In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

Chapter 465 Evil Policies

"..."

Xu Zhiwen was speechless.

Under heaven, all land belongs to the king; on the shores of the earth, all people are subjects of the king. In the eyes of people like Huang Ting and Qing Wang, everything in the land of the Nine Provinces should belong to them. If the imperial court is short of money, the common people should naturally pay more taxes. But they never thought about it...

The people are not cattle or horses to be slaughtered at will, but living, breathing human beings. Everyone has emotions. When they are oppressed too much, and even their last bit of food is taken away, the people will not sit idly by and wait to die. Instead, they will... unleash their fury and splatter blood five steps away!

Yang Zheng of Liangzhou is the best proof. The tyranny of the imperial court forced out a hero like Yang Zheng. When millions of commoners like Yang Zheng gathered together to resist, their power was enough to shake the heavens and the earth!

"Chief Secretary."

Xu Zhiwen couldn't help but say, "The cold disaster has not yet subsided. If the court imposes additional taxes, I'm afraid..."

“No need to worry!”

Huang Ting interrupted, saying, "The 100,000 soldiers of Qingzhou are ready for battle at any moment, which is enough to deter any villains."

Xu Zhiwen felt a chill in his heart. Huang Ting clearly knew that the increased taxes would incite the people to revolt, but he obviously didn't care, or rather... he was confident that the Qingzhou army could suppress any rebellion.

It seems that Yang Zheng's appearance has not served as a wake-up call for these powerful and wealthy individuals, who still regard the common people as cattle and horses to be exploited at any time.

"All right!"

Seeing that Xu Zhiwen was about to say something more, Huang Ting waved his hand to interrupt him, saying in an unquestionable tone, "This is an order from the imperial court and also the will of the Prince of Qing. You shall comply."

Having said that, Huang Ting, not wanting to say anything more to Xu Zhiwen, got up and walked out of the county government office.

Xu Zhiwen watched Huang Ting's departing figure with an extremely unpleasant expression.

Xu Zhiwen painstakingly wiped out the three major clans of Taiping County, and expended a great deal of energy to restore some of the county's livelihood. However...

Before the people could even enjoy a few days of good life, the imperial court's order to increase taxes arrived as scheduled.

"Young friend Chen is truly prescient!"

Xu Zhiwen sighed softly as he looked away. When Chen Dao pulled him onto the boat, he had vaguely revealed his intention: he did not want to face the court's exorbitant taxes and levies anymore.

Xu Zhiwen initially thought that Chen Dao was taking precautions and that the court might not issue such a bad policy.

However, it was clear that Xu Zhiwen overestimated the integrity of the officials in the capital. They had no regard for the lives of the common people and only thought about leeching off them to make up for the losses caused by the defeat in Liangzhou.

70% of agricultural taxes...

It is no exaggeration to say that once such a decree is issued, the people will immediately be in uproar, followed by countless tax resistance incidents, and even... a large number of incidents of officials forcing the people to rebel!

"call!"

Xu Zhiwen let out a breath. He had thoroughly studied the specific situation in Liangzhou and knew how terrifying the power that could erupt when the people could no longer bear the oppression was.

therefore……

Xu Zhiwen had no intention of carrying out the imperial court's order to impose additional taxes; in fact, he was prepared to sever ties with the court.

With the imperial court levying such exorbitant taxes, widespread chaos is likely imminent. At that time…

Even if Xu Zhiwen does not carry out the additional tax order, the court will probably have no time to deal with him.

"Brother Li must have received the news by now, right? I wonder what your choice will be?"

Xu Zhiwen looked south, as if he could see Li Qingyun's face. Li Qingyun was also a person who cared about the people. Based on his understanding of Li Qingyun, he was afraid that Li Qingyun would not agree to carry out such an order.

…………

…………

"boom!"

Just as Xu Zhiwen was looking south, in Li Qingyun's mansion in Ding'an County.

Li Qingyun slammed his fist on the table in a fit of rage. The usually gentle and refined man's eyes widened in fury as he roared, "Have all these officials in the court lost their minds? The people are starving and can't even fill their stomachs, yet they still want to levy additional grain taxes!"

"Lord Li, please calm down."

Inside the room, Liu Yi and the other martial artists recruited by Li Qingyun spoke up to comfort them.

After a moment, Li Qingyun finally suppressed his anger and said in a deep voice, "You all know what happened. The court is going to increase the grain tax by 20%. What do you think I should do?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Yi and the others fell silent.

Having followed Li Qingyun, they naturally learned about the current situation in Ding'an County. Before this, the grain tax in Ding'an County was 50%, and this 50% tax alone was already an unbearable burden on the people. Now, another 20% is to be added...

If such wicked policies were implemented, Ding'an County would likely become a place teeming with bandits and its people would suffer greatly in the blink of an eye.

"grown ups."

Liu Yi said with a grave expression, "We absolutely cannot impose additional taxes! Otherwise, Ding'an County will immediately descend into chaos."

"Indeed! The cold and disaster have lasted for a long time, and the people are hoping to have a full meal after the autumn harvest. If such a bad policy is issued now, I'm afraid a large number of people will immediately rise up in rebellion!"

"Such wicked policies must never be implemented."

"They've entered that damned imperial court! They're leaving the common people no way to survive!"

"..."

All the martial artists present had witnessed the great battle between the Chen family army and the routed army. They knew how terrifying the power of armed civilians could be. One or two civilians with knives would not pose a threat to martial artists, but what about a hundred, a thousand, or even ten thousand civilians?

When the people all over the mountains and plains rushed towards them with knives, even these highly skilled martial artists had to give way.

As natives of Ding'an County, Liu Yi and others were absolutely unwilling to see Ding'an County descend into chaos.

"I also wish to reject such a wicked policy, but the court has already issued the order. What can I do?"

Li Qingyun said with a bitter expression, "The order to impose additional taxes was personally conveyed by the chief secretary of the Qingwang Mansion. The chief secretary of the Qingwang Mansion represents the Qingwang and also the imperial court. Li Qingyun has no room to resist."

"It can be delayed."

Liu Yi thought for a moment and said, "Such a bad policy will not be implemented smoothly. We can use this as an excuse to delay the time."

"Wonderful!"

Li Qingyun's eyes lit up. Yes, with such a wicked policy from the court, he was certainly not the only one unwilling to implement it. Even if the officials were willing to implement it, the collection of grain taxes would inevitably not go smoothly.

after all……

They are levying the people's staple food, which is essential for their survival. How could the people be willing to do that?

They could easily use the difficulty of collecting grain taxes as an excuse to delay the process.

"But……"

Inside the room, a martial artist frowned and said, "Delaying is not a solution. What should we do if the imperial court sends people to urge us to pay the grain tax?"

Upon hearing this, everyone was speechless. Li Qingyun was an official appointed by the imperial court and could not possibly disobey the court's orders. If the court sent someone to urge payment, Li Qingyun would certainly be unable to refuse.

Even... the imperial court could easily accuse Li Qingyun of incompetence and remove him from his official post.