Taxation

For the next half month, Xu Qing's daily routine was extremely regular.

Every morning, as soon as the roosters crowed, he arrived at the vegetable market ahead of First Wife and the others, picking out the freshest raw eggs and the hottest pork and duck blood.

After browsing the market and returning to the shop, he spent his time chatting idly with the neighbors. Occasionally, they exchanged business intelligence as well. After all, the businesses along this street had already formed an invisible industrial chain. Whenever one shop got a job, the others had a chance to benefit from it.

The most eye-catching among them were Old Hu's Coffin Shop at the head of the street and Young Master Xu's Corpse Driver's Shop at the far end.

One of them made coffins, while the other handled Embalming and Funeral Processions. As long as either of them got a job, all the other shops, whether Incense and Candle Shops or Paper Craft Shops, were sure to drink a mouthful of the gravy!

At night, Xu Qing would go to the rear courtyard and use the methods in the corpse-nurturing technique to devour the moonlight's yin energy and refine the corpse's yin essence. Although his progress remained steady and unhurried, he could clearly feel his body gradually evolving toward becoming an Ironclad Wandering Corpse.

During this period, Old Hu from the Coffin Shop also delivered the two coffins made from raw hide and unprocessed timber.

These two extra-large, extra-wide coffins were intended for different purposes. Xu Qing planned to use one to hold corpses that had undergone salvation, while the other would serve as a plank bed for processing corpses.

His business was still in its infancy. For one thing, he had yet to make a name for himself, and for another, his publicity was inadequate. Apart from his cooperation with the county office, it was difficult to open up business elsewhere for the time being.

Over these past few days, Xu Qing continued cultivating while gradually adapting to the rhythm of life in Linhe Fang.

His neighbor, Wu Yaoxing, was a smooth operator. During that time, he even introduced Xu Qing to a job involving feng shui and relocating a grave. However, it was an ancient grave. Forget the person inside—the coffin itself had been thoroughly rotted by rainwater that had seeped into the soil.

Xu Qing even tried performing Soul Summoning and salvation on the dry bones, but he did not see so much as a shadow of a soul.

He guessed that the owner of the dry bones had either returned to the netherworld or entered the underworld to be reincarnated!

Fortunately, he had earned a few coins of silver from the job, so his efforts had not been entirely wasted.

Besides that, Xu Qing also heard news about some old acquaintances.

For example, Su Hongxiu, who had left the Liu Household, relied on her persona as a widow and once topped the list of visits to the pleasure quarters, briefly becoming the most famous figure in Linhe Fang.

All one could say was that in these times, whether cat or dog, anyone could leap onto the table and steal a few bites of hot rice.

Xu Qing had little interest in playing the role of a widow, but he was rather interested in the flirtation products sold in high-end brothels.

Of course, some people with filthy minds might assume these flirtation products were things like mandarin ducks, sheep's-eye rings, suspended jade rings, or pepperwood objects.

Xu Qing was not that vulgar!

What interested him were actually the Floating Life Incense lit at Orchid Pavilion and the premium Bayberry Wax supplied by Cuiyun Tower.

The former, Floating Life Incense, was extremely similar to the Spirit Incense consumed by corpses. Both contained Earth Soul Grass and were substitute products.

Xu Qing even suspected that Orchid Pavilion concealed cultivators from an occupation similar to the yin sects. It was even possible they were not human.

The latter, Bayberry Wax, consisted of candles made from premium bayberry fruit oil that Cuiyun Tower had procured in Luojing through special channels. Merely passing by Cuiyun Tower, Xu Qing could smell that enticing aroma of oil and wax!

These pleasure quarters were practically a paradise where corpses could refresh their minds, clear their heads, and relax their bodies!

They were even more thrilling than going to a graveyard to dance!

The end of the first lunar month.

That day, Xu Qing sat in the shop as usual, waiting for business.

Around noon, two well-dressed figures suddenly entered the shop, which had been quiet for most of the day.

Both men wore round-collared, black, wide-sleeved robes. Broad red silk sashes were tied around their waists, with Identification Plaques made of brass hanging at their sides.

Constables from the county office usually wore narrow-sleeved tops. Only clerical personnel wore wide sleeves. Looking at their Identification Plaques, one could clearly see the words "Tax Commissioner" engraved on them.

