The female doctor farmed the land, bought a husband and set up a separate household

Chapter 109 Master Liu's ingenious plan

As Jiang Sining expected, within ten days, the runners sent by the county government to collect the land tax arrived in Liuyun Village.

According to past practice, villagers were taxed one-tenth of the land they farmed, which was already a heavy tax.

However, due to natural disasters this year, the county magistrate knew that he might not be able to collect enough grain, so he changed the tax rate to six to one.

In other words, if you harvest 100 kilograms of rice, you will have to pay nearly 17 kilograms of taxes, and for one acre of land, you will have to pay about 85 kilograms.

If a family owns 1700 mu of land, they have to pay kilograms of rice.

Don’t underestimate these more than 1,000 kilograms of grain. The villagers have two harvests a year and no other income, so the whole family relies on this little surplus grain to exchange for household expenses.

So every year at this time, no matter where you are, people will be filled with resentment.

This was especially true for Liuyun Village in the past. Every year when He, the county magistrate of Gaochuan County, came here to collect grain, he would have a headache. He thought that everyone's grain had suffered a disaster this year and not a single pound of grain could be collected. However, the result was far beyond his expectations.

When County Magistrate He and two fierce yamen runners arrived at the village entrance, many villagers brought them food.

Of course, after hearing that the tax had been changed to six taxes and one tax this year and that they would have to pay a lot more grain, everyone still complained, but they soon went home to deliver the grain and urged him to weigh it quickly because everyone had other things to do.

While County Magistrate He breathed a sigh of relief, he was also wondering what was happening to the villagers of Liuyun Village this year.

So he asked the yamen runners to collect the grain, and he found the village chief Cao Yin.

Upon asking around, they learned that the food in Liuyun Village had been bought by Jiang Sining's family long before the rain and exchanged for food in the villagers.

"She has so many at home?"

"I don't know where they got so much silver." Cao Yin said, "Ever since that Jiang family got a son-in-law, their family has become richer day by day. The house on the mountain over there is hers. It has more than ten blue brick and tile houses, and it's two stories high!"

"You said she got a live-in son-in-law?"

"It's not that he was recruited, he was bought." Cao Yin said, "It's the exile named Si who was exiled to our place. Some time ago, he even brought his mother here."

County Magistrate He understood.

This silver will not fall from the sky out of thin air.

So the Jiang family suddenly became rich, it must have been brought by the Si family.

Unexpectedly, the emperor raided the Si family in the capital, but still didn't take complete possession of them, so he asked them to bring out a large amount of silver.

So he didn't bother to personally supervise the grain collection and rushed back to the county government as quickly as possible.

……

County magistrate Shen Luoqiao has been worried about this year's grain harvest these days.

If the grain harvest is not enough, it will affect his career. He does not want to be a county magistrate in this remote place for the rest of his life.

So after some consideration, he decided to ask for advice from Mr. Liu, who had been living in the county government office.

After hearing his worries, Master Liu smiled and said, "County Magistrate Shen, don't worry."

"Master Liu, you don't know something," Shen Luoqiao said, "We have only collected less than 20% of the grain in the entire county. I really can't report to the prefect."

"County Magistrate Shen, think about it," said Master Liu, "This heavy rain is not just in Gaochuan County, but in the whole of Daxia. Your grain was destroyed by the rain, so isn't the grain in other places the same?"

Shen Luoqiao thought for a moment and said, "That is indeed true, but if we fail to collect all the grain, we will inevitably be blamed by the prefect."

"There is always a way," said Master Liu. "The villagers' grain has been destroyed. Have the warehouses of the rich families and grain merchants also been destroyed?"

Shen Luoqiao's expression slightly changed, and he quickly asked: "Master Liu means..."

"What are gentry?" said Master Liu. "Aren't they just people you feed and feed well to make them fat, and then slaughter them at the critical moment?"

Shen Luoqiao nodded slightly: "But... it's not good to attack without any reason."

"County Magistrate Shen, what is the most troublesome thing in Gaochuan County? Have you forgotten?"

"Yes..." Shen Luoqiao thought for a long time and finally thought of two words, "Bandits?"

Master Liu said coldly: "After such a great natural disaster, there will definitely be lawless people who will become bandits and specialize in robbing the money and food of the rich families, and they may even kill the whole family!"

Shen Luoqiao understood completely.

I have to say that Master Liu's method is brilliant.

He had also found out before that every wealthy family and gentry in Gaochuan County had stored grain, especially the kind-hearted Mr. Liu, who was said to have gone against his usual practice and purchased a large amount of grain before the heavy rain.

If we use the bandits to attack them, and then just catch a few scapegoats afterwards, wouldn't the matter be solved perfectly?

By that time, other counties would not be able to collect enough grain, but he would be able to pay in full or even in excess, and he would also have made great contributions in pacifying the mountain bandits, which would definitely be of great benefit to his future promotion.

Just then, County Magistrate He came back.

He told everything he had learned in Liuyun Village.

Master Liu has been staying here with the purpose of monitoring Si Chenan. When he heard that he was living well now, he frowned.

"Didn't they say Si Chenan was so sick that he couldn't even get out of bed?"

"I have asked," County Magistrate He replied, "Si Chen'an is indeed ill. He can't do anything normally, and can only teach the children in the village to read."

"Then the silver and food in his family must have been brought by Madam Chen." Shen Luoqiao said.

Master Liu nodded and pondered in silence. Shen Luoqiao saw through his thoughts at a glance.

To be honest, although Shen Luoqiao really liked the idea that Master Liu had just proposed, he also had some concerns. After all, if this matter got out, he would be charged with a serious crime.

So it can be said that Master Liu had caught him.

But if he could use this incident to help Master Liu deal with Si Chenan, then the two of them would be accomplices, and each would benefit. Then he wouldn't be afraid that he would use this incident to blackmail himself in the future.

So he asked County Magistrate He to leave and said, "Master Liu, I think the bandits should first rob a few wealthy families in the village, and then come to the town to take action after they have tasted the sweetness."

As soon as Master Liu heard this, he knew what he was planning.

His original mission was to monitor Si Chenan. He didn't let him take action directly, but waited for him to slowly die from the poison.

But he has been waiting for so long, and Si Chenan has not died yet, which makes him a little impatient.

Now that Shen Luoqiao was intending to pull him on board, he felt that he could use Shen Luoqiao's hand to get rid of Si Chenan and return to the capital to report earlier.

So he nodded and said, "County Magistrate Shen, we need to arrange two reliable people for this matter, preferably strangers."

"Master Liu, do you have such a person?"

"There are a few people."

"That's great," Shen Luoqiao said, "I have someone here too. My brother-in-law came back from doing business a few days ago, and he had nothing to do because of the heavy rain everywhere."

The two smiled at each other, and then discussed some details.

When it was dark, a group of about ten people left Gaochuanji before the city gate closed and headed towards Guitou Mountain.