usatvline Chapter 3 Debts
Chapter 3 Debts
The Zheng family's work did not last long.
On the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, Shao Shuyi, who had just worked for a month, was "unemployed" and had no choice but to take a stack of Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (CBIS) banknotes back home.
His home was in Zhangjing, south of the city, not far from Haiyuncang. Although it was not in the city, the location was not bad. For Taicang, which did not even have city walls, the so-called inside and outside the city was a false proposition.
The three mud-brick houses were the main inheritance left to him by his deceased parents.
The central room served as the main hall, while the west room contained an empty grain storage bin. The remaining space was filled with tools and miscellaneous items, mostly rusted and unusable equipment used for shipbuilding and repair.
The east room was the bedroom, furnished with an old bed and a few pieces of broken furniture. Although it wasn't exactly destitute, it wasn't far away either.
In addition to the three main houses, there are two small wooden houses and a shed in the front yard, which is enclosed by tree branches.
The wooden houses stand side by side on the west side. One is the kitchen, which contains an earthen stove, water tank, pots and pans, etc. The other is used to store farm tools, seeds and other items.
The shed, built against the courtyard wall on the east side, was made of woven reeds. It used to be a sheepfold, but now that there are no sheep, it has been used to store firewood.
Inside the courtyard, there is a well, a few fruit trees, and several vegetable plots, all seemingly chaotic yet exuding a sense of daily life.
Behind the main house is a small courtyard that extends all the way to the riverbank, where more than twenty fir trees stand tall and straight—a standard feature of shipbuilding families.
In short, this is a poor family that is not completely destitute, but they have extremely poor risk resistance and could easily fall into dire straits at the slightest sign of trouble.
After returning home, Shao Shuyi first checked the grain bin and found only a little rice left in the corner. After scavenging it, he washed some rice at the well and picked some vegetables from the vegetable patch, then cooked a pot of vegetable porridge.
Not long after finishing his meal, Shao Shuyi, who was counting banknotes in the main hall, heard shouts from outside the courtyard. He quickly put the money away and went out, only to see the leader Chen Wang leading several people, one of whom was Kong Tie.
Kong Tie glanced at Shao Shuyi, then hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but didn't.
Chen Wang looked around, finally fixing his gaze on Shao Shuyi. He straightened his back as usual and said, "Xiao Hu, I watched you grow up. After your father and mother passed away, I should have taken better care of you, but—"
The words were unclear, but Shao Shuyi subconsciously felt that it wasn't a good thing.
The county-level system of the Qing Dynasty implemented the Yufang and Xiangdu system, with cities using the Yufang system and rural areas using the Xiangdu system.
The person in charge at the township level is called the village head. Below the township level, there is a "du" (都), and the person in charge is called the "chief head" (主首).
Chen Wang was the chief of Zhangjing East Second Capital. His usual duties were to "encourage the village heads to collect taxes and prohibit illegal activities." In other words, he was responsible for collecting taxes for the village heads and maintaining local order.
My visit today is probably not going to bring anything good.
Sure enough, after saying the first half of his sentence, Chen Wang continued, "Little Tiger, although the provincial and grain transport authorities have exempted you from this year's miscellaneous corvée labor, the tax and corvée duties still need to be paid. Your family has been in arrears for a long time, so you see..."
Shao Shuyi understood; it turned out he owed taxes!
He steadied himself and asked, "What is a 'kecha'?"
Chen Wang paused for a moment, then softened his voice and explained, "The taxes levied by our dynasty from the south are called 'summer tax' and 'autumn tax,' which are modeled after the two taxes of the Tang dynasty..."
Shao Shuyi listened patiently and gradually understood.
The term "kecha" means tax collection, which was levied on a per-household basis, even for those who owned seagoing vessels.
After listening, he asked directly, "How much is needed?"
Chen Wang paused for a moment, then said, "In the third year of Zhiyuan (1337), the Boatmen's Supervisory Office—"
"How much?" Shao Shuyi asked again.
"Boatmen pay taxes of six ingots annually for boats with a cargo volume of 1,000 taels or more, with the amount decreasing for smaller boats."
"How much exactly?"
"Two ingots."
Before Shao Shuyi could speak, Kong Tie, who had been silent until now, raised his head and said, "The Shao family only has him left, he's a lowly household, why do they need so many?"
Chen Wang hesitated for a moment, then said, "Fifty strings of cash is necessary."
Shao Shuyi was speechless. So you can even bargain when paying taxes? No wonder it's the Yuan Dynasty!