"Shopkeeper, are you thinking of becoming an official?"

As soon as the leading tax officer entered the shop, he saw Xu Qing sitting atop a coffin and could not resist teasing him.

How could he have known that beneath Xu Qing's buttocks, the coffin contained a corpse that had already undergone preservation treatment?

"This isn't sitting on a coffin. It's suppressing one." Xu Qing smiled, rose, and welcomed the guests. "See if there's anything you need. I handle Funeral Processions and burials, Embalming and grave relocation, and also—"

Before he could finish, the other tax officer immediately frowned. "We're not here for any of that. Let me ask you this: have you paid last year's taxes?"

"Last year's taxes?" Xu Qing asked, bewildered. "This little shop of mine only just opened. How could I have taxes from last year to pay?"

"Don't play dumb with me. I already made inquiries before coming here. You opened this shop as early as the twelfth lunar month of last year, so naturally you have to make up last year's taxation!"

"According to the quota, each merchant and each individual must pay every year. Therefore, you need to make up two and a half taels of silver, or two dan of rice, in taxes."

As he spoke, the tax officer pointed outside the shop and reminded him, "Prepare it at once. If you have rice, the cart is waiting outside. If you have no rice on hand, pay two and a half taels of silver instead."

Xu Qing immediately felt displeased upon hearing this.

Commercial taxes had existed since ancient times. Rent taxes, taxation, mountain and marsh taxes, and miscellaneous taxes all fell within the scope of commercial taxation.

Xu Qing knew this was the rule, and he had no objections to the Tax Department coming to collect commercial taxes.

As the saying went, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. If the Tax Department had come to collect this year's taxes, he would not have said a word.

The key was that these two tax officers had not come to collect this year's taxes. They had come to demand last year's taxes from him.

"Sir, you just said it yourself: this shop of mine only began operating in the twelfth lunar month of last year. Counting it all up, it has only been open for a month and a half. You're demanding a whole year's taxes from me. Isn't that a little inappropriate?"

"If you think it's inappropriate, you can refuse to pay. But if this shop of yours gets sealed in a moment, don't regret it!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the constables standing outside the shop moved as if to enter.

Xu Qing fell silent for a moment. Then he suddenly smiled. "I was only joking with the two sirs just now. I'm an upstanding citizen of the Great Yong Dynasty. How could I evade taxation?"

"But I remember that the tax was only one dan of rice. Why is it two dan this time?"

The leading tax officer's expression eased slightly as he explained, "Many refugees have fled here to escape disasters. The County Magistrate of Baisha County ordered every household in Linhe Fang to share the burden of half a dan of rice, which will be used to provide relief to the refugees."

"And what about the other half dan?"

"Where did you get that half dan from? Do you think transporting and distributing grain comes without losses?"

At this point, Xu Qing understood everything.

When tax collectors came to collect taxes door to door like this, they would directly explain why they were collecting extra. If the grain was delivered by large numbers of commoners at a fixed time and place, no explanation was needed. Someone would naturally make up the so-called losses during inspection by "spilling the tips and kicking the measures."

Xu Qing let out a quiet breath and said no more. He reached into his money pouch and took out two and a half taels of silver.

Two taels consisted of Green Cicada Coins, while the remaining half-tael was ordinary silver.

The Green Cicada Coins covered last year's taxes. The half-tael of broken silver was for the refugees who had fled here.

Xu Qing watched the tax officers leave. He stood at the shop entrance for a long time without speaking.

At that moment, Wu Yaoxing came over from next door with a sigh, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "Don't take it too much to heart. Once the money's gone, we can still earn more. If you want someone to blame, blame this world. It has no understanding of human feelings!"

Xu Qing shook his head. "I'm not heartbroken over it. As long as that half-tael meant to aid the refugees actually reaches them, giving them hot food and helping them survive this cold month, that's enough."

Wu Yaoxing nodded, his brows relaxing. "That's not a bad way to put it. Speaking of which, you're still young. If you could study as seriously as my boy, you wouldn't need to accomplish anything extraordinary in the future. You'd only have to pass the examination and become a licentiate. Then not only would you be exempt from taxes, you wouldn't even have to kneel when meeting those officials. You could hold your head high when you told people about it..."

A licentiate?

Xu Qing's heart stirred. Come to think of it, he might really be able to pull that off!