little changed from over a month ago, but upon closer inspection, his spirit and bearing were clearly different.

His eyes shone with unusual brilliance, and his gaze faintly carried confidence and assurance. When the body was strong, the heart became steadfast; principles in the heart could not compare to strength in one's body. Such was the truth.

Facing the rising sun, Wu Ming still held the stance of the Pure Yang Blood-Drawing Stance. This posture could not only guide Blood Qi, but was also a foundational exercise for martial artists. Using this stance could better stimulate the Blood Qi in the dantian and make it surge forth.

At this moment, Wu Ming could feel a tremendous, seamless strength within his arms. If it erupted, he feared that with one hand alone, he could easily overturn a millstone weighing two or three hundred jin. Such strength was far beyond what ordinary people could attain.

Just like that,

Wu Ming faced the morning glow, bathed in sunlight, and held his stance. After an unknown length of time, his gaze suddenly shifted slightly toward the village entrance.

At some point, quite a number of people had gathered at the entrance of Wu Village, making the place seem noisy and clamorous.

"What happened again?"

Watching the commotion at the village entrance, Wu Ming's eyes narrowed slightly. Then he let out a breath and slowly withdrew from his training posture.

Just as he finished, a familiar figure in the distance came toward the courtyard with a coarse cloth sack slung over his back. It was Wu Qi, who had returned from working in Jingye City.

"Father."

Wu Ming immediately left the courtyard, walked over, and took the sack from Wu Qi's shoulder. "What happened at the village entrance?"

"The people collecting the Spring Tax came from the city."

Wu Qi nodded. His face was dark and heavy with pent-up gloom as he walked into the courtyard with Wu Ming and said in a low voice, "This year's Spring Tax has risen again. They are collecting a full two taels of silver per head. Our family has to pay six taels."

Taxes and corvée labor.

These were among the most troublesome livelihood issues faced by common people at the bottom of society. As the saying went, calamities of Demons were not as dreadful as calamities of taxes, and evil fiends were not as dreadful as corvée labor... Mainly because although Demon disasters occurred from time to time, they were not constant. So long as one acted cautiously and had some luck, it was perfectly normal for common people to go their entire lives without encountering a single Demon disaster. But taxes came every year, and no one could escape them.

The so-called "Spring Tax" was the tax that had to be submitted in spring. It included the basic Head Tax and Residence Tax. In addition, families that owned farmland had to pay land tax, while those who opened shops had to pay Business Tax, and so on.

Wu Ming's family owned neither land nor a shop business, so they only needed to pay the Head Tax and Residence Tax.

Last year, each person had paid one tael and six mace of silver, making six taels and four mace for their family of four. This year, Wu Yu had married out, leaving only three people in the household. They had thought they could ease some of the burden, yet because the Spring Tax had risen, they still had to pay a full six taels of silver.

To a poor family, six taels of silver was undoubtedly an enormous sum.

"Is it time to pay the Spring Tax?"

At that moment, Liu Shi inside the house heard the commotion as well and came out leaning on her cane.

Wu Qi nodded at Liu Shi. "Our family has to pay six taels this year."

"Six taels? How did it rise so much?"

Liu Shi was startled. "The last time the Spring Tax increased was eleven years ago, wasn't it? Did they raise the Head Tax?"

Wu Qi sat down on a stone stool in the courtyard and said with some resentment, "No. I heard they raised the Residence Tax. They said Demons have appeared frequently in recent years, and the Demon Suppression and Criminal Investigation Two Divisions in the inner city have been busy all day. They are raising the Residence Tax in order to expand their manpower."

"But they can't raise it by so much! And after paying such a hefty Residence Tax, it's not as if the Demons have been wiped out. Before, Little Six's grandfather suffered a Demon disaster, and that child Little Zhong was harmed by an evil spirit. Even our Ming'er nearly lost his life..."

Liu Shi muttered on with an ugly expression.

An extra four mace of silver per person might be nothing to wealthy families, but for poor households, those four extra mace in tax money could mean the difference between eating one's fill and going hungry—or even between going hungry and starving to death!