Suddenly, he noticed that the leader, Chen Wang, was wearing a light gray linen shirt, washed until it was almost white, with patches of the same color on the elbows and cuffs. His eyes were full of fatigue, and his temples were gray.
This is a middle-aged person whose life is not going well and who is extremely tired!
Shao Shuyi had vaguely heard before that there were many vacancies for village chiefs and heads of various townships, and many people were unwilling to take the positions. He didn't understand it at the time, but now he does.
Decades earlier, those who took on the duties of village head, chief, corner head, and neighborhood head were generally wealthy and powerful families, or at the very least, influential households in the area. They could use their positions to control the local area and oppress the villagers.
By this time, the taxes imposed by the imperial court had become increasingly heavy, the people were becoming increasingly impoverished, and officials still wanted to profit from them. Not only did the village heads and chiefs not gain any benefit, but they might even have to pay out of their own pockets to make up for the losses. Therefore, wealthy and powerful households were unwilling to serve as these officials and tried every means to evade them. The Yuan court was cunning and knew that it could not squeeze any money out of the common people, so it severely reprimanded them and forced wealthy local households to take turns serving as village heads and chiefs to maintain the operation of the tax collection system.
In practice, however, wealthy and powerful households would bribe officials to evade taxes. In the end, the most powerful households in the village would usually be put in charge of tax collection.
Chen Wang was actually a scholar who originally had some wealth, but after serving as the chief for more than half a year, he had ended up in such a shabby state, obviously having lost a lot of money.
Shao Shuyi suddenly felt a little sorry for him.
But then again, if he pities Chen Wang, who will pity him?
"I only have five strings of cash, that's all," he sighed and said.
Chen Wang also sighed.
The facts are obvious: the Shao family has emptied their coffers over the funeral and has no boat left, so they shouldn't have been levied many taxes in the first place. This fifteen-year-old boy is barely surviving, let alone paying taxes. If you really push him too far, he'll run away tonight, and you won't get a single penny.
Alternatively, he could go directly to a powerful family—like the Zheng family—and sell himself into slavery as a servant. It would be tough, but at least he could stay alive and avoid being forced to death by the officials.
Thinking of this, he gave Shao Shuyi a deep look and said nothing more.
Shao Shuyi bowed to him, turned and went back into the house, took out five strings of Zhongtong banknotes and handed them over, saying, "Thank you for your trouble, Chief."
Chen Wang silently accepted the document, his eyes showing even more weariness. However, he still sighed and said, "The imperial court is pressing for payment, and this time they are serious. If the arrears are not paid by the end of the month, the court will definitely arrest people. In addition, last year we suffered a disaster, and the price of grain soared to thirty strings of cash. The provincial governor has decided to open the public granaries to sell grain at a fair price. Sales will begin at noon today and will continue for three days."
Shao Shuyi felt a chill run down his spine, thanked him aloud, and then looked at Kong Tie.
Kong Tie nodded to him and said, "Xiao Hu, I plan to go out to sea for the Spring Festival travel rush."
"With whom?" Shao Shuyi asked.
"The Ye family."
"What are you doing?"
"Naoku."
"Has the canal transport office now allowed boatmen to carry weapons?"
"We'll bring them secretly," Kong Tie replied. "The road is dangerous; there are many pirates. It would be difficult without equipment."
"Take care," Shao Shuyi said.
Kong Tie glanced at him and suddenly said, "Actually, there's still a vacancy at the fishing boat station. If you'd like to go—"
Shao Shuyi instinctively wanted to refuse, but swallowed the words back and said, "I'll think about it some more."
As the two were talking, Chen Wang had already left the courtyard and was walking on the country dirt road like a wandering ghost.
To be a tax collector to this extent is probably unique.
Throughout history, which tax officials in any dynasty haven't been synonymous with wolves and tigers? But the Yuan Dynasty was an exception.
There were countless wealthy families ruined and destroyed by these schemes, a fact that would hardly be believed. Ironically, most of the Mongol nobles knew who was rich and who wasn't, and they targeted local wealthy households, exploiting them and forcing them into service.
Actually, everyone is having a hard time.
For seafarers, although there were no taxes or grain levies, there were corvée labor, miscellaneous corvée labor, and other miscellaneous taxes. Sailing grain voyages was not profitable, and was even a losing proposition. Yet, they had no choice but to risk their lives at sea, battling the wind and waves, facing near-death experiences and extreme hardship.
Who is ultimately responsible for all of this?
(Thank you all for your support. During the new book period, I need to control the update speed because once it exceeds a certain word count, it's no longer considered a new book, and I won't get enough recommendations. So I'm adding an extra chapter today. Tomorrow, depending on the situation, it should normally be two chapters.)