Taxation

"Xiao Yi, since you've eaten, we'll head back now." Seeing them about to leave, Luo Yi lifted a thirty-jin piece of tiger meat and handed it to Meng Gang.

"Thanks for the hard work today, Uncle Meng and Xiao Yu. This is the payment I promised you."

After a few more words of small talk, he saw Meng Gang and his son Meng Yu out of the yard.

Once they were gone, Luo Yi flashed a lecherous grin at Wang Meng. "Uncle Wang, I've got something good for you. You'll definitely find it useful."

With that, he pulled out the severed tiger whip and handed it to Wang Meng.

Staring at the thick tiger whip, thinking about his own lack of stamina in recent years and how his wife kept complaining he couldn't perform, Wang Meng's weathered face flushed red. Ignoring Luo Yi's odd look, he tucked the tiger whip into his chest.

Seeing Wang Meng accept it, Luo Yi picked up two thirty-jin slabs of tiger meat and handed them over.

"One piece is for you, Uncle Wang. The other, I'd trouble you to deliver to Brother Chen Liu's house."

Hearing that one piece was for Liu Zi, Wang Meng nodded.

After a brief exchange, he saw Wang Meng out the door and looked back at the remaining four hundred jin of tiger meat in the yard.

The weather had been hot lately. If the tiger meat wasn't dealt with quickly, it would spoil and stink within a day or two at most. Eating it then would just mean a bad stomach.

Recalling how jerky was made in his past life, he walked into the kitchen, took out the two jin of coarse salt he'd bought in the county town, and called Luo Xi over to help. Together, they salted and cured all the tiger meat.

Figuring salting alone wasn't foolproof, he told his younger sister to get up early the next morning and smoke the meat as well.

After handling the meat, remembering he hadn't practiced his martial arts yet that night, Luo Yi went back into the kitchen, boiled up the tonic medicine, swallowed a piece of bear gall, and began practicing the Fierce Tiger Skin Refining Technique in the yard.

With the bear gall and tonic in his system, he trained for three and a half shichen before the warm current in his abdomen gradually faded.

He checked the Panel:

Host: Luo Yi

Age: 16

Realm: Skin Refining (Minor Accomplishment)

Skills: Basic Archery (Major Accomplishment 120/400)

Fierce Tiger Skin Refining Technique (Minor Accomplishment 77/300)

Traits: None

That night's practice had boosted his progress by 42 points. Luo Yi was quite satisfied with the result.

After finishing his training, exhausted from a long day's work, he walked back to his room, lay down, and fell asleep.

The next morning, Luo Yi was still deep in a pleasant dream.

From outside the yard came the intermittent sounds of "women begging for mercy" and "children crying," mixed with the hoarse screams of people in agony.

Jolted awake by the noise, Luo Yi got up from the ground.

Stepping into the yard, he saw his younger sister sitting on the stone table, looking deeply worried. He walked over to her.

"What's wrong, Xiao Xi? Up since dawn and looking so uneasy."

"Brother, this morning I saw so many folks in town—because they didn't have enough silver to pay the Autumn Tax, all the men in their families were arrested."

According to the tax officials who came to collect:

"Recently, the Regional Military Commander of Cloud Prefecture received an order from the Imperial Court. All prefectures, counties, and towns near Qingzhou must wipe out the Rebel Army roaming in Qingzhou before winter this year, and retake Qingzhou from the rebels."

"After receiving the order, the Cloud Prefecture Governor and the Regional Military Commander considered that Cloud Prefecture's military funds were tight, and the Imperial Court hadn't allocated any."

"So the two of them submitted a memorial to the Imperial Court, requesting an increase in this year's Autumn Tax. The extra revenue would fund Cloud Prefecture's campaign."

"The Great Qi Emperor, obsessed with alchemy and seeking immortality, had no mind for state affairs. After the Cabinet Grand Secretaries discussed the memorial, they approved the request."

Thus, Cloud Prefecture's Autumn Tax was raised from last year's one tael five mace to this year's five taels of silver.

Just as they were still talking:

"Bang, bang, bang, bang!" A violent pounding came at the door.

"Open up! Open up! Open up!"

Hearing the rough knocking, Luo Yi knew the Imperial Court's tax officials had come to his home.

He tucked his Dao into his belt and opened the door.

What greeted his eyes was a group of sturdy tax officials in official robes, long knives at their waists.

Behind them were several prison carts.

Locked inside the carts were residents from nearby towns, beaten black and blue.

Seeing the door open from inside, the leading tax official stepped forward.

He swung the long whip in his hand, lashing it toward Luo Yi.

As he swung, he cursed, "You lowlife piece of trash! Takes you this long to open a door, keeping your brothers waiting. See if I don't flay you alive!"

Hearing the official's curses and watching the whip streak toward him, a cold glint flashed in Luo Yi's eyes. That single lash would leave his skin split and flesh torn—all because he was a few seconds late opening the door. To strike so viciously over that, these officials of the Great Qi were truly tyrannical!

If he were alone, he'd kill them all without a second thought. At worst, he'd flee to Qingzhou and join the Rebel Army, or find a mountain stronghold and become an outlaw.

But with his younger sister still in the yard, Luo Yi suppressed the boiling murderous intent inside him.

He sidestepped the whip the tax official swung at him.

Seeing that the youth dared to dodge, the leading tax official grew even angrier.

"I whip you to give you a chance, and you still dare to dodge? Watch me beat you to death!" He wildly lashed the whip at Luo Yi.

Watching the tax official's frenzied expression, Luo Yi muttered a curse under his breath, "What rotten luck," knowing today's matter wouldn't end peacefully.

For no reason, being bullied like this stirred a surge of anger in Luo Yi's heart. He reached back and grabbed the long whip aimed at him.

Glancing at his sister in the yard and remembering he was only a Skin Refining Martial Artist, he forced down his killing intent and walked up to the leading tax official.

He pulled five taels of silver from his chest and slipped it into the official's pocket.

In a low voice, he said, "Sir, a small token of respect. Please accept it."

Looking at the silver now in his pouch, the once-frenzied tax official's expression instantly softened.

"Kid, if you'd done this earlier, we wouldn't have nearly spoiled the goodwill."

Watching the tax official's face change faster than a book flip, Luo Yi's mouth twitched.

"You're sensible, kid, but the taxes still need to be paid."

The leading tax official called back to a clerk holding a Household Register: "Old Tang, check this person's household registration and family situation."

"Yes, sir!" The clerk flipped through the Household Register without pause.

"Found it!" he said. "Sir, the register shows three people in the household total."

"Head of household Luo Gang, a Hunter from Dongsheng Town; son Luo Yi, a Tongsheng from Dongsheng Town; daughter Luo Xi, a farmer from Dongsheng Town."

"You must be the Tongsheng Luo Yi, right? Your family of three owes fifteen taels of silver."

Fifteen taels?

"Sir, my father went missing and died in the mountains this month. Everyone in town knows about it. Does he still need to pay taxes?"

"Little brother, that's not how it works. The townsfolk know your father's dead, but the officials in charge of household registration don't."

"To prevent tax evasion, the Imperial Court has long decreed: as long as your name is still on the Household Register, you must pay the Autumn Tax."

Hearing the leading tax official's explanation, Luo Yi realized these men weren't deliberately targeting him. He pulled fifteen taels of silver from his chest and handed it over.

Taking the silver, the leading tax official waved his hand, leading his men and pulling the prison cart toward the next house.